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Annotations Every Day - Written by T Campbell & Flo Kahn - Illustrated by John & Jason Waltrip

'Because I am one surly houseguest.'

Chapter 39 – Page 16

on November 2, 2015
Chapter: Chapter 39
└ Tags: Chrissie, Daniel, JJ Berten, Kaye, Lia, Shanna, Xan
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Discussion (224) ¬

  1. CorrTerek
    CorrTerek
    November 2, 2015, 12:08 am | # | Reply

    Okay, okay, you’re the writers. :p

  2. Kobold
    Kobold
    November 2, 2015, 12:10 am | # | Reply

    Heh. So much for everyone’s record the skype call comments.

    • Alice Macher
      Alice Macher
      November 2, 2015, 12:20 am | # | Reply

      I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.

      This doesn’t mean JJ is completely unfoilable, of course, but it does mean if they want to stay ahead of him, or remove him (in whatever sense), they’ll have to outthink an experienced, professional hitman. (I’d wish them luck but my doing so wouldn’t help.)

      • CorrTerek
        CorrTerek
        November 2, 2015, 12:30 am | # | Reply

        It was never going to be that easy, but I guess it would’ve been nice to show us that it wouldn’t have worked rather than JJ rattling off and then shooting down everything the fans had brought up in the last few days.

        • Alice Macher
          Alice Macher
          November 2, 2015, 12:39 am | # | Reply

          I’m not sure whether you mean they wrote this strip specifically in response to fandom discussion, but in case you did: I’m pretty sure Phil and T write these well in advance so John can draw them in time. If that’s not what you meant, please disregard.

          • Grindzycat
            Grindzycat
            November 2, 2015, 12:46 am | # | Reply

            In all likelihood, if they put half as much attention into the plot of this comic from the get go as I expect they did, they saw these discussions and problems looong ago, and worked in the explanations into an intimidating speech for JJ to give.

          • Phil
            Flo
            November 2, 2015, 1:08 am | # | Reply

            We’re actually further in advance right now than we have been in a while.

            Feels good, man.

            • SteelRaven
              SteelRaven
              November 2, 2015, 3:01 am | # | Reply

              So you guys have been planning how to get away with murder for some time now? Good to know, I’ll be allot more careful with what I post in the comments.

              • Draxynnic
                Draxynnic
                November 2, 2015, 5:32 am | # | Reply

                Well, note that SepiaWorld is not the same as our own. While the writers are probably kidding on the square a bit there, odds are that if the American police was shown that, there would be a credible manhunt. (As long as the victim doesn’t fit the profile for being a criminal themselves, anyway…)

                That said, for all the derision towards the priorities of the police, it’s probably just that Mr Moustache is in fact good enough to stay one step ahead of them.

                • Draxynnic
                  Draxynnic
                  November 2, 2015, 5:39 am | # | Reply

                  Come to think on it, there’s always the possibility that making the claim that the police can’t catch him is part of taking refuge in audacity – by acting like he’s not concerned about the possibility, he might bluff his blackmailee into not trying.

                  • Insanenoodlyguy
                    Insanenoodlyguy
                    November 2, 2015, 6:43 am | # | Reply

                    I don’t think it’s a large bluff. I mean, this video is very damning if he is caught, certainly. It’s a risk. He’s counting on not getting caught, something that he is probably quite good at doing.

                    • Draxynnic
                      Draxynnic
                      November 2, 2015, 8:15 am | #

                      Keep in mind that the bluff in this case is backed by an implied “if you show this to the police, that will also be a trigger for me to kill more people you care about. Even if I’m caught, how many bodies do you think I can leave behind before that happens?”

                      It’s entirely possible that he’s not actually as good at being off the grid he claims, but the combination of acting like he’s completely unconcerned about the possibility of exposure, plus the implied threat, has been enough to discourage any previous friends or relatives of victims from trying. Basically, as noted previously, taking refuge in audacity – people wouldn’t believe he’d do that unless he had good reason to think it’s safe to do so.

                    • Kennerly
                      Kennerly
                      November 3, 2015, 1:30 am | #

                      What he doesn’t realize is that he’s threatening people who have few close connections. All of them told stories about not being able to connect with people. Everyone they care about (aside from Kaye) is in that room.

                    • Seth
                      Seth
                      November 3, 2015, 5:41 am | #

                      I’ve no doubt he’s got a plan for evasion and skill to back it up, but what I got out of his little speech is that he’d much rather not have to deal with a police investigation, which is an excellent argument for starting one. And although I’m not quite clear on the criteria, I think it’s possible that the feds would take an interest in this case.

                    • Borg
                      Borg
                      May 24, 2017, 4:30 pm | #

                      Kennerly, he’s saying “Shanna, I know where your mom is.” And it’s not like she’s the only one with living family, even if some of them are short on real-world friends.

                  • Shikome Kido Mi
                    Shikome Kido Mi
                    November 18, 2015, 4:30 am | # | Reply

                    The other thing to remember is that if this video isn’t being recorded at the start (and I believe it’s not) all he has to do is stall his victims until he walks out from behind the camera and they won’t have the chance to catch his face.

                    He doesn’t even have to convince them that they shouldn’t try to record him for more than a handful of seconds.

                    Also, since this is a two-way video conference he can see what they’re doing and just walk away from the camera if they start to hit things on the keyboard.

                • Moe Lane
                  Moe Lane
                  November 2, 2015, 7:04 am | # | Reply

                  Yup. In our world this guy would be in jail within 72 hours. He only *thinks* that he’s off the grid.

                  • Moe Lane
                    Moe Lane
                    November 2, 2015, 7:10 am | # | Reply

                    Oh, and: good comic, by the way.

                  • tlhonmey
                    tlhonmey
                    November 2, 2015, 12:58 pm | # | Reply

                    Don’t count on it. Fewer than ten percent of murderers actually ever get caught. Especially when they have no obvious links to their victims. Think of all the serial killers that they have sketches and pictures of, yet it still takes months or years to figure out who they actually are and catch them. And most of them don’t have JJ’s resources.

                    Not that they couldn’t take him down. They could very well use the fact that he has a fairly short list of potential targets to set a trap for him. He’ll expect that, but if they throw enough layers of overkill at it it might work.

                    • Jat
                      Jat
                      November 2, 2015, 3:19 pm | #

                      Police sketches are one thing, but if his face and voice were shown to the police and played on television, he’d likely have trouble walking down the street without getting recognized.

                    • Hertzy
                      Hertzy
                      November 3, 2015, 4:49 am | #

                      Where did you pull that 10% figure from? The FBI stats page maintains that the current rate of murder cases ending up in arrest is 62.5%

                    • Dean
                      Dean
                      November 3, 2015, 6:20 pm | #

                      @Jat: Maybe that’s why JJ has the moustache? It’s a highly visible feature that draws the eye. If he shaves it off, it’s likely no cop would look twice at him.

                    • Mr Ak
                      Mr Ak
                      November 3, 2015, 9:50 pm | #

                      Would you be able to link that FBI stat, Hertzy? I’d be (sincerely, non-sarcastically) interested in having a look.

                      Still, considering that most murders are committed by acquaintances, I’m not sure that general closure rates are of much use in analysing the likelihood of getting caught. (I certainly don’t think it’s nearly as likely as some claim, but that’s more an opinion than anything else.)

                    • Hertzy
                      Hertzy
                      November 4, 2015, 2:27 am | #

                      @Mr Ak, here

                    • Mr Ak
                      Mr Ak
                      November 4, 2015, 6:37 am | #

                      Awesome sauce. Cheers.

                • SteelRaven
                  SteelRaven
                  November 2, 2015, 1:10 pm | # | Reply

                  That meant as a joke

                • Loquat
                  Loquat
                  November 2, 2015, 10:29 pm | # | Reply

                  There’d especially be a manhunt if the part about “not the first snuff film with his face in it” was recorded – that alone is basically shouting BRING IT ON to every cop in a 500-mile radius.

                  • Shikome Kido Mi
                    Shikome Kido Mi
                    November 18, 2015, 4:28 am | # | Reply

                    Was it recorded? It was while he was telling them not to bother hitting record and he can see what they’re doing over the video conference, so it’s almost certain that they haven’t hit record yet.

            • Nathanyel
              Nathanyel
              November 4, 2015, 3:09 am | # | Reply

              So, daily strips returning soon? *cough*

          • CorrTerek
            CorrTerek
            November 2, 2015, 7:51 am | # | Reply

            Nah, I didn’t mean that this was written specifically to counter the last few days’ fan speculation. Just that it seems more “tell” than “show”.

