July 13th, 2010
Page 379
Comics for July 13, 2010 - Page 379
|
|
 |
 |
Support Your Local Barbarian Princess!
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Jun | Aug » | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
| THIS WEEKS FEATURED |
 |
| FAN-GUY |
|
 |
|
| MustaphaMond |
| Willow Creek, CALIFORNIA |
|
| Are you in the market for a new or pre-owned boyfriend? Our special this week features an IT Consultant with a love for the outdoors. A Silicon Valley native, he grew up in San Jose before studying engineering in Sa....more |
|
| FAN-GAL |
 |
|
| Willowy |
| Austin, TEXAS |
| Have been a comic book reader my entire life, love everything Joss Whedon has done or will do (exception: Dollhouse - sorry Eliza), and Star Trek and Star Wars are in my permanent personal lexicon. Also love Western....more |
Home | Who We Are | Create/Update profile | My Account Portal | Member Search Scan
Chatrooms | Forums | Scan Image Banks | Scan Blogs | Scan Fan-Fic| The Dealer’s Room
Testimonials | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | FAQ | Contact Us | Advertise With Us | Site Map
Membership Upgrade | Help | Soul Geek Community Safety Tips | Convention Blog | SoulGeek Webcomics
Soul Geek Gurus | News Update | SoulGeekTV | Downloads, etc... | Who Are Our Mascots? | Be On SoulGeekTV
July 14th, 2010 at 1:39 am
Every cloud has a silver lining, every jackass manages to pull at least one cart in his life. Sooner or later, Maldik was bound to do something good. Luck for us it was ‘on camera’.
July 14th, 2010 at 2:15 am
Of course the thing Maldik is missing here is that DDIa & her family might not want to leave Normos - they are being exiled so that he doesn’t have to be reminded of his loss of control, even if he thinks he is doing them a favour. Still, at least he’s trying.
July 14th, 2010 at 2:15 am
“Nobody knows what it’s like to be the bad man,
To be the sad man.
Behind blue eyes.
Nobody knows what it’s like, to be hated,
to be fated
to telling only lies…”
July 14th, 2010 at 2:25 am
He has been upgraded in my book from slow agonizing sticky death of doom to Slow painfull death of doom. See, there is always room for improvement
July 14th, 2010 at 4:32 am
As I noted in my comment on the last page, no one sees themselves as the bad guy; rather we see ourselves as the protagonists in our own story. Maldik doesn’t see a thuggish would be tyrant when he looks in the mirror. He sees an abused, neglected, ridiculed underdog with what he hopes is a destiny of greatness and proving all naysayers wrong.
From his point of view everything he’s done to this point is justified… save the last. His plans for his mother? She never once tried to defend herself to him, and I’d wager she feels all the more anguished for believing his hatred to be justified. Zona and company? Foreign enemies who have openly spoken of physically harming his person. But Dia?
And on top of his exchange with the Bishop, letting him realize how untenable his position is? The only reason he isn’t running to his mother for help is that she remains the true enemy, in his mind.
Also, for the record: his actual tally of crimes to this point constitute the attempted murders of three foreigners and alliance with some very untrustworthy fellows who promised him the throne. His assault of poor Dia is the first thing he’s done that can’t easily be rationalized or justified. He’s not cruel, he’s not even mean. He’s scared, naive, foolish, and lonely. And the Queen is even now mourning her own role in this whole sorry affair, and how even if her son survives, she still has to accept that he hates her.
July 14th, 2010 at 4:56 am
Well, he did more than just send her to the gates, as I suspected he would. He sent the guard to take care of her all the way until she(and family) are safely in a new home. He really is trying. Maybe he’ll keep on trying or maybe he’ll fall back into the usual behavior of intrigue, lies and plots.
July 14th, 2010 at 5:40 am
Reminds me of an old joke - Maldik’s my most trying pupil.
