Pibgorn by Brooke McEldowney

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Fairportfan said, about 1 year ago

And Dru Falls Down, and Queenie and Satori obliviously continue their duel, and Pib pops out in the (theoretically) Real World and Inky seems to be beginning to de-rez…
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…and it’s Friday.
K.B. said, about 1 year ago

Um hm! He said he would extract the “pollution,” and he extracts Pib! So Pib is out of the game, Dru is still in it AND is still the portal between. Good thing Satori has enough focus to keep her attentions on the queen lest she get zoinked.
Bucky Katt said, about 1 year ago

Geoff - He called your girlfriend “vile pollution,” right in front of you. So are you going to kick his butt, or what?
macFicheallaigh said, about 1 year ago

Pibgorn was the “vile pollution”?
Lampblack said, about 1 year ago

Yeah… Pibgorn was the “pollution.” She was, after all, what the inky boy extracted.

I’m still wondering how the incubus made his way into the real world?!
PhotoArtist01 said, about 1 year ago

Inky’s a demon; Dru’s a demon. Pib isn’t. It makes sense that, from a demon’s POV, anything non-demonic inhabiting (or co-habituating) the body of a demon doesn’t belong there & is therefore “pollution”.
Margueritem said, about 1 year ago

Exactly.
Bucky Katt said, about 1 year ago

I still think Inky is Spitcock, who’s pretty much contemptous of fairy-type folk, per the brownie incident early in the story. He has a higher regard for Dru as a fellow demon, and perhaps because she boned his lights out.
AliKzam said, about 1 year ago

Uh-oh!
This presents a whole new set of questions. Is Pib getting sucked into Inky, or she simply being extracted from Dru? If she’s not being sucked into Inky, what will he attempt to do to Pib, once she’s completely separated from Dru? What will Geoff and Luciano try to do about it? Is Inky really Spitcock, and if not, what could Pib do to stop him, should she survive this (I have a feeling she might, seeing as how the strip is named after her, but you never know)?
Also, we know that Satori is focused, but did Lena happen to catch any of this?
SirMirom said, about 1 year ago

Inky the Incubus extracts Pib the Pollutant from Dru the Demonchick.

Hence Dru being a little too, um, tied up to interfere in battle.

Dru/Pib was NOT the portal Inky used - he used the ‘official’ front door, the screen in that other room.

Satori is busy playing out her function.

Queen Lena is understandably a little busy, and depending on how the game has ‘assimilated’ her, she may not have any free will to do anything but fight She Who Is Sworn To Cleave Her.

Roger is undoubtedly trying to help without getting toasted himself or losing his sister. Or, he’s just whimpering on the floor rubbing his wrists, dunno.

Pib is about to pop out - Geoff will clearly pick her up - Inky will then try to slay them both but Pib will fight back (or Mr Bloated Fly will)… and then Spitcock will come and SOMETHING will happen.

I firmly believe Spitcock is…
a) not a demon
b) QED not Inky (Inky, please pardon the expression, just ‘got lucky’ by meeting Dru. He’s a victim here too.)
c) nothing but a twisted, sick old computer programmer
d) not out for the count yet by a long shot
e) maybe Satori’s father????

Those are my predictions.

My sympathies to those back home in Houston who may not have electricity to check on Pib’s Progress come Monday! (and oh yeah, may that be their WORST problem!)
The Old Wolf said, about 1 year ago

SirMirom, some good speculation. My only question is about Spitcock - well, I have a lot of questions, but the big one in my mind is that Spitcock was “digital” even in the outside world. Remember when Dru zapped him, he regenerated - outside of the game. A crotchety old programmer would have a hard time doing that… and I have no answers to my own questions.

