TF: Multiverse - Cy-Gon

TF: Multiverse - Cy-Gon

Written by Rob Queen
Art by Paul Vromen
Colors by Eman Zubia
Letters by HdE

You have no idea how much i means to me to get this up. A couple years ago, a friend of mine needed some research help for a paper she was doing on the Vietnam War. As I was doing my research, I stumbled upon something interesting.

Ngo Dinh Diem was supposed to be a puppet. His charge was to rally the people of Vietnam to Democracy. Situated in the Democratic capital of Saigon, he quickly proved to not only be unmanageable but ruthless, uncompromising, and bloody. It was not long before he was put into power that his masters, the USA, realized that they may not have found the best individual for the role. Too late to save the cause, President Kennedy had Ngo Dinh Diem assassinated. Some feel that it was the President's inability to establish a worthwhile (read: successful) war regime that led to his own assassination shortly following Ngo Dinh Diem's.

After I slowly reread the bludgeoningly amazing work called "Last Stand of the Wreckers," I saw the single panel of Flame. In Aequitas. Standing trial for his atrocities. "How could this possibly have gone down?" I asked.

And then I knew.

He was a puppet that cut off the hand up his ass.

But unlike Ngo Dinh Diem, Flame was a tragedy because he was too loyal to the cause.

When Nick Roche said that he couldn't do this, I started a search to bring this image to life. When I saw Paul Vromen's art, I knew only he could do so the way I wanted it. The care, attention, and detail he put in continues to blow me away. I love how evil Xaaron looks in Panel 7. I love the subtleties of his work. I love how uncompromising Flame is, how stoic Prowl manages to be. The angles... everything.

Paul's frequent collaborator of hue is Mr. Zubia, who has impressed me as a wonderful talent that I will eagerly approach for more pretty colors in the future.

Apologies, on the other hand, go out to the enigmatic HdE. There was simply too much that I wanted to put in here. Too many words. Too many details. Too many words on the screens behind Flame. I am eternally grateful for his editing judgement, his guidance, and little lessons like "Less words! Less words!" (paraphrased, of course).

In spite of how much I love this, it's not done. I can't help but feel that this one panel can only scratch the surface of the story I want to tell. I would love to make this a real story. By real story, I mean 6 issues. Published by the Idea and Design Works. Anyone think a petition could get Mr. Barber's attention?

Finally, a last apology. I apologize to everyone - American, Cambodian, Thai, Vietnamese, etc. - who was involved with the American Vietnamese War. This includes families, survivors, and all who did not receive a hero's welcome. Not only was the war a failure, but if we look at Vietnam now, we will see that the USA did, in fact, win. It just a lot longer than anyone expected. We won through a means that bloodshed could never have: through diplomacy, success, and a few well-placed products. On behalf of everyone who was forced by fear into that terrible disaster - and unlike the puppet-master Emirate Xaaron - I am sorry.

I am so, so sorry.