constanze - Then he says "End of message. You now all have 5 seconds time to get away from the screen. Five ... four ..two .. one"
Okay, did it really read that way or did you forget to type in the three? (I hope it's printed that way, it just seems funnier.)

Would this really be extraordinary in the 90s?
Extraordinary no, but it might get more attention then a couple of the same color.

"We will put him on trial, Major. A public trial. And in front of 200 million americans he will confess that he is responsible for the murder of President William Sheridan. His own brother."
Kidnappers putting a person on trial? Yeah, that'll be considered legal. *rolls eyes* A bad episode of Earth: Final Conflict used the televised trial idea & I didn't think much of it's use there.

I thought the US had about 270 or 280 million inhabitants? Did they loose that many in the "Asian War"? Less population growth? Or do only 200 million own a TV?
I'm amazed if they could get that many to tune in. ;-)
So what do they do highjack all TV signals to try & get this broadcast on every network?
Is Carrington forcing all Americans to watch it? (Change the channel & die.)
Also wouldn't Wally's fellows in the conspiracy do what they could to jam the signal?
It's just so unfeasable, I can't believe it.

p.37: Carrington says on the TV: "The place of the accuser (?) is taken by Colonel Amos [...] Major Jones of the US Army will be assistant, I will be
head of court (?)... - and you, the citizens of the free America, will be the Jury."
No defending attorney?
What about an unbiased judge?

And how would a Jury of 200 million people in front of the TV work?
"Dial 1-800-JURY on your touch tone phones. Press 1 for Guilty, Press 2 for Really Guilty, Press 3 for Guilty & He's Ugly Too. You can phone as much as you want but each phone call will cost 50¢ each."

that there is no record of his birth is unusual for europeans.
And I believe that I was arguing that it should have been considered unusual that Jason didn't have a birth certificate.
A European might not consider it unusual for an American to not have a birth certificate, but an American would.

I get the feeling that Europeans seem to think we have a rather sloppy operation over here.

Here in Germany, you have to register with the Einwohnermeldeamt - citizens register 14 days after you've rented your apartment. Otherwise you will get in trouble. You get a copy of the register form to give to your landlord (?). If you don't, he will get on your neck, because if the police finds a landlord who rents to unregistered illegals, he will be punished, too.
Makes me think of a stereotyped scene from a lot of WWII-based movies & TV shows with a Gestapo Agent asking someone, "Do you have papers?"
Funny how, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Okay, did it really read that way or did you forget to type in the three? (I hope it's printed that way, it just seems funnier.)

No, I didn't forget it - one panel goes till four, the next panel we see the reaction shot and Carrington's voice offscreen counting "two... one".

Kidnappers putting a person on trial? Yeah, that'll be considered legal. *rolls eyes*

Well, Carrington seems to think he and Amos are so respectable, it will carry over the minor point of kidnapping...

I'm amazed if they could get that many to tune in. ;-)
So what do they do highjack all TV signals to try & get this broadcast on every network?
Is Carrington forcing all Americans to watch it? (Change the channel & die.)
Also wouldn't Wally's fellows in the conspiracy do what they could to jam the signal?
It's just so unfeasable, I can't believe it.

Well, Carrington has had almost one year to arrange it, and somehow he seems to have made a deal with ABS (a combination of ABC and PBS?), to send at 6 pm. I presume if a general, chief of staff tells a TV station :"I have a big scandal and the truth about black sun, watergate is nothing compared to this", then the station would leap at the chance and have ads running the whole time to make everybody watch the show.
As for why the signal wasn't jammed: I don't know enough if its technically possilbe. Carrington says something about satellite cameras. I guess once his camera signal got to ABS, there was no way it could be stopped.
Don't forget that all others in the conspiracy have been arrested in album 5. The only one who has secrets to protect is Frank Giordino, who acts accordingly. And the govt. was surprised at Carringtons announcement of the TV trial. (They tried to cover up the kidnapping by placing a double in a hospital & saying the pres. had a headache. When Wally dies at the end through the explosion, the official version is he died during a brain tumor operation, as we will learn in album 13.)
The vice president calls ABS when the trial starts and tells them to stop, but the ABS pres. just says "Stop this show? You're kidding, my dear friend! We have 78% viewer, tendency upwards...". (He knows where his priorities are!)
And wouldn't any major TV station dig its heels in and insist on the right of free press?

I get the feeling that Europeans seem to think we have a rather sloppy operation over here.

Not a sloppy operation, but a different attitude towards bureaucracy. Americans aren't required to have an ID card. A drivers licence is enough proof. This is hard to understand over here. (Or the discussion that I see on the internet each time an ID card is discussed, the Nazis are brought forward as comparison.)
I'm not saying in anyway that one system is better than the other - its just what we are used to. The fact that people can move about without having to register makes drifters possible, but also lets criminals escape easily and researching a person difficult.

Makes me think of a stereotyped scene from a lot of WWII-based movies & TV shows with a Gestapo Agent asking someone, "Do you have papers?"
Funny how, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
*Wince* Please KAM, you're too nice to play that card. The paper trouble goes back long before the Gestapo. During Napoleon times, you couldn't travel without papers. During middle ages, people who traveled because they were apprentices had papers to distinguish them from loafers and beggars. Probably its related to the fact that Europe consists of so many different states with different heads which often were at war with each other during history. America is one state under one pres. and very young.

Album 13, The XIII mystery - L'Enquete, 1999 (The inquiry, Another Transl.: Marcel Le Comte)

This album is a special one (appropriately enough): Its from the perspective of the two journalist Ron Finkelstein and Warren Glass, who have researched Black Sun for over 3 years now, presenting their files. Ron is murdered in Miami, Warren flees to Europe and sends his dossiers to New York. In the end, he is betrayed and murdered, too, and the material is never published.
This album has 112 pages (!), with many color photos, a lot of text (sometimes badly translated) and only few comic episodes. I can't sum it all up, I'll just note what I find interesting.
Its divided into 12 dossiers with different themes. In the beginning, after dossier 6 and at the end, we learn about Ron and Warrens fate.

On p.8/9, we learn that Wally offically died after an operation for brain tumor, that the director of ABS was removed and sentenced for spreading wrong information (that is a crime?), the public was informed that the TV trial had been a joke, and the public seems to have forgotten the TV trial because of Wallys death.
They also claim to have a Dossier on 128 more or less known persons, who are somehow involved with this thing.
considering they are journalists, they have the most amazing knowledge of what's happened really. They claim to have talked to Amos, Sean Mullway and others, but still... Most of these files are supposed to be top-secret.

Dossier 1 (p.10-15): The Sheridan-Clan (each dossier has a double-page collage with a beautiful woman at the beginning), Janet B. Fitzsimmons.
On p. 14/15, we see when Wally kidnapped Colin and threatened Kim about him. Kim wants to call the police, and Wally replies "The police? Do you want to make me laugh? You are nothing but the daughter of some general, and I come from one of the richest families, am a member of congress and can prove that Colin is my son. What do you think, whom will the police believe?"
Now, would a member of congress, who's aiming for presidency, really tell the police that he has an illegal child while he has an official relationship with Fitzsimmons? Wouldn't that damage his prospects for ever in puritan America? Why doesn't Kim call his bluff, or the press?

Dossier 2 (p.16-25): The official file The conspiracy of the XX, Kim Rowland.
on p.22/23, we finally see all members of the conspiracy named and what happened to them. Since in album 5, many more than 20 have been arrested, it seems only the important ones got the numbers. Why?
Interesting when we see pictures of the real Steve Rowland, his face looks very different from XIII - the whole expression is more fierce. (as befitting a bad guy.)

