Chapter 17, Page 16b: Brand collapse

Hailey discovers the harsh truth about internet fame: Today’s viral sensation is tomorrow’s forgotten content creator.

Hailey’s brief taste of online celebrity comes crashing down in today’s Evil Inc comic. After riding a wave of viral attention, she’s now facing a full-on brand collapse — tanking follower counts, disappearing engagement, and a mysterious new creator dominating her old niche. Unfortunately for Hailey, the internet always wants something newer… stranger… and apparently much older-looking.

This week in Evil Inc After Dark...

• Some sinful sirens make waves
• Surgat and Dynasty share a heated hook-up after the March Match-Ups tournament
• Evil Inc After Dark #81 continues as Lightning Lady and Angus work through their relationship boundaries during the “Team-Up Talk.”

As always, things are getting spicy, messy, emotional… and very, very funny.

Ringo Award Nominations Close Soon

There’s still time to nominate Evil Inc for Best Humor Webcomic in the Ringo Awards — but not much!

If you’ve been enjoying the comic, I’d deeply appreciate your support. So run, don’t walk:

https://go.evil-inc.net/ringo

Thank you to everyone who has already nominated the strip. Your support means the world to me.

Transcript

Panel 1:
Narration: A few days later…
Hailey: Well, it was nice being special while it lasted.
Rose: You’re still special, sweetie.

Panel 2:
Hailey: Not even close. My follower count has tanked, my engagement metrics are in the basement, and my brand is defunct.

Panel 3:
Hailey: I can’t even go back to my latte-foam videos!
Rose: Why not? You told me you were so good at that!

Panel 4:
Hailey (narration): Someone else is dominating that segment. Totally playing the mystery angle. You never see her face… just these wrinkly, gnarled, old hands.

Panel 5:
Rose: Goodness! Look at all those comments!

Panel 6:
Hailey walks away, crestfallen.

Panel 7:
Rose (into phone while examining her hand): Mental Note: Reach out to Oil of Olay for a hand-lotion sponsorship in the third quarter.

Detailed Alt Text

Six-panel comic. In the first panel, Rose tries to comfort Hailey. Hailey says it was nice being special while it lasted, and Rose gently reassures her that she’s still special. In the second panel, Hailey dramatically explains that her follower count has crashed, her engagement metrics are terrible, and her online brand is effectively dead. In the third panel, she laments that she can’t even return to making latte-foam videos, despite Rose reminding her how talented she was at them.

In the fourth panel, Hailey describes a mysterious new creator who has taken over the niche. She explains that the woman never shows her face and only films her wrinkled, gnarled old hands making latte art. In the fifth panel, Rose admits that the engagement numbers are impressive. In the sixth panel, Hailey walks away defeated and dejected.

The final panel, Rose is examining her own hand closely. She calmly thinks, “Reach out to Oil of Olay for a hand-lotion sponsorship in the third quarter.”