Fairmount City has faced plenty of supervillains before. But this may be its first livestreaming supervillain.
After losing her brief burst of social-media stardom, Hailey re-emerges with a new look, a new name, and a dangerous new relationship with engagement metrics. Now she is Countess Influencia — the Validation Vampire — and every heart, like, and notification seems to make her stronger.
Fairmount News Network tries to cover the attack, but even the news crew can’t stop checking her feed. As hearts start streaming from phones across the city — and around the world — it becomes clear that this crime spree is no longer just a local story.
The world has met Countess Influencia.
And she would very much like you to smash that “Like” button.
Transcript
Panel 1
At the Fairmount News Network studio. Someone off panel whispers, “Psst! Ms. Takahaski! You’re on the air!” Hana Takahaski looks up from her smartphone and says, “Oh! Umm… We’ve got breaking news!”
Panel 2
Hana says, “We’re getting live reports of an attack on the downtown area.” A stream of hearts begins floating from her phone.
Panel 3
The scene widens. Hana is still on her phone. The cameraman is also on his phone. Streams of hearts flow from both phones and from other unseen people in the studio. Hana says, “She may be the first supervillain to livestream her own crime spree! Moreover…” Then, distracted by her phone, she says, “Hold on…” Her phone displays the text: “YAS, Queen!”
Panel 4 (inset)
Exterior view of the Fairmount News Network building. Several streams of hearts flow outward from inside the building and from the street below. Hana says, “Moreover, while Fairmount City is her current target, she has already taken the whole WORLD by storm!”
Panel 5
Hailey, now transformed into Countess Influencia, floats above the city as streams of hearts flow directly into her body. She says, “Look upon Countess Influencia and despair!” Then, in smaller type: “And don’t forget to smash that ‘Like’ button and subscribe!”
Alt text
A five-panel Evil Inc comic introduces Hailey’s new supervillain persona, Countess Influencia. At Fairmount News Network, anchor Hana Takahaski is caught looking at her phone just as she goes on the air with breaking news about an attack downtown. As she reports, red heart icons begin floating from her phone. The scene widens to show the cameraman and others in the studio also absorbed by their phones, with streams of hearts flowing upward. Hana reports that the villain may be the first supervillain to livestream her own crime spree, then gets distracted by a message reading, “YAS, Queen!” Outside the Fairmount News Network building, heart streams pour from the building and the street below. In the final panel, Hailey floats above the city in her new vampire-inspired outfit as Countess Influencia. Streams of hearts flow into her body as she declares, “Look upon Countess Influencia and despair!” She adds, “And don’t forget to smash that ‘Like’ button and subscribe!”
Comic Con International 2006 Report, Part OneI arrived in San Deigo for Comic Con International a little before midnight Thursday night. Unfortunately, that was a early as I could make it out. I was disappointed that I had missed a great day Thursday, but I was grateful to be able to be there at all. I shared a hotel room with
Paul Taylor from whom many of these photos are stolen. 🙂
Our booth, as you can see, stood out like a beacon to the weary fan. Mega-thanks to Sandra Tayler (
Howard’s wife) for sewing the booth coverings. The booth looked awsome.
Dave Kellett also put in a truckload on work on signage and bookstands. In all — thanks to the cooperation of everybody involved, we had a darned professional presentation working for us.
The great thing about comic conventions in general — and this one in particular — is seeing all of your old friends. Sarah (right) is one of those people. We met Sarah at the New York Comic Con. Her delightful presence made the con that much brighter for us all. She’s interning at
DC right now, working on some sort of Top Secret project. Whatever it is, I know it will be all the better for her involvement.
Leah Riley (right) is another old friend who stopped by the Blank Label booth. I met her and the vivacious Annie Broadwater at
Wizard World Chicago last year. They represent
Lulu, the company that prints and sells my books. Lulu has been a tremendous partner in growing my comic and I couldn’t be happier with their quality or their customer service.
The other great thing about comic conventions is making new friends.
David Willis and I both met the gorgeous
Ms. Monster (right) when she crept across our booth. The Blue Bombshell is a TV Horror Host! Longtime readers will know of my fascination with
TV Horror Hosts. Needless to say, I was thrilled to meet her. She also has an interesting
MySpace page.
And, of course, there was the costumes. You’ve got to love the costumes. Here’s a photo of me taking to a woman with an incredibly intricate costume. Seriously, her eyelashes must have weighed five pounds. Each. She spent quite a bit of time talking to all of the us at BLC.
Here’s an even better shot of her costume. She was a lot of fun to talk to. If I remember correctly, she became a big fan of Willis’.
The BLC booth was right next to voice artist
Billy West of
Futurama and
Ren & Stimpy fame. This is Billy posing with a couple dressed as the Blue Beetle and Catwoman. I saw these same people in Philly for Wizard World and I missed the opportunity to take their photo. This time, I was quicker with my camera.
More to come next week. 🙂
Our booth, as you can see, stood out like a beacon to the weary fan. Mega-thanks to Sandra Tayler (Howard’s wife) for sewing the booth coverings. The booth looked awsome. Dave Kellett also put in a truckload on work on signage and bookstands. In all — thanks to the cooperation of everybody involved, we had a darned professional presentation working for us. 
The great thing about comic conventions in general — and this one in particular — is seeing all of your old friends. Sarah (right) is one of those people. We met Sarah at the New York Comic Con. Her delightful presence made the con that much brighter for us all. She’s interning at DC right now, working on some sort of Top Secret project. Whatever it is, I know it will be all the better for her involvement. 
Leah Riley (right) is another old friend who stopped by the Blank Label booth. I met her and the vivacious Annie Broadwater at Wizard World Chicago last year. They represent Lulu, the company that prints and sells my books. Lulu has been a tremendous partner in growing my comic and I couldn’t be happier with their quality or their customer service. 
The other great thing about comic conventions is making new friends. David Willis and I both met the gorgeous Ms. Monster (right) when she crept across our booth. The Blue Bombshell is a TV Horror Host! Longtime readers will know of my fascination with TV Horror Hosts. Needless to say, I was thrilled to meet her. She also has an interesting MySpace page. 
And, of course, there was the costumes. You’ve got to love the costumes. Here’s a photo of me taking to a woman with an incredibly intricate costume. Seriously, her eyelashes must have weighed five pounds. Each. She spent quite a bit of time talking to all of the us at BLC. 
Here’s an even better shot of her costume. She was a lot of fun to talk to. If I remember correctly, she became a big fan of Willis’. 
The BLC booth was right next to voice artist Billy West of Futurama and Ren & Stimpy fame. This is Billy posing with a couple dressed as the Blue Beetle and Catwoman. I saw these same people in Philly for Wizard World and I missed the opportunity to take their photo. This time, I was quicker with my camera. 
