Betrayal of Brothers (comic story)
Betrayal of Brothers was a five-page Jenny Everywhere comic story created by Jack Harvey, featuring his default Jenny.
Contents
Plot
Two brothers, Trent and Billy, check in at a “slummy bar”, asking for drinks and two rooms. They are accosted by Jenny Everywhere, who remarks that they don't seem like the type to hang out in an establishment like this. They explain that they are native to one of the bunkers, which was laid waste to by the Kievs, wiping out the rest of their family. They want to get to “one of the Citydromes” before war fully breaks out and “the whole thing goes nuclear” — although a strangely unperturbed Jenny replies that she isn't so sure that the conflict can only resolve itself through a nuclear exchange.
In a flashback to two days earlier, the moments leading up to the death of Trent and Billy's parents are seen.
Back in the bar, Jenny recalls the history of this planet to the brothers, having learned it from an old man she crossed paths with earlier. When the colony started out, the planet was under the direct control of the Earth's United Nations, with no politics of its own. However, as bunkers were dug ever deeper and citydromes built ever higher, and the planet got wealthier, factions arose that started vying for power, including the Eagles and the Kievs. War between the Eagles and Kiev broke out, lasting two hundred years and cutting back the planet's population by two thirds. Eventually, a truce was agreed upon: the Kievs and Eagles would cease recruiting from the civilian population and only fight each other on a small scale, without involving the wider population. This relative peace has held out for five hundred years, and Jenny remarks that neither Faction would be willing to break it unless “they had nothing to lose… or they were tricked”.
Realising she's onto him, Billy reveals his true colours, pulling a gun on Trent. He explains that he engineered the attack on the bunker, leaking fake information about the bunker having allied with the Eagles and then letting the Kievs in, in order to be able to finally leave the bunker, having been miserable living in Trent's shadow. Jenny tires to dissuade Bill from shooting Trent, but he does so anyway — only to immediately suffer the consequence as the very “old man” who told Jenny about the planet's history arrives. Turning out to be a ruthless “keeper of the peace”, the old man easily overpowers Billy and ends up hanging him outside the bar. Disappointed that Billy didn't listen to her warning, Jenny shifts away.
Worldbuilding
Jenny Everywhere
- The story stars Jack Harvey's default Jenny.
Universes
- The story takes place in an unidentified universe, in a future where humans have colonised other planets.
Other
- Billy is twenty-four years old.
Behind the scenes
Background
When posting the story, Jack Harvey gave it the following commentary:
| I'm back with a new Jenny comic, that's right! Betrayal of Brothers began life as a Future Shocks submission for 2000 AD. The script was never picked up, so I decided to rework it into a Jenny Everywhere strip. |
| —Jack Harvey |
Read online
The story's five pages are available on the author's blog). They are additionally mirrored here with the permission of Jack Harvey.
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