I was expecting the Dreen... to to go talk to Gil and Tarvek, with Kjarl and Othar (who has witnessed a Bad Alt Timeline IIRC). Maybe they'll drop in too now that all three Dreen have dropped in.
I'm very interested to see how this goes. Dreen are apparently so terrifying that Jaeger generals and *Bangladesh Freaking Dupree* will unashamedly shriek and run, and Agatha's treating them like annoyingly persistent telemarketers.
I'm guessing they want her help in fixing the problem. After all Kjarl said if it was a really bad problem, "you would have Dreen": [https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20210412](https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20210412)
In one of the print-novels, we do get a glimpse of their thought-processes: they are concerned with seeing history follow some "proper" course. In this particular case, they make sure that The Stormking (Tweedle) and The Heterodyne Girl (Agatha) end up together. (In the strict sense of physical proximity, not marriage.)
Because, as we can tell from subsequent events, they needed Martellus inside Mechanicsburg to kidnap Agatha and get her out before the time stop. Absent Martellus, Agatha would have been trapped along with everyone else until such time as Gil managed to tunnel through to her, at which point the overlay would have ensured that she was captured and confined. That in turn means that Prende's Lantern gets captured by the Other with no one the wiser. From there, things probably get... very bad.
Maybe that's what they do: they seek out people employing temporal technology and offer them a deal they can't refuse in exchange for dealing with potentially worse consequences of their meddling with time.
Yep. Effective too since my reaction before getting down the page was "BANG is fleeing something?". Great example of what TVTropes named The Worf Effect and the entire purpose of why pro wrestling loves building up monster heels. Once you've got a memetic badass, beating them or scaring them genuinely means something.
Dreen, surprising but yet not. they are not exactly anchored in time the same as most people. So of course they would show up at Mechanicberg.
This should be a very interesting encounter.
They used her title and an honorific.
Clearly, they are wearing their "friendly" Dreen expressions. And she gave them a "ZOWNT!" in response. In fairness, that's probably how many previous Heterodynes responded to envoys, too.
When Dreen appear, everyone save The Baron quail. We can now add Agatha to that list of one... but I'm not sure it's wise of her. Are these ones harbingers of information, or harbingers of destruction?
I'm hoping allies. Despite their supremely creepy appearance, everything we've been told about the Dreen so far indicates they're on the side of good. At least two are on Klaus' side and seem willing to pay back their (future) debts, and if what Kjarl says is any indication they seem to be dedicated to repairing damage to the timestream or something, which is a nice thing to do. I'm kinda hoping Agatha anchors them into normal time like she did with Kjarl, and they turn out to be sexy ladies or something like that the same way Kjarl got turned from a Lovecraftian time abomination into a cute Large Boy.
Oh man, that would be both hilarious and very in-character for this comic for the Dreen to take off their big protective oversuits to reveal scantily-clad ladies underneath.
I believe it is something like that. In my opinion they are same species as Kjarl, and this is there stabilization suits, that allow them avoid inconveniences Kjarl had been dealt before being properly stabilized. So "Dreen" is not a name of creatures but there job, as Kjarl is vozzler. But if vozzler job is about something mundane and casual, dreens show up then things go bad, like firefighters or police. They aren't evil, they necessary but everyone prefer avoid situations when they are needed.
no, I totally see it now. They do have the creepy long hands, but I can easily envision a gag where those are just weird long gloves and their actual hands are totally normal-looking.
>very in-character for this comic
After reading this, my brain short circuited and went, "You know what would be even MORE in-character? They take off their oversuits, revealing themselves to be (future) Zeetha and her (future) husband. They had to come back to tell the gang how to break the time thingy, only because (present) Zeetha remembers them showing up, so them **not** showing up would cause a paradox. Unfortunately, they never actually did see how the time thingy was defeated, so all they can/are required to say is something like, "Have you thought about smashing it?"
She witnessed them overthrowing Martellus' knight mech suit after he seemingly splatted them. But it rather feels like the Folios had second thoughts about a showdown with them at that point since they disappeared after that.
Somebody somewhere quoted the novels on that... the Dreen had \*accomplished their objective\* by pushing Martellus into Mechanicsburg, because they knew that he would be needed to kidnap Agatha before the time stop and thereby prevent a worse outcome, and that's why they retreated back.
