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Momo uses Pokemon! It's super effective!

9 (19.1%)

Faye uses welding and sobriety! It's super effective!

9 (19.1%)

Marten uses big-brother advice! It...kinda works!

7 (14.9%)

Emily uses frogs! It's super effective!

7 (14.9%)

Claire uses books! It's super ineffective!

7 (14.9%)

Veronica uses stern parental discipline and threats of withheld flower-girl status at potential upcoming wedding! But, it failed!

4 (8.5%)

Delilah uses one-with-nature Mother Earth hippie powers! It's super effective and totally unwelcome!

4 (8.5%)

Total Members Voted: 43

Voting closed: 08 May 2015, 01:05

[NilsO]

I really like this Momo arc. It gives us a brief recap of the main cast, from Momo's point of view. Each strip starts happy, but ends less so. The people and robots she meets all have annoying habits, but fortunately Momo is tolerant.

I guess there are more beings Momo shall meet before the day is over:

• Definitely Pintsize. I hope Momo will administer a severe electroshock, and that this shall improve Pintsize's future behavior.
• Hanners! This will definitely make Momo happy also in the last panel.
• Sven? Remember, Momo (in her old body) got hit by his cockatrice gaze. Some of that spell might still linger.
• Dora? I doubt we shall see CoD ever again, but Momo might encounter her on the street. Dora is too important in the QC storyline to be overlooked.
• Faye? Same argument as Dora.
• Will Momo visit her old body? I am sure it is stored somewhere, safe from Pintsize. Does Momo have feelings for it, or is it just a useless thing?

[Lubricus]

Maybe it's time for Momo to interact with Winslow again. He hasn't seen much screen time lately.

[Wildroses]

I got curious about the first May and Momo interaction while reading today's strip and went on an archive binge to find the first one. Not much has changed from that comic to this one. They made a pretty bad first impression on each other, but May soon decided she liked Momo after all. I don't think it was instantly reciprocated, but May's help in getting Dale and Marigold to start talking to each other probably thawed Momo a bit. It starts here if you are interested:

http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2508

[Mr. Skawronska]

Depending upon how Momo's algorithm works, these sleep processes may cause her to dream.

If we get a strip about that, I hope it's electric sheep. The visual pun would be fantastic.

So full...of win.

[osaka]

...Still seeing the possibility for floating machine of death, possibly of robotic persuasion.

Or maybe she uses her newfound pokerface powers to blow up a casino or something.

[ZoeB]

I can so very easily identify with Momo. Of all the characters in QC, she is the one I'm closest to.

Despite her difficulties, I don't think she'd want things to change - apart from a "make everything better" button. One of those would indeed be useful. But since we don't have one, we have to do it ourselves, one bit at a time. This can be difficult.

[Akima]

Is Momo using her robot senses to monitor Marten's heartbeat, or is his heart actually visibly beating beneath several layers of clothing and tissue?  If the latter, Marten needs to see a cardiologist STAT.

Marten's heart appears to be in a very unusual position too. Contrary to folklore, the heart is not on the left side of the chest, or up by the collar-bone.

Does "crankin' his hog" mean what I'm afraid it means? And that is not trying to start one of those alleged motorcycles from  Milwaukee. What sort of magazines does May's shop sell?

[Schmee]

The kind that come wrapped in opaque plastic, probably.

[NilsO]

Akima, I am afraid it means what you are afraid it means. But why do people still do this, when they have the whole Internet available in their apartment?

As for May's current job: Pressure washers and magazine racks are a bad combination. I guess she will soon get fired.

[TeaOfDeath]

I'm partial to "cockwaffle", though "dunderfuck" rates highly.

"cockwaffle" is a favorite of mine; I also really enjoy "douchecanoe".

[Sullivan]

• Will Momo visit her old body? I am sure it is stored somewhere, safe from Pintsize. Does Momo have feelings for it, or is it just a useless thing?

The fact that the AIs refer to their bodies as "chassis" leads me to think that that's all they are to them: A shell.

It wasn't mentioned (that I remember) as a possibility, but perhaps it had a trade-in value that was applied to the cost of her current chassis.

[osaka]

Not probable. There was a strip in which Winslow finds the old chassis and tries to show her something, with obviously no reaction from the old Momo-Tan chassis. Winslow then connects, gets nothing, believes she's dead, and just as he's contemplating a full-fledged burial ceremony in loving memory of Momo, Hanners comes and says something on the lines of "She has a new chassis "Winslow, chill". Strip that wouldn't have sense if the chassis had been traded in.

[Welu]

Here's the strip. It was Marigold.

Is Momo using her robot senses to monitor Marten's heartbeat, or is his heart actually visibly beating beneath several layers of clothing and tissue?  If the latter, Marten needs to see a cardiologist STAT.

I genuinely missed that detail yesterday. Huh.

[War Sparrow]

I hope Momo runs into Elliot. Rereading some of the strips, and there is not enough Elliot.

[Veloso]

Is Momo using her robot senses to monitor Marten's heartbeat, or is his heart actually visibly beating beneath several layers of clothing and tissue?  If the latter, Marten needs to see a cardiologist STAT.