    • Jean-Luc
      Jean-Luc
      November 2, 2015, 12:27 am | # | Reply

      Of course JJ knows what he’s doing.

    • Garithos
      Garithos
      November 2, 2015, 1:02 pm | # | Reply

      I think they would have had to have had the good sense to immediately hit record which it doesn’t look like they were prepped to do anyway.

    • Radio Silence
      Radio Silence
      November 3, 2015, 5:22 pm | # | Reply

      If they really want to set the world on fire, they could post it to the internet.

      • Ssionnach
        Ssionnach
        November 4, 2015, 12:02 am | # | Reply

        Lol, 4 chan

    • SotiCoto
      SotiCoto
      April 7, 2016, 6:39 am | # | Reply

      Why would you say that?

      Just because the guy CLAIMS he is untraceable doesn’t mean he isn’t lying about it.

      Might as well grab the screen and give the police everything they can… (even if the police are incompetent / corrupt / douchebags).

  3. Lexible
    Lexible
    November 2, 2015, 12:11 am | # | Reply

    JJ is a jerk! A mean jerky jerk! He is one of the jerkiest jerks to ever jerk a jerk!

    • CinnamonArcher
      CinnamonArcher
      November 2, 2015, 1:04 am | # | Reply

      I’m seeing a rather harsh contradiction here…

  4. Givemeabreak
    Givemeabreak
    November 2, 2015, 12:12 am | # | Reply

    Oh for crying out loud. You had to shove that BLM line into the mouth of the big mustachioed villain?
    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/21/police-kill-more-whites-than-blacks-but-minority-d/?page=all

    And she is a reporter. She should know that a video in which a murderer brags about being unstoppable and murdering many others would become big national news.
    That this moment in the comic is supposed to be dramatic even matches with the idea that getting that video on any media would be a big deal.

    • Taxil Necrobane
      Taxil Necrobane
      November 2, 2015, 1:41 am | # | Reply

      I agree. Dragging real world politics into this type of a web comic is a risky move. Seeing JJ spout out the same BS BLM crowd does seems fitting for a foul villain like him.

      Although if JJ really WAS off the grid as he claims to be, just HOW does he know that then? Unless you go complete into-tha-woods level of off the grid, more likely than not other people will know where you are at and you will be found. Shannon and the crew needs to get their head in the game and fight back. I wonder if Shannon call in some of her ‘old friends’ from the other web comic as reinforcements to fight JJ with?

      • Jean-Luc
        Jean-Luc
        November 2, 2015, 1:44 am | # | Reply

        Being off the grid means keeping your identity and activities hidden, not living under a rock.

        • Taxil Necrobane
          Taxil Necrobane
          November 2, 2015, 11:39 am | # | Reply

          In this day and age, hiding your identity and activities is impossible unless you ARE living in the wilds.

          • Insufferable Nerd
            Insufferable Nerd
            November 2, 2015, 12:15 pm | # | Reply

            Yeah. All it’d take is some photos distributed by the FBI to local police to nab this guy. He probably wouldn’t even last a few days.

            • tlhonmey
              tlhonmey
              November 2, 2015, 1:01 pm | # | Reply

              You’re assuming that’s his real face. The moustache, at least, is almost certainly fake. He’d be unrecognizable without it. A little latex and skillful makeup application and he could just peel that face off once he gets to the car he stole from the pizza guy and nobody would ever have to see “JJ” again.

              • Dave
                Dave
                November 2, 2015, 9:51 pm | # | Reply

                I never thought about it before but I bet you’re right. Fake moustache and that long hippie hair is probably a wig.

                • Kennerly
                  Kennerly
                  November 3, 2015, 12:53 am | # | Reply

                  No one suspects anyone would buy a wig with a bald spot!

      • Meadowbrook
        Meadowbrook
        November 2, 2015, 2:03 am | # | Reply

        Other webcomic?

        • David Liao
          David Liao
          November 2, 2015, 2:35 am | # | Reply

          The Faans webcomic where the character is originally from.

          • Draxynnic
            Draxynnic
            November 2, 2015, 5:38 am | # | Reply

            During the ‘ask a character’ comics a yearish ago, one of the questions lead to the revelation that this Shannon is a parallel-universe alternate to the Faans Shannon, with neither the contacts nor the genre-savvy that the Faans Shannon developed.

            When it comes to showing off the video to make a media storm… I note that he’s been very careful not to identify his employer.

            • CorrTerek
              CorrTerek
              November 2, 2015, 7:59 am | # | Reply

              He doesn’t have to mention his employer. All it would take is Shanna saying “This is what I was investigating. This guy is the response I got when I did.”

              I mean, it’s obviously not a personal matter, since she’s being warned off investigating something. It involves missing persons, by Berten’s own acknowledgement. If Shanna tells the police the strict facts of her investigation (i.e. no “discount Matrix in the basement” stuff) they’ll know enough to at least link Carol to Ferris’s disappearance. And at that point the company itself is under public scrutiny.

      • AllekBrynn
        AllekBrynn
        November 2, 2015, 5:26 pm | # | Reply

        yowch, salty much. I s’pose when you refuse to acknowledge a movement in which people side, for once, with the oppressed minority to combat institutional racism, you’d have to be dense enough to not realize the depth the comment gives JJ. He knows how this world’s police works, and despite using that to his advantage he has critiques and judgments on how the system negatively effects people. JJ has his own sense of justice outside of his own actions, and if you weren’t hung up on dissing the BLM movement you’d be able to see a pretty neat character attribute *shrugs*

      • Phil
        Flo
        November 2, 2015, 6:03 pm | # | Reply

        “Although if JJ really WAS off the grid as he claims to be, just HOW does he know that then?”

        Despite popular belief, Newspapers are still a thing.

        • Karishi
          Karishi
          November 2, 2015, 7:36 pm | # | Reply

          “Extra! Read all about it! Newspapers still a thing!
          …Please like, comment and subscribe!”

    • DDDragoni
      DDDragoni
      November 2, 2015, 3:23 am | # | Reply

      Honestly I see it as more of a way to show JJ’s cynical and pragmatic worldview than a ham-fisted or ill-placed political statement.

      • Ghola Teg
        Ghola Teg
        November 2, 2015, 3:39 am | # | Reply

        It can be both!

        JJ’s basically saying “Sure.. get the video out to the media. I’ll kill someone you love before they can do anything to me. I’ll kill a LOT of the people you love before they can even find me. The cops can’t protect everyone you care about, and I really don’t care who I kill so long as it hurts you.”

        He probably just threw the BLM line in there because.. Well.. They they look like poster children for liberals. I mean… Look at them. They could all be part of the Vegan Protest in PCU.

        And nothing works better to get people to do what you want, then to agree with them before twisting the knife.

        • biggmac
          biggmac
          November 2, 2015, 4:28 am | # | Reply

          “OMG he just murdered Kaye, and is threatening to do more killing!”
          “Yes, but at least he’s sensitive to the current police brutality controversy.”

          • tlhonmey
            tlhonmey
            November 2, 2015, 1:04 pm | # | Reply

            Could also be a red-herring. If there is an investigation they’ll scan the social media profiles of anyone they pick out as a suspect to see if it matches anything the perpetrator has been known to say. If he adopts an entirely different persona while on-the-job, that kind of link would be harder to make.

          • Jat
            Jat
            November 2, 2015, 3:27 pm | # | Reply

            I kind of took the line to be an illustration of how hypocritical and evil the character is. There’s kind of a shock value in him of all people saying it.

    • ThatGuy
      ThatGuy
      November 2, 2015, 5:15 am | # | Reply

      I thought this webcomic would have less racist people in its fanbase, honestly.

      Also “Give me a break”, you do know there are more WHITE people in America than black people, meaning Cops killing more white people just means more white people exist.

      • ThatGuy
        ThatGuy
        November 2, 2015, 5:18 am | # | Reply

        P.S. referencing police brutality isnt “Politics”. there is no political agenda to “Care about the lives of black people”.

        You should just care. Thats it. You should care when people get murdered by government employees for doing nothing. Especially when they are children.

        I doubt they care if acknowledging something real gets in the way of you enjoying your murder scene in this fictional story about video games.

