be moar saif on the interwebs

in addition to my horrendous grammar, I have something slightly arbitrary to note: I'm REALLY excited for Johnny to go full spectral, none of his crew understand, they think he's lost it, max calms him down & explains stuff, Johnny explains said stuff to said crew, they want tools, Spender has to deal with a) let a bunch of punks have tools, so that they will become spectrals through continuous exposure to spoopiness, and jeopardize the security of the Club right in the middle of the investigation by the Consortium, or b), have Johnny leave the club because they wont let the rest of his crew in, and start going around defeating spirits to give his friends powers, thus forming the dangerous ParaNerdmal Punching Group (because let's face it that's totally what Johnny would name his crew if they all became spectrals) and opposing the Activity Club in all their endeavors (maybe even joining up with the Angel, if she/he/they deem the Punching Group useful)

wow, I kinda let loose there

OntheCeiling wrote:

Also, the phone was in her bag to begin with, as it's visible in the previous several panels, but it simply lit up in the last panel. so, she got a message.

in panels 5 & 6 you can see the phone resting on something in her locker

also apparently Jesus forbids running in the halls

You could trip and/or hurt somebody. (Including yourself!)

I think those theories are very likely, I never even considered that Johnny and co. would become a separate paranormal group. That's a pretty good idea! Though, I kind of find it hard to see Johnny and the others working for the Angel. And, if they ever did, they probably wouldn't stay there for very long, I think.

TurnTechBiologist wrote:

Apophyllite wrote:

Isabel even opens her locker in the most badass way possible...

this is a reference to the rumor Suzy was telling Max about in the background of the last panel here

Oh wow, totally forgot about that XD

About Johnny's gang becoming a separate spectral group: that's probably the most likely outcome. Or at least the most predictable one so maybe not the one to actually happen due to subversion and stuff... There's no way Johnny would keep this from his friends and there's basically no way that group is gonna integrate into the activity club all too well...
There's been a speculation thread on this possibility for a while now. Ever since Johnny got possessed it seems, wow that was actually a pretty long time ago :0

I doubt they'd willingly work for anyone though... They seem like free spirits, to put it mildly.
If Forge and Johnny communicate, Forge might be able to convince Johnny to help his cause though. The events with Jeff and Max did seem to give Johnny some food for thought and have an obvious impact on him, eventhough he tries to pretend it didn't. And Forge might be able to use those doubts to put Johnny on a path that would benefit his faction. So he may end up indirectly helping out the Angel, maybe even without knowing about her...

That seems more likely to me.

I think that the relationship between Forge and Johnny will be one of those "change each other for the better" type relationships. Like, Johnny will become more mature and Forge will... well... something... but, y'know... heck, I don't even know. Still, I think it'll be a mutually beneficial relationship for them.

I don't even know what I'm saying. I'll stop now.

They're both pretty temperamental though, so that'll probably be a great source of strife/comedy...
But yeah, it does seem that it could be mutually beneficial if they can get over their tempers enough to interact positively...

*nod nod*

I can't wait!

Who knows, maybe if Johnny & crew can integrate into the Activity club, then the mutually beneficial relationship thing can come to pass; Johnny gets some life advice, Forge sees how much the Club wants to protect Mayview & helps them?

One more factor that we haven't considered; Suzy. She would be all over Johnny & crew as soon as they started hanging out with the Club, and one of them could possibly be goaded into talking, if Suzy hasn't already deduced the Club's purpose from the flower on Max...

"Hi, I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower!"

Couldn't resist, sorry.

Heck, at this point I think that almost any way that Zack takes the story will be awesome! I wonder how many people will be in the club at the end of the story/when the club eventually disbands... it seems unlikely that the whole school would become spectrals, but who knows? Maybe they will. That would be chaos, to say the least.

Johnny joining the club (if that's even possible considering his personality and stuff) would only happen if his friends can join too, which would only happen if they become spectrals... And if they manage to change enough... All of this would probably take a really, really, realllllly long time. Seeing how slow the comic is going as is, it seems pretty unlikely that this is what's going to happen... It would really hinder the story's progression.
Then again, everything is possible...

Indeed. It's also possible that there's a turn to take that we haven't considered, and that Zack will surprise us. But yeah, Johnny's group joining up would take a long time. I could see Ollie and Johnny as being able to join, but RJ and the other guy (Stephen, I think) seem like it would be more difficult for them to join. Then again, isn't the activity club's purpose to help new spectral as well as protect the town/school? If so, then Spender wouldn't have a really viable reason to refuse entry to Johnny and co if they all become spectrals and want to join (though that is kinda unlikely, unless... What if Max asked them? Or asked Johnny? Hmmm....)

I think the only one who would have a real problem joining is Stephen (conspiracy theorist extraordinaire), maybe RJ becomes a medium for one of the Shadow Bunnies?
But yeah, I can see Max going to Johnny/the other way around when Johnny goes full spectral, given the bonding that happened before Max left the Gym...

And especially since they saw the same kind of shade first! Though they don't really know it yet, probably, since Max didn't really describe it when he saw it on Johnny's head, though, Johnny might be able to piece things together. Maybe. I mean, he's Johnny.

Oh, I'm sure the problem wouldn't come from Spender's end... He'd welcome them in the club, even if maybe a bit reluctantly, because that's his duty. It's just that even with Max there, Johnny doesn't seem the kind of person to join the club. Remember, even Max wasn't all that keen on joining up untill he almost got murderized by an angry spirit. And even then it was just a reluctant thing just to get more info... Johnny's buddies would probably follow him wherever, even if it is into a nerd club thing. It's just that Johnny's attitude would need an almost complete 180 in order for that to be even close to likely.

