ADONAIS

Summer's breathing its last gasps, and while this was hardly The Summer of Ted, (2010, watch your ass!) a number of events and people made this melancholy baby a receptor of joy. I met a lot of cool new people, I went to my first Comic Con, met Brian K. Vaughan, I started this blog, I got a bunch of great new ideas for GN's, I got to see Micheal Phelps dominate, and I got a new series of the Venture Bros! The Venture Bros. series 3 is complete, and while a lot happened that is worth mentioning and remembering, the thing that sticks with me is the death of the nameless "Henchman 24".

While death awaits us all, I think we all hope for some kind of heroic death. Consider Royal Tenenbaum's epitaph, "Died Tragically Rescuing His Family From The Wreckage Of A Destroyed Sinking Battleship". While it wasn't literally true, it still smacked of the truth. Henchman 24, however, dies in a pathetic manner that he had mocked in "The Lepidopterists", only a handful of episodes previous. No one is saved by his death, and he drags no one down with him. In death, he is neither hero nor villain, neither Valjean nor Ahab. He is the guy who absent-mindedly steps off of the curb too soon and gets hit by a bus. This, by the way, is the kind of death that awaits 99% of the world's population.

Henchman 24 will likely only be mourned for any degree of time by his best friend, Henchman 21. The Monarch considers 21 and 24 his "best men", but I don't think he'll be lighting any candles for 24. Notice how nonchalantly he decapitates one of his own henchman while engaging his "Death's Head Panoply". Dr. Girlfriend loves The Monarch, and adores her Moppets, but the rest of the henchmen mostly give her the creeps. Henchman 21 is left abandoned with no one to participate in sitting shiva with.

In a series highly populated by duos, (Hank & Dean, The Monarch & Dr. Girlfriend, Brock & Doc) 21 & 24 stood out as a pair that were intimately tied to one another. It's hard to imagine 21 without 24 to bounce off of. What's to become of the widowed 21 now? Will he continue to hench for The Monarch? Will he find someone to take 24's place? Will he become overwhelmed by sadness and retire? Or maybe he'll finally become that "Viceroy" persona he imagined?

Henchmen 21 & 24 were iconic in their representation of heroic loserdom. While neither men could be considered competent at their jobs, their enthusiasm and love made them stand out as the best imaginable henchmen for The Monarch. 24's sudden elimination from the universe, punctuated by 21's reception of the man's flaming noggin, pulled at my heartstrings not because of how it happened, but because of who the character was, and how I imagine what the effects, or non-effects, his death will have.

I've heard Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick say that they fell in love with one another, jokingly, shortly after they met. Best friendship is a kind of love, and it's not unreasonable that one could find their soulmate in a non-romantic relationship. 21 and 24 were without a doubt, soulmates, and there's no worse tragedy than to lose your soulmate. 21 will survive, but it remains to be seen if his heart will, as well.

24. 1969 - 2008. RIP. You were loved