Apr09
Con Schedule
CGS Super ShowApril 6-7, 2013
Reading, Pa. - Meg only
TCAF
May 11-12, 2013
Toronto, Ontario - Isa and Meg!
Philadelphia Comic Con
May 30-June 2, 2013
Philadelphia, Pa. - Isa and Meg!
Where to find Meg
Where to find Isa
The Adventures of Ellie Connelly
All New Issues
Amya
Dar
The Devil's Panties
Dovecote Crest
The Dreamer
Eerie Cuties
Everblue
Fall on Me
The GaMERCaT
Girl Genius
Girls With Slingshots
Gloomies!
GRONK: A Monster's Story
Lackadaisy Cats
The Meek
> Seed
Phoenix Requiem
Red String
Roza
Something Positive
Subculture
Xylia Tales
YU+ME dream
Metacarpolis
GGAR
Sister Claire
> Blaster Nation
> 9.18 The Fan, radio
Ew. Her face is creepy. And a little gross.
That…is very disturbing and dark.
Yay?
Oh wow this is such a good comic. I feel awful for Anlise
As do I. Thanks for the compliment!
Eerie…. >.> So that’s what you look after being attacked by a brain slug… Er, poppy. Brain poppy.
Are those ROOTS in her FACE?
Yes. Yes, I think they are.
Yep. Roots.
FFFFUUUUUUU-
That is terrifying. Amazingly well-done. But TERRIFYING o_0
You know, you two make it really hard to hate just hate the antagonist in peace. I mean sure, Renge just planted poppies in Anlise’s BRAIN, but she looks so SAD about it. This is sbviously not the way she wants to be doing things. And Anlise herself has been proven to not be the possibly evil type we were all looking for with the burning of people and all. And there was obviously more to Vanessa then we’ve seen so far. There’s not a one-dimensional villain to be seen! You ladies ROCK!
I’m not really getting any sympathy for Renge. The fact that you don’t like watching someone’s brain being eaten by a poppy does not, in any way, make up for the fact that you deliberately HANDED her the poppy, with a cheerful smile on your face, in order to maintain your control.
In some ways, I actually find it makes you more pathetic; if you’re gonna Do Evil, DO EVIL. Don’t get all wishy-washy about it or be hypocritical about how bad you feel. You’re using brain-sucking mind-controlling poppies, you’re a bad guy, suck it up and deal.
maybe, but it sure makes for more interesting, realistic characterizations! i find it almost impossible to get interested in a “bad guy” who’s in it for evil’s sake. in life, the worst people are allllll about justifying their own reasons for breaking the rules and hurting others, and it’s usually to further some cause they deem worthy.
Exactly.
I OTOH find the self-justifying ones pathetic. Look in the mirror, accept what you’re doing as dispicable, and stop making excuses. Or at least don’t try to argue with the heroes when they come to kick your ass, pretending that you didn’t KNOW that it was wrong — when you obviously did — or that you don’t deserve what’s about to happen — which you obviously do.
The thing is though, she wouldn’t look so upset if she didn’t know it was wrong.
You get into the argument over right and wrong in a villain’s behavior when you discuss ends, not actions. They often know their current actions are despicable but they may think it’s for a “good cause” in the end. I don’t agree with such beliefs but they do exist. It’s very common actually, and it makes villains more complex and believable.
It may make them more *believable* in the sense that most people would rather be self-deluded than honest about doing the wrong thing, but that doesn’t make them, to me, better villains. I like at least a few of my villains recognizing that they ARE villains, thanks very much. After all, I can find all the self-deluded type I want by reading the news.
I also don’t know that she wouldn’t look upset if she didn’t know it was wrong. Many parents would look upset at their child in pain, undergoing an operation, even though they knew that the operation was absolutely RIGHT and the pain was a necessary but unavoidable side effect.
If Renge’s got herself deluded enough to believe that the ends justify the means, she could be upset that it’s necessary to cause people pain for their own good, while still completely convincing herself that she’s not actually doing anything WRONG.
Many thanks! I’m a huge fan of villains in general, so I try to make mine very complex. Glad the readers are enjoying that!
Hmm, you know, Renge doesn’t look to happy about this.
Odd…
*opens mouth* *closes mouth* Never mind, I’ll just call and yell at you
The roots bulging through her skin – CREEPY.
I just now noticed all of the little contour lines in the drawings. I’ve never seen that done in a way that emphasizes form yet keeps the drawing looking clean. That’s impressive.
Holy…. Its like Tim Burton meets Freddy Krueger with her face o.o
Ahh I really love Renge! I feel really bad for her, because she obviously didn’t want to do this but I think she is just doing what she has to do.
Also she is really cute and I love her facial expressions!
Wizard’s gotta do what a wizard’s gotta do.
Anyone seen The Ruins? Cause Anlise’s face is reminding me of that right now. Which means she should probably stay away from sharp things.
Yes, I have! This is exactly what I was coming back in here for. I just remembered it today.
Sharp things? If it were bloodthirsty plants like that, she’s already dead.
hmmm, is this what Ozma wishes, or what Renge wishes?
Oh, the importance of a hat. Covers a world of sins…
This is just so entrancing! I’m on the edge of my seat for every update!
