Topic: WCDT Strips 3266 to 3270 (18th to 22nd July 2016) (Read 28863 times)

BenRG · « **on:** 17 Jul 2016, 10:36 »

From what Jeph has been saying on his Twitter feed, there's a good chance that we'll be getting some guest or filler strips some time soon until he gets back from vacation. I have a feeling that this will start happening this week but that's mostly a guess.

Anyway, we've been seeing a lot less of Marten and his misadventures of late, mostly due to the focus on Brun, Faye and Bubbles. So, why not try to reinvigorate his character in some way? But how to do so...? I think that I'm going for option 2 myself, although options 1 and 3 could profitably be part of it. All three would feed into Marten's strengths and the things that would make him happy. I would argue, at the very end, it was Marten's quest for happiness and meaning that lie at the core of his character arc.

What do you think?

brasca · « **Reply #1 on:** 17 Jul 2016, 11:55 »

I went with option 1 since I'm a sucker for a happy ending.

wlewisiii · « **Reply #2 on:** 17 Jul 2016, 13:10 »

I picked one. But I like a combo of 1 & 3-happily married rock stars.

Zebediah · « **Reply #3 on:** 17 Jul 2016, 13:43 »

Marten Reed, action hero. Specifically post-apocalyptic sort-of-antihero, because that's how I roll.

Only "sort of" an antihero because it's Marten, after all.

comicalArchitect · « **Reply #4 on:** 17 Jul 2016, 13:49 »

Quote from: wlewisiii on 17 Jul 2016, 13:10

I picked one. But I like a combo of 1 & 3-happily married rock stars.

It would be a little hard for both to really live their dreams, though. Marten's requires moving around a lot, and Claire's requires staying put.

Zastie · « **Reply #5 on:** 17 Jul 2016, 14:59 »

#2 actually seems the most realistic.. well, maybe if it wasn't "famous," but just that it kicks things off a bit more. Maybe he has an article he writes for the school paper or something, gets to organize events, gets noticed by some bigger company, etc.

I really would like to see a bit more Marten. Maybe it's just because I only recently (?) started the comic, so all the stuff before then was read and happened a lot faster from my perspective, and so I wanna see more stuff happening for him when in reality this might be normal.

jheartney · « **Reply #6 on:** 17 Jul 2016, 15:18 »

The reason not much is happening with Marten is he's satisfied with work, and is in a blissful relationship, which are utterly boring things to tell stories about. If you want Marten stories, he either has to start having trouble with Claire, or trouble with life.

Seriously, though, the reason we've had so much Bubbles/Faye and Clinton/Brun/Renee is these are characters with issues and edges. The latter group seems especially ripe for eventful days ahead; Renee is a walking ball of suspicion, Brun is the enigmatic fulcrum, and Clinton is executing a character arc where he moves from overbearing to something else.

Kugai · « **Reply #7 on:** 17 Jul 2016, 15:22 »

President Marten Reed

chaospersonified · « **Reply #8 on:** 17 Jul 2016, 19:21 »

I want all of these things to happen.

pwhodges · « **Reply #9 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 01:23 »

Nice to see Tai, even if only a guest Tai... It's been a while.

ElfDestruct · « **Reply #10 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 01:26 »

Justice Rains from Above!

...needs to be the title of this guest strip if it isn't already, and Faye's sure got the Zarya look down pat right now.

BenRG · « **Reply #11 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 01:29 »

FWIW, this is more-or-less how I have always imagined what Bubbles POV looks like! Meanwhile, I think that Faye should get on the 'phone to the Chinese ambassador to apologise for the volleyball that's about to burst out of the ground somewhere in his country!

Gyrre · « **Reply #12 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 03:10 »

1's good, but being a superhero or a congressman could be hilarious. Pintsize could make a great distraction for the obstructionists on the right and left, while Marten and the others actually get things done.

Said distraction would presumably be blackmail photos of them hanging out with Pintsize and the antics they get up to.

brasca · « **Reply #13 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 04:13 »

Quote from: BenRG on 18 Jul 2016, 01:29

FWIW, this is more-or-less how I have always imagined what Bubbles POV looks like!

Standard Terminator vision.

Nepiophage · « **Reply #14 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 05:14 »

Just saying that the Patreon post on Saturday is not today's strip -- It's the start of a new arc so I hope it gets posted after the guest week!

