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 74.
Mesmer, do you like to shock people? I think maybe you like to shock people.
44 thoughts on “Chapter 5: Lit, page 74.”
Well when you put it THAT WAY I guess the internet sounds really strange.
Awww, Mesmer’s so cute with his need for approval expressed through a facade of disdainful judgmentalism, I want to take him home and spoil him by giving him all the attention he so obviously craves…
Take off that headband and he’s Dylan Thomas with an attitude problem.
Also, I am absolutely INTRIGUED by the technology in this comic. Is Templar set in the near future? The idea of a successful localized internet based newspaper and television service boggles my mind and piques my interest. Is it like pay-per-view? Do they pay individually per episode like a sort of TV iTunes? Do they subscribe to shows and channels and pay for them individually, or in a package thing? Or do they pay towards a Media conglomerate who basically runs all the media in and around Templar? Or is it run by the city? A government subsidized media with incredibly low standards. Wouldn’t be the first complex government debacle I’ve seen in this city.
Oh god I’m rambling.
Ands no Mes, Ben isn’t rich as hell. If Ben is rich, then I’m upper middle class driving an Acura and taking monthly trips to my beach house in the Hamptons.
It’s not called an “Alt History” comic for nothing. You’d have to ask Spike to find out exactly what changed in this version of the world’s past, but it’s definitely an alternate reality setting.
“Rich” is a relative term. I totally get where Mesmer is coming on that. My family didn’t have hot running water in their apartment until I was nine and we didn’t live in a place with central heating until I was 13.
This is a slightly alternate universe. Exactly where it diverged Spike is vague about but the older, non-monotheistic religions seem to have a larger place in the background culture and there is or was a guerilla war going on in Australia.
Man, Ben is completely unphased by unusual shit, isn’t he? I know if someone said they had an upbringing like Mesmer’s I’d be wondering whether or not they’re pulling my chain. Guess it’s a symptom of living under the Jakes.
Entirely unrelated to the comic and maybe a bit rude: Can Spike filter what ads come through via Project Wonderful? (Probably a dumb question)
Just wondering because this Crazy Ghosts banner is creepin’ the piss outta me. That, and she’s posted about terrible ads on her twitter before. Specifically, ads that use BOOBS BOOBS BOOBS as their sole form of advertisement.
(Of course, I click it anyways. FYTA was shut down and I’m achin’ for new things that might be horrible.)
I will never ever tell him, but I have a friend who reminds me of Mes. (Except, as far as I know, without the casual disregard for the intended gender of his clothing.)
lisaquan, based on the name of the ad, i think shes a GHOST. hence the nipples, or lack thereof. (im more disturbed by the shine. you could use her tits as a damn crystal ball. )
Chris, I’m with you on the tech angle, this is awesome, that regular tv isn’t broadcast. It points, among other things, to a city wide wifi of sorts. … and… Pirate signals? hmm.
Flannery and Mez are employees (tho Mez tries to get out of anything resembling work at every available opportunity).
Ben hangs out periodically, fixes shit, sometimes does store related work, sometimes gets paid for it (these last two according to Spike if I’m remembering what she said correctly).
It bugs me when people say “you’re rich, because the average person in south ebolaland lives on 30 cents a day” as if it was actually meaningful to extract figures like that from one economy and present them in the context of a very different one.
Mesmer strikes me as the sort of person who is preparing to do just exactly that.
While it would be hard to extrapolate 30 cents a day, there are people living in parts of the world without access to clean water, healthy food, or decent educational, informational or economic opportunities. You can’t necessarily perfectly compare dollars to reals, rupees, etc but you can extrapolate what it means to have decent food, shelter and hygeine. While there are certainly people in the United States who fit the global definition of poverty, most people you’ll meet that consider themselves poor are actually quite wealthy by global standards. By those standards, it’s more irritating to listen to a kid who can even have his feelings medicated say that he is poor.