Hahah! Glad to hear that!
the veins… inside her skin… AUGH
You have to wonder if these poppies will survive what Warrick did to Anlise. They might also end up poisoned by the residuals in Anlise’s system.
And it seems like Renge didn’t want to do that. So then… why did she? And why do I suspect this revelation, of why Renge did this… is key to this storyline?
What did Warrick do to Anlise? I must have missed that.
It happened off-screen in all likelihood. What other reason would the poppy have for up and dying on Anlise?
Actually, Warrick hasn’t done anything yet… The poppy damage is most likely linked to Emma, who can apparently wither the evil poppies and vines she touches. Anlise touched Emma several times.
Just saying
God that’s gonna give me nightmares.
Still, I notice something interesting here. These poppies seem to be exerting a much greater level of control than the previous ones. After all, she didn’t look like a zombie before. Before, she just looked hypnotized. I wonder why Renge felt the need to take more drastic measures.
Also: that smile in the last panel? VERY CREEPY. I wonder if Renge is going to get more than she bargained for.
Intriguing theories you got there. I like how you think!
I continue to wonder whether the Renge we’re seeing here is an actual human (well, actual normal Ozite) or a vessel for whatever intelligence is actually inhabiting the poppies. Renge’s dialogue just isn’t giving off an “evil mastermind” vibe…and besides, the first thing to remember about Wizards of Oz is that they like to hide behind curtains.
Plus which, I always rather liked Jellia from the books, and I’d hate to think she’s gone irredeemably over to the side of Evil.
. . . me thinks Renge either has feeling for her or at least some regrets about what the flower is doing to her
…Okay, long-time reader, first-time poster here.
So, here are my thoughts on this panel.
I have little sympathy for Renge. She may feel bad about it, sure. But she is still doing wrong, and we can all debate ethics and morality and whether or not the end justifies the means all day, but at the end of it, Renge has STILL put a weird mind-controlling flower in Anlise’s brain. Willingly. To all appearances, without any coercion from an outside force.
Someone once said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I frankly don’t care if my villains have a good reason for what they do or not, it’s still wrong.
Nevertheless! I hate seeing a motiveless villain. If the Dark Lord takes over the world, there had better be a good reason why. If someone can kill/torture/order killed/otherwise cause great physical pain to another person and don’t show a sign of remorse (preferably nightmares), you’d better be able to tell me what froze their little heart. Motiveless villains, to me, will always be scarier than ones with motive.
I.e, Renge is currently scaring me a bit more than Jack Noir of Homestuck. Why? Not for violence – Renge put a flower in someone’s hair, Jack slaughtered huge amounts of people – but because, while Jack’s M.O. is mindless, remorseless killing, Renge at least seems to realize that what she is doing is hurting someone and in order to overcome that, one has to make oneself believe that the act is necessary.
Here’s hoping that Renge has done that.
…Wow. Waxed a little philosophical here, but I have a thing for justified evil.
I’m done here. Sorry for the text wall.
Crap, I meant to say motiveless villains will be less scary than those with motives.
…Yeah, gonna go back to lurking now.
It’s an interesting point of view. Some people are more frightened by methodical evil, others fear what is wild, strange and difficult to understand. One is definitely more… instinctive and animal. The other feels like the result of an equation, the consequence to a cause, a product of society. I guess the one you fear the most depends on the type of personality you have.
A fine little philosophical wall of text. I had fun reading it!
I’ve never read Homestuck myself. But I heard a lot of good things about it! Maybe I shall plunge into it soon.
Also, welcome to the adventure!
It’s related to horror; some people find Hannibal Lecter and Jack the Ripper and Ted Bundy the apex of horror, because they represent something that’s real, or could be, something that they could open their front door and run directly into. Others find supernatural monsters much more horrifying than any mundane killer, no matter how clever, because the mundane killer one can easily envision evading, capturing, or killing in real life, because they have the same limits as real life. A supernatural being violates natural order; any expectations you have may turn out to be simply wrong.
I’m in the latter camp; a serial killer, no matter how creepy and clever, is still nothing but a man with a gun, knife, or other weapon, and that means that in the end he’s no more dangerous to ME than I am to him.
A shapeshifting magical monster, on the other hand, is infinitely more terrifying because it has no business existing at all, and if I encountered such a thing, I have no way of knowing if there even IS a way to defeat it.
I will throw a wild guess that the girl-spirit hanging around Emma is Ozma.
I think villains that think they are doing the right thing, or that are doing something just for being evil, are creepiest, for they can’t be reasoned with. Renge seems to know that she’s not doing the right thing, so maybe she can be reasoned with. Don’t know.
Love this comic. ‘Nuff said.
I know this is an older page, but I just have to say this.
Her hat is her friend. It helps her relax.
Really got reminded of Koishi Komeiji’s Heart Throbbing Adventure here.
Just found this comic recently and have been reading it a chapter a day. (When you have a pig that good, you don’t eat him all in one day) And had to comment on this one.
Holy Crow! The fifth panel gave me such a case of the creepin’ whim-whams I can’t describe it. Going back to look at it while I comment is making my skin crawl.
Super excellent comic, it’s already settled in as one of my faves. And I’ve still got a couple of years to go before I catch up!
(wrings hands and chuckles evilly)
Thank you both so much.