^ 30 Comments...

1. Nytsky
   December 26th, 2008 at 10:18 pm

   *heavy sigh* but of course it has to be this way… poor Vito. Beautiful story

2. hans
   December 26th, 2008 at 11:05 pm

   Poop indeed.
   Guess Christmas is over.

3. The MacNut
   December 26th, 2008 at 11:49 pm

   Missed it by THAT much….ah the cruelties of the afterlife.

4. Wolfgang
   December 27th, 2008 at 12:01 am

   Bwahahah! Reminds me of The Dreamland Chronicles (another web comic) where the main character is always fading out of Dreamland (aka, waking up) just as something exciting happens.

5. Lucca
   December 27th, 2008 at 12:31 am

   I love The Dreamland Chronicles! And that’s exactly what I thought of too. Poor Vito, but I’m sure she’s bound to come back and balance the cha later *wink*

6. Soor
   December 27th, 2008 at 5:56 am

   Hah, horny old goat

7. bigsister
   December 27th, 2008 at 11:52 am

   Dreamland? Try Little Nemo in Slumberland. This gimmick was “created” by Winsor McCay in that strip over a century ago. Still works great.

8. AdamZero
   December 27th, 2008 at 5:02 pm

   The lightning in the background makes me think someone is giving Tula a little jolt

   Moon Goddess: CLEAR! *ZAP*

9. JE Draft
   December 28th, 2008 at 1:24 am

   Y’know, I thought about having him revert to his “old Vito” form in the last frame, but the simple truth is, he’s not old, he’s not young. He’s neither, anymore. He’s a spirit, encompassing his whole life experience and more, at this point. The only reason he appeared as old before was because that was the form he was used to at the time of his death, and that that was what would give him some gravitas for his role as Mentl’s teacher. I don’t know how he’ll appear the next time we see him, now. Depends on what’s needed, I guess.

10. Captain Marsupial
    December 28th, 2008 at 1:40 am

    So we know Vito goes back and forth to Earth, and is a big fan of Bogie, Betty Grable, I think Jimmy Stewart, and a few other folks whose pix I can’t identify. We still haven’t learned what the connection is between Vito, Earth, and Mentl. his tastes seem older than Mick Fleetwood’s would be. (Unfounded supposition.) Any other Earth magicians we should be thinking about? Well, here’s to few years of guessing.

11. Elfguy
    December 28th, 2008 at 2:56 am

    Think of all the cultural references vito can use by altering his appearance…since he can look like whatever he WANTS to look like, he could appear as Elvis…or Mister Spock…or whatever he thinks will make his point best at the time.

12. JE Draft
    December 28th, 2008 at 3:12 am

    Tell ya what: The first person who correctly identifies all the pictures/personalities visible on display in Vito’s apartment gets a bonus graphic.

    

13. Jaze
    December 28th, 2008 at 7:40 am

    …Poop? Is that really the best he can come up with after such a disappointment? xD
    I’d be saying a lot more than “poop”.

    Awesome as ever though- looking forward to seeing her wake.

14. JE Draft
    December 28th, 2008 at 12:27 pm

    “Poop” is funnier than “shit.”

15. jonnyjesus
    December 28th, 2008 at 2:25 pm

    LOL celestial cock block

16. hans
    December 28th, 2008 at 4:10 pm

    Jaze, you seriously don´t expect we´re back in the cave on the next panel?
    Noo way, it´s back to Kivalia, I´m sure. Oh, the torture.

17. Joe
    December 28th, 2008 at 5:56 pm

    Nicely done. JE, I’m curious, based on statements you’ve made before about vito playing with some of the greats during the 60s… is “Vito” based on a real life character?

    You don’t have to say which, but it would definitely make for an interesting fan detective story if you can confirm that he’s based strongly on someone real.

18. JE Draft
    December 28th, 2008 at 7:51 pm

    Joe, Vito is completely fictional, as is Mentl. Nonetheless, in the fictional Earth of the comic, he was popular with a number of the greats as a guru, and would occasionally sit in with his sax on informal jam sessions with some big names. He was quite different from a lot of the headlining nehru jacket-wearing navel-gazers of the 60s and 70s in that he specifically shunned the limelight and big dollars, even as he would sit in the living rooms of Hollywood actors or rock stars saying things like - “Transcendental Meditation? It’s bullshit. Wanna know how to meditate? I can teach ya in 35 minutes. If you just do that and only that every night for a year, you’ll teach *yourself* the next steps without paying some Indian shmuck to send ya to sleep every week for an hour.” This pissed off some, inspired others and got him invitations to some of the wildest parties in a very wild time.

