Saint James Infirmary 190/191: First Responders / Last Light

[Daphne]

Coming Tuesday, May 21st. (Last Light at noon PT.)

Viewer discretion is advised.

[mns_95125]

Viewer discretion is advised.

That sounds ominous.  Doubly so given this is the cliffhanger before the vacation break.

[laguna85]

Long time ago I was a First Responder Fire Department
I may see most thing.

[mns_95125]

I think we are about to learn more about Erin's Wiccan background.  Well, for values of 'about' that include after a vacation break.  I hope magick is real in the SJI universe.  Oh, and that there's a hell so the driver can burn in it.  That must have been a rough comic to draw; it was hard to watch.

[Vidor]

Said in the discussion thread for the last comic that if Danielle gets killed off I'm letting my subscription lapse.

So here's hoping that Erin knows some Wiccan magic.

[powerpossum]

I hope magick is real in the SJI universe.  Oh, and that there's a hell so the driver can burn in it.  That must have been a rough comic to draw; it was hard to watch.

It's the most blood I've drawn on a comic (kind of a misnomer, in this instance) page, ever. I'm rooting for Dani as much as you guys - I love her, too!

That's it for me for a couple of weeks - thanks to everyone for reading/posting, and I'll be back soon!

[Werdna]

Well, I'm floored.  On the positive side:  I suppose if Adrian hasn't been serious enough about things yet, he will be now.  I hope he and his strike out with righteous fury.  A

On the negative side:  legs do not bend that way; all the blood; even the lettering on "c'est difficile", but also Dani's other spoken bits as well.  

I suppose it's testament to the quality of the comic that seeing this issue this morning has kind of put me into a depressed mood, so, uh, well done, Daphne?

Lastly, to PlutonianKnight:  enjoy the break!  I think I can safely speak on behalf of everyone here that we await your return to SJI anxiously.

ETA:  "Last Light" as a title?  Sounds like death.  Uh-oh.  I don't know if I can bear to look when 191 comes out.

Added after 191 released:  I'm glad to see that we might be able to take "Last Light" literally to mean sunset; if Dani is dead I'll be upset. 

My compliments to the artists for 191: very beautiful and evocative.

[jmundt29]

I'm hoping Erin is preventing Adrian from calling for an ambulance because she does know a Wiccan save and that it will work in 191 (or begin to work).

ETA--A little less than two hours remaining before our real cliffhanger for the next few weeks.  That was a marked change in tone--I must say.  A little Tarantino/Rodriguez inspiration, here?

Also, I'm suddenly more than ever interested in whatever that attack was that Erin lived through back in her hometown in Missouri.  Like it might be extraordinarily relevant to whatever's about to happen.

[GodWilling]

.

[Vidor]

This is just the absolute worst.  Awful.  I went off on a rant after one of those guest comics in which we saw a dark future for Adrian.  As it happened we found out after the next few guest comics that those were different possible futures, so in retrospect my rant in that thread was premature.

It doesn't feel premature this time.  This is the absolute worst.  Horrifically ill-conceived.

[Salanar]

I suppose what strikes me about all this is that most of the readers really care. Regardless of the outcome, this fact should not be overlooked. Daphine, for better or for ill, you have developed loyal fans. To those that threaten to leave, do be mindful that you aren't likely to bring a book back to the store because your favourite character dies in it. This is no different.

On the flip side, a lot of written porn is cheesy, and goes for the cheap trick/gag/laugh, but MCC has nothing but quality. High quality. There is significant value in that observation.

[Vidor]

To those that threaten to leave, do be mindful that you aren't likely to bring a book back to the store because your favourite character dies in it. This is no different.

It's very different, and here's why: I don't have to pay a monthly or yearly fee for that book.  I can just put it on the shelf or chuck it in the garbage.

You know what isn't sexy?  Violent death, that's what.

But as I said above, I once overreacted to what I took to be an unpleasant development in SJI, and that reaction turned out to be unwarranted.  Maybe this one will be too.

[jmundt29]

The spinning wheel of possible futures had situations either just as dire or almost as dire, and the strip survived.  It might be premature to lambaste the authors or cut all ties with a fine strip and a fine site.  Equally, however, the author and artists should take note--"Cliffhangers" to whet interest are supposed to demonstrate either a momentous change or momentous danger with a "how will they get out of this" problem.  In fact, one of the origins of the term cliffhanger is supposedly the endings of saturday serials where the hero has been chased over a cliff or a heroine has been tied to the tracks with a train coming and "How will they get out of this one--come back next week to find out!"  But here you've gone perilously close to the line.

From 190, I thought one possible out would have been Dani diving out of the way but having severely fractured ankles or legs.  Here, she is moments from death, beyond all conventional help, and out of cellphone range (TV Tropes trot out) and we get a long closing shot of her demise (apparently).  We're not worried about Adrian recommitting himself to this as a serious enterprise.  Nor are we interested in seeing the full measure of his potential brought out in grief-strickent wroth.  The cost is too high--and now, we're sitting on our thumbs for two weeks +.  This isn't a cliffhanger, this is the her(ine) losing grip and falling into open space so we can see a chest wound as the credits roll.

[Werdna]

I certainly hope (and, to be honest) expect that Dani will end up OK, probably by some Erin-based healing magic.  But I also go by the general creed that, while consumers are free to choose the product or not, authors should give the audience what they need, not just what they want.  Certainly I've been continually impressed by the level of detail that has gone into SJI and the care of crafting characters - Dani, it's repeatedly established, is in many ways the most 'innocent' of everyone in the comic (at least when not beset by horrible nightmares/flashbacks) - she's cheerful, happy, skilled at a variety of things, apparently incapable of lying, an enthusiastic lover, caring of her friends, a cheerful worker, etc.  So it would make sense, plot-wise, for this kind of serious event to occur to her to make it abundantly clear how serious all the various elements of the plot we've seen so far really are.  So I'll hold out judgement until we see a few more plot points develop.

Having said that - these three issues (189-191) are certainly hard to take, and I await #192 with baited breath.  I also want #200 to be a splash page with a fully-healed, beautiful, possibly nude Dani ready to kick some ass on behalf of her master.

[GodWilling]

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