Panel 4: Antimony -> Anyimony

Honestly, I'm right there with you Anja. If I had a being as old as the planet itself talking to me, I'm be sweating bullets every single time.

I said it before and I say it again: Idra is my new favorite character.

Hey don't you go bringing reason and logic into my Tony hate party!

Anyimony…

Anja looks painfully thin. She OK?

Panel 4: Jones says Anyimony instead of Antimony. That's a typo, right? Just wanted to call it in case you hadn't noticed. (And in case 100 other commenters didn't see it first lol)

Anyimony is my favorite character! "The harder you try to hide it..."

There really is no winning with Tony. "... the more butthurt you look."

"Anyimony" -> Typo :)

Idra's expression in panel 1 conveys the Corto Maltese/Hugo Pratt sentiment. Awesome!

I wonder if that is the same ship we have seen before. — Idra is certainly provoking interesting conversation in parent - child dynamics. Tony certainly done poorly in the role model / leadership categories. He is an intelligent person, he could have asked or researched guidance in child rearing. He has been limiting Annie’s potential as a gifted person. — The Anja / Jones dynamic is unexpected. Anja is a gifted researcher, valued, involved & respected in the Court. Perhaps time for more back story!

Lol, she wasn't unruly, she was a kid pushing boundaries, like kids do. And the reason she stopped being 'unruly' was her emotionally-distant deadbeat dad deciding to show up and 'parent' even though he had earned neither her obedience nor her respect.

Oops! Typo.

It’s time for this story to congeal around the Shadow Men like cold grease. Jones doesn’t seem to work ‘for’ them, but the SM have worked with her & seemed to respect her. Tony worked deep in the under belly of secret Court research, but we have never seen them together. SM are very interested in Kat’s work. Anja’s shield work has be surreptitiously co-opted by the court. Are Anja & Don involved with the SM? The SM now have the lake water. SM have been deeply involved in Court affairs probably since around the time of Diego.

She has a point.

"Just Jones will do." Also, typo on Antimony's name in Jones' dialog.

In panel 4-- Antimony* :)

Perhaps Anja can sense what Jones is, the way she sensed the wood dog creature in "Ties".

Anyimony.

Idra's spittin' straight facts.

haha anyimony

I know one giant buff guy who's not getting any tonight... Strange to see Mrs Donlan so nervy and girlish around Jonesy.

Is the "anyimony" in the 4th panel a typo of a cryptic bit of foreshadowing

I gotta be honest I'm real sick of hearing people argue about Tony. Is Tony a good dad or a bad dad is his emotional abuse/neglect good for Annie or bad for Annie ooh maybe it's complicated because- HOW ABOUT TONY HANDLES HIS SHIT FOR ONCE.

Idra nails it. Even if "spoiled" is too strong a word, she was "indulged" at the very least, by Jones and others. Speaking of Jones, given what Anja's capable of and who else she knows (y'know, actual mythical figures), I wonder why she's concerned?

I'm sure the comments about Tony from the crowd here will be measured and positive.

(Really liking the art here, BTW, Tom. Having grown up in a seaside town, I can say it definitely evokes the feeling of walking by a sea wall with a shipping lane in the distance.)

Anyimony

Probably relevant to the topic of Anthony Carver: r1chm0nd21: "It’s disappointing that so many supposed anglophiles just barely scratch the surface of English culture. [...] Like, have they even considered the glorious British national identity of self-loathing? Or going to ridiculous lengths to avoid an awkward situation, thereby inevitably making it ten times worse?" 🇬🇧 Considering Surma's impulsive decision to join Tony's research trip so it wouldn't get canceled led to their daughter freeing Jeanne which allowed Coyote to attack the Court via Loup, what if Tony playing dumb to spare Brinnie's feelings somehow led to Ragnarok? 📯

Anyimony? "Yes, Miss Jones!" The unexpected Gunnerkrigg Court/Rising Damp chapter!

Weird how Anja is nervous around Jones but had no issue befriending Brinnie and talking to Norns. Guess Jones looks really unnerving to her. And Idra is right again. No one in the Court tried to help Annie or direct her emotions, they just let her do whatever till certain point. Another case against letting other people looking after your kid.

Hrmmm... Eggs you know might be a good time to let go of Tony stealing your exgf, especially with your current gf right there.

Beard guy clearly is clearly lacking the critical information, since he thinks he just "waltz" in - considering it was more dragged in.

Anyimony? Obvious typo, I think...

oooh a new shipping appears!

WHY DID I ALMOST DIE WHEN IDRA SAID ROUGH MAN ROUGH😭

All these characters have such strong opinions about Annie behind her back but literally have never done anything about her unique life situation to help her for the better. I mean, the girl escorted her own mother to the afterlife and then Tony immediately dumped her off at GKC because he couldn't and still can't cope with his wife's death to the point of emotionally neglecting his own daughter...and then to top it off she learned she was the literal cause if her mother's death. Supernatural mumbo jumbo aside, of course Annie is not okay.

idra lookin kinda cute doe

I can't help but hate all the "Annie shaming". Every character does this, despite that Annie has always done barely anything wrong. & meanwhile, there are characters who've been far worse & never get criticized.

A very wise green person.

Anymony?

Idra continues to be the voice of reason. Also I feel like we've seen that boat before

Thank you Idra!

