#Marvin comic strip | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

beerecordings · 3 months

Text

Look we all know Mr. Higgins is the real star of the new comics. Here is a fic about him adopting Marvin, all while Marvin finds himself struggling desperately against the memory control of the Magic Circle. Written after Altrverse #0, extrapolations are probably not canon to anything. Thanks for reading, let me know if you enjoy!

The excitement of a new book always fills him with verve enough to keep him up late into the night. His shop is warm, a green fire burning without wood or fuel along the back wall, and his scalp tingles with every new sigil passing through his vision.

The fact that it's an extremely illegal book to own only makes it more exciting for Marvin.

He's almost laid out over the counter, bent low over the pages, his free hand wrapped around a third mug of hot mint tea – got to have something to go with the book, after all – when the door to the shop jingles. He'd meant to lock up for the night, but he hadn't managed to tear himself away. “Come in!” he calls distractedly, pressing his hand over a complex sigil shaped like a pair of antlers.

No footsteps sound. Marvin looks up quickly, his mind conjuring images of the twins in full regalia in his doorway, ready to strip him of his power for the transgression of his black magic book, but no one's there.

He can't decide if that's worse or better.

“Hello?” he calls, voice sharpening. He can handle most magicians, and certainly any civilians. But if this is the Magic Circle trying games with him, he won't be playing. “Reveal yourself.”

Something shifts by the bookshelf closest to the door. Marvin gets to his feet, book forgotten, and fixes his mask back over his face. He'll address this head on. He summons a spell and transports the four feet to be on the other side of his bookshelf, purple light gleaming for a second in his wake, alighting on his hand markings.

“Meow?” says a little grey and white cat.

Marvin stops short, mouth falling open in delight. The tension rushes out of him so fast his face feels cold. He claps his hands together and falls to his knees. “Hello, there, darling, aren't you a pretty sight? I wouldn't have thought a cat could get through that door, or you wouldn't have set me so on alert, you know! You must have really wanted in.”

He glances up at the door. Really, how did a cat push through that? The cat mewls at him again.

“Oh, come here, poor thing.”

He scratches his fingers against the carpet. The cat looks at him with interest, sitting down beside his shelves. It has remarkably clear eyes, blinking languidly at him, tail flicking. It's so calm Marvin just approaches it, putting a hand on its head and stroking down its grey back. It closes its eyes and purrs minutely, completely unhurried.

“Yes, there's a good little creature,” Marvin laughs. He pulls his hand away at a tacky sensation and finds his palm coated in dirt and dust. He sits petting the cat for several minutes, until the creature flops onto its side and exposes its belly to him. It's a male cat, purring loudly at him now, those cute paws folded in the air. Marvin laughs.

“You are a sight for sore eyes. But I can't have you tearing up the carpet or peeing on my books, kitten. Tell you what, I'll get you something to eat from upstairs and set it outside for you. Okay? Be right back.”

He heads upstairs to his flat and gets into the fridge, setting several strips of deli meat onto a plate for the cat. Maybe he'll take some pictures of the little guy as he eats. It would be nice to have a cat coming around every now and then. He had cats as a kid, in his family home, before he had to... well, before everything that happened. He loved them enough to shape his mask after them, but he's never had the free time for a pet. At this point, he's not even sure he has the safety for a pet. If the Circle finds out...

Well. Seeing as he himself isn't even aware of what he's doing half the time, he's hoping the chances of being discovered are slim.

Marvin sighs and heads back downstairs, clicking his tongue at the cat as he walks to the door and opens it. He sets the dish on the ground, but the cat hasn't moved, just looking at him from the carpet inside.

“Oh, you're comfy there, are you?” Marvin chuckles. “I understand. But you better have something to eat. Come here, then.”

The cat doesn't get up. Marvin sighs again, stepping over to him. “Sorry, my darling, but you can't stay in here.”

He leans down to pick the cat up. He doesn't struggle at all – well-behaved little thing – but as Marvin sets a foot outside, he sees a droplet of dark grey appear on the pavement beside it.

He frowns and looks up. A drop of water strikes his cheek.

“Really, right now?”

He's used to UK rain, but it's only a moment or two later that a full torrential downpour is pushing him back inside the shop. He curses and grabs the deli meat, pulling the dish inside. The cat leans down and delicately begins eating.

“Oh, lucky bugger,” Marvin says, shaking his head. “You're sure you're not a magic spy cat or something? A man disguised as a cat to trick me?”

The cat finishes the turkey and leans down to begin licking his anus.

“Alright, yeah, not a spy.”

Marvin looks out at the rain, coming down aggressively onto the awning and beating a cold rhythm through the shop. The cat polishes himself up politely at Marvin's feet. Poor dirty thing. Maybe he has an owner who's looking for him.

“Alright, then,” Marvin says, leaning down to pick the cat up once more. “You can stay just for tonight, while I figure out what to do with you.”

The cat pushes its head into his chin and purrs.

"Why do you have this? Where did you get it?"

"Would you just look?"

Sunday chooses to look up at him instead, something between astonishment and dismay arguing on his face. "Marvin..."

Marvin sighs out and taps the front of the book. "I have some contacts from my old mentor. They found this for me."

"Marvin, Ramesses wasn't exactly the kind of magician the Circle would approve of."

"You think I don't know that?"

