WCDT - December 5 to December 9, 2022 (strips #4931 to #4935)

[Alexander Krizak]

I may have had too much fun making the poll options here...

(Note that there is nothing in the poll's question indicating that the main character is currently Marten.)

[Stoon]

Can we call Marten Pukey McPukeface now?

[Farideh]

Poor Marten. I got seasick once, it's no fun at all!

[Tova]

Can we call Marten Pukey McPukeface now?

Dunno, people get real touchy about misspelling his name around here.

[ZoeB]

Please.. it's only the thought of dying that's keeping Marten alive.

I've never been seasick, even in a  "rolls in wet grass" Charlie Adams destroyer in a force 9 gale . Nor airsick, even in a Herky bird where the vomit had coated the cabin ceiling, so every time we went from negative to positive g in a thunderstorm, everyone got a bit.

But I was younger then.

[immortalfrieza]

Can we call Marten Pukey McPukeface now?

Dunno, people get real touchy about misspelling his name around here.

Yes, it's Marten Pukey McPukerface. Get it right!

[shanejayell]

Poor Marten.

[shanejayell]

Cubetown IS, in fact, a cube...

[Wombat]

Cubetown IS, in fact, a cube...

Woulda been hilarious if it were a sphere.

[Tova]

TBH I just noticed the poll.

After Marten dies of seasickness, who will be Questionable Content's main character?

I mean, whoever it is now, presumably.

[BenRG]

"1pm explosion"... Yeah, pretty much as I expected.

[snubnose]

Why, the protagonist is clearly Sam !

Marten has been "former protagonist" since ages.

https://www.questionablecontent.net/cast.php

[Gyrre]

Cubetown IS, in fact, a cube...

But is it a Hyper Cube?

[TinPenguin]

I'm getting strong "this is just a wacky bit" vibes from this trip. I don't anticipate any more long-term implications than the visit to Station.

(y'all ever forget Marten and Marigold went to SPACE?

[Perfectly Reasonable]

The Halifax noon gun is synced to an atomic clock. Can Cubetown beat that?

( check out the trylon and perisphere from the 1939 world fair )

[shanejayell]

New Comic!

Yeah, having a seperate AI in your arm seems bad. Unless you're a giant mecha.

[Jimor]

Better than having a separate leg I suppose.

[Gyrre]

I suppose it was ether Armold Palmer or Rad Spencer.

[Oenone]

Ol' Boaty for new main character!

[Zog2]

I probably still would have voted the same way, but why isn't Bubbles in the poll?

[Timemaster]

Hihi, Reeves Gabrels is a cool name for an AI. I wonder where the reference with the big arm comes from.

For those who have never heard the name: Reeves Gabrels is a british rock guitarist, known for his work with David Bowie and The Cure. Especially Bowies sound in the 90s is heavily influenced by Gabrels, Tin Machine and the albums Outside, Earthling and Hours come to mind. Outside is my favorite Bowie album btw. Since 2012 he's a member of The Cure.

Fun fact: I saw him live on stage twice. First with Bowie and the amazing Gail Ann Dorsey at a festival in Lubeck/Germany in 1997 and just lately with The Cure here in Hamburg. 

[St.Clair]

I'm guessing that Armold is Component 19B.

[DaiJB]

I'm getting strong "this is just a wacky bit" vibes from this trip. I don't anticipate any more long-term implications than the visit to Station.

The first mental image I had was of Cubetown as a QC universe version of Toontown.

[Skewbrow]

Cubetown IS, in fact, a cube...

But is it a Hyper Cube?

Yes. It's secretly 11-dimensional. But we don't know yet whether the extra dimensions are simply compactified, or reside in the hyperspace.

[JimC]

Now I've heard the phrase that x body part has a mind of its own, but never considered it would be worthwhile implementing literally...

[Tova]

Ol' Boaty for new main character!

You should write to Jeph and float the idea.

Re the symbiotic arm, I wonder if Jeph has been reading Spacetrawler...

[Mojo]

You know, I miss the days when the comic was more realistic... I mean, there was Pintsize, and occasional other minor bot characters, but most of the comic was about people in a relatively realistic world.

Maybe I'm the only one, but I miss the old days.

[shanejayell]

New comic

Heh! So Marten absolutely does NOT call her Mistress then? 

[Gyrre]

thats_rough_buddy.gif for the last panel

[Gyrre]

I suppose it was ether Armold Palmer or Rad Spencer.

Really??? Just me then?

Guess I'll Swing Into The Sunset then.

[Tova]

If a reference drops in the forums, and no-one is around to understand it, does it make a sound?

[Gyrre]

If a reference drops in the forums, and no-one is around to understand it, does it make a sound?

Only if there's a youtube or soundcloud file to play
[Groucho eyebrow waggle]

[traroth]

"do not look inside the baggage!!!"

or you will be grounded.

[snubnose]

What.

Am I really the only one who clearly sees that Sam is the protagonist ? 



I'm sorry but I just have to point out that an arm makes no sense. There should be at least also a frame for the torso and some artificial legs. Otherwise all that arm might give you is enormous strength in your handshakes or some such.

