Civilization and Seven Queens

in which our hero admits to a video game inspiring his comic book

Dear Readers,

The proof copy of The Blood of Seven Queens #3 arrived from the printer on Monday, two weeks or so after I ordered it. But while I was relieved that it was finally in my hands and that there were no problems to be found, I’d had such a meltdown over the weekend that I’ve spent the rest of the week feeling burned out and stumbling toward tomorrow. Always and forever marching toward tomorrow, and the hope of an easier day on the horizon.

The release of the video game Civilization VII has helped. I’ve been playing a lot of that shit. Between 80 and 90 hours as of this morning, according to Steam. And while it seems kinda ludicrous that a strategy game about building “a civilization to stand the test of time” could be an inspiration for my comic book about fairy tale characters trying to save their world, I’d say that the strange “what if?” nature of Civ has been a huge influence.

In each game of Civilization, you pick a leader and a civilization to represent you. In every edition prior to VII, those two things were a package deal. In VII, you pick one leader to represent you throughout the game but then use them to lead a progression of age-appropriate civs. For instance, the other day I played Benjamin Franklin as Greece, then as the Normans, and finally as America.

No matter which version you’re talking about though, the idea of Abraham Lincoln going to war against Julius Caesar has loomed so large in my brain over the past decade that you could almost accuse my comic book of being Civilization fanfic. I mean, seriously: I’ve already invented an alternate reality Abraham Lincoln. I just gotta do Caesar next, right?

At any rate, you can purchase your print copy of The Blood of Seven Queens #3 now at my Ko-fi shop. Digital copies should be available within a week. Stay tuned! I just fell a little behind on that front.

Yours,
Chris