This is just an animated GIF artifact.  See the top of the bushes in panel 1 for another place it manifests.

[Rghfrgl]

Is Momo using her robot senses to monitor Marten's heartbeat, or is his heart actually visibly beating beneath several layers of clothing and tissue?  If the latter, Marten needs to see a cardiologist STAT.

This is just an animated GIF artifact.  See the top of the bushes in panel 1 for another place it manifests.

I kinda figured it was too much a coincidence to JUST be Marten's heart, but I didn't even notice that.

Unless the fireflies are up late.

[Kugai]

I wonder if Momo will warm up to May

Or will Momo be a 'Positive Influence' on her - if Momo doesn't take an axe to her first.

[Rghfrgl]

It's the other way around. Soon Momo will join May in traveling the country in a stolen vehicle after robbing a bank.

The vehicle is a jet.

[Method of Madness]

So...Momo will be traveling in May?

[Kugai]

*Plays Theme from Thelma and Louise*

[tangerinewarrior]

I too love this arc so far. It reminds me of an episode of Star Trek TNG called "Data's Day", where the story follows Data and shows what his day is like and what he thinks of the people he interacts with.

On a side note, I can also see this as a clever way to check in on many of the characters we haven't seen recently. It seems like a really large number of regulars have been put on the bus as of recent or fed to an Allosaurus like poor Sarah. There are still some stories I'd like to see resolved: Angus' status, Dora's relationship with Sven, Steve eating cereal, etc.. Also, by my reckoning, only a week to a week and a half has passed in Comic time since Faye and Angus split- I base that off of when Clinton and Emily arranged their date (sometime in Nov/Dec in real time) to when they actually went on it. I'm still hoping we see Angus come back- he was my favorite character after all the robots.

[Aziraphale]

I too love this arc so far. It reminds me of an episode of Star Trek TNG called "Data's Day", where the story follows Data and shows what his day is like and what he thinks of the people he interacts with.

I was thinking the same thing... it'd be cool to see a few more of these with characters we don't hear from as much, or haven't heard from in a while, or who don't have as much backstory. Besides "Data's Day," I also remember a few episodes of MASH that used a similar device. I don't want to see several months straight of it, but these little check-ins are a neat change of pace, besides giving a bit more depth to some of the secondary characters.

[cesium133]

New comic...

(click to show/hide)

It's Gordon!

[Neko_Ali]

So.. the same building where Faye goes to support group it looks like. Hmmmmm....

[Aziraphale]

Comic's up. I'd have laughed my ass off if Arthur ran both support groups. "June" is there with her friend Esperanto Axolotl...

[PopuluxeCowboy]

Gordon! Why does everyone hate Gordon? He just loves his job.

[War Sparrow]

Gordon! Why does everyone hate Gordon? He just loves his job.

I like Gordon. He is adorable, and I'd love to have him as an Anthropc companion.

[Half Empty Coffee Cup]

Gordon! Why does everyone hate Gordon? He just loves his job.

He can spin a real good yarn. He'll also keep any secret you tell him in confidence, even going so far as to weave a web of lies to protect it. When you're hanging on by a thread, he'll be the one to pull you up.

[Neko_Ali]

*holds out the pun jar and gives it a meaningful shake*

[Gladstone]

He can spin a real good yarn. He'll also keep any secret you tell him in confidence, even going so far as to weave a web of lies to protect it. When you're hanging on by a thread, he'll be the one to pull you up.

Plus, if you're feeling hungry, he can get you a tasty snack on the fly.

[wlewisiii]

It's a shame to only find such great commentary on the web...

[chaospersonified]

As an arachnophobe who would run screaming if Gordon were around me, AWW THE POOR LIL GUY

[Energia]

May has lost her sexy/sassy edge and is now drawn as the annoying co-worker who always wants you to cover her shift for reasons.   

[CaptainFish]

I didn't expect a support group, that's kind of a cool wrinkle. I do miss the older strips where AI (or proto-AI? I dunno if they differentiate between pre and post-singularity robots) had their own relationships and friends in the background that were entirely unrelated to anything humans were doing. Not sure when the last time that happened was, outside of May sliming Momo in that one strip. Now that I think about it, using human connections as part of a litmus test for AI criminal rehabiliation is an interesting choice for the universe. I know she's supposed to be curbing "sociopathic tendencies" but that doesn't have to be only related to dealings with other humans.

[Omega Entity]

May has lost her sexy/sassy edge and is now drawn as the annoying co-worker who always wants you to cover her shift for reasons.   

I didn't get that vibe at all. I mean, she's bragging about hosing a guy down with a powerwasher for wanking off in the magazine section, for cripes sake.

[SubaruStephen]

Does the flyer for this support group also say "no creeps"?

[Near Lurker]

May.

If anything, this is the creep group.

[QuestionableIntentions]

Depending upon how Momo's algorithm works, these sleep processes may cause her to dream.

If we get a strip about that, I hope it's electric sheep. The visual pun would be fantastic.

So full...of win.

I know imagine a rival coffee shop called the "Tannhäuser Gate"

[Energia]

May has lost her sexy/sassy edge and is now drawn as the annoying co-worker who always wants you to cover her shift for reasons.   

