Innovation's '91 DS Comic, Book 2

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's the second page (page twenty-eight) of the letters column:

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version (without any of the artifacts that the forum's system created when downsizing the image))

Publishing letters are pat-on-the-back material? Well, duh. Though when it comes to the price, I do have to agree that these issues were one the better values in comics. But why did I chuckle when it was stated that these letter columns give detractors of the comics a forum for their thoughts? Hmm, could it be that so far we've rarely seen any criticisms, and when we do, it's not like they get treated seriously...

Note that the images on this page are from Pages 1 & 3.

And I won't be sharing the third page of this column until some point around mid-April because some of the images shared on it don't come up until this issue's Page 8. You might have noticed that there really isn't much about Book 1, Issue 4 on this second page either. But that will change once we get to the third page...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It's a shame that a sequence like what we're currently seeing in the slideshow never actually took place on the '91 DS. Sure we can appreciate it to a degree in the comic - but if it had played out with the actors I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Jim Fyfe, in particular, would have brought every bit of pathos it entails. And in that regard, character-wise, today's scan of the first panel on Page 5 -

- is decidedly one of the best and most heartrending panels drawn for the comic as Willie holds part of the broken tea pot that he'd bought Barnabas for Christmas.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's the fourth page of Book 2, Issue 2:

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version (without any of the artifacts that the forum's system created when downsizing the image))

Note the missing dialogue that wasn't included in the slideshow...

And like Jim Fyfe, I'm sure Ben Cross would have brought a great deal of justice to his performance of the material, particularly Barnabas' realization of what he'd done to Willie...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's the fifth page of Book 2, Issue 2:

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version (without any of the artifacts that the forum's system created when downsizing the image))

Note the missing bits of dialogue that weren't included in the slideshow...

And it would seem that '91 Julia is quite possibly more prepared than original Julia because apparently '91 Julia carries complete IV paraphernalia in her doctor bag.    Though to be fair, original Julia would have had to carry cumbersome glass bottles, not pliable plastic bags...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

One thing that I love about the current sequence in the comic is that -

Book Two/Issue Two/Page 6 - Julia: '...YOU MEAN YOU'RE
THE ONE WHO FREED BARNABAS?'


Book Two/Issue Two/Page 6 - Willie: 'YEAH, DOC. IT'S
GOOD TO BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT IT, FINALLY. I COULDN'T
 NEVER TELL NOBODY WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE'

- we're seeing one of the conversations that we know must have taken place between Julia and Willie but we never actually saw it.

It's also interesting that in the comic we see Julia treat Willie on Christmas Eve and then the very next thing we see is her treating him on the day after Christmas. The comic doesn't give us even the slightest glimpse of Christmas Day. Apparently seeing the Collinses open gifts, and/or celebrating a meal, and/or celebrating in any way aren't events that they were inclined to depict. But then there's only so much space in the comic and I guess they didn't feel those sorts of scenes would have moved the story they're telling forward. Though it might have been interesting if, say, Liz had had a special gift to give Vicki. But I suppose with something similar already having come up in Book 1 (even though chronologically Book 1 takes place after Book 2) they might have felt they'd already gone there, done that...

[Gerard]

I think a shirtless Willie with that type of torso would've looked like that on the '91 series wasn't possible.  If he did, he would've been more popular among the local Collinsport girls.  Even Carolyn and Vicki would've given him a shot.

Gerard

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Well, they would have had to see Willie unclothed to have had even a slight chance to be attracted to him. But we need to remember the pre-Barn Willie was hardly someone females would want to be within 10 feet of, much less get to know well enough to be intimate with. I strongly suspect that Willie was greatly lacking when it came to female companionship beyond Auntie. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Hmmm -

Book Two/Issue Two/Page 6 - Willie: 'WHEN HE'S HURT
ME-- ONE OF THE BAD TIMES, I MEAN-- I CAN TELL HE
DIDN'T MEAN IT, YA KNOW? IT'S ALMOST LIKE HE'S
CRYIN' AFTER-- LIKE HE'S HURTIN' WORSE 'N ME.'


