Skin Horse

By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
Color by Pancha Diaz
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2017-10-25
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2017-10-25

by shaenon on October 25, 2017 at 12:01 am
Chapter: Unsinkable
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Discussion (64) ¬

  1. Kaydrien Iceclaw
    October 25, 2017, 12:13 am | # | Reply

    Very thoughtful.

  2. Towering Barbarian
    October 25, 2017, 12:15 am | # | Reply

    I appreciate a man who can see all sides of an issue. ^_^

    • D. Walker
      October 25, 2017, 4:25 am | # | Reply

      Even if in doing so he is demonstrating that he considers you beneath him, unworthy of his time, and is basically just humoring you condescendingly?

      • Towering Barbarian
        October 25, 2017, 8:02 pm | # | Reply

        Is that your interpretation? o_O

        I would regard Sweetheart as the only possible target of such since she is the one rejecting the evidence that the others had worked and risked themselves to gather and truthfully if I were him I would be thinking it’s Sweetheart who is acting as though he is beneath her and unworthy of *her* time. @_@

        • awgiedawgie
          October 25, 2017, 8:48 pm | # | Reply

          Seems to me that they’re both condescending.

          Sweetheart is dismissing the possibility that he could be Mr. Green, simply because she knows him as the janitor. And she is either ignoring the kids’ research, or hasn’t even bothered to ask them why they think he is Mr. Green. But either way, she’s telling the kids they are wrong, and she doesn’t want his input either.

          Shelby, on the other hand, is basically saying, “Can you hurry it up? I have places to be, and this isn’t one of them.”

          Kinda rude of both of them.

          • Towering Barbarian
            October 25, 2017, 11:36 pm | #

            In fairness to Mr. Green though they *did* interrupt him while he was engaged in a journey and minding his own business. I’d argue that letting his kidnappers know that he did have places to be was not that far outside the teachings of what Emily Post would allow. >_>

  3. WuseMajor
    October 25, 2017, 12:40 am | # | Reply

    If he’s really hypercompetent, shouldn’t he have escaped by now? Or erased their memories or something?

    • ShenHibiki
      October 25, 2017, 1:30 am | # | Reply

      Surely. If that honestly and fully helped his plans.
      If it’s just the same for him in the end, woud be a waste of effort to do all that, see?

      • D. Walker
        October 25, 2017, 4:26 am | # | Reply

        So we might be dealing with a Xanatos Gambit?

        • Quin
          October 25, 2017, 9:59 am | # | Reply

          More like he knows their track record and wants to get to work on time.

    • Towering Barbarian
      October 25, 2017, 8:04 pm | # | Reply

      That’s kinda assuming that he has anything against them when they themselves are a part of the Conspiracy he belongs to. How many of your own co-workers would you do that to? o_O

      • This Guy I Know
        October 26, 2017, 1:03 am | # | Reply

        If I was Anasigma? All of them. Repeatedly.

  4. WuseMajor
    October 25, 2017, 12:41 am | # | Reply

    Also, have you double checked to make sure no-one else is in the car?

  5. Ritzbot
    October 25, 2017, 12:44 am | # | Reply

    Plus another color-based name.

    • void
      October 25, 2017, 12:45 am | # | Reply

      YES THAT!

    • Jay
      October 25, 2017, 1:26 am | # | Reply

      Also, today’s filename is “blue-madam” 🙂

    • Shadowmehr
      October 25, 2017, 7:59 pm | # | Reply

      It’s A color-based name, but not necessarily the right color-based name. “Mr. Green” favors aliases based on the counties of Oz, and as far as I can remember, there was no silver-colored area. Something very strange is going on, but I don’t think Shelby is the man behind the curtain.

  6. awgiedawgie
    October 25, 2017, 12:45 am | # | Reply

    On the other hand, his name is yet another colour. Part of a growing set… gold, green, violet, blue (ao), and now silver.

    • awgiedawgie
      October 25, 2017, 12:47 am | # | Reply

      I see someone beat me to the punch by a few seconds.

    • gyrre
      October 25, 2017, 2:40 am | # | Reply

      Not to mention the advice Peter Bishop gave for coming up with good aliases on Fringe. “If it’s related to your real name, it’ll be easier to remember.” and he lists Rook, Knight, King, Black, and White as examples.

      • gyrre
        October 25, 2017, 2:41 am | # | Reply

        *as examples for the surname Bishop.

        Stupid auto-rotate.

        • matt w
          October 25, 2017, 10:42 am | # | Reply

          Seems like that would be a good way to let someone figure out who you are. Like the vampires in Terry Pratchett who have the inescapable belief that if they spell their names backward no one will be able to figure out who they are. (A tribute to Carmilla, I guess?)

          This in turn reminds me of an Isaac Asimov mystery story where they’re trying to figure out who the spy is and the clue is that the codename wouldn’t have anything to do with the actual spy. This extended to “The codename is ‘Granite’ and this suspect is a married woman who didn’t change her name and those women are called Lucy Stoners, Stone, get it, so it can’t be her!” so yeah, it was total nonsense.

