These are the last two issues of Fruit Ninja that were drawn, and only one was actually completed. I have two more scripts, and I can’t find them; I suspect they didn’t survive the great hard drive crash of 2017. No matter. I think you can get the gist of the last story, thanks to Marcello’s clear storytelling.

This story, “Outfoxed,” is the best of the bunch. I had the characters dialed in, the scripting was tighter, and Marcello was also in the zone by this time. The final witch fight at the end of #6, even without dialogue, is just marvelous. I am sure I wrote something about successive panels, but that layout is all Marcello’s doing. I really wish we could have completed all twelve issues I had plotted out.

I don’t consider myself a good fit for YA or children’s stories. I tried to keep the audience in mind, but I wasn’t going to slack off on using monsters, demons, witches, and so forth, as the story required. This one got a little dark, but only a little. Besides, all kids want to feel like they are getting away with something, reading above their heads or maturity levels. I sure did.

I initially had the most fun writing Emperor Daikon, a guy with more confidence than common sense, and I tried to make him so without becoming obnoxious. It mostly worked. But I ended up liking Shiso the best. While being a ninja, she was also still a kid, with a kid’s viewpoint. I think I did a good job showing that.