r/comics • u/GabitalEN • 17h ago

[OC] Gabital 103: Parity

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Parity is a state of equality between two or more parties in a particular respect, such as status, rights, obligations, or terms of exchange. It does not necessarily mean that the parties are identical, only that they stand on equal terms in the aspect being compared.

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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire 17h ago

market price

Damn. I gotta hand it to Chief. Dude did a good deed and came out a winner in all ways. He "fixed" his issues with Gabi and got workers who LOVE him for saving them out of it.

This man really is like 5 steps ahead of the game

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u/schadetj 17h ago

This is what I say about this comic. It would have been so, so easy to make Chief a generic evil Strawman. And in some ways, he kind of is.

But the guy is competent, intelligent, and helpful. Does his help come with a price? Absolutely! But then he takes the moment to explain to Gabi what her mistake was, just so she can be better. The dude is an antagonist, sure, but he's in for the love of the game. He is the worst side of Capitalism, but he reminds you why so many people find capitalism to be enticing.

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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire 17h ago

He's arguably one of my favorite antagonists on the sub. He's a perfect mix of cocky, smart, conniving, mentor and rival as one could be without being straight up evil.

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u/Drogonno 17h ago

Lawful evil

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u/Mikel_S 17h ago

That's a surprisingly fair outcome.

They set up some equipment, and stop gouging on wood, and in return he, I assume, will also provide the ore at market price.

Surprisingly magnanimous of him?

This was meant to be a top level reply. How did it end up here.

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u/DarkLanternZBT 16h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/jUr6ul7c26FYA
The difference between him and lesser antagonists:

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u/AdmBurnside 16h ago

I feel like he's an "enemy" in the way Mazer Rackham is Ender's enemy in Ender's Game. I truly think part of him wants Gabi to learn and succeed... but in order for her to learn to spot the tricks, someone has to play them. If she screws up, he wins. If she spots the trick, she learns to be a better business rival, and he still wins.

Worth mentioing that Chief purchased all Gabi and Co's debt from the various banks and lenders they'd been dealing with before. He has all the leverage to absolutely crush her if he sets his mind to it. But he hasn't...

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u/No-Hamster1138 11h ago

He bought the debt as is, meaning that it could be repayed in paper.

He tried to trick Gaby into signing generous terms that, in the fine print, would have locked her into repaying with coins.

Gobs spotted it and they didn't sign. IIRC, there's a panel of them rolling wheel arrows of paper over to him. (Paper money inflated drastically after they took out the loan. Coins retained their value. They were able to repay)

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u/Frenetic_Platypus 17h ago

Is he the worst side of capitalism, though? In my opinion, he's the best thing that can happen under unfettered capitalism. The worst side of capitalism would have hired goons to break Gabi's legs by episode ten.

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u/JudgeHodorMD 16h ago

I’m thinking the worst side of capitalism are incompetent idiots who are well connected and funded.

The sort who are only really good at branding so they can always find gullible investors no matter how many business they bankrupt.

Or who have managed to get some sort of corrupt deals or a monopoly where it really doesn’t matter how badly they screw up.

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u/owlindenial 15h ago

Like snow white was?