Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Twilight Guardian: Felon?

OK, our first comments come from my buddy Wldcelt over at the Top Cow boards, who says this:

"Okay, I was finally able to read it this weekend. I did like the character intensive story, and the inner dialogue gave a strong insight into her character. But it also led me to believe that this girl has some serious "reality" issues, and not in a humorous way. I'm also surprised that someone walking around in a mask all night would only be questioned by the cops, would not be run in for questioning, not told to stop and not be treated like a vigilante stalker-type. It seems highly improbable... On the plus side, I'm highly interested in what will happen next, especially with the whole black cat crossing in front all the time thing. From the cover of the issue, I'm kinda' leaning toward the "sidekick" speculation."

Some interesting questions, Celty. First, thanks for the kind comments. Glad you dug the character focus (especially in a medium where plot concerns tend to reign supreme).

Now, does TG have some "reality" issues? Well, at least as much as the rest of us with OCD do. I think the greater question might be "is she any LESS in touch with reality than the typical comic fan?" I don't know if you've been to a convention lately, but you'll run into a lot of folks who are pretty functional in their daily lives, so much so that you'd never assume they were anything but the most normal people in the world. Yet these same fanboys and fangirls will buy a mail order sword and suddenly think they're a trained ninja. I've had folks tell me they can move things with their minds (though they can never duplicate it in front of an audience, apparently). I've met individuals who actually believe they ARE their RPG characters. Is Twilight Guardian, because she walks around her neighborhood looking for rights to wrong, any crazier than those folks? I dunno. Twilight Guardian is at least aware enough to realize she has no mutant powers...

Regarding the police, I think I covered that in the issue itself when TG comments about the police stopping her for questioning, until they all (the cops in the area) got to know her. They realize that she's harmless, if a little "peculiar." The police generally don't "run in" folks for questioning unless it's a major deal, such as a murder or other serious issue; generally they'll just ask questions on the spot. The "interrogation room" you see on TV shows is a reality, but generally it's used for serious stuff, not looney ladies walking the streets at night. It's not like she's committing a crime and they're going to arrest her. She's not doing anything illegal, except POSSIBLY wearing a mask in public, and I'm not even sure that's against the law in Indiana (and I doubt the cops generally enforce that anyway; look at how often there are KKK rallies with tons of folks wearing hoods, or that recent protest of scientology by folks in Guy Fawkes masks).

Beyond that, I'm not sure you realize just how deserted the streets of the Midwest are at night. Last night, for instance, I walked around my neighborhood (which is what TG's neighborhood is patterned after) for two hours with a SINGLE CAR ever passing me. I've logged probably 100 times more hours on the streets at night than TG has, and I think I've only seen a cop car drive past me maybe three times in all those years, and when they did, they didn't even pause to take a glimpse at me (and I have to think a burly biker-looking fellow like me has to look more suspicious than a woman in a hoodie). I'm not sure they'd even notice a domino mask if they glance her direction.

So I guess it just doesn't seem that improbable to me.

Now, regarding the sidekick issue, I'm kind of leaning towards the sock monkey!

Anyway, thanks much for your questions, Celty, and for your inspiration in creating this blog!

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