        • Jire
          Jire
          November 2, 2015, 5:24 am | # | Reply

          And this exact thing is the exact reason as to WHY it shouldn’t be in this comic. It’s turning a comic about video games and magic and weird lovecraftian stuff into a political soapbox.

          I don’t even care what side of the argument someone is on. It just seems a bad place and time to throw this kind of lit match into something on the internet. It’s like kicking a bees nest and then being surprised the bees come flooding out.

          • Moe Lane
            Moe Lane
            November 2, 2015, 7:09 am | # | Reply

            Note also the far too casual accusation of racism. The dude may have not even noticed that he did it. It might have been truly reflexive, like a sneeze.

            • AllekBrynn
              AllekBrynn
              November 2, 2015, 5:31 pm | # | Reply

              Pfft okay, so there’s no likelihood that when there’s so many controversial comments, that they would’ve had the free time to read (or skim) through a lot of them and be thoroughly shocked by the racism in many of them?

              It’s depressing but BLM is getting the same ignorant response that feminism has in the terms of people hate change and they really don’t want to think about other people’s welfare outside of the privilege bubble (whether that privilege be from gender, religion, race, or class). *shrug*

            • Phil
              Flo
              November 2, 2015, 6:15 pm | # | Reply

              Hahahaha, don’t be dense, Moe. You’ve been around a long, long time and I’ve always enjoyed you as a reader, so I really believe you to be better than this.

              “Reflexive, like a sneeze.”

              This is nonsense. That doesn’t make it less racist if they’re not conscious of it. Racist is 80% social programming to begin with.

              Racism thrives when you don’t think about it.

              Literally the entire point of even instituting a racist, or even simply classist social status system is to get it to a point where it enforces itself without help!

              The very idea that racism only exists as conscious thought is so fucking laughable that I can’t even get into it because, come on man:

              Intent is fucking meaningless. In art and life. You can INTEND not to be a huge fucking racist when you say how you think it’s so cool that President Obama is such an articulate speaker. Y’know? That’s fucking Gramma shit.

              Ignorant, passive racism is just as much racism as conscious, aggressive racism. You don’t have to wave a confederate flag to enforce white supremacy. All it takes is wearing blackface on Halloween and getting shitty that people take umbrage for it.

              #StayWoke, everyone.

              • Craddok
                Craddok
                November 3, 2015, 2:06 pm | # | Reply

                Can I give you a gold star? Does it work like that?

                • Benedikt
                  Benedikt
                  November 3, 2015, 6:18 pm | # | Reply

                  I’m afraid it doesn’t but I came here for the same thing…

              • Olentzero
                Olentzero
                November 4, 2015, 3:22 am | # | Reply

                You earned mad respect for putting my Lament to music, Phil… but this?

                I fuckin’ *love* you, man. You’re ever in Stockholm, there’s at least one strong drink on me that’ll be waiting for you.

          • Phil
            Flo
            November 2, 2015, 12:57 pm | # | Reply

            Who’s surprised?

            PS I’m pretty sure we can and will do whatever the fuck we want in our comic strip kthx <3

            • Moe Lane
              Moe Lane
              November 2, 2015, 2:14 pm | # | Reply

              So… “I’m going to call some of your readers racists” doesn’t get the person sworn at; “This comic strip shouldn’t have any politics in it” does. Is that a fair way of putting it?

              • Phil
                Flo
                November 2, 2015, 2:30 pm | # | Reply

                I don’t really know what you’re talking about but yo, it ain’t that deep:

                I curse for basically no fucking reason other than when it pleases me.

                • Moe Lane
                  Moe Lane
                  November 2, 2015, 2:40 pm | # | Reply

                  So that would be a ‘yes.’

                  • Phil
                    Flo
                    November 2, 2015, 6:07 pm | # | Reply

                    Do I agree with calling anyone who claims that #BlackLivesMatter as Bullshit a racist?

                    Yes. Yes I do.

                    Fight me, I guess.

                    • Moe Lane
                      Moe Lane
                      November 3, 2015, 12:55 am | #

                      Thank you for confirming that the answer to my question was ‘yes.’

                    • Beroli
                      Beroli
                      November 3, 2015, 8:40 am | #

                      I’m baffled that anyone actually thinks the comic has been apolitical thus far.

                      “Gastonia: Totally unlike any real-world group that’s ever lived! We even invented an entirely new word for them! No, ‘imperialism’ is not in your dictionary, because we just made it up!”

                    • Mr Ak
                      Mr Ak
                      November 3, 2015, 9:54 pm | #

                      “Apolitical: (adj) doesn’t make political claims that I reflexively disagree with.”

                  • MichaelHaneline
                    MichaelHaneline
                    November 2, 2015, 7:48 pm | # | Reply

                    And what is wrong with calling someone racist when they pretty clearly are racist?

                    • Jat
                      Jat
                      November 2, 2015, 10:08 pm | #

                      I think it’s insensitive and ignorant to call the movement bullshit. But I don’t think it necessarily indicates a belief that blacks are inferior.

                    • Kennerly
                      Kennerly
                      November 3, 2015, 1:06 am | #

                      Refusing to believe you’re insulting someone when they are offended is dickery at its purest.

            • tejón
              tejón
              November 2, 2015, 6:52 pm | # | Reply

              Who’s surprised?

              After a whole sequence discussing Plato, too.

          • Seth
            Seth
            November 3, 2015, 7:03 am | # | Reply

            The bees analogy isn’t quite accurate. For one thing, the bees are sitting in their own home when a violent invader comes along. Here, the comic creators own the site, and if anyone can be considered invasive, it’s the commenters. Also, the analogy implies that the Internet is full of people who are incapable of higher thought and a reasonable level of maturity, instead acting as an angry and irrational hive mind, and… no, wait, that’s totally accurate. Insulting, but accurate. Still, no reason why the creators shouldn’t expect people to behave themselves and kick those who don’t.

      • Nielspeterdejong
        Nielspeterdejong
        November 2, 2015, 7:37 am | # | Reply

        Michael Brown wasn’t a kid, he was a 18 year old abussive asshole who had just savagely beaten a store owner!

        Anyone who still believes otherwise is basically PC principle from South Park. And/or a racist themselves.

        • Nielspeterdejong
          Nielspeterdejong
          November 2, 2015, 8:44 am | # | Reply

          Holy crap, I just happen to get THAT avatar XD

          Serieusly though, all the black “kids” who were shot, they had to choose brown….
          Plus people seem to wonder why cops are trigger happy when many “black youth” act the way they do. Something something victim complex.

        • Thehangedman
          Thehangedman
          November 2, 2015, 9:11 am | # | Reply

          Sure, he was. But Tamir Rice was just a kid with a toy, shot within 2 seconds of police arrival. Aaliyah Stanley-Jones was just an 8 year old girl taking a nap on her grandmothers lap when a raid on the wrong house resulted in her being shot in the head. Bounkham Phonesavanh was just a toddler in his crib woken up by a stun grenade, leaving him severely burned and requiring a lifetime of surgeries. John Crawford III WASN’T a kid, but he was just a guy carrying an airsoft gun in a Wal-mart that he intended to purchase when an officer gunned him down. Eugene Mallory wasn’t black, but he was an 80 year old man shot dead in his own bed during a raid predicated on a false tip.

          Whether or not you agree there’s a problem with institutionalized racism in the United States, it sure seems like there’s a problem with police militarization.

          • Nielspeterdejong
            Nielspeterdejong
            November 2, 2015, 9:36 am | # | Reply

            Then why rally behind brown?

            Also, police have to go through the worst crap each day while were chilling behind our computers.

            There is a reason their trigger happy, as in often it’s killed or be killed. The cops aren’t “the bad guys” here.

            • Phil
              Flo
              November 2, 2015, 1:02 pm | # | Reply

              I’m glad you got assigned an avatar as racist, misguided, and self important as your comments.

              • AllekBrynn
                AllekBrynn
                November 2, 2015, 5:34 pm | # | Reply

                BOOM AND SIZZLE THE BURN IS REAL (seriously, I love you guys)

              • bokonondeemax
                bokonondeemax
                November 4, 2015, 9:51 am | # | Reply

                Thanks.

            • AllekBrynn
              AllekBrynn
              November 2, 2015, 5:51 pm | # | Reply

              There are so many professions where people are trained NOT to injure dangerous people. One woman I know is a strong, badass mental health professional, and when people lose control of their actions and present a danger to the others around them, they know how to de-escalate the situation. They know how to calm anyone down without the use of violence or even restraint, and they actually put their lives on the line.

