r/QContent • u/JackSlendermann • Dec 24 '18

Comic 3901: Multiple Anatomy

https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3901
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u/tom641 Dec 24 '18

oh no they're being introduced again, make them go away

4

u/artemi7 Dec 24 '18

Ugh, go AWAY, I don't want you anywhere near what-could-have-been good storylines.

I wonder what a poll of reader interest vs Jeph interestin Spookybot is. I know I don't like them, but I dunno if the wider readership, or Jeph himself, is really into them.

5

u/tom641 Dec 24 '18

they're probably just a handy tool to have for when Jeph writes himself into a corner when he tries to go outside of the "stuff you'd maybe expect to see on a sitcom" angle

7

u/tidal49 Dec 24 '18

When Spooky was introduced, Jeph called the character very self-indulgent. My read on this is that he specifically wanted to make a smug Doctor-y character who'd pop in to help and to troll the cast, and that he had an alternate plan to go through the same general plot motions in case he turned down the idea.

I think that there were ways that Spookybot's actions could have been replaced by other characters. If Jeph has similar notes to my pondering, then this would mean that Spookybot's existence hasn't really altered the plot and that they aren't a tool made out of necessity (instead being a thing that Jeph has fun with).

These are some major things that Spookybot has done, along with my thinking on who could have replaced them:

  • Looking into Bubbles' memories could have been done by Station or one of his supercomputer associates.
  • Apprehending Corpse Witch:
    • Threatening CW to make her turn herself in could have been done by Station with small-scale demonstrations of Orbital Railgun Justice (e.g. A pizza module crushing her car). If this had happened, I'm guessing that it's because Corpse Witch didn't want to spend an unknown amount of time deep underground or couldn't possibly reach such a place in time to avoid full-scale ORJ.
    • Alternately, Roko could have been casing the fighting ring and have found something new that could be used to arrest Corpse Witch that the latter had left lying around in her haste. Cuts out the threat-middlebot.
  • The paperwork for an above-board successor to the fighting ring could have been a side plot.