Uh-huh. There are rules, and then there’s Eleanor.
You know, Reade’s not the first person to look at Eleanor with that expression. I don’t know what it is about her.
Coming up-the whole gang! Well, almost. And, what will they get for dessert? I think you know that one.
You’ll see.
Rama lama ding dong bong.….……………CLASSIC!
Eleanor looks really ‘sweet’ back then…..
As for Reade’s face and the “scratch your eyes out hand”…..
Oh and October 1979 was when Fran and I got hitched.
22 days and counting down to 35 years…..I supposed i better get a card or something.
Hint: if you want to make it to 36 yrs. DON’T just get her a card, unless it is a Gold or Black type or something pretty and wonderful.
Just sayin’.
Yes, you’d better. And flowers. And something sweet. For starters.
Congratulations, Mike!
I wish Reade had a seltzer bottle just about now…
Judging by the look on her face, after she was done using the bottle, she’d use the seltzer. To wash the blood away.
That would be a valid reaction.
“Holy Rama Lama Ding Dong Bong” may be the best thing I’ve read today.
Can I just say, I love the difference between long Eleanor in panel three at the top, and present day Eleanor right beneath? The subtle age lines around her eyes, the fold in the chin, and am I imagining the twinkle in her eyes being slightly dimmed in the older version? It takes a lot of skill to age a character like that, to have the audience be instantly able to distinguish between a young and older version with such natural touches. I am amazed. And as always, the expressions are great.
I also love how Reade is busting into the flashback. Fantastic.
Thanks mj. “Rama Lama Ding Dong Bong” was a last-minute edit. It had less letters than “Holy Bong of Rama Lama Ding Dong,” and it sounded better.
I’m glad you liked the Ageing of Eleanor. It was fun to do. I traced Young Eleanor with tracing paper, transferred her to the next panel, and started playing.
And Reade is such a liberating character to write and draw. She really expands what a comic can do.
I think of comics more like movies or plays, and it’s fun to use those conventions in this form. These are all things that would be natural on stage, or on screen. I just don’t play with them enough in comics.
Maybe I’ll use this more with the other characters.
Judging by his expressions, I’d say Nelson just wants to be somewhere else–anywhere else. There’s a major difference between watching a cat fight from the sidelines, and being at ground zero. 🙂
Exactly. On the other hand, he knows he has to save the cats from each other.
I freakin’ knew it. There’s always a catch with her. Even with their snark turned up to the max, Nelson and Reade just can’t compete.
A-yup. Eleanor had this little surprise in her back pocket all along. Just in case things didn’t go her way.
I’m sorry but I do not understand Reade’s reaction to Eleanor’s statement.
I must have missed something.
It is interesting to note just how calm Eleanor compared to Reade.
Uh… I gotta agree with scifijoe – I feel like I missed a step. Yes, I love the transition from 1979 to … uh… 1996? but huh?
Eleanor plans some kind of 3-person orgy then gets called up short by Nelson – at the last minute, mind you, says “oh, one more thing” and then just … nothing? I thought I understood her passing the keys to Nelson (though I admit I’m a little unsure what keys they are. Car keys? Motel room keys? But motels don’t give you multiple keys on a single ring and besides, they haven’t actually checked in yet. Also – it was Nelson who stopped in front of the hotel – that wasn’t in Eleanor’s plans. “Private chambers,” she said.)
Nelson originally seemed to be completely up for Eleanor’s fun and games – I’m not sure what made him suddenly change but I’m going to assume it’s because he didn’t like how she was talking to Reade. That little trip down memory lane reinforced his bond with Reed/Reade and Eleanor was being her usual snarky self. He’s got a bond with Eleanor, too – but I think he just realized that it’s not the same “quality.”
