She understands that those 2 with their teamwork and charm are doing what she can’t. It makes her even more of a failure when she lacks the tools for the job.
She’s listing the reason she hates them? Is there a check list? Once it’s filled out does she analyze it to find out if she hates them or not?
Who could possibly hate Claire? That’s an awfully good observation.
Maybe kill her, maybe just scare her? That “thing” was cursing that Claire was a difficult target, but perhaps it just couldn’t do it as she had planned to do?
She’s listing the reasons why they’re doing better at gathering evidence than she is. Her growing hatred of Lottie is an outgrowth of that (seemingly with a bit of a push from her “friend”). She wanted to be the pone to catch the jewel thieves, and it irks her that Lottie’s doing so much better than she did while ostensibly doing so much wrong. It’s a bit like that Simpsons episode where Homer drives a far more capable co-worker insane by constantly getting away with things, being incredibly lucky, and succeeding despite his complete lack of competency.
I’d disagree slightly about the why while 100% agreeing on the result; it’s not that Lottie is doing things wrong – it’s that she’s doing it in a way Beate can’t: with “such confidence and charisma” as we have regularly seen Lottie deploy and Beate has not yet shown much reserves of.
It has to be frustrating watching someone be better at getting an answer out of of a person of interest not by being better at massaging the conversation to present an opportunity to ask a relevant question _but by not having to_.
I didn’t mean to imply that she’s ACTUALLY doing things wrong. I was speaking from Beate’s point of view. As far as she’s concerned, Lottie’s doing everything wrong, and yet succeeding.
Lottie might also just be bragging about one of her exploits, while Claire knows how things really went down, but still likes it when Lottie tells the story.
That last part about being pen-pals with Claire is really touching. Beate wants to make contact as much as she’s afraid of it. But could that ever happen with her constant companion/muse being on the lookout for “enemies?”
and yet, the villains never stop to ask if anyone would actually want to be pen-pals with them- Young Claire might be too polite/awkward to say no if asked directly, but still
(to be fair, maybe we’re too early in Beate’s story to call her a proper villain for now, but she’s already self-important, over-competitive, and resentful of the girls for having qualities she doesn’t, which doesn’t make for the best of first impressions)
She could think about it and want to be able to express herself (probably communicating better than she can speaking) but that could never happen for a variety of reasons.
And jet, when she tried to kill Claire, she did it with a big smile on her face. So or Bea will be possessed by her “friend” and disappear or she’ll just become a homicidal maniac. Nice to see that Claire has always lighters for help her friends. I’m sure that’s the reason and not some insane love for fire.
While she lacks Lottie and Claire’s teamwork, charm, and interpersonal skills (more Claire than Lottie), Beate is showing a knack for evasiveness. She might not make for a good detective, but had things gone better for her. Beate might have made for a good spy.
I’m looking at the list of pages still to come, and I’m not seeing anything that implies Beate’s redemption arc.
Why am I not seeing anything that implies Beate’s redemption arc??
Remember, a) John doesn’t choose page titles in order to give us spoilers. In fact, he often picks deliberately misleading lines of dialog for the page titles, and b) if she does redeem herself, it would likely be toward the end of Part 4, and I don’t think we’re quite seeing those titles yet. On the other hand, assuming Beate turns out to be the one who framed Lottie (as seems likely), she’s already a murderer (in the present), and it’s hard to see what kind of redemption she’s going to get. Although, I’ve been wondering whether Myomoto’s death may have been somewhat unintentional. Maybe she meant to frame Lottie for assault, but didn’t mean to actually kill him? Maybe his saw through her disguise, and she panicked, and used more force than she’d meant to? He WAS still alive when she left him, even if he later died. Maybe being responsible for Myomoto’s death, has driven Beate further into madness? And, of course, there’s the possibility that she’s been possessed by an evil spirit and isn’t actually responsible for her actions.
I wouldn’t mind if she didn’t get redeemed. She’s sort of a sad sack, but at the end she’s doing this to be popular at school, “by Monday I’ll be a legend.” Lottie told Rev. Penrose she does this because of the injustice of no one finding the hit and run driver who killed her dad. Beate is a worse detective and doing it for worse reasons.
