Skin Horse

By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
Color by Pancha Diaz
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2022-06-24
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2022-06-24

by shaenon on June 24, 2022 at 12:01 am
Chapter: Phantomwise
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Discussion (86) ¬

  1. thejoemoose
    June 24, 2022, 12:02 am | # | Reply

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

    BABY TIP!!!

    • Pygar
      June 24, 2022, 12:10 am | # | Reply

      Doot doo, dee doop tee doo, Baby Tip doot doo, dee doop tee doo… Baby Tip…

      • Duane B.
        June 24, 2022, 1:46 am | # | Reply

        Good morning starshine
        There’s nothing in the skies
        Reflecting the sunlight
        In my lovers eyes
        Good morning starshine
        So happy to be
        My love and me as we singing
        Our early morning singing song

        Gliddy glub gloopy, nibby nabby noopy la, la, la, lo, lo
        Sabba sibby sabba, nooby abba nabba, le, le, lo, lo
        Tooby ooby walla, nooby abba naba
        Early morning singing song
        …………………………………..Oliver

    • Prodigal
      June 24, 2022, 12:21 am | # | Reply

      He and Tigerlilly had Tiplets!

    • Peter Lewerin
      June 24, 2022, 1:07 am | # | Reply

      Mind… swirling among the clouds over the next county. I don’t expect I shall ever see it again.

    • Candace
      June 24, 2022, 1:31 am | # | Reply

      Awwwwwwwwwwww – Baby Tiger-Tip! 😉 Also, I’m loving the sparkles in Tigerlily’s hair!

      • DanD
        June 24, 2022, 8:52 am | # | Reply

        I’m going with Tiperlilly.

    • Shadowmehr
      June 24, 2022, 5:19 pm | # | Reply

      I wonder which of them carried this one. (Previously, I do see Tip carrying the funky little darling now.)

      • awgiedawgie
        June 24, 2022, 8:55 pm | # | Reply

        Hmmm… good question. But I’m inclined to say Tigerlily. Yes, she’s a Mad genius, but she’s not nearly the gene-splicer that Helen is, so I just don’t think it’s all that likely that she managed to give Tip a uterus.

      • DanD
        June 25, 2022, 3:05 pm | # | Reply

        That assumes either of them. A spring powered artificial womb is an option with mad science.

  2. dvandom
    June 24, 2022, 12:05 am | # | Reply

    Gotta leave some plot threads for the anthology contributions!

  3. Emily
    June 24, 2022, 12:12 am | # | Reply

    I am LIVING for all these little babies

  4. David B Huber
    June 24, 2022, 12:17 am | # | Reply

    Somehow, knowing Sweetheart is taking charge makes me feel better…

    “Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!” – Jimmy Durante

    • Candace
      June 24, 2022, 1:33 am | # | Reply

      Same.

    • Dave
      June 24, 2022, 10:01 am | # | Reply

      I’m sure Sweetheart is looking forward to the opportunity to apply Lovetron technology to the problem of updating all of the org charts.

    • Robert Nowall
      June 24, 2022, 12:12 pm | # | Reply

      Well, two things come to mind.

      (1) We haven’t seen you in five years. We wanna chat, party, catch up with each other, show off our babies…and you want us to go to work?

      (2) You’ve been gone for five years…what makes you think you’re still in charge?

      • David B Huber
        June 24, 2022, 3:19 pm | # | Reply

        3) I haven’t changed.

        4) Tip made me boss.

      • tyersome
        June 25, 2022, 12:29 am | # | Reply

        5) Who else could you plausibly pick for top dog?

  5. casimir
    June 24, 2022, 12:24 am | # | Reply

    …

  6. sheer_falacy
    June 24, 2022, 12:34 am | # | Reply

    Tigerlily and their child have matching giant space afros! So sparkly.

  7. Nim
    June 24, 2022, 1:05 am | # | Reply

    Awwww, I hope they named the baby something really awesome.

    • Chrysalis
      June 24, 2022, 1:10 am | # | Reply

      Tigerlip! Tipperlily! Okay, maybe not.

      • Moe Lane
        June 24, 2022, 1:19 am | # | Reply

        Clinton Daytwa Starchild.

