The End is Near: DJ Kirkbride and Adam P. Knave On Amelia Cole #29

There's less than a month left before the end of Amelia Cole by Adam P. Knave, DJ Kirkbride, and [...]

By Russ Burlingame

amelia cole 29-1
(Photo: Monkeybrain Comics)

There's less than a month left before the end of Amelia Cole by Adam P. Knave, DJ Kirkbride, and Nick Brokenshire.

Before the end, though, we got a heartbreaking issue that saw a member of the cast make a profound sacrifice -- one that seems to have saved the day...but there's still one issue left to mess with fans.

Knave and Kirkbride joined us to talk about last week's issue and to look forward to the finale, which ships on June 29.

This is a SPOILER-HEAVY interview. If you haven't read Amelia Cole #29 yet, buy it here and read along with us.

Now, first off...the death in this issue is something where I kind of feel like it was inevitable. Certainly the last issue was hinting that way. Was this conclusion always in the cards?

APK: Let me start by saying it isn't a DEATH. It was referred to, by Frank Cvetkovic actually, as "Mon-El in the Phantom Zone with Zod," and that's not a bad way of thinking about it. Lemmy is out there. Protecting everyone, on every world, from the Council.

DJK: Yep. Lemmy is the only one who can keep going, who can survive in that between worlds space. He is our Protector behind the scenes and a true hero. I'm gonna miss him.

APK: As for always in the cards, it was as of somewhere around issue 7. D.J. and I were at a Baltimore Comic-Con and Nick was there, first time the three of us hung out in the same space. That Sunday we pitched Nick on this ending (This and issue 30) because we'd just realized what it had to be. He agreed. So it's been in the works since then. Thematically it is the only way that works. Amelia came to the unknown world lost and alone, so she made a friend and started growing as a person. But at a certain point everyone needs to fly solo. This is that moment for her, and it hurts. For Lemmy, this is also what he was created for, even if Amelia didn't know it, in a sense.

You had teased throughout the series a little bit that there was something about Lemmy's nature that we didn't know. Can you talk about that?

DJK: This speaks to Adam's previous answer as, yes, it's why he was created. Throughout the series there were hints (and flat out statements) that Lemmy was no ordinary golem. He didn't speak, but he had a personality and will of his own, unlike the monstrosities Hector when he was The Protector made back in volume 1 and the Lemmy Corps in issue 28. He's not just rock, either. There's some wiring and metal in there, little bits of technology and pieces of things tied to Amelia's unknown past-- all of it plus her habit of using WAY TOO MUCH MAGIC created our pal Lemmy. In this issue we see maybe for the first time that HE knows his fate, too. He realizes it maybe before Amelia does, or at least he accepts it before she does.

APK: He is, in a way, the last gift Aunt Dani had for Amelia, even though either of them knew it. All of Dani's hinted at research wound up right in Lemmy, basically, the true merge of science and magic. It's funny, to me at least, that people have guessed for years now WHY he was different, and of course we couldn't tell anyone that it was because of that science/magic merging in a new way. It would've been too big a hint toward where we are right now.

The fight scenes in this issue are really dynamic. They feel a little anime/manga-inspired to me. Do you know if that's a thing Nick has been shooting for, or if it's just my feeble, aging brain?

DJK: I can't speak for Nick, but I think he's been watching a lot of anime lately. Also, he's been itching to cut loose a little. Sometimes doing an all ages book means holding back when it'd be more fun to go crazy. This big fight scene, and, really, the whole final battle with The Council, pushed it as far as we were comfortable going for this series.

APK: Yeah Nick keeps growing and changing as an artist, and it, thankfully, bleeds in.

On that note, were we meant to recognize any of those monsters?

APK: Well yeah, they're regulars at the bar, Russ. Over there that's Bob, and Cindy is back there with the … nope, these are all Brokenshire originals.

DJK: There could be some surprises in there, as Nick loves pullin' fast ones on us. I'll have to re-look. Who do you recognize, Russ?

Have the Council done permanent damage to the worlds, or is it something that they can recover from now that they're gone?

APK: We still have an issue to go, don't we D.J.?

DJK: Indeed we do. It's done, and it makes me all emotional when I think about it.

Did you guys leave any kind of sliver of hope open for Lemmy in case you get to do follow-ups?

APK: All I think we can say is that we have the plots for the next 18 issues should the opportunity come around. So that isn't something we can answer, I don't think…

DJK: We'd never say never, but we're lucky to have made it to this finale, honestly. Yes, we can always come up with more stories, and we have loads of ideas. I wish we could write Amelia Cole forever, but the market makes even 30 issues something of an amazing feat.

I was kind of hoping that Amelia would get to keep her Golem Power Glove.

DJK: Me, too. Why'd we decide against that? Was it too ghastly when we thought about it?

APK: I was just thinking about this, before I saw the question - our original idea had HECTOR keeping it, oddly enough, and then Amelia was going to and then it just came down to, not a ghastly thing, but a "Let Amelia be her own persona and stand tall without Lemmy," which meant she couldn't also have Lemmy bits around to help. It needed to be a clean break for story and emotional reasons.

DJK: Wearing your pal's hand over your own hand is quite ghastly. Of course, she was already wearing him like a mech suit, so I dunno. You're right, though, the main reason was to make it clear that Amelia's on her own.

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