Jean AKA Jeannie AKA Jeanie is a film, book, and magazine reviewer for a national magazine. Most of Jean’s work is done through email, which means he doesn't have to go into the office.
On a trip to find a gift for his girlfriend, Jean found an empty Genie Bottle. Upon picking up this bottle, Jean became the bottle’s new genie-powered occupant. Not only was Jean turned into a genie, but the bottle turned him into what he believed a genie of the bottle should look like. Which, due to his fascination with a classic 60s TV show, turned him into a busty blonde woman.
A former Genie Lord, Kazom is a 3000+ year old Genie who exists in the form of a witch familiar while still serving as a genie to a teenage boy in California.
I suspect that Melvin would try ANY Genies patience. I think this may turn into one of those “baby Bugs Bunny vs. the gorilla dad” type conflicts where Jean tries to swat Melvin while the cat isn’t looking! 😀
A good comparison …. me thinks she is in a little trouble … it could be some time before she sees Neil again, barring any interference from the other Jennie
More than the reduced to training genies I think the issue is “reduced to a cat”… did he also lose all his magic? why was it done to him? what did he do to warrant such a punishment?
or maybe he is just retired from management to training and chose a cat form to blend in while training the young ones.
If Jeanie doesn’t turn Kazom against her right away, she might be able to have an actual conversation, exchange stories.
It’s significant that he doesn’t seem as overtly domineering as LSH, and, as Commotion22 points out, may even be open to acting against LSH.
Of course, this assumes Jeanie can actually, you know, think for two seconds before exploding in snark, and I have to say, she shows promising restraint here.
The more I look at this setup, the more I like it. It’s an excellent training scenario. Melvin is the embodiment of probably 93.702% bottle masters: impulsive, short-sighted (literally), and inconsiderate — much like Jean himself was. And yet, he doesn’t seem overtly evil.
I still wonder what Melvin’s story is. Is this the result of the wishes he made with his first genie? Some variation of “I want to stay young forever, I want to always have a genie, and…uh…I don’t know, I want a talking cat?”
“Hmm….”
{Long consultation with the ruling council, which, for Melvin, passes in an eye blink.]
“OK, kid, we can work with that, but you’ll never grow up, you’ll live with your parents, and after each genie grants you three wishes, the wishes will reset, you’ll forget, and start over with a new genie.”
“Uh…but….”
“Your wish is my command. Poof, poof, and poof.”
Melvin could be hundreds of years old, and have only the dimmest memories of his origins.
I’m gonna p.o. CD Rudd, but I gotta say it — his cat looks more like a dog.
Cats only have their ears pointing sideways when they’re bored. If something has a cat’s attention, the ears point up.
Secondly, when cats sit in a pose like what is shown in Panel 2 (hips and tail on the ground, shoulders high off the ground) the forelegs are parallel to each other, not spreading out to form a triangle. (I suggest googling pictures of ancient Egyptian cat statues.)
Thirdly, cats have whiskers and a tiny nose; dogs have no whiskers and a big nose.
I suspect that Melvin would try ANY Genies patience. I think this may turn into one of those “baby Bugs Bunny vs. the gorilla dad” type conflicts where Jean tries to swat Melvin while the cat isn’t looking! 😀
A good comparison …. me thinks she is in a little trouble … it could be some time before she sees Neil again, barring any interference from the other Jennie
Now the question Jean is would it be worth losing a lot of points to turn him into a bug.
OTOH, it sounds as if Lord Kazom is maybe a bit more understanding than LSH.
Also, Melvin’s “Is this my new genie?” (or whatever) question sounds as if he’s been used to train Genies before.
Do they send young male genies to Elmira?
Oh God, she’d love them and squeeze them and wish them to pieces.
Hhmm…. FORMER Genie Lord…? LSH’s predecessor…? Reduced to training genies…? Could there be hard feelings and a conflict here?
More than the reduced to training genies I think the issue is “reduced to a cat”… did he also lose all his magic? why was it done to him? what did he do to warrant such a punishment?
or maybe he is just retired from management to training and chose a cat form to blend in while training the young ones.
What about being punished, like Salem in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch?
If Jeanie doesn’t turn Kazom against her right away, she might be able to have an actual conversation, exchange stories.