              And before you say “well they know the reasoning behind erratic and dangerous behavior” there are SO MANY cases where the family (whose members are black) has called the police to restrain their child, and even telling them that the child is suffering from a mental illness isn’t enough. The officers take them down. They kill them, or severely injure them.

              If trigger happiness and racism isn’t prevalent in the police workforce, especially towards black citizens, explain how a white man who murders tens of people can be taken in calmly for questioning, but when a black college student is having a mental breakdown and is taken in PROPERLY AND RESPECTFULLY by the police officer that officer is REPRIMANDED for his lack of force.

              And the media demonization of black lives?! THAT’S where the movement began. “He sold drugs, he listened to rap.” It stereotypes black people who were murdered, it justifies them. Most ethnic minorities live in poor areas. Why? Institutional racism. Most ethnic minorities have limited access to programs and/or secondary education that could elevate their opportunities or status. Why? Institutional racism. Most people with black names from those proud African roots cannot get hired (see internalized racism spectacle Raven Symone on “Watermelondrea”). Why? Institutional racism. So, most people, especially when hit hard by the economy, desperately want to make money and help their family and themselves. The only option a person in that level of destitution can see for immediate assistance is illegal activity, like selling weed or themselves. And when police kill these people, only this is noted. Only the crimes. Only the suspicion. Why? Institutional. Fucking. Racism.

              • Alice Macher
                Alice Macher
                November 2, 2015, 6:18 pm | # | Reply

                +1. Hell, +∞.

              • CorrTerek
                CorrTerek
                November 2, 2015, 6:34 pm | # | Reply

                Well said.

            • Borg
              Borg
              May 25, 2017, 3:42 pm | # | Reply

              I do have to second the question of “Why rally behind Brown?” because it is a pet peeve of mine when people refuse to see the trees for the forest. I hate to say it, but if a white man attacked a police officer, tried to steal his gun, charged him, and then got shot (while being obviously strong enough to kill someone with his bare hands), nobody would care. But because it superficially resembles a trend, people choose to believe a sequence of events that contradicts the physical evidence but fits the trend rather than what must have actually happened.

              • Benedikt
                Benedikt
                May 26, 2017, 8:52 am | # | Reply

                Don’t open this can of worms again. It’s nice to see you going through the archive but please learn from the mistakes others made and don’t write BS.

    • Jire
      Jire
      November 2, 2015, 5:22 am | # | Reply

      This really does strike me as a case of him poker facing the shit out of finding out he just had his face recorded. Do you think a man who’s entire profession is built around threats, intimidation, and murder is going to just go “Oh shit! My face is on camera. NOOOOOOOO.”

      He has to think fast, and he has to stay calm in literal life and death situations for his own well being and completing his hits. The man likely is very good at avoiding the police. However, if they did go to the news with this and publicize it? Doesn’t matter how off the grid is. If he’s made into a public spectacle people will figure out who he is. Telling the police would immediately allow them to contact the FBI, as he is now a interstate murderer and becomes a federal problem.

      Which would then allow them to put people into protective custody. Especially as the man is bragging about being a long running hitman who GUARANTEED has a record of some kind. Even if they don’t know his name, his face, or anything about his personal identifying information? They know the trail of bodies that may or may not be directly attributed to him.

      There’s no way this guy is so good he’s left literally 0 record. Especially considering the clientele and dollar amounts he’s working in. While I see what they’re going for here. I’m charitably going to say he’s full of shit and if they call his bluff he’s entirely fucked. If he’s not full of shit and he really is somehow mythically that good? Then I’m going to call contrivance. Really heavy contrivance at that.

      The hamfisted political line just seems a wonky and inflammatory thing to throw in for nothing than a pop culture reference really.

      • tlhonmey
        tlhonmey
        November 2, 2015, 1:13 pm | # | Reply

        You honestly think a professional like that lets anybody see his real face? You’d be amazed what could be done with a good makeup kit and a false moustache.

        Nah, he’s made his point. And, future killings won’t have witnesses and/or will look like accidents and only Shanna will know that it’s JJ. Plus, assume that they do manage to get him arrested. His employers will just send another one who’s not as friendly.

    • T Campbell
      T Campbell
      November 2, 2015, 8:56 am | # | Reply

      I wrote the line and will maintain that it wasn’t shoving anything anywhere. I have an opinion on this subject and some of you who’ve been following me a while can probably guess it, and so does Phil, but JJ is not our mouthpiece. He’s his own character and he’s got his own reasons for saying and doing things which don’t always line up with ours– like on the last page, where he showed us he straight-up murdered somebody, if you’ll recall. I guess I am going to come out here as anti-murder, if that’s okay with you.

      In his first appearance, JJ presents himself as a philosopher, and later elaborates that he tries to avoid killing, because it’s “unethical and impractical.” Well, I believe the “impractical” part of that, anyway. JJ is a cold-blooded enforcer who’s extraordinarily good at telling himself he’s just a nice guy forced to do bad things because of the mean old world he lives in. Why do people have to be this way? He wishes it were different.

      For all his high-minded rhetoric, though, JJ would absolutely shoot a dozen black kids dead, plant three or four guns on them to make it look like they did it to each other, and walk away whistling, if doing so would further the goals of whoever his employer happened to be at the time.

      • Bloodvork
        Bloodvork
        November 2, 2015, 9:42 am | # | Reply

        A fictional character in a fictional story took a political stance I don’t agree with?! ULTERIOR MOTIVE! POLITICAL SOAPBOX! EVERY CHARACTER MUST THINK AS YOU DO!

      • Taxil Necrobane
        Taxil Necrobane
        November 2, 2015, 11:48 am | # | Reply

        I got that Mr. Campbell. What JJ said was his ideas, not yours. It worried me that others would take it the wrong way. In this day and age, real world politics is like hold on sweating TnT in a public online forum. I hold no ill will to you and yours nor this comic. In fact it was a good move to show JJ’s character. I just worried that might have been a unforeseen miss step.

        Anyway, keep up the good work.

        • Borg
          Borg
          May 25, 2017, 3:53 pm | # | Reply

          . . . I’m pretty sure TNT doesn’t sweat.

      • Craddok
        Craddok
        November 3, 2015, 1:54 pm | # | Reply

        I’ll echo Taxil here. I understood the distinction, and it was a fantastic expression of his (complex and enjoyable) character.

      • Jean-Luc
        Jean-Luc
        November 4, 2015, 4:24 am | # | Reply

        I do love how JJ strives to be the “gentleman murderer”.

  5. Lynxx
    Lynxx
    November 2, 2015, 12:19 am | # | Reply

    i knew it. you can even check my post from last strip. he simply doesnt care about his face getting recorded because he doesnt have to.

    • TachyonCode
      TachyonCode
      November 2, 2015, 12:24 am | # | Reply

      Or he’s bluffing. Bluffing’s easy to do when the other person’s terrified into thinking you’d do anything without hesitation.

      • CorrTerek
        CorrTerek
        November 2, 2015, 12:28 am | # | Reply

        Yeah, I can’t help but feel a murder that can in turn be linked to 6 other disappearances/murders and a famous corporation’s CEO would prompt quite a bit more cooperation on the part of law enforcement than he says it would.

        • Jire
          Jire
          November 2, 2015, 5:25 am | # | Reply

          Not to mention being a supposed hit man across state lines that would involve the FBI. Even if he’s extraordinarily good the man still leaves a trail in missing persons if not bodies.

          • Jire
            Jire
            November 2, 2015, 5:27 am | # | Reply

            Also, two words, “Protective custody.”

            The man also has a habit of speaking to people, making threats, and having a face that people know now. That’s a trail.

            • Huttj
              Huttj
              November 2, 2015, 2:01 pm | # | Reply

              Is it viable to put everyone in that room, all their families, and all their friends into protective custody?

              • Jire
                Jire
                November 3, 2015, 5:45 am | # | Reply

                When you’re dealing with a man who likely has some kind of alias or record with various agencies, one of which is likely the FBI, then yes it is very possible.

                As has been stated previously these people don’t have many friends and family. Plus, if anything else it would turn their relatives into honey traps if nothing else. Allowing them to basically post someone on a stake out and wait for him to show up.

  6. Grindzycat
    Grindzycat
    November 2, 2015, 12:32 am | # | Reply

    Man, I spent a while trying to find a pun but man, Sepia world drama makes it rather difficult.

