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By John Lampkin
©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
04/09/19

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

04/09/19

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Tuesday, April 9, 2019

ACROSS
1 “Star Wars” 
warrior
5 Treaded winter 
vehicle
11 “Proven,” in 
proofs
14 Laptop brand that 
sounds like a top 
tennis player
15 Pays homage to
16 Prefix with corn 
or cycle
17 *Employee 
insurance 
coverage, briefly
19 It may be 
bruised
20 Blight-stricken 
tree
21 Deceived
22 Lo __: noodle 
dish
23 Church officers
25 “Valley of the 
Dolls” author 
Jacqueline
27 Animal that 
can learn sign 
language
28 Parting site in 
Exodus
30 “Who’s there?” 
response
33 Rank above maj.
36 Makes an effort
37 Small store
38 Serious no-no
40 Poet Pound
41 Be under the 
weather
42 11 p.m. 
personality
44 Mentalist’s “gift”
45 Installs, as a 
minister
47 Sound like an 
ass
49 Blu-ray buy
50 Quick breaths
54 “To reiterate ... ”
57 Like sunset-
silhouetted 
scenery
59 Golfer’s goal
60 *Unmanned 
aerial attack
62 From __ Z
63 Shrek’s kiss 
made Fiona one 
for good
64 Hint of the future
65 Home in the 
woods
66 Treating kindly
67 Sunset direction

DOWN
1 Ranted (at)
2 French school
3 Skin care prefix
4 Annoy
5 Sacred place
6 Carrots, for 
snowmen
7 Like one’s prized 
music collection, 
perhaps
8 Small water birds
9 Big name in 
canned meat
10 Baking soda amt.
11 *Hotel bed choice
12 Amtrak 
employees
13 “My Heart Will 
Go On” singer 
Celine
18 Flee to wed
22 Mexican mother
24 Sleep in a bag, 
maybe
26 Gig component
29 “Pronto” letters
30 Japanese golf 
great Aoki
31 Hardly the best
32 *Persist despite 
difficulty
33 Sounds like a 
crow
34 Docs who deliver

35 Bausch partner
38 On a scale of 
one to __
39 Sculler’s need
42 “Please don’t bite 
me!”
43 Persistently 
worry
46 Symbolic 
Egyptian snake, 
which includes 
the start of a hint 
to the answers to 
starred clues

48 Peter of Peter, 
Paul & Mary
51 Snail trail
52 Colorado’s __ 
Peak
53 Cardiologist’s 
implant
54 Apple tablet
55 Jason’s ship
56 Lawn mower 
brand
57 Take a load off
58 Exxon, formerly
61 Homer’s neighbor

FOR RENT

Making 
a 
single 
comic 
strip, however simple the 
strip may be, is a painstaking 
process. I learned this in fifth 
grade, doodling comics in my 
workbooks and spending way 
too much time trying to get 
my characters (Kirby rip-offs 
and an OC named Bob, who 
was essentially an oval with 
Ls for legs and an isosceles 
triangle of a nose) just right. 
Now take one of those single 
comic strips — say about 
four panels — multiply it by 
over 400 and distribute it 
daily. It takes commitment, 
dedication and an extremely 
sharp drawing hand to pull 
off something like that, which 
is exactly what Canadian 
cartoonist Michael DeForge 
did with his latest work, 
“Leaving Richard’s Valley.”
“Leaving Richard’s Valley” 
takes place in this bizarro 
and bleak version of Toronto, 
one where animals can talk to 
humans. Groups of animals 
and humans form, and most of 
them turn out to be cults. The 
titular 
character, 
Richard, 
is one such cult leader. With 
his band of racoons, spiders, 
frogs and college classmates, 
he lives on a section of land 
in a public park he claims as 
his “Valley.” City officials 
can’t be bothered enough to 
throw them out. The multiple 
intertwining plots are thrown 
into motion when a group of 
four animals are kicked out 
of Richard’s Valley for trying 
to save their sick friend 
with what Richard deems as 
unpurified water. As per most 
daily comics, hijinks ensue 
and lessons are learned.
However, 
“Leaving 
Richard’s Valley” is unlike 
most daily comics. DeForge’s 
mode 
of 
distributing 
his 
comic was via Instagram — 
all 475 pages that constitute 
the recently released print 
collection can also be found on 
your phone @richardsvalley. 
While 
I’ve 
seen 
other 
Instagram artists that have 
attempted drawing (mostly) 
daily comics for however long 
a time (@tommysiegel and @
nathanwpylestrangeplanet 
come to mind), they lack 
the overarching themes and 
stories that DeForge brings to 
life, facets that bring to mind 
the best of “Peanuts” and 
“Calvin and Hobbes.”
I recently had a chance to 
interview Michael DeForge 
over 
email 
about 
social 
media, solitude and his new 
graphic novel, among other 
things. DeForge will make 
a stop in Ann Arbor at the 
Vault of Midnight on April 
13 for his international book 
tour 
promoting 
“Leaving 
Richard’s Valley.” Check out 
his words below, and perhaps 
get a chance to hear some 
different words in person 
later this week.
The Michigan Daily: You’ve 
been in the comics scene for 
quite some time now, not 
only traditional print comics, 
but also online ventures and 
even TV animation. How did 
you first get into the world of 
comics, and how would you 
reflect on your career so far 
after multiple years in the 

