For Whom The Toll Bells (comic story)
For Whom The Toll Bells was the second comic in the Tales To Behold subseries of the webcomic The Cosmic Beholder, and the fifth story in the series overall. Written and drawn by Paul Hoppe, it was released both in serialised webcomic form and in a limited print run.
It marked the first appearances of Merv the Griffin and Jesse, two recurring characters in the series. It also began the plotline of “Jenny Everywhere” (really Jenny Nowhere posing as her)'s team-up with Captain Evening and his growing team of superheroes.
Contents
Plot
Captain Evening brings Jenny back to his stately home, where she takes a shower and then introduces herself properly to the Captain, claiming to be Jenny Everywhere. Their conversation is cut short by the ringing of the bell from Captain Evening's belltower. They rush there (Jenny using her shifting powers instead of running up the stairs) to discover that the source of the noise was a dejected griffin called Merv who crashed into the bell and is now bemoaning his fate.
Asking him to explain his predicament, they discover that Mervin has been summoned by Doctor Brain and his witch daughter Jesse and is bound to the realm until he can kill Captain Evening — but that the mad scientist neglected to explain to him who or what Captain Evening was, such that Merv is now searching the world in vain, not knowing for sure what he is looking for. Despite Jenny urging him otherwise, Captain Evening, honourable to a fault, confesses that he is Merv's target.
Before Merv can kill him, however, Jenny briefly switches the Captain with his counterpart from a universe populated by zombies. Since Merv has found (a) Captain Evening, deals him a “killing” blow, and the Captain is dead afterward (even if he already was before), the magical contract is fulfilled, and Merv is freed. He vows to take his revenge on Doctor Brain and his daughter; Jenny and the Captain tell him that in that case, he can stick around with them, as they also have a grudge against the wicked Doctor.
Speaking of whom, Doctor Brain, who has put the previous month's griffin plan quite out of his mind, is lounging in his home watching television when his daughter bursts in, having apparently decided to move out of the witch university's dorm rooms, due to her roommate Alicia humiliating her. He hardly has time to even give his assent to her coming back to live with him before he sees that she has already bewitched one of the guest bedrooms to match her opulent gothic aesthetic.
Worldbuilding
Jenny Nowhere
- Jenny continues posing as the Jenny Everywhere. She displays the ability to use shifting to teleport over brief distances without switching universes as well as to quickly make someone switch places with their counterpart in another universe of her choice.
Universes
- This story takes place all in one universe, later named as Reality Z-25 31-H.
- Captain Evening's counterpart in a universe populated by zombies is seen.
- Merv the Griffin was summoned from the Sixth Realm.
Other
- Jesse and Alicia have a magic teacher called Miss Glenda.
Continuity
- This story follows on soon after the events of COMIC: Tales To Behold (with the exception of the first page/“prologue”, which takes place some weekes before the events of the earlier story).
Behind the scenes
Read online
For Whom The Toll Bells is available online on the Cosmic Beholder blog.
