Chapter 17: Bobbes's Big Day Commentary

Not to pat myself on the back too much, but overall, I think this chapter was a pretty big success.

I was nervous about this chapter for a lot of reasons. First of all, it was the first chapter to prominently feature Zaffod and the Grogians as villains ever since the much maligned “Cats and Grogs” storyline in the old comic (which I’ve always considered to be its low point). The next reason was that it’s also the first chapter to prominently feature Connor, who we’ve only seen briefly in the comic before now, and I was afraid her debut, so to speak, would fall flat. Most of all I was nervous because Bobbes seems to be the most popular character in the comic. I didn’t want a chapter starring him to be disappointing to the readers.

By far, the most difficult part was writing the Grogians. Zaffod himself was more or less set in stone. He’s a sarcastic alien prince that hates humans. All I have to do when writing his dialogue is channel Invader Zim and make it more vulgar. Breeble, on the other hand, was created more or less on the spot when I started writing.

In the planning stages, I was just planning to bring back Lieutenant Box and the intern from the old comic, but this was shaping up to be a really bad idea. The intern, as far as his character went, was basically just Bobbes as a Grogian, which really became apparent when I tried to write scenes with them together. I’ve also already used the evil intern shtick recently in Eve, the evil jailbait intern working with Carl, so I didn’t want to repeat myself. As for Lieutenant Box, I noticed in the old comic that he didn’t really have a personality until after Zaffod died and he was put in charge. I also hate his design; I’m not sure what I was thinking there. So, I took elements from the two, came up with a completely new look for a Grogian character, and named him Breeble, who is just as dumb as the intern from the old comic, but has a personality quirk (in this case, talking like an eighties stoner) that separates him from Bobbes.

Connor’s dialogue in this chapter was very fun for me to write. Much like Chris and Steve, she tends to straddle the line between anti-hero and straight up villain, and I think this shows pretty well in how she talks to the characters. Along with the “awesome scheme of kickassery” line, which I’m sure will make its way into merchandise someday, her threatening the Grogians (to say nothing of blowing one of them up) and her witty rapport with Steve during their fight showcased her dark, edgy side fairly well.

Part of my goal for this chapter plot-wise, along with adding to the mystery of just what Bobbes is and where he came from, was to establish Bobbes as sort of a morality pet for Connor, which I accomplished by having him talk her into saving Chris and Steve. Connor, as some of you may have guessed, isn’t exactly a good person. By the end of Volume II of Moron County, she will do some pretty rotten things. How this will affect her friendship with everyone’s favorite blue rabbit might make for some interesting stories later.