It’s significant that he doesn’t seem as overtly domineering as LSH, and, as Commotion22 points out, may even be open to acting against LSH.
Of course, this assumes Jeanie can actually, you know, think for two seconds before exploding in snark, and I have to say, she shows promising restraint here.
The more I look at this setup, the more I like it. It’s an excellent training scenario. Melvin is the embodiment of probably 93.702% bottle masters: impulsive, short-sighted (literally), and inconsiderate — much like Jean himself was. And yet, he doesn’t seem overtly evil.
I still wonder what Melvin’s story is. Is this the result of the wishes he made with his first genie? Some variation of “I want to stay young forever, I want to always have a genie, and…uh…I don’t know, I want a talking cat?”
“Hmm….”
{Long consultation with the ruling council, which, for Melvin, passes in an eye blink.]
“OK, kid, we can work with that, but you’ll never grow up, you’ll live with your parents, and after each genie grants you three wishes, the wishes will reset, you’ll forget, and start over with a new genie.”
“Uh…but….”
“Your wish is my command. Poof, poof, and poof.”
Melvin could be hundreds of years old, and have only the dimmest memories of his origins.
> Melvin is the embodiment of probably 93.702% bottle masters:
> impulsive, short-sighted (literally), and inconsiderate
Two questions–
1) What study did you get your statistic from?
2) How do I get to be a study participant? 😀
1) “Mastering the Bottle: A Really, Truly, We Mean It, High Precision Survey”, Kazom and Rahid, Eternity Press, Paradise.
This monograph launched Kazom’s career as a genie master.
2) Unknown.
Do you think the line ”I used to be a dude” might make Melvin back off? =D
Nah. I bet Melvin can’t really see past her boobs.
Nah. But it might prompt a “Well, I wish you’d forget about all that, then.”
Which … wouldn’t be so good for Jean.
LOL! This looks like fun. I don’t know which story line will be funnier–the sexy new genie, or Jeanie fending off Melvin’s eyes.
go awn do it, turn the man into a kitteh… a gurl kitteh. me— ow. purrr purrr
Note that Jeannie is getting a little smarter – she asked whether she would lose points for turning Melvin into an insect.
Now, she will carefully consider the loss/benefit ratios…
CD: Love the Honey Evangelion poster in the background.
grabby little fellow isn’t he?
Why do you take Kazom at his word? It could be Melvin throwing his voice.
Why do you take Melvin to be an actual person and not some spell used as a training device
Why do you take the whole storyline to be happening and not the result of Jean eating a bad enchilada and falling asleep on the couch?
How many points does she lose for turning him into a stripper?
Negative points.
I don’t think he will be a stripper, but likely might get a chance to resemble one of those wall posters.
He’d make a funny looking sportscar.
Valentine: He’d make a funny looking sportscar.
Hey, it worked for TURBO TEEN! 😀
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0211171/
I’m gonna p.o. CD Rudd, but I gotta say it — his cat looks more like a dog.
Cats only have their ears pointing sideways when they’re bored. If something has a cat’s attention, the ears point up.
Secondly, when cats sit in a pose like what is shown in Panel 2 (hips and tail on the ground, shoulders high off the ground) the forelegs are parallel to each other, not spreading out to form a triangle. (I suggest googling pictures of ancient Egyptian cat statues.)
Thirdly, cats have whiskers and a tiny nose; dogs have no whiskers and a big nose.
Well, the TAIL looks cat-like–Thats how I knew it was supposed to be a cat 😉
Its not really all THAT bad–just a matter of the artist’s personal style.
Yeah, Im gonna use that ”artist’s personal style” bit the next time I draw a stick figure and someone dares to say something about it
The face does look more doglike than catlike, but .. my assumption was that the face resembles how Kazom looked before becoming a “talking cat.”
I read all the strips as of this post.
Great work, CD Rudd! 😀
I guess you are still away for a year and have to get back…
I hope I can remember the URL to this webcomic, I want to read more! 😀
I missed the post date of this strip (2010-12-15)
So I guess the next one should be coming out any day now…. 😀
Thank you for the entertainment of this webcomic.
Please don’t let the ‘spelling nazi’ get you down!
I hope you don’t consider me one of them….
I don’t mind the occasional spelling mistakes in this GREAT comic! 😀
This is what bugs you? Man, you’ve got a lot of story ahead of you.