March 25
There was a point, before the clocks changed, where I’d wake up and the beginnings of daylight would be visible in the sky. In the last couple of weeks, that’s been gone, replaced by the deep blue of pre-dawn in a way that’s felt particularly cruel and cold (in the literal sense; for some reason, I’ve felt it more chilly these mornings, despite what the thermometer says). It feels lonelier too, in a way that waking up and working in the winter didn’t; the sense of it happening while the rest of the world — or, at least, the rest of the city — is still asleep.
All of this melancholy is new, and surprising; it’s not constant, and I often feel the way that used to be my norm, that it’s exciting to be up and working while everyone else is sleeping, but nonetheless. Perhaps it’s age or perhaps something else, but whatever the reason, I find myself eagerly awaiting the light every morning now, almost willing summer to get here sooner so that I can wake up to it.
If you’re writing Captain Britain and Faiza again, does this mean Computer Graham and Magic Boots Mel will be making a comeback?
Unfortuantely not! There’s no room in the plot.
Mel’s got the best chance of being picked up one day, if someone returns to the Braddock Academy and decides they’d like to use her. (Ditto Kid Copper. If I ever do a Braddock Academy bit again, I’ll probably have them feature, unless I make up yet another callback to old UK comics.)
Graham’s trickier – he’s tied to a very specific time and place, and I don’t know how much mileage there is for the average reader in a character who riffs on old ZX Spectrum games. He’s got some great visuals attached to him, though, so maybe one day.
(FASCINATING FACTS DEPT: Partly as a result of the ZX Spectrum, partly from other associations, ”Spectrum” is a word I associate strongly with science, science fiction and the future.)
There aren’t enough Graeme/Grahams in comics, dammit.