What I Bought 4/1/2025 - Part 1

Well, let's get to the remainder of last month's books. Mostly, anyway. Haven't tracked down a copy of Red Before Black #5 yet, but I've got at least until when the final issue arrives in June (assuming it does), so not too worried. For now, we're going to start with another book that's wrapped up.

Babs #6, by Garth Ennis (writer), Jacen Burrows (artist), Andy Troy (colorist), Rob Steen (letterer) - That's not where I would have expected Babs to put that crossbow bolt, but I guess it's working for her.

This issue is basically a big fight between Babs and Tiberius Toledo. Which mostly consists of Babs getting her sword (Barry) knocked away immediately, and then taking a Rocky-esque beating while Barry tries to convince Mork to throw him back to Babs.

To be clear, it's not a squash. Babs manages to suck Toledo's eye out through his visor and eat it at one point, so she gets some shots in. It's just, she takes a lot more while Mork dithers about whether it'll be better if Toledo wins, because things will go back to how they were in the good old days. At which point his friends point out there were no good old days, at least not for them. Babs gets her sword, and things pretty much go the way you'd expect from there.

There's a bit of an aftermath, which mostly revolves around the villagers not being all that appreciative of Babs' hard work - since Toledo was already leaving to be someone else's problem - and Mork deciding he's now redeemed himself entirely by doing one sort of helpful thing, so he and Babs can be together. Babs is not having that, and I was honestly surprised she didn't kick the shit out of him. 

Her logic (while in no way encouraging him) is that he may actually have changed, and beating the crap out of him would only make him a bitter little pissant again. (Not exactly how Ennis phrases it, but close enough.) Which is mellower than I'd expect from an Ennis character. They're usually like, "Oh, you changed? Yeah, right as you saw your side was losing and you might get killed. Fuck you." Maybe it's smart to give people the chance to grow, and therefore also the chance to backslide. I have my doubts most days, but sometimes it's a nice idea.

Anyway, that concludes the adventure of Babs, still broke and wandering medieval fantasy realms. Unless she gets a sequel mini-series.

A Charged Confrontation

{Pollock sits behind her desk in office, stack of papers spread before her. But her pen doesn't move, and the eyes that appear to be studying a monthly budget report are unfocused. Her air is that of a person waiting.}

Pollock: *muttering* Come on already, you devious. . .

{Three soft raps against her door. Consider the shoe dropped.}

Gruff Voice Behind the Door: Security check, Commandant.

Pollock: *a long sigh* Come in, dolt.

{The door remains shut.}

Pollock: *a longer sigh* Come in, Calvin.

Calvin: *enters the room, one hand behind his back* Don't worry, one of these days you'll remember to actually use my name when you want me to do something.

Pollock: *deadpan* Jump out the window, Calvin.

Calvin: *rolls his eyes* Just because you want it, doesn't mean you'll get it.

Pollock: That's hardly incentive for me to use your name, then.

Calvin: Well, you'll never know if I'm feeling self-destructive unless you try.

{Calvin steps farther into the room, peering into all corners. Pollock raises one hand, while the other slides to a desk drawer.}

Pollock: Hold it!

Calvin: *stops moving* So, how'd you know I wasn't your head of security?

Pollock: Was that a serious impersonation? That didn't sound a thing like him!

Calvin: How would I know? I don't think the guy's ever said two words to me.

Pollock: *frowns* That can't be right. Can it? Well, I suppose it's usually the panda or Deadpool he's contending with. . .

Calvin: That's right! I've never blown up one of your bathrooms.

Pollock: I don't like the way you said that.

Calvin: *resumes surveying the room, hand still behind his back* So, no security-slash-drug plants?

Pollock: *leans back in her chair, one hand still out of sight behind the desk* We're reworking those to focus more heavily on the pharmaceutical aspects. People still prefer bullets for security, but drugs are always popular.

Calvin: Yeah, people do like shooting things, but the drug market's pretty crowded. Lots of cheap weed out there.

Pollock: *sighs* Enough stalling. I know you're not really interested in my latest products.

Calvin: I could be, if they were something cooler than drugs.

Pollock: Where is the panda? Don't try and tell me they've outgrown this.

Calvin: Nope, they definitely haven't. *grins* Not sure where they are, though.

