Panel 2: For whatever it’s worth, this story may represent the last time in the series that Emp blunders quite so haplessly into bondage in a blatantly desperate bid to set up a volume’s (theoretically) mandated dose of “damsel in distress” imagery. In the next few volumes, I found another way to get at such imagery without requiring notable gullibility on Emp’s part—instead, the “DiD” quotient is delivered by Emp discussing her unpleasant experiences as an oft-distressed damsel, delving into her emotional reactions to these frequent humiliations. I consider that a “win-win,” folks—without forcing the character to come off as excessively naive and easily tricked, as many have opined in comments here.

Panel 3: Not really true, but to paraphrase the old line in Animal House re: the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor, “Forget it, she’s rolling.”

-Adam Warren