Guest Edited Comics

Star Projector

This page has nine frames, all in black and white. The first shows a person with short, dark hair walking in the rain on the sidewalk. The text reads, "I think of my parents every time I'm out in the rain." The second frame shows a parking lot. An older woman is leisurely pushing a cart in the rain, and her daughter runs ahead, covering her head with her hands. The text says "Mom's rainy day refrain." The daughter says, "Mom, I'm getting all wet!" and her mother replies, "You won't melt, you aren't made out of sugar!" The third frame shows a man standing in the rain with his eyes closed and his face turned towards the sky. The text above says "Dad always going outside, just for a minute." His mouth is open and he says "When I'm in heaven, I'll miss the feeling of rain on my face." The fourth panel shows the narrator's father, in the same setting from a different angle. You can see the narrator as a girl standing to his right. They stand outside a house and his hands are in his pockets as he enjoys the rain. The daughter thinks to herself "If it's a pleasure, shouldn't there be rain in heaven, too?" The fifth panel returns to the present, where the girl, now a woman, looks up into the rain. It bounces off of her glasses. There is no text. The sixth panel shows three people in rain jackets outside as it pours. One leaps, one touches a tree, and one bends to look at a puddle. The text over their heads reads "Listen, my beloveds- go outside, lift your chin, raise your chest." The seventh panel shows one of those three characters facing into the rain with their eyes closed, like in the fifth panel. The text reads "You won't melt, you aren't made of sugar". The eighth panel depicts a hand holding a strawberry. It says "Close your eyes and eat this strawberry. For this moment, you are only your tongue. Dissolve." The ninth and final frame of the page shows the narrator lifting a blanket off of a sleeping child, who holds a stuffed animal. They both look happy. The text says "What a gift to be alive, to hold these perfect sensations."

It is still black and white. The first frame shows the protagonist tucking a child into bed. The text reads "Feel the weight of the sheets, listen to the fabric falling." The protagonist says, "Whoosh, haha!" and the child says, "Can you cuddle with me?" The second panel shows them cuddling. The text overhead reads "WE LAY UNDER THE FALSE SKY OF THE NIGHTLIGHT STAR PROJECTOR" and the protagonist, presumably their parent, says, "Time to close your eyes." The third panel shows stars and a crescent moon. The text says "NOT PLIEADES AND THE PLOUGHMAN, NO LUSTROUS HUNTER OR THE GREAT BEAR." The fourth panel reveals that this was the ceiling; it shows a star projector on the nightstand beside the sleeping child. The text says WE BRING THE HEAVENS HERE, SHELTERED FROM THE RAIN UNDER A NEON BLUE MOON." The fifth slide shows the child's breath touching the parent's ear. The text reads, "ASLEEP NOW, THE SOUND OF A FLOWER BUD LOSENING." There are stars again in the sixth panel. It says, "INHALE, EXHALE, THE WIND BETWEEN THE STARS, INHALE." The seventh slide shows squiggly lines, like wind or air. The text says, "FOR THIS MOMENT, I am only your breath." In the eighth, there are stars again. It says, "THE UNIVERSE COLLAPSES." The ninth slide shows the exterior of a house at night. Rain pours down, forming puzzles in the yard and sidewalk. It says, "THE WHOLE WORLD IS BURNING, BUT HERE THE STARS SHINE JUST FOR YOU."

Marnie Galloway is an Eisner Award nominated cartoonist who makes poetic comics about identity, motherhood, love, and rage. She is best known for her Xeric Award winning wordless graphic novel, In the Sounds and Seas. Her work appears in Best American Comics, The New York Times, PEN America, Cricket, Saveur, and MUTHA Magazine. Marnie lives in Chicago and teaches comics at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

FROM Volume 75, Number 2