Issue #26 (November 1998)



The Story: Seren fends off Jason with pleas until D’Mer arrives to defend him with psionics. Liana arrives to put her big brother Jason in his place. She explains that Rieken, the leader of the Resistance, is the same person as Seren the Avatar, so Beys really shouldn’t have sent Jason to kill Seren.



Four Hierarchy members (Sere, Vinyr, Emeris, and Niniri) arrive at the Avatar’s apartments. Sere psychically beats on Seren for a while. The other Hierarchs tsk but don’t interfere. Seren blackmails Emeris with evidence of war crimes, forcing Emeris to release his claim on D’Mer.



After the Hierarchs leave, the humans are confused and in some cases enraged to learn that Seren the Avatar whom they’ve come to defeat is the same person as Rieken the one who recruited them for the job.



Seren gives exposition to explain how the powerful Avatar can nonetheless be a thrall of the Hierarchy. They plan to force Seren to track down and kill Liana, the Avatar’s heir.



My Two Cents: This issue is mainly about letting us see the Ovanan Hierarchy enough to hate them as much as Seren does. Especially Sere; we haven’t seen a single redeeming thing about her. She’s just a sadist through and through, with no hint of nobility. Likewise Prince Emeris. Niniri and Vinyr try half-heartedly to restrain the other two, and thus come off a little better.



The cover of this issue was intended for the 1997 Christmas Special that never materialized. Waste not, want not, so we get it here instead.

During Seren’s confrontation with the Hierarchy, we learn that like Jason, he has tried to slit his own wrists. This is statistically unusual; at least on Earth, men are more likely to commit suicide with firearms or jumping than with wrist slitting or pills, which are slower and less certain.

Issue #28 (July 1999)



The Story: Galahad reminds everyone how unprepared Liana is to become Avatar, let alone lead a rebellion, if Seren should fall. Galahad amazes everyone with the story of how he himself was assassinated when made a king as a teen. But like the guy in Monty Python’s Holy Grail, he got better.



Jason and Liana have a huge argument about Seren. It nearly triggers a seizure in Liana, but Jason soothes her, and the danger passes.



D’Mer and Seren roll around in the sheets for several pages, but D’Mer convinces Seren that sex would be a bad idea due to Liana’s presence via mindlink.



The next morning, Seren agrees to give the humans new universal translators that don’t have the suicide-inducing booby trap. How nice! Major Kovar sacrifices his glorious floor-length hair so that he can blend in better with commoners on the upcoming mission. This generous gesture reduces Seren to a blubbering pile. So many feels he has!



Lady Bast saunters in wearing her Niniri costume but without shapeshifting into the form of the smaller woman, and the "barely there" wardrobe can scarcely contain her. The guys can't contain themselves, either.



Lettercol: Doran confirms that Jorvana the traitorous servant woman was modeled after Mrs. Danver from the film “Rebecca.” Doran has also changed her company’s name from Aria Press to Colleen Doran Studios in order to avoid getting mixed up with the Image Comics series Aria.


Story #2: A prose fantasy story “Red Cloak” by Ellen Kushner, adorned with pin-ups of its characters by Doran (including this issue’s cover).

My Two Cents: Two whole issues of characters chatting about their plans for action and their opinions of each other. Your mileage may vary as to whether this constitutes a refreshing change of pace from the usual brainless slugfest of American comics, or whether the leisurely pace kills momentum just so Doran can spend more time with these characters that she deeply loves. For the moment I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt, though as I’ve said before this problem wouldn’t occur if she hadn’t put so many characters into the story in the first place.

Issue #30 (August 2000)



The Story: Seren doesn’t get a chance to attack the Hierarchy. They ambush his procession in the hallway, zapping his retinue with stun-guns. They knew that Rieken was Seren, and now they know that he was harboring Liana. Jason can block the energy of the stun-guns, so he gets shot in the head with actual bullets, twice. Brutal.



Seren lies flopping on the floor for several pages as Sere confirms that she’s previously molested Seren and plans the same for Liana. Finally Jason channels his disruptor power through Seren, killing Sere before falling into a coma himself.



