Well, the only woman he’s ever loved has now left the planet, so his life from now on looks like it’ll be shaping up into a series of meaningless encounters with an endless stream of women…
Haha, yes. I would however say, Robert, that every encounter can have meaning and consequences, even if that effect only extends to the next encounter. We end up being the sum total of initial state and effects.
Well, I counted thirty-five, er, encounters since the beginning of the strip. I could have misinterpreted something or missed some. Tip Wilkin is no Wilt Chamberlain, but it’s an impressive number.
Well, humans are still going to make nonhumans after this, and even without that anasigma has proven to be dangerous to all sentients human or otherwise, so Mr. Green needs to be dealt with.
Just switch the mind-control rays to “stop creating nonhumans, it’s impossible” and then they won’t. (Okay, the Department of Irradiation might still be a problem.)
Actually, they being gone was what Ira wanted. As far as I can tell the only thing his mooks really wanted was a steady paycheck and to avoid extirpation.
Well, Nick and Dr. Lee might still be around, if they haven’t flown off to their belated honeymoon. Then there’s Artie and Sergio, and Jonah Yu and Nera Vivaldi. And the Annex One building is probably still standing, too.
The filename story seems to be incomplete. But the filename for today’s strip does not include the words “so long and” from the URL, which indicates that the authors are saying something in the URL that is not part of the story.
The Reality Blindness drug was the one with global (?) distribution. The madness cure had to be administered more close up and personal, which is why they had to actually bring it into St. Charlie.
I have to agree. I have always found them to be overpriced, underpowered and less effective for tasks that they were not specifically designed for, they are however better than they used to be. Winblows is more generically capable but rather bloated and byzantine. It saddens me that more capable, efficient and useable alternatives have been lost to time and competition between the two.
The greatest Apple product was the MessagePad 2100 / eMate 300 running Newton OS. The best version of Windows was Windows 2000. Today I recommend Linux – usually Mint.
I miss GeoWorks and Epson’s innovative QX-10 running TPM-III. Yes, I’m a greybeard. Which is why I grow weary of seeing problems reinvented just so they can be solved again…
GeoWorks was great – and far ahead of its time. But they made the mistake of making their primary target audience the obsolete PCs that couldn’t run Windows. And then they just quietly disappeared with the increased popularity of Windows (and with the slow-but-sure demise of all those obsolete PCs). I’d have to look, but I may actually still have the 3-1/2″ floppies to install the software.
Sure, the software still exists (though not under the same name), but since the CEO of the latest company to own it died of a heart attack, it’s pretty much dead in the water.
Anasigma’s militia moves on. This civilian looks so woebegone. They’re about to deploy, but Tip Wilkin here—oy! There’s nothing to fight, ’cause they’re gone.
You know, that’s why I have trouble seeing this as the end of the webcomic. This is essentially an A-Sig victory, and the comic is acknowledging that here. Unless our esteemed authors have gone all blackly cynical on us, this is not a situation that can be allowed to stand.
I’ve long admired this strip for being consistently amusing, especially with the long call-backs, but this is one of the best strips. The build-up is immense, the emotional payout remarkable. It challenges what it is to win and to lose. Our friends at A-Sig, though seemingly have lost the battle have, in fact, gained what they set out to do. The non-human sapients may have escaped, but who knows what their future is? Tip is like all of us readers, he isn’t siding with A-Sig, but he isn’t accepted by the Non-humans, and love has slipped through his fingers…literally. In a very real way – at this juncture – he is the one who loses. Hopefully the strip goes on and he gets his happy ending. But for now, what a glorious and satisfyingly deep four panels.
Now what. World domination?
I think it’s been implied that A-Sig has that locked down already.
Although I’m surprised and delighted to see Tip on his feet, I’ve never seen him look disheveled before!
Scruffy, yes, during his lost mojo phase. But here he looks abject and forlorn.
Oh, I don’t know. I’d definitely call this back here disheveled, abject and forlorn, too.
At least he is no longer underdressed for the apocalypse.
Tip is usually very sheveled indeed
Poor Tip….he’s just lost almost everyone he loves. I think Nick stayed, but they always had a rocky relationship.
Well, the only woman he’s ever loved has now left the planet, so his life from now on looks like it’ll be shaping up into a series of meaningless encounters with an endless stream of women…
In other words… back to normal.
Haha, yes. I would however say, Robert, that every encounter can have meaning and consequences, even if that effect only extends to the next encounter. We end up being the sum total of initial state and effects.
Well, I counted thirty-five, er, encounters since the beginning of the strip. I could have misinterpreted something or missed some. Tip Wilkin is no Wilt Chamberlain, but it’s an impressive number.
Robert, weren’t most of those during office hours?
When he connected with the Whimsey voice artist at Whimsey World, he and the others were all off on simultaneous coincidental vacations.
(I misremembered the number—I didn’t have my notes in front of me but I do now—it’s only thirty four encounters.)
The driving monkeys are late.
Back in kansas.
As it were.
Well, humans are still going to make nonhumans after this, and even without that anasigma has proven to be dangerous to all sentients human or otherwise, so Mr. Green needs to be dealt with.
