Annotations Every Day - Written by T Campbell & Flo Kahn - Illustrated by John & Jason Waltrip
Guilded Age
The Saga of the Working Class Adventurer – New comics every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!
Sakana
Mad Rupert
Our heroes must navigate a hazardous dating scene, overcome personal anxieties, and wrangle unruly seafood in order to find love, peace of mind, and a paycheck.
Dumbing of Age
David M Willis
Joyce has been homeschooled her entire life until now, when she's suddenly a freshman in college! Things don't go well.
Cyanide & Happiness
Explosm
Satire, dark humor and surreal humor.
Freakshow
Scotty
A festival of broken people, blood flows in the center ring. Come one and come all, to the greatest show in all of Paris.
Blindsprings
Kadi Fedoruk
Tamaura, wrested into a world 300 years in the future, must find a way to save the magic fading from her country.
Three Panel Soul
Matt Boyd, Ian McConville
It's a pretty rigid format but we keep the content loose, you know?
Saint for Rent
Ru Xu
Saint Halliday runs an inn for Time Travelers. Unfortunately, he seems to attract other supernatural "guests," too.
Edison Rex
Chris Roberson
The adventures of the world’s greatest villain who, after defeating his superheroic nemesis, decides that he’s the only one left to defend the world.
ARISE, YE SKELETON KING
Brian Clevinger, Escher Cattle, Lee Black
A troupe of wandering "adventurers" down to their last silver "acquire" a map only to find the real treasure was the fiend they dug up along the way.
Nerf Now!!
Josué Pereira
A cute webcomic about fanservice, video games, and... love. Mostly video games, though.
Guilded Age
T Campbell, John Waltrip, Florence Machina
Welcome to the saga of the working-class adventurer! Enjoy the complete story with new annotations daily!
Little Tiny Things
Clover
What are the little things that move us? The simple joys that warm our bodies and hearts? The micro life of insects that influence our world more than we think? The tiny steps we make everyday to have a happier tomorrow?
Not Drunk Enough
Tess Stone
Logan Ibarra is possibly the unluckiest repairman in the world. A late night job should not have landed him in the middle of a mad scientist's squabble, but he soon finds himself surrounded by monsters and further madness with little tools to get out.
Namesake
Isa, Meg
There's ghosts at your heels and fairy tale worlds ahead. What do you do? Jump down the rabbit hole!
Nigh Heaven & Hell
Scotty
Heather Vodihn is on a simple mission: find her father. However she becomes entangled with two strangers with mysterious powers being stalked by a group with bizarre demands. Heather must learn to trust her new traveling companions, even if she is untrustworthy herself.
Darkling Bright
Chris Hazelton
Kieran Bright is a college student home for the summer and roped into an online reunion with his old neighborhood friends in the most recent update of their favorite childhood MMORPG.
At least, he was, and that was the idea...
Join Kieran and his friends as they are pulled into another reality that may or may not be real and are forced to confront their own identities, the nature of simulated universes and reality itself.
Sleepless Domain
Mary Cagle (Cube Watermelon)
In a world where magical girls and their battles are commonplace, loss has become all too common as well.
Stand Still, Stay Silent
Minna Sundberg
A few generations after the end of the world, a small, poorly financed research crew is sent out to rediscover whatever is left of the forbidden old world in the south.
Heroes of Thantopolis
Izzy Strontium Hall
A living boy fights to save the City of the Dead.
The Messenger
indui
In a ruin-abound town cursed with bad luck, Kai and Kalla--a young boy and a fledgling dragonbird spirit--take on a quest in hopes the reward will solve all of their problems.
Lies Within
Lacey
Lysander's aimless and carefree life is turned upside down when he accidentally discovers that the cute boy next door, Simon, is a literal monster
The Weave
Rennie Kingsley
A young woman pursued by bad luck is witness to the murder of the Fairy Queen of Summer. Can she get to the bottom of this mystery?