Then again maybe the feature of the artificial arm is exceptional precision of movement or something like that ?!?

[Marco]

If a reference drops in the forums, and no-one is around to understand it, does it make a sound?

I got the reference! You beat me to it, actually. I was going to quote Spacetrawler when I saw your comment.

By the way, reading things like Spacetrawler and Drive may explain why I'm not upset with the way Jeph is leading QC. And for those that think the old days were more "realistic", I'm not sure if Faye beating the c*@# out of everyone and getting zero consequences counts as such.

[JimC]

I'm sorry but I just have to point out that an arm makes no sense.

I think concepts that make little sense are going to be routine at Cubetown...

To change topic, watch out Claire: its not unknown for grandiose job titles to be an alternative to decent salary!

[Mr_Rose]

I'm sorry but I just have to point out that an arm makes no sense.

I think concepts that make little sense are going to be routine at Cubetown...

To change topic, watch out Claire: its not unknown for grandiose job titles to be an alternative to decent salary!

Ah, yes, ye olde "refuse containment executive" aka the bin man.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

I wanna rummage through that dumpster. I bet there's neat stuff there!

[shanejayell]

New comic

"WE DON'T TALK ABOUT THE FOURTH QUADRANT."

"Or the Fifth Element."

"Yeah, that too."

[Farideh]

Or Bruno!

[sitnspin]

I talk about The Fifth Element a lot, actually.

[St.Clair]

"Anybody else wanna negotiate?!"
"W-where did he learn to negotiate like that?"
"I wonder."

[stayctee]

You know, I miss the days when the comic was more realistic... I mean, there was Pintsize, and occasional other minor bot characters, but most of the comic was about people in a relatively realistic world.

Maybe I'm the only one, but I miss the old days.

I hear ya. It's still a cute comic though, that's why I stick around. You can always go back and reread! Also there are lots of slice of life comics on the internet.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say, that "residential apartment" was supposed to say "residential quadrant".

Actually, the Marten as main character thing is interesting - I still think of him that way because I've been reading since he was. But what would newer readers think? I wonder how absolutely confusing this comic is to someone who started reading recently, actually, now that I think about it.

[BenRG]

"Anybody else wanna negotiate?!"
"W-where did he learn to negotiate like that?"
"I wonder."

I always loved President Lindberg in The Fifth Element. He just struck me as a fairly straight-line guy who was tired of being surrounded by childlike military leaders, raving loony religious 'advisers' and politicians. Now he has to deal with the End of the World with the only nearly-sane person to hand being Korbin Dallas, a man who has yet to encounter a problem that he cannot shoot to make it go away.

[hedgie]

I'm sorry but I just have to point out that an arm makes no sense. There should be at least also a frame for the torso and some artificial legs. Otherwise all that arm might give you is enormous strength in your handshakes or some such.

Then again maybe the feature of the artificial arm is exceptional precision of movement or something like that ?!?

My previous attempted reply got mutilated (and only showed the quote), so sorry, trying again:
You're absolutely right there, and that specific issue was explored in the Ghost in the Shell manga, as a reason (IIRC, fuzzy memory) that people would opt for full body prosthesis rather than just having a super-strong replacement arm, complete with cute cartoon (different art style) of an arm trying to pick up something heavy and ripping itself out in the process.

Aside from the possibility you brought up, for symbiosis experiments, an arm does make more sense than other appendages.  At least if it decides to stop listening to the host, there's no mobility impairment, so the poor host can run around for help screaming whilst the arm is punching them in the face rather than trying to ambulate in some manner with an uncooperative leg. 

[Jimor]

That was also something that even as a kid made no sense to me with the show The Six Million Dollar Man. Sure he had both legs and one arm replaced, but with nothing re-inforced in the torso and spine, those feats of strength and speed would just crush the rest of the body.

At least with these AI chasis, there's the potential that they're beefed up enough under the skin to withstand the forces that large arm could generate.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

I want to know what the Nuts + Bolts poster in panel 2 says. Something like 'Laer AI Brauf' ?

( also check out the dude with abs lettered on his abs )

[Killspree]

I see Martin is still snarking his way into making this interview a farce.

[St.Clair]

That was also something that even as a kid made no sense to me with the show The Six Million Dollar Man. Sure he had both legs and one arm replaced, but with nothing re-inforced in the torso and spine, those feats of strength and speed would just crush the rest of the body.

At least with these AI chasis, there's the potential that they're beefed up enough under the skin to withstand the forces that large arm could generate.

There's an issue of the old Warren Ellis comic Global Frequency that covers exactly this.  The team assembled to deal with a full-body replacement (who's gone completely cyberpsychotic) includes one member who "just" has an arm and the required support structure for it, and she spends most of a page explaining to the rest of them what that means.

[Farideh]

I want to know what the Nuts + Bolts poster in panel 2 says. Something like 'Laer AI Brauf' ?

( also check out the dude with abs lettered on his abs )

Looks to me to be 'Live AI revue'