35 thoughts on “Templar Arizona 05x008Chapter 5: Lit, page 8.”

  1. I’m sure Nana would have people better disposed toward her if she, you know, didn’t ply her son with drugs.

  2. You gotta love Zora. You just gotta.

    Come to think of it, how old is Gene? Zora’s mom was about 14 when she got pregnant, assuming Zora is 6-7 years ( she started Elementary school at the beginning of chapter 1, right?), so her mom should be about 20-21. Is Gene much older?

  3. I gotta wonder why Reagan likes Jakes so much when she hates all the other subcultures going on in Templar. Not as if Jakes don’t spout as much bullshit.

          1. Plus, as far as subcultures go, Jakes are far crazier than, say, the Reclamation devotees. It’s like comparing fringe Mormonism to PETA. Them folks might still be nuts, but after stripping naked and covering yourself with fake blood you don’t pack your 13-year-old daughter off as a bride to your great-uncle. Probably? I’m not up on my Mormonism.
            Anyway, not that Reclamation are the craziest Templar has to offer, but I’m still thinkin’ Jakes are extreme by ANYONE’s standrads.

        1. I figured like, part of it was also that she doesn’t see them as much. Like, encountering goths, or Hare Krishna monks in the street is mundane and a little annoying, but encountering, say, a troupe of traveling circus freaks would be fascinating.

          We know Jakes don’t come to the city if they have a choice, and it seems like she’s never encountered them before. They’re novel!

    1. Because they beat up all the other subcultures? That’s a pretty endearing trait, gotta say.

    2. I’ve known a ton of people like Reagan, who love having groups of dangerous psychopaths around for extra spice or something. They’re almost always women too, they almost always get told “hey, this is a bad idea”, and don’t listen until some bad shit happens. Until that, it’s always like “hey, they’re good guys, just a little wild”.

    3. Yeah, it’s like the other said. The others are just poser clubs for people who is too bored with their own lives and identities i.e. Curio.

      Ray likes the real deal.

  4. Zora’s expression in the last panel reminds me a lot of when my parents would finally come to get me from after-school. “OH THANK GOODNESS YOU’RE HERE, PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE.”

    1. Yes! That was me too! Just, OMG take me home NOW. I can feel for Zora, poor thing. This must be so weird. People show up, claim to be related to you, shave you head and give you a knife. As a kid I would have been terrified to be in her position.

  5. Wow, a tuner-less guitar!

    Nitpicking aside, this is awesome watching the bruised little snotface get browbeat by the fellow culties!

  6. For a minute, I thought the old man was actually talkin’. Then I noticed the voice was ma’s, comin through the opening door.

    And Zora’s still Zora – “C’mon, okay?”

  7. HOLY CRAP, HE TALKED! …Oh, wait, that was Jackie.

    Maybe he’s like the Chief from Coocoo’s Nest; he’s spent years fooling everyone near him into thinking he’s a deaf-mute, waiting for the right moment to break his act. Or maybe he’s just not that important a character. I dunno.

  8. I think “Nana” doesn’t get a hug, cause she was there the whole time and only cared about business + Marcus. Gene just got home, so of course he’ll need to be hugged first in Zora’s opinion.

    1. You mean Feather?

      And God, I love Zora. She almost makes me want to have kids, even though she’s probably meant to have the opposite effect.

      1. Yes, Feather, apologies I have problems remembering hippie names. Were I ever to have a little one like Zora, I would consider myself very lucky, and then I would promptly go get a vesectomy.

  9. I love that all of the cults and subcultures being hilariously batshit in completely different directions means Spike never has to bother with any indignant dips from the Professionally Offended Class accusing TemplarAZ of being an “Author Tract”, which would surely happen if it were only about one or two of the nutbar groups.

    “I wrote big famous novels mocking organized religion and conservative social repression, but do they call me ‘Bob the Satiric Apostate’? Noooo.

    “I wrote a famous novel about farmers and miners on the Moon declaring independence from an oppressive Earth government, but do they call me ‘Bob the Lunar Labor Revolutionary’? Noooo.

    “But you write one short novel about space bugs attacking a militaristic society with pseudo-fascist overtones…”

    1. “I wrote Story after story with He-man protagonists and weird misogynistic undertones, rapidly ramping up into blatant overtones and wish-fufillment in my later life, but do they call me Bob the Woman-hating Fruitcake? Well, actually…”

      And I say this as someone who loves his earlier work.

      1. It’s so hard to tell, though, since Dave Sim has so thoroughly queered the curve (HAHA YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE, I MOCKED A SELF-HATING HOMOSEXUAL BIGOT) for woman-hating fruitcakery. I miss the days of my youth when I was able to completely ignore hilariously absurd libertarian philosophizing in stories and just enjoy the fairly realistic science fiction.

        I love the way the Jakes are straight vendetta trippin’ over someone else stealing something from them, when rippin’ off the townies is part of their core philosophy. All they need are some Medicaid-provided walkers with “NO GUVMINT TAKEOVER OF HEALTHCARE” signs on them and hats with teabags hanging from the brims to make the picture complete.

  10. what ever happened to that character who ran away from home with the medication problem. I wish I were joking when I say I can’t remember his name. Guess I’m going to check the archives and cast page.

    1. Ben? He’s around. Writing for a living, avoiding his past, he met the cute freckled girl who writes for the flakey magazine. Y’know. stuff. He’s probably just hangin’ around, avoiding the cock of science.

      1. Thinkin’ that was sarcasm. Hopin’, anyway. Damn you, internet, and your lack of inflection!

  11. i think that the Jakes are a mix of a religion and gypsy life. And I was wondering if Jake women sleep around- sort of-in a sence.

    1. Considering Jake women strive to have children with many different races in order to build a better baby, so to speak, one would assume they sleep around a great deal.

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