Analysis - What's Going On Here?

We seem to be nearing the conclusion of the story of Detective Frisk and the Howells.

I'm pretty confused as to what this story was about.

Readers learned that Detective Frisk (and Lizz and her sister) had been adopted as babies. These adoptions were facilitated by the Howells, Clair and Frank (who was originally called Jimmy). It's not clear if Clair and Frank are married, or brother and sister, or parent and child.

It was explicitly stated that while what Clair and Jimmy were doing is of dubious ethics, it is not illegal, though it had earlier been implied that some of the "Howell babies" had been kidnapped. But it seems like there was no fraud or deception involved in the adoptions that the Howells arranged. The parents got the babies they wanted and the Howells and the birth mothers got paid.

Now, if what the Howells were doing was illegal, then Frisk shouldn't be the one doing the investigation. That should be a matter for the police or the FBI. Frisk was apparently concerned only with finding out information about where the various babies came from and who the birth parents were. This was information that the Howells were keeping secret.

But why? The Howells were willing to kill Frisk to stop her investigations. That seems to imply some more serious violations of the law, which (if Frisk could prove it) would need to involve the police. If the only thing that Frisk is uncovering is the identity of the (now-grown) Howell babies' birth families, I don't understand why the Howells are so determined to keep that a secret. In fact, it seems like they would be willing to make that information available for a price, since they're so corrupt.

Furthermore, the Howells seem to live in relatively squalid circumstances, which would belie their stated successful baby brokering enterprise. If they're able to offer Lily Seven thousands of dollars to re-connect with Frisk, and pay off judges to keep themselves out of jail, then why can't Frank afford a shirt?

Now, I do like that this has been a storyline that is grounded in reality (even if the villains are pretty dull), and that it brings back an old character whose fate had been unresolved. However, I think it does Frisk a disservice by dramatically changing her character. In her previous appearances (back in 2003-4), Frisk's defining trait was her ambitiousness. Yet, apparently, after her near-death in pursuit of Sal Monella, she gave up her goals of advancing in the field of law enforcement and went into the private detective business. Because...?

This plot also missed an opportunity for Frisk to display some righteous anger. I had wanted to see a scene in which she vituperates Tracy, i.e. "You always undermined me, Tracy! You were happy when you thought I was dead, weren't you? Because I was finally out of the way? You didn't even LOOK for me! Is it any wonder that I went into hiding, you vain-glorious jackass?" This would have given the eventual reconciliation between Tracy and Frisk more emotional heft.

(There's also the unsatisfying plot contrivance of Frisk's Wrist Geenee being in her coat and alerting Tracy to her peril purely by coincidence, but that's neither here nor there...)

It remains to be seen if Frisk will have a continuing role in the strip. Maybe she'll join up with the Tracy Agency? Or partner with G.M. Shoe? It would not hurt to have another strong female character in the mix...

In conclusion, I think this would have been a stronger storyline if readers were given a better sense of what the various characters wanted, and what was at stake.