Chapter 17 | Page 13c: Binding Arbitration

Posted on April 7, 2026 by Brad Guigar

There is a vacancy at the LEGION OF ARCH-NEMESES tier. I limit this tier to 8 members, so this won't be open long.

Along with all of the NSFW benefits, this tier delivers a digital commission every other month.

Click this link to find out more: https://www.patreon.com/c/guigar/membership

LEWDcrate Drops This Week

Your monthly delivery of comics goodness is on the way to my Patreon backers soon.

The next LEWDcrate arrives soon — a Dropbox packed with comics, illos, and stories — neatly organized and ready to binge.

Inside you’ll find:

  • Evil Inc After Dark

  • NSFW commissions

  • Evil Inc erotica

  • Courting Disaster Uncensored

  • Cape Carnival After Dark

  • Bonus cartoons

  • Full comic pages

It’s the easiest way to grab everything in one shot.

As the heated union negotiations reach binding arbitration, Cassie and Dr. Muskiday try to figure out how to eliminate those pesky emotion clouds. Unfortunately, in a supervillain office where nobody can agree on lunch, expecting a coordinated solution might be the most unrealistic plan of all.

Transcript

Panel 1:
 Cassie Cruz: “Come on… we need to get back to the office and figure out how to get rid of these emotion clouds.”
 Dr. Muskiday: “Aw. I was hoping we could stay for ‘binding arbitration.’”

Panel 2:
 Cassie Cruz: “Wait a minute… my cloud is shrinking! Do you think they decided to try your orgy idea after all?!”

Panel 3:
 Dr. Muskiday: “Impossible. This branch can’t agree on lunch. How do you expect them to sort out tops and bottoms??”

Alt Text

Three-panel comic set in an office hallway. Cassie Cruz, a curvy woman with short brown hair, red glasses, a white blazer, and a yellow top, stands with Dr. Muskiday, a short, humanoid fly creature in a lab coat. In panel one, Cassie urges returning to the office to fix “emotion clouds,” while Muskiday looks disappointed; a pink cloud floats nearby. In panel two, Cassie reacts in surprise as her emotion cloud visibly shrinks, speculating about coworkers acting on Muskiday’s suggestion. In panel three, she dismisses the idea, noting coworkers can’t agree on lunch, while Muskiday quips about them sorting out roles; the office background shows walls, a door, and a small table.

Review: Illuminati #3

Posted on June 6, 2007 by Brad Guigar

Illuminati #3

The New Avengers’ Illuminati is shaping up much better than I had figured. Kudos to the excellent team of Bendis, Reed, Cheung and Morales are making this a stand-out book for 2007.

First off, this issue — and every previous issue — has an excellent hook: Remember the Beyonder from Marvel’s Secret Wars back in the 1980s? Well, it turns out he was a mutant Inhuman. His mutated genes reacted with the Terrigen Mists to give him godlike powers. Great hook.

Second, it’s got phenomenal structure. It’s a team primarily made up of the leaders of Marvel’s most powerful teams. Namor’s not a team leader, but he and Black Bolt are leaders of entire civilizations. Plus, they’re excellent ingredients to the team dynamics. Bottom line, this is one of those phenomenal concepts that provide the framework for unforgettable storytelling.

Plus, Cheung and Morales are throwing in some truly inspired visuals to make the experiencereally tasty for guys like me. Take the cover to issue 3. Compositionally, it’s a direct call-back to the cover of Secret Wars #1. You don’t really get it until your well into the Beyonder storyline… but then it hits you — “Hey! That’s what was so familiar about that cover!” Pulling something like that off is (1) challenging for the creative team and (2) rewarding for the readers.

Not enough? How about this? The Beyonder insists he can make the fondest wishes of the Illuminati members come true, and he demonstrates his power using Dr. Strange as a guinea pig. Doc wakes up in bed with two shapely lasses (one of which has the silvery locks of old flame Clea). He looks up to assess this situation in the mirror hanging over his bed. Doc Strange with a mirror on the bedroom ceiling! Makes ya wonder if that “Strange” moniker has any double meanings.

[EDIT] It has been pointed out that I was wrong about the mirror-on-the-ceiling bit. It was actually a reflection in the famous circular window of Doc’s Sanctum. Same effect, though.

And if the cover to issue #4 is any clue, this series is just going to get better.