Intrigued by Todd Sharp’s portrait of an angst-ridden Jonny Guess featured on the cover of Chapter 9, a friend asked if each issue contains a stand-alone story, or if he’d need to read all eight back-issues before finally learning about the long-haired dude in the purple coat. Well, “The Elect Stories” is a single narrative, but if you, like my intrigued friend, want to know a shortcut (to mushrooms, as it were) here it is: go back and read Chapter 4, which features Bella Berholtz’s portrait of a middle-aged Guess grinding his way through a bad trip. Chapter 9 picks up where Chapter 4 leaves off, continuing the story of Guess’ new job breaking into a wizard’s crypt, as well as the story seen in Guess’ flashbacks: his first encounter with the swordsman called Palm. While all the chapters in between are needed if you want to meet the rest of the ensemble and fully understand the larger saga, you just need those two if all you want is a new Guess adventure and fast. (You know who you are.)
