The Dragon Reborn (Book 3) – Chapter 21: “A World of Dreams”

The Wheel of Time - Book 3 - The Dragon Reborn

Egwene’s been scrubbing pots and floors and tables for about 61 straight hours and her poor little hands hurt too much, oh no. Following her chores, she makes her way to Verin’s quarters after being summoned by the Brown Ajah herself.

Verin lives above the library down some corridors that barely anyone travels through. Her room is filled with papers, books, oddities, lit candles that threaten to burn down the White Tower, and an owl. Verin is absent-mindedly perusing a text that might be the only copy of its kind, something she’s been looking at for forty years without being able to assign any meaning toward (so it’s likely very important; too bad I’m forgetting about it immediately).

THIS IS NOT WHAT SHE SUMMONED EGWENE FOR, THOUGH. The Aes Sedai presents to the young woman a stack of information about Liandrin, the women who went with her, and the ter’angreal that they stole from the chambers. Verin deems it incredibly useless, but maybe Egwene can figure something out from the rubbish.

THIS IS NOT WHAT SHE REALLY SUMMONDED EGWENE FOR, THOUGH! All this talk of Egwene being a possible Dreamer had piqued Verin’s curiosity. There hasn’t been a Dreamer among the Aes Sedai since Corianin Nedeal from almost 500 years ago! And she barely was one anyway, matter of fact. Just a loony basket case space cadet slut, honestly.

Verin explains the ideas of alternate worlds and how both the Creator and the Dark One inhabit each one simulataneously. A third constant is the Unseen World — Tel’aran’rhiod — which either lies in all worlds simulatneously OR surrounds all the worlds completely. Some people are known to enter it by accident, but a Dreamer can enter the Unseen World deliberately. Verin gives Egwene a ring that used to belong to Corianin Nedeal. It is described as harder than steel and denser than lead. It’s a ter’angreal that the former Dreamer had for most of her life, and now it’s Egwene’s. Take it and be grateful. Verin was studying it for a long time but then she got really, really bored of it.

Oh yeah, and the Unseen World isn’t like a dream. Whatever happens there actually happened. You can get hurt there or die there, so have fun!

Verin shoos Egwene away and returns to studying her Burger King receipts. She also has Corianin Nedeal’s old notes. She muses over burning them. She muses over giving them to Egwene. In the end she decides to hang onto them and see what happens.

She-Hulk (Vol. 3), Issue #6 – “Blue (Part 2)”

* Part 6 of 6 of the Law and Disorder storyline *

Welcome to Loneliness & Cheeseburgers Presents: She-Hulk (Vol. 3), Issue #6 – “Blue (Part 2)”! In the previous installment… so you know that “blue file” that contains a bunch of defendants for a mysterious North Dakota case that no one got served for? Well, even mentioning the case to the other defendants caused a weird fugue tizzy. Why, Hellcat was trying to talk about it to her friend Tigra and then Tigra tried to fight Hellcat and then tried to commit suicide!!

And then the guy at the county records office in Crosby, North Dakota shoots Angie Huang in the head after she recovers an important file from the office…

EVERYTHING IS SO CURIOUS! And this is the last issue of the story! What nail-biting events will hang our cliffs, so to speak?


She-Hulk (Vol. 3), Issue #6 [September, 2014]
Written by: Charles Soule
“Blue (Part 2)”

She-Hulk (Vol. 3), Issue #6

Over the phone with Wyatt (who is accidentally dangling a group of kids over a cliff during a rock climbing expedition), Jennifer Walters goes over the long list of defendants in the North Dakota trial. All the records seem to have been purged, and no one knows nor remembers anything about it.

So after telling Wyatt all about the case, which she shouldn’t have done, Walters listened to the message that Patsy Walker left her, which she should have done first!

In a snap of a jiffy, Walters arrives at the hotel where Walker is recuperating. Tigra is standing there, too, all “I ‘unno what happened.” But it seems to be the name “George Saywitz” that triggers something in the ol’ brain after saying it out loud. Why it doesn’t work on She-Hulk or Hellcat, I don’t know. Maybe it’s something in the lesbian gene?! Sorry, that was uncalled for.

