Jesus Harold Erlenmeyer Christ, I just grabbed my own throat and leaned back in my chair. Ye-ow.
I’m kind of at a loss here for words, but right now I find myself wanting to watch both of them go down in flames. This is starting to seem like a messed up game of who can dick over the other the worst before killing them.
And another one bites the dust. Poor Emma she just wanted to get away from the doldrums of this little mining town. She did. She’s dead. Now the folks down stairs have got to be hearing the gun fire in the loft, and Mom and Pop are going to see an unthinkable sight. Wonder what will happen to them?
These two, John and Vane, have racked up a LOT of angry people as they play there deadly game across the country. But I’m still missing something. I have reviewed the stories pages for the reason why Vane must get her vengeance, and it is still a bit of a mystery to me.
Come on Vane, tell us why your soul is gone. What did John Henry do.
vane has racked up allot of kill john racks up collateral damage, after all who do you think started the wanted posters? probably vane… this feels oddly like the Sioux legend of the sun and the moon part 2.
Jsfury, I think the backstory begins with Vane’s funeral pyre. She had failed as a healer, making a deadly virus worse, and then succumbed to that virus after finding out that Hunter had been screwing around on her. THEN he brings her back from the dead, for as yet and undefined purpose. This has bent her beyond reckoning–at least that’s how I interpret the story so far. What crystals and arcane libraries have to do with it, I have no idea as yet!
well I allways assumed that he resurrected her so she could keep on working on her cure or other science stuff. but she just wants to rest in peace and maybe that only works when he’s dead? either way he seems to currently be at the asssembly stage of some bigger project.
Okay Karyl, I do see that, but the way Erin presents it to us in little bits here and there, it kind a gets lost in the translation. That could be just me though. Also, what was the surgery about that Vane performed on John’s back? That’s still not to clear to me yet.
Now what mad-ycan wrote and interesting angle, but Vane has tried several times to kill John and never succeeds. Maybe it has something to do with what’s written in the book.
is this a possible run on of the legend with that demon? where vane sold her soul little bit by little to get john but she mis-worded her contract ? let say this devil has already been seen in the comic? Who would you guess is the demon? let us also guess that it is playing both sides…. except john is a cursed in return for power to survive….
I thought he resurrect her because she was his wife and he actually cared about her. She’s trying to kill him because in order to resurrect her he had to sacrifice an innocent girl. If that is correct, it’s somewhat ironic, given her current behavior.
The words Hunter is using, I have a feeling he wasn’t entirely responsible for the way Black is now. I think she, somehow, forced him to make her into what she is.
Also, poor Emma… did Hunter get shot on the shoulder, or is that just blood splatter?
Random, I think Hunter is hit too, he’s just not showing Vane any discomfort. The stuff is about to hit the fan here real soon. The smart ones are going to run while they can.
The impression I get is that she died from the disease she was attempting to cure, shortly after observing Hunter making a deal with the voodoo lady (probably for a cure for her) and misunderstanding it as adultery. He then resurrects her via his acquired fire magic as an undead being, but being undead she lacks free will and is ruled by a single impulse, that impulse being the emotions she felt shortly before death- namely, rage and a desire for vengeance.
So yes, I think Hunter is directly responsible for her condition- I would even bet a small amount of money that he was aware that she’d come back like this and that his current machinations are a way to achieve a better resurrection, with her current state being an imperfect temporary solution. That doesn’t mean that he deserves the level of vitriol and murderous intent that she has for him- but being undead, I don’t think proportion matters much to her.
I’m leaning more and more to the conclusion that Vane is just plain evil. Bad things being done to you don’t excuse doing bad things to other people, especially other people who’ve never harmed you. There’s nothing John Henry, or anyone else, could have done to Vane to justify this.
Well, evil implies that something has a choice. Undead beings are often portrayed as having no free will, but rather as having a kind of monomania which varies from creature to creature. Ghosts, for instance, tend to have obsessions relating to the means of their deaths; zombies, the need to satisfy their hunger; vampires, the same with an added need to satisfy certain existential questions.
Vane seems almost like a spirit of vengeance- any other goal or value seems absent in her. The nearest comparison that I can think of is something like a vengeful ghost, as depicted in numerous horror movies. Such ghosts have always seemed to me to be something almost elemental- they generally aren’t sadistic, just obsessed and lacking anything resembling self-reflection or self-awareness. And even when self-awareness does exist, it is always secondary to the obsession. In Vane, this obsession has even more symbolism as something elemental: the literal fire that animates her and can be seen burning in her eyes.