July 14th, 2010 at 5:52 am
I never thought I’d say that-but Maldik has some potential. :p
July 14th, 2010 at 6:42 am
Pretty much what I thought he was doing. He thinks that throwing money at a problem will solve it, and ease his conscience. In his mind, this fixes the problem, and erases the fact that he beat the hell out of her, and threatened her with death. He has no way of knowing the guard won’t just slit the girl’s throat and take both bags of money and run. He knows his own threat of “I’ll find out” will prevent it, but it’s clear even he knows his own threats are hollow. No, he’s relying on the power of the money to fix everything, like the spoiled little rich brat he really is. This was his mothers failing, and she knows it. She indulged him as a child, hoping that a plethora of things would expand his mind - but, as usually happens, it merely jaded him at an early age, and turned him into a selfish, self-centered jackass. He’s an abuser, a rich little boy who wanted all the power without any of the responsibility that goes with it. A man-child who thinks that he can do anything he wishes, then just throw money at those he’s hurt and everything will be fine. Certainly he WANTS to do the right thing. But when the chips are down, his highest interest as King is not his nation, but satisfying his whims of the moment. And what makes it worse is he knows this. What angers him about his mother and the priest are not that they truly control him. What angers him is that they know what truly does rule him - his own greed, selfishness and pettiness. He is not, unfortunately, a snake in a stick. A snake has the excuse of ignorance. Like the snake, however, what got him in his situation was following his nature. And his nature is that of a worthless individual who if he died tomorrow, the world would be all the better for it - and an individual who knows that this is true of himself, making his own self-loathing and anger all the worse.
July 14th, 2010 at 6:43 am
those three foreigners though involve the two crown princesses of a close allied nation; whose death, if tacked back to him, will spark a war in which many good people will die (soldiers on both countries who just want to defend their country… I am not saying war is evil, war is just large scale violence, its evil depends on who is involved and the causes).
And those shady guys who promised him the throne? they like literally monsters who eat people and worship/are led by a real evil god.
July 14th, 2010 at 6:44 am
Sorry. Missing word in above:
…threat of “I’ll find out” will NOT prevent it…
July 14th, 2010 at 6:55 am
Aaaand in re-reading, even that doesn’t fix it. Damn, I hate that you can’t edit here. Oh, well, you get the idea. He’s a fantasy medieval version of Dana Ewell, or any number of other spoiled rich kids in the news who turn to crime and murder out of petulance.
July 14th, 2010 at 7:04 am
OJ!? I had no idea you came to Erogen and changed skin color!
July 14th, 2010 at 7:06 am
@JED: Please don’t take the above to mean that I’m not enjoying the story. I just loathe this particular character, and am looking forward to his painful and lingering demise.
July 14th, 2010 at 7:54 am
Hello there,
first time poster, long time lurker here.
JED’s amazing characterization of his heroes and villains alike has finally smoked me out of my cave after a good year. And there is no smoke without fire, they say. Kudoz to you sir. Once more.
As per Maldik, I agree with most that has been written here.
He has shown to be a selfish, immature and spoiled rich brat. Spineless. Coward. Insecure. A walking poster for a sub-developed personality. And recently also an abuser. In other words, he’s everything everybody would despise, also without the comparison with the likes of Zona, Tula, Count Thetik and Mentl.
And yet, as Archone pointed out in this and in the last thread Maldik is also a person. And I hold the point that a person, when seen in its interity, can never completely worthless. JED was able to convey this in only two panels.
No wonder more than a reader started to perceive things from his point of view. And you can’t empathize with a complete monster now, can you?
I don’t agree on the fact that he is trying to *fix* things with *money*.
We have no other meter to judge whether Dia new perceived condition will be a real improvement or not other than our common sense. My common sense tells me that receiving a large sum of money and personal freedom albeit in exile from Normos beats the status of ‘Maldik’s temporary sex-slave’ every day. Dia’s ‘Thank you’ should be
However, I am focusing on Maldik’s intentions here and not on the potential consequences.