Then Seren goes supernova, and the power of the Avatar falls upon unconscious Liana as Niniri stands over her.



D’Mer spends this issue locked in Seren’s apartment, unsuccessfully trying to break out, and then defending himself against Hierarchy troops who break in.



Editorial: Doran announces a plan to publish six more individual issues (thus ending with #36) and then shift this narrative into longer, more infrequent graphic novels. Not a bad idea. Also not what actually ends up happening. Doran reports getting accosted by the cops when she hung around a high school taking photos of teens as reference material for a Power Pack series she’s working on. Yeah, that might be unsettling.

Story #2: “Of the Driving Away of a Certain Water Monster by the Virtue of the Prayers of a Holy Man. Or, What Really Happened at Loch Ness in the Summer of 565AD,” a prose short story by Bud Webster. Shorter than the previous ones, five pages including over a page of Doran art.

Glossary: Six pages detailing the various Hierarchs. Sere’s death is confirmed in her entry.

My Two Cents: The loss of both Sere and Seren would be quite a landmark for the series. Let’s see whether it sticks. This issue has one of the better covers, though Liana still looks substantially younger than her stated age of fifteen. I guess it’s because of her Avatar blood causing slow aging or something. This issue also features several double page action spreads (the first in the series) that are well worth the space they occupy. The one below juxtaposes D'Mer's battle with the guards (in the top panels) with Seren's battle against the Hierarchy (in the bottom panels).



This is a good place to talk about the collected editions that have come out over the years. There was a Donning collection in the 80s with the original WaRP version. Then Image Comics released two volumes in the 90s covering issues #1-12 and #13-25 of the rewritten version that we’ve been covering here. Volume 2 also contained the Minetti character focus short stories “DUI” and “The Gift.” Volume 3 (#26-31 in 2001) and Volume 4 (#32-38 in 2004) followed.



In 2013 and 2014, Doran reprinted Volumes 1 and 2 in a new edition, not referencing the numbering of the original issues. These Second Editions can be identified by their yellow cover with a diamond cut-out in the middle, allowing the interior portrait page to be partially seen. A few Jason-related pages from issue #12 have been moved from the end of Volume 1 to the beginning of Volume 2 in this new edition. Also, the Minetti short stories are now absent.



The new editions take advantage of new printing tech to fix some of the coloring. Lady Bast is no longer so dark, so her skin details are less obscured; compare the two versions of the same page below.





Beyond that, Doran also re-lettered some pages of the new editions. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with the old lettering. You be the judge.



To date, there is no second edition of Volume 3 or Volume 4. At Dragon Con this year, I bought the second edition of Volumes 1 and 2 directly from the hand of Doran, and she gave me the first edition of Volume 3 for free.

Issue #32 (June 2001)



The Story: The Irishai believe the rumor about D’Mer being the rebel leader Rieken. They themselves are failed rebels who want D’Mer and Kovar to save them from the “terminal decrepitude” of mortal aging that has been inflicted upon them. The Irishai are from Kovar’s planet of Temaris and consider him their prince, although Kovar is the one responsible for their aging.



Kovar and Bast (who is still disguised as Keris, keeper of the Ovanan internet) hatch a new plot to get Galahad close enough to kill Emeris, freeing Liana to use her new Avatar power on their other enemies. Sounds complicated!



Flashback to decades previous: Prince Emeris is incensed about a hijacked freighter. He wants the death penalty for the culprits. Instead, Kovar sentences the thieves to terminal decrepitude. These are the Irishai.



The Hierarchs Vinyr and Emeris are frustrated. They hoped to interrogate Seren about the Resistance. But he maintains just enough psionic power to stop them. They mutter that something will have to be done about him, and about Liana. Maybe some torture will help unlock the memories?



Niniri attempts to win Liana’s favor through presents and flattery. She doesn’t get anywhere. Liana is too preoccupied with blocking her mindlink with Seren, who is being tortured/molested by Emeris.



