– There’s been a lot of comments the last few weeks about Ms. Booth, and a lot of complaints in the last 48 hours. Despite what some of you might think, I do read and seriously consider every comment (and I don’t moderate at all by the way) so I’m aware that many of you don’t like her. This has all been pretty frustrating to me, so I decided to stay up for 35 hours straight and write and draw the next 3 weeks of Modest Medusa comics so I could post them all here today in one go and get them out of the way. Whether you love or hate Ms. Booth, this arc is now over and we’ll be moving on to something else.
I’m going home now to sleep. Thanks for reading.
Jake, do yourself a solid and go get some sleep. I will not apologize for opinions others formed, nor will I congratulate you for handling this in the manner that you did. Many have done that already.
What I will do is thank you for a well written, well drawn, and well loved strip that entertains me and many others. I honestly compare reading Modest Medusa to watching M*A*S*H, in that it is a well blended comedic, satirical, whimsical, and slice-of-life comic. We can easily relate to characters, either for or against, and we obviously care. So I say this again.
Thank you, Jake. You can really spin a yarn.
Thanks!
Wow, big post! Thanks for uploading.
Curious, I thought Modest was in 1st grade. She’s, what? 6? That’s first grade, yeah?
And I like this talk. While I completely disagree with Modest needing to stay in, I understand. Though we haven’t actually seen anyone freak out around Modest (chalk that up to Portland being Portland).
Really? Only first grade?
I guess I was in 2nd grade before I turned 6, and then only because I was too little to be promoted.
I did graduate young too. I got penalized in my Government class my senior year for not registering to vote. The teacher didn’t seem to care that I wouldn’t be even close to 18 by the next election.
then you couldn’t legally register. who punishes someone for being too young to do something? not your fault you were smart.
Personally, her eating the PB sandwich that was for Modest’s hair aside, Ms. Booth hasn’t really bugged me the way she has others.
I’m curious as to what her ‘thing’ was: Werewolves? Vampires? Mummies? Some kid with the last name of ‘Belmont’?
I mean seriously, there had to have been some MAJOR paranormal crap going down long before Modest ever showed up for no one (that we’ve seen in-comic) to even freak out at her.
Uh huh. That question is going to finally be answered shortly, in what I hope is a completely unexpected way.
Jake, I have only this to say:
Stay classy. (And a corresponding winky face).
Teachers are too soft nowadays. When I was young I had my leg bitten off by a Jabberwocky bounty hunter that was pursuing one of my classmates. Didn’t do me any harm.
I think you are a amazing writer. Its hard to make a dynamic story like this really come together but you pull it off everytime man! I don’t usually donate (live the poor collage student life, lol) but after this and seeing the rest…I just gotta!
Seriously, figure out the plush idea for Medusa and I’ll buy one in a heartbeat! I’ll put in on my desk at work just so people ask me about it, lol.
Lets hear it for a great storyteller with some serious comic skills!
Thanks. I really need to get back to figuring out plush Medusas. It seems to be what everyone wants.
Hey Jake you really need to have a break take a week off! I mean really you deserve it! You worked hard on a character people gave you bullshit and got butt hurt and decided to make you feel worse about it. You decided to take your time and just make everything better and I thank you for that.
Thanks. I really don’t want to take any time off. I feel pretty good. But we’ll see.
So weird, I loved Ms.Booth. She was handling Modest wonderfully, it’s all about being firm on boundaries.
So those two have a history. A failed romance of some sort?
That explains a lot.
Went back to read the first 1-5 pages. Notice he did came home with a present in his hand. Either one he did not want to open or one he wanted to give but then retracted.
Based on thier conversation now I am going to asume it had something to do with her.
Keen observation.
Okay, well, I THOUGHT today’s comic was pretty long, LOL, so now I get why!
Thanks for the marathon arc finish, I LOVE how you left us with an even bigger question, too!
I was fine with a flawed teacher who had Modest’s best interest at heart, I didn’t see a problem because stories need conflict and resolution, right? Anyway I definitely enjoyed what you did with it, and how you did it!
That has got to be the longest plot-exposition I’ve yet seen here. Way to go, congratulations, take a rest, you don’t even have to color it.
Panel 13, “becasue” should be “because”.
…and panel 29, “You did to!” should be “too”
Thanks again.
Thanks. I’ll fix it when I get around to coloring it.
Thank you, so very much. I’ve never made a comic myself, but I can’t imagine how much effort this behemoth of a strip took. But I think it might have been worth it – it was definitely a really satisfying read. ^_^
I regret being a part of the loud lambasting crowd at first…I’m usually a lot more moderate about voicing my opinions. Simply seeing you reply to more comments than usual after a few strips kind of reduced my apprehension, but I still should have had a little more faith in you as an author. But this comment is getting a bit rambly now, so I’ll just end it by saying that you did a nice job on the arc, in retrospect, and on this strip in particular. Looking forward to reading future comics, as always – sorry that I wasn’t showing my fondness too well for a time.
You are way to nice to be on the internet! π
Thank your for the art.
Thanks for reading.
Special study time?
I’m sorry, no, that still makes it sound like a detention.
“Modest, how would you like to stay inside and play with your DS while you eat lunch?” I doesn’t sound like a punishment. Modest will like Ms. Booth better. She’ll be too distracted to notice her sandwiches being stolen.
O_O you can play a ds and eat a sandwich, it is so easy.
AH HA! That’s a lot of what I figured was going on, and it answers two big questions I had: What was the teacher’s name (Ms. Booth) and what grade she was teaching (2nd Grade).
If Modest is already supposed to be in 2nd Grade (I was figuring it was around 1st Grade) then she’ll definitely have some catching up to do, though if she can handle a game like Pokemon, then she must have at least gotten some very basic reading and math skills from somewhere.