Sunday sighs and rubs at the ear of his mask - a pretty cute form of self-soothing, really. After a moment, he flicks open the pages of the book.

"How's your memory today?" Marvin asks, trying not to sound too strained.

"What do you mean, my memory?"

"Do you remember that the Circle has been wiping things from our heads?" Marvin insists, clutching at the table.

Sunday's eyes flicker. "Right. That's... why we're looking at things like this."

"Right," Marvin agrees, relieved. "That's why we need help from magicians like Ramesses. Ones who know what's really going on. We need to find a way to keep them out of our heads."

It's dangerous stuff, but he and Sunday have had that discussion. Marvin has to trust that he's going to stay on board even as both of their memories ebb and flow. He desperately needs someone to help him remember. It's infuriating, knowing that the people who are supposed to be helping magicians are just taking control of them instead. Marvin won't be their puppet.

"This is the spell you're looking at?" asks Sunday.

"Yes. To protect someone from mind magic."

"You can't cast that alone."

"Help me, then!"

"We can't cast this alone," Sunday corrects. "You would need a huge group or an artifact."

"I have some magical artifacts."

"Not ones with enough power."

"Sunday, please."

"Marvin." His friend looks up at him sharply. "I know how deep we are in over our heads, but that's why we must be careful. You don't even know if this spell will work. It could harm you, change you, burn you out. Start with some of the smaller ones... look, this can imbue an object with the magic to see things for you. A looking glass of its own. And I'm sure you've been scrying."

Marvin grits his teeth. Yes, he's been scrying. All he sees is black wisps and red eyes through the darkness. Something is coming, and he can't stop it without knowing his mind is secure. He needs to expel the twins from the Magic Circle, needs to have a group of magicians he can trust, needs to -

"Marvin," says Sunday again. "You're working yourself up."

His sigils are glowing. He turns away bitterly, clutching his hands into fists.

"We're going to figure it out," Sunday says wearily. "You have to believe that. But you can't hurt yourself."

He sets the book down. "I need to get going. Not all of us get to run our own bookstores. I'll text you tomorrow after work, okay?"

"Fine," says Marvin. "Fine."

"Whoa, wait, is this yours?"

Marvin looks over to see the stray cat coming out of his bedroom, sitting down beside Sunday to regard him warily. It meows at him loudly enough that Sunday chuckles.

"No, I just took him in for a couple nights," Marvin sighs. "Trying to find his owner."

"And if he doesn't have one?"

"I don't know." He really doesn't. The cat's super cute, but Marvin has a lot going on. "I don't think I've got time for a cat. I get a little focused on one thing at a time."

Sunday gives him a look of disbelief. "A little?"

"Oh, shut it."

Sunday rubs the cat's head for a moment before standing. "We'll figure this out," he repeats. "Don't lose hope."

"I need you to give me some," Marvin says wearily.

Sunday touches his shoulder and grins at him, just as tired, but there's nothing more he can say. Once he's gone, Marvin sinks onto the couch, sighing deep. The cat jumps up beside him.

"You want to switch places?" Marvin asks, reaching out to scratch his chin. "I'll sleep and eat all day and you can go back to a place where you know you'll be brainwashed every time they call for you. You don't know how sick it makes me... but then, of course, I forget, and I'm theirs again."

He almost sinks in on himself, then, just wanting to melt into the couch. But the cat gets into his lap and meows at him, and the stink of his breath makes him laugh and pull back, and he sits up and pets him for a while instead of crumpling into his own dismay.

“Well, he's not got fleas or ticks or anything.”

The vet runs her hands professionally over the disgruntled cat, looking through his fur and petting his head. He turns to Marvin like he's expecting him to come help, and Marvin stifles a laugh. He's an expressive cat, really. Must have been good at begging for scraps.

“Really, none?”

“No," says the vet. "Why, did you see some?”

“No, it's just, I figured a stray cat would have one. You sure he's not chipped either?”

“No chip,” the vet confirms, running her hands over the cat. “How long have you had him?”

“Five days now. I called the animal shelter and posted online in case anyone is looking for him.”

“You can check our board in case someone's posted that he's lost.”

“Alright, will do.”

“But he's neutered and all, so you don't have to worry about that.”

“Good,” says Marvin emphatically. “I've never met such a headstrong cat. I don't think he'd let anybody get down there with scissors.”

“Oh, but he's such a well-mannered little boy,” coos the vet, petting the cat's head. The cat purrs.

“Yeah, now,” Marvin laughs. “But if you do something he doesn't like, he will let you know. I think he's capable of revenge.”

They have a laugh about it and the vet gets ready to give him some shots. When she gets out a syringe, the cat raises his butt like he's ready to bolt, but Marvin grabs his scruff sharply and leans down to chide him.

“Everybody has to get shots, Higgins,” he says. “You behave. You can't come home if you're not healthy.”

“Oh, no, you've named him,” smiles the vet.

Marvin puffs out a sigh. “I have, haven't I? I didn't mean to. But doesn't he look just like a little Mr. Higgins? Who's the prettiest boy?”

Mr. Higgins shoots him a disgruntled look, but he allows the vet to pin him down gently and give him his shots. Soon as they're done, he nips Marvin's thumb with his teeth.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” says Marvin, pushing him back into the carrier. “We'll check the board and then get you home.”