And she tried to kill Claire to hurt Lottie. That’s just insulting. Kill Claire because she’s a great detective and a worthy adversary, don’t fridge her and call her Lottie’s “security blanket.” Rude.
But if she IS returned to a more normal existence she’ll have a better view of things and much to make up for. The question is how could that ever happen?
That’s Lottie. The evil influence who appears to be EviLottie is portrayed quite differently in this chapter- she looks older (remember, this chapter takes place a few years ago, so Lottie’s younger here), her face is almost never visible (and the brief glimpse of her face we got on the previous page did NOT look like Lottie), and she’s always shown in blacks, whites, and greys.
I like the Evil Spirit hypothesis. Perhaps after Beate comes a cropper on the slopes the spirit takes corporeal form, finally permitting Bee a functional social life, and chases after Lottie full of vengeful energies. But also needs plastic surgery to better inhabit the target of her ire? Hypothesis may need further ironing out.
Beate smoking like a nihilst. But crying.
She understands that those 2 with their teamwork and charm are doing what she can’t. It makes her even more of a failure when she lacks the tools for the job.
Lottie and Claire put the “Beate” in “beaten”.
I’m here all week, folks!
The crying part could be just the effect of the smoke, expecially is Bea just started smoking. Under her tears she’s cold and rational. Maybe.
Under the tears _someone_ is cold & rational, but I don’t think it’s Beate…
When a lovely flame dies…
Is that what the skull in her smoke comes from!
They asked me how I knew…
Did Claire light her cigarette?
Oh. Claire and fire. I just remembered.
There’s no crying in nihilism!
Claire is always well-prepared for lighting… cigarettes.
She’s listing the reason she hates them? Is there a check list? Once it’s filled out does she analyze it to find out if she hates them or not?
Who could possibly hate Claire? That’s an awfully good observation.
Well, in the Future, *someone* will try to kill her.
Maybe kill her, maybe just scare her? That “thing” was cursing that Claire was a difficult target, but perhaps it just couldn’t do it as she had planned to do?
Well, if not kill then at least maim: https://badmachinery.com/comic/big-day-today/
She was just trying to send Claire a letter. On stone tablets.
Pen(tateuch) pals, with emphasis on the decalogue.
Just a short note on a heavy subject…
Or a heavy note on a short subject.
Maybe the sender was hoping she’d pass them along to Ea-nasir? They *really* were pissed at the quality of that last batch of copper!
+1 for Sumerian reference. We get them all too seldom.
She’s listing the reasons why they’re doing better at gathering evidence than she is. Her growing hatred of Lottie is an outgrowth of that (seemingly with a bit of a push from her “friend”). She wanted to be the pone to catch the jewel thieves, and it irks her that Lottie’s doing so much better than she did while ostensibly doing so much wrong. It’s a bit like that Simpsons episode where Homer drives a far more capable co-worker insane by constantly getting away with things, being incredibly lucky, and succeeding despite his complete lack of competency.
I’d disagree slightly about the why while 100% agreeing on the result; it’s not that Lottie is doing things wrong – it’s that she’s doing it in a way Beate can’t: with “such confidence and charisma” as we have regularly seen Lottie deploy and Beate has not yet shown much reserves of.
It has to be frustrating watching someone be better at getting an answer out of of a person of interest not by being better at massaging the conversation to present an opportunity to ask a relevant question _but by not having to_.
I didn’t mean to imply that she’s ACTUALLY doing things wrong. I was speaking from Beate’s point of view. As far as she’s concerned, Lottie’s doing everything wrong, and yet succeeding.
Later, the ski lodge burns to the ground, for some unknown reason.
I am DYING to know what Lottie is saying in panel two! Claire’s smile tells me it must be slightly rude but very funny.
Lottie’s gesture may give a clue, but I am not able to interpret it.
Lottie might also just be bragging about one of her exploits, while Claire knows how things really went down, but still likes it when Lottie tells the story.
Claire activates her powers by saying “Flame on!”
She’s like The Talking Heads: Burning Down The House.
The time to hesitate is through. No time to wallow in the mire.
