Amelia Cole #18: Talking WIth the Creative Team About...THAT Ending

The final issue of Amelia Cole's most recent storyline hit the stands this week -- and the ending was a game-changer.

The series, which takes place in the space between worlds, split some of its lead characters between settings at the end of this most recent arc, "The Enemy Unleashed," and it promises huge changes for the upcoming fourth volume of the fan-favorite series.

As always, writers Adam P. Knave and D.J. Kirkbride joined ComicBook.com for a discussion of the issue.

Remember that these interviews are spoiler-heavy. If you haven't yet read Amelia Cole #18, go buy it now and read along with us.

It's been a couple of issues since we had an "Amelia's hungry" callback. Were you guys holding off, or just distracted?

DJK: She tried to hit the snack machine, but nobody had change for a five. Lady's super hungry, but sometimes one has to put that aside when monsters and magic ghouls are attacking your city. After the day is saved, lunch.

APK: And the runner gets old if it is used every time. She's always hungry, but we aren't going to call it out every single instance. We'd be here all week!

The Council have to be pretty dim that they didn't see a trick coming with whatever she was doing to Lemmy, doin't they?

APK: The Council, like many things Amelia has faced, just underestimated her. Never smart. And they didn't do it a second time, eh?

DJK: It's not that they're dim, it's that Amelia thinks outside the box. She pulls off stunts most folks wouldn't even consider, partly from bravery, partly from just not knowing better. Luckily, her big gamble with Lemmy worked.

Is that shot of him revived the first splash page in the series? Obviously they don't play quite the same in digital...

APK: No, there was one back in the first arc, and a few since, right D.J.? It's something we don't like to do often because we only have so many pages, but when the need arises…

DJK: We want to make every page counts, and Nick is great about making lots of panels work, but sometimes you need a spotlight. Lemmy's new look felt like one of those times.

So the idea here is that he's drawing power from both Amelia's source and from the Council, right?

APK: The idea is that the Council were absorbing the energy from their monsters (which were out absorbing magic from all over) and Amelia put Lemmy in the path to grab a bunch of it. He is still powered by Amelia's energy, just now he has a boost in the form of… well… other stuff.

DJK: Yeah, she' absorbed a lot of the standard blue energy, mixed with Amelia's yellow magic, hence his snazzy green eyes. It's also fun because now he and Amelia are eye-color twins.

Was their "you have the will but not the power" comment a deliberate callback to last issue when Hector said something similar about how she beat him?

DJK: Partly, though The Council is more saying that they are just the most powerful so 'n so's around. In their minds, or collective mind, no one can beat them. They are the top dogs, the big cheeses. They're a cocky bunch. We'll see how far that gets them.

APK: Yeah if only there were the type to say "Neener neener" it would've been the end of that line.

Even the Council just call Hector "Former Protector." Man, he's got it rough.

DJK: Well, they were his boss's boss back in those days, so that's how they know him. At least they didn't make fun of the rhyming. Sure, they're evil, but they're not MEAN. (Just kidding, they are totally mean.)

APK: At least they didn't use air quotes. Oh, they should've done little creepy air quotes.

Did the Council know what they were doing at the end? The implication is yes, since they talk about Dani not closing the doors completely before they do it...but then they boot Amelia off to the magical world, which seems like a dumb thing to do considering the ready supply of reinforcements she could find there.

APK: What they meant and what happened and why will be explored as we go. But it would've been really dumb to do that on purpose, right? And did Hector's jumping in have anything to do with it? We're opening up new questions, and will address them all.

DJK: I think it's safe to say that Hector barging in screwed up their spell a little bit. Things don't seem to go as planned for anyone half the time, good or bad.

Hector, of course, is now kinda the Amelia figure from the first issue a little bit. He's got magic but living in "our" world, actually using it would probably be unwise unless absolutely necessary, right?

DJK: A major difference is that Amelia was comfortable in the non-magic world. She had her own little life there with friends and could also jump to the magic world whenever she felt like it. Hector has never been to the non-magic world. It's just been a fairly recent concept to him. So it's going to be weird. It's almost more comparable to Amelia in issue 2, when she gets trapped in the formerly "unknown," blended world. He's a stranger in a strange land... with internet and credit cards and all sorts of stuff he's never heard of before.

APK: NEXT ISSUE: Hector discovers cat gifs… and is never heard from again.

That said, is Lemmy the last magical being left in the Unknown World?

APK: Not by a longshot. See, we're at a turning point and the story… remember how Unknown World was just one thread, and then these last two arcs have seen two threads at once? Brace yourself to follow three threads! Leave no story behind!

DJK: Lesh and Sanz from Omega Company are there, plus all the average everyday mages and some folks we've yet to meet. The world is lacking some serious hero leadership from Amelia and firepower from Hector, but there are still folks who have the potential to rise to the occasion.

This volume blew by. Is there going to be a time anytime soon when we can settle down for a minute and take stock of all the chaos that's been going on?

DJK: That's an interesting question. The book does keep getting more and more action-packed, and we also love the quiet moments. At this point, it's such a roller coaster for Amelia, with incredibly high stakes. She's not they type of person to just have a sit down and rest when work needs to be done. That being said, everyone needs occasional downtime to take a breath, whether they like it or not.

APK: NEXT ISSUE: While Hector finds cat gifs, Amelia has instant coffee and contemplates the special moments in her life!