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All in the Family, Afterthought: Murder Grampa pages
This is for the folks who just want the comics.
We stopped All in the Family when we did because we wanted to do other stuff. The brutal pace wasn't sustainable. So we finished part 4, did a four-page epilogue, and said we were done. It was time to move on.
But life isn't narrative. Our little brother drunk-dialed us a month or so after that. That call gave a huge amount of clarity as to why our family behaved the way it did, and it felt like vital information... and there was no way to include it in All in the Family. It fit nowhere, except maybe at the end, and we already HAD an epilogue, one that gave a feeling of completion; Murder Grampa just adds even more feeling of ignorance and freefall.
The pages got shoved into the Memory Work zine. And here.
Murder Grampa transcript (for screen-reader folks only; everyone else can skip this)
2016, February 3: Bro drunk-dials us, going, "So, did you hear about THE MURDER?"
Blobby LB sweeps all their crap off their desk and flail for pencil and paper. "Uh, no Bro... why don't you tell me about it?"
"Kay!" he goes. "Y'know how Mom always said her real dad committed suicide when she was two? Nope! MURDER! Grandma got charged! So Mom'n'all were all put in foster care for one and a half to three years! Crazy, right? (hic)"
As he talks, pictures of Grandma and Grampa's gravestones appear. Grampa's reads Beloved Parents, while Grandma's says Together Again. Not even joking, swear on their graves. Bio-grandfather's tombstone has only an invisible shape--it doesn't exist with the other two.
Meanwhile, Rogan is at front, holding the phone to his ear and slumped over the desk, with hastily jotted notes in front of him. He looks resigned; nothing this family does surprises him anymore. "That... explains a lot, Bro," he says. "Thanks."
Meanwhile, M.D. just stands there, hands spread and mouth open, but uncharacteristically stunned silent. What do you even SAY to that?
But Bro keeps talking. "'Ey! 'EY! Why you lie 'bout us, sis? Why you make up all'a this... this stuff?"
Rogan's expression chills. "I'm not lying, Bro."
But that just upsets him more. "YES YOU ARE! (sob) YOU FUGGIN' LIE! YOU WERE THE SMART ONE! AND NOW YER A CRAZY LIAR!"
The words hit home; it shows in Rogan's face. But then Bro says, "YOUR FAM'LY LOVES YOU AN' YOU STAB US IN THE BACK, SIS!" And Rogan rages out.
Zoom out to Biff, who's outside the room, but whose attention is drawn by Rogan shouting, out of view, "Our family is full of rapists, and EVERYONE KNOWS IT BUT YOU!"
Biff comes into the doorway and leans on it, exchanging looks with M.D., who hunches uncomfortably in the background while Rogan continues bellowing, tears streaming down his cheeks, "ASK GRANNY! ASK MOM! Ask ANYONE, and they'll fucking tell you about Grampa!"
"Now, don't get upset, sis..."
"I'M NOT UPSET!"
M.D. fidgets uncomfortably and stares on wide-eyed; she's never seen Rogan wig out like this before. Biff puts a comforting hand on her shoulder while, off-panel, Rogan says, quiet now, "I'm not upset..." and hangs up.
We stopped All in the Family when we did because we wanted to do other stuff. The brutal pace wasn't sustainable. So we finished part 4, did a four-page epilogue, and said we were done. It was time to move on.
But life isn't narrative. Our little brother drunk-dialed us a month or so after that. That call gave a huge amount of clarity as to why our family behaved the way it did, and it felt like vital information... and there was no way to include it in All in the Family. It fit nowhere, except maybe at the end, and we already HAD an epilogue, one that gave a feeling of completion; Murder Grampa just adds even more feeling of ignorance and freefall.
The pages got shoved into the Memory Work zine. And here.
Murder Grampa transcript (for screen-reader folks only; everyone else can skip this)
2016, February 3: Bro drunk-dials us, going, "So, did you hear about THE MURDER?"
Blobby LB sweeps all their crap off their desk and flail for pencil and paper. "Uh, no Bro... why don't you tell me about it?"
"Kay!" he goes. "Y'know how Mom always said her real dad committed suicide when she was two? Nope! MURDER! Grandma got charged! So Mom'n'all were all put in foster care for one and a half to three years! Crazy, right? (hic)"
As he talks, pictures of Grandma and Grampa's gravestones appear. Grampa's reads Beloved Parents, while Grandma's says Together Again. Not even joking, swear on their graves. Bio-grandfather's tombstone has only an invisible shape--it doesn't exist with the other two.
Meanwhile, Rogan is at front, holding the phone to his ear and slumped over the desk, with hastily jotted notes in front of him. He looks resigned; nothing this family does surprises him anymore. "That... explains a lot, Bro," he says. "Thanks."
Meanwhile, M.D. just stands there, hands spread and mouth open, but uncharacteristically stunned silent. What do you even SAY to that?
But Bro keeps talking. "'Ey! 'EY! Why you lie 'bout us, sis? Why you make up all'a this... this stuff?"
Rogan's expression chills. "I'm not lying, Bro."
But that just upsets him more. "YES YOU ARE! (sob) YOU FUGGIN' LIE! YOU WERE THE SMART ONE! AND NOW YER A CRAZY LIAR!"
The words hit home; it shows in Rogan's face. But then Bro says, "YOUR FAM'LY LOVES YOU AN' YOU STAB US IN THE BACK, SIS!" And Rogan rages out.
Zoom out to Biff, who's outside the room, but whose attention is drawn by Rogan shouting, out of view, "Our family is full of rapists, and EVERYONE KNOWS IT BUT YOU!"
Biff comes into the doorway and leans on it, exchanging looks with M.D., who hunches uncomfortably in the background while Rogan continues bellowing, tears streaming down his cheeks, "ASK GRANNY! ASK MOM! Ask ANYONE, and they'll fucking tell you about Grampa!"
"Now, don't get upset, sis..."
"I'M NOT UPSET!"
M.D. fidgets uncomfortably and stares on wide-eyed; she's never seen Rogan wig out like this before. Biff puts a comforting hand on her shoulder while, off-panel, Rogan says, quiet now, "I'm not upset..." and hangs up.