Pollock: *eyebrow twitches and she hits the intercom* To all employees, the panda is on the premises. We are initiating Arc Protocol, follow procedure and move to the nearest shelter.

Calvin: You're going to flood the place?!

Pollock: Not that kind of ark.

{A quick sweep of the security cameras shows all employees within safe zones. Pollock flips a switch and a hum fills the hallway outside her office.}

Calvin: Oh, that kind of arc. *eyes bug out* You're gonna electrocute them?! Wait, you modified your building to be able to electrocute people?!

Pollock: It's not that severe a shock. Just something to slow them down.

{There's a surprised yelp from somewhere in the building. Followed by a gasp and the sound of something very large crashing through cubicle walls.}

Pollock: I thought they'd react with a little less panic.

{Flips the switch back to its original position. The hum fades.}

Calvin: How did the city building inspector approve that?!

Pollock: I bribed the zoning board to classify this as an agricultural structure. Different rules on wiring.

Calvin: I, I can't even pretend to be aghast. Making drugs, bribing zoning boards, what kind of lame, buttoned-up villainy is this?

Pollock: You don't want deathtraps, but you complain about bureaucratic manipulation! Make up your mind!

Calvin: *raises one hand in a calming gesture* OK, OK, that's fair. Sorry, you're right. Rigging your entire building into some kind of electric weapon is pretty cool.

Pollock: *brings her other hand out from behind the desk, holding a gun, which she aims at Calvin.* Now, let me see what you're hiding. Slowly. This fires a buzzsaw blade.

Calvin: At least you're taking inspiration from the classics.

{Calvin brings his other hand into view. It's holding an unmarked pink box. One of Pollock's eyebrows rises.}

Pollock: *warily* Open it.

{Calvin swings the lid open. He starts to tilt the box towards Pollock.}

Pollock: *jabs the gun towards Calvin menacingly* Not so fast!

Calvin: How else are you going to see what's in it?

Pollock: I'll come to - no, that's a bad idea. *begins muttering to herself* Maybe I can angle a mirror? No, I'll be distracted. A drone? No, I'd need both hands to steer it. *louder* Tell me what it is.

Calvin: *very sarcastically* It's a special fart bomb the panda cooked up to stinkify your entire office.

Pollock: Damn it, I'm pretty sure you're joking, but I can't put it past you juveniles. I - 

{The office door opens. Chief of Security Androzier sticks his head in.}

Androzier: Boss - 

Calvin: Wow, I was way off. I thought you sounded like Judge Dread, or some old mountain man who gargles gravel.

Androzier: *takes a step into the room* What? *looks at Pollock* Did he switch bodies with Deadpool? Is this a Code Periwinkle?

Pollock: No, nothing like that. Chief, I need you to tell me what's in that box. *glares at Calvin* Do not shout, "What's in the box?!"

Calvin: Party-pooper.

Androzier: *still confused, takes another step inside* It looks like a cake. I need to update you - 

Calvin: Why he's barefoot? Is this some weird connectedness initiative you've got going?

Pollock: It's part of the Arc Protocol. *glares at Androzier* But you're supposed to put your boots back on after.

Androzier: They chafe when I don't have socks!

Calvin: Why doesn't he have socks? Are you taking away socks as some sort of punishment for bad employees?

Pollock: *at Calvin* Of course not, and he is an exemplary employee! *to Androzier* When he's not forgetting he's supposed to have an extra pair of socks on hand!

Androzier: I apologize deeply, Commandant, but I really need to update you - 

{The loud crashing noises have begun moving closer. And closer. And closer.}

Pollock: *buries her face in her hand* Oh no.

{Clever Adolescent Panda barrel rolls through the wall. Their fur stands on end, making them appear like a gigantic, black-and-white sea urchin. Stuck to them are all varieties of socks, as well as several sweaters, a fleece hoodie with the local high school mascot grinning on it, and an afghan blanket. The latter of which is being held at the other end by a determined young woman.}

Pollock: Belinda, let go of the afghan! You know panda-related injuries are difficult to explain to the health insurance!

{The panda keeps gripping socks, but the clothing simply static clings to another part of their body.}

Clever Adolescent Panda: Get them off me!

Belinda: This was my nana's, I'm not letting some furball steal it!

Androzier: This is what I wanted to mention. All the rolling keeps building up fresh charge. The containment fields couldn't withstand that and all this mass moving at this speed.