          • Daibhid C
            October 25, 2017, 3:55 pm | #

            Partially to Carmilla, perhaps, but I think mostly to this:
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alucard

      • BrokenEye, the True False Prophet
        October 26, 2017, 2:24 am | # | Reply

        Huh… I wonder if Harold Finch knows anybody in Fringe Division.

  7. Pygar
    October 25, 2017, 12:49 am | # | Reply

    He wears his watch on the right wrist! He’s a southpaw!
    Definitely something sinister about him…

    • awgiedawgie
      October 25, 2017, 12:51 am | # | Reply

      Not everyone who wears their watch on their right wrist is a southpaw. And not all southpaws wear their watch on their right wrist.

      • awgiedawgie
        October 25, 2017, 12:52 am | # | Reply

        Geez… say that three times fast!

      • Candace
        October 25, 2017, 1:36 am | # | Reply

        True. I used to wear my watch on my right wrist even though I am right-handed. Might have had something to do with my mom having been a southpaw, though.

        At some point I switched to wearing it on the left – not sure why. Maybe I kept banging it on stuff all the time when I wore it on the right. I’m kind of a klutz. Lol!

        • Nathan Wilson
          October 25, 2017, 1:45 am | # | Reply

          I’m a southpaw, always worn my watch on my left wrist, though now I know about this, maybe I should switch. It could help when taking a patient’s pulse.

          • Ogden Wernstrom
            October 25, 2017, 2:03 am | #

            It was hard to wean myself from being a southpaw, but after years of practice, now it feels perfectly natural to face east. There, that’s the least punchy joke you’ll read all week.

        • Ritzbot
          October 25, 2017, 1:05 pm | # | Reply

          Most wristwatches are designed to be worn on the left hand. The dial is on the right side for easy access for a right hand. And the button layout is very inconvenient on the right hand. I used to accidentally change the time or set the alarm while going through normal hand movements.

          • awgiedawgie
            October 25, 2017, 1:12 pm | #

            More to the point, most wristwatches are designed for right-handed people. Analog watches have the knob on the right side, which is inconvenient for lefties, even if they wear the watch on their left arm, or even take the watch off to wind it and set the time. Many of them lack the dexterity in their right hand to turn the knob easily.

          • Ritzbot
            October 27, 2017, 12:31 am | #

            Actually, that’s not more to the point. I was responding to Cadance’s statement about not knowing why they switched to wearing a watch on the left. It’s a matter of design.

            And many of us southpaws will wear watches on the left as well because we would prefer occasionally struggling with pressing the right button with our fingers over continuously pressing the wrong button with the back of our hands.

          • awgiedawgie
            October 27, 2017, 3:31 am | #

            Ah, but it is more to the point. You made the point that wristwatches are designed to be worn on the left hand. I quite literally added more to your point, explaining why they are designed that way. Statistically, there are a lot more right-handed people than there are lefties, so many things — wristwatches, microwave ovens, computer keyboards, even cell phones — are designed for right-handed users.

    • Jay
      October 25, 2017, 1:12 am | # | Reply

      I dunno, he seems very dexterous when getting out of sticky situations…

      • Pygar
        October 25, 2017, 4:01 am | # | Reply

        Finally, someone “got” it! Thanks! Poor Ogden thought *his* joke lacked punch…

        • BrokenEye, the True False Prophet
          October 26, 2017, 2:25 am | # | Reply

          Really gotta hand it to him, though.

    • Smithnik
      October 25, 2017, 12:50 pm | # | Reply

      Seems to me that you’d wear the watch on your dominant hand if it contains a weapons system, to facilitate aiming.

  8. Ogden Wernstrom
    October 25, 2017, 1:45 am | # | Reply

    Of course he’s ‘helping.’ The man is terrified and psychologically broken from the interrogation. He’ll say anything to get Sweetheart off his back.

    • BrokenEye, the True False Prophet
      October 26, 2017, 2:27 am | # | Reply

      Sounds like perfectly reasonable grounds for a multibillion-dollar lawsuit to me

  9. Chrisn
    October 25, 2017, 3:03 am | # | Reply

    Would “Silvers” maybe be not jusr a color name but also have some Oz reference, as in a Tin Man?

    • Pygar
      October 25, 2017, 4:05 am | # | Reply

      Childhood ended with the disco era, for me… but IIRC weren’t the slippers in the book, silver? I suspect a Shel Silverstein influence, too…

      • awgiedawgie
        October 25, 2017, 4:09 am | # | Reply

        Indeed you do recall correctly. The slippers were silver.

    • Edward A Gedeon
      October 25, 2017, 10:40 pm | # | Reply

      I thought it was a reference to Shel Silverstein.

      • BrokenEye, the True False Prophet
        October 26, 2017, 2:28 am | # | Reply

        Which is precisely what he wanted you to think

  10. mrinku
    October 25, 2017, 3:45 am | # | Reply

    Tin Man is Nick.

  11. mrinku
    October 25, 2017, 3:46 am | # | Reply

    If anything, “Mr Green” would be the Wizard.

    Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

    • Guest Whol
      October 25, 2017, 5:26 am | # | Reply

      Oh you’re absolutely right! As we all know, emerald is green and the city in which the wizard resides is Emerald City!

    • Robert Nowall
      October 25, 2017, 9:28 am | # | Reply

      Well, silver is another color, too.

  12. Robert Nowall
    October 25, 2017, 9:28 am | # | Reply

    If Shelby is the guy who restocks the toilet paper when the roll is empty, then he’s got the ultimate power.

    • Candace
      October 26, 2017, 1:08 am | # | Reply

      This is true. Never piss off your janitor.

  13. bergerjacques
    October 25, 2017, 9:57 am | # | Reply

    Don’t know why I find the back of Tip’s head in panel 1 so attention getting, other than its front and center. And I can’t recall seeing that view of him before, though I’m sure there are plenty of examples..

    • Rick
      October 25, 2017, 12:10 pm | # | Reply

      Probably it’s the first time we get to see him at this angle after his new haircut

  14. Parse The Potatoes
    October 25, 2017, 10:02 am | # | Reply

    Super Bonus Unfounded Wild Conspiracy Time!
    Mr. Green (and Anasigma as a whole) is actually a cover created by Shelby in order to make maintenance at Annex One easier. See, the government was accepting bids for something (maybe remodelling the Office of Giant Leaking Containers?), and Shelby thought the easiest way to keep the place clean was to win that contract. Everything else – Second Gate, mutant axolotls, etc? All done with the singular purpose in mind of keeping Annex One clean.

    (That Annex One got closed down just shows that Shelby is better at companies and covers than he was at cleaning.)

    This has been your Super Bonus Unfounded Wild Conspiracy Time! Join us next time, when we explain the secret causal link between Tip’s dresses and Artie’s shapechanging abilities!

    • Candace
      October 26, 2017, 1:12 am | # | Reply

      Well, we have previously seen body parts of someone who at least was masquerading as Mr. Green, although that doesn’t necessarily mean he really was Mr. Green. Perhaps there *is* no Mr. Green. Or perhaps Mr. Green is a title, rather than an individual.

      • BrokenEye, the True False Prophet
        October 26, 2017, 2:53 am | # | Reply

        Just like the Dalai Lama, or the ghost of Anakin Skywalker

  15. MadTinkerer
    October 25, 2017, 10:34 am | # | Reply

    Well it almost slipped by me, but I caught it in time. Come on, guys. Shelby Silvers isn’t Mr. Green. Think about it. Think about every big reveal in Skin Horse. Shelby Silvers clearly wants everyone to think he’s Mr. Green and you’re all falling for it. But he just made a crucial mistake: He just TOLD US who Mr. Green is.

    Come on, think about it: Mr. Green is OBVIOUSLY…

    The flying car.

    Not someone in the car, but the car itself. Just like Nick.

    You’re welcome.

    • awgiedawgie
      October 25, 2017, 1:14 pm | # | Reply

      Thanks, but someone else already mentioned that theory on Monday.

      • madtinkerer
        October 25, 2017, 6:25 pm | # | Reply

        Ah, I missed it. Glad someone agrees with me and has a time machine. 🙂

  16. Sheik
    October 25, 2017, 3:29 pm | # | Reply

    My conspiracy theory runs like this: Mr. Green has passed on, leaving his immediate subordinates (the Color Guard) to carry on. Members of the Color Guard always refer to the other members, in singular or collective, as Mr. Green, thus maintaining the illusion that there is still a “Mr. Green”.
    The ironic thing is this organization is so steeped in secrecy none of the Color Guard suspects the actual Mr. Green is no longer there.

    • Robert Nowall
      October 25, 2017, 4:03 pm | # | Reply

      Well, there was Project Silvereye on The Big Board—but I thought that was AG-I, the gang of morally-superior idiot superheroes, rather than Shelby Silver. (By the way, Shelby never did explain what he was doing up at the safe house.)

  17. Bruce A Munro
    October 25, 2017, 5:15 pm | # | Reply

    Not sure what they can do if he’s uncooperative – forcing answers out of him is probably off the table [1], and Sweetheart will probably freak out if he points out that legally they’re taking part in a kidnapping. (Is there some way for them to get access to Whimsy’s mind control tech?)

    [1] Unity would probably cheerfully volunteer to beat answers (and snot) out of him, but I don’t think Tip, Sweetheart, or the kids would approve it.

    • awgiedawgie
      October 25, 2017, 7:25 pm | # | Reply

      There may be a way to access Whimsy’s software, even though Whimsy sold it to A-Sig. There’s still the copy that Aimee is guarding inside the VR server that they gave to Baron Mistycorn when he left. And Lovelace would still have a backup copy, even though she “gave” it back to Whimsy.

      And really, mind control is probably the only way they’d get any answers out of him. He is undoubtedly a master of misleading and mendacity, so it would be fairly easy for him to feign incompetence.

  18. Knuckles
    February 4, 2022, 1:19 pm | # | Reply

    Well when your cover is blown you might as well clear up everything you can.

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