Paranatural

[Kantaki]

New comic
Ah yes, so he can speak normal.
And see for her. That explains that.

[Yuki Akuma]

We've seen Venus "see" for her before - back when she shot the Ghost Train.

[eschmenk]

We've seen Venus "see" for her before - back when she shot the Ghost Train.

Ah, yes, so she could find out what she shot with the love arrow. Then a couple of pages later, she had her tool knocked away from her, so she couldn't use it to see what happened to Spencer.

[Kantaki]

Poor Penny. Working as a waitress means you meet all the nutjobs.
That expression is priceless.

[eschmenk]

Poor Penny. Working as a waitress means you meet all the nutjobs.
That expression is priceless.

I think just being in Moperville means that.

[Robert D. Trayl]

The glacial pace of Paranatural means that even small wrinkles in the plot can take weeks to address. It's easy to lose track of what to even anticipate. Let's remind each other of some of the things we have to look forward to.

[Nettlekid]

The glacial pace of Paranatural means that even small wrinkles in the plot can take weeks to address. It's easy to lose track of what to even anticipate. Let's remind each other of some of the things we have to look forward to.

Mostly what the main crew is up to. Ed being kidnapped by Johnny, Isabel investigating the teacher, Isaac's spirit is sensing something amiss, and Max being told to meet an unknown person in the student shop is a big one. Similarly, the mysterious hand that was behind the tree as they were entering the school shortly before Hijack took over Jeff wasn't addressed, nor was the voice that told Max to duck to dodge Hijack's throw during Hitball, and for that matter whoever put the Doctopus on Max. Max seemed to recognize the voice, I think? I expect it's PJ trying to be a better friend and ally, though it's been left for quite a while.

There's also the whole "Dmitri is obviously a Spectral but not letting Max in on it" thing.

[eschmenk]

New comic: Max speaks for the readers.

At the bottom of the page, there's a helpful link to the last time we've seen Max 30 pages earlier.

[Forum Explorer]

Wow, this school is nothing but a hilarious stack of plots and secrets everywhere isn't it?

[Kantaki]

New comic.

Wouldn't knowing everything be omniscience, not omnipotence?
Not that those clowns would care...
And the line is great either way.

But I wonder how Ed will deal with this.
Blatant lies or forced recruitment into the activity club?

[eschmenk]

But I wonder how Ed will deal with this.
Blatant lies or forced recruitment into the activity club?

It's Ed, so who knows what he'll do? Knowing him, he might try to tell the truth, but do it in such a weird way they'll just be confused or not believe him anyway.

An ironic thing is that Johnny has been possessed by Forge and is starting to see shades, so he really belongs in the activity club. I wonder if he will start to be able to see the train in the picture, like Ed does. (Ed might even think that Johnny sees the train now, since it's floating in the air. Ed might think Johnny saw him through a window. )

[Yuki Akuma]

I'm having a hard time discerning whether Ed's palm thrust actually knocked Johnny down or if Johnny's just overreacting to it on purpose due to Not Feeling It right now.

I mean, Ed has actual training doesn't he? Isabel's father appears to teach actual martial arts as well as Spectral martial arts, so

[Kantaki]

New comic

Right. I forgot that Ed’s spirit was kinda a jerk.
And I guess the slowed time thing* Spectrals can do might have been helpful for that display.

*And the training of course. Not to mention that he doesn't look like he has any training.

[Agi Hammerthief]

Not to mention that he doesn't look like he has any training.

his Memory Bubble doesn't look like he's had any training either.

did Student Council just drop in last panel?

[Forum Explorer]

his Memory Bubble doesn't look like he's had any training either.

did Student Council just drop in last panel?

I thought he got thrown through the door.

Anyways, I love when Max gets to go into full sass mode. It's awesome. (Also sort of his standard state of existence. I like Max. )

[Yuki Akuma]

Max is kind of a ****.

I mean, an entertaining ****, but still a ****.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Anyways, I love when Max gets to go into full sass mode. It's awesome. (Also sort of his standard state of existence. I like Max. )

The repartee in this comic is on another level, to be sure.

Max is kind of a ****.

I mean, an entertaining ****, but still a ****.

Considering how his day has been going and the number of people using him as a pawn, catspaw or otherwise unwilling accessory to their schemes? I think he is absolutely justified in being a humongous jerkasaurus to pretty much anyone involved in said schemes.

[eschmenk]

Considering how his day has been going and the number of people using him as a pawn, catspaw or otherwise unwilling accessory to their schemes? I think he is absolutely justified in being a humongous jerkasaurus to pretty much anyone involved in said schemes.