Just switch the mind-control rays to “stop creating nonhumans, it’s impossible” and then they won’t. (Okay, the Department of Irradiation might still be a problem.)
That doesn’t work for Mad scientists, because they’re not limited by what’s possible or impossible.
And the constant propagation of the word “impossible” without anyone actually saying it might drive Dr. Walske even more insane.
Sounds like a problem that could be solved by more application of the cure.
Aaaand bare feet. Prediction verified.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43907/a-boat-beneath-a-sunny-sky
A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky
BY LEWIS CARROLL
A boat beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July —
Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear —
Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream —
Lingering in the golden gleam —
Life, what is it but a dream?
“Miss? Who are you?”
“Oh sorry, you must have not seen the latest org chart”
Turns out there is something sadder than a wet transvestite.
…a battered and bruised transvestite.
Powerful move dropping the frame for the last panel. There’s a real feeling that Tip is speaking directly to the camera.
Shaenon has always shown a cinematic flair.
The convoy in panel 1 feels very dynamic and menacing, too.
Agreed. Here as elsewhere, Shaenon’s framing and panel composition are excellent.
Actually, they being gone was what Ira wanted. As far as I can tell the only thing his mooks really wanted was a steady paycheck and to avoid extirpation.
Maybe Tip should challenge Konstantin to another mud wrestling match to cheer up?
Well, Nick and Dr. Lee might still be around, if they haven’t flown off to their belated honeymoon. Then there’s Artie and Sergio, and Jonah Yu and Nera Vivaldi. And the Annex One building is probably still standing, too.
Weird strip to end the comic on. Bold choice.
Going solely by the URL, I’d guess there is at least one more strip. Though it probably won’t say “thanks for all the fish”.
The filename story seems to be incomplete. But the filename for today’s strip does not include the words “so long and” from the URL, which indicates that the authors are saying something in the URL that is not part of the story.
Curiouser and curiouser…
Again, we haven’t seen what happened to Chris and Marcie after they were gassed.
Or who gassed them.
Good point.
If only A-Sig literally had a cure for mad science. Oh, wait…
But their cure as previously deployed had no effect on anyone in our group of heroes, including the Mad ones.
The Reality Blindness drug was the one with global (?) distribution. The madness cure had to be administered more close up and personal, which is why they had to actually bring it into St. Charlie.
Okay, apparently my iPad just won’t let me reply to comments. Or save my details.
Maybe it’s just your browser, but I’ve never been a fan of Apple products in the first place, so I’m happy to agree that your iPad is the problem.
I have to agree. I have always found them to be overpriced, underpowered and less effective for tasks that they were not specifically designed for, they are however better than they used to be. Winblows is more generically capable but rather bloated and byzantine. It saddens me that more capable, efficient and useable alternatives have been lost to time and competition between the two.
The greatest Apple product was the MessagePad 2100 / eMate 300 running Newton OS. The best version of Windows was Windows 2000. Today I recommend Linux – usually Mint.
I miss GeoWorks and Epson’s innovative QX-10 running TPM-III. Yes, I’m a greybeard. Which is why I grow weary of seeing problems reinvented just so they can be solved again…
GeoWorks was great – and far ahead of its time. But they made the mistake of making their primary target audience the obsolete PCs that couldn’t run Windows. And then they just quietly disappeared with the increased popularity of Windows (and with the slow-but-sure demise of all those obsolete PCs). I’d have to look, but I may actually still have the 3-1/2″ floppies to install the software.
Sure, the software still exists (though not under the same name), but since the CEO of the latest company to own it died of a heart attack, it’s pretty much dead in the water.
Anasigma’s militia moves on. This civilian looks so woebegone. They’re about to deploy, but Tip Wilkin here—oy! There’s nothing to fight, ’cause they’re gone.
We’re all sad too, Tip.
You know, that’s why I have trouble seeing this as the end of the webcomic. This is essentially an A-Sig victory, and the comic is acknowledging that here. Unless our esteemed authors have gone all blackly cynical on us, this is not a situation that can be allowed to stand.
“Yeah, I know. But didja ever see an opera with a HAPPY ending?” – Bugs Bunny
Besides, the silverfish would love it!
I’ve long admired this strip for being consistently amusing, especially with the long call-backs, but this is one of the best strips. The build-up is immense, the emotional payout remarkable. It challenges what it is to win and to lose. Our friends at A-Sig, though seemingly have lost the battle have, in fact, gained what they set out to do. The non-human sapients may have escaped, but who knows what their future is? Tip is like all of us readers, he isn’t siding with A-Sig, but he isn’t accepted by the Non-humans, and love has slipped through his fingers…literally. In a very real way – at this juncture – he is the one who loses. Hopefully the strip goes on and he gets his happy ending. But for now, what a glorious and satisfyingly deep four panels.
+1 – a most excellent summation!
Damn…
Will the next strip be “thanks-for”?
i don’t know about you guys but
I HAZ A BIG SAD.
They do gotta do what he says.
Technically he is still their boss.