^ 22 Comments...

1. Lebbrin
   June 30th, 2010 at 12:30 am

   oh, methinks Maldik is about to do something VERY stupid…

2. zangoules
   June 30th, 2010 at 1:01 am

   That or he see’s a name and in his head going (FFFFFFFF**************************).

3. Raoul
   June 30th, 2010 at 1:02 am

   Behold the snake in the forked stick.

   Very nice job on that last panel, btw, JED.

4. Elizabeth
   June 30th, 2010 at 1:05 am

   Now is a very good time for him to RUN up the tower stairs and beg for help from the true queen. But Maldik and stupid have the same number of letters.

5. LurkerAbove
   June 30th, 2010 at 1:17 am

   That looks like a really big list…
   So many girls, or just so many details ?

6. Gremalkin
   June 30th, 2010 at 4:32 am

   Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place. But then again, he is only getting what he deserves. He is the puppet prince after all.

7. Retiarius
   June 30th, 2010 at 5:50 am

   Yeah, he’s so much the puppet now about his only real choice is picking whose hand is up his butt. Well, that and who eventually betrays him. Which is pretty much the same thing.

8. Jim Farris
   June 30th, 2010 at 6:03 am

   Raoul wrote: “Behold the snake in the forked stick.”

   Exactly what I was thinking, but you beat me to it. Maldik seems at this moment the epitome of impotent rage, and his comprehension of his situation is identical. He knows exactly how he got where he is, but he can’t see as how any of his decisions were poor ones because he is literally too ignorant to understand. The snake, at least, has the excuse of having a brain that wouldn’t fill a teaspoon. Maldik’s excuse is simply that he’s an overbearing, obnoxious, self-centered jackass who lacks not merely the wit to comprehend anything beyond satisfying his own urges, but the *desire* to comprehend. He is a self-centered egotistical man-child who should have been strangled at birth. Unfortunately for the world, this didn’t happen. It must be admitted that he is not unique - there are many historical examples of leaders who had both Maldik’s intelligence and his personality traits. Few of their stories end happily.

9. Soulworker
   June 30th, 2010 at 6:07 am

   Nope…I was right JED… =) That Bishop just Maldik his first taste of higher level Kivallian-Machivellian politics…and it looks like mumsie was right after all…Now to reverse my earlier thought of him being turned into a puppet…(and thereby proving his mother correct)…I do wonder if Maldik will make an unexpected turn here…no one likes being trapped and beaten at their own game…especially someone like Maldik who may be painfully aware of his own limitations…Really great ending to this one as well…you can almost feel his fury/frustration in the final panel… =D

10. The MacNut
    June 30th, 2010 at 6:27 am

    Hey Maldik, see that barrel? That’s the one the Bishop is now going to bend you over, and he’s going to take full advantage of your arse being up in the air (though probably not in the literal sense). Better get used to the feeling…

    Boy when put that way, it sounds pretty good. For the Bishop, that is.

11. Acipenser
    June 30th, 2010 at 8:05 am

    I for one think that that bishop has another thing coming to him. Note JED’s little bonus text between the panels. The man’s way of command is too much; it will create some unforeseen reaction in Maldik.

    Just my guess, though.

12. Black Ethel
    June 30th, 2010 at 8:08 am

    Hey guys, stop insulting my pet snake…he has feelings too, y’know.

    And MacNut…stop putting bad pictures in my head. I won’t be able to sleep tonight.

13. Lora
    June 30th, 2010 at 8:18 am

    I didn’t sleep tonight, but for entirely different reasons. I just love a book you can’t let go.

    Oh, yes, Maldik looks pissed in the last panel. It seems likely he will lash out at someone.

14. lillias
    June 30th, 2010 at 9:02 am

    if i were the bishop i would take the poison tester off standby tonight!

15. Karyl
    June 30th, 2010 at 9:56 am

    Desperate straits make for bad decisions, and Maldik is SO there! I don’t count on him figuring out what to do next without swallowing a huge chunk of pride-nah, that won’t happen!

16. Leibowitz
    June 30th, 2010 at 10:06 am

    Attention! Explosion is imminent!