        Or possibly George Jones-Wilkin, to give the other kids a fighting chance to hold their own.

      • JoB
        June 24, 2022, 3:04 am | # | Reply

        “Tilly“?

      • khn0
        June 24, 2022, 4:08 am | # | Reply

        yes it’s a long way to Tipperlily…

    • bergerjacques
      June 24, 2022, 10:56 am | # | Reply

      Foxy Roundtree Jones.
      A beautifully tasteful bit of swaddling cloth, but I bet the diaper dazzles.

    • Robert Nowall
      June 24, 2022, 11:57 am | # | Reply

      Seems all the children the gang has produced are girls. Pending correction here.

      • bergerjacques
        June 24, 2022, 2:31 pm | # | Reply

        I’m of a habit of trying to perceive gender, but with Tip and Tigerlily, such an effort is pointless and meaningless. Their baby is kosmic fabulousness …

        • Robert Nowall
          June 24, 2022, 3:10 pm | # | Reply

          But wrapped in a pink blanket.

          • Beachfox
            June 24, 2022, 4:55 pm | #

            So definitely a boy, then.

  8. Marisa Mockery
    June 24, 2022, 1:15 am | # | Reply

    1. Tip’s outfit is better than I expected, and I had high expectations.
    2. BABIEEEEEEE
    3. Anyone else kinda dreading the final strip? I already miss this comic 🙁

    • Candace
      June 24, 2022, 1:44 am | # | Reply

      Tip’s outfit is better than I expected, and I admit I was concerned after the last one. This one is much better. Definitely both dreading and looking forward to the finale.

      • Candace
        June 24, 2022, 2:10 am | # | Reply

        I say the last one, but I’m not sure that’s quite right. The one Tip was wearing when he beamed down the first time, after being rescued from the out-of-control flying machine. That outfit was very concerning.

      • khn0
        June 24, 2022, 4:10 am | # | Reply

        That outfit is so gorgeous that if I could wear, I’d even shave daily.

    • Kanta
      June 24, 2022, 7:13 am | # | Reply

      Pretty sure Tip’s outfit is something Ozma wore in an illustration.

      • Equisetophyta
        June 24, 2022, 11:47 am | # | Reply

        Definitely intended to be similar to John R. Neill’s classic Ozma dress. And the hair ornament thingy, too!

    • Nix
      June 24, 2022, 11:29 am | # | Reply

      From that fabulous last line, I was assuming this *was* the final strip. (Or at least the final non-montage strip with any dialogue.)

  9. Moe Lane
    June 24, 2022, 1:28 am | # | Reply

    All right, folks. You have 22.5 hours until the last update. If you’ve ever dreamed of crafting the perfect filk for the Last Day Of The Comic, now is the time to begin.

    • Venator Animarum
      June 24, 2022, 2:22 am | # | Reply

      There shall be no filk for me, just a soulful rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” playing in my head as one of the greatest webcomics comes to an end.

  10. Tony Palumbo
    June 24, 2022, 2:24 am | # | Reply

    I sort of wish I’d been a little more active on here, I know I’m not one of the real old timers, but still, this has been a part of my daily schedule for quite a few years now. I’m gonna miss it.

    • awgiedawgie
      June 24, 2022, 8:57 pm | # | Reply

      We’re not prejudiced around here. Old or new, you can be just as unhinged as the rest of us.

  11. AndThanksForAllTheFish
    June 24, 2022, 2:44 am | # | Reply

    Honestly, this would be a great final strip. Very _Calvin and Hobbes_.

    • woozy
      June 24, 2022, 3:17 am | # | Reply

      I suspect this *is* the final strip and saturday will be a farewell message or more likely an endpaper to match the endpaper that was the first strip (https://skin-horse.com/comic/12302007/). I could be wrong but… that’s where my money is.

      • Nomi
        June 24, 2022, 9:28 am | # | Reply

        I too think this is the last strip. Sweetheart’s question is a classic wrapper upper.

        • Robert Nowall
          June 24, 2022, 4:07 pm | # | Reply

          If it is, I have another parody ready to go. If it isn’t, I’ll keep writing new ones until and then post that one.

