Panel 1- SUSAN STORM is cheerfully waving hello to the reader.
SUSAN: Hi. I'm Susan Storm. Ray recently got promoted and is in training classes this week, so he asked me to fill in.
Panel 2- SUSAN is walking to the right of the page, past her wedding photo with REED and Warhol's Campbell soup can painting, both hanging on the wall.
SUSAN: Ray's been working on his story arc, and some people have been asking, "Where's all of this going?" "What's it all about?"
Panel 3- SUSAN points to a hanging portrait of Carl Jung.
SUSAN: Well, he's not about to give up his ending, but I can tell you where it began. With this man, Carl Jung.
Panel 4- SUSAN now gestures to a sepia-tone photograph of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, sitting on a university park bench. In the corner, a tiny DEADPOOL holds a placard that reads: "WARNING! Educational Content!"
SUSAN: While Sigmund Freud had advanced psychology a great deal with his theory of id, ego, and superego, they only accounted for conscious mental states. They didn't take into account the subconscious.
SUSAN: Freud believed much of our subconscious was down to suppressed physical urges. Jung, however, believed it was an amalgamation of repressed sexual identity.
Panel 5- SUSAN is standing between SHE-HULK (in her old FF uniform), who has a 1000 lb barbell lifted over her head with one hand, and the THING, who is wearing a summery flower print dress, grousing and holding the hem daintily between his rocky fingers.
SUSAN: The idea that a woman couldn't be feminine if she was strong or authoritative, or that a man wasn't a "man" if he was sensitive or passionate, was expressed through what Jung called the animus and the anima.
THING: ...wotta revoltin' development...
Panel 6- SUSAN stands in front of the cover of FF v1 #281
SUSAN: The animus, or subconscious masculinity, and the anima, or subconscious femininity, are, however, part of our "shadow aspect".
SUSAN: That's the part of our Self that, when expressed, leads to creativity and discovery. Or, if restricted, can lead us to our darkest impulses.
Panel 7- Head and shoulders shot of SUSAN, winking knowingly at us.
SUSAN: Just imagine what would happen if that "shadow aspect" was set free, made manifest in reality...
SUSAN: Keep that in mind when we see you next week. Bye for now!
This is wonderful, Ray! Rather wordy, but for all its wordiness, surprisingly readable, interesting, and informative on said theories and how they relate to what you've been getting up to. The fourth wall breaking opening to the She-Hulk / Thing switcheroo all add some nice levity to the whole operation as well. Way to make a page that is essentially pure exposition (with almost nil actual story) feel fresh and exciting.
ReplyDeleteI commend you on your creative use of writing in a new character without actually adding them to the story while still keeping it entirely relevant. Plus the Deadpool bit was cute, too.
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