Akima · « **Reply #15 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 06:46 »

Quote from: BenRG on 18 Jul 2016, 01:29

FWIW, this is more-or-less how I have always imagined what Bubbles POV looks like! Meanwhile, I think that Faye should get on the 'phone to the Chinese ambassador to apologise for the volleyball that's about to burst out of the ground somewhere in his country!

I don't know where this weird idea came from that if you dug down in the USA you'd come up in China. The antipodes of most of country are at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. If the girls are on holiday on Hawaii, it will be the ambassador for Botswana to whom Faye would have to apologise.

oddtail · « **Reply #16 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 06:50 »

Quote from: Akima on 18 Jul 2016, 06:46

Quote from: BenRG on 18 Jul 2016, 01:29
FWIW, this is more-or-less how I have always imagined what Bubbles POV looks like! Meanwhile, I think that Faye should get on the 'phone to the Chinese ambassador to apologise for the volleyball that's about to burst out of the ground somewhere in his country!
I don't know where this weird idea came from that if you dug down in the USA you'd come up in China. The antipodes of most of country are at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. If the girls are on holiday on Hawaii, it will be the ambassador for Botswana to whom Faye would have to apologise.

I think it's just an established trope in fiction that is meant to be silly - China being a very large and very faraway country, which leads to it ending up being used as a shortcut for "you end up in a completely different place".

"It will go through and end up in the middle of an ocean" doesn't have the same ring to it.

I've seen the same trope in European stories/media, too. So it's not really about geometric accuracy, I guess. Maybe the tunnel is at an angle

It's not like the idea of something going through the entire planet and emerging unscathed on another side of it is realistic in itself. What with the hot, semi-liquid mantle and even hotter planet core...

Method of Madness · « **Reply #17 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 07:03 »

Quote from: Nepiophage on 18 Jul 2016, 05:14

Just saying that the Patreon post on Saturday is not today's strip -- It's the start of a new arc so I hope it gets posted after the guest week!

Jeph commented that it will be. We're a week ahead! (maniacal laugh)

Also, discussing the guest comic without violating the shipping rule seems...difficult.

BenRG · « **Reply #18 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 07:34 »

Quote from: Method of Madness on 18 Jul 2016, 07:03

Also, discussing the guest comic without violating the shipping rule seems...difficult.

FWIW, I think that the stress Dora is under is making her regress to her high school years, at which time 'girfriend' and 'boyfriend' were slurs to use to describe those who help the unpopular or unathletic to win anyway.

Mordhaus · « **Reply #19 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 07:40 »

That ball made it nowhere near to China. That ball is dead.

Also, we needed a Top Gun high five low five.

WareWolf · « **Reply #20 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 09:53 »

Quote from: oddtail on 18 Jul 2016, 06:50

It's not like the idea of something going through the entire planet and emerging unscathed on another side of it is realistic in itself. What with the hot, semi-liquid mantle and even hotter planet core...

I think it was Gregory Benford who used this situation in an SF story once. Super-powerful aliens had used a "cosmic string" to cut a hole through the center of a planet and the protagonist either fell or was pushed in. I forget how it ended, but he spent some time yo-yoing back and forth through the center.

WareWolf · « **Reply #21 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 09:56 »

Quote from: jheartney on 17 Jul 2016, 15:18

The reason not much is happening with Marten is he's satisfied with work, and is in a blissful relationship, which are utterly boring things to tell stories about. If you want Marten stories, he either has to start having trouble with Claire, or trouble with life.

Seriously, though, the reason we've had so much Bubbles/Faye and Clinton/Brun/Renee is these are characters with issues and edges. The latter group seems especially ripe for eventful days ahead; Renee is a walking ball of suspicion, Brun is the enigmatic fulcrum, and Clinton is executing a character arc where he moves from overbearing to something else.

I have to say, I'm not really taking any kind of shine to Brun or Renee. I want more Faye/Bubbles, with extra Hanners, please.

Oenone · « **Reply #22 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 11:09 »

Quote from: WareWolf on 18 Jul 2016, 09:53

Quote from: oddtail on 18 Jul 2016, 06:50
It's not like the idea of something going through the entire planet and emerging unscathed on another side of it is realistic in itself. What with the hot, semi-liquid mantle and even hotter planet core...

