Chapter 15 | Page 22b: Tempest’s scheme revealed

Earlier in the storyline, Tempest was interrupted as she strolled down an Evil Inc hallway. Here’s who she was talking to.

Transcript

Evil Inc: Dec. 19, 2024

Panel 1

Caption: For the last epilogue, let's turn back the clock to this moment...

(Tempest stands in front of a door that's cracked open.)

Tempest: "Oh! It's you!

Panel 2

Herald from the Dark Dominion**: Have you been successful?"

Tempest: "I've been throwing myself at him, but Iron Dragon isn't taking the bait."

Panel 3

Tempest: "You can tell your boss I don't think Dragon is gonna cheat on Desi. Not with me, at least..."

Panel 4

Dark Dominion Herald: "Very well. You'll find the full sum of your agreed-upon fee has been transferred to your account."

Panel 5

Tempest: "Hot damn! All this flirting has made me horny as hell! I'm gonna go have some fun!"

(She strikes a pose and stretches.)

Panel 6

Dark Dominion Herald: "Do you need a wingman? Get it?"

(He flaps his wing)

Panel 7

Tempest has left the room. The door clicks shut behind her.

Herald: "Nevermore."

NOTES

*See chapters 13 and 14, which are collected in Evil Inc eComics 55 and 56.

**We met this Herald from the Dark Dominion in Chapter 10, collected in Evil Inc eComic 52.

Copyright notice: © 2024 Brad J. Guigar. All rights reserved.

 
 

Plastic Man cancelled

DC is ending the Plastic Man title, written and illustrated by Kyle Baker, with issue 20. I have mixed emotions about this. Plas is my favorite super-hero. Numero Uno. I agree with Batman’s assertion that he is the one of the most powerful beings in the DC universe (if not the most powerful).

And the most poorly handed character in modern comics. Bar none.

I was overjoyed to see Plas get his own title. I was even prepared to give the overly cartoony approach a fair shot. I devoured the first three issues. But each issue after that seemed more phoned-in than that. It’s not that I have a problem with digital art — far from it — but I can only stomache so many cloned images in a product like this.

And before you misinterpret that, let me make it clear, I’m not slamming digital artists, but the difference between Baker’s work in Plastic Man and, say, Greg Dean’s work in Real Life is tremendous. Dean uses his computer to push boundaries. Baker used his to push deadlines.

It was this kind of lack of effort that lead to the demise of the title. And that’s a real shame. It’s a shame because Ty Templeton, a writer who really gets Plas, as evidenced in 1999’s JLA Presents Plastic Man, could have made that title soar. Go to your comic shop’s quarter bins and check it out. Look at the gorgeous illustrations by Aaron Lopresti and Richard Pace. No copy-and-paste crap here, fanboys and fangirls… these guys made the effort.

These guys love Plastic Man the way I love Plastic Man.

And it’s a crying freaking shame that they never got the chance to take the reigns of the title as it became evident that Baker had long since lost interest.