She-Hulk (Vol. 3), Issue #6

She’s dying of bullet syndrome via gun poisoning, but let’s not dwell on it right now.

Well, there’s still some shit to check out, at any rate. She wonders how Angie “Bullet in the Head” Huang is doing right now…

Well, she’s not dead! I wouldn’t have bet money on that! But only because her stinky monkey breathed some weird stinky breath into her mouth and revived her. “WHUUUUUUF” she says, coming back to Earth. After patting around her pockets she discovers that everything on her person has been stolen, including her phone, her wallet, the important documents, a pineapple, and a nuclear bomb detonation device shaped like a dog bone. At least her memory is still intact! Time to give Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk, just in case you forgot) the bad news!

Back in Walters’ Brooklyn office, she is paid a visit by Dr. Kevin Trench and his flattop-era Grace Jones-lookin’ wife. Walters and Trench are happy to see each other; it’s been an age! He still puts on the Nightwatch suit from time to time, but only if he has to. No patrols. No superhero orgies. Unfortunately.

After catching up, Trench gets down to brass tacks. “I received a warning that I shouldn’t speak to you, for my own safety. And so, I decided to come speak to you.” He smiles serenely. “So tell me, Jennifer, why am I not supposed to talk to you.”

So she jabberjaws about the stupid George Saywitz case, boring me to tears yet again! If you say the wrong word – let’s just say it’s “bananas” even though it’s not “bananas” — you may get all homicidal and suicidal. And that’s just bananas!

They don’t talk much more before they discover Mrs. Trench gunning down a bunch of shrouded goblins that look like Stitch from Lilo & Stitch, all saying “Jennifer Walters” as they die. Walters gets Hulky and helps for nine pages. Trench gets Nightwatchy and jerks his dick.

She-Hulk sees a vision of a little Hulk girl holding a balloon. Very odd, but the creatures were destroyed before She-Hulk can see more of the vision. Let’s put it out of our heads forever, then!

More creatures come in and my eyes are lolling in the back of my head. I haven’t had a good panel to post in a while, so here’s a taste of what’s going on:

She-Hulk (Vol. 3), Issue #6

Yeah, I don’t know either.

Anyway, it’s over.

“Any idea what those things were?” Trench asks.

“None,” Walters responds. “Never seen ‘em before. They seem demony to you?”

“Very. Definite odor of brimstone when they dematerialized.”

CURIOUS! YEAH, LET’S INTRODUCE MORE BULLSHIT TO LEAVE THE THREADS HANGING AT THE END OF THIS. GOOD WORK, CHARLES SOULE.

Trench decides to leave even though Walters told him literally nothing about the case other than “I can’t talk about the case.”

Patsy Walker returns from the hospital and apologizes for not being around when the Stitch demons attacked. Walters is like “That’s ok! You don’t have powers anyway! I mean, whoops!”

Well sir, Walker gets into it, she does. “I do have powers!” and “You’re a cunt!” So if you don’t want her there, just say so. Cunt.

She-Hulk (Vol. 3), Issue #6

Man, I wish all the panels could be this interesting!

Tensions are through the roof now, and to make things worse Sharon the landlord pops into the office for a chat about how damaging the building ain’t cool, m’kay? Walters tries to fight it with legalese for about six seconds before conceding. Then she retires to her desk to shove her face into her oversized green hands. BUT SOMEONE COMES IN TO SAVE THE DAY PROBABLY?

“There you are! I’ve been trying to call.” It’s Angie Huang and she’s back from the dead!

Here’s the skinny: they’re all being sued for wrongful death and emotional distress. A whole town disappeared, Saywitz was the only survivor, and he’s blaming a pile of superheroes and supervillains. “I saw evidence of reality-warping, too. Someone’s trying to cover their tracks, hide what they did.”

INTERESTING! Go on…

“We’re done working on the blue file. Finished. Finito. You get me?” Walters says to a flabbergasted Huang. She walks away salty, but professional as all get-out. Walker says that Walters was a little bit mean to the best paralegal this side of the Mississippi.

