Chapter 17 | Page 9a: “All-Hands Meeting”

Posted on February 11, 2026 by Brad Guigar

Here's a closer look at the Evil Inc emails...

“It’s good ta be da king…”

While watching Mel Brooks: The 99-Year-Old Man, three things jumped out at me and immediately elbowed their way into my creative psyche.

First: Fear. Or rather, the systematic, professional-grade obliteration of fear. Again and again, the documentary circles back to how much of Mel Brooks’ creative power came from refusing to be intimidated — by authority, by convention, by “good taste,” or by the quiet little voice that says don’t do that, people might judge you. That hit me right in the gut.

If fear is the tax we all pay for wanting to make things, Brooks just… stopped paying it.

Second: as the Zoomers would say, that man was horny on main.

I rewatched History of the World, Part I last night, and wow — no easing into it. From cavemen masturbating in the opening moments to wall-to-wall boob jokes, dick jokes, and lust as a driving historical force, the movie commits early and never lets up. It’s joyful. It’s shameless. It’s aggressively adolescent in the best possible way.

And as the World's Okayest Smut Dad, I found it deeply affirming. There’s something comforting about realizing that one of the most celebrated comedy legends of all time built his empire by saying, “Yes, but what if we made it dirtier?”

Third (and finally): whatever happened to Mary-Margaret Humes?

Va-va-va voom. That is all.

Taken together, it’s a reminder I didn’t know I needed: Fear is optional. Horniness is timeless. And comedy works best when it’s unembarrassed about what it loves.

Which is… honestly a pretty solid Evil Inc mission statement when you think about it. 

Transcript

Panel 1
 Caption (yellow box):
 The next day…

Dr. Muskiday (entering the nearly empty office, which is empty, speaking):
 Where is everybody?!
 Didn’t they get my email??

Panel 2
 Giant Tess (holding up a red book):
 Here’s a guide to proper terminology in the workplace.
 You’ll want to read it.

Panel 3
 Giant Tess, continues in a narration box:
 “Desi and ‘Dragon’ took one look at the subject line and got exactly the wrong idea.”

Inset image below narration:
 An email inbox is shown with the subject line highlighted:
 All-hands meeting — NOW!!

Other visible email subjects include:

  • “Reminder: It’s Casual Fridays, Not ‘Casualty’”
  • “Who Keeps Feeding the Lava Lamp?”
  • “RE: Are Monologues Considered Testimony?”
  • “Janitor’s Closet…?”
  • “Re: Re: Re: Stop Replying All”

Panel 4
 Giant Tess’ narration (yellow box):
 “When I caught them, I told them to beat it.”

Giant Tess (pointing angrily):
 (No dialogue)

Desdemona and Iron Dragon are caught mid-makeout on the floor.

Panel 5
 Giant Tess:
 I’ll… um… need that book after you’re finished with it.

DETAILED ALT TEXT

A five-panel comic set inside the Evil Inc corporate office.

Panel 1:
  A yellow narration box reads “THE NEXT DAY…”.  A wide shot of an empty open-plan office filled with gray cubicles, rolling office chairs, desktop computers, and filing cabinets. Dr. Muskiday — a short, fly creature in a lab jacket — walks into a nearly empty office. Giant Tess is standing there, looking annoyed. Dr. Musiday says, “WHERE IS EVERYBODY?!” followed by “DIDN’T THEY GET MY EMAIL??”

Panel 2:
 A closer shot of Giant Tess holding up a red paperback book titled “Evil Inc. Style & Speech Guide.” Dr. Muskiday’s large compound eyes peer up from the bottom of the panel. Tess calmly explains, “HERE’S A GUIDE TO PROPER TERMINOLOGY IN THE WORKPLACE. YOU’LL WANT TO READ IT.”

Panel 3:
Giant Tess’ dialogue is continued in a yellow narration box: “DESI AND ‘DRAGON’ TOOK ONE LOOK AT THE SUBJECT LINE AND GOT EXACTLY THE WRONG IDEA.”

