Page Commentary No. 316

Gunwild: Ugh, I can hardly stand writing horror comics. And that's what a performance review with your bosses is. Horror!

Psu: It is a rather heavy page. I haven't had a performance review in a while... well at least not a direct one. As my own boss, my performance review comes in the form of internet comments. Or... worse yet... ZERO internet comments. And in that event, I'm left to stew with my own worst boss, myself. And I'll end up saying things like "why are all the faces on this page slightly off model?"

Gunwild: Psu and I are of very different minds as creators about how much to let internet commenters affect your creative processes. But I think we were uniformly satisfied - as the bosses here were - about the excuse that came up to fire her. Or rather, get her to quit so that the whole thing creates its own coverup!

Psu: I think Maddy just has a lot of her own internalized guilt when she fails to meet her own expectations. We've seen it crop up before, and it's maybe one of the endearing qualities about her. But it's also the kind of thing where... she'll accept responsibility for this situation even if she could have spent time arguing that maybe this Quinn chase isn't so black and white anymore. In her mind, she's already guilty.

Gunwild: Or guilty enough for the letter of the law, anyway!

Psu: Which is extremely useful for a command structure which would rather avoid internal debates about their objectives!

Gunwild: Anyway, it's not cool to threaten people's coworkers and families' reputations, don't do that. That's villain stuff, bosses.

Psu: Isn't there like a specific term for that, used in old feudal societies or modern dictatorships, where one individual's crime is then sentenced to the entire family and their children for generations? It's pretty much as cruel and inhumane as it sounds. I think this chapter says a lot about the institutions that Maddy had served. It's sad that she's not fighting it but I think she knows there's no winning here, just protecting the folks that wouldn't deserve to be punished.

Gunwild: I hope she achieves some form of get-back against them. That would make a good story.

Psu: You'd think but it seems to have just slid into a slice of life comic about staying inside all day in your pajamas. I like pajamas. It's very relatable.

Gunwild: It was an arc we all went through in real life, ok... art must reflect that!