So it’s not that she’s evil- she’s like a bullet fired from a gun. She can’t change her obsession any more than a bullet can change its trajectory. And anything that gets inbetween her and her target will suffer.
The term, i believe, is “Revenant”. And, while Vane seems to be able to control herself to a point (especially while her old memories and hobbies are triggered), she otherwise seems extremely driven and monofocused. Especially when something ends up in her way, for any reason – she often gives people chance to get away, but only once, and only if they react fast.
Interestingly enough, she no longer seems to actually try to kill,/i> JHH anymore. Not to the degree she was showing in the initial chapters anyway.
Vane ALSO didn’t use the dynamite to kill everyone in the hall as she took out Hunter. Then her emotions got the better of her while Hunter jerked the girl around and sprayed a melted bullet into her face and arguably used her as a human shield (or was comforting her before she pulled away and lunged in Vane’s direction – it is unclear). Hunter’s little jibe at Vane was uttered as Emma, vain twit that she was, bled out in his arms. Don’t romanticize the Loathario pyromaniac for his sense of style any more than you do the soulless killing machine for her sense of honour.
I am leaning myself towards that its not entirely vane who came back. Yes her mind and intellect is there, but maybe something else hitched a ride when she did her phoenix routine waaaaaay back at the beginning. I think ol johnny boy has been gathering things for some sort of cleansing spell to get rid of the demon thats inside her. I mean her eyes glow more fiery the angrier she gets, i feel like thats an intentional visual clue.
I have a feeling that what this situation is that both of them are trapped in some kind of curse that condemns the both of them.
Yes Vane is bent on destroying Hunter and she seems not to give a damn who get hurt or killed! But If you recall from earlier stories Hunter is willing to kill to get what he wants.
I have a feeling the one who knows the answers to this tragic pair is the lawman we briefly saw earlier.
I got the feelings the bounty hunter left his post to chase a reward. He even spouted something about being able to leave this “backwards hick town “. I am sorry that is not a protector that is a vulture wearing a badge.
I don’t agree, I have a feeling the badge carrying man at the end of Broken Sky may be a some kind of federal marshal who has been trailing both Hunter and Vane, perhaps he has been after hunter for a long time,
Anyhow i think he may know more about these two than anyone. I think he and the posse should join up.
Have I been readin this wrong? I didn’t think Hunter resurrects her but that Vane took some extreme science measures to cure the disease as referenced when she killed the little kid(and dog) and he asks her why she did not to help. She says her method was no real cure. The issues they have together seems to come from extremes they both went thru for the other and the apparent betrayal by Hunter. Erin is spinning a great tail wiht awesome art but I don’t recall her giving away the whole backstory yet. So Have I been reading this wrong?
Stevoid, I wouldn’t say you’re wrong anymore than I am sure I am right! I am basing my suppositions on what I think I see in the scene where she rises from the funeral pyre when it explodes. How or why that happens I have laid at Hunter’s door, but I could well be wrong. Maybe her vaccine she attempted is at fault and maybe also she now is simply a ghost with very little will. 🙂 What do I know, I guess too!
No Stevoid you haven’t been reading it wrong. Erin gives very little away as that is her prerogative. At best, the backstory is cryptic, and is the way it is ment to be. I believe. All us followers can do is go along for the ride. This NTO is a drug, but not in a bad way. 😉
Right you are, Steveoid. Even if Hunter did try to help, in combination with Vane’s own skills (which once saved Hunter, to the misery of this world), the two efforts didn’t combine well.
I seem to remember he at one point imbued vane with his power… to what end it wasn’t clear, but exposure to fire on death may have triggered that dormant spark to reignite her life. Although fires of vengeance seem to be her ruling state of mind now…. this effect was also seen when he “branded” the stubborn untamed stallion, bending it to his influence. It died through fire and became an elemental familiar of sorts.
Am I the only one who isn’t sure whether or not he’s actually throwing the girl in the path of the bullet, or if it’s just an angle thing. Was she trying to run last page after the melted bullets to the face and he was trying to stop her? Or was he just trying to shield her and in the struggle she got in the way of the next shot?
I’m having trouble figuring out the action on these last few pages, too. Here’s what I see.
