Skin Horse

By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
Color by Pancha Diaz
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2013-11-05
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2013-11-05

by shaenon on November 5, 2013 at 12:01 am
Chapter: My Brother Sam Is Dead
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Discussion (55) ¬

  1. Dave Van Domelen
    November 5, 2013, 12:10 am | # | Reply

    Well, since there’s nowhere to go but up, I suppose the “promise” part is there.

  2. ChaoreX
    November 5, 2013, 12:11 am | # | Reply

    So this makes three plus one I’m training Mojo teleporters.

    • ChaoreX
      November 5, 2013, 12:12 am | # | Reply

      *in

    • Rob, Arbiter of Reality
      November 5, 2013, 5:26 am | # | Reply

      Mojoporters! Mojoportation!

  3. Jay Eff
    November 5, 2013, 12:12 am | # | Reply

    I wonder if David Willis know about Ginny’s ability….?

    • davidbreslin101
      November 5, 2013, 9:52 am | # | Reply

      Heh. If Artie and Tip tried to teach Walky this trick, he wouldn’t get why this wasn’t the desired result.

  4. John Campbell
    November 5, 2013, 12:14 am | # | Reply

    I wouldn’t have expected Artie to be able to recognize specific Taco Bells on sight. Maybe this is where he always ends up eating with his stepdad when he’s in town?

    No filename story bits this week?

    • ChaoreX
      November 5, 2013, 12:27 am | # | Reply

      He knows the shape of the area, and specific landmarks, so I bet he just figured out.

      • Belgarion
        November 5, 2013, 5:05 am | # | Reply

        It’s actually a local land mark. A shitty taco bell on some of the most beautiful beach front property in the state.

        • Virgil
          April 16, 2018, 6:50 pm | # | Reply

          To be fair, as taco bells go it’s got the best architecture and view by far. To be equally fair though, none of that changes the fact that it’s still a taco bell.

          Definitely go see it; chill on the beach and look at the interesting building and the view- then go towards the north and of town and grab lunch at El Grano de Oro.

  5. slipshodsliver
    November 5, 2013, 12:26 am | # | Reply

    So this is actually a thing. A thing that Tip and Artie apparently know about.

    So what is it and can Virginia reverse-engineer it?

    • ChaoreX
      November 5, 2013, 12:30 am | # | Reply

      And Tigerlily.

      Probably not, considering to function properly, it takes a human’s sense of confidence and their idea of romance, which may or may not include sex, but usually involves food or alcohol.

      • ChaoreX
        November 5, 2013, 12:34 am | # | Reply

        Further elaborating, the more confident in yourself and in your ability to warp yourself and those you wish to warp to a romantic setting, the closer to your ideal setting of choice you will reach(conceptually, not distance.)

      • codebracker
        November 5, 2013, 2:53 am | # | Reply

        Mojo TP is usefull, Tip once mojoed into a dress while wearing handcuffc.

      • maarvarq
        November 5, 2013, 5:13 am | # | Reply

        It probably runs off Rule of Funny anyway.

  6. Tetra Valent
    November 5, 2013, 12:35 am | # | Reply

    Hey, teleportation is hard. You really work up an appetite.

    • BarGamer
      November 5, 2013, 1:45 am | # | Reply

      Suddenly, that scene in Dogma with Linda Fiorentino meeting Alan Rickman’s character for the first time is 100x more hilarious.

  7. Norman
    November 5, 2013, 1:22 am | # | Reply

    If you’re going to teleport to a cheap imitation Mexican restaurant, why not teleport to a good cheap imitation Mexican restaurant? Aren’t there any Del Tacos in Pacifica ^_^?
    [checks interwebs]

    Hmm, apparently not. But that seems to be Pacifica State Beach behind them, across Cabrillo Highway. While I found other Taco Bells closer to Colma, that seems to be the nearest with a beach view ^_^

    • Exasperation
      November 5, 2013, 2:30 am | # | Reply

      It may not be the best cheap imitation Mexican restaurant, but it does have some of the best-engineered cheap imitation Mexican food, and as a perfectly sane scientist Virginia probably appreciates that.

      Seriously, the design of the crunchwrap is great; the external wrapping holds it together well enough that it doesn’t make a mess, while the internal structure of it simultaneously supports its shape and separates the ingredients which are better kept cold from the ingredients which are better kept hot. For some reason, people look at me strangely when I describe it as having “skin and a skeleton”, though.