He's still not sure he wants a cat, but Higgins keeps trying to sleep in his bed, so Marvin figured he'd be responsible and get him checked over before they both get fleas. "You might not get to stick around forever," he tells the cat. "But I'll take care of you while you do."

But as he gets out to the reception of the vet's clinic, looking at their board of announcements and missing pet posters, he realizes he doesn't mind having the cat around. And this is how people get cats, right? They just take one in for a night, and then the cat adopts you. It's not like there's much going on for him right now, anyone. Things are good at the shop and with the Magic Circle. Everything's -

Higgins lets out a meow so loud other people turn to look at him, and so does Marvin, surprised. He's reminded of Higgins meowing at Sunday, who was over at his place to - to what?

To look at that black magic book...

Which he got because... because... why? Why is he looking at magic like that?

Higgins meows again, a little strangled. Marvin looks into his big, languid cat's eyes. Because...

The Circle is fucking with his head.

The realization hits him like a baseball in the chest, but even as it does, he knows this isn't the first time he's realized it. They keep making him forget - forget - forget.

He's a fucking puppet.

Marvin pushes himself out of the vet's office, vision blurry with frustrated tears.

"It keeps happening," he says to Higgins, voice tight. "I can't make them stop."

Higgins looks up at him from his carrier. The cat's quiet now, not struggling or meowing. Just looking at him.

"Yeah, you might not want me for an owner," sighs Marvin. "Fucked up head and a fucked up mess I can't seem to get myself out of."

Higgins lets out one little meow. Okay. That's pretty cute too. Marvin tries to get over himself. The self-pity won't help. Maybe, when he gets home, he can focus on getting Higgins a treat instead, since he was such a little gentleman at the vet.

Knowing that Sunday is right about the spell he wants to try doesn't it make it any easier to resist.

In fact, he thinks it makes it harder. Who is Sunday to tell Marvin what he's capable of?

He's always had that proud streak, and he knows it. Wanting to be the best at everything has served Marvin well in some parts of his life, but he's also been called cocky, overzealous, and, on one occasion, "basically a rat going to town on a Cheeto when it comes to magic," and all for good reason.

Higgins has hopped up on the kitchen counter, sitting beside the black magic book. Everytime Marvin looks over at it, he meows pointedly. If he didn't know better, he'd say the little miscreant was trying to warn him away too.

"It's just a spell," Marvin tells him, pacing around his living room. "I've never died trying stupid spells before. And I have tried some damn powerful spells."

He's good at powerful spells. He's a powerful fucking sorceror. It's why he was picked for this, mentored so intensely, sculpted to be better, better, better. The Magic Circle has its rules, but it should never have become a means to control him or restrain him. They can't take his own mind for him. He won't allow it!

"No one else is doing anything about it," he says to Higgins. "Sunday's the only one who's been able to hear me out and not forget everything the very next day. And even him, I have to remind again and again, and he has to remind me."

Higgins says "mrrp."

"Well, it's not like I can just leave the Magic Circle! All magical authority comes from them, and the twins - well. I have a lot to learn from the twins. Things the outsiders will never have access to. No, I need to be the one to take this all down from the inside. I'll cleanse it with fire if I have to! Or else - or else what will happen? We'll all be their slaves forever."

No. No. He won't be their tool. He grabs the black book. Higgins yowls.

"There is food for you in your bowl," Marvin chides him, heading towards the stairs. "Stay up here!"

Higgins tries to follow him down to the shop, and Marvin has to push him away with his foot, closing the door on him. Higgins makes a noise that can't be anything other than annoyed.

"Needy thing," Marvin chides, heading down the stairs, but it's soon gone from his mind. He's really going to try a new spell, one that might exorcise the twins's control over him. There's no rush like this, he loves it. New books, new spells, new magic. This is what he was born and trained for.

"Sunday doesn't know what I can do," Marvin says, putting his book down on his desk. This time, he makes sure the door to the shop is locked. "And neither do the fucking twins."

Mensprotego, not the original name of the spell, to be sure. It's Romanian in origin and the name is just some Latin combination of phrases given to it to lend it a feeling of power. But Marvin knows the real power of it as he traces the words over the spell. He draws his sigils with precision - he should have known when he was practicing the unfamiliar ones that he would always end up trying this alone - and sticks a mandrake leaf against the roof of his mouth, as the spell instructs. For extra energy, he'll use Ramesses's old staff.

It's good to grip it in his hands again. Even after all this time, he still thinks he can feel his mentor with him every time he holds it. Sometimes, he even gets the nostalgic smell of fire and the Vaseline he would smear over his scarring.

"Help me once again," he asks, pulling the staff over to his counter.

The power rushes up over him like a wave of water as he starts to speak. It's a strange sort of spell, the way it coasts over him, like it's sending sparks into him, a mini electrification that keeps repeating across his body - and keeps getting stronger. He wets his lips and keeps going. He's more used to magic that makes you feel tired as you use too much, but this! This is invigorating. His heart starts to pound. He can feel it against his chest. The electricity feeling makes him cramp, his fingers squeezing at the staff, and then his tongue sticks to his mouth. Wow. It kind of makes it hard to move. Kind of hurts.

Another wave of it grips him, and he pauses, breathing out and giving himself the chance to stop.

But then what will happen? Nothing. Things will keep going as they are. He can't take it. He has to keep going. To keep trying something new.