But there’s a hot time in the old town tonight, that’s for certain.
UncaAlby said, about 1 year ago

Bucky Katt says:

Geoff - He called your girlfriend “vile pollution,” right in front of you. So are you going to kick his butt, or what?
.
My prediction would be the “what.”
UncaAlby said, about 1 year ago

SirMirom says:

Queen Lena […] may not have any free will to do anything but fight She Who Is Sworn To Cleave Her.
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I think she already has quite enough cleavage actually.
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Roger [might be] just whimpering on the floor rubbing his wrists […]
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I get the impression his character is more proactive than that. He may yet prove to be the trump card.
UncaAlby said, about 1 year ago

I’m still thinking Inky is not Spitcock. The only problem with this theory is his concern with whether or not it’s possible for Dru’s dreaming that she’s dead might cause her to actually die.
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Despite that little problem, my favorite speculation is that Inky’s actual origination is Drusilla’s dream. She dreamed him up in a game that causes mental thoughts to actually happen, at least within the confines of the system, so her demonic sexual fantasy came to life; literally.
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This wouldn’t have happened with anybody else – only because it’s the dream of a demon.
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And unless Spitcock has an observation port into the game somehow, he has no clue that Inky has escaped.
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But, hey, I was in the “Lena isn’t the Evil Queen” camp, so clearly my analytical powers are questionable at best!
michaelw777 said, about 1 year ago

Don’t feel bad Uncle Alby; I thought I had at least a piece of this nailed a few days ago, only to be wrong the very next day!
DeathDealer said, about 1 year ago

In looking at Dru in today’s panel, it appears that she is consumed by paroxysms of some unknown energy. This is probably because of the entity transfer going on Inky’s side of reality.
Having transumed Pib, will Inky next sprout wings? What degree of control will Pib have over Inky? What will be Pib’s interaction with Geoff? (That could be really interesting!)
Meanwhile Roger is experiencing a lot of cognitive dissonance since his sister and his “virtual” love are both in a duel to the death.
One more thing… if Lena is the “queen,” is there also a “king” with whom we have yet to meet?
ScutBoy said, about 1 year ago

My thought is that Spitcock and the incubus are the same. Spitcock is the “real-world” identity or manifestation of the incubus.

Since he’s at home, he can be running around in his normal form instead of wearing the the Spitcock “skin”.

Or- I could be wrong :-)
cfortunato said, about 1 year ago

I don’t think that’s Dru/Pib, just Pib encased in something. Dru is in the panel. And I think Inky is rescuing Pib, not extracting her as “pollution.”

But I’m also very confused.
pibfan868 said, about 1 year ago

Note that Pib/hull and Inky ALL have the ragged edges. Whatever happens here, it’s got them all in a state of disarray. If the hull in fact has any persona, or is merely the extraction shell, that remains to be seen.
I do think that Inky could view Pib as pollution inside Dru, but I don’t think Dru is present in the real world, although she’s been impacted by it. Notice her color changes, especially in her wings.
We’ll see next week——
I’ll add my best wishes for the folks on the coast too.
jackyates said, about 1 year ago

Mr. M must have been a fan of the the old “Perils of Pauline” movies (starring Pearl White) at the Saturday matinee. here’s Pib, hanging by a plasmatic thread, somewhat attached to Dru but yet in limbo, perhaps soon to fall to the floor, or is she going to be Inky’s next conquest, and isn’t it Friday again?

Will the ropes that bind Pauline to the railroad tracks fail and set her free? Will the train stop in time? Will Pauline be cloven in twain? Will Dudley DoRight arrive in time to shoot out the tires on the locomotive? Come to next week’s matinee, kids, and find out…..
Orgelspieler said, about 1 year ago

Bucky - “kick his butt”???? Remember what happened to B’rer Rabbit when he kicked the tarbaby. Inky, especially in the present panel, presents some significant similarities to tarbaby… (aaaah, alliteration’s artful aid, as Lord Peter said succinctly)… or don’t you think so?
Orgelspieler said, about 1 year ago

I’m still wondering whether Brooke’s choice of “satori” as the name for the sword’s owner means what I think it will in the end. Heh. Heh. Heh. Probably not though, that would be too obvious and that’s just not like our Brooke.
Pokefan_Frank said, about 1 year ago

AliKazam:
“should [Pib] survive this”

Pib has been killed off and mourned before. The process to get her to be alive again was a rather complicated explanation, but was possible.

