Dear Bill,

Dear Bill,

I am dismayed to learn that I was not the first to ascribe such insightful, artistically accomplished and delightfully provocative work to you; on the other hand, you have to admit the resemblances and clues are there (maybe a skilful mimic set you up as the “perp”?. . . perhaps one man’s perp can be another’s heroic warrior artist?)

Nevertheless, I am genuinely disappointed—for a number of reasons—to acknowledge your denial as “categorical,” but I hope you didn’t say so for reasons of shallow politics (as the Vidyadhara used to say, “CCL”).

But who else would have included the Spanish Morion helmet  and the detailed period military costumes . . .?

And I think you protest too much about panel cartoons; you could do something truly wonderful in such a medium. It would speak to young children as well as those “over 10 years old” . . .

For instance, your book “Pirate’s Passage” (Trumpeter Press, 2006) with its wonderful allegory of the Vidyadhara, would come even more to life in an illustrated version (don’t knock “comics”; I discovered H.G. Wells through the Classics Illustrated version of “War of the Worlds”, a truly inspired envisioning of the story).

With best wishes for a long and even more fruitful life,

Nick