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Monday, April 1, 2013

West of Bathurst, April Fool's Day 2022



As the end of West of Bathurst approaches, I often find myself wondering exactly what's going to happen next. I mean, yes, there's this persistent myth that I have some sort of plan and even actually know what I'm doing, but those of you who believe this myth are pretty clearly deluded. Think about it: a comic set in a relatively real place but containing a character who may be Satan? Plots involving formal dinners side by side with insane seven-year-long storylines ripped from the pages of Grimms' Fairy Tales? It should be blindingly obvious by now that I'm just making it up as I go along.

Even more problematic is what I'm going to do after West of Bathurst has been completed. I'm just not sure I can entirely give it up. Imagine having to spend seven more years developing new characters! No, that's not for me. I've thought about it a lot, and I've decided that the new comic will feature Marie, Casey, Rahim, Barbara, and all the other characters from WoB. However--and here's the twist--they will bein a completely new situation. Davies College was fun to play with for a while, but imagine all the possibilities inherent in leaving it behind. The new approach will allow me to come to terms with the old characters in novel and exciting ways.

Here's where you come in. In today's strip, I present three possibilities for the sequel comic, which will take place in eithermedieval Spain, Victorian England, or twenty-seventh-century China. All you have to do is post in the "Comments" section, explaining which scenario you prefer and why. I can tell you that in the medieval option, Marie will be a lost princess raised as a shepherdess and persecuted unfairly by the town magistrate, while Casey will be a wandering minstrel who may (spoilers!) be the devil. In the Victorian option, everyone will actually be super-intelligent operatives working for the Queen, whereasthe twenty-seventh-century option will take place in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. It will also have a laugh track and regularly break the fourth wall.

Thank you for remaining loyal to West of Bathurst as long as you have. It's sad that it has to end, but I do think the sequel is going to be quite exciting.

Monday, April 1, 2013
Panel 1: Marie sits in her Ph.D. defence as her thesis burns in front of her.

Marie [thinks]: Did my thesis actually catch on fire?

Panel 2: Everything goes "FWASH." Marie, wearing a medieval gown and wimple, is sitting chained in a dungeon.

Marie [thinks]: Am I defending my thesis in a medieval dungeon?

Panel 3: Another "FWASH." Marie is wearing a Victorian gown and standing on the cobblestones beside a top-hat-wearing gentleman and a street urchin.

Marie [thinks]: Did I just time-travel to Victorian London?
 
Panel 4: Another "FWASH." Marie is wearing a spacesuit and carrying a laser gun as she stands on an alien planet. Evil Marie, dressed normally, is beside her.

Marie: Cut it out!

Evil Marie: She's really having problems figuring out how to end the comic, huh?


Alt-Text: The answer in every case is, of course, "Yes."

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Comics copyright Kari Maaren 2006-2014