—

SirMirom:
“Inky … used the ‘official’ front door, the screen in that other room.”

If the screen is the “official front door&”, then that should mean Geoff should be able to enter through it, without fearing being trapped in the game (if he can find his way back to the screen once within the game world) and perhaps that it’s how Roger and Lena can be literally brung back to reality.

—

DeathDealer:
”…if Lena is the “queen,” is there also a “king” with whom we have yet to meet?”

I doubt there is, because it seems Lena is only too casual about “deflowering” her victims. If there were a king, she would most likely have to be married to him (rarely does a modern game feature a queen and king of the same kingdom with no relation), which means they would’ve sent their “armies” (guards, toadies, and … Fortescue?) at one another in a fight over infidelity. Thus one of the two is sure to be dead or in hiding by now. …Which brings the question of whether this whole castle is where Lena is “in hiding”?

—

Pibfan868:
“Note that Pib/hull and Inky ALL have the ragged edges”

Those don’t really look to me like intentionally jagged edges (maybe I should see the sketch first); it’s more of a Photoshop-ish effect (wish I could remember the name) which has the side effect of blurring the colors together. I think the idea here is that Pib is not currently solidly manifested in the realworld just yet, and that whatever Inky is doing is affecting all three of them.

—

Roger, but not THAT one:
“I’m still wondering whether Brooke’s choice of “satori” as the name for the sword’s owner means what I think it will in the end. Heh. Heh. Heh. Probably not though, that would be too obvious and that’s just not like our Brooke.”

Remember that this *is* supposed to be taking place in a game, and games do indeed do that, quite a lot.
txmystic said, about 1 year ago

I dunno…if the Incubuis is extracting Pib out of the Dru/Pib combo, why does it look like he himself is being drawn into Pib (or perhaps that is meant to show the power of his extraction abilities)?

There is an argument for Spitcock and the Incubus being separate entities. Spitcock trapped both Dru and Pib, so why would he want Pib gone now (unless because of his “moment” with Dru, he wants the pure essence-o-Dru for his energy feedings…further, if the Incubus is not Spitcock, how did he know (a) how to exit the game, (b) where to find the “real” Pib/Dru to make the extraction?)?

Why do I keep asking questions only to put my own answer in parentheses (That’s just how I roll)?

Yuk yuk yuk
maeverin said, about 1 year ago

crazy thought…what if Inky IS actually Roger as had been speculated a few days ago, and the “vile pollution” is Dru who influenced impressionable Lena to be the promiscuous, plasma-shooting Queen. it would make sense he would want to keep the dangerous one tied up. then he can re-enter the game via Dru and become Dru/Inky then we’d really see some plasma action!
Poms said, about 1 year ago

ahh, the weekend to ponder. Think Inky and Spitcock are the same. I do not think a “real” demon would stutter when Dru asked who he was (ahem, your worst nightmare). Spitcock is probably living out a fantasy he did not even know he had til after his encounter with Dru.
Tho, strictly speculating… always a surprise to see.
Wonder if Dru stays in the game without Pib, will she loose the wings? Think Lena may have noticed Dru’s “condition”.
ozzimandius said, about 1 year ago

I have to agree with Poke Fan Frank in his answer to Roger but not that one. Games do that kinda stuff all the time. One very Prime example is for those that PLay Ever Quest, One of the main human citties is Qeynos…. reverse it…
Sony EQ Sony being the game manufacturer. On another note, I was Right about Dru/Pib becoming unmerged at least now lets see what other kindafun stuff our fav lil fairy can have.
Paigely said, about 1 year ago

When I look at the Dru/Pib/Inky, I think of putting two tacky glue-covered surfaces together, and then pulling them apart. Its like Inky pressed in, is pulling apart, and Pib is stuck in between both of them during the extraction process.