Pollock: Damn. We need to siphon the charge all at once, with some long metal object. *glances at her sword* Well, a true genius finds ways to turn all setbacks to their advantage.

Calvin: No stabbing my friend!

{Calvin sets down the cake, then rushes over to seize one of Clever Adolescent Panda's hands. With his other hand, he grabs hold of a steel lamp near the window. The bulb flares like a supernova before every light goes dark. All the socks and other stuff fall off Clever Adolescent Panda. Alex flies off like he was shot from a cannon. With the afghan loose, Belinda is flung across the room, Pollock narrowly keeping her from going splat against the wall.}

Pollock: *sets Belinda down* You violated protocol.

Belinda: But that damn panda. . .

Pollock: Yes, I know, but the protocol is there for a reason. *looks around the room* Well, that tripped the surge protectors into shutdown. Chief, start up Epiphany Protocol until we get them re-set.

Androzier: *salutes* What about - ? *gestures at Clever Adolescent Panda, who is slowly rolling to their feet*

Clever Adolescent Panda: Where's Calvin? *sees the broken window* Oh no! Calvin!

Calvin: *sprawled in the parking lot, lightly broiled* Have I mentioned before how glad I am your new building is one story tall?

Pollock: I think they're under control.

{The Chief of Security guides Belinda out of their boss' office and begins shouting orders. Everyone pulls a plant out from under what's left of their desks and someone plays a few airy notes on a flute. All the plants begin to emit a pleasant glow.}

Pollock: Well, I think this is where the two of you run home with your tails between your legs.

Clever Adolescent Panda: *scoops up Calvin and throws him across their back* Yeah, well, enjoy that broken window and all the smashed cubicles!

Pollock: I will, as soon as I enjoy the security footage of your panicked flailing!

{Pollock laughs haughtily as the panda shuffles away, before noticing the cake is still sitting in its box on the floor.}

Pollock: Hmmm. *approaches warily* They aren't here to throw it. If it was spring-loaded it would have launched when he opened the box. *leans over the box* If there was some sort of trigger mechanism, it would have gone off from all that electric discharge.

{Pollock reaches in and lifts out the cake}

Pollock: Maybe the prank is the dolt made it himself? No, that would almost qualify as poison, a little too severe for them. . .

{Abruptly, the cake swells up, and Pollock belatedly remembers their last visit, with the plants that reacted to heat.}

Pollock: Damn - 

{There's a muffled *whoom* and Pollock finds herself covered in a mixture of whipped cream and raisins.}

Pollock: Did they just use whatever he had in the kitchen? *gathers some whipped cream on one finger* Well, at least it's edible.

The Web Draws Tighter

Bold words from a guy who spent the last 200 pages getting outwitted and outmaneuvered at every turn.

Let's recap going into volume 36: The Straw Hats' ship is beyond repair. Usopp, reeling from the news and feeling worthless, left the crew, then challenged Luffy for the Going Merry. He lost, but Luffy and the others left Merry to him. Another crew member, Nico Robin, is missing, and accused of attempting to assassinate beloved local industrialist/politician, Iceberg, last night. So the entire town is after the Straw Hats, including some especially strong carpenters at the shipbuilding company Iceburg runs. A local gang leader that dresses like Ace Ventura is after Luffy for destroying his house and beating up his gang. And, there's a notorious annual high tide, the Aqua Laguna, on its way.

The volume starts with the carpenters interrupting the fight between Luffy and Franky. This is when Luffy learns about Iceberg, and Robin's alleged involvement. It also establishes the carpenters as tough fighter in their own right, as Luffy gets kicked around by them while protesting his (and Robin's) innocence.

(The fight also establishes Franky as a wildly erratic character. He goes from laughing at Luffy's troubles to flipping a table (he presumably made himself off panel) and yelling at the carpenters for interfering in his fight. Later, he'll grouse at a bartender for charging customers money for drinks, then freak out when he learns he's still got some of the money his gang stole from Usopp, and buy rounds for the entire bar.)

Luffy manages to escape to confront Iceberg, but that only frustrates him further. Iceberg remains insistent it was Robin he saw last night. That doesn't help anyone find her, but Robin finds Sanji and Chopper instead, telling them she did attack Iceberg, and she's leaving the crew. From how she phrased it, the crew concludes there may be another attempt on Iceberg and try to stake it out.

