I’ve always had some affection for the faceless flunkies, who are always pawns in the larger games played by the named heroes and villains in stories. It was very firmly codified in my mind when I saw Galaxy Quest for the first time, and Sam Rockwell’s character Guy Fleegman described the character he played on the Galaxy-Quest-show-within-the-movie as, “the guy who dies to prove the situation is serious.” If your character’s not important enough to have a last name, or even a first name, how rich can their inner life really be?
As rich as their creator – be that author, actor, whomever – wants them to be! I try to give at least one hapless, faceless goon in every strip one distinctive thing to say. If nothing else, it’s a good opportunity for me to make a reference to something that’s in my thoughts, when I’m writing the dialogue.
At the time I was making this strip originally, too, I thought it was important to weave in elements of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in conversation, and later on, the story. I’m glad I did, although I wish I’d been conscious enough to do more, and to keep that element of real life up in the storytelling. I suppose it’s never too late…?
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