Aaaannnnnndddd that’s a wrap, folks! Chapter 21, “Death and Destruction,” is in the can. Wanna read it from the beginning? Start right here!
I don’t know if I’m right about this, but I THINK this was our most action heavy chapter yet. For a strip that eschewed action for years, that’s not saying much, I suppose, but it does make it an unusual chapter.
We’re well into the post-Zurida takeover portion of the SuperFogeys saga and we’ve seen some big changes as a result. Lots of deaths this chapter, but for me personally none was bigger than Tangerine’s. While he didn’t show up properly until Chapter 5, I always considered him one of the main cast. His story and arc was something I felt very passionately about as I knew his redemption would be a hard one to swallow and the challenge of carrying it off was exciting to me. That we actually went past the redemption and into another fall was another risk. If I have one regret about the One Year Later storyline, it’s that I think I needed to give Tangerine a bit more “air time” to make the end of his arc really resonate, but I’m proud of the work Marc and I did with his death and it felt like the right ending to the character’s story.
Of course the death of Avalon Money Man will probably have the most impact going forward as it has positively rocked Soviet Sam. Sam is a tender-hearted fellow who has a tendency to give himself over to remorse. In the next chapter, you’ll find out a lot more about Sam as he and his Avalon doppelganger get a chance to compare notes on their dramatically different lives.
Chapter 21 also saw the arrival, finally, of Avalon Thrice Evil and the Avalon Lodge of Doom and Society of Heroes. As you can imagine, they’re going to have a HUGE impact on future stories. The threat of Avalon Thrice Evil is just beginning.
And then there’s Jerry. Jerry’s power level increased in a big way way over the past couple chapters and that’s going to have consequences the Fogeys can’t even begin to imagine and don’t have time for right now. Jerry is about to show everyone what he’s truly capable of.
But coming back to death… this chapter was about loss in the moment. How do we deal with it? Do we shut down, or do we push forward and mourn later? I’m admittedly fascinated by the concept of loss and death and its impact on the living. I think we all react to such things differently, and there’s not really a right or a wrong way despite the assertions of TV detectives badgering a grieving widow who isn’t crying enough. But loss in the moment, death in the moment, that’s a particular challenge. One the Fogeys will probably encounter again soon… ish.
What did you guys think? How did Chapter 21, “Death and Destruction” strike you?
COMING LATER THIS YEAR IN CHAPTER 22…
Speaking of the next chapter… think of the opposite of Chapter 21 and that’s pretty much what’s coming. We’re gonna scale things back and stop the punching for a little while to show more of the two camps in this war–the bad guys in the USZ and the good guys in New California. You’re gonna see Fogeys getting a chance to talk with their Avalon counterparts, and plans being made for attack on both sides. We’re bringing back flashbacks for the next chapter as well as we finally reveal some of what happened during the year we skipped over. I foresee lots of interpersonal character drama and not a few solid jokes.
Apocalyptic Character Comedy–maybe that’s what I should call the next chapter (Nah… but an announcement will come on that front eventually).
HIATUS
This is it for me and Marc for now. It’s time for us to regroup, plan the next chapter, and get a proper head start on it. We’ll check in now and again to let you all know how things are going, and of course there will be an announcement on the site as soon as we have a return date. Last time, we took a year off. I feel pretty secure in saying we’re not going to make you wait that long this time–not even close.
HOW YOU CAN HELP SUPERFOGEYS COME BACK QUICKER
You know SuperFogeys is free. You know it always will be. But, it’s not cheap to make and it’s because of our Patrons that SuperFogeys exists at all. Real talk: the alternative to SuperFogeys being free isn’t to start charging everyone for it, it’s having the strip not exist at all. If you leave just one comment on the strip today, let it be a thank you for the SuperFogeys Patrons! They keep the lights on.
Part of the reason we take these hiatuses is so Marc can work on feeding his family with the commissions and other art jobs that bring in more money. Wouldn’t it be great if he could do more than pay for SF expenses and we could persuade him to come back for the next chapter even quicker? I know I’d love that.
If you want to support The SuperFogeys–imagine if every reader put in just a dollar a month!–you can do it right here, on Patreon. Thank you!
See you all again soon! Watch this space!
I know that theres been an active effort to corrupt Jerry his entire life, but I still think this completely sums up how our Superfogeys made it worse:
“And then there’s Jerry. Jerry’s power level increased in a big way way over the past couple chapters and that’s going to have consequences the Fogeys can’t even begin to imagine and don’t have time for right now”
They’ve never had time for him and SpyGal just repeated the process all over again by brushing him off to car for Sam.
While you are right… it’s also true that for a long while now Spy Gal has been giving Jerry everything he wants. This is one slight. Is his reaction proportional to the slight? I would argue no.
We all know people like Jerry. People who want us to give and give and give and PROVE that we love them. And we try–oh, how we try–to satisfy them, but it’s never enough. No matter how many times we go to the movies together or have dinner or invite them to our parties, the minute we can’t make ourselves available for them RIGHT THEN or do them this quick favor, they turn irrational and cry and weep and wail because we’re not giving them the attention they crave to satisfy an appetite that will never be sated. In that moment, we never REALLY cared them and past evidence doesn’t matter.
If none of this sounds familiar, lucky you. Unfortunately, I’ve known more than a few people like that in my life.
So, while yes the Fogeys could probably do better with Jerry, some of this is his own doing.
Oh yeah, I hear you and yes I know those people. Actually, I read this first on my phone on the way to work, and the tiny phone does not do that last panel justice. Holy cow! he looks murderously evil.
Of course he looks murderously evil. He’s JERRY.
Wait, now I’m sounding like Swifty…
Jerry has a very selective memory. He GOT Spy Gal because he deliberately engineered an incident that made Wilbur look bad, then pounced when Spy Gal was emotionally vulnerable. She KEPT him, not because he was this great prize, but because SHE decided long ago to be a good person, and that includes keeping her word. In her own way, she’s trying not to be her dead husband Manny. HE was a cheat. HE was a bad dude. HE was a criminal. HE was more in it for himself than for others.
SHE didn’t like those things about Manny, and since then has tried to be as much un-Manny-like as she can…given that for a long time she was a murderous assassin-spy. Money Man turned her away from that, and she’s learned that she’s better this way. But Jerry has always been self-centered and a bit of a jealous child. He was this way BEFORE he married her. He was terribly jealous of EVERYONE she gave attention to at his expense.
I suspect that she’s not with him necessarily because she loves him so much as she gave her vow, and she won’t be forsworn…
…but I no longer make predictions on this comic.
magnificent issues altogether, you just won a new reader.
What might you suggest in regards to your post that you simply made some days ago?
Any sure?
Is it me, or has the red mist in the final panel grown since it was first posted?
Every control on your site is launching the following page in a new tab:
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