"I will not be yours," he whispers, and, clearing his throat, speaks the last words of the spell.

Everything explodes with light, blinding him, and a hot, raw pain bursts across him, his whole body lit up with purple markings, his eyes aglow, though he cannot see through them. He gasps and his body tries to crumple, but another wave of it crosses over him, shocking him stiff, unable to even collapse. Still, he clings to the spell, to the magic, vying hard for protection. If he can just get free, nothing else matters. He'll recover later, won't he? If he can just protect himself -

Something sharp clenches down on his ankle and he yells. The different kind of pain snaps him out of everything, and he drops Ramesses's staff, falling to his knees, still blind to all but his own light.

The electricity stops, but he thinks his brain might have short-circuited with it. He feels himself start to shake - maybe even to seize - he drops to the ground -

He loses consciousness to the sound of something scraping at his sigils with its claws.

Marvin wakes to the heavy smell of blood in his nose, and his fingers come up towards it instinctively, shaky and unsure.

"Ungh," he groans, shifting against the cold wood of his shop's backroom. He spits out a mandrake leaf, smacking his tongue at the odorous taste.

Marvin tries to push his glasses back into place, only to find the right temple snapped off its hinge, the glass cracked at the side. He pulls them off his face and sits up.

It makes his head rush painfully. Owch. There's blood all the way from his nose to his chin.

Okay, okay. Fine. He went way too far. Sunday's right, he's pushing too hard. Worse, he's not sure what would have happened if he didn't have that sharp pain.

He pulls his ankle up to himself as he sits down. Wait - that is distinctly a cat bite.

Setting his leg down, he lets his head thump back in surprise. Higgins saved him. Did he know he was in distress, or just get scared by the light and shaking?

"Higgs?" he calls. "You here?"

No little feet come padding towards him. He drags himself onto his feet - his poor head, owch - and stumbles towards the bathroom, washing his face off and swishing water around his mouth to clear out the copper taste.

"Maybe I don't tell Sunday about this," he mutters. He's made himself sick for certain. He won't feel well in the morning either. What's he going to do? Just -- with all of it, what is he doing?

The tears prick up against his will and he scowls at himself in the mirror, brushing at his eyes with the un-bloodied side of a washcloth. He strikes the flat of his palm against the bathroom counter and breathes. He can't let the twins or the council keep misusing their magic. He promised Ramesses he'd find a way.

But honestly, he just really wants to sleep for about twelve years or so. Feels like that would fix everything. Why does all this have to be on his shoulders alone?

"Not crying, we are not crying about this," he announces to himself, tossing the washcloth in the sink and stepping back into his living room. He crashes onto his couch and his head swims again from the movement. He covers his face from the light and breathes out slowly.

"Meow."

It's a very professional little meow, no wailing or pleading involved. Marvin pulls his arm away from his eyes and blinks towards the floor, where Higgins looks up at him carefully.

"Meow," he repeats.

"You want up here?" asks Marvin. He pats the little space beside his stomach. "You can come on."

Higgins doesn't move, peering up at him. He has eyes like a little man sometimes. Marvin prefers him playing, when his pupils get dilated huge and he just looks like the cute dumbass he's supposed to be.

"Yes, alright, I went too far," Marvin sighs. "What, are you angry? I'm sorry."

Higgins wraps his tail daintily around himself, blinking. Marvin sits up with a sigh and reaches for him.

Higgins say "mrrp" a little irritably, but he lets Marvin pull him onto his stomach and set him down there, stroking his head. After a few quiet minutes, Higgins settles and starts to purr gently.

"What a good boy," Marvin murmurs, scratching his ears as he lies back. "Did you know I needed help?"

Higgins looks at him with slitted eyes, rumbling.

"You got me out of that," Marvin continues. "You've never bit me like that before. Did I scare you? I'm sorry."

Higgins gets up slightly and Marvin mourns the loss of the warmth. But his cat doesn't hop off the couch. He just clambers higher up Marvin and pushes his soft head into his neck.

Marvin's face creases and the tears burn his eyes again. He blinks rapidly and wraps his arms around the hot little body of his cat.

"There's my good boy," Marvin rasps, holding him close. "My hero, aren't you? What a good cat."

He hugs Higgins close to him, closing his eyes, and for several minutes interrupted only by steady purring, he does cry. Maybe it's okay. No one's here to see him, and he'll feel better afterwards. Higgins licks the salt from his beard.

"Thank you, lovey," Marvin purrs back to him, scratching his back. "I know someone's got my back, don't I?"

Higgins meows loudly at him and Marvin laughs, wiping his face.

"Yuck, cat breath. You must be hungry. I'll fill your bowl, okay? And I better get something for me, too. Maybe a treat tonight. You think there are delivery places open twenty-four seven?"

Apparently it's not abnormal for someone to want pad see-ew at two in the morning, because his food comes less than fifteen minutes later. It hurts his head to go down the stairs, but it's euphoric to crash on his couch with several hot boxes of takeout arrayed on his coffee table. He puts on a Ghibli flick and spaces out hard, kept in the moment just by the sweet noodles and broccoli, the flashing colors of a movie he's seen a hundred times, and his cat, who jumps right back onto his lap and tries to get his head into the takeout box. Marvin lets him have a little too much chicken, but he's such a good boy, he deserves it. It's nice, really. It's nice to have this cat, purring on his chest as he sinks towards a deep sleep.

