Skin Horse

By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
Color by Pancha Diaz
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2022-01-13
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2022-01-13

by shaenon on January 13, 2022 at 12:01 am
Chapter: Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon
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Discussion (68) ¬

  1. dvandom
    January 13, 2022, 12:02 am | # | Reply

    According to funk-kaku.

  2. Towering Barbarian
    January 13, 2022, 12:05 am | # | Reply

    “You look upon it and see the Green. I look upon it and see a salad buffet!”. 🙂

    • Robert Nowall
      January 13, 2022, 3:09 pm | # | Reply

      We’re not gonna see a yellow submarine go by in this sea of green, are we?

  3. tuiteyfruity
    January 13, 2022, 12:16 am | # | Reply

    ha! not surprised in the least

    VERY EXCITED

    • Candace
      January 13, 2022, 12:31 am | # | Reply

      Same here! I can’t wait to see where this goes next!

  4. Moe Lane
    January 13, 2022, 12:17 am | # | Reply

    You ain’t digging the groove, Tiger-Man. I’m not all stuck up in your business; you’re all stuck up in mine.

  5. Tiff Hudson
    January 13, 2022, 12:18 am | # | Reply

    I am having SUCH a flashback to Mel Kelly’s assumption into Heaven.

    • D. Walker
      January 13, 2022, 12:37 am | # | Reply

      Let’s hope this ends better than that did.

      • Tiff Hudson
        January 13, 2022, 6:04 pm | # | Reply

        Awww, I think that ended just fine. I bought the original of the cartoon where she explains to Caliban that she did it to stay with him.

        • Tiff Hudson
          January 13, 2022, 6:07 pm | # | Reply

          “Wherever we go, we go together.”
          http://narbonic.com/comic/january-2-7-2006/

      • Rockphed
        January 13, 2022, 10:33 pm | # | Reply

        The only people who complain about how that bit ended are those who are unhappy because they don’t get to go do heaven despite not qualifying thereto. Heaven, hell, and Mell are all happier with her on Earth.

  6. Urlance Woolsbane
    January 13, 2022, 12:26 am | # | Reply

    I’m not acquainted with T Campbell’s work, so I must ask: What is this comic homaging?

    • Alphaghoul
      January 13, 2022, 12:29 am | # | Reply

      The last panel, a basic cheesy anime response (I’m not too fond of that, you can tell). The rest, no idea.

    • woozy
      January 13, 2022, 12:54 am | # | Reply

      T Campbell is a professor of Nutrition who advocates people engage in a plant based diet… I suppose the plant seems to be engaging in a people based diet…. That may or may not have anything to do with it.

      • Urlance Woolsbane
        January 13, 2022, 1:25 am | # | Reply

        That’s a good point, though I assume the T Campbell in question is this webcomic writer:
        https://www.tcampbell.net/

        • Daibhid+C
          January 13, 2022, 7:56 am | # | Reply

          Yeah, that’s what I assumed.

          It is really hard to google something like this, especially when the person being homaged wrote multiple strips, and you don’t even know what the context was. We may just have to wait for the Director’s Commentary version.

          • Candace
            January 14, 2022, 12:58 am | #

            Yeah, when I googled T Campbell, I found a photographer. I assumed that probably wasn’t it, unless Shaenon was riffing on some art shot she’d seen somewhere.

        • khn0
          January 13, 2022, 9:23 am | # | Reply

          My answer seem to have been lost, or I hit cancel instead of post, idk, but it’s from Guilded Age, IIRC. I won’t tell where bc that’s spoilery.

          • Urlance Woolsbane
            January 13, 2022, 7:29 pm | #

            Much obliged!

    • Jess
      January 13, 2022, 6:08 am | # | Reply

      Presumably a little nod to The Lady and the Tiger (Wayback Machine because while the strip’s still up and the next page is here, this title page is absent.)

    • khn0
      January 13, 2022, 6:51 am | # | Reply

      I guess it is a shout out to a part of Guilded Age
      http://guildedage.net/comic/chapter-1-cover/
      It deals with madness a bit, and that’s all I can say without spoiling.
      Definitely worth a read.

    • Robert Nowall
      January 13, 2022, 9:06 am | # | Reply

      There was once something similar with Dr. Lee.: http://skin-horse.com/comic/todays-comic-845/

      • awgiedawgie
        January 13, 2022, 9:34 am | # | Reply

        And for reference, I firmly believe that the first panel in that comic – when Virginia was just a year old – is the point at which she crossed over into Madness. The pressure to choose her dol was too much, and pushed her over the edge. Her parents, of course, had no idea, and they raised her as if she were a perfectly normal (albeit extremely intelligent) child.

