here’s what you missed on BICP #5
Patrick suggests that Kara Lynn’s blackouts are because she hasn’t
fought enough recently. At first Jany reacts with suspicion, hostility, and
fear (this is going to be a pattern).
Jany: You just want an excuse to beat her up!
Patrick: No! It’s required by our code, probably.
But they have a fight, and it works! Later, a storm grounds Jany’s flight home, prompting even more bonding between her and our helpful heroes.
Also, Patrick reveals he’s had access to Cohen’s money, and Bianca nearly has sex with–
Bianca: We don’t need to talk about that part!!
In less-awkward news, this is when Bianca finally makes a truce with Miranda . . .
Sparrow: And I use my power to show up in Being battles for awesome.
Bianca: You don’t need to defeat me to see Patrick! We can set up weekend visits!
. . . figures out that Patrick’s ex-Master is somebody they’ve heard of . . .
Patrick: I can say “Stu Cohen” now.
Bianca: How did we not know this?!
Sparrow: Seriously, turns out it’s on Google.
. . . and gets a human date.
Emma: Hi, I’m normal.
Bianca: Great!
Jany plans a less-chaotic return to the US, this one sponsored by a Being research institute. On Bianca’s advice, she decides to approach Walker, not Cohen. (Blake picks a new form to meet her with.)
Blake: I’ve deduced that I can appeal to her by being South Asian, busty, and glamorous.
When Jany accidentally lets slip that she’s been in contact with Patrick, Walker spots a chance to win her trust and find out more. So (and this is where the story really starts) she invites Jany to stay in the US and work for her.
Walker: Has it come up yet that I have a kidnapped Being in the basement so I can run tests on how to kill it?
Jany: What?
Walker: Nothing.
This summary actually underscores some of the pacing issues BICP has had. It’s getting better, but the path to the plot has been quite winding. The summaries do help bring things together more neatly, for sure.
What’s weird is Bianca is still largely the least interesting character of the menagerie. She’s had slight growth, but nothing character defining as with Jany, Miranda, or Colbert. Hopefully that picks up.
While having both is best, personally, I prefer the original to the summaries. I don’t think this comic has worse pacing issues than any other webcomic … the webcomic medium have some issues in principle of course.
Oh, BICP isn’t bad, certainly. But the pacing and outline needed more editing and compression. I think the “and the story starts” things are poking fun at this.
Yeah, that’s one of the hazards of releasing a story in pieces as you write it, instead of getting to the end and then going back to edit…
If I had the time to redraw BICP from scratch, I’d make it snappier. Also, make the foreshadowing more streamlined and pointed throughout. And fix all the wonky art. (So many lopsided heads in those early pages, augh.)
I can’t help but notice you’ve said “and this is where the story really begins” three or four times now.
Different characters have different opinion on where it started.