That last part about being pen-pals with Claire is really touching. Beate wants to make contact as much as she’s afraid of it. But could that ever happen with her constant companion/muse being on the lookout for “enemies?”
and yet, the villains never stop to ask if anyone would actually want to be pen-pals with them- Young Claire might be too polite/awkward to say no if asked directly, but still
(to be fair, maybe we’re too early in Beate’s story to call her a proper villain for now, but she’s already self-important, over-competitive, and resentful of the girls for having qualities she doesn’t, which doesn’t make for the best of first impressions)
She could think about it and want to be able to express herself (probably communicating better than she can speaking) but that could never happen for a variety of reasons.
And jet, when she tried to kill Claire, she did it with a big smile on her face. So or Bea will be possessed by her “friend” and disappear or she’ll just become a homicidal maniac. Nice to see that Claire has always lighters for help her friends. I’m sure that’s the reason and not some insane love for fire.
And in the last panel, I bet that Beate isn’t registering with Lottie at all – even if she’s in direct line-of-sight!
Good God this page! The colors! The perspective! The narrative flow! Jusr amazing.
And did you notice, when Beate is hiding in the foliage, Claire is looking straight at her.
And smiling knowingly.
In the last frame Lottie is doing the same, because Claire told her about Beate.
I love Lottie’s ski suit! The perfect après ski look!
(They were all out of purple!)
While she lacks Lottie and Claire’s teamwork, charm, and interpersonal skills (more Claire than Lottie), Beate is showing a knack for evasiveness. She might not make for a good detective, but had things gone better for her. Beate might have made for a good spy.
She found the perpetrators just as easily as Lottie and Claire did. I’d say she has (or had) the potential to be a great detective.
In fact, I think she found them faster.
She simply lacked the patience to entrap them.
Oh, no, not the nihilists – they believe in nozing…
I’m looking at the list of pages still to come, and I’m not seeing anything that implies Beate’s redemption arc.
Why am I not seeing anything that implies Beate’s redemption arc??
Remember, a) John doesn’t choose page titles in order to give us spoilers. In fact, he often picks deliberately misleading lines of dialog for the page titles, and b) if she does redeem herself, it would likely be toward the end of Part 4, and I don’t think we’re quite seeing those titles yet. On the other hand, assuming Beate turns out to be the one who framed Lottie (as seems likely), she’s already a murderer (in the present), and it’s hard to see what kind of redemption she’s going to get. Although, I’ve been wondering whether Myomoto’s death may have been somewhat unintentional. Maybe she meant to frame Lottie for assault, but didn’t mean to actually kill him? Maybe his saw through her disguise, and she panicked, and used more force than she’d meant to? He WAS still alive when she left him, even if he later died. Maybe being responsible for Myomoto’s death, has driven Beate further into madness? And, of course, there’s the possibility that she’s been possessed by an evil spirit and isn’t actually responsible for her actions.
Don’t despair. The page names rarely give a good clue to the story — John likes to have his fun with us. I too want Beate to be redeemed.
I wouldn’t mind if she didn’t get redeemed. She’s sort of a sad sack, but at the end she’s doing this to be popular at school, “by Monday I’ll be a legend.” Lottie told Rev. Penrose she does this because of the injustice of no one finding the hit and run driver who killed her dad. Beate is a worse detective and doing it for worse reasons.
And she tried to kill Claire to hurt Lottie. That’s just insulting. Kill Claire because she’s a great detective and a worthy adversary, don’t fridge her and call her Lottie’s “security blanket.” Rude.
But if she IS returned to a more normal existence she’ll have a better view of things and much to make up for. The question is how could that ever happen?
To hate Claire is to hate life itself
Is that Lottie or Evilottie in the last frame?
Lottie. She’s in (glorious) colour.
That’s Lottie. The evil influence who appears to be EviLottie is portrayed quite differently in this chapter- she looks older (remember, this chapter takes place a few years ago, so Lottie’s younger here), her face is almost never visible (and the brief glimpse of her face we got on the previous page did NOT look like Lottie), and she’s always shown in blacks, whites, and greys.
I like the Evil Spirit hypothesis. Perhaps after Beate comes a cropper on the slopes the spirit takes corporeal form, finally permitting Bee a functional social life, and chases after Lottie full of vengeful energies. But also needs plastic surgery to better inhabit the target of her ire? Hypothesis may need further ironing out.