I used to like Jenny. ?

She's too blind to know this is too good to be true, and she's promised anything and everything. Hello, slave.

I'm starting to hate Jenny more and more, I wonder if she had her nonsensical freak out at Annie over finding Zimmy at the dinner on purpose so she would have an excuse to kill her later on

A smiling face! The most tearful face!

"And I killed Sparky, too!"

oh my god, she looks so drained...

Not even trying to hide that Jenny is manipulative and likely evil anymore, huh?

"The first taste is free..."

She sold herself to Jenny. Imagine. My. Shock.

Let the mind controlling begin!

Good lord, I can't bear to watch this girl spiral downward this much. I can barely even see her as a villain anymore, just a pitiful person.

So, “magic” is just another name for aether use? None of the witches can join the Court’s planned colony offworld? And Jennie’s coven isn’t loving and protecting Zimmy as much as using her for “unlimited” aether? If Zimmy finds out, woe be unto these witches.

Strong Ursula vibes coming from Jenny.

So Jenny is a manipulator. Who saw that coming?

Ah, of course, a deal with the devil

I gotta say. These witches are the breath of fresh air this comic was needing. They are a much more compeling antagonists than Loup. I am fully invested in the story again. Jenny going full villain is refreshing as well.

Well this at least clarifies why Jenny took such an interest in Jack. I’d be unsurprised if Jenny is building magical containment. If Omega’s death provided access to the machines that transferred her into a body, and the complex magic that created the containment on the arrow that captured Jeanne was found by Jenny and given to Noa it would stand to reason that she could attempt to transfer Zimmy’s power either into herself or into containment. Wonder if Jenny is related to Steadman or any of the other founders. Of course, this doesn’t clarify who the witch was that was encouraging Noa…

The Most Normal Girls In Gunnerkrigg

This is all rather jarring. OK, Jenny turns out to be a master manipuator bolstering her own power and I got it wrong. But it's very much at odds with the flashbacks to her own origin story and what was protrayed on the page as genuine affection for Jack and support for his protective intentions. I appreciate they're not mutually exclusive, but it feels disappointing that we suddenly have what looks very much like a metaphorically moustache-twirling villain when all characters previously seemed to be nuanced. Given your propensity for rug-pulls, Tom, I wonder if there's more to this than we're currently seeing? Hope so!

You know, I can see where Kat could have fallen under Jenny's spell, so to speak, if Annie had died falling off the bridge back in Chapters 7 & 8.

A dependent and their provider, Jenny certainly knows how to pull her in.

witches are evil. yup… that checks out.

Happy New Year! • Jeez they're like 14! Then again Azula was also 14. At least the witches know how to dress themselves and style their own hair lol. • The difference between Jenny in Jack's flashback and Noa's is jarring. Did Jenny act different to Zara, Rosa, and Sylvie? • I wonder what Noa is desperately begging Jenny to do or not do: don't abandon her? Don't tell her parents? Don't tell that girl who lost her hand she (Noa) couldn't make a breakthrough and her (burnt hand girl's) pain was for nothing?

Good vibes all around, just two friends helping each other with healthy scholarly pursuits.

Creepy

Now where have we heard the dialog where someone offers A Lot of Power to someone who desperately wants it...? Also this Jenny character is turning darker and darker as time goes by. Interesting.

Eesh. This is easily the creepiest scene to date...

"If you only knew the POWER of the DARK SIDE!" -- D. Vader

They are like Coyote and Ysengrin. How much you wanna bet that if Jenny ever gives Noa the strength she wants, she will turn around and destroy her?

Jack has to know, right? He’s not dumb

Talk about a deal with the devil.

Wow, all those "first taste is free" commenters were right on the money; Noa transitioned into enslaved-addict-mode fast once Jen came knocking. Noa's current-day presentation hasn't looked that distressed, though...did she get better in the interim, or have we just not been able to get a good look before now? The glasses hiding something, perhaps?

Just a little... pact.

What a ... great friend ... Jenny is.