I’m beginning to wonder if Spitcock isn’t a digital/magical manifestation of Inky, as someone mentioned, an avatar. As far as I’m concerned, Inky cannot be a victim of this since he is able to come and go as he wishes. He seemed implicitly aware of Pib and Dru being merged, because he came out, went straight over to them, and pronounced it digusting. Assuming Inky and Spitcock are interrelated somehow, my guess is that Inky’s perception of Dru took a drastic turn when he went from predator to…prey? My guess is that he decided to change the status quo as a result, but he wants to keep Dru under his thumb (as his love slave, most likely!) so he’s throwing Pib out like he tossed the little Brownie.
Radical-Knight said, about 1 year ago

So many questions and ballpark assumptions, I have another one for y’all to ponder. Should Pib be fully purged from the Dru character (as you see her losing her wings and regaining her “usual” dappled coloring) is she also regaining full control of her usual “demonic” powers minus the temporing effects of Pibs’ non-violent “fairy” tendencies? And furthermore why remove Pib leaving Dru strung up and in the game unless Pibs’ nature was somehow limiting Dru’s potential within the game where Inky will surely return.

Pib was originally abducted by Spitcock who used Fairy power for his research? experiments? whatever. Dru came searching for Pib and was absorbed into her essence. Lena while struggling with Roger accidentally fell into the game moments later, elsewhere, presumably in Roger’s computer at home (I think I recall him lifting a diskette while at Spitcock’s). Roger returned to Spitcock’s to inquire about hi ssister and leaped thru a screen into the game.

Remember Dru and Pib flying along and remarking about the castle wasn’t there just a moment ago, implying that the castle was created for her benefit? OK, enough rambling. I’ll be here in Houston and online again after Ike has done its thing.
Poms said, about 1 year ago

Spitcock and Inky avatars - I like that. Reminds me a bit of a Harlan Ellison story… machines (games) come alive and take over. And of course the machines did not respect any “other life forms” (human or magical), so why would Spitcock and Inky - they are using both humans and magical creatures for their play. Looking forward to Monday.
Bucky Katt said, about 1 year ago

Is Lena’s power weakening as Inky “pulls the plug” on Pib, so to speak? She’s starting to look a bit worried there. Though Dru is still powering the game, is the flow being disrupted as Pib is yanked out?
Eric Hurst said, about 1 year ago

Hey guys, if you are Twitter users be sure to follow Pibgorn on Twitter. Just click the Twitter icon above the comic to go to Pibgorn’s Twitter page.
Kyuzio said, about 1 year ago
I believe that Spitcock, The Evil Knight (who has not been seen since he impaled Dru against that tree), and Inky are all the same being. You must remember that Spitcock has been has stated his disappointment in the power which he has been able to draw from Pib prior to her merging with Dru. He was also very impressed with the power Dru brought into the game. My reasoning/evidence:
1. Spitcock pushed Dru into Pib causing them to merge.
2. The Evil Knight saves Lena for use as his pawn later in the game (prevents everyone in the game from coming after him)
3. The Evil Knight comments on the “clueless omnipotent succubus” (indicating an awareness of the people involved) and then impales her to check out what she can do. Using the term “omnipotent” classes Dru as a very desireable power source.
4. Inky conveniently drains Dru of energy whenever she “dies”. Out of all the characters being killed repeatedly in the game, Dru is the only one that has a “dream” sequence and incubus lover who drains her. Well, at least until Dru decides she likes what’s happening and gets into it and drains Inky dry.
5. Inky steps nonchalantly out of the game and decides and decides to get rid of what he considers a disappointing power source in favor of Dru who is dripping with power so he extracts Pib and, we can assume, will just throw her away as he has done with other fairy creatures. Knowing Pib as we do, probably not the smartest move he’s made.
6. I am sure that Spitcock is aware of Roger’s entrance into the game. As Evil Knight he saw Roger with Dru and Satori. I just think he dismisses him as unimportant. Also, probably not a good move. 15 year-old geeky virgins are notoriously unpredictable. Add in the fact that Roger’s sister and his “true love” are ats stake, all bets are off.
7. Inky/Spitcock may believe that he has evrything under control with regards to Dru being trapped as his power source. Aslo a bad assumption on his part. Never, ever think you control Drusilla. Omnipotent succubi get cranky when they think they are being manipulated or controlled.
Loving the way this is going!
Kyuzio said, about 1 year ago

Radical-Knight says:

“… is she also regaining full control of her usual “demonic” powers minus the temporing effects of Pibs’ non-violent “fairy” tendencies?”

