AMAZING. I was going to ask a few different questions, but after seeing this photo (and my fascination with the pasts of my favorite fictional characters) I may just stick to asking the many, many which have been multiplying in my brain for the last couple of minutes.

Is Mordecai the oldest child (I'm pretty sure he looks tallest, but it's kind of hard to tell...)?

What are his sister's (and possibly brother - I can't be sure about the baby) and mother's names?

Where is his father?

Will any of his family appear in the actual comic at some time?

That picture just made my day. Thank you.

Who took that picture and why? Was there some special occasion? (Which I doubt since none of them look all too happy.)
What year was this picture taken/How old was Mordecai at the time?
Why are Mordy and his mom the only ones looking at the camera? Like, was the exposure time too long for his sisters to wait for or were they the only two who cared?
It looks like there's foot prints on the steps, is there snow there?

Also, I had to check his character bio just to confirm where they are, that picture reminded me of New York so much I completely forgot the comic took place in a different part of the country. ><
Where in New York do they live? Specifically the street, if that matters at all.

Sorry, but one last question: Who's currently in possession of this photo?

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"Curse your sudden, but inevitable betrayal!"

Thanks for the answers!

Oh dear god, that photo of little Mo'cai is the most adorable thing I've ever seen! AND he has little sisters! I'm in a tizzy! All aflutter.

Is he still in contact with his sisters? And, dare I ask, are his family members "cattle" or do they have an elevated status in his murderous mind?

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The son of German Jewish immigrants.


yes


From the left, Esther, Rose, Hannah (the baby), and Zippy (Tzipporah).


He would have been classified as an invalid at the time, and was either hospitalized or simply not amenable to being photographed that way.


No - at least not in the canon comic.


Just a dour-looking family portrait taken in about 1910 (Mordecai would have been 11).


Probably because they were the only ones with the patience to stand still long enough.
Yes, there's snow on the ground.


The lower east side of Manhattan, somewhere around Stanton St. and Orchard St.


Rose, most likely


He's in intermittent contact with his family. They still reside in New York and though any correspondence is of an emotionally vacant sort, he probably wouldn't have any lingering contact at all if he didn't maintain some sense of obligation and regard for them.

New question(s)!

In 'Lackadaisy Scrapbook', we see a photo of Mordecai up in the right corner where it looks like he worked as a banker/accountant of sorts. Here in this topic, Boss Lady said that 'he was a city slum dweller, but not without prospects... with a night job or two'. DID he work as a banker/accountant before, maybe as a cover up for his 'night jobs' before he got hired by Atlas, or is that picture in Lackadaisy Scrapbook, as I thought at first, just a pic where he's planning or writing down files over a 'work' at the Lackadaisy?

Those answers and that pic sure raise a lot of questions. Makes me wonder if Atlas accidentally found and fished Mordecai up from the Manhattan city-slum... can I ask that or will I, as I somehow suspect, find it out later on in the comic? As well as at what age (or maybe it would be more appropriate to ask when) Viktor, Mordecai and Rocky arrived to the Lackadaisy?

Oh, and Tracy, a raving battle royale with the Muppet Babies... if that line was supposed to throw us off... it didn't >:3

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'There's no such thing as a stupid question, until you ask it.'

Ah, mein Vaterland!
Sehr danke, Boss Lady.

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-FR

Not sure if this has been touched upon or not, but it's just been something that's always bugged me.

#1: What is Mordocai's Sexuality, at this current time, this current hour, at this current minute, and this current second?

And some other crazy Questions that I've had time to think about.

#2:Does Rocky prefer Blueberry or Banana Nut Pancakes? And, does he prefer them with butter from Cow or Goat milk?

#3:Rocky said Freckles has one Freckle. Where is this Freckle, and will we ever see it in the comic?

#4:Will Jack the Ripper be making an Appearance of any sorts? Actually, will any Serial killer like H. H. Holmes or Jane Toppan be mentioned?

#5:What's the deal with Airline food?

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My Characters
"Ideas? What ideas? I don't even think before I speak most of the time."-Clint Burgunday

AH. NOT FAIR.
;-; Miss Tracy, you can't assault my eyes like that. Is not allowed. I was just happily scrolling down and BOOM. Heart attack. Overwhelming cuteness AND infodump/fuel for my overactive theorizing brain.

