Two staples of newspapers for over a century collide in the upcoming original graphic novel Letters to Margaret. This upcoming 128-page OGN by writer/artist Hayley Gold follows two crossword bloggers named Maggie and Derry who get cross over their different opinions on crossword puzzles.
"If you thought the world of crosswords was black and white, you'd be… mostly right," Gold says. "They, like all of us, are caught in a highly polarized imbroglio between sides stuck in their black and white thinking. Well, maybe it's time to consider how the other side sees things. So, I made a similarly polarized comic."
Letters to Margaret has a unique Rashomon style feature as a split book - half of it is from Maggie's perspective, and the other half is from Derry's.
"The same series of events are twice-told, each from a different character's perspective, and each packing a different set of solvable crosswords by Mike Selinker and Andy Kravis," Gold continues. "You can solve along and take the puzzles apart with the characters, maybe gaining new perspectives on things as you work your way through each side."
Here's a preview:
Letters to Margaret is the first comic book published by the game and puzzle book publisher Lone Shark Games - but they hope it isn't their last.
"It's a new kind of comic storytelling that we think readers will love," Selinker, who owns Lone Shark Games, tells Newsarama. "It's our debut comic book, in what we hope will be a long line of puzzle comics."
Lone Shark is currently running a Kickstarter for Letters to Margaret, with a goal to raise $7,500 for the first printing of the book. Don't worry, at most Kickstarter levels there's a way to get a copy of the crossword puzzles if you don't want to write in your comic.
Letters to Margaret goes on sale this November.
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