Page 21: John swings himself in front of Emma to protect her from Vane.
Page 22: Emma’s still behind John in panel 1, and the tips of her fingers on his shoulder in panel 4 show she’s still there as John melts the bullets flying toward him. But some of the molten spray goes over his shoulder and hits Emma’s face, which is still behind John in panel 6… and then suddenly in panel 7, Emma’s in front of John. Not quite sure how that happened. From the positions of the characters, it seems John turned 90 degrees to his right, sliding his left hand in front of Emma’s throat as he did, while his right hand is… doing something around the level of Emma’s waist. Pulling Emma back toward him? That would explain why her foot’s in midair, if she got jerked backward suddenly, but why would he do that?
Page 23: In panel 1, John and Emma seem to have swung 90 degrees to the left so they’re both facing Vane again. John’s right hand is holding Emma’s right wrist, while his left hand is sort of flapping in the air behind her — you can see his fingers sticking out from behind her right shoulder. How that happened, I don’t know. Maybe Emma suddenly ducked down and moved forward under his left arm like she’s trying to escape or attack Vane, and John’s trying to hold her back? Her face looks more surprised than angry, so it doesn’t seem likely that she’s trying to attack Vane.
Panel 2: Vane fires her rifle, and the bullet strikes Emma at the base of the throat, passes through her neck and continues on into John. There’s a spray of blood from Emma’s exit wound, but it doesn’t seem to reach all the way to John, so I’m thinking that the bullet hits him and causes more blood to erupt from his wound. It’s been slowed down by passing through Emma, so it doesn’t do him as much damage, but I’m sure it smarts.
Everything after that seems pretty straightforward. I just don’t understand why/how Emma got in front of John in the first place, or how Emma got away from John’s left arm around her neck, or why she and John kept changing their facing direction…
Jesus Harold Erlenmeyer Christ, I just grabbed my own throat and leaned back in my chair. Ye-ow.
I’m kind of at a loss here for words, but right now I find myself wanting to watch both of them go down in flames. This is starting to seem like a messed up game of who can dick over the other the worst before killing them.
And another one bites the dust. Poor Emma she just wanted to get away from the doldrums of this little mining town. She did. She’s dead. Now the folks down stairs have got to be hearing the gun fire in the loft, and Mom and Pop are going to see an unthinkable sight. Wonder what will happen to them?
These two, John and Vane, have racked up a LOT of angry people as they play there deadly game across the country. But I’m still missing something. I have reviewed the stories pages for the reason why Vane must get her vengeance, and it is still a bit of a mystery to me.
Come on Vane, tell us why your soul is gone. What did John Henry do.
vane has racked up allot of kill john racks up collateral damage, after all who do you think started the wanted posters? probably vane… this feels oddly like the Sioux legend of the sun and the moon part 2.
Jsfury, I think the backstory begins with Vane’s funeral pyre. She had failed as a healer, making a deadly virus worse, and then succumbed to that virus after finding out that Hunter had been screwing around on her. THEN he brings her back from the dead, for as yet and undefined purpose. This has bent her beyond reckoning–at least that’s how I interpret the story so far. What crystals and arcane libraries have to do with it, I have no idea as yet!
well I allways assumed that he resurrected her so she could keep on working on her cure or other science stuff. but she just wants to rest in peace and maybe that only works when he’s dead?
either way he seems to currently be at the asssembly stage of some bigger project.
Okay Karyl, I do see that, but the way Erin presents it to us in little bits here and there, it kind a gets lost in the translation. That could be just me though. Also, what was the surgery about that Vane performed on John’s back? That’s still not to clear to me yet.
Now what mad-ycan wrote and interesting angle, but Vane has tried several times to kill John and never succeeds. Maybe it has something to do with what’s written in the book.
is this a possible run on of the legend with that demon? where vane sold her soul little bit by little to get john but she mis-worded her contract ? let say this devil has already been seen in the comic? Who would you guess is the demon? let us also guess that it is playing both sides…. except john is a cursed in return for power to survive….
I thought he resurrect her because she was his wife and he actually cared about her. She’s trying to kill him because in order to resurrect her he had to sacrifice an innocent girl. If that is correct, it’s somewhat ironic, given her current behavior.
The words Hunter is using, I have a feeling he wasn’t entirely responsible for the way Black is now. I think she, somehow, forced him to make her into what she is.