Anyway, Walters get a phone call from Trench. He couldn’t help but notice how down in the dumps she is about the current state of her fledging business! So, he’s throwing her name around town! The Trench Bump! Enjoy that shit, you’ll be drowning in superheroes who need to avoid getting sued soon enough!

And, ten seconds later, the reception area is filled up with sad-sacks and mopes waiting for Walters’ representation.

“…let’s get to work,” smiles Walters with the worst fucking art I’ve ever seen, holy christ.

She-Hulk (Vol. 3), Issue #6

Gah!

Final Thoughts

Well wasn’t that a whiz-bang corker of a story! Since the Marvel NOW! She-Hulk has only 12 issues, we only have one story to go before everything gets wrapped up in the neatest little package in town.

Of course, I won’t get to the next storyline until 2128 so who cares? See you in the funny pages, nerds.

Sucky Funnies for October 27, 2024

Halloween is here, and my kids are excited to knock on strangers’ doors and beg for treats like the dogs they are. If only they were dressing up as dogs, then it would really be sad.

Speaking of sad, here are three of today’s wonderful funnies.


Rex Morgan, M.D.

Rex Morgan, M.D. - October 27, 2024

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Rex Morgan got stuck with the kids again, and he makes no attempt to crack a smile for their benefit. His morning newspaper is interrupted, which is a sin in of itself, but these kids are spending entirely too many minutes at the store looking for costumes. The defining moment is Rex slumped over his shopping cart, defeated, begging his children to allow him to escape this Hell they have created for him. Face the music, Rex. There is no escaping Hell. They will never choose a costume, and this is the afterlife you deserve.


Take It from the Tinkersons

Take It from the Tinkersons - October 27, 2024

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Little Tommy Tinkerson (or whatever his name is) catches flack for dressing up as something that isn’t age-appropriate from the local neighborhood Karen. But just look at what his other costume ideas were:

-Wet nurse
-Hitler zombie
Hustler Magazine photographer
-Joker with a dildo
Kama Sutra reinacter
-Boy with exploded head
-Salmon gutter
-Polonium-210 victim
-Diarrhea Master

As you can see, Karen should lighten up a little bit and give the little brat his candy.


Shoe

Shoe - October 27, 2024

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Is “Shoe” the name of the sad, hunched-over button-down-wearing platypus thing? Because not only does he look like a shoe, but he seems to be somehow unaware of what the news looks like on TV when it’s presented to him. Imagine Cindy the Weather Girl telling us that Bangor, Maine is experiencing light showers and Shoe is like “WHAT IS GOING ON, WHAT PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR IS PENETRATING MY SKULL RIGHT NOW? WHERE ARE MY PILLS, MA??”

This is topical considering that the election almost a week away and I, too, am shitting my pants. Maybe Shoe and I are in good company here. Or maybe his news is about a surge in soybean futures. Either way, the news is scary! Where are my pills, Ma?

Season 9, Episode 2 – “The Principal and the Pauper”

The Simpsons, Season 9, Episode 2 - The Principal and the Pauper

“The Principal and the Pauper”

Original Air Date:
September 28, 1997
Directed by:
Steven Dean Moore
Written by:

Ken Keeler

QUICK SYNOPSIS

At his 20th anniversary celebration as school principal, Principal Skinner is discovered to be an imposter of the real Seymour Skinner.

POINTLESS GUEST STAR(S)

Martin Sheen plays the real Seymour Skinner, but since this is still early Zombie Simpsons we’re not often gratuitous with the pointless guest star appearances. Martin Sheen playing an actual character is more than ok.

WHY THIS EPISODE SUCKS

I was three days away from turning 10 years old when “The Principal and the Pauper” first aired, so I wasn’t nearly as traumatized as teenage or adult hardcore Simpsons nerds. All you ever hear is how much this episode was the clear turning point for the tone of the show, but it’s unlikely that anyone actually knew that before a couple more seasons were under its belt.

It’s been a long, long, loooong time since I’ve watched this episode, but compared to the trash pile that the show has become, “The Principal and the Pauper” is a masterpiece. If you want my honest opinion, it’s really not that bad. Sure, they threw out eight years of established Principal Skinner characterization in favor of a cheap plot, but the jokes around it aren’t entirely awful:

Groundskeeper Willie: “It’s my 20th year, too!”
Superintendent Chalmers: “…the teachers lounge is for teachers, Willie.”

