Solve crosswords as you read a comic in Letters to Margaret

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 cover — (Image credit: Hayley Gold (Lone Shark Games))

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:

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Letters to Margaret 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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Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)