Chapter 16 | Page 5b: Drum beat

The Evil Inc villains think their new manager, Cassie Cruz, has been leaking information to the superheroes, and they’re out to get her. But Cassie has a plan to clear her name.

Transcript

Panel 1
(Jeremy is placing a cobra inside a cabinet.)
Jeremy: These assassination attempts are getting worse.


(Cassie Cruz, adjusting her glasses, speaks confidently.)
Cassie: I've been thinking...
We have multiple projects coming through different departments.

Panel 2
(Jeremy and Cassie stand facing each other, arms crossed, discussing a plan.)
Cassie: We can plant one lie in each employee's case files.

Panel 3
(Cassie smirks as she explains the trap further.)
Cassie: If we see the heroes act on one of the lies...
We'll know which worker leaked the information.

Panel 4
(Jeremy, hands on his face in amazement, praises Cassie, who looks pleased.)
Jeremy: That... that was masterful!
Cassie: Thank you. I'm feeling quite full of myself.

Panel 5
(Cassie tugs on Jeremy's tie, giving him a flirty look.)
Cassie: Speaking of which...

Panel 6
(A cobra and the sentient coffee creature are in the cabinet, now commenting on the situation. The coffee, spilling out of a mug, is using a glass to eavesdrop.)
Cobra: Do you think they'll start playing the clarinet again?
Coffee: I dunno... sounds like they switched to percussion...

Evil Inc Kickstarter — Vol. 9, The Ruby of Ragnoor

Evil Inc Kickstarter The Evil Inc Kickstarter campaign has begun! I’m really excited to announce the launch of the ninth Evil Inc graphic novel!  If you already know the drill, head over to the Kickstarter page and check out the rewards. There are a couple of Early Bird rewards that offer free shipping to US addresses and reduced shipping prices worldwide — but those are limited, so act fast! If you haven’t seen an Evil Inc graphic novels, you owe it to yourself to check them out. They’re not the usual comic-strip collections. Instead, I take the individual panels from the daily strip and I lay out graphic-novel pages. I add some panels that you haven’t seen before, and the result is it continuously narrative graphic novel that’s a completely new reading experience —  and to be honest with you, a lot of fun

Evil Inc Kickstarter

  • PDF of the book so you can read it on your tablet
  • Print edition of the book — regular, signed, or Artist Edition (in which I draw something inside the book just for you)
  • The original art from an Evil Inc comic strip
  • Commissioned illustrations
  • You can even get the earlier copies of the Evil Inc graphic novels 1 through 8 that you might not have in your collection yet
Thank you in advance for your pledge — and for your help in spreading the word on social media! Evil Inc Kickstarter

What’s in store

Artistically, this volume represents a period of time when I think I was starting to hit my stride as an illustrator. I’m really proud of the visual appeal of these pages. And the stories? The book is peppered with short standalone story arcs — like these moments between Captain Heroic and his son…
…and stories about Cap and Miss Match when they were a young couple…
Plus… longer storylines with driving plots like the heist of the Ruby of Ragnoor
When the mystical Ruby winds up in Miss Match’s hands, a mis-worded wish has unintended results!
And, throughout the 112-page book, my dumb sense of humor.