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Bradley, Chadley, and Thadley

Bradwick, Chadwick, and Thadwick

Braddeus, Chaddeus, and Thaddeus

Eric, you fool, the bros are not of House Bros, they are mere pretenders!

Purple Monkey Hamwasher for Space Dishes

[cesium133]

To be fair it shouldn't be hard to figure out that Curlz MT is a bad idea.

[Zebediah]

Seriously.  I don't want to go on recommending a font people hate so horribly.  Tell me something else - ANYTHING else - that meets universal-use conditions as well as comic sans does.

Arial.

[retrosteve]

Marker Felt
Curls MT

(Both would be hideous choices for their logo.)

Nobody seems to have noticed that Jeph's comment bottom right (Robot Ass Repair) is in Marker Felt today.
Also, he seems to have retconned the font jokes away! 

P.S. If you still have the old cartoon up on your screen, please keep a copy!

[Method of Madness]

(click to show/hide)

[pwhodges]

People have shared old versions of other comics that were up for far less long.

[JimC]

That's a shame - I guess Jeph thought it was too nerdish, perhaps?

I'm not entirely sure that referencing the classic features of an old school geocities web page is actually any less nerdish than the font references...

[Kugai]

At least Bubbles balances out Faye well.

[Zebediah]

Early comic!

If I had a hammer...

[TheEvilDog]

Early comic!

If I had a hammer...

I'd have broken my fingers by accident within 10 minutes.

[Method of Madness]

If I had a hammer...

I'd precipitate artificial muscle in the morning.

[Kugai]

Fancy equipment or not, there's always a place for a hammer or two

[TheEvilDog]

Unless its an antiques store.
Or a glass panel shop.
Or a museum of really fragile things.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

To Method of Madness:
Thanks for posting the font-joke original. For a while, I thought the comment forum had lost its mind. (usually this means there was an update I missed, but not this time)

---

To Morituri:
So how about Comic Neue?

[Method of Madness]

Hey, I figure it makes up for fucking up the thread title at first

[Tova]

I may be over-reading this, but it is clear what is going on here. Claire was once a passionate AI chassis repairer, and at the height of her career, was roped into working for the infamous CORPSE WITCH. Unfortunately for all concerned, Claire was too curious for her own good and got too close to the truth. As a result, CW had no choice but to wipe Claire's mind. All that is left is a residual but otherwise inexplicable fascination with the equipment. CW was initially concerned that the wipe was a little broader than intended (we've already seen that CW can be a little careless in her work), and as a result Claire doesn't even recall the purpose of a hammer. At first CW was concerned that this would ultimately reveal the truth of what happened, but she eventually figured that this would not in the future be looked into too seriously.

Claire will never again know her talent and enthusiasm for AI chassis repair, but at least now she can relive her glory days vicariously through the art of Bubbles and Faye, giving us all a glimmer of hope in these dark days of mind manipulation.

[Alexander Krizak]

Here is the reason Jeph changed Monday's joke. Long story short: he was worried he might have subconsciously plagiarized another comic.

[Tova]

https://twitter.com/jephjacques/status/864111006343208960

The comic in question.

I don't think that the hastily updated comic is very funny, but maybe that's an artifact of seeing the original replaced.

[retrosteve]

To Method of Madness:
Thanks for posting the font-joke original. For a while, I thought the comment forum had lost its mind. (usually this means there was an update I missed, but not this time)

My thanks too, Method -- but it's gone!  Has there been intervention?

[Clubman8]

Union Robotics... Reminds me of Cerulean Robotics, where a certain friend awaits you in New Vegas...

[BenRG]

Several questions compete for my attention after reading today's strip, the two most important ones being:

• Just what were the gruelling tasks Faye saved for Marten and Claire?
• Did Claire really not recogise a hammer?

I think I know the answers to both, at least the ones that satisfy me. 

To the first question, I think that the gruelling task is organising the work-space. Basically, they're going to spend hours moving things around based on Faye and Bubbles' competing ideas of what is 'most efficient'. I think that Bubbles would want things set in a progressive and precisely-planned arc, starting with diagnosing tools and then continuing onto stuff you would need for disassembly and reassembly with manufacturing equipment leading in from a different direction. Faye would just want everything scattered randomly around her current position in a circle roughly one arm-length in radius.