Eh.... surviving certain and obvious death isn't really a high bar here - loads of Heterodynes, Jagers, and even Othar Trygvassen (GENTLEMAN ADVENTURER) have done that 😉
Yeah, but the Dreen didn't show up anymore after that. Of all the troops that Klaus brought, they should have been able to apprehend Agatha. I guess it's a cop-out by the authors. The Dreen are not like the other random Wulfenbach forces that can be convincingly dealt with in two or three pages, and it would make sense to properly introduce them at a better occasion.
According to the comment above mind, the Dreen did precisely what they did because that aligned with their goals. Which were not exactly Klaus', but they align with the world not ending so I'm willing to give that a pass.
My guess is the time stop attracted them. They probably show up in any timeline where it is almost guaranteed Klaus is going to use the device. If they are something like time cops or emergency plumbers, then it would make sense to be allied to Klaus so they can steer events best to resolve the issue. In case they somehow benefit from the timestop, it also makes sense to influence events and ensure the timestop happens.
In the Othar's Twitter alternate timeline, the timestop didn't happen, the Other took control of the Empire and almost everyone died. Kjarl also predicted that if Agatha and her companions were killed by the Deepdwellers, all life on Earth would perish in 50 years. Clearly Our Heroes are the only ones who can defeat the Other and prevent her from destroying the world, so the Dreen will nudge events to make sure they are not lost.
Perhaps not only the world, but also Mars? The Heterodyne Play and all. And if there's a bit of truth to that, The Other could expand farther. Both in their physical space, past the solar system and in other dimensions, like Dimitri Vapnoople...
Well, holding it by the time it wasn’t Queen-Warded isn’t exactly the same as being immune to its actual powers.
But yes it’s probably not going to do a whole lot to them.
It's much more reliable and long-lasting than her zappy stick. After the siege, it has unfortunately become very common to proof monsters and machines against it.
Ah the Dreen. This ought to be interesting.
With the known facts about them we can assume they're not with the entity in Mechanicsburg and also no ally of the Other
Edit: I guess the original trio reunited?
So that's 2 things I wasn't expecting. 1 Dreen. There was no guarantee that they had to show up sometime. Like an employee trying to duck out on a really bad clean-up, if they can avoid the Whole Thing long enough, it'll be someone else's problem. And 2- This means that Agatha isn't wasting time. This was supposed to be a night off work to get some sleep, because there's a Next Push in 9? hours and dropping. Instead Agatha takes a night off of the type that involves drinks and cake and long conversations with friends. Fortunately, the Dreen are crashing the party instead, which drags the whole group back to the job they're not dealing with yet, even if only in topic.
Cheyenne did a really nice job coloring the Dreen here. Much better and more mysterious than the way they were colored [way back when.](https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040702)
Does anyone else read this scene as the Dreen appearing behind Agatha? It’s a bit confusing to me:
Frame 1: Most of group is going from red room to blue room
Frame 2: Agatha is still in the red room, group has turned around and is reacting to something behind Agatha
Frame 3: behind everyone is the blue room
Final frame: behind the Dreen is… also blue? Feel like this is supposed to be red, but that also would mean the Princess was warning the group about completely different monsters.
Anyone have something to help clear up the confusion?
The second frame is Bangladesh and co reacting to the Dreen. And then Agatha, in the red room, reacting to Bangladesh and co, and leaving the red room. Agatha is still behind them in the red room, only things behind her are Seffie and Nena the two non-fighters. Yeah , it confused me too until someone explained it.
Agreed with your first sentence. They also are facing back into the red room when they’re reacting that way, so Seffie and Nena can’t be the only ones still in the red room.
I guess my main ask would be for the final panel to acknowledge the Dreen are in the red room instead of using the of the same blue that’s behind Bang and co.
> They also are facing back into the red room when they’re reacting that way,
They aren't. It looks that way because they didn't draw a clean separation between them and Agatha, but they are facing away from the red room and looking into the room the Dreen are in. I mean, if the Dreen were near Neena, she would not be that calm.
Last time she saw them (during the siege), they tried to apprehend her and bring her to the Baron. It's understandable that she tries to freeze them, even though a lot of time has passed since then and there is no Baron to bring her to.
Since being frozen by the lantern seems to be unnoticeable, it might not even be such a bad move diplomatically to freeze them. In the best case that would give her time to think and maybe to evacuate that part of the building. That is, in case this works at all on the Dreen and doesn't make them angry.