This is such a classic mad scientist story.

Quite a power trip she's on

Haha, Jenny couldn't be more of a villain stereotype in the last frame. I re-read Drowtales recently and can't help but notice how simiLar she is in her expressions to Snadhyarune. Both are the villain mastermind types, I guess. But who set her on this path? She knew Jack wasn't fine for a while in the past but never told anyone or tried to help him. So, a little psycho from the very beginning? I wonder if she is not human or fully human, or her actual age is different. She's way too collected and manipulative for her age. Usually youngsters, no matter their diagnosis, are not very good at skillful observation and movement like that. Granted, Jenny is not perfect at it either, bu still, someone is coaching her, I presume.

Hmmm, so nefarious

Jenny is looking more and more like the Mephistopheles from Faustus.

Oh no. This is going from bad to worst.

Also, just looking at Noa and her condition, poor girl whose hand she ruined, Jack and his trauma, and general lack of Court's supervision and help, etc - you know, Idra (green elf lady who saved our heroes from the wasps and so on) was right about Court's dubious culture of dividing parents and kids in order to promote independence - when your parents don't influence the child, someone else certainly will. The vacuum will be filled either way, and you may not like the results.

She is, uh, really into the dom role.

Over under on Jenny being the architect of the plan to kill Zimmy?

...wait... uh oh. Did Jenny... TAKE her expertise? Like, in exchange???

Is this... really Jenny?

What a good friend! ^-^

Okay, so three pages of this and I’m more confident than ever that it’s all been a power play from the start. Going from just a friend to dating Jack. Changing herself so much to match his preferences and manipulate him. Use him as a point of connection and information source. She was honest about Zimmy being part of her research but not about the power hungry motivations.

Jenny that's manipulative as heck

I really like and appreciate how you show her body and face looking wizened and hollowed out, like her obsession is consuming her instead of making her stronger. Reminds me of anorexia and exercise addictions.

I originally liked Jennie. Now she scares me. Which does not mean I don't still like Jennie, but it does mean I want to be on the other side of the planet from her.

A regular Pat Sullivan to Noa, Rosa, Zara, and Sylvie's Otto Messmer, that Jenny...

I wanna see Kat vaporize someone the way Annie did when she was hanging out with unstable Ysingrin

Still just doing it to save her friends?

Oh god I knew Jenny would use her. Manipulate her so that she would do anything Jenny wanted for power. Noa is awful, yes, but Jenny is a million times worse…

Wow

Oh my god

Cool, friendly witch...turns out to be an actual sociopath. Wish I could say I saw it coming. How many of her "friends" are like her, and how many has she tricked or blackmailed? Has Jack ever seen this side of her? I doubt it, he wouldn't want Jenny *using* Zimmy's power... What would (will) happen when he finds out?

Noa: shoot, she isn’t one of those lesbian goth dommy mommy witches I’ve heard so much about.

Is Jenny partly responsible for the distortion??

Jenny is scum. Is this how she got the other witches to follow her?

While I feel sorry for Noa being exploted by Jenny like this, she was still an awful person before she became an addict, and it in no way is going to justify what she's about to do next in the main timeframe of the comic. Also, wouldn't it be funny if Zimmy's secret is that she's going to kill Jenny for syphoning off her power like this (probably even accidentally), and Jack still is choosing Zimmy over Jenny.

ah. Well then. ... is Jenny planning to BIND zimmy.

When did Jenny become so manipulative, anyway? And perhaps more importantly, how?

that girl ain't right

Uh oh...

Knife cat energy

is...is she behind the ship going crazy?

@Island Mike??? No??? The secret was a reason people (the gAang) would want to hurt Zimmy. Using her as a battery would make Jack oppose the people using her... Also it's something Zimmy did.

I miss those times when it could have all been a big misunderstanding.

I'm starting to suspect Jenny is not a great influence on others.

Jenny's quite the user. I now suspect her relationship with Jack was just a way to get closer to Zimmy.

just, please...

This gets really dark