A character-driven, long format online comic that updates three times a week. Comedy! Drama! Revolutionary Communists, runaways, creative taxidermy and more.
Chapter 5: Lit, page 69.
Most pensive Reagan ever.
Kid-talk is hard to script. I’m glad it’s over.
32 thoughts on “Chapter 5: Lit, page 69.”
If she makes it through her teen years alive, this girl’s gonna have a few trust issues. Poor kid.
Just a few? I have a feeling she won’t be trusting anyone but herself by the teen years. She’ll trust her dad as much as she can, given what his mentality is like, but it’ll be a protective sort of trust. Everything else will be up to her.
I’m trying to keep in mind that Reagan and Scip don’t know what we know but…damn it…Reagan’s icy look in panel three is so harsh! And…and…gah! Damn you, Spike! Your comic is too emotionally-involving. Stop…stop writing it so well!
( Really though, don’t stop writing it so well, because I love it, but GAH Zora’s eyes in panel two they are tearing my heart out )
You know, for a moment I wasn’t sure how to read Reagan’s expression there either. I think that it’s supposed to be more of a “……..the fuck?” sort of Later, rather than an “OMGOKBYE!” Later.
It’s a beautifully pencilled expression tho. I think the confusion stems from the lettering. To my eyes, the Underlined/All Caps combo comes off as stern or cold too.
I think it’s because everyone’s got their own shit to think about – Ben on his pills/job/copybook, Ray and Scip on Pippi meltdown – also, apart from Ben they don’t think Gene’s family (and thus Gene himself) could be anything but another Sincerist-level looney cult. They haven’t seen the frightening side like Zora has. Maybe if she’d told them just what happened (“my dad nearly killed my cousin just now”), then at least curiosity would have gotten Ray to go over and get involved.
Everything is a tragedy when you’re a kid. Of course, this means that some actual tragedies get ignored by adults, because it seems the same as when your toy fell into the river.
I dunno that
A: Gene is that worried about the controller anymore. He doesn’t seem like he has concerns that last into the long-term.
B: Getting the controller back will actually fix what Zora is upset about.
So in a way Scip and Reagan’s concern is right around the right level. It’s not the controller that matters. It’s Gene’s crazy-ass Jake family.
A big yep to the first part. But I dunno about after that.
A: I always thought Gene’s game was a big deal to him. I think it would console him.
B: If her dad is okay, Zora’s okay. I think she’s on the right trail.
Yeah, they are acting about the right way for people who don’t know what went on, but still. With them knowing Gene, they should have had a better idea of how big a deal it is.
And yes. The Jakes are the main problem. Bastards….
It is! I was thinking at first she was misproportioned (she looks toddler-sized in the last panel), but then I remembered Scip and Regan are GIANTS. :)
I wonder if this will stop Scip and Ray shouting at one another – once your raving rant trail gets derailed by anything, it’s really hard to pick up from where you left off. :-P
Arrgh. “Cute.” Exactly the ignore-the-kid-it-isn’t-serious-isn’t-she-‘cute’ crap that poor Zora has to deal with; because it couldn’t possibly be a sensible and reality-based actual desperation, now, could it.
“Adorable” is just such a dismissive and patronizing thing to say, though. I mean, I’ve kind of been where Zora is — not like the murderous-f***ed-up-dad thing, but really bad stuff had happened, and getting an “awww, so adorable when you’re mad” response is just a straight-up plain message that people are just not taking you seriously, don’t consider your experience to be of pressing importance, and what is more important in their minds than the situation is noticing how “cute” you are when you are flailing around in desperation and panic. No empathy, no identification with the person or identification OF what is most important about the situation; just, how “cute” you are when you are hurting and afraid.
Try imagining yourself as the target of that for a minute, why don’t you — you are in a rage, you are terrified, you have a desperate pressing need to get the people around you to take you seriously because there are permanent consequences that you will have to live with for the rest of your life that could f*** you up badly — and people are saying how “adorable” you are. If there is anything in the world which will tell you how powerless, helpless and unvalued you really are, it is that.
She sees the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, a clairvoyance of utter doom, her apoplectic savant of a father, a cult of incestuous survivalists ironically hastening their demise rather than staving it off. It’s all going to come crashing down, and like the moon pulling the tides, she is powerless to stop it. Call in the meat wagon, fellas, and call the penitentiaries. We’ve got a full plate, and time is on our side, unlike Zora. Time’s gonna fuck her up but good.
