Complete?

The production of the three-issue 'Strange New Visitor' story arc (it was initially titled 'New Year's Revolutions', for anyone who might be interested) in this January's Superman titles has come to a close, at least as far as my part is concerned. I finished the art on the last issue a few days ago and am now ensconced in my childhood home, ready to be nursed back to health.
Some of you may know that a six page fill-in was planned for the second issue (Adventures of Superman #624) early on in the scheduling process, both to ease my burden and to ensure completion of the books before the holidays. It was an editorially sound decision. The deadline was extremely tight from the start and it was the smart thing to do. I regret, however, that I wasn't able to see the project through to completion.
Completion, or the failure to do so, is an ongoing theme for me and as I've become more and more aware of this shortcoming over the last several years I've come to understand that it's something of an epidemic in our society - one which is, by nature, accentuated by those of us with an excess of ambition.
Of course, you can't have ambition in excess, can you? But ambition can be a bit like testosterone in that, without some degree of responsibility and focus, it manifests itself as a lot of reckless wanking. Nothing much gets accomplished and you're left with stained sheets of paper and a few hazy recollections of a good idea you once had.
These six pages are a sore spot because, for once, I accepted the responsibility from the outset of completing a project, but was denied the satisfaction of closure due to circumstances beyond my control. Sort of strips a guy of any sense of honour.
Despite all of this, or perhaps because of it, I'm left with a renewed sense of respect for my time and energy. Maybe 'New Year's Revelations' might have been a more appropriate title.
Well-wishes go out to everyone who worked on these books, especially Tanya and Richard Horie who are stuck colouring them through the holidays, and whoever ended up doing the fill-in work on issue two (Cully Hamner was originally slated to draw them but bowed out for reasons unknown).

Merry Christmas.