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If I indeed accomplished this, I will herewith give credit where credit is due: I learned from a master! Chris Claremont, as Jim Shooter used to say, has one undeniable talent above all, as a writer, and that is that he doesn't kill ciphers. Even if someone is in a scene for only a few panels, when they get dead, you know enough about them to care.

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I'm not sure where IDW got ahold of that copy of the inks.

When I got the cover back from Joe I was, as you can imagine, thrilled. It looked exactly as I hoped it would -- except for one detail. Being unfamiliar with the characters, Joe had "missed" Paper's face. So, mostly so that no one would have reasons to gripe about his otherwise brilliant work, I put on my editor's cap and fixed it. No one was ever supposed to see the uncorrected cover.

This is something that has dogged me for my whole career. I've even cautioned Chris Ryall about it. If there are two versions of something floating around, my own version of the "Byrne Curse" will ensure that the wrong one gets used. Almost every time.

Didn't think it could happen this time -- and yet, somehow, it did. Not on the published cover, at least, but still. . . .

Absolutely loved TRIO #1, the idea that the team has been around 'a while' and we meet them mid-story is terrific.  So much to learn about the characters, yet all we need to know for now, is there on the page.  A masterclass in superhero comics and a lesson some of todays talent could learn.

Beautiful art (as always).  Excellent colouring.  TRIO feels like how a comic should be.  Captions, no first person narration (which personally gets on my nerves).  All we need now is thought balloons.

Nautilus - best new character I've seen in years.  Cast my vote now for a Nautilus mini-series.

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They're coming. IDW and I have to find a style we can agree upon.

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Nautilus - best new character I've seen in years. Cast my vote now for a Nautilus mini-series.

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Well, that might be tricky. . .

Without dropping any spoilers, let's just say that, despite superficial similarities, Nautilus is NOT Namor, and there are some revelations yet to come that somewhat preclude him getting his own series!

Yes! I've mentioned before how I miss thought balloons. I'm still not quite sure why they fell out of favor.

I totally agree! It's one of the storytelling devices that is unique to comics. Why not utilize them?

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I totally agree! It's one of the storytelling devices that is unique to comics. Why not utilize them?

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In terms of good writing, thought balloons can be a bit of a cheat. They sometimes fall into the telling-instead-of-showing camp -- which is a bad thing.

Stan Lee popularized the introspective superhero, with Spider-Man and Captain America, to name but two, but Stan was also one of the few who could get it right more times than not.

I dropped thought balloons and narrative captions pretty much at the same time (and close to thirty years ago), and the intent was to force myself to make my visual storytelling even more complete and informative.

I am a fan of thought balloons also.  I recall an issue of the FF where Galactus is on his ship alone thinking about his purpose in the universe and is visited by Death.  I can't imagine conveying that kind of emotion any other way.

Separately, any plans for a letter column?  Those were fun to read.