This week was extraordinarily hectic for me, for no very good reason.  It wasn’t so much that I had something big to do, but rather that I had a large number of small things to do instead.  And then Saturday rolled around and I ended up spending most of it in a mass transit hellhole because the trains all got fouled up because of construction work, and then the people I was going to meet up with totally flaked out on me, so most of the day was shot for like practically no reason at all, and I got home only to face an almost blank page.  But in one of those bizarre situations I can sometimes find myself in, I sat down to draw, and it all just happened right there on the page, in remarkable order and in an amount of time that surprised even me.  For an artist like me, these are rare and precious moments, and I actually took enormous pleasure in drawing this page.  It all turned out just so, and I could hardly believe it.  And as of this week, Colonel Talinina is definitely now in the top ranking of my favorite characters.  You have to admit she looks pretty great.  She just came out perfectly.  She’s ranking up as my alternate-universe girlfriend, here.  What I find sexy in comics is just different from the mainstream, I guess.

Anyway, many many HUGE thanks to Hilvon on this one – he is responsible for interpreting the Russian on this page, which, when I sent him my scripts, he managed to work into a really elegant phrasing which I, in my limited capacities, would never have been able to do.  This week, I was very tempted to give everyone subtitles.  But I’m sticking to my original concept, of a sci-f “A Bridge Too Far,” and leaving the languages as they are.  In the print version, I may add an appendix with translations, so as to avoid spoilers for those who don’t want them.  But anyway.

Another week, folks.  And next week is Thanksgiving in the United States.  It’s a holiday that has a strange mythology attached to it now, but actually, if you read up on it, it was started as a celebration to commemorate the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.  [I’ve been corrected about this, by the way – the Constitution was ratified in June, 1788, and its connection to the U.S. observation of Thanksgiving is a myth.  I’ve also been made aware (amply and by several people) that it is a holiday celebrated throughout the Americas, and not just in the U.S.  This I DID know, but I was remiss in mentioning it when I worded my weekly address, here. Ed.]  But not being one to buck tradition, I’ll be taking a little time off.  I will try to have a page next week, but if not, I’ll have something fun for you anyway, I promise.  Either way, have a good holiday (Americans), and to all others, be well and have a great week!