But can I just say that I was entirely correct in my long-ago statement that Mordie must be an oldest child? ;D -takes a second to gloat on my rightness-

By the way, the name Tzipporah > love. I've loved that name since I first saw "The Prince of Egypt"... in Hungarian... Hertzog Egyptum! =3 When I saw it was his mother's name my heart did a little happiness jig. ^^ Her hair is... I dunno, I can't stop staring at it. o0 Awesome. Very randomly beautiful. xD She's a very pretty woman in general, actually. Huh...

Okay, questions:
Will any of the character's family ever be more than name-dropped in the canon comic? At the very least, somewhat discussed, if only briefly?

Do any of the other characters have siblings?

How old are Mordie's siblings? What are they like? =3 Do Rose and Hannah eventually get glasses too? o0

Do any of the characters have middle names?

And finally: Did the Hellers speak German at home?

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Co-founder of the "George Clooney IS hot, but nobody believes us" club. >:I
The GCIHBNBUC WANTS YOU.

Well, as an accountant of sorts for the shady types who might hire a 13 year old kid. He had his start as a miniature-sized bookie for grifters, loan sharks and underground gambling operations.
In later years, he did a lot of working over numbers for Atlas as Lackadaisy was on the rise - which is probably what he's being interrupted from doing in the Scrapbook photo (as Mitzi makes a pest of herself with a new autographic folding Brownie camera).



Atlas stumbled upon him making a hasty departure from old New York. Some of it will be covered in the comic. Viktor and Mordecai fell into ranks at Lackadaisy between 1920 and 1921. Rocky came along in 1925.


At this current time? Even if by some highly improbable means he managed to live to be 110, the question of sexuality would probably be a moot topic by now...or at least I would hope so. I could do without that mental image.

Assuming you weren't being quite that literal, his lifestyle is pretty asexual at 'present time' in the context of the comic. Speculate all you like about his predispositions, though...inferences might be found in the story, but I'm not prone to discussing it explicitly.


Blueberry with cow butter, buttercream, honey butter, syrup...or whatever sort of saccharine goodness happens to be nearby.


On his cheek. Rocky points to where it was in the early 'tiddlywinks' comic in which he discusses it. Barring further incidents with shaving razors, it'll probably never been seen again.


No. Hopefully there's enough murderousness in the comic to make the addition of serial killers a little superfluous. ;P


Tell me about it. But you could always stop at KFC afterwards if you're in the mood for a failure pile in a sadness bowl.


Yes.


Many of them do. Rocky and Freckle are oddities as only-children.


At the time of the photo, 9,5, and a couple of months.
Esther is bright and strong-willed, if not a little confrontational. Rose is affectionate to the point of being a little clingy, but is also a bit of a clown. She has glasses too. The youngest didn't survive infancy. Child mortality rates were comparatively still very high around the turn of the last century.


Yes, though not among Mordecai's family.


Yiddish and some German were commonly spoken in the home, but for practical purposes, an effort was made to assure English was the predominant language the children were raised with.

The one holding Mo'cai's hand is named Rose? She's so adorable! However, this only brings up more questions:

Is Rose particularly attached to her big brother? 'Cause it looks like she grabbed his hand, not the other way around.

Did Mordecai feel responsible for his younger siblings while he was growing up?

Do any of Mordecai's family members have an inkling about what he does for a living?

Do any of his other family members show sociopathic tendencies/traits?

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Wow, this topic got busy fast.

Anyways, one thing that piques my interest:



Could you be more specific? Severe brain damage? Crazy? Paralyzed? Rehab? Alzheimer's? Sorry, but this kind of thing really interests me, and "An invalid" is just too broad.

"Yes". Damn you, Boss Lady. You certainly know how to leave an audience begging for more...

I think invalid was intentionally broad. =D Maybe it'll be mentioned in the story somewhere. ^^

(Ps: I think I need a new signature... Maybe a Mordie collage like my Freckle signature...)

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Co-founder of the "George Clooney IS hot, but nobody believes us" club. >:I
The GCIHBNBUC WANTS YOU.

Wow. All dem Heller kids look like Mama Heller. In later life, Mordy even seems to have adopted Zippy's "what choo lookin' at" face,

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Cheesecake and heresy.

Okay! Gotta question.

Is Mama Zippy still alive?

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Co-founder of the "George Clooney IS hot, but nobody believes us" club. >:I
The GCIHBNBUC WANTS YOU.

This is my new favorite thing ever

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"Because studies have shown that dvorak's a genius" - Dass
"On a side note, dvorak, looks like the Pope is recognising your authority in Sainting people. Can only be one person representing God on earth at a time" -TFP