        • Robert Nowall
          January 13, 2022, 11:27 am | # | Reply

          There’s also this, also with Dr. Lee: http://skin-horse.com/comic/at-last/

        • David B Huber
          January 13, 2022, 4:12 pm | # | Reply

          Y’know, awgiedawgie, that makes so much sense I’m coming around to your POV. 🙂

    • jarakin
      January 13, 2022, 12:10 pm | # | Reply

      This guest strip: http://narbonic.com/comic/just-think/ which demonstrated exactly what happens when someone with Walton’s Disorder is placed in complete sensory deprivation.

      The short version is: Pray to any god that might listen that you are not connected to their mind, because things are about to get very bad for you if you are.

    • Pooga
      January 14, 2022, 12:44 pm | # | Reply

      It’s kind of funny that these days folks don’t know who T Campbell is. I’m pretty sure T Campbell is how I was introduced to Narbonic. That is, he wrote a webcomic titled “Fans” (https://www.faans.com) that crossed over with another series I was reading at the time (I honestly can’t remember which). He then started a few subscription-based comic sites to try to help creators get a better stream of revenue than being entirely ad-based. I can’t remember the names those sites either, but I *do* remember it was when Narbonic was affiliated with one of them that I discovered it. At the time, it seemed like T Campbell was working with just about every webcomic creator I knew about that wasn’t on Keenspot (another early webcomics collective).

  7. John Campbell
    January 13, 2022, 12:27 am | # | Reply

    Her mind is brass and clockwork and opens to the FUNK.

    • Duane B.
      January 13, 2022, 10:36 am | # | Reply

      What if Miss Jones has already merged with the mother swamp,
      H.T is out numbered.

  8. Alphaghoul
    January 13, 2022, 12:28 am | # | Reply

    How is she just floating in a green void?

    • Candace
      January 13, 2022, 12:33 am | # | Reply

      I think it’s supposed to be a psychological metaphor. She’s inside the biomass, and this is what she is visualizing.

      • D. Walker
        January 13, 2022, 12:53 am | # | Reply

        Alternately, there are literal, physical possibilities.

        All complex plants have vascular systems, necessary for transporting fluids and nutrients throughout the body. All living things beyond a certain size need some kind of circulatory system to perform this function, or they cannot survive.

        And the bigger said creatures are, the bigger their circulatory systems need to be – it’s a product of the square cube law. A plant biomass of this size, even if composed of many discrete individual plant organisms, would still need utterly massive “blood vessels” of phloem (or potentially other structures) to provide a constant flow of nutrients to the plants on the interior of the mass, in order to keep them alive.

        So it’s quite possibly that she’s simply inside a gigantic phloem tube, floating in a slurry of water, sugars, amino acids, and minerals (which we call sap).

  9. BMunro
    January 13, 2022, 12:33 am | # | Reply

    Reminds me of an early Sluggy Freelance in which Torg and Riff get assimilated by the Borg and end up turning the entire collective into party bros. https://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?chapter=2#1997-10-04

    • Candace
      January 13, 2022, 12:55 am | # | Reply

      That was a fun story, wasn’t it?

    • SVGeezer
      January 13, 2022, 8:57 am | # | Reply

      From so far back Sluggy was still cool!

      That ended to quickly, didn’t it?

  10. BMunro
    January 13, 2022, 12:35 am | # | Reply

    But didn’t the collective manage to assimilate some (admittedly low level) Mads in the “Southern Reach” ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Reach_Trilogy ) homage section?

    • Dewy
      January 13, 2022, 1:07 am | # | Reply

      Sugar, there ain’t NOTHING low level about Tigerlilly Jones!

      You know, we’ve never actually seen her let go and let the madness place take over. Fun!

      • Duane B.
        January 13, 2022, 10:28 am | # | Reply

        She’s not insane, she is otherly sane.

        Ok,ok,ok…insane

    • codebracker
      January 13, 2022, 10:42 am | # | Reply

      Yes, but tigerlily was an incredibly powerful mad scientist, before the institute conditioned her. Not that she has been assimilated, I bet that conitioning will wear off.

      • awgiedawgie
        January 13, 2022, 10:54 am | # | Reply

        The Institute tried to condition her. They failed. Whatever little effect that conditioning may have ever had on her wore off years ago.

        • BMunro
          January 13, 2022, 6:19 pm | # | Reply

          I thought the conditioning that prevented her from building bigger machines required a mojo reboot with Tip to remove?

          • awgiedawgie
            January 14, 2022, 6:35 am | #

            Oh, yeah… I forgot about the “no more giant robots” thing.

  11. Dewy
    January 13, 2022, 1:03 am | # | Reply

    There’s that Mad smirk I’ve been waiting for!!

    • Jaq
      January 13, 2022, 7:42 am | # | Reply

      It is -glorious-!

  12. muhamad Adhi Setiadi
    January 13, 2022, 1:20 am | # | Reply

    Anyone reminded to FMA’s Kimblee here? When he giving a middle finger to the Pride and saves Edward? Hoo boy, this gonna be good.