No, Max would still be a jerk even if they hadn't done anything. If you look back, in his first interaction with anyone outside his family, Max accidentally smashed in Johnny's face, then was a jerk about it. (Fortunately, a doctopi treated Johnny, but no one knew about that.) To be honest, I wouldn't have blamed Johnny or his gang for retaliating against Max. It was just that hey were so weird about it. Also, I don't think Isaac deserved the grief the Max tended to give him. IIRC, the only thing Isaac asked from Max was for Max to ask Spender some questions, which certainly wasn't an unreasonable thing to ask.

[Nettlekid]

No, Max would still be a jerk even if they hadn't done anything. If you look back, in his first interaction with anyone outside his family, Max accidentally smashed in Johnny's face, then was a jerk about it. (Fortunately, a doctopi treated Johnny, but no one knew about that.) To be honest, I wouldn't have blamed Johnny or his gang for retaliating against Max. It was just that hey were so weird about it. Also, I don't think Isaac deserved the grief the Max tended to give him. IIRC, the only thing Isaac asked from Max was for Max to ask Spender some questions, which certainly wasn't an unreasonable thing to ask.

He's a young boy on the edge of puberty, recently displaced and moved away from all his friends in a different city following the trauma of his mother's death. Even without the superparanatural phenomena giving him twice as much to worry about, it doesn't make him a jerk if he lashes out and has difficulty adjusting to a new school and a new life. It just means he needs a little guidance, which he's not getting from his zany father (who's also dealing in a different way with a lot of grief) or Mr. Spender using him as a child soldier to fight a war he's being kept in the dark about. He's not a perfect person, but I forgive his moodiness. And he's perfectly friendly to people like Jeff, Cody, and Violet who have done him no wrong.

The case with Isaac is a bit iffy, and is very much in the vein of potentially toxic friendships in middle school. Max was dismissive of Isaac's melodrama because who wouldn't be, but also I think he was already feeling annoyed about being left in the dark about the ins and outs of paranatural behavior. That's why he was actually sympathetic to Isaac wanting to get info from Spender, and you'll recall Max did try to pry Spender open (which Spender saw through) and reported back everything he could to Isaac. Probably the big hiccup in Max and Isaac's relationship is when Boss Leader revealed that Isaac was purposely being kept in the dark by the Activity Consortium, which gave Max doubts. Max had forged a closer bond with Isabel due to their shared battle, and so felt comfortable asking her about Isaac and the club, and got a fair but salty explanation of Isaac's friction. Isaac reacted harshly to the idea that Max was also keeping secrets from him, which I think is fair of Isaac to do, but when he tried to push Max into revealing things because Max "owed" him, Max took offense to the idea that that's how a friendship works. Again, very reasonable in that situation, Isaac is definitely the one at fault. I don't blame Isaac entirely because it sounds like there are external forces working hard to keep him down and we still don't know why, but it doesn't make Isaac very approachable.

[Yuki Akuma]

I'm not saying Max is a bad person. I'm just saying he's a ****.

[eschmenk]

I'm not saying Max is a bad person. I'm just saying he's a ****.

Yeah, I don't think this is a comic where you want to get caught up too much in issues of morality. Everything is cranked up past 11.

[Nettlekid]

Yeah, I don't think this is a comic where you want to get caught up too much in issues of morality. Everything is cranked up past 11.

Are you kidding? Half the comic is about morality. Doorman instructing Isaac on temperance while Isaac's spirit (King C?) advocates justice through strength. Spender operating on an ends-justify-the-means mentality while Forge decries exactly that, and both Lucifer and Francisco Guerra warn him against acting immorally for moral reasons. Eightfold's parting speech to Isabel about treating others as people versus things and unlearning prejudice. Max chewing out Hijack for fighting Jeff's battle against his bullies and using it as a cover to be a sadistic bully himself. Heck, even Racist Whale Frog's rant about spirits being imprisoned and used to combat others of their own kind for the sake of humanity. This comic is dripping with conversations about morality, regardless of how zany it gets.

[Forum Explorer]

Eh, Max being a bit of a jerk isn't all that bad of a thing. I mean, his first encounter with Johnny went so poorly because he was seeing a spirit and accidentally insulted him as a result. Besides that, his snark has mostly been sarcastic comments and the occasional insult. But being a jerk doesn't mean being a bad person, Max has plenty of other qualities showing that when the chips are down he aims to do the right thing, from cheering up Peewee, to protecting Isabel, to taking the hit in dodgeball for Johnny, to trying to teach Johnny to be a better person, and even simply reassuring Boss-Leader that he's not in danger when he very clearly is.

But yes, he is a bit of a jerk. He has no qualms about needling anyone or anything that he considers an enemy, or annoyance. Or person in his immediate vicinity. Though it's generally light-hearted. I don't think he's said anything particularly vicious yet.

Also he's a 12 year old child. It'd be weird for him to be a perfect paragon of virtue.

