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.”

Agents of SHIELD

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Brad Guigar
I was getting that old-time Buffy feeling for a while there. See, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the last time my wife and I followed a TV series together. I worked nights, so we’d tape it and watch it together on the weekends. We watched almost every episode together. Then we’d buy the seasons on DVD and re-watch them. After we had kids, that kinda evaporated. We didn’t have the time for such a luxury at first, and, later, the TV (when it was on) was tuned to stuff that was age-appropriate for the boys. They’re older now, and I no longer work a night shift at the newspaper, so it seemed as if the stars were lining right up when a Whedon-helmed Agents of SHIELD TV series was announced. My kids were gargantuan fans of the Marvel movies — and my wife liked ’em, too. A Marvel-spinoff TV series with the Whedon touch? This was going to be the first time the entire Guigar family was planning to gather in front of the TV to follow a TV series. Ever. They had us a “Welcome to Level 7.”

Welcome to LEvel 7

All of those little Joss Whedon touches in the pilot that brought back memories of Buffy for the adults (and Avengers for the boys) just sparkled. The dialogue snapped and the story crackled briskly through to a satisfying introduction to a promising series. So last night, my betrothed rushed home from yoga class after pulling off her first headstand, popcorn was popped, homework was completed, showers were taken and the kitchen was cleaned after my triumphant presentation of thick smoked pork chops we brought home from the West Side Market during last week’s trip to Ohio for a wedding. The 7yo was the first one to bail. The LEGOs were calling and he answered. Smart kid. As we trudged from one scene to another, it got downright painful. Time and again, the dialogue would go through a beautiful set-up only to deliver a cliched dud. Opportunity after opportunity was lost. Where we were expecting that electric delivery from last week, we were given a formulaic run-through of worn-out idioms and tropes. Remember “Welcome to Level 7”? What made that scene work was the immediate self-conscious nod by Agent Coulson, who crisply retorts an apology for standing out of sight in the shadows during the opening of the scene, “…I think there’s a bulb out.” That’s unexpected and charming and endearing. What did we get in episode two? “Don’t call me ‘Cavalry’ ” and “I told you never to call me that [‘Cavalry’]” — followed by… nothing. All set-up / no delivery. I guess the bright idea to hand the writing duties to Joss Whedon’s brother and sister-in-law didn’t exactly pay off. By the end, my wife was telling me how good Sleepy Hollow was, and my son — so much like his old man — was insisting that it was going to get better. One way or another, I doubt we’ll be in a rush to get in front of the TV next Tuesday. That is, unless my wife lets me pull out those old Buffy DVDs.