Skin Horse

By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
Color by Pancha Diaz
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2020-06-06
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2020-06-06

by shaenon on June 6, 2020 at 12:01 am
Chapter: The Dreadful Future
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Discussion (43) ¬

  1. memnarch
    June 6, 2020, 12:10 am | # | Reply

    Easy! Put one slice of bread on top of an elephant, and get it to step on another slice!

    • Shadowmehr
      June 6, 2020, 10:34 am | # | Reply

      No, the first step is to spread the mustard on top of the elephant, and then stick the cheese to it’s belly, then you get the bread involved.

    • Robert Nowall
      June 6, 2020, 11:27 am | # | Reply

      Oddly enough (or maybe not so oddly), this recipe popped up when I Googled the question.

      https://canadianfamily.ca/food/cute-lunch-idea-easy-elephant-sandwich/

      Even more (or less) oddly, it’s Canadian.

      • Sheik
        June 6, 2020, 11:37 am | # | Reply

        Those long winter nights kinda do things to people.

      • TheYsabet
        June 6, 2020, 7:57 pm | # | Reply

        Before I read the recipe, I was *sure* Spam would be involved in there somewhere… and then I saw that it involved a “creatively placed banana” and hoped like crazy that Spam did NOT play a part.

    • davidbreslin101
      June 6, 2020, 5:49 pm | # | Reply

      No, you slice the elephant in two vertically, place your choice of fillings on the left half, then put the right half on top. (You may need to secure it with a toothpick.)

  2. Towering Barbarian
    June 6, 2020, 12:23 am | # | Reply

    Well, hey! As long as he’s willing to answer multiple questions why not just backup and ask them in order and then see how many more bonus questions he’d be willing to answer? ^_^

  3. David B Huber
    June 6, 2020, 1:05 am | # | Reply

    I find this strangely comforting inasmuch it confirms Unity has a soul…

  4. sweetuncleLESLIE
    June 6, 2020, 1:25 am | # | Reply

    ‘Half a mind’. He likes her. But not enough for COMMITMENT like really FOREVER.

    And Dave, I completely blew past ‘has a soul’…..well, of course. Hialeah!

    • David B Huber
      June 6, 2020, 7:29 am | # | Reply

      I have always felt Unity has a soul, but it’s nice to have official confirmation 🙂

      • Robert Nowall
        June 6, 2020, 3:51 pm | # | Reply

        Can’t remember if Unity has soul. Has she ever sung?

        • s854
          June 6, 2020, 7:49 pm | # | Reply

          Robert Nowall: Unity has sung. I can’t remember who she was singing at, or why, but it was something about “Tiny Tim”.

          It’s hard to assess the quality of her performance in print, though.

  5. sweetuncleLESLIE
    June 6, 2020, 1:27 am | # | Reply

    And Sweetheart’s expressions! Genius!

  6. Fan of Most Everything
    June 6, 2020, 6:53 am | # | Reply

    Hmm. Papa Legba’s initial response seems to imply those questions have different answers. Whatever’s attacking the undead may have nothing to do with the dreamspeaker.

    • David B Huber
      June 6, 2020, 7:26 am | # | Reply

      Agreed!

    • Doug Relyea
      June 6, 2020, 8:21 am | # | Reply

      Second

    • kiralamouse
      June 6, 2020, 10:51 am | # | Reply

      The dreamspeaker might be a third party, for that matter: the two questions refer to the “threat” and the attacker only, not “threatener”.

    • jdreyfuss
      June 7, 2020, 12:22 pm | # | Reply

      It would certainly seem that way.

      • jdreyfuss
        June 7, 2020, 12:27 pm | # | Reply

        Specifically what he’s implying is that whatever has been attacking the zombies is not the threat. Loa are more practical than full fledged deities, but don’t discount the possibility that he has a different definition of “threat” than Sweetheart.

  7. Chnapy
    June 6, 2020, 7:15 am | # | Reply

    Now admittedly I dunno how it is in haïtian french or Louisiana french, but in french french at least “ma chienne” would carry much the same implications as “my bitch” would in English, and as such probably wouldn’t be used here, even though it is technically the proper term.

    Apologies if this isn’t an issue in whichever French Papa Legba/Remy is speaking, or if this was done intentionally (I imagine Papa Legba might a bit old-fashioned in his mannerisms, after all)

    • jarakin
      June 6, 2020, 9:35 am | # | Reply

      The longer they keep him from getting his earthly coffee the less polite he’s going to get.

    • Teresa Wells
      June 6, 2020, 10:29 am | # | Reply

      I’m not a Cajun French speaker, but on translation lists on sites provided by people who do know the language, “la chienne” (and presumably “ma chienne” as well) “can be taken wrong”, so it looks like it’s an issue with Louisiana French and not only French-French. I don’t think he’s trying to be rude, I think he’s trying to be nice, if patronizing, so yeah, I don’t think he means it that way. Not sure if it’s deliberately old-fashioned on the part of Shaenon and Jeff or whether it’s unintentionally crude.

    • mickeyjf
      June 6, 2020, 12:48 pm | # | Reply

      Oh, for heaven’s sake. He is speaking to an actual chienne, not a femme. There is no reason for anyone to take it offensively, any more than when the 68 year old waitress at the diner calls you “dearie”. Sweetheart clearly doesn’t.