      • theauldgrump
        November 5, 2013, 2:23 pm | # | Reply

        And Dr. Lee’s college years are not far enough behind her that she has forgotten when Taco Bell was salvation for a starving undergrad. Better Taco Bell than yet another bowl of Ramen.(I am guessing she had a scholarship – but the food had to come from someplace.)

        The Auld Grump

  8. Towering Barbarian
    November 5, 2013, 1:42 am | # | Reply

    I’m willing to bet Nick would have considered it romantic! ^_^

    Me? I’d’ve gone with McDonald’s or a random pizza joint. ^_~

  9. Astroturtle
    November 5, 2013, 1:55 am | # | Reply

    That expression on Ginny’s face in panel three. That is the expression of a woman about to become qualified to do mad science.

    • Dave Harmon
      November 5, 2013, 5:40 am | # | Reply

      Her expression in panel four, though, is nearly a punchline in its own right: “Should’ve stuck with the wine”. Or possibly she too realizes that this is Nick‘s idea of a romantic spot.

      • John
        November 5, 2013, 7:28 am | # | Reply

        Either that, or she just took a big bite of burrito.

        • soft
          November 5, 2013, 12:14 pm | # | Reply

          That’s my guess….

  10. Tetra Valent
    November 5, 2013, 2:13 am | # | Reply

    Maybe that’s where Ginny went on her first date. Romance and promise, both unfulfilled.

  11. Shaenon Garrity
    November 5, 2013, 2:19 am | # | Reply

    To be fair to Dr. Lee, that’s a pretty good Taco Bell.

  12. erinhalfelven
    November 5, 2013, 2:34 am | # | Reply

    It can’t be the Taco Bell in Pacifica unless it’s New Year’s Day. You can see the beach; it’s not foggy, rainy or hailing mud turtles. Seriously, the weather outside looks good so it can’t possibly be Pacifica because the weather there is good only once a year. Oh, maybe there’s a gale! An invisible gale! It could happen!

    • Frank Hightower
      November 5, 2013, 8:25 am | # | Reply

      Or maybe it’s new years day 😀

  13. Matt Mather
    November 5, 2013, 2:35 am | # | Reply

    NO. No, no, no, no, NOOOOOOO!!!! You fools! Do you really want to be within inside-of-a-restaurant distance of her when she pulls a Dave!?! Unless Mojo is definitively proven to be completely unrelated to Madness, Tip and Artie are seriously playing with fire here.
    Yes, let’s continually try to prove to the “I’m not Mad, I just understand Mad Science” chick that she has some kind of special talent. And even if it is “just Mojo” and not latent Madness, you’re creating someone who now can use Mojo and “duplicate” Mad Science devices. As far as we know she’s now the only character with TWO SUPER POWERS, even if each of them is supposedly weaker than Tip or the typical MadSci, she has more CONTROL.
    This is totally not going to have horrible consequences!!!!! AhahahahaAHAHAHahahahaHAHa!!!!1!

    • Rob, Arbiter of Reality
      November 5, 2013, 5:22 am | # | Reply

      I think I’ve said it before somewhere; attempts to control the manifestation of mad scientists (and by extension, their creations) should eventually lead to a meta-mad scientist immune from, able to hide from, or even capable of using such control to his or her own benefit. Survival of the fittest, evolution in action, and all that. Far better to leave the “weak” mads operating freely but tracked, and reserving a silent, nuclear option for the rare, truly “strong” mads.

      Imagine what could happen if Dr. Lee went critical while in an Anasigma facility! It was bad enough when Dave went critical in Madblood’s lair.

  14. shaenon
    November 5, 2013, 2:36 am | # | Reply

    To be fair to Dr. Lee, that’s a pretty great Taco Bell.

    • Katrika
      November 5, 2013, 9:19 am | # | Reply

      Nice view, too. I give it a 4/10 mojo score.

    • Tetra Valent
      November 5, 2013, 11:50 pm | # | Reply

      Now even Shaenon is getting tripped up by Comment Roulette!

  15. Rex Vivat
    November 5, 2013, 2:37 am | # | Reply

    Now I want a taco.

  16. Dave Harmon
    November 5, 2013, 6:39 am | # | Reply

    Notice that Dr. Lee’s ability to do that on the spot completely undercuts Tip’s prior “I’ll just stand here doing nothing”. Also, I’m wondering what Nick’s sensors were showing….

    • Paul
      November 5, 2013, 8:26 am | # | Reply

      That’s more or less my thought as well, ‘how the hell does this look to Nick?’ in several senses.