  13. Briteshade
    January 13, 2022, 4:36 am | # | Reply

    Yesssssss!

  14. Quinch
    January 13, 2022, 7:10 am | # | Reply

    Are you trying to make me reread Fans to gt the reference? Because I*will* reread Fans to get the reference.

    • GREEM
      January 13, 2022, 7:47 am | # | Reply

      It’s a reference to this fancomic written by T Campbell: http://narbonic.com/comic/just-think/

  15. sorcyress
    January 13, 2022, 7:10 am | # | Reply

    For some strange reason I felt compelled to go look up the Narbonic comic for 2006-12-14…I am very psyched about what’s going to happen next here!!!

    (http://narbonic.com/comic/december-12-17-2005/, spoilers)

  16. Megs
    January 13, 2022, 8:38 am | # | Reply

    KUDZU. Invasive, grows constantly. And yet. And yet…
    (hum’s the opening number from the musical Kudzu. RIP, Mr. Marlette)

  17. 25
    January 13, 2022, 8:43 am | # | Reply

    This is one third of “Heh, heh, heh.” And we all know how that ended…

  18. Robert Nowall
    January 13, 2022, 8:51 am | # | Reply

    They say it’s not easy being green.

  19. jwghaller
    January 13, 2022, 9:27 am | # | Reply

    This doesn’t have anything to do with anything, but this description kind of reminds me of what it was like to see Speed Racer in IMAX, except with pink instead of green.

  20. ckridge
    January 13, 2022, 9:31 am | # | Reply

    I love this so much.

  21. jdreyfuss
    January 13, 2022, 10:15 am | # | Reply

    Tone on tone paisley. The Biomass is already under her influence and it doesn’t even know it yet.

  22. codebracker
    January 13, 2022, 10:43 am | # | Reply

    I wonder if she will become a new funky cypress?

  23. Robert Nowall
    January 13, 2022, 12:02 pm | # | Reply

    In the green room, just like kuzdu, all directions.
    A mad genius, clockwork monarch, Tigerlily.
    Meditates on certain chances, all before her.
    Evil smiles on her face shows her contentment.

    She’ll stay in this place, where the sun might not shine,
    Stay in this place, while the merged-with split from themselves.

    She claimed no strings could deter her with temptation.
    Platform footwear, Tiger weasel, hello mind blows.
    Swallowed into H. T.’s mealtime aberration.
    As she clocked out, felt her power just beginning.

    She’ll stay till she’s through, till her brains attack,
    High with her, while the merged-with split from themselves.

    On the outside, Artie’s laughing, laughing out loud.
    Subjugation by her platoons misbegotten.
    Hungry tigers hide in jumbles in her bright eyes.
    Acquiescing, hello mind blows, Tigerlily.

    She’ll stay till she’s through, in this lonely bough,
    High with her, while the merged-with split from themselves…

    —from “White Room,” written by Jack Bruce, lyrics by Pete Brown, sung by Cream.

    • Candace
      January 14, 2022, 1:24 am | # | Reply

      Nice!

  24. Shadowmehr
    January 13, 2022, 1:11 pm | # | Reply

    Does anyone else hear ominous thunder in the background, or is that just me?

    • Candace
      January 14, 2022, 1:25 am | # | Reply

      More like thumping disco bass.

  25. davidbreslin101
    January 13, 2022, 2:27 pm | # | Reply

    The funk gazes also….

  26. Robert Nowall
    January 13, 2022, 3:13 pm | # | Reply

    In all directions, the same. It must be a terrible strain. Surrounded by green, as ingested cuisine. It helps to be very insane.

    • David B Huber
      January 13, 2022, 4:23 pm | # | Reply

      Bravo!

  27. Friendly 'Frankie' Frankenstein (@DeFriendlyTroll)
    January 13, 2022, 6:45 pm | # | Reply

    Well, so long HT. You were… a thoroughly unpleasant individual happy to abuse the needs of the exploited for personal power.

    …also I just now realized. Tiger-lilly. For Crying Out Loud, you beautiful geniuses.

    • Paul
      January 26, 2022, 12:45 am | # | Reply

      *blink* Son of a-

  28. Robert Nowall
    January 13, 2022, 7:45 pm | # | Reply

    “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, ‘H. T., H. T., why persecutest thou me?’

    “And he said, ‘Who art thou, Lord?’

    And the Lord said, ‘I am Tigerlily whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.’

    And he trembling and astonished said, ‘Tigerlily, what wilt thou have me to do?’

    And the Lord said unto him, ‘Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.'”

  29. ricknigh
    January 13, 2022, 9:16 pm | # | Reply

    Let the games begin!

  30. Trivena
    January 15, 2022, 5:21 am | # | Reply

    This has got to be the most ominous single “Heh.” I’ve ever seen. Dr Narbon needs to take notes.

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