He could have employed a wide array of other means to *fix* the problem for himself. He could have killed her, buy her, hide her, whatever. He has the means to do that. That wouldn’t fix the problem of his altered self-image. But he already knew that she told him whatever he wanted to hear…not much to save there.
http://www.soulgeek.com/comics/zona/2006/05/25/page-49/
He knows, deep inside, how loathsome he is. He knows she is sticking around for money. Money is what bound her to him, money is now what sets her free.
“Be nice to her.”
“Her name is Dia.”
Away from Normos…he could have well said ‘away from me’. Away from the monster I am. Look at Maldik’s face when he says ‘Go.” Regret? Awareness?
Saying ‘I am sorry’ does not always fix things, not in Dia’s situation. True, he could have added that. But that would be quite a copernical revolution, to be able to put his actual state of mind into words. Such degree of maturity would quite be quite a tall order for a person like Maldik and completely unrealistic. But he showed he was. If not to her directly, to the readers.
July 14th, 2010 at 8:40 am
And so we learn a few things about Dia - other than her name.
She apparently is not from a noble family. The guard doesn’t known her name (or at least he can get away with acting as if he doesn’t). And he must be warned that Maldick will find out if something happens. So, not from a noble family that sent her hoping to gain more influence. Therefore, less chance that the family will be unhappy and beat her themselves.
But can she really be of a servant class? If so, then it’s surprising that Maldick bothers to hide his ‘indiscretion’ at all - depending upon just how much this place is like our medieval period. Besides - if she was a servant, then the guard is equally likely to know her name. And if she’s a castle servant, then her parents might also be - and they are all out of work. Hope there’s enough money in that bag for a real relocation.
But most likely (from our hints) she’s the daughter of a merchant - one hoping to rise UP to minor noble (or higher). He won’t be happy with the shame of the Prince’s rejection, nor over moving his business. It’s like starting over entirely. And I doubt in that case that there’s enough gold in that bag to do so. I hope his worth isn’t tied up in inventory!
And Dia is now a ‘worthless’ daughter. No influence gained from the prince and ruined for marriage. This is unfortunately the most likely scenario - based on the guard not knowing her name (or at least Maldick believing the guard doesn’t) and Maldick having to actually put a threat behind it. Coupled with her speech (doesn’t speak like a servant)
As for the guard - these aren’t truly necessarily ‘bad’ guys. They were probably hired under Guldick - Maldick hasn’t wanted TOO public of an overthrow - so he wouldn’t have gutted the castle of it’s guards and hired all thugs of his own yet. This leaves the possibility that this guard is basically an honest guy, just doing his job. Perhaps Dia is safe enough.
July 14th, 2010 at 9:30 am
Welll…
I don’t usually explain the author’s intent, preferring the silly soap opera TO speak for itself, but it explains a bit about my general philosophy, so here is what was going through my mind as I did this. (This doesn’t mean your interpretation isn’t valid, even if it varies from mine. Once the work is out, it has to stand on its own, and things get seen that the author didn’t even think about.) Besides, we’re not going to see Maldik again for some time and this is the last we’ll see of Dia or this incident in the general continuity, so it really doesn’t affect the plot much:
Maldik is a dick. He truly is. He’s a short-sighted, foolish bitch who needs a blow to the head on most occasions. It’s fun to have somebody out there, a character I can throw at things to truly screw them up when I need to.
But he’s a human being. All the behavior he’s engaged in comes from a real place of insecurity, impotent rage, bitter resentment and a frustrated sense of entitlement that his class is seemingly born with. He’s boxed himself in hideously, and despite the fact that all the shit he’s in is his own fault, he’s still so angry and full of fear that he struck out against the only person in his life who isn’t taller, better-looking, smarter or stronger than he is. The ugliness of the scene reflected what was going on in his head, and yes, all the mommy issues, etc.