    • Alice Macher
      Alice Macher
      November 2, 2015, 12:43 am | # | Reply

      Howww abouuuut…

      Shanna’s and Xan’s attempt to evade JJ wasn’t up to snuff.

      Official Phil Kahn Gold Star

      • Ganurath
        Ganurath
        November 2, 2015, 1:07 am | # | Reply

        We haven’t really seen any good shots of Kaye’s apartment. I can’t tell if it’s spacious or more on the homicide.

        • Ishmael
          Ishmael
          November 2, 2015, 1:13 am | # | Reply

          The wait to see how they react when Scipio is logged in and questing is gonna be murder.

          • Grindzycat
            Grindzycat
            November 2, 2015, 1:20 am | # | Reply

            Man, I hope Kaye’s pizza gets there soon, because these puns are tasteless. Leave it to Sepia World to bring out the off-color humor.

            • biggmac
              biggmac
              November 2, 2015, 4:38 am | # | Reply

              So he’s in snuff films … big deal. It’s OK, bro, s’kooal with me. Shanna ought to escape to Copenhagen, and take a big Snus on the flight over. Or maybe to Fiji, though I heard that she’s not a real Beech Nut – too much time in the sun turns her into a Red woMan.

              • Phil
                Flo
                November 3, 2015, 11:08 am | # | Reply

                You are all wonderful.

              • Phil
                Flo
                November 3, 2015, 11:08 am | # | Reply

                And by wonderful I mean horrible but that is my kind of wonderful.

      • Mr Ak
        Mr Ak
        November 2, 2015, 9:12 am | # | Reply

        Slow clap standing ovation.

      • Phil
        Flo
        November 2, 2015, 1:00 pm | # | Reply

        You fucking monster.

        I love you.

    • Seth
      Seth
      November 3, 2015, 6:33 am | # | Reply

      It’s still possible to find humor in drama, you know. It’s not so black and white.

    • Phil
      Flo
      November 3, 2015, 11:05 am | # | Reply

      Imagine how hard it is to do the alt text for pages like this.

  7. Jordan
    Jordan
    November 2, 2015, 12:41 am | # | Reply

    Damn… This guy is a fantastic villain. Scary as hell, smart and very capable of killing you stone dead.

    • Ghola Teg
      Ghola Teg
      November 2, 2015, 3:47 am | # | Reply

      Is it wrong I think he has a barber shop in Costa Rica, where he’s bass tenor in the quartet, and all of them are also Hitmen?

      • Jordan
        Jordan
        November 2, 2015, 11:02 pm | # | Reply

        No, but that would fit the tone of Doctor McNinja more than this.

  8. Kocel
    Kocel
    November 2, 2015, 1:43 am | # | Reply

    Oh no, a villain that you can expect to follow you no wonder where you run to

    If only there was a way you could exploit such a behavior to his disadvantage

    • Ghola Teg
      Ghola Teg
      November 2, 2015, 3:44 am | # | Reply

      He just easily murdered their Muscle. Now its all noodley appendages, angst, and sweaters. He doesn’t HAVE to follow them., if they keep hiding and screwing with the client, he’ll just keep murdering people they care about untiol tehy crack and come out into the open or stop.

  9. Zblackgoat
    Zblackgoat
    November 2, 2015, 1:51 am | # | Reply

    It’s that mustache, that’s his trick to staying off the grid. Imagine what he looks like without it. It’s impossible, you take it off and he just vanishes.

    • Ghola Teg
      Ghola Teg
      November 2, 2015, 3:45 am | # | Reply

      This is all DrMcNinja’s fault.. Future Gordito’s gone to the dark side without his guidance.

  10. Meadowbrook
    Meadowbrook
    November 2, 2015, 2:02 am | # | Reply

    I like this Gordito guy, I don’t personally find him scary, but he’s a pretty neat character. I mean, all he’ll do is kill ya, HR is up to some spooky shit.

  11. Devlerbat
    Devlerbat
    November 2, 2015, 2:06 am | # | Reply

    I just had a thought. So we know in game characters will act on their own when the player is offline, but what about afk? Is E-Merl just sitting there blankly not saying anything while Iwatani waits for a response?

    • Benedikt
      Benedikt
      November 2, 2015, 10:01 am | # | Reply

      Quite sure it’s the same with afk. The characters aren’t even controlled a 100% if the players are “controlling” them, if I remember correctly.

  12. Olentzero
    Olentzero
    November 2, 2015, 3:07 am | # | Reply

    +1 for bringing the real world into Sepia World. Haters gonna hate, don’t pay ’em no mind.

  13. DDDragoni
    DDDragoni
    November 2, 2015, 3:21 am | # | Reply

    Xan seems remarkably nonplussed by this turn of events.

    • Insanenoodlyguy
      Insanenoodlyguy
      November 2, 2015, 6:49 am | # | Reply

      Xan might be in shock.

    • Cubanpep
      Cubanpep
      November 2, 2015, 6:51 am | # | Reply

      This! Seems a little bit too in the know.

    • Draxynnic
      Draxynnic
      November 2, 2015, 8:19 am | # | Reply

      Alternatively, it’s because unlike the players he doesn’t know her, and unlike Shannan he’s not the one pushing the crusade so he doesn’t have the ‘this is my fault’ feel? He’s not happy, but he doesn’t have the personal connection or personal responsibility that the others do.

    • tlhonmey
      tlhonmey
      November 2, 2015, 1:22 pm | # | Reply

      If he is the kind of mid-level hacker that they’re portraying him as, then he is probably well accustomed to thinking like a computer (it’s a necessary job skill). Falling back on that in stressful situations is actually a reasonably common behaviour in that social group. He may well not be showing many signs of distress because he’s too busy thinking about what to do next.

    • Karishi
      Karishi
      November 2, 2015, 2:51 pm | # | Reply

      My impression is that he’s attempting to do something hackery and clever with his phone, inside his hoodie-pocket where people can’t see. Whether that makes him nefarious or he’s just making sure JJ can’t see it happen, time will tell.

  14. Chris
    Chris
    November 2, 2015, 8:58 am | # | Reply

    What a twist. I didn’t anyone was going to die.

    So no instead of a bunch of geeks and a paranoid reporter over dramatizing a video games influence on missing people, no we have a Murder She Wrote Episode..

    • Chris
      Chris
      November 2, 2015, 8:59 am | # | Reply

      wow… so many missing words… i blame my keyboard.

      • Mr Ak
        Mr Ak
        November 2, 2015, 9:13 am | # | Reply

        Argh! It happened again – it left out “me” “missing” “buttons” and “on”. :P

  15. Insufferable Nerd
    Insufferable Nerd
    November 2, 2015, 12:24 pm | # | Reply

    Because he’s completely inconspicuous with that massive, heavily-styled moustache. After all, police are robots and can’t identify someone without an ID card, right?

    Not to mention the FBI, since multiple states were involved. Yep. Totally no risk at all.. And there won’t be, because having him arrested and put in prison wouldn’t advance the story.

    • tlhonmey
      tlhonmey
      November 2, 2015, 1:28 pm | # | Reply

      He probably is totally inconspicuous without that moustache though. It’s reasonably likely to be a fake. And it might not be the only part of his face that’s been subtly adjusted. There are lots of makeup tutorials on Youtube these days. You’d be amazed at just how much different a person can make themselves look.

      The problem is that having him arrested and put in jail only solves the immediate situation, and guarantees that the *next* hitman that his employers *will* send will be of the “kill them all and everybody they talked to in the last two weeks” variety.

      • CorrTerek
        CorrTerek
        November 2, 2015, 5:21 pm | # | Reply

        What “next” hitman? If Berten gets taken down, they have enough to go after Hurricane directly. Carol probably won’t be sending out any more hitmen what with either being under police scrutiny or in jail herself.

        • tlhonmey
          tlhonmey
          November 3, 2015, 8:58 pm | # | Reply

          Do they though? Have they gotten any recordings of JJ saying *what* he wants her to stop investigating? If there’s an investigation, Hurricane will just deny everything. Worst case Carol goes down for the murder of the technician. “The Five” are still perfectly alive, and their consent forms are on record all signed and everything. “What we’re working on is a trade-secret, but hardly worth killing over, so kindly seal the findings from the search warrant and leave us alone. Or don’t and we’ll just announce what we’re working on a little early.”

          Then, if Shanna insists on pushing it further, she gets depressed at her lack of progress and commits suicide. Same goes for the rest of the group.