Homer: “Ooooh, a fresh batch of America balls!”

Ralph: “When I grow up, I want to be a principal or a caterpillar!”

Skinner: “Up yours, children!”

The episode’s biggest crime is the shitty ending. After 15 minutes of feeling betrayed, the townsfolk suddenly determine that the new Seymour Skinner is an asshat. So they tie him up to a train and send him out of town. THAT smacks entirely of a hard and fast departure out of the Golden Age, and it’s a stark contrast with “The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson” and its ending with a real resolution. Don’t worry, friends! There are plenty more shitty endings in Season 9 where that came from!

The Simpsons, Season 9, Episode 2 - The Principal and the Pauper

IMDb TRIVIA FUNHOUSE!

In a 2001 interview, Harry Shearer, the voice of Principal Skinner, recalled that after reading the script, he told the writers, “That’s so wrong. You’re taking something that an audience has built eight years or nine years of investment in and just tossed it in the trash can for no good reason, for a story we’ve done before with other characters. It’s so arbitrary and gratuitous, and it’s disrespectful to the audience.” In a later interview, Shearer added, “Now, the writers refuse to talk about it. They realize it was a horrible mistake. They never mention it. It’s like they’re punishing the audience for paying attention.”
Woo, Harry Shearer! You go, gurl. Once in a while the voice cast speaks out about the direction the writers are taking their characters, but one has to remember that the voice cast don’t own these characters. They’re not writing them, they’re just making them talk. Gotta hand it to Harry Shearer for speaking out, but he and five other people have had the cushiest job in the world for 35 years now and you have to take his grumblings with a grain of salt. I suppose, over time, even Harry Shearer got tired of fighting the rapid tailspin that The Simpsons was uncontrollably caught in and he decided to just enjoy his $85 million.

Matt Groening admitted that this is one of his least favorite episodes, calling it “a mistake”.
Yeah, right. Go fuck yourself, Groening. 600+ episodes of shitty television and this one is the mistake. The guy who used to be a “don’t trust anyone over thirty” too cool for school aggressive counter-culture crank got excited when Lady Gaga agreed to do his show. Eat all of my shit, sir.

This was the last episode written by Ken Keeler, who also pitched the idea.
For the record, Ken Keeler wrote two of the worst classic era Simpsons episodes, both from Season 8: the one where Homer hallucinates after eating spicy peppers, and the Spin-Off Showcase. HOWEVER, Keeler did write the George Bush episode, which makes up for this one in spades. Keeler’s much better at Futurama, having written, among others, the one where they visit the (tourist trap) moon, and the one where the aliens want to watch the last episode of knockoff Ally McBeal. You’re all right, Keeler. Sometimes.

Although it aired during the show’s ninth season, it was a holdover from season eight..
Elements of the decline could be spotted in Season 8 anyway, but like I said before: make “The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson” the Season 8 finale and everything would have been great. Hell, make it the SERIES finale! We literally didn’t need anymore Simpsons after that anyway.


FINAL GRADE
C+

Archie (Vol. 2), Issue #6

* Part 6 of 6 of the Archie (Vol 2) Volume 1 collection *

Welcome to Archieness & Riverdalers Presents: Archie (Vol. 2), Issue #6! In the previous installment, Reggie gets involved in trying to fuck with Archie’s Veronica-centric world. The plan was to get Archie to see Veronica at her worst, but it backfires when he sees her at her best. You know what they say: if you can’t handle me at my worst, you don’t deserve me at my best! How’s that for high-maintenance?

Archie and Veronica become tighter than ever, and Betty has resigned to the notion that Archie is gone from her life. Stupid lipstick incident! BEING A TEENAGER IS SO TOUGH!

Archie needs some time alone to process before he can talk to Jughead and Betty again for reasons of possible betrayal. Things are falling apart at the seams! I love it!


Archie (Vol. 2), Issue #6 [April, 2016]
Written by: Mark Waid

Archie (Vol. 2), Issue #6

Betty’s on the softball team, and she’s up to bat. Two strikes, Cooper. You better hit the ball or else it’ll be detention in the boiler room for you, young lady.