Dossier 3 (p.26-39): The counter-conspiracy/Inquiry, Jones
On p. 31, we learn that Kellownee Lake is in South Dakota. Yet, in Album 12, Amos tells XIII and Jones, when they meet him there, that their plane for the Bahamas leaves from Denver. Isn't that quite a long drive? No airport closer?
Even the authors won't give a first name for Jones. They say her files carry several different Initials, only her number stays the same. Would the military really accept if one cadet applying there doesn't want to tell her first name, or gives different Initials? Has she got no first name (her mother is an alcoholic, her birth in Watts isn't registered?) Why didn't she get a new name at age 18? (Even in the flashback of how she saved Carringtons life as child on p.36-39, her own brother Marcus calls her "sister" only.)

Dossier 4 (p.40-45) : The Rowland-Affair, Felitcity.
On p.43, it says after XIII stopped the coup d'etat, the process was reopened and felicity was declared guilty. Doesn't that mean the case is closed now, if Felicity has been declared guilty? (I would like to know on what evidence!) So why is XIII threatened that the retrial will be busted in album 12? (Frank is just bluffing, but XIII doesn't know it? Or is political influence bigger than pesky matters of proceeding?)

Dossier 5 (p.46-51): The riddle about Mangouste, Irina
We learn that Irina was trained by the KGB (of course she is Russian, with a name like that! ), and after the fall of USSR, was supposed to be liquidated because of her knowledge, but was rescued by Mangouste to work for him.
Just when the heck did USSR fall in comicverse? The dates are shifting around all the time. (For some reason, authors seem bad at math - it reminds of the trouble in the Potterverse with regards to weasley children age etc.)

Dossier 6 (p.52-61): Several 1, Abigail Frazier (Bettys half-sister)
An introduction and background and what happened after they appeared of several minor characters.

Interlude about Warren being chased, his editor not believing him.

Dossier 7 (p.66-68), Maria Santos: Costa Verde and Minerco
Interesting: Ortiz overthrew Santos in 1985. This was 10 years ago from "now"? But for some reason, the authors chicken out on how long Ortiz held power! This is consistent with the other data on persons in the album: we are given relative dates like ages, or years like 1910, when someone died, but no consecutive history.
Adrian von Horn, CEO of Minerco on p. 70 gets a real photo, though I don't know who that guy "really" is.

Dossier 8 (p.74-81): Historical background: The irish branch, Jenny O'Keefe (wife of Liam Mac Lane)
Carla Giordino, on p. 79, gets also a real photo. (Wonder who she is?)
On p. 8-81, we learn that the three guys, Liam, George and Jack, when hiding the treasure and scratching the coordinates in the watches, Liam suggested that they code the reference to their experience, so if somebody else found all watches, they still wouldn't understand. (Since I doubt they wrote letters home in the middle of the mexican revolution, all their comrades have long since died or been killed, and Liam in his old days believed the treasure to be cursed and didn't want it to be found, I think the XIII crowd is in for a disappointment. Though they sure could use the money, with the trouble they've got themselves into!!)

Dossier 9 (p.82-87): The "Family" Giordino, Deborah Callohan (? I'm not sure).
This confirms that Giordino is a Mafia family. It also tells in a flashback that Henry Sheridan enlisted the aid of the Mafia families to make William president (20% of the votes are controlled by them.) In return, they get peace, because minister for justice will be Frank Giordino. Throws an interesting light on William, regardless of whether he knew about the deal or not, he had a Mafia member in a high position.

Dossier 10 (p.88-93), The drama of Greenfalls, Judith Warner
This at least explains that Rigby was irritated by Jonathan Flys criticiscm of his hold on the town, and started digging and thus found his true identity.

Dossier 11 (p.94-101) Several 2, Betty
Other less important people.

Dossier 12 (p.102-107) Who is XIII?, XIII himself (with a USA TODAY newspaper, which has picture, in his hand.)
The Smiths and Martha from album 1, the several aliases, and the four clues to his real ID are given:
Clue 1: old Zeke - but he was blind. (with his new face, he wouldn't have recognized XIII otherwise!)
Clue 2: Maria Santos - but she didn't tell the journalists personally.
Clue 3: Sean Mullway recognizes his son Jason, who he had seen once before in college in boulder. - but Sean drinks a lot, and it was before the surgery.
Clue 4: Gen. Carrington said that the old Sheridan told him, that Heidegger told him he had bought the Cascador to make him into Agent XIII. - but Sheridan, Heideger and Peralta are dead.

And: why would a boringly normal student like Jason Fly go to a kuban training camp claiming to be Brian Kelly, IRA terrorist? (One possible explanation is given in the following albums - you didn't think they'd stop twisting possible stories and surprising us? )

On p. 108, Stephen G. Dundee, President of the "American News" (the paper the journalists work for) writes to their editor, Randolph McKnight, "First the president as murderer of his own brother, now a mafioso as the head of the NSA!!! This isn't journalism anymore, this is a comic strip! [...]" How does he know?

KAM,

I'm amazed if they could get that many to tune in. ;-) ...

On p.41, album 12, just before Mangouste pulls his gun, the ABS pres. says "This is THE blockbuster! We are at 85 %! This is a new world record!"

Funny that these 85% all swallowed the explanation about it being just a joke. Even if a part of the public is gullible, wouldn't some believe the show?

"Dial 1-800-JURY on your touch tone phones. Press 1 for Guilty, Press 2 for Really Guilty, Press 3 for Guilty & He's Ugly Too. You can phone as much as you want but each phone call will cost 50¢ each."

LOL. That would work if ABS produced it themselves.

Intersting that in Album 13, Wally says to Kim he can prove Colin is his son. So presumably there are blood tests if both father and son are present. I wonder if XIII and Sean will ever get to use a clinic to administer one, too. (At the moment, XIII is in trouble and jail, and Seamus and the others are hiding.)

In an attempt to rehabilitate your opinion of Keith: most Americans whose only experience of the "papers" issue in Europe is from popular media, only encounter it in world War II movies with rare exceptions, such as "Murder on the Orient Express, where it is specifically related to crossing borders. I doubt that KAM was saying that requiring the papers was necessarily fascist, but just that his only exposure to the practice involved those movies.

The fact that people can move about without having to register makes drifters possible, but also lets criminals escape easily and researching a person difficult.

In part that very uncertainty is deliberate. The specific wording of the Bill of Rights, especially the third and fourth ammendments, was an attempt to keep the Federal government from repeating the abuses. In addition, many of the founding fathers (such as John Hancock) were or had been involved to varios extents in smuggling and other activities that the new government would have to regulate or ban for the same reasons (though not necessarily to the same extent) that Britain had regulated and banned them.

The lack of a wild frontier, and modern communications and record keeping have greatly reduced the practical effect of this "privacy." And post 9/11 "security" measures have deliberately clamped down on it even more.

Probably its related to the fact that Europe consists of so many different states with different heads which often were at war with each other during history. America is one state under one pres. and very young.

It's not the unity, but the disunity and jealousy of the multi-leveled system of government. The federal government does not allow the individual states to require papers, duties, taxes, etc. on people or goods traveling interstate but within the borders of the united States, and yet it is on the state and local levels that the "papers are generated: birth, marriage and death certificates, driver's licenses, professional licences, etc., and the only "national" papers are passports for international travel.

Of course, that's the bonus when you can start your own new country. Although european states are federal, too, to differing degrees (Germany very federal, France more centralized), it would be impossible to suggest that no national papers were necessary - the police would be in an uproar. (And the birth register aren't centralized, either.)

About ID papers: I've always read that, when I get my passport at age 16/18 (its possible at 16, ususal at 18, when adult), I'll have to carry it with me all the time, in case the police stops me, since they'll only accept ID or passport, no other identification.
Then, several people told me the law doesn't require me to carry it. But if the police stops me and I can't provide ID, they have the right to take me to next police station to get proof. (and that is certainly more uncomfortable.)
With the short travel time from one country to the other, often a national ID was enough to pass the border into neighboring Austria, Italy, Belgium, Holland etc. Only special countries required passport - Eastern bloc, which was difficult before, anyway, USA, which required Visa, of course, etc.
Now, with the European Union and the Schengen Treaty, things have been even more simplified.