          • CorrTerek
            CorrTerek
            November 3, 2015, 10:03 pm | # | Reply

            I really don’t think Carol would hold under the strain of a police investigation. She practically cracked when Shanna confronted her. And they definitely have enough information to implicate Carol.

            • CorrTerek
              CorrTerek
              November 3, 2015, 10:05 pm | # | Reply

              Forgot to mention that if Carol *does* get arrested and/or jailed, there’s no one left who would want to send hitmen after Shanna. HR went into the magic a chapter or two ago, and Carol was the one who hired JJ in the first place.

  16. Devlerbat
    Devlerbat
    November 2, 2015, 1:47 pm | # | Reply

    Anyone else noticed that Xan is trying to hide is face from the camera? Not sure why he would though, since JJ already saw his face and knows he is helping Shanna.

    • Karishi
      Karishi
      November 2, 2015, 2:59 pm | # | Reply

      Could be simple force of habit.

  17. Eric
    Eric
    November 2, 2015, 2:53 pm | # | Reply

    What they need is to get a hundred thousand together, and hire a contract killer of their own. A good one (for a $100K you should be able to get a really good one).

    The only problem is *finding* one to hire.

    • Rinikex
      Rinikex
      November 2, 2015, 8:59 pm | # | Reply

      I heard that you can hire them on the Deep Web.

  18. Karishi
    Karishi
    November 2, 2015, 3:01 pm | # | Reply

    “Don’t. Don’t seek help. It makes my job difficult and I hate that. If the FBI gets involved I might go to jail for life and I’d hate that even more. So really, just don’t. Come on, people, don’t be jerks about this.”

    • Thracecius
      Thracecius
      November 4, 2015, 2:40 pm | # | Reply

      Yes! :D

  19. Katlamos
    Katlamos
    November 2, 2015, 3:08 pm | # | Reply

    Wow did this strip bring out the racists in your fanbase guys. That said, holy shit, I can’t tell if this guy is trying to bluff his way out of this or if he really thinks it’ll be that hard to find him, but I can’t wait to see where this goes. This got real fast.

  20. Edrobot
    Edrobot
    November 2, 2015, 3:14 pm | # | Reply

    Please tell me they actually go to the police with this. I know law enforcement isn’t terribly reputable these days, but this is just silly.

    I mean they a clear time for when the crime took place, a confession, an open threat, a motive (albiet one based on an improbable conspiracy), and THE KILLER TAUNTED THE POLICE ON CAMERA, ACCUSING THEM OF BEING INCOMPETENT, RACIST ASSHOLES. And all this can all be corroborated by several eyewitnesses.

    And fine, let’s assume that this is a cynical world where the police are bumbling, racist morons who are fat and stupid and only care about crime if it’s commited by a black person. If so, you can still TAKE THIS TO THE FUCKING MEDIA. I’m sure Gawker, Slate or Salon would have a field day with this. Hell, even bringing this to freakin’ Fox News would probably to some good, even if they’d try spinning it as a Black Lives Matter extremist or something stupid like that.

    • CorrTerek
      CorrTerek
      November 2, 2015, 5:02 pm | # | Reply

      Yeah, it’s really gonna bug me if they don’t even try. Of course, it doesn’t look like they managed to get any actual evidence, which is unfortunate. But there’s going to be a bare minimum of investigating anyway, might as well at least try to get justice for Kaye.

    • The Indomitable Eric
      The Indomitable Eric
      November 2, 2015, 9:47 pm | # | Reply

      At this point and time I would like to remind everyone that he is a henchman for a LITERAL SUPERVILLAIN. The man has a limitless budget and a LITERAL WIZARD on his side.

  21. Alice Macher
    Alice Macher
    November 2, 2015, 4:55 pm | # | Reply

    Why is it so hard to assume that maybe, just maybe, Berten is, y’know, good at his job?

    Besides, if the police catch him and Hurricane is exposed, so “easily” as many readers seem to think… bam, no more story.

    • CorrTerek
      CorrTerek
      November 2, 2015, 6:02 pm | # | Reply

      Well, as I alluded to earlier, there’s a difference between showing us that JJ is good at his job and having him tell us he’s good at his job. So far we’ve had a lot of people tell us how good JJ is, but his biggest action to date is committing a possibly unnecessary murder and confessing the crime to a bunch of witnesses through a means that could easily be recorded. That’s the kind of stupidity that gets real-life hitmen caught all the time.

      Of course people are going to notice the discrepancy.

      • Edrobot
        Edrobot
        November 2, 2015, 6:51 pm | # | Reply

        Agreed. I’d be more likely to buy JJ’s hitman cred if we actually saw the steps he took to get the job done and cover his tracks. Perhaps the last few pages we could have occasionally cut to pages of JJ wordlessly driving up to his destination in a pizza delivery car with a stolen uniform (with a single panel showing that the actuall pizza deliveryman is dead in the backseat), looking at his destination, checking for witnesses, changing his license plate, disabling the alarms, cutting the phone wires, causing the audience to ask themselves “wtf is he doing”?

        Then, we see that that the soon to be victim had ordered a pizza, and the audiance suddenly puts two and two together. She opens the door, and JJ immediately socks her in the jaw, and quietly closes the door. A brief fight ensues, but JJ deflects or blocks every frightened blow, before slitting his target’s throat. JJ then puts on a face-concealing mask, and THEN taunts the others.

        Mind you, I’m personally against killing off characters for shock value. But damn it, if you’re going to do it anyway, at least do it right!

        • Edrobot
          Edrobot
          November 2, 2015, 6:56 pm | # | Reply

          Oh, and as for hurricane being exposed = no more story? Maybe there’s some sort of backup plan, like a nuclear bomb set to go off if someone pulls the plug on the game. Bam; there’s your conflict.

        • Phil
          Flo
          November 2, 2015, 8:23 pm | # | Reply

          Y’know, I’m just gonna say:

          We don’t exactly have all the time in the world, here.

          • CorrTerek
            CorrTerek
            November 2, 2015, 8:36 pm | # | Reply

            Nonsense, I demand a full novel of JJ’s exploits in setting up this kill.

          • Rinikex
            Rinikex
            November 2, 2015, 9:02 pm | # | Reply

            Could you at least tell us if the kitty will be OK?

            • Karishi
              Karishi
              November 3, 2015, 12:05 am | # | Reply

              The kitty will be fine. It’s Best’s alt, after all.

              Official Phil Kahn Gold Star

              • Rinikex
                Rinikex
                November 3, 2015, 10:20 am | # | Reply

                The kitty is in sepia world; it’s not anyone’s alternate.

                • MichaelHaneline
                  MichaelHaneline
                  November 3, 2015, 9:29 pm | # | Reply

                  I feel like you missed the joke.

                  • Rinikex
                    Rinikex
                    November 4, 2015, 10:18 pm | # | Reply

                    It wouldn’t be the first time.

                • SotiCoto
                  SotiCoto
                  May 23, 2017, 3:31 am | # | Reply

                  Sepia World is Best’s Alt.

          • Edrobot
            Edrobot
            November 2, 2015, 10:32 pm | # | Reply

            Well if you didn’t want to take the time to properly set up a suspenseful scene, maybe you should have written something else?

            It’s not like you’re writing a monthly comic book that has to be broken into 32 page chunks on a monthly basis. As a webcomic, you have more freedom to experiment with sequential storytelling.

            • AllekBrynn
              AllekBrynn
              November 4, 2015, 5:01 pm | # | Reply

              Dude, okay no offense meant here, but is it really your business to totally police their webcomic? Personally, I think the setup was nice. It was simple. And it was startling. This comic isn’t about JJ himself, he’s more of an evil force within the other characters’ narrative.

              Webcomics themselves are a business. If you bust your ass and provide stories at a high rate, it draws more people, creates a larger fan base, and generates more ad revenue. I’m not saying the creators are cheaping out on us for our money, far from it, but sometimes you just don’t think of something when you’re pressured to create, and it’s really easy for a reader who’s experienced the scene to rethink it in a light because you already have the framework that was the result of HOURS of the creators’ work!

              I dunno, your comments just read as rude and entitled, not a fan. Write your own shit if you think you know the proper way and chill out about other’s creations.

  22. Schneidend
    Schneidend
    November 2, 2015, 6:16 pm | # | Reply

    Really? We’re just going to hand-wave an entire nation’s police forces as being incompetent because they’re so very 100% racist? The shark has officially been jumped.