business?
Michael 
DeForge: 
I’ve 
been drawing comics since 
high school, but things really 
changed when Anne Koyama 
(of 
Koyama 
Press) 
first 
noticed my what I was doing. 
She took a big risk publishing 
someone 
so 
completely 
untested. In general, I owe 
a lot to people taking those 
sorts of chances on me. That 
was certainly the case with 
my job in animation, where 
I was invited to audition for 
a design position despite not 
having any formal training in 
the field. I feel very fortunate 
and I’m very grateful.
TMD: 
I’ve 
never 
been 
to Toronto — never been 
to Canada, in fact — but I 
definitely got a real sense 
of 
the 
city 
through 
the 
comic, even though “Leaving 
Richard’s Valley” presents a 
more fantastical world. How 
would 
you 
describe 
your 
approach to this, blending 
elements 
of 
fantasy 
with 
more gritty realism?
DeForge: I wanted to make 
the environment seem very 
“lived in,” so I added a lot of 
both real and imagined bits of 
Toronto history to the book. 
Hopefully, spending so much 
time hashing out those details 
helped make it feel like a real 
city. It was important that 
the characters be tethered to 
a specific place and time.
TMD: “Leaving Richard’s 
Valley” 
was 
originally 
distributed 
via 
Instagram, 
with you posting one comic 
a day for over a year. How do 
you feel about social media 
having become this new home 
for comics and illustrators, 
particularly 
Instagram 
and 
Twitter? 
Are 
there 
differences to the varying 
social media platforms that 
makes one an ideal choice for 
hosting a comic?
DeForge: 
I’ve 
always 
posted my artwork online, 
so sharing work that way has 
been pretty natural for me.
There 
are 
aspects 
to 
Twitter 
and 
Instagram 
I 
dislike 
— 
I 
particularly 
hate having our livelihoods 
be 
so 
wrapped 
up 
with 
corporations who don’t care 
about us in the slightest, and 
I miss the days when online 
platforms were a little more 
personal and customizable 
— but I also understand this 
is the primary way people 
follow me. I don’t actually 
think either website’s format 
is that ideal for hosting a 
comic, to be honest, but I feel 
sort of stuck with both for the 
time being.
TMD: 
The 
mood 
of 
“Leaving Richard’s Valley” 
is definitely a somber one, 
especially 
highlighted 
by 
the color scheme (or lack 
thereof ). Could you explain 
the stylistic choices behind 
the comic, particularly the 
black-and-white artwork?
DeForge: I like switching 
between color and black-and-
white projects so that I don’t 
get too bored with any one 
style. I think the look of the 
comic really came together 
once I figured out the collage 
elements and the photocopied 
textures. I wanted to make 
the city feel cluttered, rather 
than just being generally and 

vaguely “dirty.” It’s a very 
specific type of noise and 
mess I was trying to evoke.
TMD: Reading “Leaving 
Richard’s Valley” reminded 
me slightly of Larry Marder’s 
“Beanworld,” 
a 
comic 
I 
randomly happened upon as 
a preteen, although it seemed 
the 
connection 
existed 
mostly in my mind. What 
were your personal biggest 
inspirations and influences 
for the creation of the comic?
DeForge: 
Ha, 
I 
loved 
“Beanworld” 
as 
a 
kid! 
Berkeley Breathed’s “Bloom 
County” was a big influence 
on this comic, as well as 
on my last strip, “Sticks 
Angelica, Folk Hero.” I liked 
how it covered this broad 
community of characters so 
lovingly, and how fleshed 
out the setting felt. There’s 
obviously a “humans talking 
to 
animals” 
thing 
that’s 
present in my work a lot. I 
barely understood most of 
the jokes as a kid, since a lot 
of them were fairly topical, 
but I ate it up anyway.
TMD: I’ve read that you 
worked on “Adventure Time,” 
which I’m sure amounted to 
something like a dream job. 
What role did you play in the 
making of the show? Would 
you ever want to helm an 
animated TV series of your 
own?
DeForge: I was the props 
and effects designer, but I 
ended up doing other things 
as well — character design, 
storyboarding, concept art, 
title cards, whatever. The 
concept art I was able to 
contribute to a few episodes 
is some of the work I’m 
proudest of from my time 
there.
“Youth 
in 
Decline” 
publisher Ryan Sands and I 
were developing a show called 
“Mall Nation” for Cartoon 
Network that they ended up 
passing on. It was about the 
student body of an elementary 
school getting indefinitely 
locked inside an abandoned 
shopping mall, who are forced 
to build this new, anarchic 
society for themselves. It 
would have been fun to work 
on if it got off the ground, 
but the pitching process was 
exhausting 
and 
ultimately 
pretty 
heartbreaking, 
so 
it’s not something I’d be 
all that eager to jump into 
again unless I really had the 
right idea for it. I like being 
focused on comics.
TMD: 
How 
does 
it 
feel 
embarking 
on 
an 
international book tour to 
promote “Leaving Richard’s 
Valley”?
DeForge: Drawing comics 
can be solitary work, so 
having the opportunity to 
travel and talk to readers 
on tours is real nice. It’s 
certainly not something I 
expected I’d ever be able to 
do when I was first starting 
out.
TMD: 
What’s 
next 
for 
Michael DeForge?
DeForge: I have a shorter 
comic 
coming 
out 
from 
Koyama Press in the fall 
called “Stunt.” Aside from 
that, I’m just chipping away 
at stories that probably won’t 
be published for another two 
years or so.

