This is several things. It is currently my last photomanipulation that is completed. There are others that were started and abandoned. But I've moved away from doing photomanipulations. This manip only needed the break points added for several years. I took the short caption and it became the script for the rendered comic.
Which is better? I prefer the comic. I have a lot more control over the narrative that result. The value of the manips is the inspiration. Here's a woman standing next to garages, probably at an apartment complex. I interpreted them as a storage facility and the story was born.
I will be posting some reinterpretations of older photomanipulations soon, probably in small batches. Revisiting them reminds me how bad I was at the manips back then. The oldest ones are ten years old.
Paul is a reuse from a comic that appeared on Patreon already and will appear here around Christmas time. (Not that it's at all winter themed.)
Stan is still looking for other work.
Panel 1 - Stan and Paul are done moving a former store’s inventory into a storage locker unit.
Stan: Finally, that’s the last of it. Let’s lock this up and go get a beer. My treat.
Paul: We picked up twelve mannequins at the store, right?
Stan: And eight clothing racks, some furniture, and those hangers. Why?
Paul: And that’s what’s in the storage unit, right?
Stan: Where are you going on about?
Paul: And yet, there’s another mannequin standing behind you. And it’s even wearing clothes. And high heels! It has hair!
Stan: Clothes? Shoes? Not our problem, Paul. Just load it. If there's a problem someone paid to care can deal with it. We're out of here once I lock the door. I'll ignore the hair comment.
Paul: It's just weird that neither of us noticed a mannequin standing right there. Where did it come from?
Stan: I'll explain the birds and the bees to you over that drink. Now, get that mannequin in the storage locker so we can get going. And because of this delay, you're buying the first round.
Panel 2 - Someone is swiping through photos on a phone when an onlooker asks them to pause.
Narrator: An unknown amount of time later...
Woman 1: Hey, flip back. Is that Lynnora?
Woman 2: Who? Oh, right. What ever happened to her? I don't think I've seen her since this photo was taken at my birthday party?
Woman 1: I haven't heard from her in ages. Didn't she want to downsize her whole life. She was looking to find a cost effective, long-term self storage unit.
Woman 2: Oh, yeah, I remember now. she was asking everyone at the party.
Woman 1: I guess downsizing her life included getting rid of her friend group, too.
Woman 2: Maybe. Anyway, I was trying to show you an outfit I saw.…
A: Let's just load up the last mannequin into the storage locker and call it a day. First round's on me.
B: Why is this one wearing clothes? Look, the manifest says there are eight mannequins, I count nine.
A: I don't get paid enough to ask questions. Nor enough to spend time counting mannequins.
B: It has a purse.
A: Let's just get done and get out of here. Do your job. Put it in the unit.
B: Okay. But it's odd.
A: Duly noted.