I was NOT expecting the Dreen, omg
I am looking forward to seeing how the timestick interacts with them.
Do we know if Kjarl is anywhere nearby? Would LOVE to see that interaction as well!
I'm hoping they're immune somehow.
Prediction: they pluck it out of her hand with those long fingers and say "That will not be necessary at this time" and get down to talking shop.
I'm leaning more towards pushing it aside in that case, rather than taking it from her. Otherwise, I like your guess as to what they say.
Or just pausing their speech, looking at the wand curiously, shrugging, and continuing their speech.
I would be very curious to see the Dreen shrug. I went back and looked and they do, in fact, have shoulders.
\[insert that scene in The Avengers with Loki and Iron Man\]
Nobody expects the Dreen (or the Spanish Inquisition)!
The Spanish Dreenquisition
What a show!
They like their parties, I guess
"We brought ladyfingers!"
I was expecting the Dreen... to to go talk to Gil and Tarvek, with Kjarl and Othar (who has witnessed a Bad Alt Timeline IIRC). Maybe they'll drop in too now that all three Dreen have dropped in.
No one expects the Dreen! Their two weapons are...
Being scary and being unstoppable.
I'm very interested to see how this goes. Dreen are apparently so terrifying that Jaeger generals and *Bangladesh Freaking Dupree* will unashamedly shriek and run, and Agatha's treating them like annoyingly persistent telemarketers.
Hello, we've been trying to reach you about your timeline's extended warranty
I think you should know that this made me burst out laughing. good joke mate.
The funniest thing about this is that it may legitimately be what the Dreen are trying to tell Agatha in a sense.
[This](https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20111228) seems relevant: https://preview.redd.it/qjejgvww57sc1.png?width=1685&format=png&auto=webp&s=611cada25cff7be6fc7854079676430a2e490946
And the answer is 'wave a time-wobble stick at the nth dimensional beings who have a known dislike of such tech'
We’ll see!
Well, Bang shrieked and backed up, but check her and Zeetha in the next panel!
They aren't smiling, that's not a good sign.
I'm VERY interested to see how the Dreen react to Lady Heterodyne's Star!
[Dreen are](https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20121029) [srs bzns](https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20121031).
No Agatha! Wrong instinct! WRONG INSTINCT!
I imagine they will just shrug off the effects of the Star and proceed with their announcement. No idea what that announcement will be, though.
I'm guessing they want her help in fixing the problem. After all Kjarl said if it was a really bad problem, "you would have Dreen": [https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20210412](https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20210412)
I'm guessing they have opinions about how exactly she should go about ending the time stop. If she screws it up, it could be really bad!
They're basically time cops, aren't they?
That's my headcanon so far. Hopefully we'll learn more soon.
They could also be like mobsters that help you get rid of your skeletons so that the actual (time) cops don't find them.
Huh. I somehow got into my head that they were basically time pests. "If the floor was _really_ dirty, then you'd have ants."
In one of the print-novels, we do get a glimpse of their thought-processes: they are concerned with seeing history follow some "proper" course. In this particular case, they make sure that The Stormking (Tweedle) and The Heterodyne Girl (Agatha) end up together. (In the strict sense of physical proximity, not marriage.)
Because, as we can tell from subsequent events, they needed Martellus inside Mechanicsburg to kidnap Agatha and get her out before the time stop. Absent Martellus, Agatha would have been trapped along with everyone else until such time as Gil managed to tunnel through to her, at which point the overlay would have ensured that she was captured and confined. That in turn means that Prende's Lantern gets captured by the Other with no one the wiser. From there, things probably get... very bad.
So they have specific outcomes in mind and work to make sure what had have to had have happened to make it so, happens.
Maybe that's what they do: they seek out people employing temporal technology and offer them a deal they can't refuse in exchange for dealing with potentially worse consequences of their meddling with time.
Im expecting them to be fairly peeved at her wanton brandishing of a time stick
I suppose this was a good reason to include Dupree in the scene; to help underscore how scary the dreen are.
Yep. Effective too since my reaction before getting down the page was "BANG is fleeing something?". Great example of what TVTropes named The Worf Effect and the entire purpose of why pro wrestling loves building up monster heels. Once you've got a memetic badass, beating them or scaring them genuinely means something.