Dru was affected by Pib’s nonviolent tendencies? Do you remember Dru putting her footlong fingernails through Satori’s head? Now that is violent!

It was very nicely drawn, though. Very memorable!
Kyuzio said, about 1 year ago

Hmmm..how exactly do you quote another post and get it so nicely italicized?
QueenMum said, about 1 year ago

Good grief people! Some of you are over-analyzing this story to death. It’s a terrific story - one of his best yet - just enjoy it.
maeverin said, about 1 year ago

QueenMum:
part of enjoying this story is the over analyzing!
Ralph Bowman:

copy and paste the quote into the comment box and surround it with < > (lets see if that worked…)
maeverin said, about 1 year ago

nope–
huh, now?
maeverin said, about 1 year ago

yes! nevermind the <>, surround with the star key!* *
Radical-Knight said, about 1 year ago

Over analyzing? Yes I suppose so. I tend to do that on a regular basis. I am truly disappointed with episodes where you can predict the direction they’re going. I am always impressed with those stories where people say “I didn’t see that one coming!”
DeathDealer said, about 1 year ago

Part of the fun is speculating over what might happen. This is the only forum that I have seen with so much intellectual power applied.
In trying to think of something really different, consider Thorax entering at this point.
Tombstone1881 said, about 1 year ago

UncaAlby says:
*Bucky Katt says:
Geoff - He called your girlfriend “vile pollution,” right in front of you. So are you going to kick his butt, or what?*

My prediction would be the “what.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Underestimate Geoff at your own peril, or suffer the fate of Orlando Pick!
AliKzam said, about 1 year ago

Two theories about why this game exists.

Spitcock is Satori’s father (like Sirimom said). Satori, in the real world, has a debilitating and fatal illness. By creating this world for her, he is able to keep her alive longer. The “magic as a power source” line he gave Roger wasn’t so much about paying his energy bills, but rather about keeping the game going to keep his daughter alive.
The game is another dimension. However, as long as this “Suzerain” is unable to control it, it’s fate is in peril (it could cease to exist). Bringing in people from this dimension into theirs keeps their dimension going. Consequently, beings from their dimension cannot exist in ours, and vice versa. That is why the brownie kicked it (which I actually don’t remember. I’ll have to look back). It’s also why Spitcock made his appearance the way he did to Roger (this is assuming Spitcock is Inky).

That’s all I got.
Orgelspieler said, about 1 year ago

First off, I’ll admit proudly to never having played a computer game any more complicated than MahJongg. Don’t know how they work or how they’re designed, and don’t care to know. TMI.

I’ve been a fan, on and off, of oriental anime since the 1960’s (and yes, it goes that far back… google “Panda and the Magic Serpent”, sometime.)

I practice Southern style Hung Gar Kung Fu and Wu Style Tai Chi, and consider myself competent to critique swordsmanship and fighting technique, except for the parts involving spells or plasma beams from the fingertips.

I’m a pretty darned good classical musician, although NOT on stringed instruments, and feel a kinship of sorts with the artist.

