Mind Control Comics Forum

Friday, December 27th.

Himm what centenary are you useing for the model?
going be good  ;D

Title gives no clue.  Are we focusing on the first or second cohort with this series or will it be a mix?  Or will we see some characters who were introduced long ago and are about to emerge in the new storyline?  Sue, anyone?

So it is JACQUELYN RAVELLA the ghost of christmas Past
Dec,1988
so teenager?
I see she have her Care bear (Grumpy Bear)

My time woman
my teenager

Yes, this appears to be a flashback to Jacqui's teen years.  Two questions though

1. What exactly is that medallion belt...er, accessory?

2. The Accordion?  Synthesizer, yes.  Guitar, sure.  Drums, maybe.  But an accordion?  Does she audition for a girl group version of the Kinosha Kickers to appease her parents over her interest in rock?

I like Jacky's current hair and trimming scheme, but her accessories from the 80's were nice...  also, apparently pregnancy did nice things to her bust size.

My thinking the belt is a south west type belt

And an anglo concertina.

Grudging concessions to her parents?  Those don't strike me as "Jacqui" instruments at all.

I imagine her parents demanded she learn the concertina in return for allowing the tattoo.

Is that a mandolin rather than a guitar?

Yes. Good catch!

Speaking as someone who has spent a lot of time around musicians, I don't think any parents are going to be mollified by their daughter hanging out with musicians by her saying, "But they're folk musicians!"

Yeah, such was their reputation that for centuries before the Hays Code folk singers had been forced to keep at least one finger in their ear.

Actually, if they knew anything about folk musicians those would probably be the *last* musicians they'd let their daughter hang around.

If you have ever worked a Renaissance Faire, you know this to be true.

The instrument selection would seem to imply that Jacqui didn't truly discover rock until her very late teens/early 20s (about the same time she met Pearl's father).  Did her parents refuse to buy instruments of the "devil's music" so Jacqui went subversive on them, knowing firsthand the reputation and proclivities of folk musicians?  I still can't quite wrap my head around this.  I'd have thought she'd have an ax, a synthesizer and a full drum set, not an accordian, mandolin, and concertina.

The Boiled In Lead album Orb was recorded and released in 1990, so that rather suggests this can't be any earlier than Christmas of that year. Pearl was getting on for two years old by then. Jacqui's age is a mystery but I'm guessing she'd have been about 22 at that time.

The tattoo suggests a degree of continuity in her personality. I guess Grumpy Bear is hers, otherwise I'd suggest this could be someone else's room. I was hoping to see that lamp in the background somewhere.

Boiled In Lead formed in 1983. Care Bears became tangible objects in 1983. And, you know, Joni Mitchell, er, turned 40 in 1983. So it's all coming together nicely.

Top mark for placing the album!

Now, the release date thing... well, we have Death by Hipness here. BiL very first released Orb in 1988, on their own label. They then pulled it when it was picked up by Cooking Vinyl and Atomic Theory, and the "official" release is 1990. I don't expect anyone else in the entire world to know this, except maybe Drew Miller (who, if he is reading this, hi Drew!).

At least, that's my memory, and I'm declaring it canon for the purposes of this panel. :)

So, in any event, the alt text is correct.

Why (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS9-4MpqM4o) choose? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL557wdOvoA)

And in the Christmas spirit of giving, Jacqui is 20 in this picture.

I was going to suggest they'd commissioned the cover art far in advance of recording the LP, and Jacqui was acquainted with - I don't know - the artist, or someone.

I think an age of 20 is consistent with what we've been told in the forum previously. We were also told Pearl was born April 1 1988, so this is still post-Pearl and presumably post-Ezra - as this doesn't look like a room in a house she's sharing with him.

If this is her on her own post Ezra-fling, the instruments she has closest to her make less sense (unless the experience with Ezra temporarily soured her on rock).

Might I also note that just about any woman I've ever heard of would sign up to be even hotter at 39 (for the fifth time) than she was at age 20.  If this trend continues with the other members of the Harem (which it could, ya never know) it's almost scary to think about how gorgeous Erin and Dani could become later in life.

Ah, that will teach me to make out-of-comic statements of fact. I'm afraid that birthdate can no longer be considered canonical.

What age is Pearl supposed to be at this point?  I forgot.  We had conflicting assumptions and then conflicting reports.

In the current chronology, in the main SJI story, Miriam is 22. This means that this page is pre-Pearl.

So...

If Miriam is 22 in mid-January 2012 then she was born between late January 1989 and early January 1990. I'm no expert but this picture suggests it wasn't too close to January 1989. Anyway, if Jacqui wasn't already pregnant by Ezra in this picture then that can't have come about much more than three months later.

Pearl identified herself as being 19 in g17. That could have been true at any time between late January 2008 and early January 2010.

Daphne had previously confirmed that g17-g20 took place in June 2007. Presumably June still holds because there's talk of Pearl having done her finals, but the year can't be right. So g17-g20 must now be relocated to either June 2008 or June 2009.

G017-G020 are in June, 2008.

As always, what actually appears in the comic should be considered first-tier canon, and if it doesn't seem to line up properly, it's probably not important to the story.

That thought did occur to me earlier today actually. I know I'm being a pain when I try to pin these things down. I suppose it's not for me to say that you should be flattered that I care so much.

You don't have to; I just commented that very thing to a friend. :)

Yeah, I didn't quite line up my notes on the character's birthdays properly. Oops. Oh, well, I consider it my version of where Dr Watson was shot in Afghanistan.

It's all very timey-wimey.

It appears - or appeared - to be a story about "the Watchmaker".