I hate seeing Zora all angry and frustrated like that…and bald. D: I kinda wanna take her to one of the many wig shops here in Chicago and give her some Shirley Temple wigs or something. >_<
Poor kiddo….just wants to help her pop.
Also, Scip and Ray argue like a married couple…and it's turning me on a bit. O_o As spicy as she is, she's a great "Reality check" for him.
Even knowing the backstory, I suspect that if I had to deal with Zora on a daily basis I probably would not have been even nearly as nice to her as Reagan was, and I know that I couldn’t have possibly even begun to approach Scipio’s reaction.
The fact that she doesn’t know any better and that it’s not her fault adds a certain amount of pity to my general annoyance with her, but it doesn’t alleviate it. It’s probably a good thing I don’t work with kids.
Oh, geez. That’s the kind of mentality I had as a kid.
“If the lamp breaking made Mom mad, and she’s been mad ever since then, then fixing the lamp or getting one that’s identical to it will restore her usual good cheer!”
Adult me knows that Mom’s cheer was mostly forced and the reason she got so pissed about the lamp/plate/whatever was because she was working like 15 hours a day and finally cracked a little under the strain.
Poor Zora. Trying so hard to fix her dad so he’ll never beat someone half to death again, and she thinks it all revolves around a videogame controller.
Thing is, in this case, she’s probably right, at least in the short term. Gene has drawn the short straw genetically and his upbringing has certainly not helped, nor his drug use. He’s pretty much unfixable.
I don’t know why, but I kind of expected Reagan to freak the next time she saw Zora. I mean, they did shave the poor girl’s head. But I guess she must have seen her new haircut before this.
Either that or she just expects it, which is sad.
If she makes it through her teen years alive, this girl’s gonna have a few trust issues. Poor kid.
Just a few? I have a feeling she won’t be trusting anyone but herself by the teen years. She’ll trust her dad as much as she can, given what his mentality is like, but it’ll be a protective sort of trust. Everything else will be up to her.
Buh…I…mnnrnnm…
I’m trying to keep in mind that Reagan and Scip don’t know what we know but…damn it…Reagan’s icy look in panel three is so harsh! And…and…gah! Damn you, Spike! Your comic is too emotionally-involving. Stop…stop writing it so well!
( Really though, don’t stop writing it so well, because I love it, but GAH Zora’s eyes in panel two they are tearing my heart out )
You know, for a moment I wasn’t sure how to read Reagan’s expression there either. I think that it’s supposed to be more of a “……..the fuck?” sort of Later, rather than an “OMGOKBYE!” Later.
It’s a beautifully pencilled expression tho. I think the confusion stems from the lettering. To my eyes, the Underlined/All Caps combo comes off as stern or cold too.
Guy, I can’t WAIT to see how all these different threads come together!
Find a retro game store! Surely Templar has one of those. Why is it so hard for them to think about?
I think it’s because everyone’s got their own shit to think about – Ben on his pills/job/copybook, Ray and Scip on Pippi meltdown – also, apart from Ben they don’t think Gene’s family (and thus Gene himself) could be anything but another Sincerist-level looney cult. They haven’t seen the frightening side like Zora has. Maybe if she’d told them just what happened (“my dad nearly killed my cousin just now”), then at least curiosity would have gotten Ray to go over and get involved.
Everything is a tragedy when you’re a kid. Of course, this means that some actual tragedies get ignored by adults, because it seems the same as when your toy fell into the river.
I dunno that
A: Gene is that worried about the controller anymore. He doesn’t seem like he has concerns that last into the long-term.
B: Getting the controller back will actually fix what Zora is upset about.
So in a way Scip and Reagan’s concern is right around the right level. It’s not the controller that matters. It’s Gene’s crazy-ass Jake family.
A big yep to the first part. But I dunno about after that.
A: I always thought Gene’s game was a big deal to him. I think it would console him.
B: If her dad is okay, Zora’s okay. I think she’s on the right trail.
Yeah, they are acting about the right way for people who don’t know what went on, but still. With them knowing Gene, they should have had a better idea of how big a deal it is.
And yes. The Jakes are the main problem. Bastards….
Haha, it would “console” him. Ha.
“I don’t HAVE later” ought to be among the worse things I’ve caught a child say. Gee.
It’s cute how tiny she is compared to them.
Also…ominous, Zora.
It is! I was thinking at first she was misproportioned (she looks toddler-sized in the last panel), but then I remembered Scip and Regan are GIANTS. :)
Suddenly I’m seeing 25 year old Zora as the Lisbeth Salander of Templar.