Beyond all that, I mostly just like checking into a magical universe during my coffee break, enjoying a good storyline with great pictures, and reading all the overanalyzed guesses!!!
TJ said, about 1 year ago

Hey, y’all just keep the overanalyizing firing away. Very enjoyable. Go Pib! Go Dru! Go Brooke! Oh, and on a side note, can’t we get a more slinky robe or something on Lena (adult Lena, of course)?
GorgoloChick said, about 1 year ago

Been busy, but I have to weigh in here. I think Pib/Dru is a power source connected to the game, and through that connection her/her/their non-physical essense appears in the game, BUT both of their physical beings are merged in the power circuit. They are not a portal, in my mind, as everyone else that has entered the game did so through computer screens. I think Inky is pulling Pib out of Dru because Dru is what he is interested in and some other being merged with her is automatically ‘pollution’ in his mind. I don’t think Inky and Pib are merging, I think the energy required is scrambling them, but once he achieves separation between the girls, he and Pib will stabilize, while Dru alone will be in the semi-transparant captive power source state. At which point I wonder if she will become able to break free, where Pib couldn’t? The bonds meant for a fairy probably can’t hold a sucubus alone. Inky and Pib may even team up to help Dru escape. Maybe Inky will turn out to be the hero of the piece? I rather like the suggestion that Inky is not only not Spitcock, but he is a manifest creation of Dru’s ideal demon lover. I just don’t think he is behaving at all like he is in any way an avatar for Spitcock. I think he’s a joker in the pack that Spitzy didn’t plan for, like so many of the characters!
GorgoloChick said, about 1 year ago

DeathDealer says: In trying to think of something really different, consider Thorax entering at this point.
Bingo! Thorax is Inky! He’s been fascinated by Dru ever since the whole man-in-black thing.
K.B. said, about 1 year ago

Ralph Bowman says:
I believe that Spitcock, The Evil Knight (who has not been seen since he impaled Dru against that tree), and Inky are all the same being.

One thing to consider is the panel where Lena was (presumably) killed by an armored knight (Dec 21 2007) was at the same time that Spitcock was in the lab – though with a surprised expression on his face when it happened. There’s a connection there for certain, but if the knight, the incubus, and Spitcock all represent one being, then that being can be in two (or more) places at the same time and in different guises – and each guise can act on its own and surprise the other.

The knight that slew Dru – THAT one I could believe is Spitcock.
UncaAlby said, about 1 year ago

I FEEL SORRY FOR BROOKE McELDOWNEY!
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He’s got a lot of speculation coming from his fans. Yes, quite a lot of over-analysis and such. How many cartoonists can boast such a brainy following?
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And he’s got to stay two steps ahead of everybody!
K.B. said, about 1 year ago

Another observation:

While the big screen served as a door for the incubus, the Dru/Pib combo can be a portal into the game as well.

Roger entered the game through his own computer screen (Jan 2 2008) as did Lena (Dec 7 2007) but right after Lena’s disappearance, when Roger he dashed into Spitcocks’ lab demanding to know where is sister was and Spitcock was not there, Roger discovered Pib/Dru behind the curtain. Like any hormonal teenage boy, he took a closer look at her “Charlies,” and got zapped with a plasma bolt that blasted him out of the lab (and dashing back to his own computer). As he was playing the voyeur, Dru/Pib in the game looked back and saw him surrounded by plasma peering into the game (Dec 31 2007) just before he got flung out of the lab.

Where was Spitcock at this time, I wonder? Just moments before, right after Dru had merged with Pib and tried to blast Spitcock, the plasma bolts zapped right back into her and Spitcock stood there crowing “Splendid!” (Dec 19 2007). Next, Lena encountered the knight in the game and is (presumably) slain and at the same time, Spitcock loks surprised (Dec 21, 2007). When Roger burst into the lab, Spitcock was gone and instead there was the array of screens shouting “You Bastard!” (Dec 24, 2007, an interesting date for such a message).

What surprised Spitcock? If he’s aware of what’s going on in the game, he may have been surprised by Lena’s slaying. BUT – if he’s not aware, he could have been taken by surprise by the sudden appearance of “You Bastard!” all over his array of screens.

Okay, I’m going to make one speculation here: Spitcock is not the knight and not the incubus, but is able to “play” any of those characters as you or I might chose a character to “play” in any video game. BUT the characters are sentient enough to act on their own as well, and so the knight was acting on his own when he slew Lena, and the incubus is acting on his own by coming out of the game to find Dru.