Page Commentary No. 248

Psu: Once again, thanking my friend Anon44 for the lovely contribution of Eggbot.

Brellom: ... I don't know where Peia gets off on trying to be a hero when she has a well-established history of being a thief, and thus a criminal. Criminals are not known for having moral codes, but are known for taking advantage of others, so she's actually really evil because she's risking the safety of my sweet Dr. Botz. Anyway robot face guy is hot.

Gunwild: How can you tell?

Brellom: Just look at him!

Psu: I think it's in our best interest to NOT go over all the details of our long discussions on whether or not Botz would be a villain by the end of this story, but it's probably important that we discuss it a bit. Because I know quite a few fans, like Brellom, still bug us about it. Botz is just such a funny character, it's easy to understand wanting her around more often but it wasn't gonna work out. It's like... in Dungeons and Dragons, the player who is playing Chaotic Evil when everyone else is a Chaotic Good, is gonna brush up against everyone else's fun more often than not. And we weren't setting her up for a redemption arc. Botz is bad at learning lessons. That's kinda one of her key charms!

Brellom: Imagine thinking the rest of this cast is chaotic good... Peia pays her taxes, and paying your taxes is a lawful good act, I'll have you know!

Gunwild: Secondary characters like that get a huge advantage when you only deploy them occasionally, though, Brellom. More people can enjoy them without them overstaying their welcome.

Brellom: Oh, like me!

Psu: Botz is not an incredibly complex character really. But maybe if we just indulge in a little, "road not taken" speculation, I suppose we could've modeled her behavior on something closer to an Entrapta character from She-Ra. Like... she's not actually "evil" per say but she just doesn't realize how her actions hurt others. But I think it's actually closer to the truth that for Botz, she's pretty well aware that her actions hurt people and she just doesn't care. Here she's only pleading and being cute just to avoid prison time. Though I suppose... in retrospect Peia and Minx and Penny could've been more diplomatic as they could still use an extra hand in this tight situation.

Gunwild: True. I almost didn't go that way with it, because that's a rough position to put her in. But on the other hand, if I were Dr. Botz I would just take the upgrade in prisons from a secret illegal one to a regular boring one and say thank you.

Psu: Well, also like... science fiction black site prisons tend to execute the scientists first.

Brellom: rip the nerds

Psu: Spoilers for everything from Star Wars to Watchmen.

Gunwild: Science is a dangerous game in science fiction. It's where all the fiction comes from, and that stuff's not safe!

Psu: Heh.

Brellom: I wish science was real...

Psu: Anyway, one more thought on the Botz thing. I think we should reiterate it was ALWAYS the plan for Botz to betray them and be the main bad guy by the end of this story arc. We even made it that the military bad guy was kinda "dull" in comparison so that we could focus on Botz and Peia and everything. Botz even had the Traitor card! But yeah, ya know to be fair. I definitely started feeling the appeal of Dr Botz joining the party as the work on the pages went long. But ya know... we already have a scientist AND a cyborg, AND a chaotic doofus. Botz is all those things but also super evil, and that's probably what makes her a fun antagonist.

Brellom: ... I mean we can just get rid of them. Like in a dramatic finale where everyone dies and absolutely none of the readers see it coming! And Dr. Botz survives for some mysterious reason...

Psu: Before we sign off, I guess I should comment on the art. The top panels are pretty good. But that middle panel there was soooooo much more ambitious in my head than it came out. It was gonna be like this observation balcony with a radio array jutting out of the side. But it kinda just looks like... a green box. Oh hey, look at that. I forgot I added the vending machine blocking the door joke again.

Brellom: Oh right... The art. Oh, I never noticed that until now!

Gunwild: That's not a joke, it's a highly cool tactical move!

Psu: Minx is always thinking a few steps ahead. Unlike me... green windows? Maybe not the best thing for this scene.

Brellom: I wasn't a big fan of how grey/green the colour scheme of this page was, but I think it's an entirely appropriate direction for the grim nature of the scene, having just nearly lost Zeke. But the washed out green feels a little gross to me in retrospect. I'm glad the colours get way more dramatic in the upcoming pages. I feel like I probably wasn't in my element at this part of the story.

Psu: Unlike Eggbot. Who's native element seems to be the destruction of all opponents.

Brellom: Good ol' eggbot. We should all endeavor to be more like eggbot.

Gunwild: He lets them live. But only so they can feel more pain.

Psu: Hard boiled.

Psu: Prepare to be scrambled.

Psu: Cracked

Brellom: Now that we're resorting to poor puns... I think it's about time we wrap this up and take the nearest eggs-it.