    I also think you all don’t give enough credit to Maldik. I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulled some mean and unexpected trick out of his sleeve. He may be no the brightest light, but he had quite some success so far…

17. tricksterson
    June 30th, 2010 at 11:15 am

    JED, was that last panel the Bishop (although thanks to the red skullcap I keep wanting to call him the Cardinal) putting a spell on Maldik or just you being artistic? Also, a couple of questions, do the priests of the Kilvallian church (forget the god’s name) use magic either officially or unofficially and does their god actually exist?

18. Lictre
    June 30th, 2010 at 2:56 pm

    So, if the Bishop’s name were Cassius, the Shakespearean quote would be complete, from ‘Julius Caesar’

    “Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look,
    He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.”

    http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/yond-cassius-has-lean-hungry-look

19. warnie
    June 30th, 2010 at 4:45 pm

    Well Lictire , one good quote deserves another. Plus JED , good as usual man. poor bastard doesn’t think through things does he know..

    “Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth — more than ruin — more even than death…. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit.” Bertrand Russell quotes

20. ICEKAT
    June 30th, 2010 at 7:54 pm

    is it just me or does maldik look like leonard neemoy in panel 2.

21. Mish_lady
    June 30th, 2010 at 9:34 pm

    Weeeellll if Maldik does do something stupid….he might just wake up one morning with a shiv in the ribs.

    Which, since he wasn’t strangled at birth, might be the next best thing. It might even be a blessing in disguise.

    However, he might pull out of this. Who knows.

22. JEDraft
    July 1st, 2010 at 1:15 pm

    Lebbrin - Possibly. Possibly not.

    zangoules - Well, he does know the bishop’s niece, and he’s not fond of her.

    Raoul - ooo! Love the metaphor.

    Elizabeth - Maybe. On the other hand, think of how many other words have six letters: “genius” is one.

    LurkerAbove - It’s rolled, not folded. Also, lots of details, also thick paper, also roll not completely used.

    Gremalkin - It seems he was never truly suited to power. Watchagonnadoo?

    Retiarius - Ah, so it’s betrayal, is it? Something our boy knows a bit about.

    Jim Farris - Maldik has been crafted out of history and personal experience. I almost hate to admit it, but as a writer he’s become one of my favorite characters!

    Soulworker - Yep, he’s in a state. As to Machiavelli, both yesterday’s and today’s quotes in the gutter were from the author of “The Prince.”

    The MacNut - Please! This is a family strip! Oh, well, yes, it’s a horrible family, but even so -

    Acipenser - Well, there will definitely be a reaction.

    Black Ethel - Lotsa feelings. Full to the eyeballs with `em. Oh, yah. None of them pretty right now, of course …

    Lora - Ooo, ya think so? Wait until Friday!

    lillias - Hah! You betchum, Red Rider!

    Karyl - Well, we’ll see. We shall, indeed, see.

    Liebowitz - His successes seem to all have been externally manipulated, but you are correct: He’s not *completely* without his own brand of cunning.

    tricksterson - It was just me being all artsy-fartsy. The official church of Thrasu considers all magick to be heresy. They don’t teach it. There is a sect that is barely tolerated in some of the cities that allows use of ritual magick: They’re called Mystics, who have been given a dispensation from the Heirophant to investigate the magickal applications with the understanding that all power ultimately proceeds from God, and that they have no truck with demons or Erogenian gods or totems. As Tula described, they have “magickal mechanics” who are able to accomplish much, but their vision of magick itself limits them. One of her tutors in Kivalia was a monk who, at one time, had been a very powerful Mystic.

    Lictre - “They say that Macon was ambitious …”

    warnie - My father had a couple of books of Bertram Russell that I grew up reading. Always liked his stuff, and it surprised me that a good Christian like Dad would have not one but two books of Russell’s essays. But then, Dad was unconventional about his religion. One of the things I most admired about him.

    ICEKAT - Well, I guess I can see it. A little. Mostly just the hair and the eyebrow lift. But don’t ever tell Mr.Nimoy you said that!

    Mish_lady - As Peter Marshall used to say on the Hollywood Squares, “I would have gone to Paul Lynde to block, but this *may* work out …”

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