Brain would not shut down Sunday night. Finished reading this fanfic, then lay awake in bed for two hours with my brain sussing out the threads of why I don't like reincarnation in stories and questions about what makes a traitor, and then spiraling into thinking about mortality and the eventual deaths of all my friends.
Somehow was not exhausted on Monday. Go figure. Comics!
The baking competition continues, as does Shauna's investigation into Neal's murder. Neither is going well as those are apparently two things you can't half-ass, certainly not at the same time. Her holiday cake is a disaster, and the "blind bake" goes just well enough she can stick around for the next day. Except she said she'd solve the case before the end of day 1, so more lies in advertising.
On the other hand, watching her steady disintegration over the course of the issue is quite entertaining. Sarin keeps drawing Shauna with heavier lines and shadows around her eyes, and her hair getting increasingly sloppy. It makes for a contrast from the rest of the contestants, who remain largely the same even when their cakes are savaged by the judges.
Though Allison gives Sarin plenty of chances to draw the other bakers looking disturbing and suspicious. Some of which is meant to be Shauna's perception, but some I think are supposed to be for the purpose of messing with us. Especially the dead-eyed panel of the one judge that delights in that clinical cruelty of all shows of this nature.
Yeah, that's the one. Anyway, the comic so far is, OK? I'm not laughing near as much as I have with some of Allison's other stuff, and Shauna's making so little progress on the murder mystery I have no I clue what's going on there. I've mostly been eliminating people based on her being suspicious of them. I half expect to learn Neal slipped on melted decorative frosting and landed on a knife.
Ben and Alicia are having a fancy dinner with his Aunt Petunia (looking older here than she did in the last issue of Fantastic Four) and his Uncle Jake. Ben's giving them a lot of money as a thank you for raising him after his brother died. This touching family moment is interrupted by the arrival of a monster through a glowing portal. While Ben gets to punching, Dr. Strange blasts his way out of its guts. It was sent after him because of the ring Ben got off the guy who keeps popping up.
But in the present, the ring belongs to a dark wizard, who summons those two to a place where he's torturing the guy - named Ogdu Fraize - for trying to steal that ring. While Strange throws down with the wizard - and gets stabbed by his 50-year-old children - Ben tries to keep Ogdu from escaping again. he gets a chest full of munitions instead. Ogdu gets the ring, Ben gets Strange enough of a healing potion for him to portal them to safety before the wizard's lair collapses.
Seems like another stalemate until Ogdu opens a portal directly under Ben's feet in his apartment, dumping him into some immense void.
What we learn is basically that Ogdu believed in the superheroic age until he stumbled across some old SHIELD bunker, where he learned something that made him want to destroy superheroes. Hence this current thing. Although with this meeting actually coming earlier in Ogdu's life than the previous issue, it doesn't do a lot to advance whatever he's got going. I mean, he ends up with the ring, but we know he loses it against Ben when he attacks Krakoa. Or maybe that sort of thing is out the window by now.
Skroce seems to treat Ben as less durable than he's typically shown. Not weaker, just that his outer skin, rocks, whatever get damaged more easily. I guess because it makes the fighting look more impressive if Ben's showing actually battle damage. And the rocks being chipped or pockmarked makes more sense than Ben getting a black eye. Although the damage was gone by the end of the issue. How does that work? Ben's rocks regenerate like skin cells, or does she buff and polish them smooth again?
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