 Below is a close-up of an email inbox. The highlighted message reads: “ALL-HANDS MEETING — NOW!!” Other humorous subject lines fill the inbox, including reminders about Casual Fridays, questions about lava lamps, legal monologues, janitor’s closets, and an email chain titled “Re: Re: Re: Stop Replying All.”

Panel 4:
 Another yellow narration box continues Giant Tess’ dialogue: “WHEN I CAUGHT THEM, I TOLD THEM TO BEAT IT.”

 The scene shows Giant Tess pointing angrily at two coworkers on the office floor between cubicles. Desdemona, a red-skinned devil woman with small horns and a curvy build, is sitting in Iron Dragon’s lap. Iron Dragon, a muscular man in dark clothing with dragon-themed elements, has his arms around her. They are clearly caught mid-makeout and look startled and embarrassed.

Panel 5:
 Giant Tess stands with Dr. Muskiday beside her, who is now holding the red Evil Inc. Style & Speech Guide. Tess looks awkward and thoughtful, one finger raised to her chin, as she says, “I’LL… UM… NEED THAT BOOK AFTER YOU’RE FINISHED WITH IT.”

Halloween in Manayunk — and a sci fi/horror double feature

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Brad Guigar
Los bros Guigar, in a pre-trick-or-treat photo session at Grandma's house. Notice the 11yo's Method-Acting aherence to the "no-arms-for-Creepers" aspect of his character.
Los bros Guigar, in a pre-trick-or-treat photo session at Grandma’s house. Notice the 11yo’s Method-Acting aherence to the “no-arms-for-Creepers” aspect of his character.
Since the in-laws moved to Manayunk, I’ve kinda fallen in love with its Main Street district. With cool bars like Kildare’s Irish Pub and awesome eateries like Han Dynasty, Laxmi’s Indian Grille and (who am I kidding) Whirled Peace… there’s always a reason to walk to Main Street. So when my in-laws invited us to bring the kids down to Halloween in Manayunk, I jumped at the chance. The kids got a ton of early Halloween candy, and I got a trip to Kildares. That’s called a win-win, if you’re scoring at home. Plus, the boys got their first taste of cosplay glory, as they were repeatedly complimented and stopped for photos in their Minecraft gear. A bunch of the downtown merchants were offering candy to kids who stopped in, and although I was too distracted by the festivities, there was a nice-sized flea market going on towards the end of the street. We missed the Zombie Thriller Dance-Off in favor of a much needed lunch. Then it was back to the in-laws’ apartment for a movie marathon (while my wife had a well-deserved Moms’ Night Out to see “Emma” at the Lantern Theater). She says you should go. It was very good, and they’re holding it over for another week. Me, I was more than happy to drink red wine with my in-laws and watch “It Came From Outer Space” and a lesser known Karloff creeper, “Isle of Death.” (Especially since a particularly cold weather forecast made us chicken out on “The Blob” at the Eakins Oval pop-up drive-in theater the day before.) “It Came From Outer Space” delivered everything it promised: Campy 50s sci-fi thrills, movie-with-a-message chills… and the Professor from Gilligan’s Island(!) This was based on a Ray Bradbury story. When it was optioned by Universal, the studio wanted the aliens to be portrayed as malicious, but Bradbury wanted them to be benign. He offered to write to version and let the studio pick — with the caveat that if Universal picked the “benign” version, Bradbury would stay on to write the screenplay (his first attempt at writing for a movie). Unfortunately, the studio took the treatment and hired Harry Essex to do the final screenplay. “Isle of Death,” on the other hand, promised vampires, but instead delivered a steely performance by a curly-haired(!) Boris Karloff and a psychological thriller/suspense drama. It examines the conflict between religion and science in the context of a group of strangers under an unplanned quarantine caused by a plague outbreak. But no bloodsuckers. Oh, sure, there was a woman buried before she was quite dead, and a mass of murders and painful deaths, but it certainly wasn’t the kind of horror flick we’d anticipated. Nonetheless, you get to see Karloff flex his formidable acting muscles. And perhaps better yet, it offers a vibrant, young Alan Napier (who you know better as Alfred the butler in the 60s Batman TV series).