Yes, folks, the familiar mecha belongs to Manny, the cognitively xenoboosted wannabe supervillain (and serious Emp fanboy) last seen at the end of Empowered vol. 4, when more of his machines were dragging off the defeated bad guy Fleshmaster (aka dWARf!) through a Lotus Nodes portal.

Panel 5: Not a huge SPOILER, I think, to hint that Emp will be faced with a long series of "frying pan/fire" scenarios over the next 100-plus pages.

Next week on the webcomic, further clarification from Persona Fragment Manny before sudden action once again ensues. Huzzah!

Today’s Patreon update: In an attempt to scratch out more worktime to complete the long-gestating Empowered vol. 12, I've switched over to a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday Patreon posting schedule that won't feature the fixed content format I previously used. So, who knows what today's post might feature? Could be Life Drawing or Distressed Damsels content (both of which are featured at least three times per month), or something in the Work Stages, Vintage Con Sketches or Design departments, or possibly something entirely new. Golly!

-Adam Warren