Annotated 49-51
FB:
Shanna Cochran
First appearance: Faans #1 (comic book), March 17, 1999
Final appearance(?):
So as it turned out, this would not be Shanna’s final appearance. She showed up here and there in Webtoon’s Traveler, and she’s likely to appear in a series I’m pitching now, if it gets picked up. Hey, I like reusing alternate-universe versions of certain characters, so sue me! We glimpsed a version of Frigg’s sisterhood in one Traveler installment, too, and other Guilded Age characters may be similarly “alternated” at some point in the future. So, you know, just be sure to read everything else I write forever, just in case.
Kidding! This is still a goodbye to this Shanna, as well as to Lia and Daniel, and like every series I do, Guilded Age is meant to stand on its own. And I could think of no better conclusion to this Shanna’s arc than to charge off to Washington and tackle those in the halls of power who would try to bully reporters into silence. She still needs the fight.
Her companions are in a different place. With the enemy defeated and Kaye avenged, most of what they need now can be found in each other. So they’re pairing off and pursuing new lives together. That’s a parallel to how things will shake out in Arkerra…in the next chapter, our heroes will find new lives, some of which will be full of danger (Bandit) or uncertainty (Best and Sundar) and some of which won’t. As our last line implies, there’s more than one kind of “adventure” that life can be.
So it’s time to part ways, however reluctantly. Shanna drops a little nerd-baiting snark to try to escape the sentiment of this moment. But she’s not fooling anybody. And the “unemotional” Xan is least fooled of all.
Charge off to Washington and tackle those in the halls of power who would try to bully reporters into silence? If sepia world is anything like ours in 2018 she’ll be up against people more evil than HR. While Shanna is my favorite from Faans and I loved her appearance in this she can be smug and grating and that’s the first thing the opposition will emphasize to turn people against her.
This is true up to a point, but I would hope her character arc here shows that a few of her rough edges have softened. I ain’t implying her post-Guilded Age adventures will be easy ones…but she isn’t looking for easy, either.
Chrissie-Xan took me by surprise the first time around. Shanna lampshades the fact that hints have been subtle indeed by stating the opposite. I think that’s kinda clever.
She’s an investigative reporter. Very little is “subtle” to her.
I took the remark to refer to the days between the showdown and the current scene. But the signs were indeed there in previous scenes, too.
and she’s likely to appear in a series I’m pitching now
*scoots his chair closer* Do tell…
It didn’t occur to me at the time, but how on earth does this story get her to Washington? Like, yes, it’s a big deal (five murders by a videogame company), but either she writes what happened, and doesn’t get believed, or doesn’t, and compromises her ethics.
Oh no. I never realised.
This whole thing, this whole time. It actually has been about ethics in vid- *gets dragged into a van by people in masks, because nobody needs that shit*
It would put a spotlight on Shannon for a hot moment, long enough to find a spot in a larger news room.
*Shanna