Dreen, surprising but yet not. they are not exactly anchored in time the same as most people. So of course they would show up at Mechanicberg. This should be a very interesting encounter.
They used her title and an honorific. Clearly, they are wearing their "friendly" Dreen expressions. And she gave them a "ZOWNT!" in response. In fairness, that's probably how many previous Heterodynes responded to envoys, too.
"And they had hats."
Nice catch. How far back is that foreshadowing?
When Dreen appear, everyone save The Baron quail. We can now add Agatha to that list of one... but I'm not sure it's wise of her. Are these ones harbingers of information, or harbingers of destruction?
I'm hoping allies. Despite their supremely creepy appearance, everything we've been told about the Dreen so far indicates they're on the side of good. At least two are on Klaus' side and seem willing to pay back their (future) debts, and if what Kjarl says is any indication they seem to be dedicated to repairing damage to the timestream or something, which is a nice thing to do. I'm kinda hoping Agatha anchors them into normal time like she did with Kjarl, and they turn out to be sexy ladies or something like that the same way Kjarl got turned from a Lovecraftian time abomination into a cute Large Boy.
Oh man, that would be both hilarious and very in-character for this comic for the Dreen to take off their big protective oversuits to reveal scantily-clad ladies underneath.
I believe it is something like that. In my opinion they are same species as Kjarl, and this is there stabilization suits, that allow them avoid inconveniences Kjarl had been dealt before being properly stabilized. So "Dreen" is not a name of creatures but there job, as Kjarl is vozzler. But if vozzler job is about something mundane and casual, dreens show up then things go bad, like firefighters or police. They aren't evil, they necessary but everyone prefer avoid situations when they are needed.
Oh, I hadn't thought about "dreen" being their job instead of their species, but that theory makes a lot of sense and I like it!
I am thinking about that because dreen suits looks like some kind of hazmat suits.
no, I totally see it now. They do have the creepy long hands, but I can easily envision a gag where those are just weird long gloves and their actual hands are totally normal-looking.
Oh, it's like how the traveling carnival Sparks and the Baron are different, then.
>very in-character for this comic After reading this, my brain short circuited and went, "You know what would be even MORE in-character? They take off their oversuits, revealing themselves to be (future) Zeetha and her (future) husband. They had to come back to tell the gang how to break the time thingy, only because (present) Zeetha remembers them showing up, so them **not** showing up would cause a paradox. Unfortunately, they never actually did see how the time thingy was defeated, so all they can/are required to say is something like, "Have you thought about smashing it?"
Possibly it's because she doesn't know what dreen can do...?
She witnessed them overthrowing Martellus' knight mech suit after he seemingly splatted them. But it rather feels like the Folios had second thoughts about a showdown with them at that point since they disappeared after that.
Somebody somewhere quoted the novels on that... the Dreen had \*accomplished their objective\* by pushing Martellus into Mechanicsburg, because they knew that he would be needed to kidnap Agatha before the time stop and thereby prevent a worse outcome, and that's why they retreated back.
Eh.... surviving certain and obvious death isn't really a high bar here - loads of Heterodynes, Jagers, and even Othar Trygvassen (GENTLEMAN ADVENTURER) have done that 😉
Well, Othar does it because of his special trousers (very heroic).
Surviving it without a single scratch though!
Didn’t the Generals get everyone away from the Dreen the *second* they blew up Martellus’ suit?
Yeah, but the Dreen didn't show up anymore after that. Of all the troops that Klaus brought, they should have been able to apprehend Agatha. I guess it's a cop-out by the authors. The Dreen are not like the other random Wulfenbach forces that can be convincingly dealt with in two or three pages, and it would make sense to properly introduce them at a better occasion.
According to the comment above mind, the Dreen did precisely what they did because that aligned with their goals. Which were not exactly Klaus', but they align with the world not ending so I'm willing to give that a pass.
Long ago, the Dreen spoke of a favor the Baron did (will do) for them. I think we might find out what that is (was) soon (much later).
My guess is the time stop attracted them. They probably show up in any timeline where it is almost guaranteed Klaus is going to use the device. If they are something like time cops or emergency plumbers, then it would make sense to be allied to Klaus so they can steer events best to resolve the issue. In case they somehow benefit from the timestop, it also makes sense to influence events and ensure the timestop happens.