That doesn't go well, as Luffy flies off half-cocked and gets separated from the others, who have to fight their way through an army of shipwrights, all while the real killers (and Robin) are already in there with Iceberg. It's talking, interspersed with brief scenes of the masked figures tearing through the shipwrights with ease, as Iceberg discusses what these people are really after (blueprints to an ancient, powerful battleship), and that his mentor always told him Robin needed to die because she was the last person left who could read the stone blocks that might reveal the location of that battleship.

Iceberg's attempt to pull a fast one on the assassins falls apart for a variety of reasons. Primarily that they were both closer to him and stronger than he suspected. They're able to figure out who really has the blueprints, but before they can track him down (it's Franky), Luffy and the most of the remaining Straw Hats bust in from two different directions.

(Sanji's gone off on his own somewhere, and won't pop up until later on. Which is kind of a thing he does a lot, drift off by himself somewhere and do something quietly critical. It's weird to me that a character that becomes such a loud, obnoxious dumbass around any woman can be that good at being covert, but I guess if you grade on a curve, relative to the rest of the crew, he's pretty quiet.) 

Franky, meanwhile, has gotten fed up at being unable to find Luffy and finish their fight. But his gang have figured out Usopp is alone on the Merry. And Usopp is out there working on repairs, largely oblivious to everything that's going on around him.

Sunday Splash Page #368

"Werecat Combat," in Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #19, by Brian Reed (writer), Aaron Lopresti (penciler), Matt Ryan (inker), Chris Sotomayor (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer)

One aspect of House of M was that Ms. Marvel was the "world's greatest hero" (whatever that means), because that was apparently the specific desire Carol Danvers had, that the Scarlet Witch granted. This volume was, in theory, Carol trying to make that a reality once the event was over.

In practice, it never comes around, at least not in the two years I bought the title (roughly half its 50 issue run.) Which could have been the point, I suppose. You don't set out to be the world's greatest hero, you just keep showing up to help and maybe one day it turns out you've become the world's greatest. If that was Brian Reed's goal, I dropped the book long before he got to it.

The biggest issue was, Civil War started up early in the book's run, and Carol sided wholeheartedly with ol' Tony Stank. Going so far as to team up with that dolt Wonder Man to run down and capture other heroes, like Julia Carpenter (going as either Arachne or still Spider-Woman at the time), and the Shroud (this might constitute the last time the Shroud was depicted as both sane and competent, depending on how you rate his two-issue appearance in Heroes for Hire vol. 3's Fear Itself tie-ins)

Reed never provided a reason for Danvers siding with the pro-reg forces I found believable (actually, I don't even remember what the justifications were now), and it's not easy for me to enjoy a book where I don't particularly care for the main character, and honestly like it when shit rains down on them.

Beyond that, I mostly recall vague impressions of what went on. Arana was positioned as an apprentice to Carol, seemingly mostly so she could be hurt by Doomsday Man to make Carol angry (and Arana's dad angry at Carol later.) There was something with a blue, tentacled alien that left a part of itself in Carol that let her heal faster. She got a SHIELD sponsored strike team that included Machine Man (Reed using the NextWave version that drinks heavily and insists on being called "Aaron") and Sleepwalker. Which is why I still had the issue the above page is from, as it's the one where, as part of undercover work, Aaron "disguises" himself with a big, bushy, sloppy handlebar mustache.

What can I say? It tickled my fancy.

That storyline involved Puppet Master setting himself up like a warlord in Chile, putting a bunch of superheroes under his control. The comic does not get into what he's using them for besides security, but come on, he only caught women superheroes, I feel like we're meant to connect the dots. Carol shakes his control (thanks to the alien thing), and then, when she has a chance to capture Puppet Master, lets him blow himself up instead, confident the unknown healing thing will protect her.

Which I wouldn't necessarily object to, except she has no idea how big a blast he plans to set off, and her team was still evacuating all the people Masters abducted, and had given no sign everyone was clear. He kidnapped a lot of average joes, what if they couldn't run fast enough? More annoying, even as Reed writes Carol's internal narration as her being willing to make tough choices and live with consequences, he has her lie to her team about what happened, saying she didn't have time to stop Puppet Master.

