January 14th, 2020
January 14th, 2020
14 Jan 2020 · page 956 of 1306

Absolutely never an ominous thing to say.

Cast: Benjamin Thackerey, Eliza Swift, Gren, Pemberton Pryce

Comments (61)

  • ThisCat 6 years ago archived

    Why what a kind and generous man, offering jobs like that.

    • Kaunisenkeli 6 years ago archived

      If only I could get someone to offer me a job, especially one that uses my degree. Mal is so lucky to be so sought after.

      • Radiance 6 years ago archived

        Working for this guy would probably be almost as bad as working in retail, though.

        • BeepBeepMeepMeep 6 years ago archived

          Are we certain he isn't retail, though? "Job of a lifetime" and all.

          Meaning you do it once and then never want to again

          • Alétheia 6 years ago archived

            Or you're stuck in it until you die because retail is the black hole of low-wage jobs

            • Sanjay Merchant 6 years ago archived

              The two are not mutually exclusive, y'know.


              (Themed formatting is fun!)

            • BeepBeepMeepMeep 6 years ago archived

              It's so true??

          • Sanjay Merchant 6 years ago archived

            Going all the way to England to hire an actual witch seems like a lot of effort to boost Halloween-season business at your costume shop.

            • BeepBeepMeepMeep 6 years ago archived

              Americans do a lot of strange and inefficient things, to be honest. You can never tell with us.

  • pingo1387 6 years ago archived

    What's Ben looking at in panel 4? If it was Mal I'd assume it was a spirit, but...?

    • qrr 6 years ago archived

      "Wearing the wrong kind of hat" when he's not wearing any hat, maybe?

      • Sanjay Merchant 6 years ago archived

        Ah, but we don't know what sort of hat he was wearing that day. Way, he might have been so gauche as to show up in England in a ten-gallon hat!

        • BeepBeepMeepMeep 6 years ago archived

          That's Americans for you- we're always wearing the wrong kinds of hats.

      • Sturzkampf 6 years ago archived

        People in this comic just don't wear enough hats.

        • Mari 6 years ago archived

          Says the person with a Jäger icon 😂

          • Sturzkampf 6 years ago archived

            Exactly. 900 pages and Mr Thackerey still hasn't acquired a hat from the head of a defeated enemy!

            • McRocky71 6 years ago archived

              To be fair though, none of the enemies Ben has personally defeated were wearing hats.

              • Sturzkampf 6 years ago archived

                Hence my original post that there are just not enough hats in Widdershins! :-)

    • Andy Nguyen 6 years ago archived

      He's putting two and two together, realizing that the hat comment meant Mal looked at Pryce's spirit and realized he was bad news, and that may be why he made himself scarce.

    • Emily 6 years ago archived

      Seconding what Andy said. Ben can't see Pryce's spirit himself, but he knows Mal would have seen something there.

    • Del 6 years ago archived

      Ben had possession of Mal's power for a short time. He knows what sorts of things Mal is able to see.

  • Heylir 6 years ago archived

    crying Wolfe! Mal went away because he didn't want to get his friends into dangerous mess, not because he wanted to leave you both! 😭

    • (Fig.2) Ocean Burning 6 years ago archived

      If only Mal had explained this to anyone

      • Heylir 6 years ago archived

        Thinking about that, maybe Mal's experience with Lust was a part of his decision to go away silently.


        I mean, he could be afraid that Pryce'd use his friends as hostages to make him do "the job of a lifetime" (like Lust did)... and maybe Harry's example (she went away to defend other people, including her friends) "inspired" him a bit?

        • (Fig.2) Ocean Burning 6 years ago archived

          Yeah, maybe? But still, you'd think he could have, you know, phrased his note so as to give them more of a clue about the situation, a bit better than "Gone for a walk"??

  • Jess-a-men 6 years ago archived

    Wait, you're telling me this weird dude guy actually got it right?! I'm impressed!

    Now, as for that job, I'm sure it's something perfectly fine. Tobacco tester?

  • Andy Nguyen 6 years ago archived

    Silly Mal, you leveled up from defeating the Seven Deadly Sins. Americans are now a level appropriate encounter.

    • Sanjay Merchant 6 years ago archived

      The problem is that we have statblocks all the way up and down the CR scale, so it's really difficult to tell with any given one of us.

