2012-04-26-mwhf

To Be Concluded

2012-04-26-mwhf

So this strip marks the point where I run out of the plot ideas I have had since like 2009! Aside from (1) how the whole Elvira-is-a-ghost plot is going to resolve and (2) how the whole strip will resolve, which are already pretty much set, ALL IS MYSTERIOUS NOW, or was before maybe a month ago when I started plotting out much of the Last Storyline. After that storyline concludes, sometime I do not know when, I will still do new stuff with the grim Man Who Hates Fun crew, but probably on a much more occasional schedule, and without these ridiculous story arcs that take A GAZILLION YEARS to conclude.

Before all is over, expect an adventure featuring (1) ancient philosophers! (2) beloved British actresses! (3) anticoagulants! (4) magic and ghosts! I wish I didn’t have to subject you to such an adventure, but status quo must be reached. What was started must be completed, and will be completed in a way that will delight Many of You. I guarantee this!

For now, expect delightful Existential Girls action on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next couple of weeks, and I’ll see everyone on MAY 13 for the debut of BAD MOTHER. You will not be disappointed by it!

Six Shots, Big Money

At a certain point I just gave up trying to make all the Noam panels look exactly alike and tried to make each expression slightly different, yet somehow corresponding to a real emotion that Noam might be feeling. This was necessary for sanity.

FOR THOSE OF YOU JUST COMING IN: Noam is Elvira’s younger brother, with whom she and Our Hero used to live. (link) At some point in the past he became an ANARCHIST COP. After the GREAT SWITCHEROO, the ghost Elvira attempted to contact her brother (link), but merely ended up making him suspect FOUL PLAY. Thus he came to New York seeking her (link) and via a series of GENIUS DEDUCTIONS (link) managed to figure out that a FLYING BOAT was involved, which of course indicates the SINISTER RAND CORPORATION.

Part of the fun is that this is in no way a logical process of reasoning! But, um, this story has been going on for so long that I blame no one for forgetting the handful of strips that POWER UP this narrative moment.

There are only three panels left in this part of the storyline, but they are ACTION PACKED ONES, so please check back Thursday for the next update!

Graf Zeppelin

The script I wrote back in September 2011 for this scene just has “ludicrous airship” written; there were a lot of designs, including gigantic hollowed out bombs, the starship Enterprise with a bomb for a saucer and a kind of dias with couches where everyone sat, etc. This seemed the most imposing and the least odious to draw over and over for the next few pages.

The three cornered hat I am truly proud of. Soundtrack for inking this panel: Castlevania. An impromptu house party started around me while I was finishing this tonight, topics of conversation including: the futility of the Belmont family from Castlevania, the value of higher elements on the periodic table and “where it all started to go wrong” as far as adding new elements was concerned, and whether Roger Waters is more odious now that he’s pretending to be cheerful and optimistic or whether his veneer of civility is actually an improvement on his basic honest personality. All important questions and I’m glad they were addressed.

Next update TUESDAY, featuring nine panels in which six bullets are fired. BUT WHO DO THEY HIT?