Betty pretends that the ball is Veronica’s screaming face, and she hits it so damn hard that the leather strips off of it. The ball knocks Archie in the back of the head as he leaves school for the day, killing him instantly!

But before that, he catches us up: Betty and Jughead are fucking with his romantic life, so they’re out of the picture until they either apologize or gift him with a ham. Archie can’t hang out at Veronica’s until Mr. Lodge is out of town because he might recognize Archie as the kid who murdered his mansion.

Anyway, Archie died.

But a small group of kids saw the bludgeoning and are going to take him to the hospital anyway. Meanwhile, Veronica is waiting for him outside the school and he’s not going to show up on account of Betty killed him. Time for Reggie to swoop in. “Like a helpless gazelle alone on the plains,” he whispers to himself before he does the pounce.

Reggie rides up in his whip. “Hey, Ronnie! Brand new wheels! Need a lift?”

Archie (Vol. 2), Issue #6

The driver’s seat is on the right in the cars in Riverdale, apparently.

“Whatever,” Reggie grumbles. “Strap in.”

“You are…?”

“*sigh* Reggie. Reggie Mantle. We’ve met. Repeatedly.”

“Oh. Body spray. Right.”

Reggie takes her home while Betty gets approached by a kid in a baseball uniform. He smiles cheerfully, ready to hit that. He introduces himself as Sayid and asks what her secret is to hit the ball as hard as she did. “It’s all in how you see the ball,” she blushes.

“You were watching girls practice?” she asks as they start walking away together.

“I’ll watch anybody do anything if they’re great at it,” Sayid replies. Looks like we’re really hitting it off!

Let’s see what Archie’s up to?

Archie (Vol. 2), Issue #6

It’s the death rattle. Time of death, 3:15pm.

Reggie and Veronica are having a conversation about how great Reggie’s dad is and how little Veronica cares while Reggie drives into garbage cans on the sidewalk. “You’re not thinking about Andrews, are you? You’re trading up when you’re with me, doll.”

When they arrive at the Lodge residence, Reggie almost asks her to go to the Carly Rae Jepsen concert with him (lol), but she runs off to greet her dad. Reggie tries to introduce himself, but Mr. Lodge tries to pay him for “bringing Chauncey’s car back”. Needless to say, Reggie leaves with a thought bubble full of stormy clouds!

Reggie returns to his empty house to eat cold cereal for dinner, since both his parents work 19-hour days and they hate their son anyway. He sits at his desktop and starts poking around the ol’ WWW DOT COM for some information on one Hiram Lodge… written by Mr. Mantle!

“WHO IS HIRAM LODGE? GOLD-HEARTED INVESTOR OR COLD-HEARTED OPPORTUNIST?”

Bingo bango, sir! Maybe Reggie’s dad ain’t all that bad after all, except for the beatings and the molestations.

Archie (Vol. 2), Issue #6

“Tongue my puckered butthole some more, son.”

Later, Reggie visits Lodge Manor and chills with his homie by a luxurious outdoor pool. Mr. Lodge reads the Mantle article and tells Reggie that if she’s after Veronica, then fat chance! She’s got her eye on some sap named Archie. Tough titties.

Reggie defends himself for exactly half a sentence before Lodge’s phone rings. While Lodge takes the call, Reggie imagines a future of wealth and fame, cozying up with the Lodges. Lodge talks business before hanging up.

“Never a day off, huh?” Reggie says.

“Are you still here, kid?”

Reggie tells him that he can be his man on the inside, but Lodge correctly states that he could buy Reggie’s dad with the money under his couch cushions. “You’re in over your head. Go home.”

Eat dirt, Reginald.

Betty takes Sayid to Pop’s. He’s telling her the centipede joke! Pop’s up on all the gossip, so he tells Betty right away that Archie is on death’s door at the hospital. “He got hit in the head. With a softball.”

BRRT!! She runs out of the shoppe immediately, leaving Sayid in her dust.

“Archie? Who’s that, her brother?” Sayid asks conversationally.

“Her ex,” replies Pop.