Ozzie the Vampire
Eric Lide
Ozzie and her best friend Kimmy are your average everyday normal art students – except one is an immortal vampire with superpowers and the other possesses a magic talking grimoire. Also they have to save their town from a demonic invasion.
Angel's Orchard
Harry Bogosian
After the events in Demon's Mirror, Gerda has accepted her role as a Demon Hunter, and Cezar has traveled back to the Demon City. Demons have existed alongside humans for millennia, so things begin to return to normal. But an impossibly powerful Relic has been taken by one of the Demon Masters, and a silent war enters its final stages.
Barbarous
Ananth Hirsh, Yuko Ota
A crummy wizard and an anxious monster have to get over themselves and bring order to an apartment building full of misfits.
The Golden Boar
Magnolia Porter Siddell
A young woman joins a group of summoners who call forth Guardian Beasts to protect their isolated magical island. Unfortunately, her Guardian Beast is nothing like she'd imagined, and he's about to change her life, and everything she thought she knew about herself...
Augustine
Winter Jay Kiakas, Windy
August and her ragtag group are just like everyone else, simply surviving in the treacherous Crater... When they stumble into what may be an artifact of the ancient past, their lives are thrown into a much bigger loop as they trifle with bounty hunters, monsters and gods.
Empowered
Adam Warren
A sexy superhero comedy (except when it isn't) about the never-ending struggles of a plucky but very unlucky young superheroine.
Peritale
Mari Costa
A fairy godmother with no magic tries her best to successfully fulfill a Fairytale and win the respect of her peers.
Monster's Garden
Ash G.
Champion pit fighter Kilo Monster was content to spend the rest of his days tending to his quiet garden alone... until he met a curious robot girl and her human family.
Sister Claire
Yamino
In the troubled aftermath of a great war between Witches and her fellow Nuns, novice Sister Claire just wants a purpose.
Novae
KaiJu
A historical romance with a touch magic and a dash of astronomy. It chronicles the romantic adventures of Sulvain, a sweet tempered necromancer and Raziol, a passionate 17th century astronomer.
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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Privacy Policy
Guilded Age does not claim ownership of any of the corporate branding that appears in this comic, nor does it claim any affiliation, partnership, or endorsement of any kind.
They are used strictly as an artistic choice for the set dressing of the comic.
They are used strictly as an artistic choice for the set dressing of the comic.
The most important question…
…Who got the pizza?
Berten since there was not a cannoli available.
Following the driver’s narrative, there’s no reason for a pizza to still be present. So yeah.
I have to wonder just how much Berten’s being paid if he can throw bribes (presumably more than one) like THOSE around and still turn a profit.
Well, since Hurricane was able to bribe who knows what to keep the five virtual reality testers hush hush, I’m sure they can cover a flat “Bribery” expense in the receipt
Hurricane must be bankrolling the bribes considering five people ending up in tubes hooked up to a machine would required allot of green as well. Most of the Hurricane’s profits must be going in to this conspiracy, why other companies are looking to buy them out without asking what HR has been doing to put the game company in the red.
Your monthly subscription fees at work!
Subsciption fees? Nah, its the merchandising Akerra Lego toys are huge for Xmas 16.
For a company like Hurricane its not much.
And he (probably) did steal all of her valuables.
The money is still rubber banded, so the pizza guy (and us readers by extension) don’t know that any of the bills on the inside of that roll aren’t singles.
I wanted to link to a scene from My Cousin Vinny, but a quick youtube search didn’t find the one I’m looking for.
His boss is a literal wizard.
I can’t for the life of me figure out what’s in the backseat of his car.
As a Miata owner, I can tell you that it’s likely a windblocker. JJ drives a Camaro convertible, IIRC.