I just caught up (reading the entries on Board 2) with the original exchange concerning the "papers."

Although we couldn't find an entry about his birth in the official register. But then this is nothing unusual in the USA, so it has no big importance." XIII, translated by Constanze

We may not be as bad as Europe yet, but we do have records. If the speaker was talking about some kind of central registry for all births, then I have no idea if such a thing exists or not,... Keith

As I said, the Federal government does not have registry for birth, death, and marriage records, but each of the states does.

But I don't think you are required to report a birth, are you? If you mention a child on tax deduction or at school, would they ask for a birth certificate to prove that the child was registered? (In Germany, its registered at the city Standesamt - licence register where it's born. Without birth certificate, you can't get the other papers proving you exist.) Constanze

Most states have required registration since early in the nineteenth century. And birth records are necessary for all other paperwork and for schooling. But because each subsequent paper requires the others, it is not necessary to carry the others as "back-up" and a driver's license is usually the only government "paper" that is in the average American's wallet.

On a personal note, due to 9/11 concerns, my state (New Jersey) has increased the required "papers" to obtain a driver's license. When my license comes up for renewal, I'll need to gather the papers to prove who I am, and since I haven't seen some of them in decades, I may have to go the Hall(s) of Records where I was born and where I went to school and try to obtain new copies.

Album 13: On p.99, we learn that Romeo, the butler of Marquis Preseau, likes to wear striped vests, is a good cook and bartender, but refuses to wear shoes. Is this some sneaky inside joke to the (also) south/middle-american butler in the american remake of "A bird's cage", who refused to wear shoes, too?

On p.103, XIII has an USA TODAY paper in his hands, with his picture (Greenfalls jacket) on the cover (the caption of the picture is unreadable).
If the Greenfalls story (and trial of the murder of Jonathan Fly) was reported widely in the US, why has noone come forward and said: "I knew a Jason Fly/Mac Lane once?"
Maybe it happened offscreen, since XIII didn't stay long in the US after punching Wally in album 8, and if he hasn't read major newspapers since - being a little bit busy with the cascador stuff and so on -, he may have missed it. (Imagine: USA TODAY prints: the true story of Jason Mac Lane, by an insider, and XIII misses it! Wouldn't that be a bummer? )

Most states have required registration since early in the nineteenth century. And birth records are necessary for all other paperwork and for schooling..

I didn't know that. But please explain: How did Jonathan Mac Lane then manage to school his son "Jason Fly" in Greenfalls? (Since he was no real commie, only a journalist writing the truth, he wouldn't have easy access to forged papers.)
Over here, because of novels and some of the older TV series (at the moment I'm thinking of "Incredible Hulk" in the late 70s, when David Banner always uses a new name and gets a job without any ID or trouble) people believe that in the US you can easily pretend to be anybody you like.
If papers are needed for schooling etc., and one paper leads consecutivly to the other, how do people in novels and TV series always change their ID so easily? Can a new "paper" be bought at the bus station pub (as one "Married with children" ep. portrayed?)

About where the "Asian War" in comicverse took place: In album 13, p.25, we see the flashback to Steve Rowland. After he's parchuted, McCall meets him, with a chopper ready, and says "Nr. III is waiting with a MIG-Killer (Phantom F-4D) on the abandaonded Basis Cad Nang. He brings you to the philippines [...]". Is Cad Nang in Vietnam?
McCall also says "In the space of one year, you'll make history, Nr. XIII!"
So one year before Black Sun, the Asian War was still going on, but then it stopped abruptly? (And not one word has been lost about how - did the US win, was an armistice reached, did they loose? I would expect remarks, when the war is referred to, if it was all for nothing because there was no victory, or if it was alright, because the "good side" won..., but no, its just a "dirty war".)

In Jones file, we learn that she was lieutannt of USAAF at age 24 and became Carringtons personal assistent. In this function she meets XIII. This is too unclear worded (intentionally) as to whether she was still 24 or older when she met XIII. But then, a few years difference at this age level shouldn't be a problem.

Then, several people told me the law doesn't require me to carry it. But if the police stops me and I can't provide ID, they have the right to take me to next police station to get proof. (and that is certainly more uncomfortable.)

Do you mean there in Germany? In the States, the situation is very similar. While you are operating a motor vehicle you need to have a driver's license on you, but otherwise there is no requirement to carry any "papers." But if you are stopped by a policeman and he asks for identification, he only has to accept as identification a very few government "papers," the most common being the driver's license. If you do not provide acceptable identification, he can ask you to come to the station until your identity is confirmed.

Before he can "insist" you go to the station he must have "probable cause" to believe that there are grounds to arrest you. The catch is that "probable cause" is a judgement call, and is a much lower standard than most Americans realize. Even if the standard is not met, however, most states have laws against resisting arrest, so it is still better to agree to go and straighten things out later.

Yes, I meant in Germany. I don't know if the policeman here would need probable cause to take somebody without proper papers to the station or not, but then I never was eager to have any close contact with the police - I live in Bavaria, after all, and even if Munich is a liberal island in a black ocean, I don't want to experience the "Bavarian way" of treatment first hand (So I am a coward, ok. )

Forged papers are not as easy to obtain as on "Married with Children," or as implied in the other series, but are probably still much easier than in Europe. Since each state has its own "papers" it is much harder for non-experts to recognize the forms used by more than a few nearby states, much less discern irregularities in them.

Again though, modern communications, and computer databases have made things harder on the forgers and frauds, but there is a long way to go.

Also, many drifters (like David Banner) work "under the table." (They get paid in cash, and neither they or their employer fill in any of the necessary papers or pay the required taxes.)

While both could be arrested if discovered, the very fact that there is no "paper trail" makes it hard for the authorities to prove there was any relationship between them, much less that that relationship was llegal.

Album 14, Secret Défense, 2000 (I don't have to explain the title, do I?; Transl. Harald Sachse)

The german publisher use a different, glossier paper since album 13, so the colors look a bit brighter, too. But the style of the drawings remains unchanged.