Did Claire really not recognise a hammer? I think that she picked up something that looked like a hammer and felt like a hammer and, surrounded as she was by unfamiliar engineering tools, she doubted her ability to guess what she was holding! I base this on the way she's holding the hammer - This is the posture of a woman who does not know if she's picked up an inert piece of metal and rubber or a bit of super-science that could explode with no obvious warning.

I'm guessing the door behind Bubbles and Claire leads to an office space of some sorts. I am suddenly seized by curiosity to see what might be in there. Could it be Jimbo's hermitage where he's remaining hidden away as he tries to think up ideas for his next six novels?


[edit]
Fixed some typos - I'm too much of a perfectionist to leave them! Help!

[Tova]

• Did Claire really not recogise a hammer?

*dancing* It's all about the jokes, 'bout the jokes!

[BenRG]

Yeah, I prefer to think up a plausible in-universe explanation that explains events whilst being at least somewhat funny but not requiring the character to suddenly become an imbecile just for the sake of a punchline.

[Tova]

Yes, I know. Maybe she just hasn't ever seen a ball-peen hammer before.

Honestly, though, it's a funny and there are probably at least three plausible explanations that don't involve her being an idiot. Maybe I'm weird, but I just laugh at the funny and don't really care which explanation is the "right" one (probably just whichever one you want).

[pwhodges]

Claire is not being an idiot by questioning something that looks familiar but in an unfamiliar setting; she is keeping her mind open to the possibility that not all is what it might seem.

[ElsaStegosaurus]

Yeah, basically what you said, Ben.  I just read it not as Claire going dumb, but her getting wrapped up in the super magical high tech of the of the other machines shown in panels 2 and 3.  Surely this cannot be just an ordinary hammer, this must be a special hammer that actually shoots lasers and dispenses robot candy.

[Tova]

I still think that my mind wipe theory is the best one. 

[pwhodges]

To Method of Madness:
Thanks for posting the font-joke original. For a while, I thought the comment forum had lost its mind. (usually this means there was an update I missed, but not this time)

My thanks too, Method -- but it's gone!  Has there been intervention?

That link was to Jeph's original, which he has either removed or blocked access to.  Here is a copy:

(click to show/hide)

[Akima]

You know, if the local AI cops become clients of Bubbles and Faye, they could sing: "Pow-er, pa-ssion, Union Robot Blues."

The new version of 3481 doesn't seem as funny to me, but then I'm a nerd. It's important to avoid plagiarism, even unconscious, unless you're a mathematician of course:

[Case]

• Did Claire really not recogise a hammer?

*dancing* It's all about the jokes, 'bout the jokes!

No hammer!

This is the posture of a woman who does not know if she's picked up an inert piece of metal and rubber or a bit of super-science that could explode with no obvious warning.

You mean the posture where she's holding the possibly-explody-thingy right in front of her eyes?



(TBH - the rest of your explanation/headcanon about "Claire's Hammer" made sense to me. Not this part, though)

[cesium133]

Early comic!

If I had a hammer...

I'd hammer in the morning, hammer in the evening, hammer at supper time.
If a hammer's in your tool chest, you can use a hammer anytime.

[St.Clair]

What's this?  What's this?

[shanejayell]

I think Claire might have just been being goofy. *shrug*

[Eversist]

Seriously.  I don't want to go on recommending a font people hate so horribly.  Tell me something else - ANYTHING else - that meets universal-use conditions as well as comic sans does.

Arial.

I would say Helvetica. Arial was the ripoff so that Microsoft wouldn't have to pay for the license.

As a graphic designer I appreciated the font joke, but also recognized how incredibly played-out it is to rag on Comic Sans/Papyrus (the addition of Marker Felt was nice and is usually mentioned in the same breath, but is even more niche considering it's an OSX native font). I don't mind the punchline change as a result.

(Sorry for being a day late, but I just noticed the update.)

[BenRG]

I think Claire might have just been being goofy. *shrug*

Nah, Claire isn't able to deliver a funny with a straight face. She always takes on this posture as if she's delivering a punchline on a sitcom and waiting for the laugh track to trigger.

This is the posture of a woman who does not know if she's picked up an inert piece of metal and rubber or a bit of super-science that could explode with no obvious warning.

You mean the posture where she's holding the possibly-explody-thingy right in front of her eyes?