  8. s854
    June 6, 2020, 7:20 am | # | Reply

    I feel as though Papa Legba’s last comment is missing a “to Lovetron”. I’m not expecting this encounter to bring the sort of help the SH team might like, anyway.

  9. Robert Nowall
    June 6, 2020, 7:54 am | # | Reply

    Look at how Sweetheart’s ears went down when Papa Legba said that. The idea upset her.

    • David B Huber
      June 6, 2020, 7:00 pm | # | Reply

      Justifiably so! If anyone could murder Unity, it would be Papa Legba. After all, Unity is actually an artificial lifeform, not a zombie (despite the fact she has chosen to identify with the Undead community).

  10. Shadowmehr
    June 6, 2020, 10:37 am | # | Reply

    Agreed. That is a nice detail to add to the story.

  11. casimir
    June 6, 2020, 10:50 am | # | Reply

    The question is: Can you be murdered if you’re already dead?

    • Sheik
      June 6, 2020, 11:45 am | # | Reply

      Good point.
      Just how do you render the living dead suitable for transit to the next world?
      It seems they are somehow stuck in the living world, apparently with no recourse to moving on.

    • Robert Nowall
      June 6, 2020, 11:46 am | # | Reply

      Some of the guys in St. Charlie and Colma managed to be killed deader.

    • awgiedawgie
      June 6, 2020, 1:44 pm | # | Reply

      It would seem, to me at least, that for a zombie to continue “living”, they would need at least part of a brain that is still being kept at least partly alive. I mean, they still are able to think rationally – some more rationally than others. And we know that Unity has a brain, and that it’s the only part of her that is technically alive. Her method of zombification is different from regular zombies, but I would think that principle is still the same for both.

      So in order to kill the undead, you’d have to destroy the brain.

      • Robert Nowall
        June 6, 2020, 1:49 pm | # | Reply

        Not sure of that. Not sure a brain is necessary for what Unity is. Remember her adventures while training to be a notary? Unity possessed several animals, but always seemed to be, well, Unity, whatever animal she was.

        It might be a brain is necessary for Unity to relate to others. She bound birds to her will with her zombie goop…and, also, there’s what we’ve been calling the Abomination that just wandered off…

        • awgiedawgie
          June 6, 2020, 2:30 pm | # | Reply

          All those animals that Unity possessed? They had brains. So you’re not really disproving my point with that.

          And it has been stated a long time ago that Unity’s brain is the only part of her that is alive. What has never been stated is how long Unity’s nanogoop can survive without a brain. So it’ll be interesting to see what has happened to the Abomination.

          • Robert Nowall
            June 6, 2020, 3:50 pm | #

            One would assume the brain was within the head that survived the Battle of Unity and Trinity. But is it necessary? In http://skin-horse.com/comic/todays-comic-797/ the goop seems to be thinking for itself.

            (Feel the need to say this just applies to Unity, not the various other forms of zombie that wander in and out from time to time.)

          • David B Huber
            June 6, 2020, 5:09 pm | #

            Robert, thanks for the link! I agree with you that implies the nanites carry the current “essence” of Unity, serving as more than passive backup. But a biological brain has more computing power, allowing expanded consciousness. Which would also explain why Unity gets smarter when she consumes additional brains; while they last the brain hardware augments her primary brain.

            Conclusion: unlike normal zombies who need a Brain-O-Mat dispenser, Unity can eat anything for sustenance. Babies are just a tasty – er, guilty – pleasure!

          • Robert Nowall
            June 6, 2020, 5:17 pm | #

            Forgot about the Brain-O-Mat. Another talking point is how Unity grows more intelligent (and tactless) the more brains she ingests. Her intelligence may not reside in a brain, but may be enhanced by more and more brains in her stomach—till they’re digested.

            (Have come to not liking the term “nanites,” at least in a science fictional context. Seems too often lazy writers use “nanites” as a substitute for “magic.” (And I’ve been one of them lazy writers, so there.))

          • David B Huber
            June 6, 2020, 6:47 pm | #

            Although biotech is in the lead, I foresee nanotech as the path to “Santa Claus machines”. Particularly since they can incorporate programmable matter.

            Besides, I have long believed U.N.I.T.Y is an acronym for “Universal Nanite Intelligence Training Yoke”! 😉

            A living host will eventually reject Unity – hence the necessity for a cadaver (the patchwork variety facilitating modular replacement).

          • David B Huber
            June 6, 2020, 7:06 pm | #

            Awgiedawgie, I like to think that Unity is effectively immortal. Should she get trapped outside a host body for too long (whatever that is) the goo will simply go into hibernation like a tardigrade until a new host ingests it.

  12. cbob
    June 6, 2020, 12:38 pm | # | Reply

    Creole or patois I’m guessing. And he is addressing a dog with an attitude

    • Robert Nowall
      June 6, 2020, 1:51 pm | # | Reply

      Just remember Papa Legba is using the female form of “dog.” Just remember what the English word for a female dog is.

    • TheYsabet
      June 6, 2020, 7:59 pm | # | Reply

      It’s Creole. But I’ve heard it used for a child, too– “puppy”?

  13. casimir
    June 6, 2020, 4:42 pm | # | Reply

    …also, it seems to have slid past her this time with no effect, but Papa Legba may want to take care not to say things like “I have half a mind” in Unity’s presence.

  14. wykstrad
    June 8, 2020, 4:08 pm | # | Reply

    You open the refrigerator, take out the elephant, and put it in the sandwich.

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