[eschmenk]

Are you kidding? Half the comic is about morality. Doorman instructing Isaac on temperance while Isaac's spirit (King C?) advocates justice through strength. Spender operating on an ends-justify-the-means mentality while Forge decries exactly that, and both Lucifer and Francisco Guerra warn him against acting immorally for moral reasons. Eightfold's parting speech to Isabel about treating others as people versus things and unlearning prejudice. Max chewing out Hijack for fighting Jeff's battle against his bullies and using it as a cover to be a sadistic bully himself. Heck, even Racist Whale Frog's rant about spirits being imprisoned and used to combat others of their own kind for the sake of humanity. This comic is dripping with conversations about morality, regardless of how zany it gets.

Yeah, but that's right there in your face. I meant that you don't want to worry about subtle stuff. Also, there is a distinction between a writer having characters behaving in certain ways because of their views of morality and a writer trying to encourage readers to examine moral issues.

Eh, Max being a bit of a jerk isn't all that bad of a thing. I mean, his first encounter with Johnny went so poorly because he was seeing a spirit and accidentally insulted him as a result. Besides that, his snark has mostly been sarcastic comments and the occasional insult. But being a jerk doesn't mean being a bad person, Max has plenty of other qualities showing that when the chips are down he aims to do the right thing, from cheering up Peewee, to protecting Isabel, to taking the hit in dodgeball for Johnny, to trying to teach Johnny to be a better person, and even simply reassuring Boss-Leader that he's not in danger when he very clearly is.

But yes, he is a bit of a jerk. He has no qualms about needling anyone or anything that he considers an enemy, or annoyance. Or person in his immediate vicinity. Though it's generally light-hearted. I don't think he's said anything particularly vicious yet.

Also he's a 12 year old child. It'd be weird for him to be a perfect paragon of virtue.

I agree with your point, although I'd say that Max was acting like a bit of a jerk with Johnny's gang and was enjoying making them angry in addition to freaking out over the doctopi on Johnny's head. But yeah, I don't think Max is a bad kid at all. He definitely has morals and acts upon them.

[Nettlekid]

New comic's up.

Spoiler

Show

So who do we think the student council's secret president is? Considering there's definitely more to the character than we've been exposed to, I'm inclined to think Dmitri? It would make sense then that he's part of the Journalism club to keep an eye on Suzy and her rumors, yet isn't at all interested in the scoops she's picking up and wasn't involved in trying to blackmail Max. Especially if his greater goal is to keep the activities of the Activity Club secret, it would make sense for him to play all sides. Then again, his disdain for the Student Council's plan during Hitball wouldn't make sense with that in mind.

Then again it could just be someone kind of off the wall, like RJ. No one knows their face, so they could be living a double life that way.

[eschmenk]

New comic's up.

Spoiler

Show

So who do we think the student council's secret president is? Considering there's definitely more to the character than we've been exposed to, I'm inclined to think Dmitri? It would make sense then that he's part of the Journalism club to keep an eye on Suzy and her rumors, yet isn't at all interested in the scoops she's picking up and wasn't involved in trying to blackmail Max. Especially if his greater goal is to keep the activities of the Activity Club secret, it would make sense for him to play all sides. Then again, his disdain for the Student Council's plan during Hitball wouldn't make sense with that in mind.

Then again it could just be someone kind of off the wall, like RJ. No one knows their face, so they could be living a double life that way.

I think Ollie believes too much in the Friendship Fusion gang to keep the student council out if RJ was the student council president. My guess is that it's the Vice Principal. Ignoring the vote and appointing herself sounds like the sort of sneaky thing she would do. It would certainly explain why the identity is a secret. I wonder if the other student council members meet with her face-to-face or if she hides her identity even from them.

[Forum Explorer]

I think it's whoever Hijack is trying to target. For some reason.

[Yuki Akuma]

Oh my god. The way Max is petting that Doctopus is downright adorable.

[Elda]

The glacial pace of Paranatural means that even small wrinkles in the plot can take weeks to address. It's easy to lose track of what to even anticipate. Let's remind each other of some of the things we have to look forward to.

That gets me wondering, how many in-world days have actually passed since the start of the comic?

[Nettlekid]

That gets me wondering, how many in-world days have actually passed since the start of the comic?

I'm pretty sure it's been like almost a week maybe. Day zero is moving in, and night zero is first seeing PJ briefly and being nervous in his room. Day one is Max goes to school, starts seeing shades, meets everyone and gets his bat, etc etc. Night one is fighting Racist Whale Frog. Day two is Isaac's shortcut and getting to know paranatural stuff more. Night two is Spender visiting Boss Leader. Day three is meeting Eightfold and being briefed on the Ghost Train mission. Night three is the Ghost Train mission. Day four is currently Hitball and Hijack. It's possible that there was a skipped day or two in there, because day three went by really quickly and there may have been others unaccounted for, but it's definitely not a lot of time.