Evil Inc.

Infobox Webcomic
title =Evil Inc.


caption =
author = Brad Guigar
url = http://www.evil-comic.com/
status = Mon-Sat
began = May 30 2005
ended =
genre =
ratings =

Evil Inc. is a comic strip by Brad Guigar. One of the launch strips for Blank Label Comics, it appears daily both in newspapers and now as a webcomic as part of the Halfpixel lineup. A spin-off from Guigar's previous project, "Greystone Inn", "Evil Inc." debuted on the web on June 22, 2005 and chronicles the schemes and adventures of the eponymous Evil Incorporated, a business run by supervillains dealing in all forms of villinary. Artistically, Evil Inc. follows the form of most newspaper comics with black and white line-art style, shades of gray used sparingly. Most strips are formed of a series of panels which use a multitude of camera angles.

The comic follows a strong story arc, in the most recent, the corporation has been bought, and subsequently brought to financial ruin, by the Legion of Justice (a parody of the Justice League and similar teams). However, the ruination of Evil, Inc. has also spelled doom for the Legion. Each strip maintains a self-contained joke, the comic frequently parodies superhero comics and often uses puns.

Each Saturday an Evil. Inc character profile is posted, a short file of an Evil. Inc character, usually one featured in the previous week.

Evil Inc has been the subject of numerous articles at Websnark.

Guigar, and therefore Evil Inc., is a current contestant in the Daily Grind Iron Man Challenge.

Evil Inc was nominated for the 2007 Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards in the category of Outstanding Superhero / Action Comic.

Print versions

Three collections of "Evil Inc." strips have been published, and Diamond Comics has picked up the anthologies for national distribution. [cite web |url= http://previews.diamondcomics.com/support/previews_docs/orderforms/archive/2007/January%202007/NewSeries.htm
accessdate=2007-01-29
title=Order form archives
date = January 2007
publisher=Diamond Comics] The [http://www.evil-comic.com/images/blogart/previews_page.gifEvil Inc. Annual Report] has been laid out and edited to create a continuous graphic novel.

The strip is carried by several newspapers, the biggest of which is the "Philadelphia Daily News", which also runs Guigar's other current project, [http://www.phables.com/ Phables] , a look at daily life in Philly.

Characters

*Lightning Lady - Lightning Lady has the power to control errant electricity. She gained the head receptionist job at Evil Inc. by being at the right place at the right time. She lives with her longtime boyfriend Keagan Newborne, a stand-up comedian who formerly appeared at Greystone Inn. In her beginning she had to make the choice of what side to use her powers for.

*Evil Atom - The founder of Evil Inc., and a genius for business. Evil Atom has the power to fly and control radioactivity. After trying his hand at illegal activities, he decided that you can "get away with more evil, if you do it "legally". His former partner in his extralegal activities was "Catspaw". In another interesting twist, we [http://www.evil-comic.com/d/20061214.html learned] that Atom's wife used to be a super-heroine.

*Miss Match - A top name at Evil Inc., Miss Match is head of the Plots-and-Schemes Department. Her name implies that she's single, but in the Strip of December 19 2005 we find out that she is in fact married. The twist is that she is married to the top superhero of Fairmont City (Captain Heroic, see below) and they have a five-year-old son. She has to remain secretive of these facts, as it would destroy her job at Evil Inc. The Iron Dragon, a minor character, is frequently hitting on her, not knowing she is married. She can generate flame, and has also built a robot double, which has [http://evil-comic.com/d/20060302.html various uses] , such as solving [http://evil-comic.com/d/20060630.html certain secret-identity problems] .

*Captain Heroic - The main hero for the strip and the arch-nemesis of several villains at Evil Inc. His family seems to have a predisposition for super powers, as in one strip we see that his parents are actually superheroes on a full-time basis. However, there is also some antipathy between his parents and his wife, Miss Match. Maybe that's because she's a super-villain. Heroic and Miss Match have a five-year-old son, Oscar. Being a stay at home dad, Heroic has apparently been doing most of the child-rearing, although [http://evil-comic.com/d/20060814.html Oscar spends time with Grandpa] when dad needs to work. Unfortunately, that situation became untenable, and Evil Inc. opened the world's first [http://evil-comic.com/d/20060904.html Supervillain Day Care] . He can lift three tons and fly at Mach 1 [http://www.evil-comic.com/archive/20050713.html] , his gauntlets fire force beams [http://www.evil-comic.com/archive/20050712.html] and he demonstrates X-Ray vision [http://www.evil-comic.com/archive/20061018.html] .

*Dr. Haynus - Dr. Haynus is a mad scientist's brain in a glass jar attached to a dog's head. The exact relationship between mind and mutt is unclear, but there are times when the dog's canine instincts get the better of him. Along with his assistant, Dr. Muskiday, he has hatched a convoluted scheme to take over Evil, Inc. It started with becoming the arch-villain for Captain Heroic, and may not yet be complete.

*Dr. Muskiday - Originally a fly, an accident caused his head to fuse to the body of a janitor. Dr. Muskiday is Haynus's assistant and the head of Research and Development

*Memo - A cousin to The Narrator, which started as a [http://www.greystoneinn.net/index.html pun] in Greystone Inn, Memo is actually an animated sheet of paper that can move around on its own and change its text at will. Memo has launched its own scheme to take over the company. Apparently, taking over the company is the main occupation of most of upper management.

Minor characters

*Commander Heroic - Captain Heroic's father. Time has added some weight and taken some hair, but the Commander's powers (similar to his son's) still function, and he is still a force for justice. Married to Stella, the former Ms. Amazing, who has similar powers. [http://www.evil-comic.com/archive/20061028.html]

*Iron Dragon - one of the many supervillains on the Payroll of Evil, Inc. Among his abilities seems to be control of a, well, Iron Dragon - a robot shaped as a dragon that can fly and breathe fire. Iron Dragon, unaware that Miss Match is married, constantly flirts with her. It's questionable whether he'd stop if he did know she was married.

References

Bibliography

*"Evil Inc. Annual Report, vol. 1" (ISBN 978-1-4116-8070-8)
*"Evil Inc. Annual Report, vol. 2" (ISBN 978-0-6151-3620-2)
*"Evil Inc. Annual Report, vol. 3"

External links

*Official|http://www.evil-comic.com
* [http://www.ccawards.com/2007.htm Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards nomination page.]
* [http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/article_brief/eandp/1/1003190435 2000th comic posted.]