The Deep End
Chapter: Season Four
This has come to a head and well, Officer Clark isn’t going to put up with Grey’s bullshit.
Also: I felt horrible writing Grey’s dialogue. I write it but once in a while I do feel bad about it. Grey is spinning off the deep end and this has been building to today.
Yeah, Grey must be on something, he’s being a bit irrational, I think the calls for roid-rage a while ago are going to turn out to be accurate.
I’m going to cover that in the epilogue-ish strip this week. Grey is a mess. He is a total douche, yes, but he is a mess too for reasons that are not his fault.
While the ‘roid rage remarks are probably right, this also looks like classic compensation. One of my wife’s friends was close to this in school/early 20’s because his father would rather have an irrational sociopath for a son than a homosexual. Verbal and physical abuse can have a serious impact.
roids. thats was a textbook roid rage there
Roll for resist against pepper spray!
*rolls* 4 (i really did roll fyi and that’s the real number)
Now we just need the cop to join the gaming group.
I agree, cute freckled cop lady needs to become a regular. I hope this event leads to a road of recovery and understanding for Grey.
Well… there are certain works where Grey would return later on as an addition to the regular group to add some muscle and help out with random douches – with officer Clark as the one who invites him to gaming because she is the only one who would visit him in jail blablabla… I’m sorry what was the question again? -.-°
OK, P2 says it all. And it’s telling how nobody behind the window in the last panel has even a glimpse of satisfaction on their faces. Grey may have gotten what’s coming to him, but it doesn’t look like anyone feels good about it. No satisfaction. From left to right, I’d say there’s pity, pity, too many emotions to deal with all at once, confusion (as to why he doesn’t feel any sense of satisfaction at the moment), and apathy.
I shall take that as a good sign. Understanding means a hell of a lot more in this instance then being petty. Grey needs help, not revenge done to him, and it seems our cast sees that.
Is it weird that I didn’t notice Officer Clark’s freckles until the very last panel today and only because I thought they were blood splatters at first? That’s not weird at all, right? right?
Dear God, does she have freckles? Is she a red head!? IS SHE A MUTHA FUCKIN SOUTHERN RED HEAD BAD ASS COP!?
…I’ll be in my bunk.
*like*
The Hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne…
That’s what I was thinking. Or more precisely, “Lady boner!” 😉
So digging this comic! (Yes, you do have chick-geek fans too)
Grey should probably count himself lucky he was hit with pepper spray instead of a taser.
I’m curious to see how she looks without the helmet on. Short hair? Long hair?
Grey’s roid rage is so intense that the designs that was originally on his shirt isn’t even on his shirt anymore. 😉
HAH! I did forget that, Yes. I’ll get it added this evening.
Shirt design rage!
DEAL WITH IT! LOL. 🙂
LOL 🙂
I feel bad about the satisfaction I got from reading this comic page. Yeah sure, Grey’s a huge douche but he’s also got really bad problems and and generally his personal life is a mess right now. And with Marc pointing out how no one got satisfaction from the outcome I feel horrid for the small joy I got seeing the pain he received. I’m a horrid person XD
Aaaaaand, I have to ask will we be seeing more Karthun? Please Please Please? I am totally enthralled with the mythos and I cant wait to see more of it and the story line.
I used to think to myself that there was no way I’d feel sorry for Grey, and then this run of strips came along and confirmed it. Screw that guy. Attempted assault on a cop should put him away for a while.
I may sound unforgiving, but personally, I would not excuse Grey’s behavior because “he has problems” and “his life is a mess”. We all have problems, and a lot of people grow up in a rough environment without becoming dysfunctional jerks. But you can try to solve your problems and prove your asshole dad he’s wrong, or you can vent your frustration on other people, inflicting pain around you until you finally mess with someone stronger than you. So for me, Grey had it coming and I won’t have an ounce of pity for his demise.
PS : to end on a light note : “send the douche canoe” just made my day. Good job again, Brian.
Just FTR, there is a definite line between “explain” and “excuse”. Brian can go into the whole story of why Grey is conflicted, emotionally uncontrolled, etc. That’s important to understand who the character is, and why he makes the choices (or lets his glands make the choices for him) that he does.
None of those reasons are excuses, though. They don’t make what Grey is doing right. They don’t absolve him of guilt. Reasons just set up the situation. It still takes a choice to determine the outcome of the situation, and that choice is what Grey has to be held responsible for.