If she's willing to live with the consequences, why not have her lay it out, coldly and clinically, and use that as a springboard? How does her team react, does it hurt or help her standing with them? (I suspect Aaron wouldn't care, but Sleepwalker's human half almost certainly would be uneasy about it.)

Again, maybe that was all leading to some big epiphany for Carol, but it left a bad taste in my mouth, and after the Civil War mess, I wasn't inclined to cut the character (or Reed) much slack. When the book was about to start Secret Invasion tie-ins, I decided it was time to bail out, though I clearly should have done it sooner.

Saturday Splash Page #170

"Catch the Red Line," in Seven Soldiers: Guardian #1, by Grant Morrison (writer), Cameron Stewart (artist), Moose Bauman (colorist), Pat Brosseau (letterer)

Seven Soldiers of Spring is coming hot off the presses! Well, we're 20 years after the fact, but the presses are still hot.

Jake Jordan's a former cop just drifting through life after he shot an innocent kid he thought killed his partner. Jake's father-in-law-to-be convinces him to apply for the on-staff superhero for The Manhattan Guardian, a paper where, 'the readers are the reporters.' While his boss, a projection on a TV screen named "Ed" claims Jake's not a reporter, I'm not clear on whether Jake's gear is actually recording his battles with subway pirates and cyborgs programmed to model the real world twisted to revenge, as a way to cover the news.

Guardian is the mini-series that feels most like a traditional superhero book. Jake's caught between rival pirate crews seeking a 'six-sided god-machine,' or airdropping into a Disneyworld where the animatronics are repurposed (but not necessarily reprogrammed) military killbots. His back-up is a Newsboy Army of kids who parachute in with flamethrowers while a disclaimer from the paper blares that it's not responsible for what the newsboys do. He saves his girlfriend from the pirates, at the cost of her father, and possibly the cost of their relationship. Real superhero melodrama stuff.

Stewart and Bauman give it the bright, clean look of a superhero adventure as well. Jake's uniform is always pristine, no matter what he goes through, and shows off his muscles in a way his everyday clothes don't. Everything is bright and sometimes otherworldly, whether that's the blue in the place the engine is hidden, or the eerie green of the monitors in Ed's secret room.

In terms of sins and virtues, Pride keeps coming up, the opposite of which Wikipedia tells me is Humility. Jake wants to feel proud of the work he's done, to walk tall again, but loses sight of other things. Carla's mourning her father, and worried about losing Jake, while Jake's assuring her he can take care of her and her mother financially with this job. Jake has to, after an issue of considering giving up, come to the conclusion it's about doing the right thing when it's needed, even if you don't want to. He takes a few more words to say it, but it boils down to the old adage about power and responsibility. You can do something to help others, so you should, even when it's hard.

(It's weird this comes up, given tomorrow's book.)

As far as connections, the 'god-machine' will be a matter of repeated importance over the course of this whole event. I wonder if the place where Allbeard and No-Beard find it was the place where the last few knights went to ask the dwarves to split the very essence of matter itself (aka, the atom), ending the previous age of man, as we're told in Shining Knight. Chains dangle from the ceilings, and apparently glow with radiation (although it's the water beneath that glows), and there's medieval weapons strewn about, but I'm not sure that's an actual connection, or just something I'm seeing that isn't there.

Ed turns out to have been part of his own group of seven when he was younger (although his body never grew up.) The original Newsboy Army, who fell apart as they aged and the adult world intruded with things like college and working in the family laundry. They (but only six, because the dog was too old) went on one final mission, to Slaughter Swamp (aka, where Solomon Grundy was born) and ran into something they weren't ready for.

I don't know if  Millions accompanying them would have made a difference, or if they were never the right seven. Also, was the vet who told them Millions was too old under Sheeda control, or was that just another sign of time creeping in and stealing their childhood visions of the future? Their group magician, Ali, will pop in at least one other mini-series, and Lil' Scarface grew up to be Don Vincenzo, the undead mob boss in Shining Knight. Not a nice man, but one who still remembers the strange world he inhabited as a child.

What I Bought 3/26/2025

The local store didn't have any of the things I wanted that came out this week. Or anything from this week at all, that I could tell. Makes it hard to want to support a local business. But there was one book from earlier in the month on the shelves I wanted, and here we are.

Batgirl #5, by Tate Brombal (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (penciler/inker), Wayne Faucher (inker), Mike Spicer (colorist), Tom Napolitano (letterer) -  Batgirl entering her "blue flower" phase.