Something like this, only more elaborate: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71qShdH6VgL._SX522_.jpg
That doesn’t look like a late model Camaro hood and windshield. The instrument cluster under the steering wheel does not look right either. I think he never recovered his whip after Shanna jacked it. It is definitely an open car. The night sky is plainly visable behind the driver’s seat. I figured that thingie is something to do with the convertible top. I thought it might be some kind of two seater but You are are probably right. That looks like a locking handle for the screen.
It’s a Camaro, trust me: check the last panel in the two strips below.
http://guildedage.net/comic/chapter-34-page-1/
http://guildedage.net/comic/chapter-33-page-14/
And yes, they are quite effective.
Damn Puerto Ricans.
It occurs to me that bribing the pizza guy might actually backfire here. As someone who A) was supposed to be in the area at the time, and B)whose account doesn’t match the eyewitness account at all, he could very well be a suspect. And if he starts spending a whole wad of dough that his job probably can’t account for, he might be in for some questioning.
Check the alt text. Does it still count as “hush money” if they’re this loud and obnoxious? No shit. Any body here know if a video conference has any default back up. I am thinking it don’t. So would the computers have time stamps indicating that they were online to each other? This would add credence to the real eye witnesses. As to the bribe money being sufficient to keep him silent, that’s the carrot. I am sure Just Joe explained to mr obnoxious what the results of not taking the bribe would be. That’s the stick. Is Joe driving a two seater car now?
If they were smart they took a simple screenshot of him. I mean, you don’t need video to take a picture of a guys face. That’s a simple press of a button.
With the stress of the situation, for some reason I highly doubt they did
Did you see them walk over to the computer they were all standing several feet from and push a button? No? Then probably not.
Further, if they tried, he would have seen them come over and reach for the keyboard and could just cover the camera.
I read the alt text, but I’m not really sure what it has to do with what I was saying. Could you elaborate? I wasn’t questioning whether the bribe would keep him silent or not.
That’s right. I was just blown away by the alt text. It really didn’t speak to your post. No offence intended. I proly culda posted as a stand alone comment. I guess your comment just set off me thinking on how the real eye witnesses are not going to be taken seriously. But to address your comment, yes the pizza guy could be JJ’s undoing. There is lots of speculation on this page how that story element could play out.
I doubt that this is intended as a long-term solution. He’s throwing up some “chaff” leads to buy himself time. So either he’s got a long-term plan to get out of this in one piece, or he’s single-mindedly murderous enough to just not care about the long-term consequences.
My guess is that he’s paid well enough that he doesn’t *have* to care.
Especially if he’s been disguised this whole time, as no one will be able to identify him.
Motherfuckin’ Dominoes guy.
Well, he IS a dead ringer for a certain Gordito on account of his most salient physical feature, so “Mexican” is plausible.
So Kaye lived in Harrisburg, PA.
How do you figure?
ABC27 is Harrisburg, PA.
Ahhh, ok. I was wondering if it was the address of the apartments or the news station logo that was the tip-off.
Considering JJ’s soapbox line about the police being more concerned with abusing minorities than solving crimes, I’m willing to bet he told the Dominoes guy to say that.
The, uh, ‘tip’ didn’t tip you off?
Specifically telling him to blame it on black and/or mexican guys, and sound really racist about it, though.
J.J. is drawn into a double life as he has to continue working in Domino’s across the country so that no one finds his car too suspicious. Be careful, readers, for if you tip inadequately, you too could find your pizza with an extra topping of… MURDER.
Now I want to see JJ wears a Sombrero. I bet he would rock it with that mustache of his.
Let’s see. On one hand a pizza guy telling a really stupid story. If these “mean black guys” straight up murder someone to rob them why just knock out an eyewitness? On the other hand a video of a guy bragging about and confessing to the crime. Not to mention all the other evidence lying around as unless these police have the response time of Detroit cops there would not be enough time to clean and stage the scene very throughly. Unless Hurricane paid off the entire police department or they’re all very very stupid I guess.
They don’t actually have video.
He told them not to record and they listened.
Those calls don’t automatically record.