Something's unruly about Anymony! {pam! pam pam!}

That ship is back...

Spoiled? Is Annie...kind of a brat? Lemme re-read the whole thing through that lens, I'll be right back.

I can't blame Anja.

You're really switching up the way i think about this comic... and life...

Idra may be my new favorite.

Hum, I know Anja and Don don't really count as parents for Annie, but they sure were here to support her. I hope they remember it and remind Jones about it.

Who is this "anyimony", Jones?

this is kinda off topic but wow i love idra what a cutie?!?!

That's sort of a catch-22 that people in here have been struggling with, really - the ones who aren't struggling to comprehend why Tom even puts Carver in the story at all. PS. To answer your question/paranoid accusation, no. Just because someone questioned your opinion doesn't mean they're out to get you. I'm still interested in hearing a clarification of your stance, though.

I still can't get over Eglamore's beard.

Truth bomb there, Idra.

The chapter showing metaphorical growing distance between Idra and Elgamore as they discuss on Antimony’s needs and ideals is just *chef’s kiss*

Eglamore has a point here though. Even if Antimony does need a guiding influence in the form of a parent, she's gone years without Tony. At this point, they're still more acquaintances who happen to be related than any sort of family. Anyway, I wonder why Anja feels that way towards Jones. Maybe the uncanniness of someone who never ages got to her more than most.

Do I detect crow's feet in panel 2? Are forest folk even suppose to get those? I like her classic family values. It's refreshing.

Appears to be a typo in frame 4. "Anymony"?

Not sure I agree with forest lady (sorry don't know if we've learned her name?) entirely, but I do think it's good that they're getting an outsider's opinion. Everyone here is too biased towards Tony, who's at least trying to make up for being an absent dad consumed by grief previously. Work with him if you think he's doing wrong, but stop disregarding someone who's trying to learn from their mistakes...

Annie was not spoiled. She was left to her own devices by everyone, including her only living parent who abandoned her for years. Not a single adult in her life took care of her. So she managed herself. That's not a bad premise for a story. It worked a treat for Harry Potter. But there is a reason we didn't have a storyline absolving the Dursleys for how they treated him.

It's hard to judge whether Tony is a "good person" or not. It depends on how you look at it. I could see how Eglamore thinks Tony's bad news. He leaves for years, and suddenly comes back trying to control Annie's life?! When I first met him, I hated him! But then I learned his perspective, like Donny did. He was trying to help Annie! Yes, he could have done it better, but I don't think he's really evil. He has been forced into hard decisions and has done what he thought best.

Is that common sense I hear?

Okay, but like, the dude showed up out of nowhere and was actively cruel to Annie after abandoning her after her mother died.

Anja likely understands what Jones really is.

Given that she’s out of the loop, I feel that Idra doesn’t get the whole story, especially since that both the Court and Coyote were more or less playing tug-a-war with Annie and trying to manipulate her. Not really the spoiling that Idra believes it to be. And personally, I disagree there Jim. Tony should have been there for Annie from the start. Instead of trying to raise Surma from the dead (something that, as a man of science, he should have known was impossible at best, stupid at worst), he should have taken care of their kid and grieved with her. Instead, he leaves her in a totally new environment only days after her mother’s passing, not bothering to contact her for three years, and humiliating her in front of her class while continuing to be neglectful at best, emotionally and verbally abusive at worst. In short Eglamore and Idra, do piss off.

Unruly girls set a bad example.

damn, spitting straight facts

A severe look! The severest look! Definitely the first time I've seen an expression on Jones' face.

Idra is laying straight fire, and I am HERE for it!

This scene is as frustrating as Red's verbal beatdown from so many strips ago. Is Idra's perspective supposed to be at all convincing here? Why is she so confident about calling a neglected and abused child (whom she doesn't know!) "spoiled," and why is she disregarding what Eglamore only JUST told her about Tony's mistreatment of Annie? It feels like the narrative is presenting her take as the reasonable one, since nobody's rebutting it very well at all (Anja? Donald? Bueller?), but it's so obviously ignorant and uncharitable. I really hope somebody does a better job of standing up for Annie on the next page.

Honestly, I hate this. The stuff with Tony has been the weirdest, lamest attempted-redemption arc I've seen in a while. Everyone that has a problem with him just spouts these strawman arguments like he didn't abandon his daughter. Why does Idra have such a strong opinion about a man she's never met? I guess she doesn't need a reason when she gets to be the logical(tm) one.

Is it just me, or is all the blame going to Annie... again? Why are all these conversations trying to convince reader that Tony actually isn't an abusive jerk sometimes? Don't get me wrong, yes, Antimony was acting like a brat sometimes, but that doesn't justify her father's behaviour.

Eglamore: It's bad that he exists! I SHOULD BE TONY. ANTIMONY SHOULD BE MY DAUGHTER Jim: *big sigh*

I don't know if spoiled is the right word. She went through a lot. I feel like we will start to see poor mental health come into play on Annie's part.

OHHHHH SHE IS SPITTING FACTS!!! I love how she is making him see his bias and see Tony as a person instead of a monster. I mean Tony has DEFINITLY messed up, but he is also a person.

Jones has always made Anja nervous... because she's as attractive as she is intimidating.