The First Horseman Of The Alpacalypse – Chapter 8, Act 2, Strip 74

What a way to go. >_>

With which I mean to say: what a desirable way to go, of course. Not even pro patria morire can be as sweet a death as being fluffed to death by Alpacas*…I mean, as long as you have to die, anyway, and it’s only a matter of the means.

And this villain/sub-boss had to die, of course, since that’s part of his job…the central part, in fact. Not normally the only part, of course, but in this case it kinda was – which is the result of Snuka’s little shortcut through the obligatory bits of the plot. And that shortcut is also the reason why the villain/sub-boss didn’t even get any opportunity to polish his villainous credentials by kicking a puppy in either the figurative or literal sense. So you have to take my word for it: he was a nasty guy and fully deserved this.

My decision on the outfit for Gregory’s second form was rather random (as I already admitted, I think), but it really paid big dividends in this strip: I got to use the word “Alpacalypse”. And not only got to use it, but use it unironically, even. A very good decision, with hindsight.

More on Thursday.

* I guess the number of people who believe in the sweetness of pro patria morire is dwindling, anyway…

I’m neutral on the issue, I’ve never tried dying for anything.

6 Replies to “The First Horseman Of The Alpacalypse – Chapter 8, Act 2, Strip 74”

  1. Did you realize when you had the villain transform that you’d only be using the new form for one more comic? 😉

    As far as desirable ways to go, G-rated kid shows present something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, being “defeated” (and I mean absolutely destroyed, not just being foiled) by concepts like friendship, the power of love, a Care Bear hug, etc., are probably THE gentlest ways to go. On the other hand, said villains tend to be concepts themselves or something nebulous that quickly and violently dissolves or explodes when defeated.
    So I guess it isn’t so much the means of death that matters as HOW it actually kills you.
    Side note: If that’s raw, unwashed wool, I’d be BEGGING for the sweet, sweet release of death as the sensation of full-body itching sapped the last wisps of sanity from me.

    1. Yeah, that was part of the problem – I knew the villain would hardly appear, so I put off designing him until the final moment, and then ran into problems.

      The magical girls genre, however, seems to have its own approach to this issue: it doesn’t always apply, but in many cases, they just live with the discrepancy. They feature a spectacular and incredibly violent finishing attack…and then the re-transformed/freed ex-villain is shown being no worse for wear physically, and in a much better mental state. Kind of “tough love”, just that it’s actually working. XD

      And, yeah, in reality Alpacas are smelly, oily brutes…but this is the internet, so we can ignore reality and go with the platonic ideal of an alpaca instead. XD

    1. Still wouldn’t work, I’m afraid – in this case, because a life alpaca might object quite violently to being scraped across a carpet. XD

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