Which I guess is kinda nicely set up now with his doubts about his actions and his debt to Max... Right now , him and his friends are still bullies though. People like to forget that, but that's just what they are, even if it's played mostly for laughs in the comic. They don't play well with others, and they'd not be likely to accept Spender's authority as a club leader or even as a more experienced spectral... So like I said, they'd need a major character development and that'd be almost a whole seperate story on its own...

One thing I just considered is that Max sorta needed the club for info because his spirit is a grudge and can't really communicate with him properly. Forge could be a far more effecient source of info to Johnny than Spender with his slow dramatic speeches. So if first contact goes well, Johnny may actually not even need the club...

true... Maybe they go off & do their own thing for a while before the Club knows about them?

NinjaKitten wrote:

And especially since they saw the same kind of shade first! Though they don't really know it yet, probably, since Max didn't really describe it when he saw it on Johnny's head, though, Johnny might be able to piece things together. Maybe. I mean, he's Johnny.

I think, given that the comic is full of jokes, Johnny is far more likely to deduce that the first shade Max saw was a doctopus, but using the exact wrong train of thought.

Of course! This is Paranatural we're talking about, of course!

I dunno, guys. Johnny seemed a bit distant to his friends in the last few pages. It was one thing when Johnny saw other people doing the weird stuff, but now he's gonna do the weird stuff, and normally, yeah I would totally agree that their friend group was unbreakable. But Max, the new kid might have more power over them than you think. After all, he defeated Friendship Fusion, and I think that's foreshadowing. Not to mention i foresee a sort of pseudo friendship forming between Max and Johnny. Yeah, he's currently the bully, but he's put a lot of attention into Max, and, please, correct me if I'm wrong, but the people he's been harassing since the comic started were either Max, or friends of Max. I mean, they hadn't even met Isaac before he was walking with Max, and how long had they been going to school together. Now Max "compliments" Johnny and he's in awe. He's received a complement (backhanded though it may be) from someone other than his three friends. He then tells Max not to let possessed Jeff get to him, supporting him back. He then wouldn't tell Ollie what's up. He lied to him. Who's to say he wouldn't lie about the paranatural? He also seems more unenthusiastic about beating up Ed. Yes, they have been great friends, but all friendships must come to an end, and Max and Forge are about to end it.

Tldr: Friendship Fusion being defeated is foreshadowing. Johnny will keep things a secret from his friends and they'll grow distant.

I don't want their group to disband, I like how they all work together, though the possibility you provide is a distinct possibility. I am hoping that their group stays together, but I dunno how it'll turn out.

I think the Friendship Fusion failure might be foreshadowing, but it failed because Ollie wasn't there to bolster it... Maybe the group falls apart, if Ollie (who is described as the heart and soul of Johnny's group on the cast page) doesn't step in and save it?

Yeah, Ollie seems like he'll be an integral character in the story to come. I really hope that everything turns out okay for Johnny's group.

yay, new page!
Respectable Ringtone [probably anime theme song]

Last page we saw Mr. Spender
Current page

PERSONAL THEORY:

Mr. Spender has been taken over by Hijack.

VAGUE IDEAS AND STUFF TO SUPPORT THEORY:

1) Spender previously looked annoyed as heck at getting yelled at by Lucifer, but not in pain like he does in the new page.
2) Where is Spender's lunch?  It's been, like, 2 minutes.  Coach Oop went to the office, then the nurse, then to the gym, then Isabel booked it.  He hasn't had time to eat it and get food poisoning or anything along those lines.  No, I think the most likely reasoning is Hijack is controlling him and is like "WHAT THE HECK WHY DOES MY CHEST FEEL LIKE I GOT STEPPED ON BY SOMETHING ON FIRE" while Spender can usually just grin and bear it.
3) What is Spender doing in the "main office" instead of the lounge part where everyone else was eating?

But the two MORE important reasons why I think it would work really well:

4) We're shown a panel where Spender sees "Isabel" is calling him, which is how he knows to respond.  I can't decide it Spender would have normally whipped out his phone and been like "Spender here, go." or whether he would have actually taken the time to see who's calling first.  He hasn't said anything that wouldn't work for Hijack yet.
5) We've spent this entire chapter waiting to see how "It's one of THEM!" would play out.  What if it wasn't one of them ALL ALONG?

That's an interesting theory, I haven't thought of that! I just figured Spender was sobbing about Life and Other Terrible Things, TM but he might have been hijacked by Hijack. However, we don't know yet whether or not Hijack can hijack spectrals, or if he can only get to non-spectrals.

True. Really it's just absolutely wild speculation but the moment I saw "Isabel" prominently featured on his phone and also when it seems he's randomly in a room we didn't expect him to be in and where's his lunch and why is he in so much pain I was like "HMMMMMMMMMM."

Oh, it sorta made sense to me that he would go to another room to be alone for a moment to suffer away from prying eyes... Even if you can usually grin and bear a certain amount of pain, it can sometimes still help to just pull agony faces at a wall while no-one's looking >_>
Especially if you don't want anyone asking questions...

He probably left his lunch in the room with the other teachers...

Looks like Jeff is still in the teacher's lounge... Didn't notice that at first. Was all like, "huh where'd Jeff go".


So if the teacher's lounge was Hijack's destination, it's more likely that he's still hijacking Jeff.

Also, I guess I was wrong in thinking it'd take a while for people to get in place for this to happen... It all went pretty smoothly. Though Spender switches to a walkie-talkie for some reason? Unless that's his phone and it grew an antenna... And Max still needs to switch pants? Maybe while running? >_>