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Distressed damsels: Unused Sexy Librarian Emp scene from EMPOWERED vol. 3!
🕑 Added 2019-07-31 13:01:02 +0000 UTCOkay, so the page above did actually see print in Empowered vol. 3, but I'm showing it here just to set the scene, okay?
That sequence appears roughly midway through the vol. 3 story "Mysterious Dumbass," which you can check out (and catch up on) here. However, as that webcomic page's commentary details, "Dumbass" was a desperate attempt to meet a looming deadline by combining an incomplete, never-finished Emp "Sexy Librarian" story with pages of semi-"meta" Caged Demonwolf commentary (which doesn't show up in the original story's jpeg above, nor the one below).
The published version of this scene cuts off at the page above, then rolls onward into Caged Demonwolf commentary. Now, with today's DiD post, enjoy... the rest of the (unfinished) story, such as it is.
To get you up to speed (if you didn't read the linked webcomic episode), Emp has once again dolled herself up as the Sexy Librarian—in lingerie, no less!—to lure the attention of a mysterious poltergeist haunting an allegedly Overlook-ish hotel. In theory, her teammates were supposed to monitor the situation to keep her safe but, well, they didn't. (Go figure.)
So we pick up this incomplete story after the poltergeist has dragged off Sexy Lingerie Librarian Emp and telekinetically tied her to a chair. Let the high-contrast, Sharpie-based art (and bountiful thought balloons) commence:
(Gotta say that having anxious stammering in a g-d thought balloon is a rather, ah, counter-intuitive creative choice on 2006-Era Me's part.)
The next page pushes the high-contrast riff into straight-up goofiness, given that I'm not sure how the hell that chalk would be visible in a seemingly darkened room:
No, wait... Could that possibly be ectoplasm-based, glow-in-the-dark chalk? Perhaps so!
Yeahp, the poltergeist wound up speaking in this unused sequence. But what's up with this apparently DiD-oriented spirit, folks?
Yeahp, you (presumably) guessed it: The poltergeist was supposed to be the ghost of a deceased supervillain, as the next page clarifies further:
...And clunk, that was where this episode cut off, as I lost interest in this Sexy Librarian episode after pausing it to tackle some other freelance work. Months later, looking back over the scene, I decided that featuring a supervillain who (while both alive and dead) was clearly turned on by superdamsels in distress was not a direction I wanted to go with the series, especially after belatedly working the so-called "Unwritten Rules" governing villain/hero interactions into the Empowered universe—which would frown on such unseemly behavior, to put it mildly.
Then again, at present I have absolutely no recollection whatsoever as to how the rest of the story would've unfolded; might be that the narrative had just stalled out in my mind, as occasionally happens. Guess we'll never know what was supposed to happen, folks!
Comments
Adam Warren
Yeah, I don't think the Sexy Librarian has appeared since, jeez, a flashback way back in EMP7. I do recall that I did a DiD sketch page a few years ago featuring the cosplay with Emp sporting her more up-to-date physique; I'll see if I can dig that up for a future DiD Wednesday sketch dump.
KranberriJam
So we get a little more answers for this scene. I always wondered what exactly happened. On page 14, panel 2, Emp looks really hot, just saying. Random question, but any chance we'll get to see Emp in this outfit since she's a little bigger? May just be my memory, but I feel like it's been a long time since she's worn it.
Adam Warren
You're very much welcome! Thanks for the support!
Adam Warren
Nope, don't think I ever used her anywhere else, for good or ill. I can say, however, that the taped-up damsel at upper right looks oddly like Nene from BUBBLEGUM CRISIS, though this wasn't meant to be a direct reference.
J.
Always wondered if there was more to this scene. Happily, I was right!! Thanks for posting!
andrew
Sounds like this "Mysterious Dumbass" and Chloroformaster should hang out. Or not. Yeah. Probably not. Have we ever seen the superheroine in the top-left of the last page? She looks familiar. Also is her mask supposed to be an "X", thus making her "Rx"? The prescription for justice?