First 3 pages sum up what happened so far (They start nicely enough "Everybody remembers the famous day of Black Sun"... well, no I don't. Must've been watching Star Trek reruns. But then, I can't even remember the year the 42nd pres. was murdered! My memory is really bad. . And the authors seem to get weary of XIIIs stupIDity, too: on p.4, last panel, the text says "... Meanwhile, our XIII let himself (once again) be arrested by Giordino, under the accusation to be an agent of Fidel Castro and be guilty in the kidnapping and murder of the President."
Sean Mullway in Costa Verde is visited by two NSA guys (one of them was hunting the journalists in album 13).
A photographer is watching a house in Washington when he's discovered. The new president, former vice president (Nr. 45, but no name - its no longer worth the trouble, the Pres. will be killed too quickly? ) asks XIII who killed Wally with the explosives. XIII, of course, doesn't have a clue - nobody besides Giordino and Whittaker knew the gun handle contained explosives; and by the time Wally went up, XIII and the others were making their way downstairs to escape. Of course, that doesn't please the Pres.
We learn the photographer is the younger brother Danny of murdered journalist Finkelstein, but he gets kicked off the paper.
XIII is put on trial in front of a jury/judge bench consisting of : General Whittaker, chief of staff of Military; Mr. Cummings, Head of CIA; Dr. STanwyck, Director of FBI; Mr. Caswell, special advisor to the White House, Frank Giordino, Director of NSA. (That's very objective, too!)
He's accused of being Seamus O'Neil, who entered the USA with forged papers as Kelly Brian, spent some time in Colorado, till he left for Cuba. XIII of course denies the accusation, reminds them that fingerprints can be forged. He is then shown a video confession of Seamus Mullway, who says his son died one month after finishing college, at a mountain tour together with his friend Kelly Brian. He fell into a rock cravasse (?) and his body was never found. Kelly went to Kuba without telling the disappearnce, to avoid police attention. Seamus says he identified XIII as his son because he was lonely in his old age, and that his confession is "assisted" by two agents.
XIII is sentenced and taken by car through some deserted area (looks like southwest USA to me.) Danny tries to follow him, has two flat tires, is picked up by Jessie (the killer of Warren in album 13). The NSA guys want to kill XIII "on the run" but Jessie and a chopper prevent that. (The chopper guys claim to be FBI, but work for somebody else, like Jessie).
Giordino and Whittaker are concerned because XIII escaped again (well, of course he does! ), and Giordino says he'll "let his dogs from the leash", Whittaker shall alert the army search, since this a secret defense operation. The order "Shoot imeediately, wherever he is, without warning!" (Well, that would work, if they could catch him.)
XIII finds himself onboard a boat where he meets the charming Irina, who he had thought dead after a drop from several meters in album 12. She's taken over Mangoustes organisation after his death; its called EXECUTOR and employes Killers for everybody in the world who needs one. (Jones was right in album 12, when she wanted to kill everybody in the villa, that would've saved XIII some trouble now. Or maybe not - after all, he escaped the NSA with Jessies help. Its all very interwoven.)
During dinner with Irina, XIII is remarkably civilized and restrained, but when Jessie wants to share his last night with him, he slaps her and throws her out. (He doesn't try to diplomatically woo her or anything.)
Danny and XIII are handcuffed together, get two red jackets and a boat and 6 hours to run, then three new killers will be sent after them (its a test before EXECUTOR hires them.)
Danny bitches about - he's not in the same form as XIII - but after some action and running around, XIII takes out the three killers. Danny is shot in the shoulder, XIII takes him to the next hospital, calls his friends at the preseaus and starts to flee across half the US by boarding the next train.

Hits & Misses: XIII escapes being shot on p.15-17.
He is sprayed with a gas on p.17 (much better for the head than being knocked out, I'd say!)
He survives the explosion of a bomb on p. 26, climbs a rock with Danny on p.28, escapes machine-gun bullets on p. 31/32, jumps into a wild river and survives on p.33, avoids bullets on p.35/36/37/38 and on p.40/41/42, plus the chopper explosion resulting from his shooting on p.42

Timeline: from the vegetation, I'd guess its still summer S+3 - maybe late summer. But not autumn leaves on the trees in washington.

XIIIs trial is even more of a farce than Carringtons TV one. A prisoner is brought in, Brannigan from IRA, who has agreed to be witness in return for less sentence (very objective, here), and says he last saw Seamus O'Neil at age 16 (XIII is about 31 years). Giordino then asks him "Could he be that man over there, if you take into consideration, that his appearance was altered?" Answer "I don't know ... maybe." Wow. what a testimony! Really.
And how does a certified (by at least two psychiatrists) amnesiac proove he isn't IRA?

Although XIII has usually no compunctions about sleeping with beautiful women besides Jones, he refuses Jessies offer. Even if he doesn't like her attitude, its tactical unwise to brush her off this way. (He'll never learn, I guess.)

When Danny and XIII have climbed the cliff and see a desolate mountain landscape with snow, Danny says "I didn't imagine California to look like this" XIII muses "Must be northern Californa, close to the Oregon border". That's its California at all was told on p. 19 by the butler "[We are] on the ocean. Somewhere in front of the Californian coast."

On p. 43, XIII enters the town of Dunsmuir. Where's that?

He tells Danny to forget it all, not to tell anybody. When Danny worries about XIII, he replies "Don't worry about me. I'm slowly getting used to being the hare." (Well, if he stopped getting himself deliberately into trouble, he would be less hunted! Seems some people will never learn. I say that often about him, do I? )

On p. 45, he gets a call from Carrington on how to reach San Miguel when the whole NSA is looking for him "We can't do anything from here. We're probably being watched. You must get to south california on your own. Best way would be the train, that is safer [premature words!]. 50 miles before San Diego, close to the mexican border, is a small cow-town named moon valley with a small private airport. - Ask for a certain spike. He knows what to do."
In Album 15, this exchange is recounted longer.
He also talks to Jones: "See to it, that you get out of there. I miss your rudeness." XIII "I miss you too, Jones. I should have gone with you, I was an idiot" (He finally understands!) Jones " That's nothing new ... come quickly!"
Giordino realizes that from Dunmuir, the train is the best connection and informs Jessie.
The train is the "Coast Starlight" from Seattle over Portland and San Francisco to Los Angeles.

TomM,

Also, many drifters (like David Banner) work "under the table." (They get paid in cash, and neither they or their employer fill in any of the necessary papers or pay the required taxes.)

While both could be arrested if discovered, the very fact that there is no "paper trail" makes it hard for the authorities to prove there was any relationship between them, much less that that relationship was illegal.

But is this under-the-table work really widespread in different work areas? We have trouble with "Black work" (because of the taxes and social insurance missed), too, but its in certain areas like construction and gastronomy only, because in other areas, employers fear the trouble if the police found out about it. (In construction, there's naturally a lot of shifting around and short time work, so its easier to hide, but when the police makes a bust, anybody on the site is expected to have papers, and the employer should have a contract for each employee, together with all declarations, so weasling out isn't as easy.)

but when the police makes a bust, anybody on the site is expected to have papers,

The problem in the States is that the police cannot make that kind of a "raid" without a search warrant, which means that they have to already know, and convince a judge, that the workers are undocumented.

Also, local police only enforce local and state laws. Federal laws have to b enforced by federal agencies (FBI, Treasury, AFT - the department of Alcohol, Firearms, and Tobacco) -- another consequence of the separation of federal and state powers. So if the local taxes are being paid and no one "snitches" to the Feds, the chances of being caught and punished are low enough that more people are willing to risk it. Several prominant politicians have had public relations set-backs when the press discovered that their housekeepers and gardeners were undocumented, illegal immigrants.

Still, "under the table" work is largely "day-labor" (temporary unskilled physical jobs), and federal agents know it. "Immigration" does make a lot of raids on sweat shops and gangs of migrant farm workers.


and the employer should have a contract for each employee, together with all declarations, so weasling out isn't as easy.

Most workers in America, even fully documented and properly taxed workers, do not have employment contracts unless they are in a union, or have special sought-after skills or are contracted as "consultants" rather than hired as workers.

So if the local taxes are being paid and no one "snitches" to the Feds, the chances of being caught and punished are low enough that more people are willing to risk it.

Now you've confused me. I thought you said in under-the-table work, no taxes at all are paid, because the workers aren't declared at all? So how can there be a difference between local taxes and state taxes?

Over here, the trick that's used in construction is having several sub-contractors. The company who has the contract with the builder doesn't hire the workers themselves, the pay company B, who pays company C, down to company E, who brings in illegal eastern european workers or illegal immigrants who work for 3 or 4 $ the hour, while company A charges 20 to 30$ the hour. This way not only all the companies along the line make a nice profit without doing any real work, the only one who takes the blame is shady company E, the others stay clear.
An employer who was once caught in a bust would have his image besmirched even if no politican.

As for search warrants: I don't know the details, but AFAIK, there are joint teams of police, the employment office (about non-registered workers), maybe someone from immigration along, too. I think they maybe don't need a warrant to bust a workplace because its more like a public site, not a private home, but I'm not sure.