Scary thought.
A few things:
1) Why is it that when I look at Panel 1, I think Zora looks bigger than she actually is?
2) I watch Zora’s thought processes and see both wisdom and naivete in it at the same time, a mark of good writing.
3) Panel 4: that one is like a Stephen-King-scene look if I ever saw one. Things are not going to end well.
Urgh. She must know something – like the jakes are heading out of town soon and taking her with them? Yikes.
Or she knows that her dad just went into a murderous rage and she needs to stop the last cause NOW before he goes into another.
She doesn’t have later because things are currently super fucked up.
Hard to script as it may be, kid dialogue is lovely to read. I love what she does to the language.
I love this comic.
I wonder if this will stop Scip and Ray shouting at one another – once your raving rant trail gets derailed by anything, it’s really hard to pick up from where you left off. :-P
“I don’t HAVE later” is the cutest angry phrase ever.
Arrgh. “Cute.” Exactly the ignore-the-kid-it-isn’t-serious-isn’t-she-‘cute’ crap that poor Zora has to deal with; because it couldn’t possibly be a sensible and reality-based actual desperation, now, could it.
Serious and cute aren’t mutually exclusive. *I* know she’s serious. Doesn’t make it any less adorable.
“Adorable” is just such a dismissive and patronizing thing to say, though. I mean, I’ve kind of been where Zora is — not like the murderous-f***ed-up-dad thing, but really bad stuff had happened, and getting an “awww, so adorable when you’re mad” response is just a straight-up plain message that people are just not taking you seriously, don’t consider your experience to be of pressing importance, and what is more important in their minds than the situation is noticing how “cute” you are when you are flailing around in desperation and panic. No empathy, no identification with the person or identification OF what is most important about the situation; just, how “cute” you are when you are hurting and afraid.
Try imagining yourself as the target of that for a minute, why don’t you — you are in a rage, you are terrified, you have a desperate pressing need to get the people around you to take you seriously because there are permanent consequences that you will have to live with for the rest of your life that could f*** you up badly — and people are saying how “adorable” you are. If there is anything in the world which will tell you how powerless, helpless and unvalued you really are, it is that.
She sees the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, a clairvoyance of utter doom, her apoplectic savant of a father, a cult of incestuous survivalists ironically hastening their demise rather than staving it off. It’s all going to come crashing down, and like the moon pulling the tides, she is powerless to stop it. Call in the meat wagon, fellas, and call the penitentiaries. We’ve got a full plate, and time is on our side, unlike Zora. Time’s gonna fuck her up but good.
I hate seeing Zora all angry and frustrated like that…and bald. D: I kinda wanna take her to one of the many wig shops here in Chicago and give her some Shirley Temple wigs or something. >_<
Poor kiddo….just wants to help her pop.
Also, Scip and Ray argue like a married couple…and it's turning me on a bit. O_o As spicy as she is, she's a great "Reality check" for him.
So, if Gene dosen’t have his focus, does it get more agitated or more catatonic?
From the way Zora is acting I would say more agitated, a lot more agitated.
Even knowing the backstory, I suspect that if I had to deal with Zora on a daily basis I probably would not have been even nearly as nice to her as Reagan was, and I know that I couldn’t have possibly even begun to approach Scipio’s reaction.
The fact that she doesn’t know any better and that it’s not her fault adds a certain amount of pity to my general annoyance with her, but it doesn’t alleviate it. It’s probably a good thing I don’t work with kids.
Oh, geez. That’s the kind of mentality I had as a kid.
“If the lamp breaking made Mom mad, and she’s been mad ever since then, then fixing the lamp or getting one that’s identical to it will restore her usual good cheer!”
Adult me knows that Mom’s cheer was mostly forced and the reason she got so pissed about the lamp/plate/whatever was because she was working like 15 hours a day and finally cracked a little under the strain.
Poor Zora. Trying so hard to fix her dad so he’ll never beat someone half to death again, and she thinks it all revolves around a videogame controller.
Thing is, in this case, she’s probably right, at least in the short term. Gene has drawn the short straw genetically and his upbringing has certainly not helped, nor his drug use. He’s pretty much unfixable.
I don’t know why, but I kind of expected Reagan to freak the next time she saw Zora. I mean, they did shave the poor girl’s head. But I guess she must have seen her new haircut before this.
Either that or she just expects it, which is sad.