But there’s a panel or two that seem to me to be missing here. I can’t follow the thread anymore. Hopefully, the next page will explain what I’m not seeing.
scifijoe – Eleanor is nearly always calm – at least when people can see her. The most rattled I can remember ever seeing her was her slight panic attack at having to deal with being responsible for a teenager all of a sudden. The smug smirk she’s wearing now is nearly identical to the one she wears in “Importance” after dealing with the State Trooper. Tee Hee.
Ack-you’re both right. I’m sorry-sometimes I’m a little too close to the story.
Eleanor originally went to find Nelson because she had called an “Assemble With Care.”
That meant that everyone was to meet at Larry’s house that evening (with food).
Eleanor selfishly disregarded her own call when she told Reade to “leave the next six to eight hours to moi.” Reade is calling her out on that.
And then, of course, Eleanor, instead of explaining (or, god forbid, apologizing) just tosses out the spanking line.
It would have been clearer if I had had Nelson ask: “You called an Assemble With Care” and then gone into the flashback. I could’ve done that with one panel, or even a headshot of Nelson over the flashback.
Thank you for pointing that out! Like I said, I’m a little too close to the story sometimes. I need you to tell me these things.
So who’s the girl it belongs to? The song goes: “I gotta girl named Rama Lama Rama Lama Ding Dong,” so it’s only logical to assume the Rama Lama Ding Dong Bong is named after her…I can’t help this sort of thing, it’s a product of a misspent youth leading to the way my mind works…
That’s okay. My mind works like that sometimes.
The bong would belong to Eleanor. Everything belongs to Eleanor, if she needs or wants it.
I do like the “Hang On” intruding into the flaskback…
Charlies’s “flaskbacks” (love that term) are a marvelous meld of the past with sneaky bits of the present blended in. I love them.
I think part of my problem is that I don’t think Reade was part of the “gang” when that holy vow was made. I’m not sure she is the one who should be annoyed with Eleanor for her … mmm … lapse. Nelson might have, except that she never told him (in our hearing) that she had CALLED an Assemble With Care.
Which is why I think you forgot a panel or two. The comic as we see it had Eleanor derailed the moment she saw Nelson and Reade kissing – she never really said why she was there at all. Nelson shouldn’t have a CLUE. And neither should Reade.
It’s mostly because Reade isn’t used to Eleanor’s ways. Not like the Hallow e’en Boulevard gang is.
To Reade, this is all outrageously selfish, dishonest, and manipulative. To Nelson, it’s just business as usual.
AH! OK – I see it now. That is the “one thing” alluded to on the prior page. I had, to be perfectly honest, completely lost track of the fact that she had told Larry and Anya that she was calling this assembly – nor did I really understand the significance of it – though the name was a hint.
So – sorry about the fuss. Sloppy readership on my part.
Not at all, Tru. You’re one of the most perceptive readers ever.
To be fair, that was over a month ago. This storyline has gone on for a bit.
Hi, Tru that is quite perceptive, however, Larry, Stephanie were the first to know, Eleanor was going to tell Anya, Nelson and Reade personally. Now, when Nelson went to the bookstore, did he know? I do not think so. He had left work to go to the bookstore, that is how Eleanor figured to tell them both, when she did not find him at work. What she saw when she got there, well was distracting.
Pretty much spot on.
Eleanor wasn’t going to tell Reade. SHe just came along for the ride. You’ll notice that Amy isn’t there, because she’s not one of the household either.
Eleanor was going to tell Anya, Toivo and Nelson. And then, as you say, she got distracted.
Thanks guys, I too hadn’t picked up on this. It’s one great strength of this story, it stays true to its history. What will they get for dessert, I wonder; and is Eleanor bringing anything?
Eleanor is bringing her wonderful self. And the news.
Oh, and beverages. She buys the beer, the wine, the liquor, the pop, and the juice.
What No pudding? Say it isn’t so.
Nelson was in charge of dessert. Since we know Reade and Eleanor like pudding, they stopped by The Puddin’ Shack and picked up a few gallon tubs.
‘And the city of Townsville is saved!!’ . .
Whoops, wrong Strip!. . .