I often think of Watt-Evans’s Laws of Fantasy, of which the second is “People are never wholly good or wholly evil, and therefore characters should never be wholly good or wholly evil.” It’s an important rule, but reality appears to be violating it at the moment. If I were editing this book, I would tell the author not to lay it on so thick. Like, I get that these characters are the bad guys, but no one is this cartoonishly evil, right? I mean, even Hitler liked dogs. But as many people have pointed out, reality differs from fiction in that reality is under no obligation to make sense. All I can do, therefore, is encourage you to check your voter registration here or here to make sure it hasn’t been purged. And if you happen to live somewhere that has good night skies, the Perseids are still going on, so go outside in a few hours and look up. Or skritch a cat or smell a flower or something. Joy is real and worth fighting for, is what I’m saying.

Oh, I did think of one other thing! You can buy the new anthology featuring me! And for bonus extra credit and a shout-out in this here comic, you can leave a glowing review on the Amazon page!