I think it was Gregory Benford who used this situation in an SF story once. Super-powerful aliens had used a "cosmic string" to cut a hole through the center of a planet and the protagonist either fell or was pushed in. I forget how it ended, but he spent some time yo-yoing back and forth through the center.

If you're into it, Cixin Liu's Three Body Problem talks about super tiny tiny quantum computers doing that, primarily as a precursor to an alien invasion.

It's honestly a genre changer and I really recommend it.

KOK · « **Reply #23 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 12:45 »

Quote from: Akima on 18 Jul 2016, 06:46

I don't know where this weird idea came from that if you dug down in the USA you'd come up in China. The antipodes of most of country are at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. If the girls are on holiday on Hawaii, it will be the ambassador for Botswana to whom Faye would have to apologise.

This is not restricted to the US. Here in Denmark digging through the earth to China is also used as a figure of speach. Actually you would need to start in Argentina to end up in China. From here it would be in the vicinity of Solomon Islands.

Mr_Rose · « **Reply #24 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 13:16 »

Bugs bunny started it. Or at least popularised it.

Kugai · « **Reply #25 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 13:19 »

And he always missed that left turn at Albuquerque.

The Spike from hell.

Skewbrow · « **Reply #26 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 13:44 »

Antipodes. My head sticks out of the ocean about 1000 km South East from New Zealand.

Method of Madness · « **Reply #27 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 14:49 »

I'd be southwest of Perth (by quite a bit, in the Indian Ocean).

WareWolf · « **Reply #28 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 19:50 »

Quote from: Skewbrow on 18 Jul 2016, 13:44

Antipodes. My head sticks out of the ocean about 1000 km South East from New Zealand.

LOL. Love this.

Reporting from the ocean west of Australia.

WareWolf · « **Reply #29 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 19:52 »

Quote from: Oenone on 18 Jul 2016, 11:09

Quote from: WareWolf on 18 Jul 2016, 09:53
Quote from: oddtail on 18 Jul 2016, 06:50
It's not like the idea of something going through the entire planet and emerging unscathed on another side of it is realistic in itself. What with the hot, semi-liquid mantle and even hotter planet core...

I think it was Gregory Benford who used this situation in an SF story once. Super-powerful aliens had used a "cosmic string" to cut a hole through the center of a planet and the protagonist either fell or was pushed in. I forget how it ended, but he spent some time yo-yoing back and forth through the center.

If you're into it, Cixin Liu's Three Body Problem talks about super tiny tiny quantum computers doing that, primarily as a precursor to an alien invasion.

It's honestly a genre changer and I really recommend it.

I have this in the TBR Queue. I'll move it up.

Penquin47 · « **Reply #30 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 20:50 »

I'm in the Indian Ocean about equidistant from Africa, India, and Australia.

neurocase · « **Reply #31 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 21:09 »

It seems even in guest comics that we can't escape Faye and Bubbles. I'm willing to bet at least two of the upcoming guest strips feature Brun, too. Ah well.

BenRG · « **Reply #32 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 23:13 »

New Comic!

Okay, now it seems to make sense: Punchbot is actually an overgrown Pop-Up Pirate!

~~blue5~~ · « **Reply #33 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 01:49 »

Todays comic was hilarious! Bubbles gotta be kidding, seeing her withna pirate hook would be super funny. This strip reminds me of early QC

USS Martenclaire · « **Reply #34 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 01:54 »

....I...I googled duck penis. D:

brasca · « **Reply #35 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 03:29 »

Quote from: BenRG on 18 Jul 2016, 23:13

New Comic!

Okay, now it seems to make sense: Punchbot is actually an overgrown Pop-Up Pirate!

Looks more like a Rock 'Em Sock "Em Robot to me.

JimC · « **Reply #36 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 03:34 »

Quote from: Akima on 18 Jul 2016, 06:46

I don't know where this weird idea came from that if you dug down in the USA you'd come up in China

Why would said hole would be geometrically straight precisely through the centre? Assuming its just "somewhere vaguely the other side" then China is by size alone one of the more likely land destinations.

