I’ve talked before about plots I wish I hadn’t lost the thread of and let’s all be completely honest here: I’m going to do it again. It’s just cold hard fact in a story that’s run this long and grown this large. Things will be forgotten, or abandoned for not working with the Great New Idea, or I’ll just come back to it and decide I don’t like it.
But there are a few of these plot threads that I really want to do (some of them actually major), that may seem to have petered out or gotten lost in the shuffle, but are really victims of certain stories having to be told in a certain order and not having room for them for a few issues. Plots like…
Thunderhead’s… Everything
A quick assemblage of what we know:
Thunderhead is playing the roles of three crime bosses in New York, Mayfield and Atlanta, including Edurado Vorran, Liedecker’s public enemy number 1.
He’s also been seen manipulating The Outliers to kidnap Freaque without the consent of Aces High
Hawk-eyed readers will notice that the codename on the empty stasis cell all the way back in ‘The Kin’ reads ‘Thunderhead.
This is a long game being played, originally part of my oft planned, oft aborted ‘Game of Kings’ arc, but which has become its own thing. Look for more Thunderhead interference in an upcoming issue.
Augustus Roe: The Reluctant Wizard-Man
The ‘4’ arc introduced us to the prospective chump of the Book of Passions, Augustus Roe (people who aren’t really his friends call him ‘Auggie’). We saw him again in ‘Demonology’, still rejecting the Book. And then he vanished from the pages of The Descendants, possibly to a happier life.
He’s not going to be happy for long. Stories that would touch base with Auggie again came and went as they were retooled. Both ‘Amore Detestabilis’ and the ‘Morganna’s Body’ arc involved him in conception, but dropped him at later stages because he was unessential.
If you’re a fan of Auggie (or just like to see him tormented by the psychotic ex-girlfriend that is the Book of Passions) can look forward to the return of that dapper young man in the next arc involving the ‘4’ Books.
Rehenimaru –There’s a Demon and Demon Baboons Loose in Mayfield
I love this character. I’m serious, she’s probably the semi-recurring character I think most about. She almost made a cameo in the forum game, and is part of the impetus for my creation of Icthiani in Descendants: LA. So why isn’t she showing up way, way more?
Well, she faces a problem that comes from my layout of the series: The Descendants are, by and large, ignorant of Faerie. They know of it, but they don’t interact with it all that much specifically because when I introduce them to Faerie, I’m going to do so with a mallet tied to a quarter stick of TNT to the face. It will not be subtle, it will be to the wail of a thousand electric guitars and the events that unfold will make every 80’s Metal band’s cover maker cry out in glorious exaltation. Also, It’ll be pretty cool too.
Until then, expect to see her show up for a bit in the upcoming mini ‘Magi Club 5’.
The Romances
I absolutely hate the fact that due to the order things had to be written in the make sure the story told in Descendants #60 ended up being the one it was, I had to forgo the breather issue that was going to be there ‘A Day in the Life…’, which was going to follow everyone across a single day and highlight what I think are fun relationships.
While Warrick and Tink and Ian and Alexis have gotten a lot of attention, Kareem and Desiree, Juniper and Malcolm, and Cyn and Ollie haven’t and that’s a problem of proportions you don’t even know yet because you don’t know my Master Plan (That’s right, it wasn’t Doctor Octopus—I was the Master Planner the whole time!).
There is a ‘slow’ character driven issue coming up where these pairings will get the respect they deserve. Plus, I’ll throw in some Kareem/Lily because that’s what I want to see, I’ll tell you that much. Because I’m a monster.
Where the Hell is Liedecker?
Based on what I’ve heard from fans on the forums, in comments and via email, Vincent Liedecker is the breakout character of The Descendants. And why not? He’s cool, he’s smart, and he’s complex. I would have to be some kind of dumbass not to use him whenever I could, right?
Well first of all, there’s a reason he got the Liedecker: Life and Times minis. I’m not a deaf and dumb pig, I know what the readers want.
On the other hand, the secret of a great villain is not to overuse them. There was a time when the Joker, or Magneto, or Ultron showing up in their respective adversary’s comic was a Very Big Thing. In the time before massive crossovers that bog down the whole line, those stories were the true and worthy events.
Nowadays, that doesn’t happen as much and nary a year goes by without us seeing those guys and they’re important to the point that the writers don’t even put any thought into new bad guys, giving us duds like Overdrive, Paper Doll, and that jackass from Uncanny X-men who was trying to patent the X-gene to sell mutant powers as a party drug. It’s all pretty lame.
Not that Joker is any less awesome, but there’s a reason everyone still talks about The Killing Joke and Emperor Joker and not Salvation Run.
With Liedecker, I don’t want to dilute him by giving him a bunch of small time stories that continue to stretch disbelief that the Descendants haven’t figured out who he really is. When he shows up, it’ll mean something. Every time.
And trust me, holly hell is he going to show up.
That’s it for this week. After you read this, don’t forget to check out my brand new Tumblr and follow @ParadoxOmni on Twitter.