  17. eddurd
    November 5, 2013, 6:47 am | # | Reply

    (TUNE: “Standing Still”, Jewel)

    With a Gerbil-Man
    Just outside of San
    Francisco town …
    Neuroscientist
    Looking slightly pissed
    With an angry frown!
    Now she’s gonna blow her stack,
    Now she’s saying, “Take us back,
    Undo this spell!”
    Her looks go well
    With zinfandel …

     Do you know, though,
     You’ve got mojo?

      Now we’re at Taco Bell,
      On the beach along the bay!
      Yeah, we’re at Taco Bell
      With burritos on our tray!
      Yeah, we’re at Taco Bell
      In Pacifica, C-A!
      Ginny’s mojo
      Starts today …

  18. SteveJ
    November 5, 2013, 8:01 am | # | Reply

    Funny, I always thought that Taco Bell was the Mexican phone company.

    • Frank Hightower
      November 5, 2013, 8:28 am | # | Reply

      *rolls onto his back laughing*
      This comment just made my day!

  19. chh01
    November 5, 2013, 8:16 am | # | Reply

    When I was in university, the food of choice for electronics technicians was bar-supplied popcorn; for programmers, cold take-out Chinese. For English majors, Kraft Mac-n-cheese with the little ketchup packets you get at restaurants. It was primarily driven by a lack of money. For neuro-science majors, Taco Bell.

  20. Dr. Steve
    November 5, 2013, 8:22 am | # | Reply

    I love her red cheeks in panel two… she is a bit shy what her mojo might do… where it might go… evolving to a threesome?

    • maarvarq
      January 16, 2016, 8:49 am | # | Reply

      Thanks for spotting that! Virginia blushes – 20.

      • maarvarq
        January 11, 2021, 6:32 am | # | Reply

        Really 21. Gosh, they’re mounting up.

  21. freddiefreelance
    November 5, 2013, 8:58 am | # | Reply

    Ah! Now we know who’s been training all these Mojo Teleporters. It also explains why I keep ending up at Taco Bell…

  22. Treesong
    November 5, 2013, 9:09 am | # | Reply

    One of the best expressions evar. Poor Ginny. She did her best.

  23. xiombrag
    November 5, 2013, 11:56 am | # | Reply

    Look, part of Taco Bell’s demographic is drunk people. Dr. Lee is smarter than she seems; if she wanted to avoid the wine going to her head, she needed some food.

  24. commodorejohn
    November 5, 2013, 12:38 pm | # | Reply

    What she needs here is a Rocky-style training montage to develop her mojo powers. Then at the end of the story she can go up to all the fools who laughed at her and mojo their socks off…

  25. Kwaj
    November 5, 2013, 2:18 pm | # | Reply

    Perfect characterization for all three, in this strip.

  26. Shadowmehr
    November 5, 2013, 7:15 pm | # | Reply

    Potential mad science meltdown aside, this could be good for her.

    She has much as admitted that her major problem is lack of confidence and decisiveness. Being able to focus her mojo (or even the realizations that she has some) so as to move everyone around her about can help her develop both.

  27. Saberbeam
    November 6, 2013, 1:42 am | # | Reply

    See, I think Virginia’s being the sensible one here. Tip and Artie are introducing her to an ability that has the power to alter their perception of the flow of time, if not spacetime itself. She’s going with the proper approach and taking baby steps, teleporting them to a locale in the same general area.

    If she went full bore with the romantic idea, they might end up in an evil genuis’s axolotl pit with Tip and Artie swooping in to save her (or her saving them) in some far off, exotic land (Florida, for instance) 😀 Then they would have to count on the same mojo to get back. This way they’re nearby if anything goes wrong… Or maybe she just really likes Taco Bell (their chalupas are to die for).

  28. David DeLaney
    November 21, 2013, 2:46 am | # | Reply

    Dissolved in a helpless fit of giggles.

    (I like how she rolls up her sleeves in panel 3… Ritual details can add up to +5 to your roll!)

    –Dave, oh Ginny, of course you have a mojo, you’ve had it all along

  29. Ziggerung the Omnipatient
    December 31, 2013, 10:17 pm | # | Reply

    I’m guessing her first date was at a Taco Bell.

  30. Sarrin
    May 19, 2016, 4:47 pm | # | Reply

    Well, that taco bell *has* won a number of awards, I suppose…

  31. Knuckles
    January 25, 2022, 10:42 am | # | Reply

    So is this just a power that all human beings possess in this universe?

    Or is Dr. Lee just that attractive?

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