10. Lace Doilies "Death Time" (Un-Iverse #67)
Rating: R. Strong bloody violence and adult themes, and some language. But it's become a bit unintentionally politically relevant so I need to put a big reader discretion warning ahead of it. We'll talk more about the troubling parallels of the issue afterwards but the sections of Vic Puff and his violence take on disturbing significance with real-world events. You have been warned.
Author's Note for Lace Doilies #10 "Death Time" (Un-Iverse #67)
If the last scene has the reader say "Hold up,", believe they misremembered something, and then go back to the Gilda And Meek "Groundwork" Table Of Contents to check for sure, that's the reaction I want. I don't want anger or sadness. I want confusion. I want you to say, "Hold up."
It's the WRONG ending. Not just because it's a shitty way to end the last issue of Lace Doilies. But because it doesn't fit the promised canon. Or does it? I'd check that Table of Contents again if I were you. And marvel that this was planned all the way back in the first issue of Gilda And Meek.
"I was told there would be monkey butlers," is the stupidest thing Bernadette ever said. It's deliberately stupid, and she's sort of snarking but it's still super dumb. I love that this is the franchise that actually pays it off! Because I am insane.
I did strongly considering using this exact joke at the end of "Open Season" (where Bernadette suggests there should be monkey butlers) but I declined because it was one of my favorite random nonsensical jokes in the saga EVER, and putting it into reality at the end of that issue is letting all the air out of the tires.
But doing it issues later in the series finale? It's a perfect callback. Instead of diminishing the line as it would have at the end of that issue, the pay-off gives it added weight and is funny in its own right. And it takes nothing from the quip that would have been taken if the scene had occurred in the same issue. I am very happy with this.
What is "Death Time"? Believe it or not, back in the day, when Otterman was a straight up bad guy, "It's Death Time!" was his catchphrase. Knowing this issue was coming I still made sure he used it in two previous issues, namely during the flashback in "The Village", and when he briefly became Ottermammoth in "The Otterman Cometh Back". And the words will be said again, although I won't spoil the upcoming context there. The title is essentially Otterman's wiseacre threat coming back to haunt him. That's what the title boils down to.
July 16, 2024 Postscript:
THE UNINTENTIONAL AND DISTURBING REAL-WORLD ALLEGORIES FOR LACE DOILIES #10 "DEATH TIME"
"Death Time", the final issue of Lace Doilies, was published a couple of weeks ago. At the time it was put on BlogSpot it was more famous for Un-Iverse fans for the shocking and tragic ending. But after the Trump rally in which somebody took a shot at him, the Vic Puff sections of the story take on troubling significance instead.
This happens with Vic ALL THE TIME, I can reveal. Whatever terrible shit I show happening with that character, the same or similar stuff winds up happening to Donald Trump. Vic is a parody of Republican excess, who no matter what I show, simply appears not to go far enough.
Except maybe for "Death Time". This might be TOO far. While that attempt on Trump's life happened, the fact that CIA Agents in "Death Time" are assigned to kill former President Vic Puff when he goes on a terrorist killing spree could be confused as an endorsement of assassination as a political tool. And while the subtexts of Vic's behavior ARE rooted in our polarized politics, I don't think either Vic's specific crimes, or the way the heroes are forced to deal with him, are Trump-related. I had to go PRETTY fucking far to make Vic Puff worse than Donald Trump, as you can see, and regardless of what I think about Trump, his specific level of threat and danger has not arisen to being marked for death. Vic being targeted like that was more in line with Osama Bin Laden and other mass murdering terrorists. If Donald Trump had been responsible for 9/11 that would be one thing, and we wouldn't be having this conversation because he WOULD have been taken out long before he ran for president. But I want to assure people that although Vic being targeted for his violence and terrorism is the consequence in Lace Doilies, Trump being targeted for fear of what he might do IN THE FUTURE is actually an evil action committed by a person who doesn't truly believe in Democracy.
Are you as terrified of that potential future as I am? Then vote. The way to fight against the current political monsters fomenting violence in this country is the ballot box. That's our only real weapon against the evil we face. I won't deny the evil is real. But making ourselves a part of it only causes it to spread.
In this regard, I want to assure my readers Donald Trump and Vic Puff are entirely different people and must be dealt with differently.
The final note I need to make is there will be people who think I should pull this issue from circulation, at least while the wound is so raw. I'm not going to do that. The right time to talk about controversial and painful issues is while they are happening. Not months and years later after people have forgotten about them. You can criticize my conclusions here (although I have to reiterate they are not conclusions I have about Trump himself). But I'm not going to hide this issue, extremely important to the canon, for fear that somebody may misinterpret my intentions. I think the actual solution there is to explain my intentions instead.
So no, murder is not an acceptable part of politics. But Vic's crimes in Lace Doilies are not political and must be dealt with differently. The fact that Vic used to be President muddies the water here, especially because the parallels between him and Trump become explicit when he crows about what he's gotten away with. But no, I did not see that coming in real life. Although if you argue I should have, considering how Trump has escalated the things I've shown about Vic in the past, you are probably right.
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