Panel 4: Behold, a callback to the title of a previous chapter and the reference to 80s Wes Craven voodoo flick The Serpent and the Rainbow it was derived from.

Panel 5: Aaaaaand we’re back to real-time action now, with the cryptic and notably enigmatic burial scene wrapping up. That odd sequence wound up being one of the series’ most notable dangling plot threads, as I’ve never quite gotten around to clarifying exactly what happened in it. I’d hoped to address the scene more fully in Empowered vol. 8, but ran outta pagecount; then in vol. 9, but really ran outta pagecount; then in vol. 11, but ran outta pagecount and only featured a single image portraying the apparent immediate aftermath. (No SPOILERS, please, as the webcomic will eventually catch up to that point.)

Might well address the cryptic scene in the upcoming vol. 12, though, as Emp learns any number of interesting things in that volume about the mysterious hypermembrane she wears.

Today’s Patreon update: Not sure, but could be another installment of Failed-Project Friday or Comics Riffs I Love! Click the link after 9:00am East Coast time and find out, Patrons!

-Adam Warren