    • Alice Macher
      Alice Macher
      November 2, 2015, 6:28 pm | # | Reply

      The phrase “jump the shark” jumped the shark a long time ago.

    • Phil
      Flo
      November 2, 2015, 8:38 pm | # | Reply

      And here I thought we jumped the shark in Chapter 9.

      • Le Ocelot
        Le Ocelot
        November 2, 2015, 8:46 pm | # | Reply

        Down the line I’m sure the shark will jump someone else in revenge.

      • The Indomitable Eric
        The Indomitable Eric
        November 2, 2015, 9:44 pm | # | Reply

        All storytelling is just an elaborate series of shark jumps tied together with catchphrases.

        • Phil
          Flo
          November 2, 2015, 10:17 pm | # | Reply

          BASPRINGO!

    • Karishi
      Karishi
      November 3, 2015, 12:18 am | # | Reply

      Except we haven’t.
      All we’ve established here is that a guy – a guy whose life will be a LOT easier if these 5 people consider him unbeatable – wants them to believe he can’t be beaten. Saying “the police will never bother with a manhunt for a giant serial killer who just shot a woman in her own home” is part of that can’t-lose narrative, but that doesn’t mean it’s TRUE.
      For all we know, JJ’s about to get picked up by an officer outside who happens to be a block away and responds to Chrissie’s call. It’d be a weirdly sudden release for all this buildup, so from a writing perspective I don’t consider it super likely, but sometimes these guys do that, so it’s not beyond the pale.

      • CorrTerek
        CorrTerek
        November 3, 2015, 12:11 pm | # | Reply

        Officer Wayne “The Boulder” Jonston just so happened to be outside the building, and we’re going to see a brawl of epic proportions.

  23. Psolo Ghoti
    Psolo Ghoti
    November 2, 2015, 7:40 pm | # | Reply

    *sigh*

    “You shouldn’t bring politics into fiction!” is such a fucking stupid thing to say.

    Firstly, because it implies that there is a clear-cut, universally accepted line between “politics” and “not politics”.

    Secondly, because “politics” can almost always be read as “politics that I don’t agree with”. Politics we do agree with? Why, that’s just common sense, nothing political about that!

    Thirdly, because it’s asking the creator(s) to maintain the illusion that they’re no different from you, to save you from having mixed feelings about enjoying their work. But they won’t stop being different from you just because they stop reminding you that they are. At the end of the day, it’s either such a big deal to you that you have to stop reading, or it isn’t. And it’s perfectly fine to stop reading.

    Fourthly, because it’s usually — as it is here — a knee-jerk reaction (with optional attempts at rationalization). The story wasn’t suddenly replaced by an author rant on why Opinion X is great and Opinion Y sucks and you’re an idiot if you disagree — that would be bad writing, and a totally legitimate target for criticism. No, what happened was that a character, who has clearly and consistently been identified as a Bad Guy, casually expressed an opinion, without any indication of the authors’ stance on the matter, and people who disagreed with the Bad Guy went apeshit. That’s just irrational. And if you somehow correctly deduced what the authors think, congratulations, but does it then really matter if they spell it out or not?

    Finally, and most of all: because it’s essentially saying that works of art and fiction shouldn’t convey messages.

    (Unless you happen to agree with them.)

    • Craddok
      Craddok
      November 3, 2015, 2:04 pm | # | Reply

      Thank you.

    • Olentzero
      Olentzero
      November 4, 2015, 3:26 am | # | Reply

      Indeed. Thank you.

  24. MichaelHaneline
    MichaelHaneline
    November 2, 2015, 7:53 pm | # | Reply

    You know, normally the comments section is like my favorite part of this comic.

    So very fucking disappointed today.

    • Le Ocelot
      Le Ocelot
      November 2, 2015, 8:45 pm | # | Reply

      I could make an attempt at puns if it provides assistance.

      • Nathanyel
        Nathanyel
        November 4, 2015, 7:37 am | # | Reply

        Your avatar helped :)

    • Benedikt
      Benedikt
      November 3, 2015, 6:29 pm | # | Reply

      I’m not really disappointed… I mean – “look for the helpers” in the words of Mr. Rogers’ mother. Of course it’s a disaster what some bigots are thinking and they tend to be the loudest on such occasions. And some have been among the GA fans. (Hopefully not anymore.) But then there are the ones like AllekBrynn or Psolo Gtoti and a lot more who take their time to really spell out why the bigot’s talk is silly. And the one who are punning on… not sure whether that’s something to be prould of. But not disappointed. Not more than normally. ;-)

      • AllekBrynn
        AllekBrynn
        November 4, 2015, 5:07 pm | # | Reply

        I blush :o

  25. The Indomitable Eric
    The Indomitable Eric
    November 2, 2015, 9:43 pm | # | Reply

    I’d suggest they just fucking shoot him, but I’m sure he knows they’re expecting him.

    BUT IS HE EXPECTING AN ELABORATE SERIES OF TRAPS CREATED WITH HOUSEHOLD ITEMS LIKE PAINT CANS ON ROPES, ICED OVER STAIRS, HEATED DOORKNOBS, AND MICROMACHINES?

    • Beroli
      Beroli
      November 3, 2015, 2:47 pm | # | Reply

      I’d suggest they just fucking shoot him, but I’m sure he knows they’re expecting him.

      Which of the still-alive, not-JJ characters in the current scene are you thinking know how to use a gun any better than the established-incompetent-with-one Shanna?

      • tlhonmey
        tlhonmey
        November 3, 2015, 9:08 pm | # | Reply

        Shanna is hardly “established incompetent”. It is very mentally difficult for someone who’s never been in that kind of life-and-death situation before to deliberately kill another human being. Plus the instinctive adrenal reaction that is so useful for hand-to-hand combat makes it difficult to control your muscles precisely enough to shoot well. You can learn to work with it, but the first time is usually pretty horrible.

        Now though, she knows that she’ll be saving a pile of lives if she kills him, so the moral hesitancy will be much reduced, and she knows she’s beaten him before, so the adrenal over-reaction won’t be as bad. And she’s experienced it once, so she’ll be better able to work with it. Her performance will likely be much better.

        Of course, if I were JJ, I’d have used Shanna’s gun for the murder, and my next move would be to frame her for it. Probably won’t stick, but will make her life more miserable, and flush her out into the open where she can be easily eliminated.

  26. The Gorram Batguy
    The Gorram Batguy
    November 3, 2015, 3:42 am | # | Reply

    Bravo.

    (Congratulating the creative team for their awesome writing and art, not praising the characters or their actions.)

  27. Minando
    Minando
    November 3, 2015, 3:49 am | # | Reply

    A polite criminal who’s just doing his job.
    …
    He will die horribly in the end.

    • Rinikex
      Rinikex
      November 3, 2015, 10:22 am | # | Reply

      Well, one can hope that he’ll die horribly in the end.

      • Minando
        Minando
        November 4, 2015, 5:45 am | # | Reply

        And that can only mean one thing: he will become a bossmob.

  28. Devlerbat
    Devlerbat
    November 3, 2015, 4:21 am | # | Reply

    Y’know, I think I ought to stop reading the comments and just wait tell Wednesday to visit this site again. Hopefully boredom won’t cause me to change my mind on this, since boredom sometimes causes me to do silly things like announce I am taking a break from an internet comments section on said comments section.

  29. James Rye
    James Rye
    November 3, 2015, 6:35 am | # | Reply

    Snuff films? Damn, this guy got way scarier than just being a good/great hitman. He’s used to murder people on camera. Not only that but those kinda films pretty often involves rape and torture before the victim gets killed to please the customers who buy those films. Children make a rather large cast of said victims too. Then again, most people never heard the term snuff film so I doubt our cast will be shocked/scared by that announcement of his, especially given since they already got such a film shown to them just now, just with the murder happen off-screen and with no audio leaving far more room for their imagination to fill in the blank spots of what might have happened just a couple minutes ago when their friend opened the door because she was awaiting the pizzaman.

    • Jean-Luc
      Jean-Luc
      November 3, 2015, 6:38 am | # | Reply

      I’m pretty sure his reference to snuff films was supposed to be figurative but ya never know I guess.

  30. Kyle Voltti
    Kyle Voltti
    November 3, 2015, 9:17 am | # | Reply

    Well…. beyond everything else… Politics and whatnot aside… this isn’t fun anymore. It was hard when you killed the tech guy. but this. No I’m going to have to think long and hard about coming back here again.