Surreal illustrated worlds 
with Michael DeForge

CASSANDRA MANSUETTI
Senior Arts Editor

COURTESY OF CASSANDRA MANSUETTI

GRAPHIC CONTENT SERIES

Rhythm games are a unique 
product of the video game world 
that combines music with gameplay. 
If you’ve ever played “Dance Dance 
Revolution” or “Guitar Hero,” you 
know the intense satisfaction of 
correctly dancing or playing an 
instrument to a sequence of notes 
on the screen. For being no good at 
them, I have always been addicted 
to 
that 
satisfaction; 
countless 
hours have been spent attempting 
to master the music (on medium 
difficulty at best). In 2014, I found 
my calling.
Imagine “Guitar Hero” but on the 
computer, and you had to click notes 
that showed up on the screen. That’s 
the essence of “Osu,” a game that 
challenges your rhythm and hand-
eye coordination. Each track you 
play is called a “beatmap.” Talented 
beatmappers and other dedicated 
community 
members 
work 
to 
provide quality beatmaps that 
rhythm masters play to perfection, 
competing for points and a higher 
position 
on 
the 
leaderboards. 
“Osu” is still affectionately called 
an “obscure rhythm game” by its 
community, but has grown to 14 
million registered players in its 
12-year lifespan. It’s not so obscure 
anymore, but still nowhere close to 
the popularity of “Just Dance.” Part 
of that is the challenge — it has an 
enormously high skill ceiling — but 

much of that might be attributed 
to the “Osu” community’s music of 
choice.
The 
“Osu” 
competitive 
community is built on thousands of 
beatmaps to songs that I collectively 
call “anime music.” Anime music 
consists of opening and ending 
themes to popular anime series, 
visual novels, JRPGs and other 
media connected to anime. I 
myself found “Osu” at the tail end 
of my middle school anime phase, 
attracted to both the challenge 
and the cute, enigmatic vocals — 
enigmatic for an English speaker, at 
least. I never got sick of those songs, 
spending countless hours mastering 
beatmaps deep into the night, 
thrilled to finally find a rhythm 
game I was good at.
I want to write that “at first 
glance, ‘Osu’ seems like a normal 
rhythm game,” but it’s crystal clear 
right away that it’s not an ordinary 
rhythm game. The game is deeply 
entrenched in anime culture and it 
wants you to know it. The name itself 
is a Japanese word (pronounced 
like “oss”) an expression tied to 
Japanese martial arts (i.e. karate). 
The game has a pink-haired anime 
girl for a mascot. For a time, one of 
the default beatmaps was “Tear 
Rain” by cYsmix, an electro-pop 
song with Japanese vocals that 
comes from “Touhou Project,” a 
Japanese bullet-hell shoot-em-up 
game. The default songs have since 
changed to be more culturally-
neutral electronic cuts, but the 

vast majority of ranked, playable 
beatmaps are anime music. The 
game’s ties to anime culture are 
so strong that it almost seems like 
they’re inseparable — like “Osu” 
could not be played over a song 
that wasn’t at least tangentially 
connected to anime culture.
It actually takes a closer look 
to see that “Osu” has no features 
limiting it to anime music. There’s 
nothing stopping the community 
from 
making 
beatmaps 
for 
American pop music, or any other 
genre of music that lends itself to 
a rhythm game. So how did “Osu” 
end up becoming a haven for anime 
music?
Some might guess that “Osu” is 
a Japanese game marketed in its 
own country, but that couldn’t be 
further from the truth. It’s actually 
developed in Australia, and Japan is 
only the sixth-most popular country 
for “Osu” players — America holds 
the number-one spot. Part of it is in 
the aforementioned branding: The 
game is clearly marketed towards 
a target audience of anime fans 
and Japanese culture enthusiasts 
(which are nearly synonymous at 
this point in the Western world). 
“Osu” takes a lot of stamina, so 
songs on the shorter end tend to be 
more popular. Most anime openings 
and endings are cut to 90 seconds, 
perfect for the competitive player. 

Anime music finds a home 
in computer game ‘Osu’

DYLAN YONO
Daily Arts Writer

MUSIC NOTEBOOK

YOUTUBE

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

6 — Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

