Life… in the Heart of the City (comic story)
Life… in the Heart of the City was the fourth chapter in the Journey Into Misery subseries of the webcomic The Cosmic Beholder. Written and drawn by Paul Hoppe, it was released both in serialised webcomic form and in a limited print run.
Although Jenny Everywhere was a recurring character in The Cosmic Beholder, she played no part in this story, which instead starred the Terrific Two (Kelly and Jenkins).
Contents
Plot
With the Terrific Two back in New York City, Kelly is in the process of announcing to Jenkins that she intends to become a supervillain to fund her “expensive lifestyle” when a group of dour-looking secret-agent types with black suits and sunglasses literally burst into the room, announcing that the two are under arrest in the name of the Bureau of Singularity. It transpires that the Two having survived their original encounter with the Vanilla Puddings of Riegel 6 represents a deviation from the officially-sanctioned course of history.
However, the bureaucratically-minded Singularity agents begin arguing among themselves about what part of their code, precisely, gives them the right to arrest Kelly and Jenkins. The two take the opportunity to slip away. After blending in withan animal-rights protest to stay undetected, the two make their way to the rooftops, but even there they are not safe from the Bureau's forces, as they are confronted with the robotic Agent Watertower. Though Jenkins tricks the watertower into destroying itself, the sewers prove no safer a hiding place, with anthropomorphic crocodiles working for the Bureau trying to stop them. However, they too are defeated when Kelly uses her fire-based abilities to ignite the methane in the sewers, causing an explosion.
Tired, naked and covered in mud, the two end up being confused for the stars of an amateur performance art show, and Jenkins' quick improvisational skills make their act a success. The oddball troupe invites them to stay, and, realising that the Bureau don't seem to be able to detect them within the already chaotic and paradoxical New Yor underground art scene, the two agree to stick around.
Worldbuilding
Universes
- This story takes place all in one universe, later named as Reality Z-25 31-H.
Other
- The Bureau of Singularity also prosecute “interdimensional loitering”.
Continuity
- This story references the events of the original COMIC: Journey Into Misery on two occasions, first with Kelly recalling how her company was destroyed by aliens, and second through the Bureau of Singularity's claim that Kelly and Jenkins were originally both fated to die “on their adventure in space”.
- The next long-form The Cosmic Beholder story, COMIC: Singularity War, follows on directly from this story.
Behind the scenes
Read online
Life… in the Heart of the City is available online on the Cosmic Beholder blog.