He thinks Higgins is asleep too.

Marvin wakes up feeling sick.

"Oh, my darling," he groans, feeling Higgins move as he does. "What did I do last night?"

He sits up slowly, glancing around his living room. He got take-out? He's usually so strict about eating at home. Did he drink?

"Well, I must have," he breathes, standing. He goes to his kitchen, but there's nothing out, no empty bottles or discarded lids. There's nothing in the trash out of the ordinary either. He didn't go out, right? He checks his phone, but he hasn't talked to anyone since yesterday. He wasn't out with friends, and he's sure he had no one over.

He's still trying to figure out what happened as he heads towards the bathroom, but the bloody washcloth in the sink stops him short. Marvin shakes his head, bewildered, and a little worried too, now. What is going on?

Higgins meows at him. He glances down at his cat. Higgins moves between his legs and then, apropos of nothing, puts his little teeth in Marvin's heel.

"Ow! Higgins! You - you bit me..."

He was trying that spell last night. He made himself sick with overuse. Higgins bit his ankle.

"Oh, oh," he whimpers, trying not to spiral. "They have such a grip on my memory I even forgot my own endeavors. They're in my house. In my head. I can't... I can't, I..."

He sinks down to his knees, shaking. His fingers press against the cold tile floor, and he sucks in shaking breaths, the fury and the terror passing over and through him like a great wave of heat.

"No more," he snarls, striking his hand against the floor. "No more of this. I will remember anything they take from me. Again and again, as much as I lose, I will get it back no matter what. I'll remember. And then I'll fight."

He turns his head and presses his hand against his cat's head. Higgins looks up at him with those sharp eyes, his fur soft against the palm of his hand.

"And you're going to help me, aren't you, my darling?"

He really does think that he sees that cat nod in that moment. The oddest part is, it doesn't even really surprise him.

"Right, then," Marvin breathes, his panic clearing. "Right. Back on your feet, Marvin, and no more sulking. Anyway, you got to get the cat fed."

Higgins' eyes dilate and his tail stands straight up. Marvin finds himself laughing despite everything.

"Okay, okay. One thing at a time."

He kisses his cat on the head, and goes to get him his breakfast. The rest will come - and he'll be ready.

#altrverse #higgins the cat #marvin the magnificent #jacksepticeye

23 notes · View notes

popculturebuffet · 2 years

Text

Doris Doodle Review: A Hidden Gem You Need to Read (Comission for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy people! I’m Jake, I review comics and cartoons and I have a question...

Because today we’re diving into a heartbreaking masterpiece released over 2020 and 2021 that I hadn’t heard of till kev asked it to be reviewed.

For those of you, especially those who are fans of minnie and betty brought here, Doris Doodle is a webcomic created by hasini walker. It’s hard to classify as at it’s core it’s an original idea; in a world where toons and humans live side by side and toons are largely actors, Doris Doodle is a washed up 1940′s toon who tries to make a second stab at a career and soon finds herself mentoring a sardonic younger retool of herself. It’s full of clever ideas about how a world like this would work, meta commentary on reboots and how fans react to them, and scathing if well trod comendation of hollywood’s history of sexual abuse. Speaking of which

CONTENT WARNING: this review discusses sexual abuse, assault and attempted date rape. If these are triggers for you, please stay away for your own mental health or if you procede, do so with caution. Thank you

The thing that makes it hard to know what to say about it is ... it’s part fancomic. Several toons of various eras make cameos, Betty Boop is a member of the main cast, and both Minnie and Red from the Tex Avery shorts have small but still massively important scenes. Not only that it’s toon town.. is the same one from Roger Rabit as Marvin Acme, the same murder victim from that film makes a crucial cameo late in the story. And while I strongly feel this story can and should be adapted as it’s own work, with the important liscened characters retooled into legally distinct copies, part of the power of this original version comes from the use of these characters. So it’s very much i’ts own animal while still needing to be a fan work for it’s max power.

If all that sounds intriguging, then come on down to toon town with me as I tell ya the sad story of doris doodle.

To make this easier on myself i’ll be doing the flashbacks first.. minus the last one as it’s a big, climactic moment in the story and answers it’s driving question: what caused the end of Doris’ Career, and I feel it’s best to save for when it’s narratively right. But for the most part while some flashbacks do have a meaningful connection to the main story as it goes on, most just sorta happen because there happens to be enough of a break in the action to put in the next segment. It feels like they constructed most of the present day story first, and while they had a clear place for the final flashback, the rest just sorta show up when needed and ocasionally synch up really well with the story. This feels like it would’ve been better as 2 or three parts instead of just scattered about.

Anyways Doris Story beings, chnologically with her as a bright young toon, introducing other toons for a kids show. She has a loyal agent named Roy who seems nice enough, and a bright career. The only speed bump and the first sign of things to come.. is when Doris refuses to pose for some racy model shots, and Roy gets in trouble, and with her career in danger Doris buckles and does whatever it takes. Where it takes her.. we’ll see much later. The one other scene of note out of all of this I liked was Doris meeting Minnie. Not only is minnie happy to help the starstruck new toon but in a bit that had my heart squee, Minnie reveals she’s married; she and mickey simply keep it to boyfriend and girlfriend in the pictures because that’s what disney wants. It does mean no children.. but Minnie’s made peace with that. It’s a small scene but i’ts just so engaging and gets the character so right i’d love to see more of this in an adaptation.. obviously with a stand in for minnie but still, having to live knowoing you can’t be married to your partner on screen or ever have kids ... it’s gotta suck and i’td be intresting to see how she was impacted decades down the line.