What I meant with the contract: while its not required by law, most serious jobs every employee expects a written contract - the first reason is so you can prove what you've agreed to. My first minor job was without contract, but it was also without witnessess, so if had needed to go court to settle any problem, I couldn't have proven anything. (Bad idea, fortuantely the company was honest. And when I got a full-term job with that company, I got a real contract.)
But any employee getting a job knows (or should know) that he has to hand over his tax card, so the employer can deduct the income tax, and his social insurance card, so the employer can register him with the health insurance. After some time, a copy of the declaration is sent back to the employer, who gives it to the employee for keeping. (This is important when pensions are calculated, you can prove how much and how long you paid into the fund, and how high your pension right therefore is.)

If an employer doesn't want a tax card and social insurance card, everybody knows its shady, there's no mistaking honest taxed workers without paperwork for illegaly working ones.

Now you've confused me. I thought you said in under-the-table work, no taxes at all are paid, because the workers aren't declared at all? So how can there be a difference between local taxes and state taxes?

You're right. I was unclear. Nothing is reported, and no taxes paid related to employing the worker. I was thinking more along the lines of the employer's property taxes and licence fees to run the business in the first place. Things like that.

But any employee getting a job knows (or should know) that he has to hand over his tax card, so the employer can deduct the income tax, and his social insurance card, so the employer can register him with the health insurance. After some time, a copy of the declaration is sent back to the employer, who gives it to the employee for keeping. (This is important when pensions are calculated, you can prove how much and how long you paid into the fund, and how high your pension right therefore is.)

If an employer doesn't want a tax card and social insurance card, everybody knows its shady, there's no mistaking honest taxed workers without paperwork for illegaly working ones.


Legitimate employers here keep those same kinds of records. We file an income tax form (W-4) with the employer when we are hired, and get a form back from him every year (W-2) accounting for the taxes withheld. We also get annual statements about our benefits (insurance, retirement fund, etc.) and each week the specific deductions are listed on the "stub" of our paychecks, but unless the business is specifically regulated by the government, or government subsidized, it is considered privately owned and as secure from random searches and investigations as a home.

If the government is a major customer, it may insist on the employer waiving some privacy rights. Most would rather have the assured income than the right to keep its records secret. Especially since it is assumed that the only reason they would not is that there are discrepancies on the books.

Over here, the trick that's used in construction is having several sub-contractors. The company who has the contract with the builder doesn't hire the workers themselves, the pay company B, who pays company C, down to company E, who brings in illegal eastern european workers or illegal immigrants who work for 3 or 4 $ the hour, while company A charges 20 to 30$ the hour. This way not only all the companies along the line make a nice profit without doing any real work, the only one who takes the blame is shady company E, the others stay clear.

Not having worked in construction, I can't say for sure, but I think it works pretty much the same way here. Except not as many companies E are quite as shady (at least not in terms of illegal workers) because construction is one field that is heavily unionized, and the unions are very active in shutting down contractors (the entire chain, not just the E compaies) who use "scabs."

What I meant with the contract: while its not required by law, most serious jobs every employee expects a written contract - the first reason is so you can prove what you've agreed to. My first minor job was without contract, but it was also without witnessess, so if had needed to go court to settle any problem, I couldn't have proven anything.

That is precisely why employers here will not hire by contract unless you have the clout to force them. If you have special skills, or union backing.

Most employment here is "at will." The employer can change the terms of employment or terminate it for any reason or none at all. The only laws limiting this ability are the law of supply and demand and anti-discrimination (sometimes called "civil rights") laws that outlaw firing or "harrassing" employees because their race, ethnic background, religion, sex, or sexual orientaion is "the wrong one."

Fortunately most (but far from all) big employers have learned that it pays in the long run to support their workers rather than exploit them. I think that they insist on "at will" out of a combination of tradition and principle (don't give away today what you can bargain away tomorrow in exchange for consessions) with maybe a fear of bankruptcy if they can't downsize fast enough during a resession.

constanze - ABS (a combination of ABC and PBS?)
More likely ABC & CBS.

I presume if a general, chief of staff tells a TV station :"I have a big scandal and the truth about black sun, watergate is nothing compared to this", then the station would leap at the chance and have ads running the whole time to make everybody watch the show.
Maybe, maybe not. I suppose it depends on what the network knows about the general (Is he famous? Is he honest? Can he get big ratings?), what the general has told them (I find it hard to believe that a network would air something without knowing what will be said/shown. The network's lawyers would worry about the possibility of Libel, etc.).
If the General has somehow convinced them to air this I'd be surprised if they did air it without a 7-second delay, just in case.

Warren flees to Europe and sends his dossiers to New York. In the end, he is betrayed and murdered, too, and the material is never published.
Foolish person to only have one copy then. Why not submit to multiple publishers? (New York, London, etc.)

Although XIII has usually no compunctions about sleeping with beautiful women besides Jones, he refuses Jessies offer. Even if he doesn't like her
attitude, its tactical unwise to brush her off this way. (He'll never learn, I guess.)
This actually pops up in American fiction (usually older works). I was reading the Blackhawks Archive recently & Blackhawk had a couple of villainous women offer to let him rule the world with them, but he turned them down because they were evil.
(I've seen it in different stories, but these were the most recent I've read.)

The train is the "Coast Starlight" from Seattle over Portland and San Francisco to Los Angeles.
I'm not certain, but I think that is right. I think there is, or was, a real Coast Starlight that ran from Seattle to somewhere in California.

KAM,

Warren flees to Europe and sends his dossiers to New York. In the end, he is betrayed and murdered, too, and the material is never published.
Foolish person to only have one copy then. Why not submit to multiple publishers? (New York, London, etc.)

Warren and Ron work for the "New York Daily, American News Inc.", and have been conducting their 3-year-research through them, so Warren sends his dossiers to his editor there. I don't know if the publisher who prefinanced them (or has them on their payroll) has the exclusive rights to the story, and Warren doesn't it offer to anybody else.
It may also be a time problem: Warren is fleeing for his life across europe. He doesn't have the time to make new contacts in London etc., and he doesn't know who he can trust (turns out his editor's chief probably leeked everything to the Mafia, and didn't publish the report because of that.)

As for back-ups: When Ron is murdered in Miami (Warren was getting the pizza, which is how he escaped), his files and computer data are all destroyed by the killers. Warren manages to get the safe back-up hidden in the Yachtclub Nassau.

The network's lawyers would worry about the possibility of Libel, etc.).
If the General has somehow convinced them to air this I'd be surprised if they did air it without a 7-second delay, just in case.

Well, Giordino or the new Pres. or somebody else took their sweet revenge on the director for airing it, thus sending out a signal about freedom of press that makes another stunt or revelation about the criminal doings of high-ranking people unlikely in future albums. Everybody in the media industry is probably ducking and looking for cover now in the cosmicverse.

TomM,

very interesting.
...I think that they insist on "at will" out of a combination of tradition and principle ...

Tradition is the reason a serious employer wouldn't get far over here in hiring without a contract, since each employee expects one.
(except maybe for mini-jobs - those are jobs which have a maximum of about 400 $ a month wage: cleaning, babysitting, call-centers a few hours each week after work or for housewifes. These may be done without written contract.)

Ablum 15, Lachez les Chiens!, 2002 (Unleash the dogs, Transl. H. Sachse)

First page is a recount of what happened in album 14.
NSA agents and double-agent Jessie board the train at Sacramento, but XIII evades them, by taking to the rooftops (in the middle of pouring rain, no less!) and catching another train.
For some undisclosed reason, he saves Jessies live and drags her with him. They stop the train, find the next road and get a lift from a family to the next town where's a balloon competition. XIII and Jessie steal one, but are stopped by the CHP (very funny moment there). Jessie shows her NSA card to take over, but two NSA planes shoot the chopper down (the order was to "shoot immediately", this apparently translates to "disregard everybdoy else in the way", which makes the NSA guys far more a danger than XIII himself.) Jessie and XIII jumped into a handy lake in the nick of time, undress (to dry their clothes - what did you think? ) and talk about O'Neil, Kelly Brian, memory and identity.
Jessie hires a car and drives with XIII to Moon Valley, with a stop at a motel on the way, where XIII does sleep with Jessie. (I guess I'll never understand his attitude.)
The two NSA killers are waiting for XIII at Spike, but Jessie sacrificies herself (must be his incredible charm!), and he escapes. He changes his destination from San Miguel to Costa Verde, discovers that "Spike" is a false bad guy, warns the preseaus to leave, and lands in Costa Verde where he meets his friends. However, Maria tells him America demands the prisoners - Carrington, Amos, Jones and XIII - and threatens embargo, which Costa Verde can't afford.

