04/27/2014
Perhaps he should have included a Powerpoint presentation?
So now that we’ve heard Scapula’s proposal, the question is: will the other villains and monsters buy this pitch, or will they flip over that table and squash Scap like a cocky-roach? Find out this week!
Most excellent, Casserly.
Thankyew thankyew thankyew, Hall.
I…f**king…LOVE this page! Scapula’s dialogue is delivered wonderfully, and I also really enjoy the lighting and atmosphere in the first panel.
If I was a gangster and heard that pitch, I’d sign up with Scapula, no question!
Glad you enjoyed! I sometimes wonder if this comic is getting, well, TOO serious…and then I remember the members at the table are all ridiculous supervillains and smelly monsters. Then I smile and have fun with it.
Actually, for some reason I kind of forgot they were all weird monsters and costume wackjobs for the last few strips…..
Probably a sign of me going crazy…. er.
Honestly? I feel inclined to take that as a compliment. I really mean that.
If I heard this proposal I’d hop the next plane to mexico for a year or two. NOTHING would make me stay. For a start this sounds a little too good to be true…… and it is. Second, way too many people think that ‘Keep your friends close and enemies closer’ thing is literal and try to do just that, and third the fact he’s about to start dealing with ACTUAL organized crime means the hammer’s coming down and YOU’RE the disposable asset. Add into that the fact you’re looking at multiple rivals who probably will eventually try and take out the boss, and it’s gonna get messy. On top of that, these are criminals, not military men. Their power is in their personal ability, not their leadership….. moreso for SUPER criminals. Discipline can only suffer. Not to mention gunning down a street gang is one thing, but the cops are gonna come down HARD on a new criminal organization the moment they hear about it, to prevent the roots going too deep. Especially when they start linking up all the robberies and murders….. having a theme can be a curse as much as a blessing and with cops it’s a curse and a half.
Thanks for the pizza, but I have to be in Tijuana by about four AM………. In a nice shack with lots of loaded guns.
Ah. Didn’t consider that side of the problem when I posted my other comment, thanks for pointing that out.
I get the feeling that Scap has some henchmen waiting to burst in and shoot the S.M.D.L if they say no, though, so from his point of view there’s not as much risk, which is why he’s making the proposal.
By the way, is anyone else curious as to what Dr. Calibani’s been getting up to?
Charisma is a funny, bizarre thing. At the time it’s all ‘Sounds good!’. Afterwards? You think. I’d make an excuse to get away from the place and vanish, myself. No lying and no committal answers, just an excuse and gone. Watch the fireworks from afar. If it goes Scap’s way, hooray. Sure I missed out but whatever…… I’m not in the body count at least when he decides to trim the fat. If not, I dodged a bullet.
This is by no means a perfect proposal, and there are certainly some questionable elements of his plan…that is, if he is indeed giving them the full story. Is he? You tell me, folks, you should know the value of Scapula’s integrity by now!
And, of course, everyone can assume that Scapula plans on keeping the majority of power and wealth to himself and the other guys on a fairly short leash. He pretty much says this flat out, so at least there’s that (give his integrity a few bonus points).
Of course, if the choice is between Tijuana and sitting at the same table as Babirus, I can forgive some folks for running for the border.
….. Like a shot.
Uhhh, would you really want to give the sewer mutant a division of an army? Also, has the guy in the dinosaur costume said anything at all yet? Also, I would definitely not offer a position to Throgdor after everything he has said and done. These guys seem like the reject generals.
Scapula probably isn’t going to be giving equal amounts of manpower to the gentlemen at the table, or even similar duties for that matter. Count on Tigadactyl being put in charge of a small group of punk kids who want to learn how to fly (and guess how long that regiment will last).
Practice makes perfect for Scapula! I love how he slowly learns from his mistakes, adjusts, and tries again.