It gives me two more new questions though: 1) Just what is the weirdest thing Ms. Booth has seen, and 2) If Modest is taking a test in class, and her hair helps her on the test, does that count as cheating? (This may be a philosophical question that Ms. Booth is going to have to ponder.)
Jake, take a break, get some sleep, you deserve it. π
WELL! I was partly correct, the sandwiches were for her all along. And the detentions were pre-planned too, just not by Jake.
Remember dear readers: Medusa lead a rebellion and attacked the VP on her first day in school… that’s worth a week of detention alone!
Not to mention snake-hair, chainsaw unicorns and Modest’s flamboyant personality (which resembles Tourette’s Syndrome). She does need some tutoring to catch up to the rest of the kids… seems quite reasonable.
There was tension between Jake and Ms Booth from the start, but gee! She works right across the street, you’d think they might have patched things up by now. Of course Jake’s been “busy” with all things Medusa, eh? Lolz!
100+ Comments! And almost all are positive, nice!
Alright. I can accept these reasons for her behavior, at least as far as required to suspend disbelief again.
Scroll wheel fell off T___T
Wow. I just had a chance to read this and I feel I must warn you… I too live in Portland, so if some random, fat, middle-aged goofball with long hair rushes up and gives you a giant hug apropos of nothing, please don’t hit him–it’s just me. Jake, you are the effing best of all.
Don’t worry. I’m a pacifist.
Holy crap man! Way to crank it out! For what it’s worth I kinda liked Ms. Booth. I always saw her as what the gremlin or Cecil Turtle was to Bugs Bunny. A foil character that can actually get over the loveable main character. The real problem is you did too a good job. Modest is so likable no one wants to see her lose. This was a great update regardless of the reason. Love the comic!
I’ll be honest, I was actually waiting to see where you went with this before jumping in and yelling and probably ending up with egg on my face.
I’m disappointed that the other readers couldn’t trust you enough to stick it out with Ms Booths, but thank you for the time and effort you put into this π The fact that you took reader feedback to such a serious level is awesome. Keep it up Jake! Thank you!
I bought some chocodiles today, because of Modest.
I hope you liked them!
I kinda liked Ms. Booth.
No one has really shown Modest discipline before.
Good comedy and drama comes from conflict and contrast.
Ms. Booth is a good source of conflict to the normally whimsical Modest.
Good character, good comic.
Keep it up.
I think people are hesitant is because, like Modest, they are used to her getting her way.
Behold the Pillar of Comic-ness! Bask in its majesty, and cower before its might! Ye who are not worthy are not welcome here! >:D
Ahem. Nice comic. I gotta say, it started to feel like it was dragging its heels a little there. Great to see you wrapping up some thoughts and picking up the pace a bit. Not that I would have dropped the comic or anything.
Hey man,
Been reading for a couple years, but never commented. Just wanted to say thank you for brightening so many of my days with your comic. I admire that you care so much β it must be scary to find people react negatively to your arc halfway through it, and then not knowing if the resolution you have in mind will satisfy them. Remember, though, that this is your show β and there are a lot of us non-vocal people who are perfectly happy with it whichever way you write it. I hope you don’t stress yourself out too much when these things happen.
But yeah. Keep being a kind and caring storyteller, and don’t let us get you down too much;)
Thanks. I appreciate hearing that!
Thank you for posting this. It was a huge deal you did this. It had to be a load of work. It really ties up the strip well and explains Ms. Booth’s behavior (and humanizes her). Totally agree with others. You should take time off.
I thought you were referring to today’s strip (the fart one) and I thought “It doesn’t really explain Ms. Booth that much. It’s more about farts”.
It was nice to see that my hopes for Ms. Booth turned out to be true. I still like her as a character. I know you weren’t angry about having to do it all in one go, but I’m sorry you exhausted yourself for it. I personally was looking forward to the slow build up to her character and the arc. But I’m not going to complain about getting it all at once. I hope you were able to rest well and I look forward to seeing what we get next story wise. ^_^
I have a lot of neat plans for teh next year or two, but I’ve been having to lay a lot of groundwork, and Ms. Booth was a big part of that.
I’ve come back to this page a few times:
1) Color this!
2) You sound like you’d make a good dad.
I’ll be coloring it eventually, but it;ll probably be awhile. But I’m glad you like it!
I don’t know if I’d make a good dad. Comic Jake isn’t me, of course, but he hasn’t been that great when you think about it. I think I’d like to have a kid, but I also know what it’s like to take care of kids and the first few years is not something I’m excited about trying.
THREE CHEERS FOR THE CREATOR!!!
HIP HIP! HURRAY!
I’m going to up my Patreon pledge! https://www.patreon.com/JakeRichmond?ty=c
I super appreciate it!
Wow an explanation for the teacher [who i already liked anyway] and the reason people dont treat her weirdly in one comic. I thought we’d learn there was a weirdness filter or that in this version of the world weirder things have happened. [i bet i know what one of the bonus stories in this season will be] . Both the teacher and Jake should be thankful conventional discipline works on Modest. You cant use corporal punishment on something with no butt after all.
Wow, what a nice conclusion. I’m impressed that you could stay up and work for 35 hours straight, because more than twice what I can do.
This sheds a much better light on the teacher. She was a jerk (and kinda admitted to it), but it’s nice that you made her want to better herself.
Wow, I love that you pulled it all together like this. I’m also glad to see that I had some of the idea right. She is a pretty cool teacher but I’d like to have a few words with the principal. π. As a teacher myself I am getting a kick out of medusa at school.
Thanks.