      • Tsapki Perez 6 years ago archived

        My understanding is that we Americans tend to be high Damage but low Health creatures. We can dish out tons of damage, got lots of minion summoning, and cause all sorts of status problems but once you actually get a hit in we go down pretty quick. Just be sure you actually take us down, because if that hit doesn't end the fight, our DPS skyrockets until we get taken out.

        • Composer 99 6 years ago archived

          Definitely a gear check boss fight.

  • Desu 6 years ago archived

    Methinks by 'lifetime', Pryce means less 'have the time of his life' doing the job, and more 'his life's time will come to an end' when it's done

    • Shihchuan 6 years ago archived

      Or "he will be forced to do it for the rest of his life"

      • Desu 6 years ago archived

        Hmm, think Pryce is aiming to use the Anchor? Or is American feeling a bit bummed not having their own witch & anchor since theirs (if we go by Eliza's anchor finding method) is at the bottom of the sea

        • Emily 6 years ago archived

          That would certainly explain why he needs the witch rather than a wizard.

    • AJ 6 years ago archived

      I'm calling stereotypical American consumptiveness. "What do you mean, you won't do this thing that abuses your power and harms the land and people?? YOU and I get lots of cool stuff this way!"

  • Nah 6 years ago archived

    Hmm...I wonder if some Rando wanting something from him for being the witch had a reason why he's running now instead of earlier. Before at least the only people who knew he was the witch were people who weren't gonna bug him about it or try and use him.

  • Darkoneko Hellsing 6 years ago archived

    "I... see" looking above the man is a really nice way to accentuate what O'Malley saw XD


    "probable arrest record" says they don't have have moles in the police to check them.

    • Heylir 6 years ago archived

      I supposed it's "Check probable arrest records", like they just haven't done it yet.

  • Maria Gerasimova 6 years ago archived

    Now it's clear why Mal left...

  • Composer 99 6 years ago archived

    Poor Eliza, got shown up by the new antagonist.

    • Sanjay Merchant 6 years ago archived

      You can practically see her internally screaming:


      "The hobo? THE HOBO!? WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS NONSENSE!?"

  • (Fig.2) Ocean Burning 6 years ago archived

    That is some cold, cold sweat... Poor Ben.

  • Emily 6 years ago archived

    Panel 1: in which Eliza finds out who the witch really is and refuses to believe it.

    • Heylir 6 years ago archived

      Do you think she recognized O'Malley?

      • Emily 6 years ago archived

        Hard to say. She remembers Ben, so she might recognize his friends as well. Unless Ben has the only page with a picture...

        • Pat 6 years ago archived

          She took Ben's page.

          • Emily 6 years ago archived

            She’s probably figured it out by the last panel, then.

  • Archangel 6 years ago archived

    Pro advice, guys: Ice this creep, hang him on a hook, and lock the door behind you.

  • D. Schwartz 6 years ago archived

    That is a very...mortal offer.

  • Maria Gerasimova 6 years ago archived

    It seems she recognized Mal in the penultimate panel ('cause she saw him during the malform-bustung in her drugstore some months ago). But I think now she understands already they need to save Mel from this Pemberton.

  • BCB 6 years ago archived

    Is this "job of a lifetime" the same way that Scar's surprise is "to die for," or the same way that Remake Scar offers his brother a "gift he will remember for the rest of his life?"

    • Archangel 6 years ago archived

      Another good one is: "stay here and you will be surrounded by luxury as long as you live."

  • Heylir 6 years ago archived

    "Seen around Cooper St. Boarding House": the boarding house is near their burned house-office, it seems.

  • DataProwler Netizen 6 years ago archived

    Of course he was wearing the wrong hat; any hat besides Gilgamesh Wulfenbach’s Magnificent Hat simply does not command enough authority.

  • Luces 6 years ago archived

    Meaning the lifetime of a mayfly?

  • Heylir 6 years ago archived

    I have noticed just now! Someone chewed off a piece from the meat in panel 1. :)

  • Ilmari 6 years ago archived

    "looked at me like I was wearing the wrong kind of hat"

    Americans, they have some wonderful turns of phrase. 😂

  • Wyvern 6 years ago archived

    Oooh, he's a sharp one, that Mr. Thackery. So sharp he could just cut himself.

  • Nonesuch 6 years ago archived

    Now he just sounds like Charlie from Erfworld. =_= Or any number of evil thugs who think they're oh-so-clever and subtle.

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