And yet, it became impossible to take that last step to murder. Not just because he is a coward, but because he just doesn’t have it in him to personally kill in that manner. And, in his own way, he cares for Dia. The gift of money and freedom was an act of love and contrition. “Love?!” I hear you say, incredulously. Absolutely. Beating her was certainly not an act of love. This is. It’s very far from perfect, but what it does is get the girl far from him, far from politics of court, far out of danger as is within his power. Is he capable of a perfect love, or even a nice love? Probably not. But my own philosophy is that if we all had to wait for a perfect love in order to have love, almost none of us would ever experience love at all.
And Dia and Danavan (the guard’s name) have an interesting story as well, starting here. I hope I will get a chance to write it up in full sometime, but just a couple of points: Dia’s family is not rich, nor is she a serf. They’re middle class and Dia was noticed once by Maldik’s procurer - a character who is probably the only courtier in Normos even more loathsome than Maldik himself. She was brought to the court and, up to now, has been treated as well as a non-status person can be. The guards, naturally, do all know her name, as any cop on the beat knows the neighborhood characters. Maldik didn’t know that because he’s pretty stupid and unaware.
There are a couple of grades of palace guard. You’ll note some of them wear shiny silvery mail, and others, like Danavan, wear black. Wearing the black mail of The Royal Guard is a lifetime appointment. They are elite warriors, and generally - though not always - as strict and conscientious about their duty as any career US Marine. The odds are very good that Dia is as safe with Danavan as she would be if the President had given her to the charge of Clint Eastwood’s Gunny Highway. Dia will be all right — mostly.
July 14th, 2010 at 9:43 am
@JED and your post. Wow, just wow. The depth of your thinking and we only get to see what hits the page. No wonder the end work is so good. Thank you for the work and detailed thought you put in to this. It makes all the difference.
July 14th, 2010 at 11:46 am
Nicely done JED, the way you translated your thoughts to these last few pages. The major difference between comics and novels is that in a novel you could have included your thoughts above as a couple paragraphs of backstory and hardly impacted the overall story at all. More difficult to do this in the more visual medium of this story without adding another couple of pages-the only other way I can think to do it is to put that info in character pages for Dia and Danavan-and Maldik of course.
July 14th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
@Freelance: Am now wondering what would happen if Mentl sang that, to Maldik specifically or in general.
July 14th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Hey,
Amazing writing on this page. I have grown to love and hate this character in a fascinating way.
Minor note: I think that Maldik’s collar is a bit messed up in the last panel–you can see the wall behind him through a hole in it.
Thanks for the amazing comic, and I can’t wait to hear more about my preorder!
Moox
July 14th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
To Tricksterson — Somebody needed to point out that line above the last panel. I almost missed it the first time I read it. As I thought about the song, It does fit in rather well for his theme. Question is is anybody going to use the figurative finger for him?
July 14th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
“‘We’ll’ take care of you”. Kinda curious. Just who is the “We” in this comment? L
July 14th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
“We’ll take care of you”. Kinda curious. Just who is the “We” in this comment?
July 14th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
And agree Totally with Jim Farris, “Damn, I hate that you can’t edit here.”
Oy…
July 14th, 2010 at 8:56 pm
@JR Danavan’s been given a royal order to take Dia to the Royal Physician, home, then far away, and to leave Normos forever. At the least, he’s likely to be escorting her and seeing to her relocation for months.
He may have a sister or mother he’s been supporting that would make a good chaperon. There may also be known family of Dia’s that will be going with them. That’s 3 different ways for ‘we’ to enter into taking care of her.
Reading like a proofreader, again, I guess.
July 15th, 2010 at 4:52 am
Good morning, Lictre. Totally agree with your logic. But with this high level of writing, neat twists can revolve around a single word that very few of us figure out the meaning of in it’s context. And it works! I have no doubt Dia will be well taken care of. Just curious about the “how”. Story-telling of this quality and depth is rare. That’s why I keep coming back.
