Transcript: Chapter 2, Episode 26
Blaze’s bare, tattooed hand rests atop a ceramic urn as he checks it for spiritual energy.
Blaze presses one finger to the top of a miniature cat figurine with a lopsided face and a pink bowtie.
Blaze’s fingers curl around a metal door handle.
Blaze begins to descend a flimsy wooden staircase into a dimly lit, unfinished basement with concrete flooring and exposed wires and insulation in the ceiling.
Shown from behind, Blaze looks up at an electrical panel jammed with a chaotic, nonsensical tangle of black, white, and red wiring. Some of the wires are frayed, and one grouping of wires is braided together and tied off in a bow.
Firing up his lighter, Blaze says, “Don? Can you come take a look at something for me?”
Blaze stands in front of the electrical panel with his lighter out and asks, “What do you think?” Beside him is the light blue ghost of a man in a hardhat, flannel shirt, and high visibility safety vest.
Upstairs, the homeowner stands at the kitchen counter, setting carrots on her cutting board while whistling a tune.
As she chops carrots, she accidentally cuts her fingertip. Holding up her injured finger, she says, “Motherfucker.” At the same time, the electrician ghost grabs the chaotic wiring in his gloved hand.
The lights in the kitchen flicker violently and dramatically, leaving the homeowner stunned while defensively wielding her knife and carrot.
In the basement, the ghost stands at the electrical panel and says to Blaze, “Yeah, she needs to get that fixed.”
Closing his lighter, Blaze calls, “Thanks, Don!”
With a satisfied smile, Blaze says to himself, “Welp, no ghosts here. Guess I’ll give the homeowner the good news.”
Blaze approaches the basement staircase, which leads up toward an opened door.
The door slams shut, leaving the basement in darkness. Blaze, startled, stares up at the closed door with narrowed eyes.
A logo appears: Into the Smoke. Intothesmokecomic.com
An image shows nine ghost hands converging to pet Otto, a content fat black cat. Each hand has several names written on it. Text reads: Special Thanks to my Patrons. Pledge on Patreon at patreon.com/bob_artist. The words “Pledge on Patreon” are crossed out and replaced with the words, “Pet Otto.” An additional URL reads intothesmokecomic.com.
No ghosts here? You sure about that, Blaze…?
So, I was off by a week on my estimate for when this episode would go up, because life continues to be hard. (The good news is I finally have my car back and in great condition inside and out, after all the hail damage drama. And it only took a month and a half.) I also spent a chunk of April preparing some wares for TCAF. I won’t be there, but the very awesome Screen Tones Podcast will be, and so some of my brand-new zines will be there with the rest of the gang! More on that next update (the last update before the con), but if you’re a patron, you can get a little preview here!
I’m estimating that the next episode will go up on June 3!
Last time I tried to be optimistic and believe I could turn around more than a page a week on my currently crunched schedule, but this time I’m taking the safer bet. As always, you can subscribe to get updates by email, so that way you don’t have to remember or guess or check back!
(In case you missed the announcements earlier in the year, I’m doing a reduced schedule for a while because I’m juggling a contracted graphic novel. More on that in the not-too-distant future!)
It’s a new month on Top Webcomics, so now’s a great time to throw in some votes for Into the Smoke! Voting helps more people discover the comic. I couldn’t fit in a new incentive this time, but I appreciate everyone who votes anyway!
