Just Do The Laundry

Pocket Dimension May 3 2026

Pocket Dimension is a feature at Comics Odyssey wherein I share inspiration which recharges my creative battery (like how Green Lantern charges his power ring from a battery he stores in a pocket dimension). Let’s get into it!

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Miscellany

The Annotator and The Scribe is a substack by a student of psychology and history living in the Southern Highlands. He found a dead man’s annotated library in a secondhand bookshop. That collection of books became the substack writer’s Virgilian guide into a world of symbolic analysis of tremendous depth. Highly recommended!

The Annotator and the Dark Wood

I also recently stumbled on these high altitude photos of forest fires that I thought were stunning. More here.

Comics

I have been enjoying John Ostrander’s Spectre. I’ve not read any Spectre before this but as I understand it, he was created as a representation of Divine vengeance. Ostrander delves into the themes implied by this creation. It makes for a moody comic which touches more on theology than just about any other comic I’ve read. I think it’s theology is a bit wonky. But Ostrander is not writing a thesis, he’s writing a superhero genre story, fitting into a universe with pre-established parameters. For him to sacrifice this to make a point would just be bad writing (though he does drop the ball here and there on that front).

Mostly I like this comic for the visual atmosphere served to us by Tom Mandrake. Lettering is by Todd Klein and when I see a comic lettered by him, it is a selling feature. But I can’t find anyone else to nerd out about Klein letters with! Ah, the lonely path of a lettering nerd!

Saint of the Week

…is not a saint. At least not yet.

Blessed Marie-Anne Blondin. This composition excellently depicts a woman with her priorities straight.

Esther Blondin, later known as Mother Marie-Anne, was born on April 18, 1809, on a farm in Terrebonne, Quebec.

Although she remained illiterate into adulthood, she committed herself to learning and, by 1833, became a teacher in Vaudreuil, Quebec. During her time there, she identified a major cause of widespread illiteracy: a Church rule prohibiting boys and girls from being taught together. Because many parishes could not afford separate schools, some priests chose not to operate schools at all.

In the spring of 1848, convinced she was guided by the Holy Spirit, Esther presented a long-considered idea to her bishop. She proposed establishing a religious community dedicated to educating poor children in mixed classrooms. Bishop Bourget initially rejected the idea, calling it disruptive and morally unsound. However, since civil authorities supported such schooling, he permitted a limited experiment. This led to the founding of the Congregation of Sisters of Saint Anne in Vaudreuil on September 8, 1850.

By 1853, the congregation’s motherhouse relocated to the Lanaudière region. The community’s chaplain often intruded into its governance, leading to ongoing tensions. After a year of conflict, Bishop Bourget, aiming to safeguard the community, asked Mother Marie-Anne to step down in August 1854. She accepted without resistance, believing this directive reflected God’s will through Church authority.

She was then assigned to lead a new convent, where she again faced mistreatment and was eventually removed from her position. Returning to the motherhouse, she performed modest duties while continuing to endure harassment until her death. Throughout these trials, she remained silent. Working in the laundry, she found purpose in quietly guiding novices through her example of patience, humility, and charity. When questioned about her situation, she replied simply that if Jesus wished her to do laundry, she would do it.

Blessed Mother Marie-Anne Blondin died on January 2, 1890. She was declared Venerable on May 14, 1991, and beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 19, 2001.

Her life stands as a model of humility and obedience.