Evil Jim: Week Fifty-Two
03-01-04 through 03-05-04
Artist's Commentary:
143
I've never drawn a very comprehensive picture of the Ithaca campus in EJ because most of the readers are already familiar with the campus. Those odd-looking rectangles in the top center are the towers, the academic buildings and Quads are on the left, and the Terraces are on the right.
I made the gay punchline to cover my own ass because I was very paranoid that people would read some sort of homosexual undertone in Evil Jim's relationship with Pat. Turns out, nobody every thought that way. But they do now. Oops.
144
Originally, I was going to take the next couple weeks off for my birthday. But that meant this storyline had to conclude. So I ended up with a busy week before the break, which was kinda good, I guess.
My parents are totally not that mean. I just needed good plot advancement.
145
This is practically filler. I had no idea what to do next, so I prolonged the departure.
146
I figured, "Hey, we haven't even seen Brian in this arc since the drive home!" So, here he is. That crazy guy.
The "SZ" on his shirt is for ESPN SportsZone, a show produced at RIT that he worked on.
147
This one's a record: I drew it in December 2003, and was waiting for the perfect time to introduce the plot point. I rarely have good material sitting in a drawer for three months before finishing it. This is, of course, the first time Jim is directly affected by the ominous shadowy guy seen first in 124 and again in 135. Who is he? Keep reading and find out!
The 199 on the door is in relation to the MST Room reference. There were 199 broadcasted episodes of MST3K before it was cancelled. Jim also references the last time he'd used the room; He subjected Pat to Transformers Armada in 045.
This is the last time I use a phrase with "Beginning" and "End" in it. You've probably gotten pretty tired of them.
Strips 147-150 are a mini-arc titled "Death and Rebirth." It's inspired by the Evangelion movie of the same name. I already had "End of Evil" pegged for the final 50 strips, and "D&R" seemed an appropriate prelude. The original title for this mini-arc was "Every Last One of Me."
I love cliffhangers followed by a long hiatus. What can I say? I tease. ^_^