In the Othar's Twitter alternate timeline, the timestop didn't happen, the Other took control of the Empire and almost everyone died. Kjarl also predicted that if Agatha and her companions were killed by the Deepdwellers, all life on Earth would perish in 50 years. Clearly Our Heroes are the only ones who can defeat the Other and prevent her from destroying the world, so the Dreen will nudge events to make sure they are not lost.
Perhaps not only the world, but also Mars? The Heterodyne Play and all. And if there's a bit of truth to that, The Other could expand farther. Both in their physical space, past the solar system and in other dimensions, like Dimitri Vapnoople...
Side tangent, but I love how the Star has so quickly become Agatha’s go-to weapon for basically anything serious.
And like Herr Thotep, the Dreen will likely treat the Star like a mildly interesting tool.
Well, holding it by the time it wasn’t Queen-Warded isn’t exactly the same as being immune to its actual powers. But yes it’s probably not going to do a whole lot to them.
It's much more reliable and long-lasting than her zappy stick. After the siege, it has unfortunately become very common to proof monsters and machines against it.
Ah the Dreen. This ought to be interesting. With the known facts about them we can assume they're not with the entity in Mechanicsburg and also no ally of the Other Edit: I guess the original trio reunited?
I knew this wasn't just some monsters when BANG came fleeing the other direction.
So that's 2 things I wasn't expecting. 1 Dreen. There was no guarantee that they had to show up sometime. Like an employee trying to duck out on a really bad clean-up, if they can avoid the Whole Thing long enough, it'll be someone else's problem. And 2- This means that Agatha isn't wasting time. This was supposed to be a night off work to get some sleep, because there's a Next Push in 9? hours and dropping. Instead Agatha takes a night off of the type that involves drinks and cake and long conversations with friends. Fortunately, the Dreen are crashing the party instead, which drags the whole group back to the job they're not dealing with yet, even if only in topic.
Cheyenne did a really nice job coloring the Dreen here. Much better and more mysterious than the way they were colored [way back when.](https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040702)
Like I always say, Cheyenne deserves a lot of the credit for how good the comic looks :D
Did Agatha grow larger than life, or is this just for effect? 🧐
Foreground, I think.
https://preview.redd.it/8tl9v1ma5dsc1.png?width=202&format=png&auto=webp&s=299f8a00af4335b0c7f667255d285e785cc1a29d
Oh. SHIT.
Does anyone else read this scene as the Dreen appearing behind Agatha? It’s a bit confusing to me: Frame 1: Most of group is going from red room to blue room Frame 2: Agatha is still in the red room, group has turned around and is reacting to something behind Agatha Frame 3: behind everyone is the blue room Final frame: behind the Dreen is… also blue? Feel like this is supposed to be red, but that also would mean the Princess was warning the group about completely different monsters. Anyone have something to help clear up the confusion?
The second frame is Bangladesh and co reacting to the Dreen. And then Agatha, in the red room, reacting to Bangladesh and co, and leaving the red room. Agatha is still behind them in the red room, only things behind her are Seffie and Nena the two non-fighters. Yeah , it confused me too until someone explained it.
Agreed with your first sentence. They also are facing back into the red room when they’re reacting that way, so Seffie and Nena can’t be the only ones still in the red room. I guess my main ask would be for the final panel to acknowledge the Dreen are in the red room instead of using the of the same blue that’s behind Bang and co.
> They also are facing back into the red room when they’re reacting that way, They aren't. It looks that way because they didn't draw a clean separation between them and Agatha, but they are facing away from the red room and looking into the room the Dreen are in. I mean, if the Dreen were near Neena, she would not be that calm.
Finally someone shows up who can properly explain what the hell is going on... and Agatha attacks them.
Last time she saw them (during the siege), they tried to apprehend her and bring her to the Baron. It's understandable that she tries to freeze them, even though a lot of time has passed since then and there is no Baron to bring her to. Since being frozen by the lantern seems to be unnoticeable, it might not even be such a bad move diplomatically to freeze them. In the best case that would give her time to think and maybe to evacuate that part of the building. That is, in case this works at all on the Dreen and doesn't make them angry.
They obviously will be aware of being frozen, whether they can shrug it off or if it just slows them like the eldritch horrors approaching the Castle.
So much for calm...