I don’t know if this is where Mesmer was going with it, maybe she was going to pull the “you have your health, friends and sanity” argument. We’ll see, right?
I think it’s going to be more about how Ben ACTS like a kid from a wealthy background…which he is. It’s not very hard to spot the difference between middle/upper middle class kid in reduced circumstances and kid who was born poor, raised poor, and is still poor. Not foolproof…but not difficult.
Many people don’t have an adequate standard of living. No food security, no safe place to live, and so on, and that’s in the States, never mind places with ebola. I’m middle class, and that makes me feel pretty damn rich, and pretty damn fortunate. How can anyone not feel rich compared to someone who doesn’t know if they’ll eat tomorrow? Should we compare ourselves to people who lead lives of disgusting excess? I’m not rich because my cat doesn’t have his own butler and yacht?
I reckon it’s our capitalist consumer society – no one can feel satisfied with their lives, ever, because they’re constantly bombarded with images of people that have more, more, more. Having grown up hungry and homeless, it is also hard for me to understand how people could take a warm, dry place to sleep and food security for granted, but by now I’m used to how pissed off people get when you call them rich for it. Even the kids of doctors and lawyers who live in million dollar homes will get pissed when you call them rich. I wonder what it is about being “rich” with which people don’t want to identify? Is the judgment that’s attached to the label? Or is it a belief that “rich” signifies a person without problems and hardships, and the power to attain whatever they desire? Maybe rich is more of a relative than objective term, and its only meaning is “those with more money than me,” so by definition no one can ever think of themselves as rich?
I do wonder where Mesmer is going with this, considering he’s opening with a romantic glorification of poverty.
Uh… how do we know Mesmer isn’t a female? I had been pretty sure Mesmer was just a hairy chick until I read all these comments and saw everyone referring to Mesmer as a “he”. But… no where in the comic that I can recall seeing does anyone refer to Mesmer as a he or she, and it just seemed like Kingdom Come had only female employees and Mesmer LOOKS pretty femiminne beyond the hairy face – but I have seen some hairy women working at the Wal-mart the next town over from me so that doesn’t really mean anything…. in short:
I suppose in some OTHER alt-Arizona, there’s a Chick!Mesmer, but if I remember right, Spike confirmed gender for Mesmer on Twitter after his first appearance, and he is definitely a dude. Just enjoys the frilly side of the store, when shopping.
I just don’t see girl when I see Mez. It’s the square jawline, the facial hair…Shit, give Ben longer hair and he’s easily femmier to my eyes than Mesmer.
Mebbe it’s the ambiguous fro and the lips that are throwing people off. In illustration often times men are drawn “lipless” to more distinguish them from their stylized female counterparts. But this doesn’t reflect real life as we all know that menz do indeed own lips :P
Random: I totally made Mesmer Black and Jewish in my brain when he was first introduced.
Well when you put it THAT WAY I guess the internet sounds really strange.
Also I can still totally hear Mesmer’s slightly nasal, possibly slightly accented, totally annoying voice in my head.
I totally get the same voice from him. o.o
I love Mez. But try as I might to fight it (and I’m trying really, REALLY hard), he sounds like Lumpy Space Princess in my head.
Pendleton Ward, YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU DO.
OMG, yessss! He totally sounds like LSP to me!
Rich. As. Hell.
I imagine his voice to be a little Miss J from ANTM and a little stereotypical fabulous man from everywhere.
Awww, Mesmer’s so cute with his need for approval expressed through a facade of disdainful judgmentalism, I want to take him home and spoil him by giving him all the attention he so obviously craves…
Spillway Overflow. No, yeah, change the channel. Fuck that shit. Pfff. S’not like it’s gonna matter later or anything.
Take off that headband and he’s Dylan Thomas with an attitude problem.