      • woozy
        June 25, 2022, 12:12 am | # | Reply

        Welp… I’m glad I didn’t have a lot of money.

        (I like Saturday’s strip as a final one too…. Of course they only said last Sunday’s was the last Sunday strip. Is it possible that they will be going for several more weeks without Sundays?….. *no?* …. Oh, bummer…..)

  12. Clifton
    June 24, 2022, 3:08 am | # | Reply

    Aww, Tip looks like such a good mom.

  13. Robert Nowall
    June 24, 2022, 4:47 am | # | Reply

    Men plus women plus time equals babies?

    • gyrre
      June 24, 2022, 10:31 am | # | Reply

      Depends on if they’ve any chemistry or desire to do so. Jonah and Nera don’t have any kids, and the ones that do were couples prior to the time skip.

      • Rob Nobody
        June 24, 2022, 7:21 pm | # | Reply

        Jonah’s ability is remarkably effective birth control.

        “Hold on, if we have sex right now you’re going to conceive. If we wait another seventeen minutes we should be good.”

  14. paulagee66
    June 24, 2022, 5:09 am | # | Reply

    They all look…………….. erm………… better!

  15. Manifesta
    June 24, 2022, 5:12 am | # | Reply

    ‘Twas five years ago they left us
    Now they’re beaming back with work to do
    Our friends we’ve been needing
    While everyone’s breeding
    Skin Horse Generation 2

    We think that they went to Lovetron
    It’s a spring-powered planet of funk
    We’ll ask Tigerlily
    ‘Cause we would feel silly
    Reporting what’s only bunk

    Back to Earth now!
    We’re excited
    To find out what adventure awaits
    Full of mirth now
    We’re delighted
    All the lovers have found their true mates

    With human and non- united
    We can handle whatever is thrown
    With mad science to guide us
    And good friends beside us
    We’re making the world our own
    All together we’ll make this world our own!

    tune: “Ten Minutes Ago” from Cinderella, Rogers and Hammerstein, 1957
    The Julie Andrews original, in honor of Gavotte: https://youtu.be/7fKRHCSUFM0
    The Leslie Ann Warren version I grew up with: https://youtu.be/BHvgiDxeRaM
    The utterly charming Brandy version: https://youtu.be/LT2uorSLsGU

  16. Manifesta
    June 24, 2022, 5:20 am | # | Reply

    ‘Twas five years ago they left us
    Now they’re beaming back with work to do
    Our friends we’ve been needing
    While everyone’s breeding
    Skin Horse Generation 2

    We think that they went to Lovetron
    It’s a spring-powered planet of funk
    We’ll ask Tigerlily
    ‘Cause we would feel silly
    Reporting what’s only bunk

    Back to Earth now!
    We’re excited
    To find out what adventure awaits
    Full of mirth now
    We’re delighted
    All the lovers have found their true mates

    With the human and non- united
    We can handle whatever is thrown
    With mad science to guide us
    And good friends beside us
    We’re making the world our own
    All together we’ll make this world our own!

  17. Manifesta
    June 24, 2022, 5:21 am | # | Reply

    tune: “Ten Minutes Ago” from Cinderella, Rogers and Hammerstein, 1957
    The Julie Andrews original, in honor of Gavotte: https://youtu.be/7fKRHCSUFM0
    The Leslie Ann Warren version I grew up with: https://youtu.be/BHvgiDxeRaM
    The utterly charming Brandy version: https://youtu.be/LT2uorSLsGU

  18. Manifesta
    June 24, 2022, 5:22 am | # | Reply

    tune: “Ten Minutes Ago” from Cinderella, Rogers and Hammerstein, 1957
    The Julie Andrews original, in honor of Gavotte: https://youtu.be/7fKRHCSUFM0

    • Nomi
      June 24, 2022, 9:30 am | # | Reply

      That’s very good. I head-sang the whole thing and got feelings.

    • Robert Nowall
      June 24, 2022, 1:22 pm | # | Reply

      Well, impossible things are happening every day.

  19. Kyle
    June 24, 2022, 6:23 am | # | Reply

    It puts such a smile on my face, that this story isn’t ending even if you won’t be working on it anymore.

