Editorial

Welcome to the twenty-fourth issue of Baffling Magazine. 

I’m D. A. Vorobyov, one of the Associate Editors here at Baffling, and with dave’s gracious encouragement I’m so happy to offer you nine stories about giant robots and giant monsters. 

Rhiannon Rasmussen drops us right into the fucking robot with the blistering determination of “Strike the Sun.” Christian M. Ivey’s “Download.exe” follows with a reason why. Then, Kel E. Lyle’s “Origami Ex Machina” meditates on how we change to meet a crisis, whether we know we’re doing it or not. “Coruscate’s Ironclad” by Rem Wigmore and our cover story, “The Kaiju Grows Orchids Where it Bleeds” by Sabyasachi Roy give us two very different glimpses of lost familiar faces. Conrad Loyer then imagines entirely new kinds of kaiju, mechs, and pilots in “Limbic Blues.” “The Reykjavik Disaster” by Jay Kang Romanus presents a civilian perspective and a more intimate examination of the conflict between mech and monster. Jason Schembri’s “Pilgrim” marches toward the end of a long and brutal conflict. Finally, "Toccata and Fugue in Canis Minor” by Jeoi Gawain Lin looks back on it all, long after the end. 

I’m so grateful to all of our lovely authors for trusting me with their work, to artist Erso O’Day for the beautiful cover they’ve given this issue, and to dave for letting me take this idea and run with it. As always, thank you so, so much our Patreon supporters, without whom none of this would be possible. 

I hope you enjoy the issue! 

D.A. Vorobyov
Associate Editor, Baffling Magazine