Book Two/Issue Two/Page 7 - Willie: 'AN' THEN HE'S
NICE-- LIKE HE'S TRYIN' TO APOLOGIZE. HE DIDN'T MEAN
IT!' Willie: 'AN' HE SAYS IT WON'T NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN--
'LESS I DO BAD AGAIN. SO YOU SEE, DOC, I JUST GOTTA
TRY HARD 'N' IT'LL BE OKAY.'

- could Willie be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome much?!

Though, as we know, Willie and Barnabas' relationship in the '91 Series will eventually develop into a genuine friendship, something I could never see on the original show because no one uses the levels of psychological manipulation on a friend the way Barnabas does Willie (or Julia) whenever Willie (or Julia) doesn't want to do something Barnabas insists he (or she) must do...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's the sixth page:

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version (without any of the artifacts that the forum's system created when downsizing the image))

Note the one bit of dialogue that wasn't included in the slideshow...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I wonder if -

Book Two/Issue Two/Page 7 - Willie: '... PEOPLE BEAT ME
BEFORE-- LOTS!-- BUT NOBODY WHO DONE IT EVER FELT
BAD BEFORE!'

- '91 Roger might have been someone who beat Willie but never felt bad about it? As much as I might want to rule him out, sadly, given the way '91 Roger treats Willie in the early hours of the series, I can't say I can eliminate him as a possibility...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's the seventh page:

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version (without any of the artifacts that the forum's system created when downsizing the image))

And again we have another rarity, a page where no dialogue and no panels were skipped in the slideshow - but that's because so much of it is so important character wise, especially when it comes to Willie...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

We've skipped the bit of dialogue in the first panel on Page 8 because it wasn't all that significant (as you'll see when Page 8 gets posted). However, one thing I do want to point out about that panel is that those of us who are familiar with Greystone or even just publicity stills for the '91 Series will notice that some of the details of the Old House -

- are missing. And it's not like Jose Pimentel would have had to seek out photos of Greystone apart from the publicity stills available from the '91 Series to have gotten them correct. For example, this one -

- features the top and bottom windows in the far right that are virtually missing from Jose Pimentel's drawing, and more significantly, the following one, which Pimentel not only used for inspiration but quite obviously pretty much copied for the drawing -

 - at least features the first floor windows clearly, if not quite the second floor windows. And the windows aren't the only parts of the house that are missing, as a comparison between the still and the drawing clearly shows.

Though in the Grand Scheme of things, I would much rather that the comics closely focus on character and plot than getting every architectural detail correct. Things like that are much easier to overlook than getting character wrong. But at least when it comes to this Book 2, the focus on character is for the most part spot on. I love what they've been doing and will continue to do with Julia, Barnabas, and especially Willie...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's the eighth page:

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version (without any of the artifacts that the forum's system created when downsizing the image))

Unlike Page 7, take note of the multiple panels and lines of dialogue that the slideshow skipped...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's the third page (page twenty-nine) of the letters column:

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version (without any of the artifacts that the forum's system created when downsizing the image))

Book 1, Issue 4 is finally being featured more heavily on this third page. And it's weird how some of the print appears discolored because it isn't that way on the actual page. I have no clue what happened during scanning, but obviously something did, and it happened repeatedly because I scanned the page several times but that print always came out the same way...

Also, note that the images on this page are from Page 8.

The images on the fourth page of the letters column are from Pages 19 & 20, so I won't be sharing that page until around early-June...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's the ninth page:

(Click here for a 1328X1996 version (without any of the artifacts that the forum's system created when downsizing the image))

This may actually be the page with the least amount of material to make it into the slideshow because only the dialogue from the second panel and the panel itself were used. Though, of course, three of the panels don't have any dialogue, anyway...