February 28th, 2017
28 Feb 2017 · page 681 of 1306
She only left you alone with it for three panels, Mal, jeez
Cast: Harriet Barber, Jack O'Malley
Comments (50)
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Well he's not wrong.
Yes! Yay, Harry!
Animal abuse! :O
As long as she's saying the right words, why not reinforce them with brute force? (I'm surprised she didn't pull our her standby: Hocus Bloody Pocus.)
Also, I maaay have re-read all of Green-Eyed Monster last night just to see more Envy. I really love how you've drawn them with movements ranging from "Adorable Fluffy Fox" to "Demonic Cartoon Thing"
He occasionally verges on Gunnerkrigg Court's trickster god Coyote e.g. [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/...](http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=473 "http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=473")
Haha I've had to actively try to drive out Coyote from my mind when I'm drawing Envy, or they get way too similar
:-)
You're doing good, they seem pretty different to me : )
Now I'm imagining how they would act if they met in a crossover: Coyote would be laughing at Envy behind its back, while Envy would secretly be envying Coyote for being so cool and wacky and carefree. They would probably act all pally face to face though. And if Envy went anywhere near Antimony...
Envy: (echoing) Let me out of here! Either puke me up or digest me properly! You can't keep me in your stomach forever, you accursed-
Coyote: Could you mix me up another of those liquid nitrogen and dry ice smoothies, Kat? I do seem to have a thirst on, haha! And do tell me more about the spirits of your world, Mister Thackerey!
Kat: There you go. sets down Dewar flask
Coyote: swigs it down in one Ah, that hit the spot!
Envy: (echoing) AIEEEEEEEEE! C-c-cold! Limbs freezing... cracking... you foul, dishonourable piece of-
Coyote: And could I trouble you for a nitroglycerine chaser? That should make it go with a bang!
>:=)>
Good job.
I got a pin of Envy at Manchester comic convention last year. I ducking love this fox.
The Green attacks him, and tries to twist his mind. But, he touches the Blue. His Blue.
Envy has blue footpads on his paw. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!
Illuminati confirmed!
It's lying, of course.
The slickest way in the world to lie is to tell the right amount of truth at the right time-and then shut up.
—Robert A. Heinlein
It's not lying ... rather... ah, providing information from one's point of view.
Alternative facts! :P
Aye. None of Barbers can "walk away at any time", they have to be involved with this. Especially Harry ATM.
Harry: Mal! The Witch gets free accommodation and tobacco from the city! For life! Plus a stipend and-
O' Malley: Sold!
>:=)>
Well, apparently Mal resisted it. His text box is still normal.
I would find that more reassuring except for the fact that his last text box is in panel 2 and the hard sell of Envy's pitch is in panel 6. Mal's expression in panels 5 and 6 suggest that if Envy hasn't already gotten to him then it's really close. I suspect that Harry can say the right words all day but they won't do anything if Mal's compromised so that his power doesn't engage to kick out the deadly, so this could get dicey until Mal shakes Envy's mind games off.
I think part of the problem is that Harry can't say the right words to convince him to keep going (persuasion is not her strong suit). That plus she has no sympathy or understanding for Mal's position, but just sees him the way Nicola saw him, a whiny baby and borderline criminal she needs as a tool, but nothing more. I could see him using the little gift box and escaping through one of the other doors if she tries to strongarm him.
That could be best case scenario. Odds are another Witch is at one of those doors. That'd be handy to talk to.
That's what I was thinking. Sometimes you just gotta get away to Nepal for a bit.
To me this seems a non-starter for Envy. Mal is totally used to being in situations he has no control over. He wouldn't care about this at all and his grimace seems more like a how-dare-you to me.
The die has yet to be cast...
Except I think Envy is playing a different game here. It's attacking Mal's fears and hidden distress of what he is, and preying on the questions percolating in his mind about who he is. I don't think Envy's looking for control; it's found Mal's weak point, and he's hitting hard again and again and again and again....
Wow, Envy! You have somehow managed to get him to a point where he can honestly say "I don't envy me right now." So, how's that working for ya? (He'll probably try to twist it so he envies someone not in his position, but still...)
That stinker has zeroed in on Mal's biggest fear - having to commit to responsibility.
Or being stuck holding the bag, anyway.
Nulla libertas... that's got to be echoing in Mal's ears.
Ever just smack a fox while yelling at it in Latin?
Life goals right there, tbh. :P
I laughed so much at this comment. My face hurts.
Lust is gonna be fun for these two.
So much Unresolved Sexual Tension in their budding romantic relationship.
Also, just because they COULD walk away doesn't mean they will.
Um, Harry's UST is for Sid and while it hasn't come up in the comic yet Kate has stated in the comments that Mal is Aro/Ace which makes him us uninterested in UST as i's possible for a human to be.
That said while I am sure that Luxuria would be find a way to turn our heroes UST against them this version is closer to the original meaning of the sin so its reach is broader than sexual lust, so Harry and Mal aren't necessarily safe from its machinations. Luxuria is probably smarter than Envy is, and as we're seeing here Envy's pretty smart.
...Oops.
I got the characters mixed up. My mistake! Of course, that might mean that Lust could be an easier time fully exorcising the Sins.
Well and lust isn't purely about sex. It's about desire, temptation, corruption, letting your desires control you vs the other way around. Chastity, similarly, in the seven virtues thought as the foil to lust, encourages education and hygeine in addition to sexual purity. Luxuria totally has Mal's number, just as he has everyone's number. He knows that one thing that everyone wants, their deepest most personal desires, and what, exactly, they'll sacrifice to get that thing.
Luxuria's smarter than Envy, and has considerably more real-world experience due to being trapped there (instead of wherever the Deadlies live :P ) for centuries... that'll be interesting to see~ :D
I may be wrong here, but it seems that although all the Deadlies feed of humans expressing their emotion, Envy is different because his isn't expressing envy himself. Sloth was lazy, Avarice was avaricious, Lust was a sleazy little toerag, etc, but Envy works by getting under people's skin to make them envious. He doesn't seem especially envious of other people himself.
Maybe Envy envies everyone (hence "You couldn't let me have just this one thing!") and this situation resonates especially strongly with it. It's been forced into one sole purpose forever. It doesn't get to have an identity outside that. Now Mal's not only been somewhat coerced into helping, he's become the City Witch, and he's stuck with that. To finally see someone else share that misery is lovely for Envy.
Maybe the most important factor in how they act is to act in such a way as to inspire the sin in humans. I dunno, would an Envy that went around envying people make people feel envious?
There's a Q&A coming up. Maybe we should ask this question.
A character Q&A?
Yes. Perhaps we could ask Mr Thackerey or Mr Malik. Or better still, Mrs Barber senior.
Or maybe just ask Envy itself?
TOE BEANS! <3<3<3
That last panel. Who is Jack O'Malley, anyway? All the other main characters have had some kind of background information provided about them. About Mal there have been only hints and conjecture. We don't really know Jack.