Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

Day by day list of how much time has passed in QC

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bunnyThor:

--- Quote from: Thorbard on 15 Mar 2008, 07:10 ---Marten never seems to wear the same shirt twice, doesn't that imply that either a. he has a huge number or b. there are more days than we know about and perhaps that two strips with the same shirt aren't necessarily the same day...

--- End quote ---

Marten is so damned bony that he wears holes in his shirts by the end of the day. He's constantly having to buy new ones. That's why we never see him in the same shirt twice.

If the holes in his shirts get too big and obvious in the middle of the day, he just throws one of his dozens of black hoodies on. His hoodies are all made out of Kevlar, so they last much longer.

Surgoshan:

--- Quote from: Thorbard on 15 Mar 2008, 07:10 ---Can move in doesn't mean they will move in straight away.
--- End quote ---

When your lease is up (as when you tell your landlord you're moving out) then that puts a pretty hard limit on how long you can stay.  And when you've paid rent on an apartment, that's a pretty strong incentive to move into it.

Is it cold in here?:
I can't find it now, but there's a guest strip poking fun at Marten's apparently infinite supply of T-shirts. Maybe they reproduce like his black hoodies:
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=560

LeeZion:
This is something that I wrote back in May 2006 — almost two years ago. Check http://forums.questionablecontent.net/index.php/topic,10747.msg323742.html#msg323742

The most recent version of my timeline was written in October 2006, and went like this:

Anyway, as I've said before, Jeph Jacques has given us plenty of clues to show us (roughly) how much time has passed since QC first started showing full days in the strip. Anything that happened prior to strip 63 is purely random, with only a few hints, such as mentioning Thanksgiving weekend, to show passage of time. Strips 1-62 seem to have unfolded over a period of a few months, and it is impossible to be more precise. Ever since strip 63, however, we can get a better idea of time, since each batch of strips mentioned below show a full day from characters waking up to when they go to sleep. Here is the much-researched, much-updated and MUCH-repeated breakdown.

63-67: Definitely a batch of strips that show one evening's worth of continuity, as Marten, Faye, Sara and Steve go out. Whether the storyline that ended in strips 62 happened on the same day as strips 63-67 is open to interpretation. Notice that Marten is wearing the same shirt from 62 to 63, but maybe he was lazy and didn't change. And Faye's wearing a different shirt. (Also: notice that this is the last day we actually see Sara in the strip, although she's mentioned for some time afterward.)
68-80: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. This batch of strips, the first time we ever see a full day in the strip, clearly happens the day after the night out on the town. We know this because Faye breaks her glasses in strip 67, and Marten has them repaired in strip 68. (Also: notice that this is the day Marten and Dora meet.)
81-99: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. We know this because in strip 83, Dora says "Like I said last night, he's a cutie," and she said that in strip 75.
100-118: NOT CONSECUTIVE. Theoretically could be the day after the events of 81-99, but there is no proof. Several days may have passed.
119-138: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. Faye and Dora go to sleep in the same bed in 118, and wake up in 119.
139-163: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. Faye promises to take Dora shopping in strip 138, and the next day she does.
164-185: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. Pintsize makes himself a beard in strip 163, and in 164, Faye asks him if he's cleaned off Pintsize's beard.
186-213: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. The head-banging to the testicles happens in 185, and in 186, he's still recovering from that.
214-236: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. The pants zipper episode from 213 is referred to in 214 as having happened "last night."
237-269: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. Steve and Ellen go out on a double date with Dora and Marten, and in 238, Faye asks how the date with Marten went "last night."
270-309: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. Pintsize is recovering from his meltdown (caused by his own actions) in strip 269. In 270, Marten asks him what he's learned from his experience "last night."
310-350: DEFINITIELY THE NEXT DAY. We know this because in 308, Faye and Marten say they'll be looking at the new place "tomorrow," and on this day, they do. They even pay the money up front in strip 319.
351-383: NOT CONSECUTIVE. Theoretically could be the day after the events of 310-350, but there is no proof. Several days may have passed. But it can't be much time -- after all, how long does it take between signing the lease for a new place and moving in?
384-395: DEFINITIELY THE NEXT DAY. We know this because in 378 they say they'll start moving their stuff "tomorrow," and on this day, they do.
396-417: NOT CONSECUTIVE. Theoretically could be the day after the events of 384-395, but there is no proof. Several days may have passed.
418-430: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. We know this because the new mattress was delivered the previous day, and in 418, Marten asks her how "the new mattress" is.
431-463: VERY LIKELY THE NEXT DAY. Marten and Dora are still painting the new apartment. Also, the blackboard at work still says, "We're remodeling," and it is unlikely that the remodeling that started with strip 421 would carry on for too long.
464-509: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. We know this because only because Marten's mother gives him the week off for work in strip 432, and much later, in strip 620, Marten says he has to go back to work after a week off. If the day depicted in strips 605-622 is Day Seven of the week that began in strip 431, then this is Day Two.
510-534: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. Faye recounts her powerful talk that she had with Marten, shown in strips 500-509, and here says the conversation happened "last night."
535-569: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. We know this because, among other things, Faye says in strip 568 that only "two friggin days" have passed since she told Marten she can't date him.
570-580: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. Hannelore wakes up in Marten's apartment after the events of the night before.
581-604: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. Faye says in 580 that the taxi will pick her up tomorrow, and in 581, it does.
605-622: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. Dora and Marten spend the night together, and also because Faye says she'll visit the grave "tomorrow," and on this day she does.
623-647: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. Both Faye's return from Georgia and Marten's return to work, which were described as happening "tomorrow," are depicted here.
648-686: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. Faye's appointment with her psychiatrist, mentioned in strip 645 as something happening "tomorrow" occurs on this day.
687-722: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. The unexpected crowd at the Coffee of Doom is described as something that happened "yesterday." And Sven learned his lesson "last night."
723-present: DEFINITELY THE NEXT DAY. We know this because two things we were told would happen "tomorrow" happen in this most recent batch of strips: Marten going to his new job and Penelope's return to the Coffee of Doom.

You can see how old this is, because this is where my original timeline stops. I decided to give it a rest since (a) I wanted someone else to take over and (b) shortly after this, the number of hints to tell us whether something happened "last night" dropped dramatically. I think Jeph did this on purpose so I couldn't do my timeline anymore.

Thorbard:
There are some suggestions that lengthen the times too, but they seem to get more neglected.

650-710 is two days, for example. 710, Faye: "the day before yesterday" (not just yesterday).
650-751 is probably 3-5 days. 751, Faye: "where's Marty?"

Also 350-351 could easily be a few days, look at Faye's hair, it seems longer (though possibly just differently styled).

So I suggest, modifying the list from the first post:

Day 31: 648-686
Day 32
Day 33: 687-722
Day 34: 723-750
Day 35
Day 36: 751-763

If you put the maximum number of extra days in, and stretch the definitions of "yesterday" and "tomorrow" you'll probably get a bit closer to Jeph's suggested figure.

Just a thought. Not saying I'm any more likely to be right than anyone else (except Jeph, who is obviously most right of any of us).

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