In present day though Doris is a depressed, reclusive woman, no longer living in Toon Town proper and having become essentially a ghost to most people. She runs into Betty Boop who uninetonally rubs how bad things have gone for doris in by pointing out that while she has no reboots or anything.. Betty still has TONS of merchandising sales to keep her. Betty is essentially the Mr Peanutbutter to Doris bojack, though Doris honestly feels like an inversion of the horse from horsing around: both were chewed up by the system but while Doris left early, and unfairly thanks to jackassery that we’ll get to in a while, Bojack stayed but slowly became more and more corrupted before becoming a washed out husk.

After the encounter Doris goes to the agency and gets a new agent Harold whose genuinely kind but admits he can’t get her much. It’s understandable: Doris had barely a career and thus not much for any prospective network or streamer to go off.

Since a social media presence would help and Doris has all the computer literacy of one Sensei Johnny Lawrence, Harold has her get a computer. Doris struggles with the magic compubox and gets help from a kindly anthro saleslady.. whose boss is creepily hands on in both sense of the word and whose intrusions put Doris on high alert.

Her creeper senses are not wrong as she notices him get even more handsy when he prepares to leave and properly reminded of her own traumas, goes over and publicly confronts the asshole before giving him a good old glove slap.. with an anvil inside.

As is internet law, bitch slapping a belivgerent asshole makes Delores viral. And what happens to the person she defended? Does the girl get fired? does she seek doris out? what happens to her after all of this?

Yeah for some reason the story just.. drops this character. They didn’t even have to make her a lead: just have her show up grateful for what Doris did later. It feels weird to have the story just.. blow up this girls life with one brave act Doris does for her and then never address what happened to her or the fucker Doris bitchslapped in front of the internet.

So with that Doris gets a guest spot... on Ellen

Yeah this aged about as well as Harry Osborn’s “fu Man chu face fuzz”. In the span of a year. In the writer’s defense they wrote this cameo before it came out she was an abusive monster, and Ellen would’ve been a good choice ANY TIME in the past decade. I would’ve done the same in their shoes. Doesn't make it less awkward but sometimes awkard shit just happens when someone turns out to have been an asshole this whole time. Can’ tbe helped.

So the interview goes horribly wrong as not only did Ellen book Betty Boop, who Doris had an awkward encounter with earlier but in this work betty is kind of an ass without meaning too, framing Doris disappearing as “without explination”.. even though Doris resulting freakout and rage at her shows yeah clearly SOMETHING bad pushed her out. Ellen tries to coax it out of her because getting people to do stuff they don’t want to even when it’s none of her business is her thing, but Doris is just too shellshocked

Somehow this hurts her.. I didn’t belivie it at first but then I remember people suck and will sometime belivie the worst version of say a panic attack like this instead of spotting it as “well clearly she has trauma”.

Harold’s suggestion is an image change, bringing us to one of the book’s best concepts. See in this universe, reboots and redesigns.. are done to the character themselves, using something similar to cosmetic surgery. Except it can also alter personality and other important stuff. It explains how say the Teen Titans became the teen titans go, with starfire later cameoing in her go design. This raises a LOT of intresting questions: how much of the previous versions memory is kept? how do they do crossovers with previous versions? do they clone them or do they make temporary copies? can toons just do this like they would cosemtic sugery or is it stuido mandate only? And I don’t mind them not answering them either: It makes the dread later when one character is faced with the prosppect of being heavily altered personality and all that much more terrifying that we DON’T have clear answers.

Doris ends up barely changing only going with a red nose, which limits her prospects.. but what I like, and what ends up contrasting Roy.. is that Harold never seems to NOT be in Doris’ corner. He warns her that certain decisions will make things harder on her, sure. But he never once tells her not to do something or tries to push her into something harmful just for the sake of it. He’s a good guy, if a bit creepily drawn. But that’s not his fault.. the humans in this comic.. just don’t look great. Like I get their trying to make a clear line between toon and human, that’s fine, but there’s so many lines it haunts me. SO.. MANY.

Eventaully though Doris does get a break.. with a catch. She’ll be in a tiny toons style reboot, mentoring a younger versoin/reboot of herself that she’ll show the ropes. She ends up agreeing to it both because she dosen’t have other options, and because after watching Tiny Tunes and seeing Bugs great mentor relationship with Buster, she warms to the idea. And frankly I love that scene: her not being on board at first seeing daffy play the fool.. only to see the genuine good she could do for another toon.

So naturally this lasts all of five minutes before she actually meets her younger counterpart: Dawn, a snarky teen who mostly plays on her phone and when she does ask questions.. Doris dodges them because their massively uncomfortable. So yeah not a great day one though i’ve seen far worse. Doris also agrees to drive Dawn herself after seeing Dawn get an uber as she dosen’t trust them.. which.. fair. Doris was nearly sexually assaulted, again we’ll get to the details, and comes from a diffrent time. And even being told i’ts like a taxi I can see how someone coming from decades ago with only exposure up to say the late 80′s judging by bits and pieces we get later to the wider culture would find the entire idea of Uber or Lyft exestintally dreadful. I find the idea useful.. and I still find it exestially dreadful.