    I’m not saying you can’t do what you did but I am saying that I’m changing the channel

    • Phil
      Flo
      November 3, 2015, 10:59 am | # | Reply

      Bye, Felicia.

    • Nathanyel
      Nathanyel
      November 4, 2015, 7:34 am | # | Reply

      So you’re fine when social injustice and racism is disguised as a Fantasy story, with actually different species, but have problems when current problems are mentioned in a subclause by the bad guy, attempting to discourage the protagonists?

      • Kyle Voltti
        Kyle Voltti
        November 4, 2015, 9:51 am | # | Reply

        Actually I didn’t get offended by the reference to real world politics. I was referring to the murder of Kaye. it didn’t make me angry or sad it just made me feel icky. it didn’t feel dramatic it felt exploitative. I’m sorry if that wasn’t clear in my original post.

        also if Phil is, I can only assume, implying that I’m like Felicia Day I can only thank him for the complement. If I’ve misread his intentions I am sorry for that as well.

        • AllekBrynn
          AllekBrynn
          November 4, 2015, 5:15 pm | # | Reply

          Oh hon, bye Felicia is a sassy statement coined in AAVE similar to “Girl, byeee” (from what I understand? Someone please correct me if I’ve got it wrong) I’d die to be compared to Felicia Day too though good god

          • Kyle Voltti
            Kyle Voltti
            November 4, 2015, 6:25 pm | # | Reply

            Ah… I am not totally up on the lingo the youngens speak thank you

  31. Iarei
    Iarei
    November 3, 2015, 5:09 pm | # | Reply

    See, problems like this guy are why you always try to have at least one lifelong friend who is also a career sniper.

  32. biggmac
    biggmac
    November 3, 2015, 10:30 pm | # | Reply

    Anybody mind if I take the devil’s advocate for a bit?

    Wish I could remember Phil’s rule for the comments section exactly, but it went something like Bill and Ted: “Be Excellent To Each Other”.

    I don’t mind conflict, nor differences of opinion. As long as it can be done without calling the person you have a conflict with: dense, stupid, ignorant, and (yes) racist. Even if a person is one or all of those things, does that give us a license to be nasty?

    I understand that comments offend. So how about we go after the comment, and not the person that you know just from a few keystrokes? “Hey, i find that comment to be racist” is more *excellent* than “You’re a *^$#@ racist”. Are you really trying to argue your position, or verbally body slam them because it’s allowed, or even fun (BOOM AND SIZZLE THE BURN IS REAL), to do so?

    Politically, I’m the kind of guy everyone loves to hate: a moderate. I believe Black Lives Matter was formed because of disgust with repeated injustice. Do I believe they have a just cause? YES. Do I have a problem with some of their methods, positions and chants? Yes again. No organization is perfect. Yet no organization should be above valid criticism, also. What if the criticism is crude, and invalid, and racist? Does that mean that we get to be angry and crude and hateful in return?

    How’s that being excellent?

    Amazing to me how on political blogs so many people say “You’re a troll!” and then follow up immediately with a trollish personal attack.

    Let’s not be that way here. Let’s disagree. Man, let’s have conflict. But can we do it in a way that doesn’t tear down each other, even if we’re wanting to? Let’s be better than that. Let’s be excellent to each other.

    I humbly submit with sincere hopes I won’t be nocter-ed,

    Biggmac.

    Official Phil Kahn Gold Star

    • AllekBrynn
      AllekBrynn
      November 4, 2015, 5:23 pm | # | Reply

      I realized in some areas where I was nasty. Very nasty, in fact. It’s hard to get one’s opinion across without getting really passionate, and with internet anonymity this can easily become a bad thing :/

      However, I’ll point this out. Calling someone racist is not insulting them, the intent is not to insult, even though a racist is a horrible thing to be. If someone is a racist, and they don’t realize this fact, it can be alerting and discussion can happen. But on the internet, again, this doesn’t really happen. It’s hard to be the bigger person, and it’s easy to misspeak and start attacking people.

      Final side note, on the topic of the “boom and sizzle” comment that showed my love for Phil’s “burn”, his comment was actually noting the quality of the comment posted (like you said), not the character of the poster.

    • Benedikt
      Benedikt
      November 7, 2015, 6:54 pm | # | Reply

      It almost seems as if bpatrick took a lot of time to spell your argument out…:
      http://www.akimbocomics.com/?p=1036

  33. Ssionnach
    Ssionnach
    November 4, 2015, 12:05 am | # | Reply

    Well, the people who hired him knew how to reach him & phone calls are recorded & traceable.

    • chase
      chase
      October 19, 2017, 12:57 pm | # | Reply

      Hmmm, that’s a good point.
      Carol mentioned having worked with JJ before, though she didn’t really go into super huge details. That still doesn’t explain a whole lot, but I suppose if they’ve worked with him before it explains how she knew how to contact him… but then, of course, begs the question about how she found him the FIRST time. :/ There has to be info on him SOMEwhere!

  34. Blake
    Blake
    November 4, 2015, 12:34 am | # | Reply

    I wonder how often he touches up his moustache. Because it is still looking great.

    • Nathanyel
      Nathanyel
      November 4, 2015, 3:15 am | # | Reply

      You don’t need to wax it if you’re constantly rubbing your finger grease on it.

  35. Nathanyel
    Nathanyel
    November 4, 2015, 5:03 am | # | Reply

    Am I missing something? Wednesday morning (well, at least morning in Europe) and no new strip yet? Not complaining, just asking (although I do need my fix)

    • Minando
      Minando
      November 4, 2015, 5:40 am | # | Reply

      Should not be too difficult to find a substitute.
      …
      What? Did I say an ADEQUATE substitute?!

      • Nathanyel
        Nathanyel
        November 4, 2015, 6:04 am | # | Reply

        I tried Crack, but I didn’t find it nearly as addicting.

    • Jean-Luc
      Jean-Luc
      November 4, 2015, 5:51 am | # | Reply

      Sometimes it’s late because reasons.

      • Nathanyel
        Nathanyel
        November 4, 2015, 6:05 am | # | Reply

        REASOOOONS!

        Oh wait, you’re Jean-Luc, not James T.

        • Jean-Luc
          Jean-Luc
          November 4, 2015, 6:09 am | # | Reply

          There are four reasons!

          • Nathanyel
            Nathanyel
            November 4, 2015, 7:55 am | # | Reply

            I’m not sure what you mean, but I’m kinda hungry for Chinese takeout now.

            • Jean-Luc
              Jean-Luc
              November 4, 2015, 8:06 am | # | Reply

              https://youtu.be/moX3z2RJAV8?t=29s

  36. TxGator
    TxGator
    November 4, 2015, 9:18 am | # | Reply

    If Shanna is smart, then she knows that she isn’t capable of handling this threat alone. She should show this video to the FBI (because the FBI probably have a dossier on this guy). Then even if the FBI don’t believe her story, they know that the situation is serious enough to both protect her & her family. And they’ll likely start investigating Hurricane as well for a possible connection.

    Previously all Shanna had was her story and the possible support of a handful of gamers. Now she has evidence of something serious and can get the FBI involved. I call this a bad move on JJ’s part.

  37. Riotllama
    Riotllama
    November 4, 2015, 4:52 pm | # | Reply

    Phil, am I Kaye? Did you just kill me?

    • Riotllama
      Riotllama
      November 4, 2015, 4:53 pm | # | Reply

      Why does this not show my gravitar?

    • Phil
      Flo
      November 4, 2015, 6:14 pm | # | Reply

      Nope and nope!

  38. Riotllama
    Riotllama
    November 4, 2015, 4:55 pm | # | Reply

    Oh, it does now. Anyway. Why did you kill me?

    • Phil
      Flo
      November 4, 2015, 6:14 pm | # | Reply

      Ratings.

  39. SotiCoto
    SotiCoto
    April 7, 2016, 8:18 am | # | Reply

    His way of staying off the grid probably just consists of telling people not to bother reporting him… and can probably be thwarted by… reporting.

  40. MidnightDStroyer
    MidnightDStroyer
    February 20, 2017, 10:46 pm | # | Reply

    This says it better than I could:
    https://imgur.com/gallery/zFkHcgS

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Guilded Age is co-written by T Campbell & Flo Kahn, and illustrated by John Waltrip. Site design by Samantha Kyle. Fonts by Blambot.com.
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