Hits & misses: he survives bullets on p.10, a killer on p. 12, Jessies attempt with a knife on p.16.
NSA planes shooting at them on p.24, the explosion of the chopper and the jump into a lake on p.25.
The shooting on p.35, though Jessie is hit in the gut and dies in a matter of minutes (Jones survived a similar wound in album 5! Maybe because XIII loved her more?)
The crowd survives the explosion of the preseaus Hazienda, because they were just leaving.

You know, I would really like to know how people always manage to do battle and climbing around on sleek trains driving 80 mph or more, in this case a sleek, modern train with a very smooth roof made slick by rain. I've never seen all these convient handholds people in the movies or in this case find.
On p.11/12, a killer is standing on the roof, pointing his gun at XIII, when a tunnel appears behind him (XIII is standing on the last carriage roof, the killer more forward). Instead of a roadrunner happening (splat) - which I expected -, the killer throws himself down during the tunnel ride. When he looks up again, XIII is gone, and appears behind him! How in the world did he manage that in a tunnel???

Considering how angry XIII was at Jessie's attitude on the ship, and that he had almost no qualms throwing the male NSA agents off the train (he does think, throwing the first one from a bridge into a river far below "I hope he can swim"), I don't understand why he saves Jessies life when she is dangling by one hand from the train roof. (He's a gentleman/boy scout at heart, who can't hurt women? Old-fashioned?)

On p. 15, we meet another old-man-clone, who looks like Zeke et al.

On p. 19, XIII says to Jessie about taking the balloon "And you accompany me. I prefer having you at my side than at my back." What prevents him from tying her up somewhere safe? (He can't kill her in cold blood? Okay, he has shown problems with that previously. But still, is there no better solution?) He also says the advantages of a balloon "This is an opportunity to get away from the police, who will control all roads in the area."
On p.21/22, we have the fun scene where a voice says offscreen "Hey you in the balloon!", and on the next page we see its a chopper from "California Highway Patrol!" Very funny. (Jessie: "They control not only the roads...")

On p. 26, Jessie asks XIII "You have saved my life today twice , O'Neil. Why?" XIII: "A stupid reflex, I admit it. Maybe I was a boy scout in young years". Right. Of course.
And on p. 27, when Jessie tells him she is only good at killing, that she hates Giordino, XIII reminds her that everybody will think her dead from the explosion, that she can start anew, and offers "Leave the country. I'll hide you, until they have forgotten you." Jessie, crying:" You...?!? Ha, Ha... Is that supposed to be a joke? - You are accused of murdering the president of the USA! You have the police, the NSA, maybe even the whole US Army on your tail, not to mention the EXECUTOR killers. And then YOU want to protect me...? I'm laughing, boy-scout O'Neil!" (He's just that good. Or self-confident that he can outwit all of the people on his tail. Maybe he really is Kor-Els son? )

On p.28/29, XIII and Jessie discuss his possible pasts and IDs, since Jessie has had previous insight into the file of Seamus O'Neil, which is very interesting:
XIII reminds her that Zeke identified him as Jason by his voice. Jessie counters that Maggie Washington, the old housekeeper of the Rowlands, identified him as Steve Rowland, although we know he isn't. So two testimonies without value.
Then XIII talks about Mullway. Jessie reminds him that Mullway saw a man supposed to be Jason once from afar at boulder before, and reminds him of the video message. XIII counters that this was done under force.
Then Jessie tells him about the O'Neil file: after fleeing from Ulster prison Seamus O'Neil, at that time 20 years old, entered the USA under forged papers as Kelly Brian. He spent 6 years in Colorado, enough to loose his irish accent, be forgotten, and finish with a degree in history. Everything financed by Sinn Fein. He learned Skiing and was member of the Ski Team, like Jason. After finishing college, "Kelly" was supposed to go to Cuba, while Jason had been hired by the FBI. Before they left, they both went on a mountain trip, and one didn't come back, while the other left for cuba with Kelly Brian passport.... "Therefore, this is you, Seamus O'Neil!" XIII "NO!!! - I'm NOT Seamus O'Neil, I am Jason Mac Lane, son of Sean Mullway and adopted son of Jonathan O'Neil! [TE? It should be Jonathan Mac Lane!] Jessie: "You mean you don't WANT to be O'Neil! - If it had been O'Neil, who vanished in the mountains, why should Mac Lane have assumed his identity to go to cuba? Even if some secret agency had hired him, what reason could he have had to accept that? It can therefore be only Jason who fell into the crevice. Mullway, whether under threats or not, has told you the truth. - I don't know what's better, Nr. XIII: a memory too good or none at all. But we'll talk about that tomorrow."
I think XIII doesn't want to be O'Neil because he is a terrorist, a bad guy, and he wants to be a good guy.
I doubt that the authors will pull a surprise on us where the missing guy isn't dead but alive all these years - that would've been discovered before. (Of course, one never knows with surprises...)
I also wonder if there ever will be a reason given - a letter Kelly wrote, a priest or another friend he told why he went to Kuba, if Kelly was Jason? Or do the authors want to keep it in the dark? (They have told us so far about the last 6 years, so ...)

On p. 30, XIII wakes up alone, with Jessie gone, and thinks "Even my billfold has she taken ...! Jason or seamus, whatever your name is, you are the biggest idIOt!" (Maybe he'll finally learn not to be that arrogant about his charm on women, or so dam*ned self-assured in his abilities to deal with absolutely everything? Naw, don't think so.)
Of course, Jessie appears with a car she's rented from his money. (this way, he'll never learn, if everything does work out! )

On p.23, XIII remembers Carrington telling him "To the airport at Moon Valley by San Diego. Ask for a certain Spike! You'll recognize him immediately. He weighs a ton and pulls his left leg." In album 14, that conversation was different.

On p. 33, after Jessie has delivered XIII to the airport (and slept with her the previous night), he says to her "If you want to finish this alive, all you have to do is take that revolver from the glove box and shoot me in the back. Irina will fall on her knees for you, and you will continue to get a lot of money for killing those whose names she has given to you. Goodbye, Jessie!" He then calmly walks towards the plane, turning his back on her. She takes the gun out, aims at him, but wobbles, and then puts the gun down. (I call that stupIDity or arrogant overconfidence, but he gets away with it. How does he do it?)
Then, on p.34/35, after Jessie has driven her car away and XIII seen the two NSA agents - who DON'T shoot him at sight, but want to drop him into the atlantic - Jessie returns, rams one with her car and shoots the other, but is shot herself in the gut. XIII rushes to her side and says "I'll bring you to a doctor... a hospital ... you will make it, Jessie!" Jessie: "Forget it, I.. you have no past .. I had no future .. and we ... we had no chance... - Do you know, the last night, that ... that was the first time, that ... that I ..." and she dies. I believe she wanted to say "the first time she felt love", or "the first time sex was something special", not the first time she had sex, since she had already explained to him previously that Irina sent her to his cabin as a test if she could kill a man she had slept with, and that she had passed that test before.
On p. 37, Spike asks him "... Was that girl a friend of you?" XIII "No." I think he's lying, he liked her enough to feel sad and care about her. (He probably doesn't want to admit how deeply he's felt for her, since that would mean the pain of her death.)

