So it’s back to Magellan USA HQ in New York to sort out exactly what the firetruck is going on here… there will be a lot of info coming down the line over the next few pages, it’s a bit tricky trying to keep the momentum of the story going while dumping exposition fuel big time! If all your questions don’t get answered today (and I doubt they will) stand by for more answers on Friday…
Yes, I’m playing the genie card for this one… you’ll see why before the story ends!
Oh yeah… Dr Ursula Lumpkin is a bit of a random inclusion in today’s update but maintains the tradition of non-superhero medical doctors at Magellan infirmaries… namely Dr Chandra at Magellan Island and Dr Phillos at Oz Magellan. I’m expecting we’ll see her at least once more before the story ends.
Is Dr. Lumpkin’s name a nod to Willie Lumpkin, the Fantastic Four’s mailman?
So, Vera Salt was de-aging the nursing home residents in order to maintain her current age? As a previous poster said, it seems odd that she didn’t just move to LA, open a clinic and watch the money roll in… but I’m sure there’s a good reason coming!
Sadly for Willie, Dr Lumpkin is not the inspiration for the name – I met a woman with that surname a few months ago and decided to use it here! As for the “beauty clinic” the whole story was originally scripted with Vera Salt doing exactly that (a trip to the asylum followed by a bit of detective work to get them to Vera, which would have added several pages to the story) – apart from the fact I was concerned it might give away where the story was headed I wanted to keep the story short. Vera has her reasons and they’ll be touched on in a page or so…
My guess is the beauty clinic idea would draw too much attention to her. Meanwhile, she could be in a nursing home helping older people feel a bit better and still maintain her youthful age. I think she is a good person who just got scared.
My guess is that however she needs to absorb some age to avoid becoming a helpless baby (or not alive at all), she also cannot absorb enough to make a regular quiet living from that, without becoming dangerously old. So just staying close to the source, free to choose when and how to use her “power”, seems like a good idea indeed.
More importantly, I find the whole idea of this curse being a quite fascinating turn in the story.
I don’t see it as a curse. Dr Spooky said she was a child at 150 and got the wish granted at 80. That’s at least 70 years she wasn’t likely to get many of.
So if she didn’t start stealing people’s age, she basically got double her lifetime as her wish. Sounds like a good deal to me, not a very fancy wish but still a fair deal.
As for the whole secretly stealing age thing. I am not sure why she’s doing it like this either, she’s got a product many people would pay a fortune for. But apparently all shall be answered soon.
In a way she is the fountain of youth.
Maybe she’s hoping to draw the age off of a few “supers” and get some of their powers that way? Long term strategy?
Wait, How did she see before? Is this referencing an actual visual impairment or is it some sort of ability?
Also what is she talking about with the hair?
Hair… as Gola’s been depicted her hair has always been white but she wasn’t born with white hair the darker hair turned white overnight. It’s not a plot point just a matter of fact for the Gola. Likewise I has always had it in my mind that she was sight impaired and able to see telepathically – but have never been able to properly work it into any part of any story thread she’s been in (pathetic, I know) – but I wanted to at least note that, from my perspective that is no longer an issue. I considered leaving it out altogether but figured I needed to include it for some form of closure in my own mind.
The ability of hair to turn white, immediatly or otherwise, is a fable. You can at best manifest a autoimmune disease that makes your collored hair fall out after all hair follecules are basically dead skin. Oh what the hay it is your comic maybe it is just a consequence of gola’s power manifesting.
that’s what I had been thinking.
Hair is not made from dead skin cells. The part sticking out of the skin is dead but the root is alive and feed nutrients just like the rest of the cells in the body.
You did work it into the story. When Gola acidently smashed Dragon Klaw’s potions bottle while trying to escape from the moscow illusion.
Interesting that it was the reverse of what I was thinking. I was thinking she was taking youth away from the residents and accidentally had the reverse effect when she tried it on gala.
So it is good it was not predicable as I hate that.
Any way keep up the good work.
I just realized she is like Benjamin button. That was a good movie by the way and he aged back words.
OH and I bet Gala likes the idea of not needing to wear diapers any more.
“I want to be younger.” is a bad choice of words indeed. the genie sure is a bastard.. do we get to see him some day?
hmmm, i can see why the genie did such a thing, at any given moment, you are in fact younger. i would have been a little more specific, though i have seen a movie or two (or ten) with magic doing such things due to a lack of specificity.
Ya like the wishmaster movies.
Fifteen years younger? Is it that a typo? She did look at least 60 before, she certainly don’t look 45 now, more like 25.
Sorry, I think you misread… she’s now 15 years old not 15 years younger…