[392] Subtle

Hwaaaah!!!!! ;D

Subtle.

Annie said "I should have helped her" about the ghost in the woods. That she should have faced her fear as she had with Martin, when helping him find his way through to the other side. We all love Mort, but now that Jones has called him "this boy" I suddenly realize that, scary important work or no -- Mort is a ghost, which means he's dead little boy, which means he may have been missing his family for a very long time.

Would Annie help him pass on to the next place, as she did with Martin? Even though it would mean she'd be losing a friend? Even as angry as she is over the loss of her mother? It's one thing to guide a stranger on... quite another to say goodbye to a friend. Kat knows that, she had to say goodbye to her boyfriend. Gunnerkrigg is full of people (and fairies and birds and foxes) going on to their next story -- Annie's the only one that doesn't accept that, yet.

And Jones arranged his meeting, before she sends Annie to the woods.

Subtle.

(Edited to add: I've been reading for so long, but this question finally just pushed me sign up for an account. Hi!)

Let's see how hard smitty is laughing when he finds a pair of eyebrow tweezers on his shoulder.

Haha. Ta, Ed... but I don't think it's a theory so much as... well, it's just something I've been noticing ever since the river. She was still angry with Muut, and she was so against Red and Blue going on to their next story, remember? Annie's smart, but when she was talking to Kat about the last of Martin's story, she called it unfair, and still wasn't sure about the aether, or what realm could come next. There's so much about cycles and circles that Annie still seems behind on... understandably, of course.

It's odd. There's always been a hole in Mort's history. It's just something that I don't think has been really questioned yet.

Ah, Thank you for that link to Tom's answer, Mezzaphor!

Mort's facial expressions have been fantastic over the past few panels.

Especially for a guy without much of a face.

I don't know about you folks, but seeing a huge spider on my shoulder would freak me out too.

That Mort is one smooth operator, aye.
(panel 3)


Well now there's an interesting thought. I almost would say that nothing is capable of scaring Jones, although maybe she has one of those really small and abnormal quirks that spooks her out more than anything but bothers no-one else. Like....bent paperclips or something?

Yes, some more background would be nice.

I don't know, but I doubt it would end well. Jones strikes me as the sort who gets violent when they lose control, by reflex. Sorta like war veterans that attack people who touch them while the vet is sleeping.

Glad to be of help, cenit.


Or maybe Mort does recognize Annie, and that's why he's so infatuated with her. He hasn't mentioned it yet because he's embarrassed about how awkward his passing-on was.

The real question is, how can Mort be a young, inexperienced spirit if he died four years ago?


I can definitely see that. She doesn't flinch or scream, she attacks.

Age and experience could be relative to beings of the etherium; maybe he's been doing his job for centuries and Mort's time seems insignificant to him.

...I think people are too desperate to make a connection on this one, though.

I think the last panel has a similar meaning to the one on this page: www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=289

none.