Also, poor Emma… did Hunter get shot on the shoulder, or is that just blood splatter?
Random, I think Hunter is hit too, he’s just not showing Vane any discomfort. The stuff is about to hit the fan here real soon. The smart ones are going to run while they can.
The impression I get is that she died from the disease she was attempting to cure, shortly after observing Hunter making a deal with the voodoo lady (probably for a cure for her) and misunderstanding it as adultery. He then resurrects her via his acquired fire magic as an undead being, but being undead she lacks free will and is ruled by a single impulse, that impulse being the emotions she felt shortly before death- namely, rage and a desire for vengeance.
So yes, I think Hunter is directly responsible for her condition- I would even bet a small amount of money that he was aware that she’d come back like this and that his current machinations are a way to achieve a better resurrection, with her current state being an imperfect temporary solution. That doesn’t mean that he deserves the level of vitriol and murderous intent that she has for him- but being undead, I don’t think proportion matters much to her.
Don’t forget that John has a habit of burning people as he steals what he wants.
He is NOT a terribly innocent man.
Who’s saying he is?
Oh bloody hell, not Emma!
I’m leaning more and more to the conclusion that Vane is just plain evil. Bad things being done to you don’t excuse doing bad things to other people, especially other people who’ve never harmed you. There’s nothing John Henry, or anyone else, could have done to Vane to justify this.
Well, evil implies that something has a choice. Undead beings are often portrayed as having no free will, but rather as having a kind of monomania which varies from creature to creature. Ghosts, for instance, tend to have obsessions relating to the means of their deaths; zombies, the need to satisfy their hunger; vampires, the same with an added need to satisfy certain existential questions.
Vane seems almost like a spirit of vengeance- any other goal or value seems absent in her. The nearest comparison that I can think of is something like a vengeful ghost, as depicted in numerous horror movies. Such ghosts have always seemed to me to be something almost elemental- they generally aren’t sadistic, just obsessed and lacking anything resembling self-reflection or self-awareness. And even when self-awareness does exist, it is always secondary to the obsession. In Vane, this obsession has even more symbolism as something elemental: the literal fire that animates her and can be seen burning in her eyes.
So it’s not that she’s evil- she’s like a bullet fired from a gun. She can’t change her obsession any more than a bullet can change its trajectory. And anything that gets inbetween her and her target will suffer.
I think bgrunge might be on to something here–and it works for me as a supposition for sure!
What?
The term, i believe, is “Revenant”. And, while Vane seems to be able to control herself to a point (especially while her old memories and hobbies are triggered), she otherwise seems extremely driven and monofocused. Especially when something ends up in her way, for any reason – she often gives people chance to get away, but only once, and only if they react fast.
Interestingly enough, she no longer seems to actually try to kill,/i> JHH anymore. Not to the degree she was showing in the initial chapters anyway.
Vane ALSO didn’t use the dynamite to kill everyone in the hall as she took out Hunter.
Then her emotions got the better of her while Hunter jerked the girl around and sprayed a melted bullet into her face and arguably used her as a human shield (or was comforting her before she pulled away and lunged in Vane’s direction – it is unclear).
Hunter’s little jibe at Vane was uttered as Emma, vain twit that she was, bled out in his arms.
Don’t romanticize the Loathario pyromaniac for his sense of style any more than you do the soulless killing machine for her sense of honour.
Well, I’m certainly not trying to paint Hunter as the good guy. But he’s got some humanity left. Vane is just all the way gone.
I am leaning myself towards that its not entirely vane who came back. Yes her mind and intellect is there, but maybe something else hitched a ride when she did her phoenix routine waaaaaay back at the beginning. I think ol johnny boy has been gathering things for some sort of cleansing spell to get rid of the demon thats inside her. I mean her eyes glow more fiery the angrier she gets, i feel like thats an intentional visual clue.
I have a feeling that what this situation is that both of them are trapped in some kind of curse that condemns the both of them.
Yes Vane is bent on destroying Hunter and she seems not to give a damn who get hurt or killed! But If you recall from earlier stories Hunter is willing to kill to get what he wants.
I have a feeling the one who knows the answers to this tragic pair is the lawman we briefly saw earlier.
Could be. But then, maybe he’s just a bounty hunter with a badge.
I got the feelings the bounty hunter left his post to chase a reward. He even spouted something about being able to leave this “backwards hick town “. I am sorry that is not a protector that is a vulture wearing a badge.
