So the Vinn are made up of several different species? Interesting.

They could still all be the same species. They may just have high variability in body proportions and size, like dogs. We can see that they have four upper appendages and a slug/snake like lower half, and we don't see enough of the other three individuals to rule out that general body plan.

Not sure why the one has the weird compound eyes and the other ones have "normal" eyes.

No doubt we'll soon be getting an Encyclopedia Xenobiologica entry that will sort things out.

Only 200 years old? In a 13 billion year old universe that is incredibly recent. Even in the history of modern man (~80,000 years) that's pretty recent. In terms of the history of La Familia, yes, its pretty old.

It is starting to appear probable that that thing is in fact that robotic maker (or a cell holding it, if you want to be technical). So...
Seems like I called it first.
BOO YEAH!

Also: could someone link to the previous appearance(s) of the Vinn? I don't recall them.

Pretty sure the Vinn haven't been shown or spoken about before.

..also, the casket is probably 300 + years old, the original Makers ship that landed on earth was said to have drifted for "Centuries" before landing...and then, "143 years later" our current story begins. Just saying ... :-D

Has that last panel changed? I don't remember seeing the armed Vinn standing around it on its first viewing.

It has. I saw the last panel this morning and thought the same thing.

Yes, the Vinn could be all the same species, however it is possible that more than one species could develop high intelligence on the same planet, as well. The latter possibility could have interesting ramifications on the deveopment of the society on such a planet. But time (and Dave) will tell the story of the Vinn!

@macsnafu

... see here. http://www.drivecomic.com/archive/110428.html

"Tesskans and Fillipods are the only know sentient species to have developed on the same planet"

Still... there's a possibility that The Vinn aren't know by the Imprimátur Del Imperio

Vinn has been mentioned as a place name at least once before ("the family will hunt you from Vinn to Veeta"), so I assume the Vinn are a known entity in the empire.

As far as the changed drawing goes, I guess my "similar body plans" theory goes out the window. Maybe their species has a high mutation rate, or they have such advanced biotechnology that they modify their bodies for different purposes? I hope it's more interesting than just different species.

Another change spotted: I think there was a second bit of Maker-speak that came out of the box in the original version, and now there's only one.

The Veetans know about the Vinn. When they are trying to figure out where Cuddow can take refuge, Nosh says "Can't go to Vinn. Nobody wants to live on Vinn."

It could be that The Vinn are not a species, but rather a group by that name. I say this because both "The" and Vinn are capitalized. As in, The Dominion, as a whole title of the group as a whole, a conglomerate of species.

The first mention of The Vinn, I believe, was http://www.drivecomic.com/archive/110216.html , where the Emperor says "Our Empire faces a dire enemy. One far worse than The Vinn or Tesskans ever were."

I assumed that it referred to a race now subject to the Empire, but still, it's been obvious since then that all would be explained eventually.

Most excellent to see the story progressing again. Thursday morning is the highlight of the week!!!

Very interesting. Has "The Spirit" been found?

One other thing... An episode of "Farscape" addressed a similar type of creature. However, not as destructive. Again, very interesting....