There are times when I really feel guilty about my reviews of Dan Shive’s long-running contemporary fantasy comic El Goonish Shive. It seems like I can’t turn around without finding something contrary to snark about concerning Shive’s comic. Of course, most of my criticisms of late seem geared toward his love affair with magical hijinks and “empowering” every character with magical abilities (which I consider to be a waste of time and character development), but if you look back through most of the EGS reviews I’d be willing to bet I’m deriding some aspect of whatever comic I’m looking at.
Undoubtedly this will continue to be the case in the future, but for today I’m sitting back and giving Shive the slow-clap applause. Today he eyed the pitcher on the mount, anticipated the pitch, and nailed that ball. It’s gone deep into center field and while it might not have gone out of the park, Shive is definitely rounding second and heading for third with this comic. Naturally it’s a character-comic that has drawn this praise… but what’s interesting about it is that it focuses on the breakup of one of his core characters, Elliot, with secondary character Sarah (and let’s face it; Sarah isn’t part of the main cast by any stretch of the imagination).
Oddly enough, both characters are approaching this from opposite directions. Sarah has realized her relationship with Elliot is going nowhere. She just doesn’t know when to break up with him because of the holiday season. But it’s Elliot and his reasoning that has so amused me today as he finally (in talking to Tedd) figured out just what it is he feels for Sarah. She’s like a sister to him. Yes, this is a bit of a no-brainer for anyone who’s been reading the comic for a while, and it’s not why I’m applauding Shive. No. It’s Elliot’s expression after those words come out of his mouth.
Seriously, I can so envision this expression on Luke Skywalker’s face in his X-Wing fighter as he was leaving Dagobah after Yoda’s death and he realized he’d been kissed by his sister. I mean, while Elliot hasn’t had sex with Sarah, I can’t help but remember the time they were getting frisky on Tedd’s couch during Grace’s bizarre transgender birthday party. And don’t forget, Elliot has a “sister” of sorts, so no doubt he’s thinking “it’s like kissing Ellen.”
Addendum: As I was finishing this up, Friday’s comic had loaded. And while I normally can’t abide by a strip of someone in the same pose over and over again… it’s the facial expression. Well, that and calling up his “sister” on the phone to confirm an earlier discussion and then resuming the facial expression. Well done, Dan Shive. Well done.





Skin Horse
But first I need to rewind a little to a previous storyline in which Sweetheart was upset that her coworker and subordinate Unity was busy gorging on lab-grown brains… and in doing so, becoming more intelligent. She would become downright dismissive of Unity and do her best to ignore Unity’s perceptions as to what was going on; as a result, the Skin Horse team failed to realize what was going on until it was nearly too late.
Looking forward to the latest update, and I noticed this pattern was unfolding once more. Sweetheart was dismissive of Unity’s perceptions concerning WhimsyCorp (which Unity either hallucinated or was visited by). Further, the moment Unity comes up with a logical and reasonable reason for Skin Horse to try and save WhimsyCorp (in that corporations are persons but not human… and thus under Skin Horse’s jurisdiction), Sweetheart accuses Unity of being on brains.
This is the moment I realized Sweetheart is threatened by other people’s intelligence. Nor is this a recent thing; when Tip first joined Skin Horse, Sweetheart was threatened by his obvious intelligence (and disdainful of Tip’s eccentricities, despite the fact these “non-professional” tendencies have helped the group on multiple occasions). Similarly, when Unity becomes smart, Sweetheart immediately becomes dismissive and brushes off any suggestions Unity may make. This distrust of other people’s intelligence even can be found in her opinion of their boss, the sentient bee swarm Gavotte.
As to why Sweetheart is so distrustful of other intelligences, I have to wonder if part of it lies with the fact Sweetheart is just an intelligent dog. She’s not even necessarily brilliant by human standards; she seems to thrive in a structured environment where there aren’t a lot of surprises. Within that setting, she does quite well. Outside it, however, she becomes defensive and unwilling to consider the opinions of others. And she’s aware of her limitations… and may very well be afraid that if she’s revealed to be just ordinary, she’ll lose everything she’s built.
The question ultimately is, what’s next for Sweetheart? What are her motivations? Is she afraid of being shown up by Tip… and later by Unity? Does her rank as team commander mean so much to her? And if so, why? In time, Garrity and Wells will likely expand on this and on Sweetheart. In the meantime, it’s clear Skin Horse has room to grow, even as the Skin Horse team slowly learn more of the subversive elements operating in the background of their world and why the massive cover-up on the Old War. And perhaps along the way we’ll learn more about Sweetheart… and see if she can overcome her fear and disdain of other intelligences before it’s too late.
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Posted in Webcomic commentary
Tagged Character development, Humor in comics, Mad science