Courtney Volume 3 Hardcover

Courtney Crumrin in the Twilight Kingdom is out today in the classier comics shops around the country. Be sure  to pick yours up today. No one ever orders enough, so they’ll go fast.

To see a few color pages from Volume 3 to get an idea of the awesome, check out this sneak peek at Majorspoilers.com

Also, of you’re in the Portland, OR area and are going to Stumptown this weekend, come get your signed copy at the Oni Press table. I’ll be there to sign it for you! A free Courtney sketch goes to the first person who gives me the password “Wilberforce.”

Courtney Crumrin’s Final Spell

It’s been over a week, and I’m sure you all have noticed by now that Issue 10 was the final chapter in the story of Courtney Crumrin. I know it came as a surprise, but I didn’t want to spoil the story. It was a long time coming.

I believe that stories should end. Otherwise, they don’t truly say anything, and are therefore not really stories. Certain stories create rich, inviting worlds, and I often feel a deep desire to to return there over and over again. But I usually find that, after too long, the story stops moving, becomes stagnant, and the world loses its meaning. I didn’t want to do that with Courtney’s world, as much as I would have loved to dwell there forever.

Courtney had to grow, had to change. Otherwise, her adventures, her suffering, her lessons, would have been for nothing. And to change Courtney was to finish her story. I personally was less interested in the adventures of a mellow young witch who was wise beyond her years. But I wanted her to arrive somewhere near that peaceful place rather than just go on suffering. Otherwise, her stories wouldn’t have meant as much. Happily ever after isn’t much of a story, but it makes a great ending. So I’d just as soon leave it at that.

Anyway, last week, I did a post-mortem interview with Comics Alliance, discussing things Courtney, as well as future plans. Here’s the link.

And to all who came with me on this little adventure through the world of my grumpy little heroine, thanks for the company. I really REALLY couldn’t have done it without you. Stories don’t happen in a vacuum, despite what some story-tellers would have you believe. We need readers. Otherwise we’re just fools shouting nonsense into the void. Readers give our efforts their meaning. So thanks for that.

Ted Naifeh

San Francisco, the end of winter, 2013