(fixed the quote tag -Method)

neurocase · « **Reply #37 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 03:44 »

Quote from: JimC on 19 Jul 2016, 03:34

Quote from: Akima on 18 Jul 2016, 06:46
I don't know where this weird idea came from that if you dug down in the USA you'd come up in China
Why would said hole would be geometrically straight precisely through the centre? Assuming its just "somewhere vaguely the other side" then China is by size alone one of the more likely land destinations.

Strangely, I have friends in Australia who said they grew up with the same premise; that if one dug deep enough, they'd come out in China.

(fixed the quote tag -Method)

BenRG · « **Reply #38 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 04:09 »

The Discworld books address this phenomenon. The Agataen Empire (their China equivalent) is situated on the Counterweight Continent, radially on the opposite side of the disc from most of the other locations in the stories.

Tova · « **Reply #39 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 13:56 »

Method, why are you replying to posts by editing them? And what is a "quote tag?"

Stoutfellow · « **Reply #40 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 14:01 »

Quote from: BenRG on 19 Jul 2016, 04:09

The Discworld books address this phenomenon. The Agataen Empire (their China equivalent) is situated on the Counterweight Continent, radially on the opposite side of the disc from most of the other locations in the stories.

But if you dig straight down all the way on the Discworld, you'll wind up on top of an elephant (if you don't fall through to the turtle).

Method of Madness · « **Reply #41 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 14:42 »

Quote from: Tova on 19 Jul 2016, 13:56

Method, why are you replying to posts by editing them? And what is a "quote tag?"

Code: [Select]

[/quote]Both of those posts had that in the wrong place so the quotes were messed up and you couldn't tell who said what. I fixed it. The reason I mentioned that I fixed it is because it showed that I edited it, and I didn't want anyone to think that I edited actual content. All I did was delete an extra [ /quote].

Kugai · « **Reply #42 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 14:44 »

He really needs Superglue for that neck of his

Tova · « **Reply #43 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 16:44 »

Quote from: Method of Madness on 19 Jul 2016, 14:42

Quote from: Tova on 19 Jul 2016, 13:56
Method, why are you replying to posts by editing them? And what is a "quote tag?"
Code: [Select]
[/quote]Both of those posts had that in the wrong place so the quotes were messed up and you couldn't tell who said what. I fixed it. The reason I mentioned that I fixed it is because it showed that I edited it, and I didn't want anyone to think that I edited actual content. All I did was delete an extra [ /quote].

Okay, thanks for the clarification. I was confused because you'd originally written something like "Read the quote tag" or "Check the quote tag" or something like that, which didn't make it clear that you'd done anything at all except add that remark. "Fixed the quote tag" I think I would have figured out.

Case · « **Reply #44 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 18:18 »

Quote from: USS Martenclaire on 19 Jul 2016, 01:54

....I...I googled duck penis. D:

chaospersonified · « **Reply #45 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 21:36 »

Quote from: BenRG on 19 Jul 2016, 04:09

The Discworld books address this phenomenon. The Agataen Empire (their China equivalent) is situated on the Counterweight Continent, radially on the opposite side of the disc from most of the other locations in the stories.

You get a like purely for mentioning Discworld, to which I am a newcomer.

In other news, I forgot to actually vote until today, and of course, I voted for guest strip shenanigans. Because that is, so far, what we're getting.

KOK · « **Reply #46 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 21:41 »

Yesterday's strip gives new meaning to "duck attack survivor".

BenRG · « **Reply #47 on:** 20 Jul 2016, 02:02 »

New Comic!

I don't know about anyone else. However, IMO at least, Dale does a very good job at being the 'creepy guy' and has more or less from his first appearance. The funny part of this is, of course, he does this whilst trying to be nice and normal. There is a lesson of some kind here...

~~blue5~~ · « **Reply #48 on:** 20 Jul 2016, 02:47 »

May has the "any guy talking to her might be a creep" syndrome. The only medication known to help is to completely ignore her. Like a puppy she craves attention.

Dale.....dem glasses. I half expected his own eyes to be glowing by now.

brasca · « **Reply #49 on:** 20 Jul 2016, 04:02 »

May is surly enough as it is so I doubt being the target of Pokemon Go players is going to improve her mood.

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Poll

What Would You Like to See Happen to Marten?

Author Topic: WCDT Strips 3266 to 3270 (18th to 22nd July 2016) (Read 28863 times)