Susan Hillwig
Staff
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.
Posts: 1,612
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Post by Susan Hillwig on Oct 14, 2007 15:04:18 GMT -5
Let's talk about history for a bit. Not just the usual "real world" history, mind you (although there's a lot of it in this title) but DC history in general. That's something everybody at DC2 pays a good deal of attention to, in our own ways. You want to know something about the Golden Age? Go to David. The 30th Century on your mind? Go to Scott. For sage advice about the sagebrush...well, you're already here, and I'm damn glad to have you. Past, present, and future, all alive and well here on DC2, and we all check and double-check stuff with each other to make sure we don't develop the same snags and snarls that occured over on "Earth-1". It's fun, it builds a great sense of continuity...and it can also be the biggest pain in the butt for me.
As I've said before, some parts of the Old West in DC history are gigantic blank spots, or the information doesn't add up correctly. So to keep things straight on the what and when, I started taking notes...lots and lots of notes. I even worked out how old most of these jaspers are just to make sure I didn't clump them all together in one era. Most of it is highly unnecessary, I'm sure, but I like to know this sort of nonsense. It's all part of my effort to show you folks what the DC Universe looked like before all the "mystery men" came along. And to help with that, I decided to let you guys see the big picture the way I see it: under the "Secret Files" section is a timeline which lists every significant event in WWQ so far...and maybe one or two that haven't been seen yet. And of course, there's more to come...and it doesn't all stop at the 19th Centrury, either. The events of the past have a way of echoing into the future, and sometimes the opposite is also true.
Past, present, and future. It's all alive and well here on DC2, and it never stops moving. Do your best to keep up.
- Susan Hillwig
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Post by lissilambe on Oct 16, 2007 17:41:39 GMT -5
I love a good western, and this indeed was a good western. I really loved the attention to detail, something very important to a historian like myself. I loved the characterizations, each person coming across with distinct voices and mannerisms, and the interaction between them propels the tale as much as events, like a good story does. Very enjoyable, and definitely a series I'm enjoying in general. Keep it up (like I have to say such words LOL). Of course, it's funny, because you're little blurb at the start hits on three areas that I love incredibly, and have thrown myself into with tremendous appetite. And of course, the little period in between, of dark and shadowy pulp noir. So here's hoping I'll get to become one of those great "sages" you reference in the future. Of course, somehow I ended up with Justice League as well, and I'm still trying to figure that out (since I like JLA but it was never a big hit for me LOL), but at least I get to play a little in some of my preferred niches. The timeline is interesting. We've discussed a bit through PM, about hOw far do you chisel something into stone, and how much do you risk leaving untouched, with the maybes and chances that someone else MIGHT come along and be interested? Such philosophies are not for the here and now though. The timeline is a great help for sure, and the hints are very intriguing. Right now, I'm just going to say that this was a great story, and I'm very much looking forward to revisiting the old favorites in part two. Take care Don
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Susan Hillwig
Staff
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.
Posts: 1,612
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Post by Susan Hillwig on Oct 16, 2007 20:05:24 GMT -5
Thanks for reading, Don, glad you enjoyed it. As for the timeline, I know what you're referring to with the "chiseled in stone" comment, and I'm doing my best to loosen things up around here for those that want to come in and do their own thing. There are a few points of history that I'm very adamant on leaving unchanged, and there's other points that I really don't have any concrete ideas about, so any contributions made by outside voices are welcome. One of my big concerns is making sure it all makes sense in the long run -- I'm tired of finding conflicting dates or info on these Western characters' histories, or even worse, no dates or info at all! So that's been part of my mission here at WWQ: make it all make sense to the outsider. I hope the timeline helps with that.
Again in regards to loosening things up for other future (or is that past?) writers, there were a couple of events on my original timeline that I deleted from the version uploaded to DC2, due to the fact that A) I hadn't covered that particular thing yet, and B) Somebody else might have a better idea regarding said thing before I got the time to do my own. I decided to stick to listing events that were already established or that I felt had to be that way at that time in history. There's also something that I wanted to put on there just to make folks wonder for a while, but left off to cut down on the nagging questions!