On p. 38, musing on how the NSA found him, XIII thinks on the 2nd panel "He [Giordino] must have guessed that I would try to use the airway to go to San Miguel, and has searched through the vitae of all civilian pilots in southern california." Next panel, he says aloud again "When he stumbled upon a certain spike"... I think that thought balloon was also spoken.

XIII gets his first clue on p. 39, when in the smugglers point Spike is called Ralph. The second clue is the forgotten limping on p. 41. He learns that the real Spike was killed, and that this pilot is a former "Air America" pilot.
I wonder how many friends Carrington has left? Its dangerous to help the banned crowd.

On p. 39, "Spike" urges XIII to enjoy life (with a hooker, drinking etc.), saying "This is the true life, right, my boy? Come on, Gen. Carrington invites you!" XIII, morosely "I don't know what true life is, Spike... - I have never been given the time to live it."
Well, or he got himself deliberately into trouble a few times, too. He seems to have forgotten how he complained about the preseaus banana plantation in album 9, and he doesn't seem fond of Bahamas vacation with Jones, either.

On p. 41, taking the cell phone from "Spike", XIII says to Giordino " Sorry to disappoint you once more, Giordino. Oh, and one other thing: I'll finish you off!" Realllly smart thing to say in his position. There aren't enough people on his trail yet, he has to personally threaten an extremly powerful man, with the resources of the NSA, the money to hire EXECUTOR, and Mafia connections, too. (Does XIII have a death wish?)

On p. 44, XIII is arrested in Puerto Pilar, and handcuffed, but on p.46, he is uncuffed again. Interesting, BTW, that in the army barracks an oil picture of Maria in evening dress is hanging. (Is this a subtle hint she is further evolving into a dictator, with pictures and paintings everywhere? Or is this just so we can see a nice woman again?)

On p. 46, when XIII complains about shooting the plane with the "Air America" pilot, because he wanted him to testify on public about shooting an innocent civilian, the captain says: "There are testimonies about certain countries which it's better to never hear, Senor!" (Nice reputation the USA has, right? )

And just when XIII wants to enjoy one of the few nice things in life as long as he has time left on p.47 by kissing Maria, jones comes in. Bummer. (But I still marvel that both are rational enough about it to never throw a scene - or things - at XIII about loving them both, or act irrational for one moment - with the dangerous situation XIII and his crowd are in, one moment is enough to make a dangerous phone call.)

On p. 21, Jessie tells XIII about her connection to Irina "Frank sent me to her to negotiate some deals. She liked me, and she got me into her bed, too. Irina doesn't like men..." XIII "I guessed something like that..."
Now, does this mean his ego is so inflated that every woman who doesn't fall for him must be lesbian? (He seems to have forgotten he damaged her eye in their first encounter, so she has a reason to be mad at him!)
Or does he simply mean he noticed something about their behaviour at dinner table onboard the ship?

TomM

Legitimate employers here keep those same kinds of records. We file an income tax form (W-4) with the employer when we are hired, and get a form back from him every year (W-2) accounting for the taxes withheld. We also get annual statements about our benefits (insurance, retirement fund, etc.) and each week the specific deductions are listed on the "stub" of our paychecks,...

I guess this question would belong more on the "Incredible Hulk" board

- maybe a Roving mod. can move the relevant parts? -

but since it started here, I'll ask you here: so how does a drifter like David Banner get work? Has he to ask every employer "I would like to work without any registration, please?" and the employer wouldn't find that suspicious?
For that matter - since Phil mentioned it in the X-Philes guide discussion of 2SHY - how would the company do the book-keeping? If a company pays X employees a sum of Y money, it should turn in the necessary forms for X employees at the end of the year. I can see cash for under-the-table work for small outfits, which are so small they maybe don't require book-keeping, but what about big companies? What would happen if they report a David Bensen on their tax form, and the tax office calls back and says "We don't have a David Bensen on file?"

If he gets an under-the-table job, the employer is sharing in the tax fraud, and there are no records. If the manager is also the sole owner, the money just comes out-of-pocket. If the manager is "cooking" someone else's books he's taking a big chance. So mostly it's smaller companies with higher turnover that no one will know exactly how many people were on the payroll or that some were "off the books."

If he goes for a legitimate job, he will probably use forged papers. As I said earlier, while there isn't a "Ye Olde Forgery Shoppe" in every local mall, it is probably much easier to get forged papers here than in Europe. Plus he will usually only need a driver's license and maybe a Social Security Card.

All federal taxes and almost all state and local taxes are indexed by the Social Security account number. The insurance companies and financial institutions that manage the health insurance and other benefits will often also index by the Social Security Number.

The better forgers know the system by which the Social Security Administration assigned account numbers, and would assign a number in an appropriate range originally issued from a distant area of the country. The fact that two different people are using the same number is most likely only going to turn up at the SSA, and will probably not be noticed unless someone is specifically looking for it.

It would be easy enough for the SSA's computers to compare the name under which Social Security taxes are paid on an account to the name under which the account was opened, and alert the auditors, but apparently that never occurred to them until recently.

I guess this question would belong more on the "Incredible Hulk" board

- maybe a Roving mod. can move the relevant parts? -

If we want to continue this discussion, maybe we should move over to "Legal Musings."

Thanks, TomM.

Moving back to XIII, a comment by Jessie about O'Neil spending 6 years in Colorado to loose his irish accent got me thinking:

In album 1, XIII was wondering who he was, and one of the clues mentioned was that the first words he spoke when he woke up were english, so he isn't a foreigner, since the doctor explains that after amnesia, people will always talk their mother tongue. (I don't know if this is true, but I've encountered the mother-tongue in times of stress/sudden fright/ amnesia very often in fiction.)
But wouldn't the dialect or accent of XIII betray his origins? If he was Irish-born and raised, shouldn't he have talked with an irish accent again at the beginning, and someone commented on it? (Its hard to know from a translated version of a french-language comic if an accent/dialect is inteneded for a certain character!)

I also wondered why nobody recognized XIII by his body language - as has been pointed out previously, even if you can't see the face of a good friend, you'll nevertheless recognize him by his movements.
But then I realized that not many people are left alive who could have known Jason Mac Lane or Kelly Brian or Seamus O'Neil or whoever.
Or the explanation is the psychological: he suppressed all memories and "manufactured" an entirely new persona for himself, with new values (no killing in cold blood, no political intrigue, no diplomacy, no monogamy, ...), new speech, new movement... I don't know how plausible this is from a psychological standpoint.

But XIII had gotten training to incorporate Steven Rowland, a very different person, so maybe that made it easier for his subconcious to come up with a new persona? (Was "Kelly Brian" during his stay in Cuba also trained in impersonation?)

constanze - I've always read that, when I get my passport at age 16/18
You mean you're 15 or younger? I thought you were in your earlier 20's.

but the ABS pres. just says "Stop this show? You're kidding, my dear friend!
NNAN, but that "My dear friend" sounds more European than American.

the director of ABS was removed and sentenced for spreading wrong information (that is a crime?)
If it is it would probably be a small fine at the worst.

However this is an alternate universe so the law could be different.

Also I get the feeling that the authors don't care about reality so they'll use any excuse to explain away plot points they don't want to be bothered with. (Whoops! We're not supposed to deal in reality. ;-)

While I'm sure there could be legal repercussions from a real life network airing something like this I can't imagine jail time being a realistic outcome.

He's a gentleman/boy scout at heart, who can't hurt women? Old-fashioned?
I guess he forgot all about the Equal Rights Movement. ;-)

You are accused of murdering the president of the USA!
I assume she's talking about the first President Sheridan as the second President Sheridan 'died of a brain tumor'?

