The Making of Lord Caterpillar Returns: An Introduction

This book was my way of dealing with the Victorian stuff I had been wrestling around with Ugly Botany. I knew it was time for a new Lord Caterpillar book, as the first one ended with a cliffhanger that felt unfair to the reader. This next book would expand on the character's superhero background. A lot more Lord Caterpillar. A lot less Mary Pierce. Not that I didn't like Mary Pierce, it was just that she was our guide through the first book; it was time to see Lord Caterpillar in action. And yet, as we go through this book, it might be Lord Caterpillar that is the villain. And is Mary the hero?

I stole the format of villains playing poker, talking about their experience with the hero, from a Batman: The Animated Series episode that had exactly the same gist. Instead, I would take it to ridiculous heights with fairytale villains lashing out and lamenting their failures. Thus, it soon became as fun as possible to create all these wacky and silly villains like Pharaoh Seti and Giselle and Oscar Pendragon. It was especially funny to cast Oscar Pendragon.