Annotated 11-11
Minor tweaks: in one version, Gravedust and Frigg were looking straight ahead instead of glancing at each other.
Also, I think the notes were more heart-shaped in one version? I have a note from Phil saying “Go back to the homonotes.” I’m gonna say, though, I think it worked out better like this.
Phil also said “I’m stunned that the addition of an open field of wildflowers made it LESS GAY hahaahah.” Some will still insist there’s subtext, others that there’s none: I think it’s healthier to live with a little ambiguity. The seeds of close male friendship (even and maybe especially between old rivals) should be freely expressed with neither a nervous “Um, NO HOMO!” nor an oversexualized “YAY FOR THE GAY” to complicate the picture.
I love this. When Best feels comfortable, in his element, he can be amazing.
This is why I slightly begrudge that he disappears after this arc for the majority of the comic. He was great. He was, in fact, the Best.
Phil’s political correctness, or rather the lack thereof, is a treasure to me, but probably a nightmare for co-workers trying to not get burned on the stake.
I always imagined this song as kind of Scarborough Fair-y.
At this point in the story, we (or at least I) might not have fully understood what a Big Deal it was that Best had the ability to snap Byron out of berserk mode with an improvised song, without really knowing anything about the nature of the curse, or having any kind of close bond with Byron.
Much later in the story, the fact that WAV could inflict keytar damage on the nearly invincible corruptor beast was one of the things that convinced me he was Best reincarnated.