BRRT!! Ex-boyfriends, huh? That’ll complicate things! That’ll complicate things like damn! Sorry, Sayid. You’re all washed up!

Archie (Vol. 2), Issue #6

Stop chatting, kiddo. You’re supposed to be dead.

Speaking of washed up, Veronica is talking to a reporter about Archie for her memoir. He’s been on her mind ever since he PLACED HIS THROBBING–

Something attracted you to him. What?” the reporter asks. Then Veronica remembers this dipshit deer-in-the-headlights face Archie made after he destroyed the Lodge mansion and she starts laughing. She tells the whole story. “Daddy swore he’ll kill whoever was responsible if he ever found him. Kill him. Daddy was so livid, he didn’t even hear me laughing. But any boy who can make Daddy that angry… I think I loved him right away.”

Meanwhile, Archie’s breathing his last labored breaths in his hospital bed when Betty pops open the curtain. She admits that the terminal concussion was her fault, and his parents + Jughead are like BRRT!! Betty starts crying. “I hit a home run.”

Mr. Andrews is so impressed he starts smiling widely. “From the diamond? He was in the parking lot. That’s got to be… what, 450 feet? What kind of pitch?”

“Four-seamer,” Betty sniffs. Mrs. Andrew comforts her. Archie mumbles Veronica’s name.

INTERMISSION!!! *dancing movie theater food*

Reggie is hanging out outside the Lodge residence. Smithers, at the front door, tells the kid to shove off. Reggie demands to know where he went wrong. “Miss Veronica had had hundreds of hopeful suitors over the years, lad. Mr. Lodge sees through the more transparent ones, and I protect our girl from the rest.”

Reggie’s lightbulb brain flickers on. “Dude, have you met Archie Andrews? Do you think he’s good enough for Ronnie?”

And Smithers just narrows his beady little eyes at him.

They both hear a shriek from inside. Veronica just learned that Archie’s corpse is decomposing in the hospital, and she demands a helicopter ride post haste! She starts crying and asks the reporter, Jess, to come with her. Smithers offers a chauffeur. Reggie watches the whole spectacle with a big fat smirk while Smithers rifles through Jess’ notes

Archie (Vol. 2), Issue #6

Is there stuff in there about Archie’s mushroom-shaped peen?

Smithers pretty much invites Reggie to look through the notes without saying as much, and Reggie discovers that Archie Andrews was the one who knocked over the bones of Lodge Manor! Juicy! Juicy stuff! Oh man, blackmail ahoy!

Veronica, now at the hospital, rubs Archie’s head and the kid pretty much snaps out of his horrible death. The doctor assures him that he’s gonna be ALLLLLLL RIGHT! Give him some fucking space, you many, many friends and family! Beat it.

And no one tell him about the softball, k?

Later in the evening, when Archie is sleeping, someone comes into the room and says “BOO.” Archie is like “whuzzat”, then there’s a mysterious KLIK (someone taking a picture of his cracker-ass), then he dopily drifts back to sleep… and he’s getting discharged tomorrow! Miracles do happen. We’re all so thrilled that Archie isn’t actually dead, right everyone? Right? Hello?

Reggie’s waiting outside the gates of the Lodge estate for Hiram. When Mr. Lodge rolls up he’s a CUNT HAIR away from calling security on his ass, but Reggie rushes up claiming he wants to apologize for his many transgressions. “Mr. Lodge, sir, I was less than honest. I do want something from you.”

A blowjob? lmao

“A place in your orbit. I don’t mean an important one. I just want to be somebody.”

How about a blowjob, kid? That’s his final offer. Barring that, what the ungodly fuck would someone like Reggie McNugget have to offer Hiram Moneysacks?

“I thought you might like to see this picture,” Reggie says, showing Hiram the photo her took of Archie in the hospital. It looks just like the deer-in-the-headlights kid.

I think Hiram might be mad?

Archie (Vol. 2), Issue #6

RAWR! Muh hemorrhoids!

Final Thoughts

Archie’s going to get caned back to the Stone Age. I hope his supple buttocks are ready for the beating of a lifetime!

I liked this! Good job, Mark Waid. I’m going to keep reading this trash. Thanks for nothing!