July 15th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
This is part of what I love about this comic. So very, very human . . . and I’m glad that Maldik isn’t just this two-sided, unlikable and petty little spoiled bitch.
I’ve got a sinking feeling that this is the last time we’re going to see the most humane side of him for a long, long time.
July 15th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
in every person there is both good and evil. we have seen his good and his evil. i still say: fishhooks, weights, scalpel. and just enough room for him to squirm.
July 15th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
ya know , Jed after that whole monologue , aint much to add is there??
July 16th, 2010 at 1:46 am
I’ve been interested in history for a long time and particularly the time period surrounding the Thirty Years War after reading Eric Flint’s “Ring of Fire” series. So I’d like to point out that as lothesome as Maldik is from our perspective, from a historical standpoint, he’s really not that bad. His primary failing in the setting of early to mid 17th century Europe would be his incompetance, not his cruelty. There are a great many historical figures many times pettier and more foolish, Charles the First of England being a stellar example of petty, self-centered, childish idiocy. The big difference between him and Maldik? Maldik isn’t the legitimate ruler of his kingdom (yet), and Charles NEVER, in his entire life, showed as much personal character as Maldik has in the last two pages. Meditate on that for a while and get back to me.
Bravo JED. Deep, human, characters are always more interesting than one-dimensional caricatures.
July 16th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
@TheLastGarou. I know this is pedantry, but it’s more that there is no record of Charles I showing this behaviour - but then it could be that either no record was made of the behaviour, or that the record hasn’t survived; not just that he never showed the behaviour. After all, Charles I ws human too!
July 16th, 2010 at 3:05 pm
@TheLastGarou, Addup2: You’ve undershot by 430 years! This just couldn’t get any closer to ‘The Lion in Winter’. All it’s missing is a half-dozen extra siblings for Maldik and Gudik. And John was also human, just a throroughly screwed up man who acheived power as an after-thought from his lineage, not by design.
July 16th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
@John, one disagreement, Dia is better looking because she isn’t hiding inside herself from the world. She knows she is defenseless and allows herself to love anyway, she just has worse taste than Small Dick. She is also the only person we’ve met (at least until this mysterious procurer turns up) with less testosterone than the Prince. They are the two people least in charge of their own destinies.
July 16th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
How dare you make me like him! D:
July 16th, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Everyone keeps calling him “small dick” but his nickname should be “bad dick” or “sick dick” because that’s the meaning of Mal.
Moox
July 17th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
I’ll bow to your superior knowledge on John and Richard, @ICWT. It’s not a period I’ve studied overmuch. I may also be wrong about which Charles it was that was deposed and executed by Oliver Cromwell and the English Revolution.
That being said, no one with ANY character could do what that Charles did. Not even Maldik is foolish or self-centered enough to think that he could turn the highest cleric in the realm over to the mob for execution and claim it was his penance for doing the same to his Chief Minister, as Charles did to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury William Laud and Thomas Wentworth the Earl of Stratford, despite having sworn to stand by the man, who had shown him nothing but unswerving loyalty.
That’s the sort of logic that can only be understood by the TOTALLY self-absorbed, which Maldik has just proven he is not. I’m not saying I like the man or that I think he’s any less a traitor, simply that our own history is full of people who are worse.
September 3rd, 2011 at 1:37 am
Yes, Charles I lost his head to Parliament (and Cromwell, but he wasn’t the Big Cheese yet). Charles II got even by taking as many heads as he could once he got his butt on the throne, some (including Cromwell) posthumously.
Need I add there hasn’t been another King Charles since those two?
Maldik, however, doesn’t remind me of John. John was fairly competent, multilingual, trained in law and engineering. Maldik is much more Geoffrey (the legitimate one, not the Archbishop of York): pathetically scheming, betraying everyone to everybody else, and not the brightest bulb in the batch.
Which makes me wonder if Gudik is more Richard Couer-de-Leon or Henry the Young King.