The Final Classic Issues (2013): 7, 8 and 9 Are Now Available in the VARULV Classic Archives
Hey guys! Uploading the new VARULV Classic stuff today marks the end of VARULV Classic content. I hate leaving things on cliffhangers, but I’m afraid that’s how it went down, back in 2013 when these stories were first published.
So what happened?
Back when I was first doing the VARULV series, I was living with my husband in Ohio, preparing to take on more comic book work when I got a call from my parents. It was then I found out that my mother had cancer, and I made the decision to pack up everything and move back home to Pennsylvania. I became quite busy that year, and 2014 was full of highs and lows. Sadly, my mom eventually passed away, but my husband and I were fortunate to have a ray of sunshine come from behind that cloud in the form of our daughter, who was born right before mom’s passing.
When they say there are times in your life where you can cut the whole thing in half from what is and what was, I truly understand what that means, now. The year 2014 was like that for me. I came in as one person and left as a wholly different one. Unfortunately, most of my comic work didn’t come with me. But things are different now, and I am glad that I am able to reboot VARULV with the same amount of excitement it enjoyed in years past. To that end, I hope you all have enjoyed looking back on what was, and are looking forward to what will be.
And I understand that some of you will definitely feel cheated, not knowing what happens on several fronts at Issue #9’s abrupt conclusion. So with that in mind, read on only if you want to hear about what might have been, if the series had been able to continue a decade ago…
The following is not canon to the new storyline, but has the potential to be spoilery as it remains a source of inspiration to the overarching VARULV plotline. Read with caution!
So we leave Issue 9 on a cliffhanger… to say the least. Readers will at this point be wondering:
- What happens to Diana?
- What happens to Ragna?
- What happens to Twila?
- What the hell was Tau talking about?
- What about Keni, Alo, and Wyn?
- Where does it all go from here?
This story was the first one that I can say, would have had a more somber tone to its intended end, on many fronts. I was quite interested in leaving the door open for the series to take on a different vibe, and to make this a clear breaking-off point for everything.
The first thing that would have happened is that Keni, Alo, and Wyn would be seen returning to Blaidfästt in rough shape. Having barely escaped the Iele High Council with their lives, their trio would be hiding out in the village for the time being, so they could recover. This would allow their team to become an extended part of the Blaidfästt pack for the time, as well as lead to some serious identity issues for Wyn, and whether she really wanted to be a part of Fae society at all.
We would see poor Diana completely transformed. Stig would pursue her, but would be fought off by other Strigoi and, as her humanity leaves her completely, this would include Diana too. He and Kjell would dejectedly return to the city as well, with Stig legitimately heartbroken from the loss of yet another romantic interest, and the knowledge that his blood was the thing that ultimately cursed her.
Ragna and Gro’raan would welcome their son into the world, but this one-quarter-human, three-quarters-troll child, though ulven like his mother, would be frail and need extra care. This would lead to Ragna abandoning her post as pack leader and joining the trolls.
The boy afflicted with the plague would live without becoming Ulven. The others would die, save for Twila, who would remain an ulven, retreating to the woods and eventually finding a pack of her own. She would become a major antagonist for the series in the future, as Tau would convince her to free him from imprisonment and she would join his pack, eventually becoming his mate.
Speaking of Tau, his prediction about the Wolf God’s return is proven to be true. The God himself would eventually make an appearance and, his pack in shambles, Kjell would then be faced with the decision to join this God and his pack of Ulven that are hellbent on “taking back that which the humans stole from them” — or remain in Blaidfästt.
And there you have it. I have yet to determine if these stories will get their own twist in this latest incarnation of the series, but knowing myself as well as I (think I) do, I can only guess that they will in some shape or form. Either way, I hope you have enjoyed this trip down memory lane with VARULV Classic, and continue to enjoy the series reboot! More good things to come!