Also, I am absolutely INTRIGUED by the technology in this comic. Is Templar set in the near future? The idea of a successful localized internet based newspaper and television service boggles my mind and piques my interest. Is it like pay-per-view? Do they pay individually per episode like a sort of TV iTunes? Do they subscribe to shows and channels and pay for them individually, or in a package thing? Or do they pay towards a Media conglomerate who basically runs all the media in and around Templar? Or is it run by the city? A government subsidized media with incredibly low standards. Wouldn’t be the first complex government debacle I’ve seen in this city.
Oh god I’m rambling.
Ands no Mes, Ben isn’t rich as hell. If Ben is rich, then I’m upper middle class driving an Acura and taking monthly trips to my beach house in the Hamptons.
It’s not called an “Alt History” comic for nothing. You’d have to ask Spike to find out exactly what changed in this version of the world’s past, but it’s definitely an alternate reality setting.
“Rich” is a relative term. I totally get where Mesmer is coming on that. My family didn’t have hot running water in their apartment until I was nine and we didn’t live in a place with central heating until I was 13.
This is a slightly alternate universe. Exactly where it diverged Spike is vague about but the older, non-monotheistic religions seem to have a larger place in the background culture and there is or was a guerilla war going on in Australia.
Man, Ben is completely unphased by unusual shit, isn’t he? I know if someone said they had an upbringing like Mesmer’s I’d be wondering whether or not they’re pulling my chain. Guess it’s a symptom of living under the Jakes.
Entirely unrelated to the comic and maybe a bit rude: Can Spike filter what ads come through via Project Wonderful? (Probably a dumb question)
Just wondering because this Crazy Ghosts banner is creepin’ the piss outta me. That, and she’s posted about terrible ads on her twitter before. Specifically, ads that use BOOBS BOOBS BOOBS as their sole form of advertisement.
(Of course, I click it anyways. FYTA was shut down and I’m achin’ for new things that might be horrible.)
Yea the Crazy Ghosts ad bugs me.
Whats wrong with her breasts? Where are her nipples? Where the hell are her arms? I think her lack of arms bug me the most.
I clicked on it. Why did I click on it?
I don’t understand.
get firefox, then get an add-on called Ad-block plus. then block some adds.
noooo… don’t do that! Then the lovely creators of content don’t get paid, and then they don’t create more delicious content for me to read/see.
Is Mesmer wearing a SHOELACE in his hair?
I think he is! Good catch!
I will never ever tell him, but I have a friend who reminds me of Mes. (Except, as far as I know, without the casual disregard for the intended gender of his clothing.)
lisaquan, based on the name of the ad, i think shes a GHOST. hence the nipples, or lack thereof. (im more disturbed by the shine. you could use her tits as a damn crystal ball. )
Chris, I’m with you on the tech angle, this is awesome, that regular tv isn’t broadcast. It points, among other things, to a city wide wifi of sorts. … and… Pirate signals? hmm.
WhoTookThatty, i think he got a refill!
Ah, thank you Ben, for answering my question from yesterday. I just thought I was missing something.
Okay, who is Mesmer? Was he one of the ones hanging out with Sunny? I don’t recall, and he sadly lacks a page on the cast.
He was seen in Kingdom Come before – he works there / is the manager / is the owner / probably the manager. He makes his classy appearance here.
http://templaraz.com/?p=377
He’s rockin the shoelace there also.
I am seriously envying Ben his Reagan-hug in that post.
he’s not the manager, Regan is the manager.
CHEAT SHEET:
Reagan is the manager of Kingdom Come.
Mr. Randall (who we’ve never seen) is the owner.
Flannery and Mez are employees (tho Mez tries to get out of anything resembling work at every available opportunity).
Ben hangs out periodically, fixes shit, sometimes does store related work, sometimes gets paid for it (these last two according to Spike if I’m remembering what she said correctly).
c:
He appeared when Ben was just finding out what “churchyard” meant, and he spoiled the reveal for his co-worker. He always seems to be on break.
It bugs me when people say “you’re rich, because the average person in south ebolaland lives on 30 cents a day” as if it was actually meaningful to extract figures like that from one economy and present them in the context of a very different one.