    • Fan of Most Everything
      June 24, 2022, 6:51 am | # | Reply

      No story truly ends, but it does reach a point where we have to give the characters some privacy.

      • Andy4Hire
        June 24, 2022, 9:54 pm | # | Reply

        Ooo, I like that phrasing.

  20. chicgeekmsw
    June 24, 2022, 7:09 am | # | Reply

    Beautiful.

  21. Megs
    June 24, 2022, 7:58 am | # | Reply

    That bebe is so cute! Also I love Tip’s look. So perfect.

  22. James Simonds
    June 24, 2022, 8:24 am | # | Reply

    Ready whenever you are, Sweetheart. <3

  23. James N. Parrish
    June 24, 2022, 8:33 am | # | Reply

    Tears… with my toast, jam and tea, tears

  24. Midwestmutt
    June 24, 2022, 8:47 am | # | Reply

    This looks like a perfect finale strip but I suppose Shaenon and Jeff have one last surprise in store for me.

  25. ranthalling
    June 24, 2022, 10:25 am | # | Reply

    Tip looks so damn beautiful! He just about always does, but -dang-! The whole team looks gorgeous! I’m-a gonna miss them all.

  26. gyrre
    June 24, 2022, 10:32 am | # | Reply

    One heck of a return.

  27. matteo
    June 24, 2022, 10:42 am | # | Reply

    Thanks for all of this.

  28. bergerjacques
    June 24, 2022, 11:00 am | # | Reply

    Tigerlily looking like a regal Roberta Flack: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e0/0c/4f/e00c4f3e45975f70ddd999213462bbb7.jpg

  29. Taylor TJ
    June 24, 2022, 12:16 pm | # | Reply

    The Ozma gown!

  30. Winston
    June 24, 2022, 12:19 pm | # | Reply

    As someone who’s been reading this since “Borrowers”, I’d like to thank you for everything you’ve crafted over the years. Skin Horse is (has been) the first webcomic I read each day; I’ll have to find something new. I look forward to whatever else comes next.

    (If anyone wants me to dig up my Dr. Horrible-inspired Skin Horse song, let me know.)

  31. Lady E
    June 24, 2022, 1:04 pm | # | Reply

    I will be sad. I have been around since shortly after the beginning. I actually have a copy of the strip where Tip declares Nick a client, and Sweetheart is gleeful about knowing “which forms to order.”

    • Moe Lane
      June 24, 2022, 6:36 pm | # | Reply

      I grabbed the one where Sweetheart was singing Gilbert & Sullivan, and got one of the bureaucracy ones for my wife.

  32. BrigidKeely
    June 24, 2022, 1:18 pm | # | Reply

    I’m so sad this comic is coming to an end, and so thrilled to have been along for the ride. This is such a great story.

  33. brigidkeely
    June 24, 2022, 1:19 pm | # | Reply

    Also Shaenon draws babies and kids SO CUTE! Jeeze.

  34. Robert Nowall
    June 24, 2022, 1:20 pm | # | Reply

    Who made them the Skin-Horse they are today?
    The bureaucrat file clerk on who others dote?
    Who’s that strange creature that sent them astray?
    The greatest whoever puts lumps in our throats?

    One dog deserves the credit,
    One dog deserves the claim
    That Captain’s Fancy Sweetheart Darling Valentine is her name.
    Hi! Captain’s Fancy Sweetheart Valentine—

    You remember the day
    When we first met the great Captain Fancy.
    In one word she leaked out the secret of success in bureucratics:
    Organize!

    Organize!
    Control the paperwork and strain your eyes!
    Remember when it’s written down to pain your eyes!
    So go train your eyes,
    And organize, organize, organize!
    Only be sure always to call it “teamwork.”

    And ever since we saw this dog,
    Our lives were not the same,
    And Captain’s Fancy Sweetheart Darling Valentine is her name!
    Hi! Captain’s Fancy Sweetheart Valentine—

    You remember the day
    She was given reorganized Skin-Horse to run.
    It was difficult, horrible, baffling, disgruntling, dishonest, and miserable, terrible, nauseating…WTF?
    What…was she planning…to do?
    She thought a bit, and got idea, aha!