OH for crying out loud guys! You are really insulting US law enforcement here!
Seriously, why do you think all detectives are stupid?
Covering up a crime like this would make this man an accessory to murder!
He would be considered EXACTLY as guilty as JJ himself under the law. Yes, he would be essentially treated as the SOLE murderer of Kaye if JJ wasn’t found because he would be his ONLY ACCOMPLICE in a murder conspiracy.
When the police ‘inform’ him of this he WILL confess (and keep the money of course, he’d likely just say JJ threatened him into lying, which the cops would be willing to ‘believe’ as a way to scratch your best witnesses back).
Why? Because every rational human will choose to help incarcerate their deadly extorter permanently rather than take the fall for him and those two options will be all this man is given at the police station.
Why would ANY detective know this man is lying (aside from how cliche and vague his story is)? Because this guy has no injuries, none.
You expect a REAL detective to believe three or five ‘big black guys’ THIS supposedly desperate for cash (who this witness will NOT be able to describe in detail, another tell he’s lying. Heck he can’t even decide HOW MANY men attacked him, another detail he should know if this was an honest account) would just quietly knock this guy out with no physical injuries so he could help identify them later??
Having your ‘real world’ police be this incompetent DOES in fact piss off ACTUAL cops when they come across it in fiction, y’know. Yes I heard this from cops I know, I’m not just speculating; makes sense since this harmful stereotype really is quite prolific.
Not to mention how that wad of cash will not go unnoticed, either when he deposits it or spends it. He’s not going to get a free pass to just go about his business here, since he’s actually right now the prime suspect (only person on the scene at the time).
No idea how the murder was done, but it seems like there was at least some struggle- which means potential DNA under the fingernails of the victim, or fibers, or hairs- all of which can be matched to the hitman, or at least be used to corroborate or falsify this witness’ testimony- which would then lead to harder questioning and more looking into his funds and circumstances (which would discover the bribe if they hadn’t already). And that’s without things like footprints in the carpet (faint, but they’ll be there), fingerprints on the door handle/computer (and gloves can leave an identifiable print as well). I’d be surprised if an apartment like that doesn’t have at least 1 or 2 security cameras, with all the ‘clean up’ hassle that would entail…
And that’s even without getting into the murder weapon and actual method of killing. It almost looks like JJ killed her with his bare hands- which means handprints, bruising, etc. that can be matched up to him, more information to reconstruct the crime scene and show a single person, etc. etc.
All of which leads to them believing the group’s witness account over the pizza guy’s- and they, or at least Shanna, will be able to provide a good, solid description of him. He won’t be able to hide.
Now, he can of course skip town, and he probably already has things like safehouses and secondary identities set up- but that sort of stuff can only help so much. About the only way JJ will be able to get clear is if he has connections with shady cops somewhere, able to fake a manhunt or falsify records to get things buried in limbo- he’ll be wanted, but nobody will know that he’s wanted.
Not sure where you’re getting the “killed her with his bare hands” from – she looked to me like she had a big obvious bullet hole in the middle oh her chest. Entirely possible that she opened the door and JJ shot her right away, with no struggle at all.
Now, you are correct that he seemed to be barehanded, meaning he would have left fingerprints on her computer if nothing else. I’m frankly a little disappointed in him for that – “wear gloves so you don’t leave fingerprints” is practically Crime 101.
Why did it look like a struggle? The cat knocked over the computer when it jumped in shock.
It looked like he just shot her, no fuss no muss, like Loquat said.
While those are all very good points, I can’t help but feel that this is a pretty big assumption to make at this point. This is only the very first page that shows the police investigating the crime, after all, and it doesn’t even feature the police, it’s featuring the local news station. And the reporter’s line about the police saying that they’ll be “investigating all angles?” They already know that something weird is going on, and they’re starting to address it accordingly. But they’ve only just started, and investigations take time.
JJ does look rather grumpy in that last panel.