Mesmer strikes me as the sort of person who is preparing to do just exactly that.
While it would be hard to extrapolate 30 cents a day, there are people living in parts of the world without access to clean water, healthy food, or decent educational, informational or economic opportunities. You can’t necessarily perfectly compare dollars to reals, rupees, etc but you can extrapolate what it means to have decent food, shelter and hygeine. While there are certainly people in the United States who fit the global definition of poverty, most people you’ll meet that consider themselves poor are actually quite wealthy by global standards. By those standards, it’s more irritating to listen to a kid who can even have his feelings medicated say that he is poor.
I don’t know if this is where Mesmer was going with it, maybe she was going to pull the “you have your health, friends and sanity” argument. We’ll see, right?
I think it’s going to be more about how Ben ACTS like a kid from a wealthy background…which he is. It’s not very hard to spot the difference between middle/upper middle class kid in reduced circumstances and kid who was born poor, raised poor, and is still poor. Not foolproof…but not difficult.
Many people don’t have an adequate standard of living. No food security, no safe place to live, and so on, and that’s in the States, never mind places with ebola. I’m middle class, and that makes me feel pretty damn rich, and pretty damn fortunate. How can anyone not feel rich compared to someone who doesn’t know if they’ll eat tomorrow? Should we compare ourselves to people who lead lives of disgusting excess? I’m not rich because my cat doesn’t have his own butler and yacht?
TRUTH: you speak it.
STUFF: It’s complicated.
I reckon it’s our capitalist consumer society – no one can feel satisfied with their lives, ever, because they’re constantly bombarded with images of people that have more, more, more. Having grown up hungry and homeless, it is also hard for me to understand how people could take a warm, dry place to sleep and food security for granted, but by now I’m used to how pissed off people get when you call them rich for it. Even the kids of doctors and lawyers who live in million dollar homes will get pissed when you call them rich. I wonder what it is about being “rich” with which people don’t want to identify? Is the judgment that’s attached to the label? Or is it a belief that “rich” signifies a person without problems and hardships, and the power to attain whatever they desire? Maybe rich is more of a relative than objective term, and its only meaning is “those with more money than me,” so by definition no one can ever think of themselves as rich?
I do wonder where Mesmer is going with this, considering he’s opening with a romantic glorification of poverty.
LMAO, Mesmer, ilu.
Uh… how do we know Mesmer isn’t a female? I had been pretty sure Mesmer was just a hairy chick until I read all these comments and saw everyone referring to Mesmer as a “he”. But… no where in the comic that I can recall seeing does anyone refer to Mesmer as a he or she, and it just seemed like Kingdom Come had only female employees and Mesmer LOOKS pretty femiminne beyond the hairy face – but I have seen some hairy women working at the Wal-mart the next town over from me so that doesn’t really mean anything…. in short:
Mesmer could totally be a female, yes?
I suppose in some OTHER alt-Arizona, there’s a Chick!Mesmer, but if I remember right, Spike confirmed gender for Mesmer on Twitter after his first appearance, and he is definitely a dude. Just enjoys the frilly side of the store, when shopping.
Nah, he’s a dude. http://templaraz.com/?p=386
I just don’t see girl when I see Mez. It’s the square jawline, the facial hair…Shit, give Ben longer hair and he’s easily femmier to my eyes than Mesmer.
Mebbe it’s the ambiguous fro and the lips that are throwing people off. In illustration often times men are drawn “lipless” to more distinguish them from their stylized female counterparts. But this doesn’t reflect real life as we all know that menz do indeed own lips :P
Random: I totally made Mesmer Black and Jewish in my brain when he was first introduced.
Oh! Alright then. Well that clears that up for me, thanks!
Mezmer needs to get a god damned razor so he doesn’t have such a disgusting dirt-‘stache.
Maybe that beard is his way for not getting mistaken for a girl.
That thing is a crime against beards.
*Snicker* Organic Nut Butter *Titter*