L.J. Scott: The beginning of this is a direct continuation of the end of installment 13, and in fact was originally written at the same time. It was only after studio robb requested a 'Denouement' installment, that this portion was separated from the rest of 13, and freshened up to stand on its own.
Page 1: And again, we start this new installment with a change of perspective, allowing the exact same words that the Master used against Susan,"How sad it is. The true course to madness, that of not accepting reality.", to become the words that Susan now uses against the Master.
Page 2: And for those who didn't figure out where the Doctor and Ace were last time, we pretty much tell them.
I like the touch studio robb added where the Master drops the end of Susan's chain; a literal sign that Susan is succeeding in free herself by her actions.
Page 3: Not only do we have references to 'Star Trek' during this serial, we now add a reference to 'The Forbidden Planet.'
While the original strip has the Doctor taking command of the key and all is well in the next frame, studio robb wonderfully adds a number of silent transitional frames as reality, and the Doctor & Ace, are restored.
Page 4: Here I have a little writer's license. Technically, the imagined versions of the Doctor and Ace should have vanished along with the Master, and the true Doctor and Ace should have appeared exactly as they had been at the end of installment 11, unaware of what happened in between.
But the point of having characters in stories is so they can learn and grow from their experiences, and I didn't want to deny that possibility to the Doctor and Ace, so 'cosmic continuity' comes to the rescue!
Page 5: This argument as to 'have all the bad things been undone' is one of those things that surprised me as I was typing it. After I finished typing, I debated whether or not to keep it. I decided to keep it as it was true, but it also gave fertile ground for possible future story ideas. Perhaps the Doctor would have to occasionally fix one of these left over after effects...!
"There's no use crying over stitches in time." is a perfect addition on studio robb's part!
And again, this installment gets divided into two parts. Noticing now how it happened after 'Grim Tidings', perhaps studio robb saw how it looked to have two distinct comic serial bits in one issue of a DWIS Newsletter and wanted to see it for the remainder of the issues? I really don't know...
studio robb: this was the "final push". Both this
chapter and the "denouement" chapter 15 appeared in the final issue of DWIS...dated
"Year 1993".
Page 2: As much as readers may suggest it,
there really wasn’t anything sexual implied by having Susan straddle the Key
held by snakes. Really.
"Sometimes
a cigar is just a cigar"- S. Freud
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