After getting healing treatments, Seren is allowed to see Liana briefly. He starts to teach her how to channel the Avatar power effectively, but they are interrupted by Emeris, who is eager to begin the next round of Seren’s torture/interrogation.



Lettercol and Editorial: Doran is devoting more pages to telling readers about her own life and interacting substantively with their comments. Perhaps she learned this from JMS, who was very active with the Babylon 5 online fan community. Doran is quite pleased by her publishing arrangement with Image Comics. She mentions Tanith Lee, Harlan Ellison, Storm Constantine, Joan Vinge, Catherine Asaro, and Emma Bull as favorite authors. Music favorites include Loreena McKennitt, Enya, and Kate Bush. Her clothing designs are inspired by Art Nouveau designers such as Romain de Tirtoff, a.k.a. Erté (see below).



Story #2: The second and final part of Jan Strnad’s “A World for Dreaming” prose short story.

My Two Cents: Boo, Emeris! Like Sere, he’s portrayed as completely hissable, an unredeemable sadist, lech, and hedonist. But Niniri is just as bad; she simply uses honey instead of vinegar to get her way.

Issue #34 (February 2002)



The Story: Emeris and Niniri keep pestering and telepathically probing Liana for information on her accomplices. They learn that she (doubtless like young Doran) has a crush on Galahad, but then she’s able to block them out with mental images of elephants, which we’ve previously learned are disturbing to Ovanans for some reason. Seren admits that he had humans in his retinue but claims that he sent them home after his failed coup. Not smart; now the Hierarchy have more reason to attack Earth.



Down in the bowels of Siovansin, Minetti has an extended argument with Galahad about whether Liana should be rescued from her new role as Avatar of the Ovanan and returned to Earth, or left to fulfill her messianic destiny here in space. Kovar points out that Liana hardly had a normal, idyllic life on Earth; her powers preclude that fate. Her super-slow aging alone would make her stand out. The current plan is to rescue Liana and Seren at Sere’s funeral. Or, failing that, to kill them. That part of the plan won’t go over well with Minetti and D’Mer, respectively.



Seren’s shorn hair has been dyed red and weaved onto Liana’s head. She can’t stop tripping on it. He can’t stop rubbing it ruefully. Liana’s hair is colored dark on the interior B&W pages, but her rare cover appearances confirm that her hair is indeed red.



Editorial: Doran responded to 9/11 by cleaning out her storage shed, getting rid of papers she’d been keeping for decades “in case I need them.” It was painful, but it’s done. “I could kick myself for letting my possessions get control of me.” She sold sketches she had been given by other artists; one such artist was infuriated, though he had declined to take the art back.

Here’s a fun story. Back in the day, a bunch of artists autographed dollar bills at a convention. You’d think those bills would be in the hands of collectors, but apparently some found their way into general circulation, because one of them ended up back in Doran’s wallet when a surly cab driver made change for her. It’s signed by Doran, Dave Sim, Rick Veitch, Jeff Smith, Larry Marder, Don Simpson, Scott McLeod, Steve Bissette, and James Owen. Weird! Hopefully Doran kept it.



Sketchbook: Among several pages of other sketches, including numerous D’Mer nudes, Doran includes a couple of old sketches of Liana dressed in Doran’s own favorite clothes.



Story #2 “Eugenie” is set in the days of Marie Antoinette. It was originally published in 1989 as part of a volume called ‘Renegade Romance.’ It features, yes, men with awesome clothes and awesome hair.



Lettercol: Doran apologizes that she has lost the Steve Darnall story she was supposed to publish last issue. Steve Bissette writes a pleasant letter discussing his 18 year old daughter Maia and new fiancée Marj.

My Two Cents: These issues may be infrequent, but Doran is filling them with all sorts of content. This issue’s glossary contains Doran’s version of the Tale of Sir Galahad.



