lake_wrangler wrote:But it won't be the same...
You're right, it won't be. And, it never has been.
The thing I've noticed about Wapsi Square (since I started reading it, and through my archive dives) is that it's very much about growth and change. The individual characters we love have grown and changed... both Monica and Shelly are far more, now, than they were shown to be at first. The "playing field" has grown and changed... from a small corner of Minneapolis in the first years of the 21st century it has grown to include many centuries of linear and folded time, multiple dimensions, civilizations both modern and ancient, both human and paranormal and mixed.
The cast has grown and changed over time, certainly. In reading through some of the old comments, I can recall seeing people opine that those strange new "drunk Golem Girl" characters that Paul was about to introduce were going to change Wapsi for the worse, would be a distraction, etc. - and now these same ancient young ladies are a crucial part of what we certainly don't want to lose.
My "take" on what's happening now, for what it's worth, is that Paul is widening the playing field again... giving us yet another slice of paranormal life that we hadn't seen before. In some respects, we've learned more about the paranormal aspect of the Wapsiverse in the last 18 months (since Atsali first appeared) than we'd seen in all the years before. And, I don't think that the new "young crowd" is going to utterly displace the players we're used to - rather, they'll be integrated into it, as they become more and more adult. Katherine said that her girls were being authorized to go on even more adventures with her... I rather expect that's actually how it's going to work out in time, and that others of the "older generation" will also be involved. It'll take time to set up the situations and the interpersonal dynamics... but I do think Paul will get us there.
I do love Monica and Shelly and Tina and the others. I don't think we're going to lose them. But, even the most tasty and familiar dish can be better for a bit of change and amendment. Frankly, both Monica and Shelly have already "leveled up" so much, that focusing the strip primarily on their "further adventures" might be a bit risky... how much more power
could they gain, and how could it be kept interesting? I'm not sure we'd want to see Wapsi turn into a DC Comics superhero "Monica and Shelly slug it out with Shiva and Amun" power-fest.
The really fun thing, I think, will be seeing them grow into their roles as elders and good examples... and for that to work, they need somebody to whom they can be elder examples. Hence, the young'uns.
I really am enjoying seeing the way Atsali is being portrayed, as she tackles the difficult journey into young adulthood. That's not an easy journey even for humans, and Atsali's situation is at least as complicated in most ways, and far tougher in others. Body-image, self-image, personal ethics, power, interpersonal relationships... she's turned from a bird-brain into a complex and very interesting character.
I have no doubt that she, and Pickle, and Cricket, and the Bears, have a lot to learn... and we'll almost certainly be seeing Monica, and Shelly, and Tina, and Phix, and Grandma Lily, and Aunt Bud, and etc. do a bunch of the teaching. We may not see as much of the senior class as we're used to, but I do expect they'll be around, and in crucially important ways. And the loose ends... well, Paul has repeatedly demonstrated his skill for taking a bunch of "loose ends" apparently left dangling several years before, and then weaving them into an amazing technicolor dreamcarpet with which he then abruptly yanks our feet out from under us
Sky Masterson: "One of these days in your travels, a guy is going to show you a brand-new deck of cards on which the seal is not yet broken. Then this guy is going to offer to bet you that he can make the jack of spades jump out of this brand-new deck of cards and squirt cider in your ear. But, son, do not accept this bet, because as sure as you stand there, you're going to wind up with an ear full of cider."
Kinda like that, but different.
