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.

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

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).