I don’t agree, I have a feeling the badge carrying man at the end of Broken Sky may be a some kind of federal marshal who has been trailing both Hunter and Vane, perhaps he has been after hunter for a long time,
Anyhow i think he may know more about these two than anyone. I think he and the posse should join up.
Don’t forget, Hunter is also part of the rebellion. I have a serious Firefly vibe.
Have I been readin this wrong? I didn’t think Hunter resurrects her but that Vane took some extreme science measures to cure the disease as referenced when she killed the little kid(and dog) and he asks her why she did not to help. She says her method was no real cure.
The issues they have together seems to come from extremes they both went thru for the other and the apparent betrayal by Hunter.
Erin is spinning a great tail wiht awesome art but I don’t recall her giving away the whole backstory yet.
So Have I been reading this wrong?
Stevoid, I wouldn’t say you’re wrong anymore than I am sure I am right! I am basing my suppositions on what I think I see in the scene where she rises from the funeral pyre when it explodes. How or why that happens I have laid at Hunter’s door, but I could well be wrong. Maybe her vaccine she attempted is at fault and maybe also she now is simply a ghost with very little will. 🙂 What do I know, I guess too!
No Stevoid you haven’t been reading it wrong. Erin gives very little away as that is her prerogative. At best, the backstory is cryptic, and is the way it is ment to be. I believe. All us followers can do is go along for the ride. This NTO is a drug, but not in a bad way. 😉
Ok ….have to re-read the whole comic now just to check on the back story. Whcih as most of you know will be a pleasure 🙂
Right you are, Steveoid. Even if Hunter did try to help, in combination with Vane’s own skills (which once saved Hunter, to the misery of this world), the two efforts didn’t combine well.
I am now 100% sure she is some kind of revenant. An soul/ being that lives only till it has gotten it’s just revenge.
I seem to remember he at one point imbued vane with his power… to what end it wasn’t clear, but exposure to fire on death may have triggered that dormant spark to reignite her life. Although fires of vengeance seem to be her ruling state of mind now…. this effect was also seen when he “branded” the stubborn untamed stallion, bending it to his influence. It died through fire and became an elemental familiar of sorts.
Am I the only one who isn’t sure whether or not he’s actually throwing the girl in the path of the bullet, or if it’s just an angle thing. Was she trying to run last page after the melted bullets to the face and he was trying to stop her? Or was he just trying to shield her and in the struggle she got in the way of the next shot?
I’m having trouble figuring out the action on these last few pages, too. Here’s what I see.
Page 21: John swings himself in front of Emma to protect her from Vane.
Page 22: Emma’s still behind John in panel 1, and the tips of her fingers on his shoulder in panel 4 show she’s still there as John melts the bullets flying toward him. But some of the molten spray goes over his shoulder and hits Emma’s face, which is still behind John in panel 6… and then suddenly in panel 7, Emma’s in front of John. Not quite sure how that happened. From the positions of the characters, it seems John turned 90 degrees to his right, sliding his left hand in front of Emma’s throat as he did, while his right hand is… doing something around the level of Emma’s waist. Pulling Emma back toward him? That would explain why her foot’s in midair, if she got jerked backward suddenly, but why would he do that?
Page 23: In panel 1, John and Emma seem to have swung 90 degrees to the left so they’re both facing Vane again. John’s right hand is holding Emma’s right wrist, while his left hand is sort of flapping in the air behind her — you can see his fingers sticking out from behind her right shoulder. How that happened, I don’t know. Maybe Emma suddenly ducked down and moved forward under his left arm like she’s trying to escape or attack Vane, and John’s trying to hold her back? Her face looks more surprised than angry, so it doesn’t seem likely that she’s trying to attack Vane.
Panel 2: Vane fires her rifle, and the bullet strikes Emma at the base of the throat, passes through her neck and continues on into John. There’s a spray of blood from Emma’s exit wound, but it doesn’t seem to reach all the way to John, so I’m thinking that the bullet hits him and causes more blood to erupt from his wound. It’s been slowed down by passing through Emma, so it doesn’t do him as much damage, but I’m sure it smarts.
Everything after that seems pretty straightforward. I just don’t understand why/how Emma got in front of John in the first place, or how Emma got away from John’s left arm around her neck, or why she and John kept changing their facing direction…
Last Day Before Retirement Syndrome claims another victim!