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Post by HoM on Oct 17, 2007 15:33:52 GMT -5
To Be Continued? You're shitting me (excuse my language, erhem)! Godammit, Susie!! This was wonderful. Struggled to get into it to start off with, but it paid dividends to stick with it. This was amazing. Big Pierre was a bit worrying, and I was quite worried about our hero's health after going off with him. He felt SLEAZY. Made me giggle. God love French stereotypes, lol. So I think I know who our hero turns out to be at the conclusion of this tale. I can't wait to see how he gets there. Also: Where's Jonah? Lol,
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Post by goldk on Oct 17, 2007 17:16:31 GMT -5
I swear I didn't tell anybody!!!!
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RocketeerZ
Staff
Don't look at me, it was broken when I got here.
Posts: 379
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Post by RocketeerZ on Oct 18, 2007 10:15:40 GMT -5
Pretty powerful piece. I kind of got sucked into it fairly quickly and didn't even realize how long it was until after I was finished and was also dismayed that it's a "To be continued" and I have to wait another QUARTER to finish the story! Very detailed and deep. I very much enjoyed it. Great work Susan. I also loved the cover. Fantastic artwork. The cover gave me a strong sense of the weight of the story.
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Post by Crow on Oct 20, 2007 9:59:25 GMT -5
Great job!
I'm really excited to see how this continues. If who I think it is is the person coming out of this story (although i know you could always end up surprising us) i will be happy since i am a huge fan.
You write wonderfully well: i feel like i'm really in the past, stuck alongside these troubled characters. I'm just upset that i can't see the end yet!
Keep it going!
Plus I love the cover.
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Susan Hillwig
Staff
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.
Posts: 1,612
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Post by Susan Hillwig on Oct 20, 2007 11:51:31 GMT -5
Oh good, I've got people thinking! I was hoping that this story would lead to a little guessing-game: I tried to lay as many clues within both parts of the story as I could without being obvious, but there was the fear of it going over everyone's head. Roy and Mark have been sworn to secrecy on this point, and unless one of you lucky readers manages to correctly guess the identity of Chris Maxwell by next issue, my lips shall remain sealed. Boy, am I a jerk.
That cover is all Roy's, baby. I had no idea what to put up, and he just conjured that image outta thin air. Luckily, I know what I want to see on Part 2, so no stress there. BTW I do apologize about breaking the story in half, I really didn't expect it to run this long. But you know me, kids, once you get me talking, there goes twenty-odd pages. And I hope I didn't insult any French folks out there with the way Big Pierre talked (never mind all the Southern folk I must insult every time Hex opens his mouth...). Just be glad Mark speaks real French, he had to correct all my phrasing.
Also: Jonah's in New Orleans, circa 1879...aren't you reading BOOSTER GOLD, Charlie?
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Post by starlord on Oct 23, 2007 7:01:05 GMT -5
Boy it's taken me forever to read this! Just because I kept getting interrupted.
What can I say, another western that sucked me right in. It amazes me every time because there has not been one single writer in this genre that can do that... except Susan.
Of course I hope at some point that Chris goes back and takes care of his father. Just like Susan's Jonah Hex, story. The whole father/son/and this time daughter part of the story really burned my butt! Which is a good thing since that meant I was instently invested in these characters.
In fact I got so wrapped up in this story that once I was able to delve into it, I lost all track of time. It was a bit on the long side, but I never even noticed. Susan is JUST THAT GOOD!
Although the ending was very ominous, I have faith in our heroes. And I kind of liked Ze big brute, until he turned ugly...
Great job and five stars!
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Post by arcalian on Oct 24, 2007 21:50:12 GMT -5
Powerful. To **** with the Grandfather!
Of course, the "Indian Grandfather" seems a reluctant villain in his own way...
Good stuff!
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Susan Hillwig
Staff
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.
Posts: 1,612
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Post by Susan Hillwig on Oct 28, 2007 15:26:27 GMT -5
All I can say is that things are gonna get worse...and better. Depends on your point of view. And you're right, Brian, we've got another guy here with father (and grandfather) issues. I'm not trying to repeat myself, but some notes of this did sound the same as Jonah's origin story -- as they say, there's only two or three original stories out there, the rest is just a rehash of them. Jonah's still dealing with his Daddy issues (maybe we'll get to that someday), but I do promise somewhat of a resolution for Chris. Your comment made me go back and rethink something coming up, so pat on the back for that.
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Post by HoM on Oct 29, 2007 16:31:22 GMT -5
Booster who?
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