No, not that one. Her tale is culled from various medieval sources, supposedly including “The Vulgate,” which is the Latin version of the Bible. I’m not aware that Galahad appears in the Bible, but whatever. Doran’s version “cut back drastically on the overabundance of women named Elaine,” of which there were apparently quite a few in Galahad’s mythical life. Part of the story involves Launcelot wearing the favor of “an impressionably young lady” and then having an affair with her, resulting in the birth of Galahad. Hmm, This very issue has a discussion about Galahad wearing a ribbon from Liana, and denying that it has any sexual intent. Now I wonder whether “Liana” is a variant of “Elaine.”



It also contains the story of Dunstan (scion of a human man and a Sidhe fairy) and Corrine, a showgirl-turned-fashion designer whose sour work experience sounds suspiciously like Doran’s own time at WaRP:




That’s exactly what we saw when we first met Corrine and Dunstan back in issue #8 (see image above). Colleen/Corrine, get it? So we’re back to Doran’s bad experience with the Pinis. We’ve seen other evidence that Sere, Niniri, and Emeris represent child abuse that Doran suffered. It could be both traumas combined.

Issue #36 (August 2003)



The Story: This is the first issue since early days not to bother with a detailed text recap page. In its place, Lady Bast narrates a five page expository summary at the beginning of the issue, and three more at the end. She explains how Etan the Avatar plotted to free himself from the Hierarchy through the power of his sons Aeran and Seren. A test run of their joint powers went badly. Etan lost his powers and then killed imself. Aeren fled to Earth and married a human artist. Weak-willed Seren became the new Avatar and was easily manipulated by the Hierarchy. You know the rest about how Aeren’s kids Jason and Liana were raised by the Martin Institute until escaping in issue #1. She says that Liana’s parents and other two siblings (Cari and Tiar) are dead. Presumably this is reliable information, but keep in mind that it’s Bast speaking, not an omniscient narrator.



Liana hatches a diabolically clever plan to identify Martin Institute thugs as her co-conspirators so that Emeris will track down her former jailers on Earth and murder them instead of looking for her real friends up on the Siovansin. Liana talks about her mommy, the most wonderful lady, who could both write and illustrate stories about Arthurian knights. Does that remind you of anyone we know?



Liana suddenly becomes very resolute. Instead of being Ovanan’s last Avatar, she wants to reject the Hierarchy and become Earth’s first Avatar.



Editorial: Doran finished illustrating Warren Ellis’ graphic novel Orbiter concerning problems on a Space Shuttle. Just before its release, the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded on orbital re-entry. Bad timing! There was debate about whether to delay release of Orbiter, but DC went ahead, and no scandal erupted.

Doran is also delighted to be working with Keith Giffen on Reign of the Zodiac, since his interest in her fanzine art was a major professional encouragement when she was a teen and he was riding high drawing her favorite comic, Legion of Super-Heroes.
Doran’s Homeowner’s Association passed draconic rules forbidding home businesses, even artistry. Rather than sue, she is moving.

Story #2 “Operation: Love” written by Steve Darnall, art by Doran. It’s a cute little story, a satire on 50s romance comics. The protagonist is a lovelorn secretary working at a government black ops division who gets one of the lab guys to whip her up a love potion. Hijinks ensue.



Lettercol: Doran’s Macintosh computer suffered a lightning strike, so once again precious work (including reader letters) has been lost. Doran reports that in Japan, most comics with gay themes are written by women but read by furtive men. Doran confirms that she did indeed get published in the lettercol of X-Men #178. Anybody have that issue to share with us? Doran also reports that one of the images in issue #14 was originally intended to depict the elf Legolas and his father King Thranduil from The Lord of the Rings. I assume she is talking about this image below.



My Two Cents: Huh. A “story thus far” issue is not a bad idea, though its timing is a little unusual; I would expect it as the beginning of the graphic novels Doran has planned. There are lots of nice splash pages here which I assume have gone into the hands of collectors now, making this something of a fund-raising issue as well. As of issue #30, Doran had intended to end periodical publication with issue #36 and switch to a graphic novel format. She’s not quite done with individual issues, as it turns out.