    The older Skin-Horse store
    Would make up a new core.
    As Men In Black
    It put them back,
    And put them in at the door.
    Spread out to keep at work,
    With lots and lots of quirks,
    And still somehow they here and now
    Come off as real big jerks.

    And so begins the fun,
    The dog calls them to run,
    The really big jerks with hundreds of quirks
    Come back to the game without any claim,
    And back to black, the core the store,
    And Sweetheart’s work is done,
    Yes, our Sweetheart’s work is done.

    And then she writes
    And overnight,
    So opportune
    And picayune.
    Inside their bubble the bureaucrats curse,
    Because they’re still a bunch of jerks!

    And who set off this awful mess
    And played the power game?
    Captain’s Fancy Sweetheart Darling Valentine is her name!
    Hi!
    Captain’s Fancy Sweetheart Valentine—

    We will never forget the day,
    That Skin-Horse separated.
    Every one of them took off for somewhere else.
    Sweetheart and a big crowd headed for paradise on the planet Lovetron.
    Well, Nick said, you melon-farming toast-eating buncha spitholes—that stinks.
    And then, oh, he said, kerplunking eggshells whisper armpit honey mustard—that stinks.
    Fans of “Skin-Horse” subscribe the Zoop pledges for twice the goal amount.
    Volumes Eleven and Twelve will be on their way,
    While “Willowweep Manor 2” waits in the wings.

    And who deserves the credit?
    And who can make this claim?
    Captain’s Fancy Sweetheart Darling Valentine is her name!
    Hi! Captain’s Fancy Sweetheart Darling Valentine is her name!

    —from “Lobachevsky,” written and performed by Tom Lehrer.

    • thorfinntk
      June 24, 2022, 1:59 pm | # | Reply

      A double upvote for this (I don’r care if such a thing even exists or that there is no upvoting machanism on this forum, you’re still getting it)

    • David B Huber
      June 24, 2022, 3:30 pm | # | Reply

      Robert, I am awestruck!

      • Robert Nowall
        June 24, 2022, 3:58 pm | # | Reply

        What can I say? I want to go out on top.

    • Moe Lane
      June 24, 2022, 6:39 pm | # | Reply

      I sang it aloud. Nick’s lines are perfect.

  35. teddymarinaro
    June 24, 2022, 1:55 pm | # | Reply

    I have loved this comic ever since I saw Shaenon was continuing Post-Narbonic, and it’s become one of my favorite daily treats. I know there’s a break coming, possibly even a ‘vacation’ if Andrew has his way, but I’ll be keeping my ear to the ground for the next project and will happily stop by the CAM to thank you in person for all the amazing work you two have done on this fantastic project!

    Also, totally can’t wait for Willowweep Vol 2 and Jeff’s new project!

  36. Robert Nowall
    June 24, 2022, 4:05 pm | # | Reply

    Plot elements leaving us guessing, we find it all kind of depressing. With item-by-item—maybe Sweetheart will bite ’em. But to us it’s all still a mixed blessing.

  37. Frank Hightower
    June 24, 2022, 5:54 pm | # | Reply

    aww, Sweetheart still thinks work is the right way to cheer people up

  38. F. Frankie Frankenstein (@DaFrankiestein)
    June 24, 2022, 10:08 pm | # | Reply

    The most funkadelic baby alive.

  39. OneUniverse
    June 24, 2022, 10:09 pm | # | Reply

    I’m running out of chances to say “thank you both for an entertaining achievement, Shaenon and Jeff.”

    How’s Robin doing?

  40. @Meserach (@Meserach)
    June 25, 2022, 3:46 am | # | Reply

    I don’t know if this is the last strip of Skin Horse, but it could be. And what a day for it to be on, as we face confirmation of one of the greatest challenges to civil rights in American history.

    Thank you Shaenon, Jeff and Pancha for showing us, daily and for a decade, a bunch of queer weirdoes who do band together, figure out their stuff, and keep pushing for progress however hard it gets and however many institutions they had to topple to get there.

    It’s been a joy and a privilege. Let’s get to work.

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