Cass got a tracer on Shiva before she was carted off, which leads her to the Unburied's base. She slips in, only to eventually encounter the three super-powered soldier types, who found the tracker and were waiting for her. Cass deals with the big guy, but the lady with the giant scissors knocks her out by blowing the flower pollen in her face.

OK, so the flowers give you super-powers if you eat them, heal wounds if you smear it on them, and act as a knockout drug when inhaled? That's ridiculous. And if the stuff was not from the flowers, have Spicer color it a little less blue, especially when they're fighting in a field of the flowers (located in a sunless cave, no less.)

Cass has a dream where she speaks with Stephanie, and lets out all her frustrations and feelings about Shiva. How she hoped Shiva was someone innocent, but found out she's a killer, and that's what Cassandra is afraid of in herself. But she wants to save Shiva - from the Unburied and all the killing, I presume - because it means she can save the little girl she was before she fled David Cain?

And then she wakes up dangling from a ceiling in the same room as Shiva.

The notion Cassandra is both repelled by her mother and wants to save her because of Cassandra's own past is at least a sort of explanation for why she didn't just tell Shiva to piss off and go do her own thing three issues ago but, I don't know. I get it if Brombal decided Cass' relationship with Cain was beaten to death, but I'm not nearly as interested in Shiva as he clearly wants us to be. And she's the closest thing to a supporting cast Cassandra has in this book. No Bat-family, and every new character that gets introduced dies or vanishes shortly after. The Vietnamese family that runs the restaurant in Gotham, Jayesh (the priest that follows Shiva.) I'm assuming since he gave Cass a ride to the cave but didn't follow her in, he's carrying out his own part of some plan right now, but there's no evidence of it. That's just me assuming there's a reason he vanished after the 5th panel of page 1.

Sentenced to Prism - Alan Dean Foster

Evan is sent to a recently discovered world by the company he works for to learn why the research team they sent hasn't been heard from in months. Evan quickly confirms the answer is because they're dead, though he's not quite sure how they were overwhelmed so completely by the native life. With one member of the research team unaccounted for, but a location beacon pointing the way, Evan sets out to try and get that answer, only to find himself quickly in over his head.

Foster presents a world of mostly silicon-based life, and with habits, defenses, and senses entirely different from anything Evan has encountered before. Most of them run off light, but not by using it to create sugars like plants. They just turn it into energy like a solar panel. Some are motile, others lurk beneath the soil. Some eat flesh, some are just looking for minerals. Even though the company outfits him with the most high-tech, sturdily built, exo-suit they've got, it isn't enough.

Foster writes Evan as extremely confident in himself, so the entire book is basically one big exercise in Evan slowly being humbled. He does better at surviving without the suit than he probably ought to, but it's in the clumsy, makeshift manner of a person doing the best he can in an environment where he doesn't know the rules. Is the giant crystalline structure an inanimate tree, or the host to a mass of worms that'll love the iron in his blood? Is that a pool of water, or some sort of jellylike predator that would try to engulf him?

Foster eventually introduces intelligent species, each of which have a specific function they perform in what they call an "Associative." Some are scouts, some are knowledge-repositories, some are literally block-shaped things that prefer to group together and form walls to protect the rest from predators. A lot of the book is Evan interacting with them, trying to understand how their society, not to mention biology, works, while they're doing the same with him. There's some body modification, not all of it consensual, but Foster doesn't lean too heavily into the body horror aspect of it. Evan is written as being so reasonable, or more so self-assured, that the drastic changes in his inner workings are quickly accepted.

It's all generally interesting stuff, but it does mean the mystery of the final member of the research team, as well as what happened to them, gets sidelined for a big portion of the book. His exo-suit breaks at about the one-quarter mark, at which point the focus shifts to Evan's survival/the Associative for the middle half. Only in the last quarter does Foster finally resolve the mysteries. Even that involves a chapter with some bizarre creature calling itself The Integrator, which doesn't really feel like it fits with the rest of the world as it's been presented. Like this was the main antagonist of some other book, and shuffled into this book to try its luck.

'This is swell, Evan thought. I'm standing here debating political philosophy with a glass caterpillar by means of antenna stuck into my feeble mind. Furthermore, I am enjoying it.'