I’m really happy that Rutentuten has managed to overcome his vanity and started wearing his glasses more. Getting hit with the Curse of the Pharaohs because you messed with an Egyptian tomb is bad enough, but getting hit with the Curse of the Pharaohs without having messed with an Egyptian tomb, just because the guy administering the curse is suffering from bad eyesight, is much worse even.
But with his glasses on, Rutentuten easily identifies Gregory as not one of the group that thwarted his plans all those years ago. And not just that, he further identifies him as the weird little zombie kid that used to hang out with the bad guys for a stretch of the BMC’s history. Which is quite an achievement, since Gregory looks nothing like he used to look back then anymore. I guess Rutentuten invested into getting some really good glasses.
And since hindsight is 20/20 anyway, Rutentuten manages to come up with a crystal-clear flashback of just how much young-and-dead Gregory embarrassed himself when he got white-girl-drunk and tried his hand (and vocal cords) at karaoke*. Which helps Gregory recover these long-suppressed memories, as well…and God, does he wish he hadn’t recovered them. The memory is still traumatizing, even after all this time.
But now we finally have some context on what caused Gregory to switch camps to the good guys not too long after that incident. Up to now the official line had always been that it was Mopey’s love that led to his redemption. Which would have been a very typical plot moment for a B-movie, but never really conformed neatly with everything we know about Mopey. Embarrassment makes so much more sense…
More on Thursday.
* By the way, I created this strip back in April, when Bonnie Tyler still was alive. I just felt that “I need a hero” would be a funny karaoke choice for a hangout of villains. So, it wasn’t really intended as a tribute, but let’s say it is now.