I didn't get that vibe at all. I mean, she's bragging about hosing a guy down with a powerwasher for wanking off in the magazine section, for cripes sake.

Like I said! (But YMMV) "I coulda been a jet fighter!", in a maid's outfit and wanting to see the stars before appearing on Dale's doorstep and pushing him and Marigold together = sexy/sassy.  Polyester uniform, hanging off Momo like the guy in the Scumbag Steve meme, and braggin' about nothing = not.  I'd love to see what Faye would have done to the guy if he'd tried that in CoD!

[Energia]

Is Momo using her robot senses to monitor Marten's heartbeat, or is his heart actually visibly beating beneath several layers of clothing and tissue?  If the latter, Marten needs to see a cardiologist STAT.

This is just an animated GIF artifact.  See the top of the bushes in panel 1 for another place it manifests.

I kinda figured it was too much a coincidence to JUST be Marten's heart, but I didn't even notice that.

Unless the fireflies are up late.

I'm sure it's his lung.

[hedgie]

I know imagine a rival coffee shop called the "Tannhäuser Gate"

It was lost, in time, like tears in the rain.

[Timemaster]

Yay, more robots!   

The spider-aPC is a nice runnig gag. I´m missing the toaster though.

"I make bread fun. But I wish I could toast a bun now and then."

May is quite mellow in this strip, but she is hardly the central person in this storyline. It´s ok if she only looks appalled, because that´s how she feels. So in my oppinion she is perfectly in character here. I´m pretty sure that she doesn´t hold back on commenting on the other aPCs´s in her unique way. But this strip is reserved for the itsy bitsy spider pun. 

I´m enjoing this week very much. It doesn´t always have to be drama. This is light and funny. And I think Jeph ist having a lot of fun too drawing these strips.

TM

[BenRG]

Now, this is an interesting wrinkle. It seems that some AIs find dealing with us fleshy types stressful enough that it causes psychological problems! I suppose that this is an indication of just how complex that their psyches are - it can even become flawed with sufficient stress!

I empathise with May here. There is nothing worse than having to go to something like this - supposedly for your benefit but you really don't want to be there. It's in character for Momo to volunteer for something like this. What is interesting is how much May is like Faye. Is she avoiding optical contact because she doesn't want to cooperate or is it because she's afraid of her fellow AIs' scorn if she tells them her story and how she feels about herself and where her life has gone?

Also, someone needs to give Gordon a hug. I hate spiders but he's big enough not to trigger a response and there's no doubt that he's a nice guy! It isn't his fault that some joker thought that a headcrab was a suitable template for a brain-scanning chassis!

[anahata]

They are described as sentient AIs, so they have feelings - it's almost inevitable that would include stress, fear and anxiety.

It's good to see the AIs back in the comic too. In the earlier days, Pintsize was a major character, Winslow was the straight man to Pintsize's gags, and Momo was philosophical about the political status of AIs. Then, apart from the arc in which May appeared on the scene, it's been mostly conventional human soap-opera for ages.

I can't help wondering whether all this autobiographical stuff from Momo is leading somewhere, or whether it's just a device for giving us a differently-lit overview of the main characters.

[hedgie]

Yay, more robots!   

The spider-aPC is a nice runnig gag. I´m missing the toaster though.

"I make bread fun. But I wish I could toast a bun now and then."

Much like Lister, I'm not a big fan of talking toasters

[Kugai]

Marvin could have done with a group like this

Or maybe they got fed up with him and sent him back to Magrathea?

[BenRG]

Yay, more robots!   

The spider-aPC is a nice runnig gag. I´m missing the toaster though.

"I make bread fun. But I wish I could toast a bun now and then."

Much like Lister, I'm not a big fan of talking toasters

Yet, ultimately, whose fault was it? Humanity created a fully-sentient being whose raison d'ętre was to make toast! To quote Talkie himself: "I toast, therefore I am"! Can we blame him for becoming fixated on his prime function?

Marvin could have done with a group like this

Or maybe they got fed up with him and sent him back to Magrathea?

Letting Marvin talk about his life and his views on life, the universe and everything is a bad idea in general, based on that Galactic Police ship's computer.

[NilsO]

Hi, Gordon! We have not seen you since #2334!

My guess is that this is the non-creepy group, because Pintsize is not there (May may be foul-mouthed, but not creepy). But as the toaster and Winslow are also missing, there may be other explanations. Perhaps "physically challenged" robots have their own support group? Also, the invisible airship and the whale are missing...

[ZoeB]

I can't help wondering whether all this autobiographical stuff from Momo is leading somewhere, or whether it's just a device for giving us a differently-lit overview of the main characters.

Or a proxy for a more controversial non-QC subject, perhaps.

I can easily imagine something like this being said about AIs:

However, if they and you think you can intimidate the human race into bowing down to your perverse agenda, you had better guess again. You cannot hide the reality of your condition and motives forever. WE are the human race and you are tolerated only to a point.

-- Steven Mark Pilling, Chair of the Harris County TX GOP

[Shjade]

Hi, Gordon! We have not seen you since #2334!

2430*