June 27th, 2014
27 Jun 2014 · page 383 of 1306
Gonna be a smooth job, then.
Cast: Benjamin Thackerey, Heinrich Wolfe, Jack O'Malley
Comments (39)
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Wowza, that lizard almost looks like he came out of a different comic entirely! XD
im gonna go out on a limb and guess fear
Panic, perhaps?
The minor spirit of minor neuroses?
Pretty sure that one's currently sitting on my shoulder, bloated to an obscene size.
Bipolarism, pherhaps?
If personal experience is a guide, our little malform is the personification of an anxiety attack.
In spite of Mal's startled response, the little guy does not appear to mean any harm. He wants help.
Does England have people with Anxiety Disorder?
Or is that just an American thing?
I was leaning toward paranoia myself.
Judging by the color I'd say cowardice.
I think it's more an homage to Dr. Seuss.
An attack or a joyful greeting?
I definitely read it as the latter.
Didn't Mal promise to send a lot of malforms "back home" in a previous adventure, and then fail to do it because of circumstances? This might be one of them.
Oh boy, a groupie.
Paranoia?
Looks like someone (...something ?) is feeling Greed coming.
Gonna be a while, then. This is Envy's arc.
Panel 4 is particularly lovely (yes, I know shipping Mal with Ben makes no sense; don't you judge me).
More importantly, this page makes me wonder:
What exactly counts as an ability Voss can steal? If Voss is right-handed and someone else is left handed, can he steal their left-handedness to become ambidextrous? And is so, what would the person be left with? Can he steal things like someone's courage (which is a virtue with its own magical personification)? Can he steal a wizard's innate ability? Or Mal's? If he doesn't like having an ability (like, say, if he steals Mal's and it drives him nuts), can he give it back? If Envy leaves him, will he lose the abilities he'd stolen?
If the answers to the last three questions are yes, no and yes, well... Wouldn't that be interesting.
Not a time traveller here so I'm guessing but I'd say the lefthandedness... probably yes? Courage... I'd say no but it's really a hunch. The last three I'm also expecting a yes, no, yes and this may be the key to this plotline. I also still remember the particular phrasing Envy used to describe its "gift".
As for shipping... but the less sense it makes the more fun it is!
Good point about the phrasing. I forgot that Voss needs that button to keep the magic working.
As for shipping: if it made sense, it would be canon is what I say.
As far as spiritual monikers go, "The One Who Sees" does have a certain ring to it. And on the topic of names...since he always introduces himself as O'Malley first and goes by Mal among friends, I've often wondered just how much he dislikes the name Jack. Too many other Jacks? Named after someone he's not fond of? Just plain doesn't feel it fits as much as Mal(content)?
They named the monkey "Jack".
Oh wait. There _isn't_ a monkey in this is there. Well, blew that theory...
British reserve could be at fault, even if O'Malley is not British. The use of the first name implies some degree of association and he may not be comfortable with the closeness he deems that to imply.
It's the Oh God of Hangovers!
Mal has fans! :-D
Has someone been reading Dr. Seuss?
This
Looks like somebody summoned up paranoia.
Alright, here's my speculation.
Voss is the one who bought this factory (remember, it's under new management), and with Envy's help he terrified or otherwise forced this malform into coming in, doing its things, and then waiting for the crew to come and send it home. In short, this is a trap with the malform for bait.
Of course the malform would be doubly eager to be sent home. Not only is it out of its home, but it has drawn the up close and personal attention of Envy. That's scary enough to make anyone want to run home and hide under the covers!
I like that O'Malley can already sense something's wrong about this situation by panel 3.
Poor panicked lizard spirit . . .
I can imagine why Mal's not very cooperative with Ben if that's what he has to look at all the time.
"YOU HAVE A BIG PURPLE HIPPY AURA. YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO."
Still looks less irritating than Sid's, though. XD
So...will Mal be able to see in color when his ability to see malforms is taken away?
Suppose Voss steals whatever it is that makes him envy Wolfe--he doesn't know even know what it is, but he wants it--and it happens to be Wolfe's contented disposition that offers good will to everyone. Thus they effectively switch personalities. Thus Envy the Deadly can't stand Voss and takes off--and the rest of the plot concerns getting the two personalities switched back. How's that for a guess from someone who really really tries never to guess?
XD This is going to be lovely, I can tell!
Aww, and I'm all caught up! I'm both happy and sad about this. I'm really enjoying this comic, I haven't had so much fun burning through an archive in a while! The dialogue, the humor, the storytelling, the art, all of it is quite fantastic! Keep up the excellent work, and thanks for providing me with a new source of humor and fun shenanigans!
(And just 'cause I like to give credit where credit is due, I found you through my friend Vanilleon's tumblr when she was letting people know about your Patreon page. ^^)
I'm up to date now, that makes me so mad.
Ohmigosh it's so cute!!!! I love it. I want to hug it. Look how worried it is in the first panel!!! Poor thing!
Pain or Panic?