I just hope as he gets more refined in his plans that he still runs into WTF moments because there is nothing more satisfying than watching a badass get an unexpected monkey wrench in their plans.
Which is why this is my favorite super-villain comic!
Pardon me, I have to go lay flowers at my Sammy’s grave. *dabs eyes and sniffles*
There’s only so far ahead you can plan before a random element shows up and poos all over everything. I feel inclined to make a chess analogy, but being sadly lacking in chess skills I’ll instead go with Tetris: you may think you’re on a winning streak, but you never know when that damned “Z” shaped piece will drop down and screw things up!
In any case, it’s very flattering to hear this is your favorite supervillain comic (take THAT, DC’s ‘New 52′ and your whole Villains’ month!), and maybe I’ll draw a digital funeral for Sam that you can all participate in somehow. I dunno, anyone want to figure that out?
In the military it’s commonly stated that ‘no plan ever survives contact with the enemy in one piece.’
I dunno. Could do anything from making a facebook post to doing a livestream if you want to draw it out.
I could see Babirus being give a few troops to whip into tunnel fighters. possibly even training others for the tiny motor pool that scapula has.
is anyone else concerned that Scapula’s about to give troops to two cannibals?
Babirus has proven surprisingly competent on several occasions, and his history of working with his long-gone sewer clan brethren means he has some experience with groups (besides the other SMDL members who can’t stand being within a foot’s distance of him). He could probably be an extremely deadly combatant in a guerrilla attack squad.
At this point who can say how many of the SMDL have consumed human flesh? Throgor and Babirus for sure, but Tigadactyl takes his monster act pretty seriously, and Scapula is full of dark and degrading surprises. Perhaps they could resurrect and recruit Idi Amin Dada (or Idi Amin Dadaman?).
I’d flag Babirus as one of the most useful to give troops to, actually. He’s got transferrable skills and works well in abusive groups without having many issues.
At this point the only one I’d be willing to be certain of NOT eating human flesh is Toxsick, because he’s pretty much the only sane man in the group (more or less). God alone would know what Hypnausea had in his chemical soaked past, Tigadactyl’s a japanese fruit loop with way too strong method acting skills in a dinosaur-carnivorous feline costume, and Inverto proved just how dangerous Scapula could be with those teeth if he were ever put into a tight corner…….. a situation we can’t say he hasn’t seen before. Tox? Nah, he’s got his head on more or less correctly and there’s no benefit to it. In fact, there’s a surprising number of reasons NOT to do it, not least of which is disease. Many diseases can’t hop from one species to another but your own species is a different story.
Incidentally, if you are ever forced to subsist on human flesh or any other questionable meat, boil it thoroughly rather than frying or roasting it and don’t taste it as you cook it. And no, I never have eaten any. I just leaned that as part of my survival training.
Given how Barbirus can clear a building by using a toilet, he could be a guerrilla horror of unmentionable proportions. Imagine if he were to put his poop in a bag a light it on fire!
I would not be surprised if Dadaman showed up and ruined everything for Scap.
Scapula is King Big-Sh#t!!! I am so proud of the guy that I’m starting to wonder….?
Nah, couldn’t be.
Wonder…what? Is he a communist? An alien? Gay? Or a gay alien communist?
What’s his secret?! Could it be?! COULD IT BE?!!
I love panel one, Aidan… The candelabras make it eerie and cool… as do the stained glass and painting…. Great compositioning!
Lady Jenn… Quoth Marilyn Monroe: “Ever notice that ‘what the hell’ is always the right decision.”
Glad you liked! The room has an old-timey religious set-up (this lair is in an abandoned church/reform school), and Lord knows there’s a lot of awesome and spooky old Catholic architecture that makes for great mood settings.
I hate to take advice from a lady who spent her whole life basically being treated as a blow up doll…….. no disrespect to Marilyn and all, but she wasn’t in the business of getting murdered by her rivals!
Now, in my PERSONAL life…… yes, yes I have!