Friday's
comic wraps up the current storyline. Check it out BEFORE reading the post below (which contains spoilers). If you want to start from the beginning, you can do so
here.
I doubt many will be shocked by the ending, given my penchant for dour things such as
miscarriages and the soul wrenching
aftermath, car crashes and near death experiences. On a side note, there was discussion on another site about how miscarriages in comic strips are a frequent and cheap gimmick. I don't know if Todd and Penguin was the first comic to tackle a miscarriage story (if not first, it was the first I knew of when I did it) however, I believe I handled it in a very realistic manner which had LONG lasting effects (though I still wish I had taken the time to write it better). The characters were NOT the same.
Sicily's story wasn't designed to shock or cement my status as the guy who kills off major characters and whips up weird storylines every two years. The Sicily storyline is in honor of
Frank Frisina's dog,
Sicily who died last year (on my birthday, oddly enough). Frank asked if I would do something in honor of his dog. I said yes, just give me some time to figure out HOW I wanted to do it. Well, I wrote out a storyline which began with Penguin running away last Halloween. The story which followed took MUCH longer than planned as the demands on my time became more and more and updates became less and less frequent. What results is a herky jerky story which takes longer than I would have liked and wasn't as well written as I'd planned. However, I think some parts worked well. I hope I did Sicily's memory justice.
Surprisingly, since introducing the dog, I've received a LOT of email from people saying how much they like Sicily. I considered keeping her around, because let's face it, nobody wants to see the dog die or to see Penguin's devastation. However, I always stay true to the story and the characters. I couldn't and wouldn't change the story. Hopefully readers will understand.
I'm glad the storyline is over after several months. I look forward to bringing Todd and Penguin back to its happy and whimsical roots and exploring the family dynamic with the baby.
as always, thanks for reading,
david
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