Annotated 9-14
Though this was my section overall, Phil did a lot of reworking of the Hijinks Ensue crew’s dialogue. It was hard for me to admit that his stuff was better there, because I tend to think of writing established characters as one of my strengths, and I’d written a lot of card-carrying-nerd pride in Fans. But Phil had more experience than I did in front of a camera, and his stage/screen/podcast persona was closer to the HE guys’, and he just followed them more closely than I did.
In fact, Hijinks Ensue reminds me a little of Phil’s own autobio strip from way back, The Hoojie Crew. They even sound alike, oddly enough. Only a few faint echoes of that earlier work remain online today, but I have fond memories of talking it over with Phil at a Philly eatery.
It’s funny how the subconscious works. I picked the name “Byron” because it seemed kinda nerdy to me in a 21st-century context and mashing that up with a Conan-the-Barbarian title struck me as funny. Like “Dwight D. Dwagonslayer” or “Melvin the Mauler,” but dialed down a couple notches. The idea of invoking the “Byronic hero” didn’t occur to me (or Phil, far as I know) until much later. It’s not an exact match, and I had to work to find Lord Byron quotes that suited our needs here, but I’d say the Byronic hero works as an aspect of our Byron.
That first panel doesn’t make them look like serial killers filming a snuff film at all. Nope. >_>
This doesn’t forward the discussion in the least, but I had to tell you that your comment made me laugh. It was a good laugh, and I enjoyed it, thank you! :-)
Heh, I did not remember that “Byron” was a Red Dwarf fan.
Aaaand now I’m reimagining his lines in the voice of Craig Charles.
Heh. I play table-top games all the time. And sadly, alt-tabbing is thing for them as well.
When I was binging this (“was,” like I’m still not doing exactly that) I was always hoping we’d learn more about the previous lives of those who became the Five, get some backstory, or even have them rejoin the “real world” at the end (or at least acknowledge it) and I was disappointed it never happened. It would’ve been pretty antithetical to the comic’s thematic direction, which I loved, so I get why. I still wish there’d been a panel clarifying what would happen to the other tubes after Carol shot HR…