Maybe he really is Kor-Els son?
I think you mean Jor-el (Superman's father).

He spent 6 years in Colorado, enough to loose his irish accent
NNAN since it could simply be that it took O'Neil 6 years to lose his accent, but some people are better at losing accents & some people spend decades speaking with an accent. If O'Neil was trying to lose his accent then he may have been a slow learner.
I don't know if there is such a thing as a Colorado accent, but a few years ago there was a story in the paper about a real life amnesiac who didn't know who she was or where she came from & people trained in accents were able to narrow down that she came from the Philadelphia area by the way she pronounced certain words. If XIII were O'Neil I would expect him to have either an Irish accent (having forgotten how to pronounce things like an American), or to pronounce words the way they do in Colorado, or even a combination of the two.

constanze - I guess this question would belong more on the "Incredible Hulk" board
- maybe a Roving mod. can move the relevant parts? -
TomM - If we want to continue this discussion, maybe we should move over to "Legal Musings."
Since I think parts of this discussion are in posts related to this topic it might just be easier to copy the relevent parts & repost over on The Incredible Hulk (TV) board and/or a Legal Musings board.

Since I still have moderator access to The Kitchen Sink I could theoretically move posts over to the Hulk board there, but only if the current Mod (Kerriem) agreed.

KAM,

You mean you're 15 or younger? I thought you were in your earlier 20's.

Thanks for the compliment. Actually, I'll celebrate my 32nd birthday in several weeks. I meant that I heard the info about ID cards when I was younger than 16, reading on rights and duties relevant to age groups. (What you can do when you are 16/18/21 etc.)
Actually, I've had a special children's passport since when I was about 12 years old, because my parents traveled with the family to other countries in the holidays.

the director of ABS was removed and sentenced for spreading wrong information (that is a crime?)
If it is it would probably be a small fine at the worst.

However this is an alternate universe so the law could be different.

Also I get the feeling that the authors don't care about reality so they'll use any excuse to explain away plot points they don't want to be bothered with. (Whoops! We're not supposed to deal in reality. ;-)

While I'm sure there could be legal repercussions from a real life network airing something like this I can't imagine jail time being a realistic outcome.

Now, I think the authors are trying to do their best to keep the alternate universe in snyc with the real universe, except for differing events. They take pains to get all these different aircrafts and their types and nicknames right, they show elaborate ceremonies etc.
But then, if the President (former vice-president) or Giordino of the NSA said this "wrong information" was part of secret defense stuff, I guess they could sentence the director for something dubious like treason or betraying secrets behind closed doors.

You are accused of murdering the president of the USA!
I assume she's talking about the first President Sheridan as the second President Sheridan 'died of a brain tumor'?

No, they are accusing XIII of murdering Wally in the kidnapping plot. That's why XIII "trial" farce is classified as top secrets, and only people from secret agencies are present, no real judges, attorneys etc.

I think you mean Jor-el (Superman's father).

Yeah, that's the one. (I'm not very familiar with the Superman story.)

...but a few years ago there was a story in the paper about a real life amnesiac who didn't know who she was or where she came from & people trained in accents were able to narrow down that she came from the Philadelphia area by the way she pronounced certain words. ...

This is interesting. So, along the musings I've already had about XIIIs accent, that means either he isn't O'Neil, since he doesn't speak with an Irish accent (I guess it would have been pointed out quickly to him before, since it should be noticeable), or that he has indeed manufactured successfully a new personae for himself.

AFAIK, people who as adults learn a new language, or in this case, a new accent, will always retain traces of their mother tongue/accent, unless
-they're very gifted individuals with a talent for languages and an ear for accents
-or they get special speech training.

However, XIII as well as his friends never seem to think of mentioning his lack of accent as proof, although him speaking (American) English was cited as proof in album 1 that he isn't a russian or foreign agent. (I think this may come from the authors not being familiar enough with the different accents, but I don't enough about the accents/dialects in french to be sure.)

About the director of ABS: the relevant passage on p.9, album 13 simply says "The Director of ABS was kicked off and sentenced for spreading false information."
So it could be only a fine. However, if Giordino et al wanted to send a signal to the media world, they might imprison him (as I said above, on grounds of treason or similar.)

I assume she's talking about the first President Sheridan as the second President Sheridan 'died of a brain tumor'?

I a way, its funny: publically, XIII didn't kill Wally, since he died from the brain tumor operation.
Inoffically, behind the scenes, Giordino et al just want revenge on the whole Carrington-kidnap-crowd, but XIII's the only one they can reach at the moment.

Though that doesn't explain why they don't kill them all with the bomb at the Hazienda: on p.48, album 15, XIII says to the presaus "If they had wanted to kill you, they could have done that long ago - The destruction of your hazienda probably was done only to cut you off from your connections." Carrington "That seems logical to me." Well, to me it doesn't. Given the grudge Giordino et al have against Carrington for his TV trial, I don't think its logical to let the crowd live. (Must be XIIIs charm to delay executions works for his friends, too.

Album 16, Operation Montechristo (?; My library doesn't have this album - yet?, so this is only a cursory glance after one reading at the bookshop.)

The crowd is driven in a truck to be handed over to the Americans, because Maria Santos can't afford an american embargo against Costa Verde. During the ride, however, armed rebels stop the truck and kidnap the crowd. They deliver a letter to the americans, claiming that they are leftover troups from Gen. Ortiz and want revenge on the Cascador.
In reality, however, they are former Rebel troops, working under secret orders from Maria, who wants to save her face and country, but also XIII and his crowd.
The crowd and their rebels end up at the montechristo dam, and Mullway somehow has found out that the 3rd Irish grandfather, Liam Mac Lane, who wrote the letter, is buried with his silver watch in the church that was flooded when the dam was built - he had written in the latter that his grave couldn't be found.
Jones and XIII get diving gear and start the dive. Meanwhile, a satellite or plane has taken pictures, and Giordino realizes the crowd is at montechristo (though he doesn't know of the watches). He plans to kill two birds with one stone: he orders some agents to plant a bomb at the dam. Since it was built during Pres. Santos days with Cuban help, everybody will assume its bad Soviet/Communist technology (like Tchernobyl), but the blame for the deaths and destruction caused by the resulting floodwave will be blamed on Maria Santos and will weaken her too-socialist government. And it will also kill XIII and his crowd.
But (of course) Jones and XIII battle successfully with the agents and prevent the explosion. Sadly, however, Amos is shot during the struggle on land - this time, he dies.
The 3rd silver watch has been found, but the letters and numbers don't make sense.

I wonder if in the future albums, XIII will make new friends. If he keeps loosing them at the present rate, at album 20 he will be alone.

I wonder what the authors will do with the message from the watches. Either they retrocon (change) the first letters, and let Mullway & co. eventually figure out the message. Or the code is unbreakable, because it refers to some event only the three Irish had.
Maybe the letters don't make sense because the message is in Irish? (How many mexicans would understand that?) The authors do use spanish when necessary, so maybe they looked up Irish, too.
If the reference isn't to a personal event, but to a place from irish mythology they found in mexico, Mullway might be able to solve it.

I also still wonder about Colin, Carringtons grandson. In album 12, after he has switched of Kims life support, and is getting ready to leave, Jones is worried about him, but he tells her that there is still Colin, his grandson, and she will help him make a man out of him.
Amos also told XIII and Jones that Wally told Colins location after 2 days of inquiry. If Carrington has more friends than Jones and XIII - though we haven't seen them sofar, doesn't mean they don't exist; Spike in album 15 appeared from nowhere, too - then he could have sent some to rescue Colin, and we haven't seen him so far because Carrington was in San Miguel and Costa Verde since.


Oh, and I asked my librarian today what their definition for graphic novel is. Its comics that are more artistic (than the usual), containing more black-and-white.

Wow. Time for board 4.