I agree with what MattStriker said above; bribing the delivery guy was only meant to buy JJ more time to do whatever he plans to do next, nothing more. And this might be my own assumptions and bias as a writer showing through, but a small part of me suspects that what we’re seeing here isn’t JJ’s triumphant escape, like many people are fearing, but rather the beginning of his web of secrecy’s unwraveling….
Are we really assuming that a man who has been a top-paid assassin for probably his entire adult life is really going to be concerned with a single murder investigation? All he needs is distance. It doesn’t matter if the cops believe the delivery guy or not. It throws out tons of false leads. They have one description from someone over the phone, another from a supposed witness. You don’t organize state wide manhunts for someone who’s identity you don’t know. All he needed was to muddy the waters, and thats exactly what this does.
Lets not forget, too, that he has a way of intimidating people. A wad of cash like that + Say a word and I will fucking kill you can make for a very convincing liar.
Everyone is suffering from SERIOUS plot bias, here. This is one murder out of how many in a major metro area? You think one botched robbery is going to have them calling in the national guard? J.J. is dust in the wind, my friend. They’ll find the most probable suspect in the area. There’s no reason at all to assume that he’s an international man of mystery worth a nationwide manhunt.
At best, they nab the delivery driver for fraudulent police reports and accessory charges, he probably cops to some random vaguely similar suspect for a plea deal. No matter how thorough the police are, believing a videogame company hired a hitman to murder gamers is beyond the pale, and actually telling them that story would immediately discredit the protagonists, especially Shanna, who has a longstanding beef with the industry.
Wrong on first line: he is NOT truly a ‘top paid’ assassin. All we know about JJ is that he is a very well paid INTIMIDATOR who can kill if needed and take SOME measures to get away with it.
A top paid assassin would have just killed Shanna OR all of her leads by now and would not have allowed any of them to see their face like JJ did.
Believe it or not police are NOT as skeptical and eager to toss evidence as you seem to think.
Detective gets two stories:
-MULTIPLE witnesses to the actual assassination basically, saw the dead body, saw the assailant etc. etc. sound very convincing and genuine.
-ONE pizza guy who saw next to nothing, has no injuries despite his claim of being assaulted by 3-5 minorities he can’t identify, is TALKING ON TV (so you know he’s probly LYING for attention derp), and just plain looks like the sort of dumb rube who would do something this stupid: taking a simple bribe to cover up a murder (one of the most retarded things any US citizen could ever do).
^ THAT is NOT a choice, it is a test of BASIC INTELLIGENCE
It does not count as distraction/chaff/whatever if the detective gives this story ZERO credence and ANY reasonable detective would do exactly that: ignore this dummy’s TV story and bring him in to the station to get the REAL story.
Look here’s the reality of it. The detective won’t even know/care about Shanna’s reputation or the alleged reason for this and he. won’t. care.
Do you have ANY idea how often companies hire guys like JJ to do dirty work and they slip up and kill someone? The reason does not matter my friend. Cops deal with psychotic irrational people all the time, yes some may even be hitmen hired to hide VERY stupid information that makes a detective or anyone shake their head.
They will not dismiss Shanna for such petty reasons especially when her and the others are their ONLY lead (and later the pizza guy once he is broken by the cops: and he is very clearly the type who breaks EASILY).
Gone like the wind? In PENNSYLVANIA? Do you have any idea how easy it is for PA cops to set up road blocks on EVERY major highway around a town? Murder may not be rare in Harisburg (still rare enough to be a BIG deal), but SUSPICIOUS murder is and yes, the perpetrator escaping is ALSO rare and the PA police DO care about that. A lot.
They WILL lock down the highways (VERY easy in a semi-mountainous state like PA).
They WILL be looking for a suspect fitting shanna’s description (the ONLY reliable witness)
If they do not do these things, they are ignoring basic protocol and their training in order to be made incompetent by the writers. Plain and simple.