Yup. I wasn’t saying otherwise.
On behalf of my awesome older brother who works as a police officer, I approve so hard of the bottom 3 panels.
I still stand by my thoughts from The Answer. Fair enough that Gray had a troubled past (I do know some guys who lived in similar situations…), and I can sympathise with that, but… he ended up trying to fight who he is, and that is a very dangerous pursuit since no matter what, you WILL lose, and either lose hard or lose all.
Bad childhood or not, this psycho has earned every bit of bad karma that has descended upon him and will continue to descend upon him.
I’m super glad that you made the cop a woman. I’m also glad, in a twisted way, that Grey didn’t just give up when she showed up. I don’t think he has to be roid raging, in fact, I think that would lessen the impact of how much society has screwed him up. Men make statements like his, and react like he has, without needing to be on steroids all the time. He’s a product of patriarchy and oppression, that’s enough to make a monster.
And like some other commenters, finding out that he’s been on the receiving end of oppression all his life, and not just some privileged asshole, made me sympathetic to him, but not enough to excuse any of his bullshit.
Great arc so far!
Grey just hit bottom. One would hope the impact wakes him up.
In other news, I bet Officer Clark is a fox, I mean, outstanding professional police hottie, I mean officer.
i like my jerk’s like i like my egg’s with lot’s of pepper
Pops is in danger of becoming my second favorite character. Panels five and six are just badass…
Aaand just like that, Officer Clark is my new favorite character. For the record, Douche Canoe is a great name for a band.
Sean I just wanted to say you make an excellent point! Douche Canoe is the next indie band of 2014!!!
I’m glad you finally dealt with this storyline. I couldn’t see why Mel stayed with him after what happened to Sam. I hope he didn’t talk to her like that all the time!
Awww she only maced him? Nuts lol
Odd as this may sound, I can actually kind of understand Gray’s rage’s reasoning, twisted as it is. I’ve had issues with similar bursts of rage, but those were internal angry mopiness, and not physical punching and screaming. Different, but likely equally stupid reasoning. Bravo on the character, Brian.
(Please note that the above is not intended as any sort of whiny bullshit “Pay attention to me, my life is sad!” Sob story, but as context. Life is actually pretty awesome. That is all.)
Wow. That cop showed up quick. She must have been travelling at the speed of plot.
Nope. She traveled by panel.
Travel time is problematic here. Grey is physically here and we have time for Mel to do backstory, call the police and the police to get here. Grey must have been in full super hero mode monologuing or something.
I like to think Grey and Pops were exchanging increasingly far-fetched insults this whole time. When the police arrived Pops was already out of Monty Python references.
Yes. This exactly.
How is it possible to run out of Monty Python references?
Realistic depiction of the kind of person Grey has become (just the kind of person who would be hauled off to the psych hospital where I work, after a couple of injections) and realistic depiction of the police officer’s response (very much like the response given by my police friends in similar situations). I not only love the story and where you’re taking it, but I also love the way you’re depicting it and developing the characters. You nailed it once again.
I guess “testicles tazed until unconcious” is hard to convey in an aftermath image.
Officer Clark is now my new favorite character. One of the ‘good’ cops, and a great and understanding person. Only used the exact amount of force necessary, but she’s still irked that it was necessary.
As a cop, I’ve been in situations like this…and I now have a new favorite character
Officer Clark better have long, wild, curly, RED hair!!
Maybe…
I’m guessing Irish family background, maybe a cop family.
She’s pretty well-stacked, judging by the last tree panels.
If she’s a ginger, she steals souls. 🙂
Howdy! I found your comic yesterday, and I just marathon-ed the whole thing. I’ve gotta say I really like it! I’ll be sticking with this one, so thanks for the hard work.
small confession: I’ve never played a tabletop RPG…played MTG back in Jr high, but that’s almost 16 years ago. But I HAVE played the older black Isle Studios D&D games, and I’m up to The Legacy of the Drow series in the FR books. Just need to find an actual local group so I can play.
The idea presented in the alt text is a VERY BAD IDEA. Do not attempt to ingest pepper spray.
LOL – I’d completely forgotten about your alt image tags until my mouse happened to rest on the comic while I was reading the last panel – LOVE IT! I laughed harder at that joke than even “douche canoe”!
Really? Not one little smirk? Though I agree they’re showing the right reactions, it does seem a little too saintly.
Now I really want to see Grey rehabilitated.