So Doris takes Dawn driving on Errands.. aka “drive around in circles while trying to desperatley avoid talking about your traumatic past and hope the cyncial teenager dosen’t notice”. Not suprisingly, Dawn notices and Doris agrees to go to one place and if Dawn hates it, she can leave. So Doris takes her to the old soda shope she used to go to, ran by the same guy. Things go well at first, Doris catches up with an old sorta uncle figure, Dawn finds a new friend thigns are fine.. till Doris goes to the bathroom and along the way notices a bunch of pinups of herself.. and the guy putting his hand on dawn.

Doris yanks her out of there and Dawn naturally notices things flipped from nostalgic memory trip to “i’m taking dawn bye!” really quick, but dosen’t pry, letting Doris have an out and agreeing to see a movie with her, the two finally bonding. The two’s relationship.. is really what makes this comic special. While “snarky character defrosts” isn’t NEW, having it be because she starts to see Doris less as a relic to contrast as she was clearly built to and more as a troubled but sweet woman as she is, is really charming. It helps the comic really get going as while the first fourth of it or so before dawn isn’t bad.. it is REALLY depressing. By design and it works better once yo’uve read the whole thing, but it can be hard to read. And i’m not knocking the work for being depressing: being dark and gloomy with a POINT I can respect like with Bojack Horseman’s darker moments. Same with say F is For Family or in comics term stuff like Watchmen. It’s not stuff i tend to gravitate towards, Bojack again being the exception, but it has a place and comics and animation, something this shares dna of both with, should be allowed to go there. It’s when it goes into grossout or edgelord nonsense to try and APPEAR adult that’s the problem.

Harold is happy at their progress and the twos next adventure has them running into betty, who dawn invites along just to torment Doris whose too polite to simply say “fuck off”. The two get Doris to actually try on outfits and while most of it dosen’t work, she does take on a gold accented necklace after Dawn tries a used place.

So things are going pretty well.. so naturally even with the comic slowly getting more optimstic.. the other shoe has to drop: They annoucned the reboot.. and this being the internet the redesign was met with mass scorn. The good news as Harold points out is it means Doris already has fans willing to defend her. The bad.. is that they have to change Dawn, something Doris objects to both due to her own past and due to having grown fond of her. Dawn seems fine with it. .but is fidgity all the next day. After all whatever happens .. it’ll change her. While the kid puts up a brave front.. it’s only because she knows she has no choice and only has so many hours left as herself.

Doris isn’t happy about any of this and when trying to pull out of the reboot fails, as Harold points out they still have the rights so this won’t save dawn and Harold KNOWS this is why she’s doing it and feels bad about the situation but hands are tied etc, tries appealing to Dawn , trying to get her to take a united front with Doris. Dawn harshly rejects this... she knows even togehter they can’t CHANGE this and she’s stuck. It’s a ncie, harsh take on how fans tend to treat reboots; by using dawn as a metaphor for the creatie process; instead of being given a chance to be what she’s meant to, Dawn is changed and ripped apart simply because people got up and arms. And don’t get me wrong sometimes it’s necessary to do so: some reboots geninely suck and somne redeigns are terrible. The backlash the Snow White Live Action film is getting for first still using dwarves as peopl ein caves and now for having them as magical creatures, not fixing the problem EITHER WAY, either playing into sterotypes about people with dwarfisim or erasing them from their own story, is warranted. But a lot of the time people spin out simply off a design without getting to know it: a lot of assholes complained about she ra, not getting the redeisgns were to go with the times and to you know, not sexualize a character, especially one who would be a minor. And rise of the tmnt got WAY more backlash than it deserved in hindsight. If you don’t like it on merit fine but many just hated changing up the turtle’s style and who was in charge.. in a franchise that has gone to far dumber places for far less reason so maybe wait to see if i’ts bad first. And spoilers it was not.

That’s more what Dawn represents: changing something to appease people barking at something they know nothing about. Or just complnaing because somethin’gs “too woke” or diverse” and on those last ones I offer a hardy go screw yourself. Having more diversity in a work is what people should strive for, not something to be hissed at and constnatly deridded.

So Dawn takes off in the rain.. and Doris soon finds out she just ran off. She thankfully finds a way around though, using Dawn’s social to track her to a club for teen toons and yelling the bouncer into letting her inside like a good mom should.

From here we get a FLOOD of great cameos: We see Starfire (in TTGO form which while it hurts to see, is a nice nod to the way reboots work here) on the dance floor, Heather from Total Drama talking with Pacifica Northwest (which begs the question of how age works here.. .questions for later) and see Jonsey side eyeing them. It’s a neat scene showing the teens here, who may not even be teens anymore thanks to how time works, letting off steam.

The one cameo I take exception to is Duncan from Duncanville, a recent fox show that i’ve tried but just can’t get into mostly for Duncan himself who, as the shows OWN DESCRIPTION put it is an agressively average teen.. and as such dosen’t really have much of a character in most episodes i’ve watched. He’s just a dumbass teenage son. I’ve seen it so many times in adult animation and sitcoms it physically hurts me.

