Chapter 17, Page 18b: Motivational Speaker Nightmare

Today’s Evil Inc is a true motivational speaker nightmare! Meanwhile, Dr. Muskiday discovers that his evolving emotion-cloud technology is spiraling out of control!

’Ringo Awards — Last Chance

The nomination round for the Ringo Awards closes on Thursday! If you’ve been enjoying Evil Inc, Evil Inc After Dark, or any of my recent work, I’d be honored if you considered tossing a nomination my way. https://go.evil-inc.net/ringo

Bonus Rewards

One of the easiest things to overlook on Patreon is the archive of posts tagged Bonus Rewards — and there’s a lot of good stuff buried in there.

These posts include wallpapers, eComics, downloadable extras, and assorted goodies collected over the years. Better yet, they never expire, so you can dip into the archive anytime and discover a few hidden gems waiting for you.

If you haven’t explored those tags lately, it’s worth a deep dive — https://go.evil-inc.net/patreon

ICYMI

This week's bonus cartoon featured the Fantastic Four.

Well... most of 'em... 

 


Transcript

Panel 1:

Dr. Muskiday, bursting into Cassie Cruz’s office:Cassie! You need to send everybody home — NOW!

Panel 2:

(Inset panel) Cassie Cruz: I can’t do that! The quarterly wellness surveys are due by five o’clock, and if we miss compliance, corporate will send that insufferable motivational speaker again.

Susan, a supervillain motivational speaker, speaks to the assembled villains of Evil Inc: People said I’d never weaponize my childhood trauma. Look at me now.

The whiteboard has a number of phrases written in it:

Failure isn’t falling into a volcano. Failure is falling into the same volcano twice.

A hero is just a villain with better P.R.

Susan Says… Your greatest weakness can become your greatest strength… unless your weakness is silver, garlic, or emotional intimacy.

Panel 3:

Dr. Muskiday: You don’t understand! The micronanos are evolving into MACRONANOES!

Panel 4:

Dr. Muskiday: They’ll control everybody in the office. We have to get everyone out of here before…

Panel 5:

Dr. Muskiday (continues): ...it’s too late.

There is an emoji cloud enveloping Cassie’s entire head.

Alt Text

Five-panel “Evil Inc” comic set inside the Evil Inc office.

Panel 1: Dr. Muskiday bursts into Cassie Cruz’s office in a panic. His insect-like eyes are wide, his arms thrown dramatically into the air as he shouts, “Cassie! You need to send everybody home — NOW!” Cassie sits calmly behind her desk, turned toward him in surprise. Her office contains a laptop, paperwork, and pink file boxes.

Panel 2: An inset panel shows Cassie responding nervously from her office chair: “I can’t do that! The quarterly wellness surveys are due by five o’clock, and if we miss compliance, corporate will send that insufferable motivational speaker again…” The rest of the panel cuts to a seminar room where a stylish supervillain motivational speaker named Susan addresses a bored-looking audience of villains seated in folding chairs. Susan is an older woman with swept-back silver hair, glasses, and a dramatic purple outfit with a high collar. She gestures confidently while declaring, “People said I’d never weaponize my childhood trauma. Look at me now.” Behind her, a whiteboard displays ridiculous motivational slogans, including: “Failure isn’t falling into a volcano. Failure is falling into the same volcano twice,” “A hero is just a villain with better P.R.,” and “Susan Says… Your greatest weakness can become your greatest strength… unless your weakness is silver, garlic, or emotional intimacy.”

Panel 3: Back in Cassie’s office, Dr. Muskiday leans forward urgently, shouting, “You don’t understand! The micronanos are evolving into MACRONANOES!” The word “MACRONANOES!” appears in huge bold lettering dominating the panel. Cassie remains seated behind her desk, still not fully grasping the severity of the situation.

Panel 4: Dr. Muskiday runs frantically across the office floor with his arms spread wide. He warns, “They’ll take control of everybody in the office! We have to get everyone outta here before…” His lab coat and green tie trail behind him dramatically as he rushes toward the reader.

Panel 5: Dr. Muskiday stops in horror and quietly finishes, “…it’s too late.” Across the desk, Cassie’s entire head has been engulfed by a giant pink, fluffy-looking emoji cloud with angry eyes and a furious expression. The cloud hovers where her head should be, implying the evolving nanotech has already taken over her emotions.

A very, very Greystone Halloween comic, part 3

In researching a Halloween comic for Greystone Inn, I found out about Constantine Rafinesque, a Philly-born botanist who taught at Transylvania University (it really exists… in Kentucky), did a little cross-pollination with the dean’s wife, and was abruptly dismissed. He levied a CURSE on the institution and… well, you’ll just have to read the comic. 20021021 Rafinesque was a fascinating figure. I put some more information about him at the bottom of the post, if you’re interested… I was always sad that the storyline didn’t get the recognition it deserved when it appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News as part of a three-week storyline. So, when I launched Phables — my Eisner-nominated series of comics about life in Philadelphia — I reformatted it into a “Phable.” 2006-10-30_PhablesHalloween_cropped The following year, I revisited the story with a sequel. After all, the previous year had made me somewhat popular with the campus of Transylvania University, and I wanted to return a little bit of that love with a modern-day look at their campus. It is also notable as the first appearance of Mac’s father, who was an homage to the Van Helsing character created by Bram Stoker. Comics-adAll week I’m going to be highlighting a Halloween comic storylines from years past. I’ll also take just a moment to tell you about my special Halloween comic that collects the best Halloween-themed stories from 13 — thirteen — years of my comics. You’ll get spooky specials for Greystone Inn, Evil Inc and Phables — 80 pages of chuckles and chills! And all for only $1.99 at DriveThruComics. Patreon_textbugOR… you could support my ongoing work in comics through Patreon. It doesn’t take a huge commitment. You can become a Patreon supporter for as little as $1 a month. But if you sign up to back me at the five dollar level, you’ll get this Halloween comic — and every past and upcoming Evil Inc monthly eComic — for FREE.

Constantine Rafinesque, the rest of the story…

I had way more stuff than I could cram into the storyline. Here’s the rest: Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (1783-1840) was called “the Daniel Boone of Botany.” Although he was not appreciated during his lifetime, scholars now recognize his amazing contributions to science. For example, his 5,400-line epic poem discussed a theory of evolution that predated Darwin’s by more than 20 years. And he was the first to classify over 100 species of plants and animals. One such classification stands out among the rest. A gentleman who had welcomed Rafinesque into his house was awakened in the middle of the night by a tremendous clatter. When he went to inspect the disturbance, he found a mostly-naked Rafinesque, wildly running about the room, swatting in the air with the handle of the host’s favorite violin. The disheveled house guest was chasing bats, convinced that they belonged to an undocumented species. They were. And Rafinesque was the first to document them. While spending the night in the house of John Jay Audobon.