(TBH - the rest of your explanation/headcanon about "Claire's Hammer" made sense to me. Not this part, though)

'm going to have to watch how I type metaphors, especially ones exaggerated for comedic effect, around you, aren't I?

[DSL]

... but if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

Such as the one on your thumb that's going to turn black and fall off in a few days.

[JimC]

... but if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

But its not true of course: if all you have is a hammer then *none* of your problems look even remotely like nails...

[Case]

... but if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

But its not true of course: if all you have is a hammer then *none* of your problems look even remotely like nails...

Methinks that argument is several toolboxes short of a workshop ...

[Tova]

I think Claire might have just been being goofy. *shrug*

Nah, Claire isn't able to deliver a funny with a straight face. She always takes on this posture as if she's delivering a punchline on a sitcom and waiting for the laugh track to trigger.

This is the posture of a woman who does not know if she's picked up an inert piece of metal and rubber or a bit of super-science that could explode with no obvious warning.

You mean the posture where she's holding the possibly-explody-thingy right in front of her eyes?

(TBH - the rest of your explanation/headcanon about "Claire's Hammer" made sense to me. Not this part, though)

'm going to have to watch how I type metaphors, especially ones exaggerated for comedic effect, around you, aren't I?

*dances* It's all about the jokes, 'bout the jokes! 

[blt]

I think Claire might have just been being goofy. *shrug*

Nah, Claire isn't able to deliver a funny with a straight face. She always takes on this posture as if she's delivering a punchline on a sitcom and waiting for the laugh track to trigger.

Possible counterpoint.

[Morituri]

Seriously.  I don't want to go on recommending a font people hate so horribly.  Tell me something else - ANYTHING else - that meets universal-use conditions as well as comic sans does.

Arial.

I would say Helvetica.

And I would say that neither of those looks anything like hand-lettering. 

I do, however, regularly recommend Helvetica if resemblance to hand-lettering isn't specifically required. 

A really horribly bad version of Arial (which appears about 20% smaller) was, at least up to last year, installed by default on a lot of Linux machines and makes anything in Arial nearly unreadable to some fraction of browsers.

[SubaruStephen]

• Did Claire really not recogise a hammer?

As someone with a lot of tools, this does happen occasionally.
Your average person is only familiar with the good 'ol claw hammer, so if you break out the slap hammer or a reopusse, planishing, or shrinking hammer, they won't recognize it.

An air hammer doesn't even look like a hammer, neither does a slide hammer.

[brasca]

I'm surprised they have all these tools.  It didn't look like Bubbles and Faye left with much.

[JRDelirio]

I'm surprised they have all these tools.  It didn't look like Bubbles and Faye left with much.

Creepybot Grey may have arranged some transfers from CW's accounts.

[DSL]

... but if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

But its not true of course: if all you have is a hammer then *none* of your problems look even remotely like nails...

That would depend on your approach to problem-solving ... either forging ahead with the knowledge and resources you have, whether strictly relevant or not -- or opting for inaction because conditions are not optimal.

[Is it cold in here?]

If the only tool you have is a hammer then you have so many problems it doesn't matter what they look like.

[DSL]

It's all in knowing where to hit.

[BenRG]

I'm surprised they have all these tools.  It didn't look like Bubbles and Faye left with much.

I got the impression that Jeremy sort of donated the entire workshop at the Skate Park to Bubbles free-of-charge.

Hey! He didn't need it anymore!

[BenRG]

Sorry about the double-post but... Hey!

New Comic Up!

I've got to say that I kind of like this strip for nostalgic reasons. It's straight out of the first 100 strips - basically a series of wacky wisecracks only loosely tied to anything resembling a plot. It also includes Faye the cheerful sadist and Marten being the easily-manipulable victim!

That aside, I find that I do like how Marten is trying to talk up Faye and get her to go past her anxieties. I also think that he deserves a creativity award for his unique variation on the old showbiz bidding of good wishes "Break a leg!"

[pendrake]

For comic #3483...

"Classic Marten and Faye banter!"

Man, I remember that classic QContent.  I could read (and did, back then) read 500 strips of it without ever getting bored.

All is missing is the underlying flirtations between the pair to fully capture the nostalgia, but (obviously) I can live without it here.

[anahata]

Why did Marten have to move a heavy locker full of tools when it's recently been demonstrated that Bubbles is much better at that sort of thing?

Yeah, I know - any excuse for some classic QC goofy dialogue...