Assuaging A Wee Guilt

My third "1987 And All That" column went up yesterday over at The Chemical Box, about the debut issue of DC's Wasteland. I'm pretty happy with it, and it's definitely one of the longer pieces of comicbook-related writing I've produced thus far, but that didn't stop me from making one enormous omission in my discussion of the creative talent behind the issue: colorist Lovern Kindzierski. He colored all three of the stories, the only artist to have his work on every page. While there is no obvious, stark change in palette or technique from one story to the next, they all have their own distinct balance and distribution of color that bolsters what each of the pencilers was already doing. Kindzierski's contributions are the cream cheese frosting on a red velvet cupcake, the thing that makes it not just different from all the other options but better. The drastic lighting changes in "Foo Goo," the harsh and irritated skin tones of the characters in "R. Ab.," and the dominant darkness in "Sewer Rat." This is what Kindzierski brings to the table, subtle and precise decisions that make every panel that much stronger. Wasteland #1 is all about setting a mood for the reader, teasing our imaginations and stirring up our fears. If not for Kindzierski's careful final touches, I don't think it would have be nearly so successful in accomplishing that. So, my apologies for the exclusion. It was a silly oversight for which I wanted to make amends.