JeffJeff logo.Episode #124: A Question of Canon

Jeff is sitting on the trainstation steps reading his newspaper. Jerry is sitting to his right, staring at Jeff and sliding closer each panel. Once Jerry is directly beside Jeff, Jeff asks him what he wants. Jerry points up to reveal a giant title of "Jerry Wants To Know" floating above them. Jeff remarks that it's an old bit to bring back, and Jerry retorts that the entire Jeff comic series is an old bit. Jeff acquiesces and reminds himself to stop being so pessimistic with Jerry. Jeff asks Jerry what he wants to know, and Jerry questions what their canon is. Jeff points to a Bofors 40MM anti-aircraft cannon to his other side, gives a short historical recap of its service in World War II, and explains that he got it from a farmer's market.
Jerry corrects Jeff in that he was asking about their canon, one 'n,' in the literary sense. Jeff understands the correction, but doesn't understand the question. Jerry gestures towards the trainstation plaza brimming with Combine activity, and points out how they avoid any trouble from the Combine forces despite their attire, posessions, and previous story hijinks. Jeff admits that Jerry made some good points, and reaches off-panel to hand Jerry a clipboard and safety goggles, stating that Jerry will need them. Jerry is about to ask Jeff a question, but is cut off by Jeff, now wearing safety goggles and a lab coat, confirming that they're doing a research montage. Jeff and Jerry are now standing in front of a jumbled array of monitors, equipment, miscellaneous technlogy, and labratory equipment. A title of "Research Montage" stretches over Jeff and Jerry, who are staring into the near distance holding clipboards and lab equipment.
Jeff sits in front of a computer attached to non-descript machinery as Jerry stands nearby, staring intently at the rack of coloured liquid vials that he's holding. In the next scene, Jeff and Jerry are standing at computers in front of a bright orange portal/wormhole. Next, Jeff and Jerry are standing next to a wall-mounted lever with Jeff delicately pinching the handle of the lever. He then swings it down with a heavy 'KA-CHUNK' and a surprised look on both of their faces. They turn around to see a man with grey skin and crisp formal attire strapped to a chair being violently electrocuted.
The man in the chair opens his eyes as electricity arcs across his face, revealing fierce orange irises. He is next seen towering over Jeff with the chair held over his head with a manic expression. The laboratory is in dissaray and in flames, and Jerry is seen slumped over a computer tower in the background. In the next scene, Jeff and Jerry have shocked expressions on their faces as they look at a line graph printer with a notable spike on the line. Next, Jeff and Jerry are floating in space with a space shuttle behind them. Jeff and Jerry are tethered together, and Jerry is holding the other end of the rope, looking at the broken clip that should have been attaching them to the spaceship.
Jeff and Jerry are standing on a circular sci-fi pad, bathed in blue light with a "vwoomp" sound effect. Next, they look over to a duplicate sci-fi pad to the right with a copy of Jeff and Jerry in blue light with another "vwoomp." Jeff shakes hands with his duplicate, and Jerry points at himself and his duplicate in joy while Jerry's duplicate looks at his own hands with a frown. The Jeff and Jerry duplicates are next seen standing behind original Jeff and Jerry who are occupied with a microscope. Silhouettes of the four characters are overlaid on a black background with dramatic splashes of blood as the duplicates violently kill the original Jeff and Jerry. Duplicate Jeff and Jerry, with darkened faces, stand over the blurred and bloody corpses of the originals, then look at one another. They then raise some scientific equipment with grins on their faces, ready to continue their research.
Jeff looks through a telescope as Jerry points into the sky, both standing in front of several large satellite dishes on a snowy field. Later on, Jeff and Jerry are working on equipment set up at the trainstation. A dapper fellow with a postman's hat hands a letter to Jeff. Jeff tells Jerry that the test results have arrived, reads the letter, and declares that they're in the Half-Life 2 canon. A Metrocop looks up at Jeff and Jerry from the base of the stairs. He calls in a code to dispatch and another code to all units as he electrifies his stun baton. In a wide-shot of the trainstation, Jeff is face-down on the sidewalk with several Metrocops arresting him, and Jerry is being beat and kicked by other Metrocops. Several Combine APCs are parked around the steps with two Metrocops behind a barrier keeping curious citizens away. A Strider is crouched in the corner next to Jeff's illegal artillery cannon.

3 thoughts on “Episode #124: A Question of Canon”

  1. Episode #124 fun facts!
    1) The “Jerry Wants To Know” segment hasn’t made an appearance since episode #76
    2) I believe this is the first Jeff issue with offical perskin cameos. First one is Petfe, second is George Stukas. Both have helped me out with modeling requests for this comic series, and it quite helped that Petfe had a skin that looked zombie-ish for the ‘Frankenstein’ sequence
    3) Mythos gave me the idea to edit Jeff’s tie to reflect his normal clothing (black with red ‘flames’ at the bottom)

    Maps (in order of appearance): d1_trainstation_02 by Valve team, gm_construct by Facepunch/Garry Newman, Mountain Laboratory by fatalyst, Combine Laboratory by ludexus_chr.mdl, d2_prison_03 by Valve team, gm_spacespace_v1 by Ver and Bann, Sci-Fi Setpiece by Lt_C, gm_laboratory_alt by Tinker, Frozen Lake by Heath Legend.

    Models (in vague order of appearance): Call of Duty World War II Allied Artillery (Props) by Stefano, Laboratory Equipment by Gravity, Sci-Fi Props Megapack by Lt_C, Scientists – UIF by Zar, Space Shuttle Orbiter Prop by Deeni, Astronauts – GTA 5 by Spike, and Telescope by WtFBkmzFosters.

    Misc: Placeable Particle Effects by madneo.

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  2. I’m in the comic!! Just need to get Popwar to say that I’m a good comic-maker and then I can finally die a successful man.

    Great one overall, Clover. The image of Petfe as a zombie is both horrifying as well as hilarious. And the scene were Jeff and Jerry murder their clones… brrr… both beautiful and chilling. Really ramping up with those good shots and editing in service of that nice dark humor, huh?

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  3. Look, ma! I’m in a Jeff episode!
    An almost 20 years old dream come true.

    And boy what a fun episode it is. The editing on the layout is magnificent, with all the smooth fades between the larger panels and the neatly positioned smaller panels on the top. Very neatly put together and it looks fantastic!

    Love the humour as always, can always trust a Jeff episode to make you laugh. I like how you didn’t rely too heavily on SFX text on the montage and trusted the images to carry out the message, which it did! The montage itself and the conclusion were just *chef’s kiss*.

    Great job as always, Clover!

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