As for Dinanna’s story, you’re right of course that Atmahn’s was spread over two issues (which is the phrase I should have used to describe Dinanna’s). I’ve said before that I like how the “mythology” is integrated into the main story, and how that takes advantage of the weekly format. I guess this week it felt like a lot of information I already knew, and since the Gray Lord story tracks Max’s story more closely than Rabat’s did Dick & Jason’s, I didn’t get that feeling from the earlier one. I agree with your points about moving the story forward, and again, I’ll be looking more at the big picture at the end of Act Two.

That’s S.P.H.E.R.E. — she’s observing things throughout.

>> However, I wonder if Dinanna’s story really needed two issues to tell, even with the introduction of the Machinists and more background on the blue people’s cultures.>>

Dinanna’s tale is spread over two issues, but doesn’t take two issues. It’s roughly the last third of #32 and the middle third of #33, making it pretty much the same length as Atmahn’s tale, which was also spread over two issues, though not quite so evenly. Kellel’s tale takes up about the same number of pages, but it doesn’t get told straight-out either — there’s other stuff going on that takes up room, and reasons for the legend to be interrupted. If we’d just packed it all into three backups, I expect readers would have felt the story wasn’t going anywhere while history was being established; we’d rather make it a part of a forward-moving plot than separate it all out like that.

But all three of the Trinity have been back on stage, the last couple of issues, at least…

kdb

Cheers,

B