And weird enough while the character is indeed one I clearly do not like, they get him wrong as he’s smugly taking a look at one of the characters from Splatoon’s ass. The creepy peak fits, he’s a teenage boy but the smug expressoin dosen’t as he’s more of a vauge dum dum than a horny guy and there are PLENTy of other teen characters, including again Jonsey who could’ve fit in that spot.

We get some more as Doris passes Velma and Hot Dog Water, awww, and bumps into Gwen from Total Drama, a faviorite of mine and one of the first boys of mine a show massacred, and also a show I should cover at some point, maybe when the reboot comes round. And also Rouge the bat. Which raises MORE questions as to how video game actors work in this universe and makes me want more of this universe to get the answers to that.

Doris finds Dawn who depsite having a soda is drunk.. and unsuprisingly someone dosed her drink. Who?

No not him. Though Benson from Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts makes a cameo trying to help.

In a clever twist turns out it was dosed with paint thinner, not enough to actually harm her but enough to attempted date rape her. So Dawn recovers and has to charge her phone. With seemingly only hours left together before the big reboot and their relationship reconciled, Doris takes dawn somewhere special and to one of my faviorite scenes of the work.

She takes her to a house.. that turns out to be a small safe haven/support group where female toons talk it out, ran by Red from the tex avery cartoons, an excellent choice. We also see a cameo by Alex from Totally spies and erin from the progressive comercials, and some more I honestly forgot.

But the point isn’t cameos.. but for Doris to FINALLY tell her story.. and finally tell us, and dawn, what drove her there. It’s why, while the flashbacks needed better pacing, I do feel this element works: while what drove her form it is a driving question, the way i’ts revealed, not in some big emotional breakdown but in doris deciding to take agency and share the story with dawn so she feels less alone as she faces something awful, gives her the power back.

As for what happened.. it’s thorughly unsettling. As you’d probably guess by Dori’s behavior.. we get into some sexual creepiness as Roy takes her to a party.. where TONS of classic cartoons are wrapped around creepy older men, clearly forced by their managers and circumstance to sleep with these creepy old dudes. What makes it unsettling is who their using: Characters like Toodles from ton and Jerry or Penelope from the pepe le pew cartoons. Pieces of my childhood forced to be pieces of meat for creepy men just to get by. It shows how even powerful women, huge monmentous sex symbols.. were forced to play powerless playthings just to suprise and it’s just.. horrific and uncomfortable.

So naturally Doris is forced into this with Marvin Acme.. yes the guy who died in roger rabbit. Yes.. REALLY. I’m not sure I agree with this.. I don’t doubt a 50′s toon tycoon would’ve been this creepy, that makes sense, I just feel making someone else’s character a sex monster crosses a line. If they already were close to one, fairs fair. But while Marvin’s a bit character, it feels weird to just not only plop him in here but have him nearly rape the pprotaganist, trying to put his finger inbetween her thighs.

Roy when Doris runs out. .is unhelpful, berating her for everything and being an abusive prick, with Doris running like hell and planning to quit, and not wanting ot make it this way... while Roy blames it on her. “if you were drawn like that why won’t you” is basically his logic

Doris is basicall blacklisted as a result and her final flashback is a heartbreaking one, not only seeing herself replaced on her gig.. but running into Minnie whose been redeisgned but still remembers her. So some memories remain , I just wonder if personality changes effect that and.. okay not the point. And Minnie gets another powerful moment as after hearing from Doris.. she hugs the poor girl, telling her to hang in there and this is not the end. That she should stand firm and keep going.. and i’ts heartbreaking because Doris tried but eventually just.. gave up, figuring her story was over.

But Dawn points out it’s not.. she has another chance and while she dosen’t say it it shows the one beauty of being a toon.. and of properties like this: there’s ALWAYS a chance something you love can come back and be done well. And ther’es always a chance for your dreams no matter how badly the world treats or tries to abuse you.

Dawn is inspired by this to try another approach and not give up herself on the ride.. and as such the next day, after the surgery.. the only changes are dawn looks slightly more like doris, having the gold necklace and bigger hands, but otherwise is the same. In a brilliant and heartwarming twist Dawn had filmed her interactions with Doris.. and since Doris didn’t open up to the world this gave Dawn a chance to show the world Doris. As such the show is retooled in a way that saves dawn and puts Doris from mentor supporting character to lead again: her teaching dawn, filiming their life and Dawn moving in with her. After so much suffering and heartbreak.. there’s a truly happy ending. Doris gets her daughter saved, Dawn finds hre place in the world and the two live happily ever after ending on watching one of Doris’ old commericals. Ther’es also a heartwarming bonus strip where Dawn tells her happy mothers daw. Awww

Final Thoughts: This comic is excellent and you can check out the whole run starting HERE and I highly recommend it. IT’s heartflet, engaging, well built and deserves a sequel, spinoff or adaptation asap. Not much else to say really I said what I needed to so thanks for reading and if you liked this review join my patreon

HERE

A dollar a month at the least helps me pay for bills and helps me hit stretch goals. The owl house season 1 is next wink wink! Just one more patron joining and 5 dollar backers get a guarnateed reviw a month. So sign up today and i’ll see ya real soon.

#doris doodle #dawn doodle #betty boop #red hot riding hood #minnie mouse #who framed roger rabbit #marvin acme #webcomics #comics #comic strips #cartoons #animation #reboots

54 notes · View notes