By the way, may I ask why you seem to WANT JJ to get away with Kaye’s murder?
“Multiple witnesses” who are not actually talking to the police. ‘Multiple witnesses’ only works when they actually talk to the police, which the Scooby Gang seems to have already decided not to continue doing. What reason, exactly, do they have to not believe the delivery driver? They got a conflicting tip from an entirely different state. He’s on TV? Have you actually watched the news, lately? Witnesses are on TV ALL THE TIME. It’s literally a reporter’s job to try and talk to them.
Even assuming they do go back and talk to the cops, think about what the actual story is: The head of a multinational gaming company is actually an evil wizard kidnapping people to trap their souls in an alternate dimension, which is in reality a different plane of reality constructed within the confines of a popular MMO. You think mythical superdetective is going to buy that?
To up the ante, you just need to look at the national crime stats: Police only solve a third of murder cases. In Detroit in 2012, only 34 arrests were made in 386 homicide cases. Statistically speaking, if it isn’t open and shut, there’s actually a VERY, VERY good chance it will never be solved. Harrisburg has one of the higher solve rates in the country, but even then there’s still a 25% chance the average murder will go unsolved, even without the suspect possessing near unlimited resources.
It’s not a matter of how easy it is to throw up road blocks. It’s a matter of it being worth taking a hundred officers off the beat in order to POSSIBLY, MAYBE catch a guy who MIGHT, THEORETICALLY be leaving the city. Also, it’s Wyoming, not PA. Harrisburg is where Shanna and crew is, currently.
The police have no reliable reason to discount the delivery guy’s story. They found him in a dumpster and he told them it was a burglary. Stuff was taken from the apartment, which is also consistent. They have a single material witness.
You’re right about not knowing anything about J.J. All we have to go on is what he’s said, which is literally “I have done this before.”
As for seeming to want him to get away with it, it should be obvious from a narrative standpoint. Some previously unnamed detective swooping in and saving the day would make little sense at this point in the narrative
Why does everyone seem to assume that the group are going to blab about wizard CEOs (that they don’t actually know about anyway)? Why can’t they just say “So hey, we were trying to track down these missing persons and this murder is a thing that happened”?
Aside from the fact that they have no evidence of any of their claims?
They are very far away, and yet called to report the murder.
That is evidence for their claim that they were in contact with the victim at the time of her death.
“Also, it’s Wyoming, not PA. Harrisburg is where Shanna and crew is, currently.”
I think you might have that backwards. I live right outside of Harrisburg. ABC27 is the news station here, those apartments look like a few buildings in the city (though I suppose that can be said for a lot of cities, heh), and JJ’s definitely on one of the bridges in the area.
If it’s as you say, and Shanna and crew is in Harrisburg, it’s kinda freaky to think there’s another city out there that looks just like this one, somewhere. :)
“Seriously, why do you think all detectives are stupid?”
Why do you ask loaded questions?
As a Domino’s delivery driver, I feel this is giving us a bad name.
Fret not; the sourness of your company’s pizza sauce is what gives it a bad name.
Some would say that Siva’s comment would be in bad taste, but I would not.
Ha, Beech Street. Though Scrub Drive will always be my favorite place.
…and then he used all the money to buy a brand new gaming PC and started an account with a certain online RPG…when SupermeanMario visited again, he did not give him money, and justice was served.
What’s striking to me about mustache guy is that he’s completely, utterly failed. In his effort to prevent Hurricane’s exposure, he’s attacked two people who clearly saw him, overpowered him, and escaped, he’s murdered a person in front of witnesses, and went out of his way to make sure they saw him. He’s been reported to the police, and even television news is reporting on the murder and is raising suspicions about the circumstances.
He’s dangerous, certainly. But he’s not helped Hurricane at all.
Doubt anyone in public knows he’s connected to Hurricane.
A good assassin wouldn’t need to bribe people with hush money. He wouldn’t have been seen at all. JJ is an incompetent buffoon.