19. warnie
    December 29th, 2008 at 12:19 pm

    great post man!

    yeah such is the roll of the dice.

20. Keith
    December 29th, 2008 at 4:14 pm

    While Vito and Mentl are fictional, the San Bernardino from which Mentl and I both escaped (sadly) is not, and I can vouch to all the readers that it was (and surely still is) a great place to be from - not a great place to be, mind you, but a great place to be *from*. JE isn’t exaggerating when he describes it. Ever since I first strated reading Zona, I love to think of Mentl as “Valley College Graduate Makes Good.”

    Being transported from San Bernardino to Zona’s side can only be described as balancing the cha on a cosmic level.

21. John
    December 29th, 2008 at 10:56 pm

    Keith: Oh, yes, fellow Berdoonian (a word I just coined, I think) Good Gawd, two years at SBVC and then straight on to the big time: Cal State U, San Bernardino! Oh, man. The memories, the foothills, the 40 MPH winds that knocked town Wayland, my barely-ambulatory friend with CP … my sensai, Tony Gneck, who was impressed that one interesting day in karate class I saw his aura … Berdoo. A great place to get the fuck out of. It has its virtues, certainly, and all of them are individual people, not the town as a whole, because the town as a whole is … a hole.

22. Captain Marsupial
    December 30th, 2008 at 1:24 am

    Hokay, taking a shot at the people. If I’m not right, it’ll be a starting point for the next person.

    Pg 226
    Bogie as Sam Spade,
    Bogie & Bergman from Casablanca

    pg 227
    Jimmy Stewart & Kate Hepburn, Philadelphia story
    Lena Horne
    Joan Crawford
    Donna Reed & Montgomery Clift, From Here to Eternity. The gal looks like Ava Gardner, but I can’t find a matching film.
    Unidetifiable under Tula’s hand, but it looks like a woman in a gown.
    Danny Kaye with antenna

    Pg 229
    Starry Night and Starry Night Over the Rhone, by Vinne Van Gogh.
    Betty Grable
    Rita Hayworth

    230 Not sure if art in Panels 2 & 4 are paintings or views out the window.

    233 Final panel
    Can’t really see 3rd pix down left & right of the door, but the right was that woman in a gown.

    Thanks for the great comic. Now back to work

23. Captain Marsupial
    December 30th, 2008 at 1:42 am

    I just mega magnified the last frame, and I’ll guess that the 3rd picture down on the left is Audrey Hepburn. That’s a guess for all of them.

24. JE Draft
    December 30th, 2008 at 1:49 am

    Ahh, *very* good try, Capt Marsupial! I give you about 75-80 per cent! nonetheless, that is definitely NOT Jimmy Stewart in the Philadephia Story pic, nor is Joan “Mommy Dearest” Crawford represented on Vito’s wall. Rita Hayworth does not appear in the scene, nor does Monty Clift or Donna Reed. Keep trying, (when you care to) The offer is still open!

    Like me, Vito is a huge Van Gogh fan, and you correctly IDed both the Dutch impressionist pics. Sadly, I cannot reward for a 70.

25. JE Draft
    December 30th, 2008 at 1:51 am

    Nope. Not Audrey “Too delicate and exquisite for words” Hepburn. OMG. She was born to be an angel on Earth. She even played opposite Bogart and held her own wonderfully.

26. Captain Marsupial
    December 30th, 2008 at 1:35 pm

    Hokay, last few guesses, then I suppose this is it for me. Cary Grant with Katherine Hepburn, Veronica Lake next to Betty Grable, and maybe the couple in the war film are Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis from Hellcats of the Navy. (although why Vito would have them up, I don’t know. Irony?)

    And I agree, Sabrina is a wonderful film.

    Good luck to the next contestant!

27. JE Draft
    December 30th, 2008 at 4:18 pm

    Capt, you got a number of them, correctly identifying Cary Grant and Hepburn, but that is not Miss Lake, and definitely not Reagan and Nancy. Hint: Not the right color.

28. Joe
    February 19th, 2010 at 11:59 am

    Hey, Tula. You could do worse than going out with John Bonham….

29. Prairie Son
    September 26th, 2010 at 7:00 am

    Yes, Audrey was born to be an angel on Earth, and she played that role, both in her work for refugees (she was one as a child) and in ‘Always’.

30. El Pollo Diablo
    October 16th, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    Young Vito reminds me of Lemmy for some reason.

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