Skin Horse

By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
Color by Pancha Diaz
  • About Us
  • Cast
  • Store
  • Extras
  • Original Art for Sale
  • Our Patreon
RSS
2014-11-20
‹‹ First ‹ Prev Buy! Comments(65) Next › Last ››

2014-11-20

by shaenon on November 20, 2014 at 12:01 am
Chapter: Mixed-Up Files
Comments RSS

Discussion (65) ¬

  1. Henry
    November 20, 2014, 12:10 am | # | Reply

    I’m wondering if he actually believes it.

    • Moe Lane
      November 20, 2014, 12:40 am | # | Reply

      He ‘believes’ in it the way that you or I would believe in floor lamps.

      • Anson
        November 20, 2014, 12:43 am | # | Reply

        Is that a Terry Pratchett quote? It sounds like a Pratchett quote. If it’s not, then kudos.

        • Chameon
          November 20, 2014, 7:21 am | # | Reply

          Not quite a Terry line, rough quote “They believe in gods in much the same way you or I would believe in tables. Yes, they believe they’re there, and the place would look ruddy ridiculous without them. But they see no reason to go about seriously believing in a table. So, might as well just eat off your knees as it were.”

          Prettttty sure I butchered that, but I do know it was about tables. I’m pretty sure it was about tables – gods though. It was in one of the Rincewind books. Towards the start. I think. Or, hedging my bets here, it was from Reaperman.

          • GammarayCanon
            November 20, 2014, 11:06 am | #

            I think it’s said at least once per book featuring the witches. Probably in Reaper Man, too, though.

          • KO
            December 18, 2014, 10:59 am | #

            https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/311254-wizards-don-t-believe-in-gods-in-the-same-way-that

        • Moe Lane
          November 20, 2014, 8:52 am | # | Reply

          Half Terry Pratchett, half Diane Duane.

  2. irdburns
    November 20, 2014, 12:42 am | # | Reply

    “He shot my gun!”
    -A Miracle of Science

  3. ngmatt8652
    November 20, 2014, 12:53 am | # | Reply

    we have seen him use alice, I say they are evenly matched

    • oneuniverse2
      November 20, 2014, 4:07 pm | # | Reply

      I think they both have good points at a traditional duel, but Tip does have her mojo.

  4. Greycat
    November 20, 2014, 12:53 am | # | Reply

    Tip paints the more badass image.

  5. alurker
    November 20, 2014, 1:01 am | # | Reply

    Well, this is spooky. Just had that old “Aqua” song “Dr Jones” playing in the shop I was in. Now all I can think of is:

    Dr Jones, Jones, duelling Dr Jones,
    Dr Jones, Dr Jones get shot now…

    But my brain can’t make any more lyrics.

    • oneuniverse2
      November 20, 2014, 4:10 pm | # | Reply

      Please come and see me again, I’ve never felt more alone… or something like that.

    • Darkstarr
      May 18, 2016, 7:58 am | # | Reply

      Were you thinking of this?

  6. D. Walker
    November 20, 2014, 1:25 am | # | Reply

    That is clearly NOT a pistol, Tigerlily.

    Also, where was she KEEPING it?

    • John Campbell
      November 20, 2014, 1:44 am | # | Reply

      What do you mean? Mad science rayguns just happen.

      • harryvoyager
        November 20, 2014, 1:58 am | # | Reply

        And then they explode…

    • Max
      November 20, 2014, 4:35 am | # | Reply

      That came from Hammerspace, clearly.

      • Foradain
        November 20, 2014, 8:00 am | # | Reply

        Nope, BFGspace. If you keep just anything in your Hammerspace, how would you find anything quickly when you need the right tool right now?

        OTOH, if your only extradimensional storage is Hammerspace, all your problems start to look like disrespectful males…

        • irdburns
          November 20, 2014, 11:53 am | # | Reply

          They aren’t?

    • oneuniverse2
      November 20, 2014, 4:11 pm | # | Reply

      People also want to know where Tip keeps Alice, if you remember back when he was tied up in briefs during their Canadian adventure.

  7. Delta Echo
    November 20, 2014, 2:17 am | # | Reply

    But clearly there’s somehing more funky than ‘shoom-vwrrrr’ for Mad Science Gun to say!

    ‘Ommminous hummmmm’ comes to mind.

    • Nomi
      November 20, 2014, 11:02 am | # | Reply

      But look how funkadelic the vwrrrr font is! I’m sure she programmed that to her exacting specs.

  8. jamesd127
    November 20, 2014, 2:54 am | # | Reply

    Tip is always absurdly and counterstereotypically badass. If ever he failed to be badass, the comic will be sued for trannyphobia (or transphobia, whatever they are now calling it)

    So I say he will shoot Dr Jones gun out of her hand, then shoot her in the shoulder. Then have sex with her, James Bond style.

    • Rex Vivat
      November 20, 2014, 9:50 am | # | Reply

      Ok, see:
      1) Tip has failed to be badass in the past.
      2) Being defeated by Jones probably wouldn’t count as not being badass. It’s the attitude, not the results.
      3) The idea that a comic would be sued just because a character didn’t win a duel is really, really silly. (Not that it would stop some people from trying, though.)

    • Daniel Ross
      November 20, 2014, 1:49 pm | # | Reply

      Yeah, if you could go ahead and not throw slurs around, especially with the cute ‘whatever they are now calling it’ bit that just proves you know what you said ain’t it. That’d be great.

      • jamesd127
        November 20, 2014, 9:54 pm | # | Reply

        I genuinely don’tg know what they are now calling it, and I bet if you took a survey, 99% of the population would not know either. You guys keep changing the language so fast.

    • Darkstarr
      May 18, 2016, 7:54 am | # | Reply

      “Transphobia”, from “transgender” + “phobia”. “Tranny” is a highly derogatory term for transgendered people derived from its usage in porn movies (which a small percentage of trans people perform in to help pay for their surgeries, hormone treatments, etc., all of which are VERY expensive and only recently eligible for coverage by insurance companies who felt that the treatments were ‘experimental’, not necessary, etc.).

      I know because I have a good friend who just happens to be F2M transgendered, but even before he realized that he had been born the wrong gender and started the transition process, the term “tranny” made me cringe because of its derogatory usage in porn. (And can you blame trans folk? Who would want to be treated exclusively as a fetish object, anyway?)

  9. maarvarq
    November 20, 2014, 4:27 am | # | Reply

    Yes, Tigerlily, but his gun has a name.

    • Robert The Addled
      November 20, 2014, 5:15 am | # | Reply

      Now I’m trying to theorize “white rabbit ” filk lyrics. The whole “ask Alice” bit.

      • irdburns
        November 20, 2014, 11:57 am | # | Reply

        I was thinking of the different White Rabbit.
        Her mojo’s…big blaster…
        Has powered up to show them all.
        He paces…with Alice…to turn and fire down the hall.

      • Freddie Freelance
        November 20, 2014, 1:50 pm | # | Reply

        Or an “Alice’s Restaurant” filk

        “You can get anything you want, with a snub-nose .38…”

    • John Campbell
      November 20, 2014, 4:14 pm | # | Reply

      This is Tigerlily Jones we’re talking about. Her gun probably has a name, too. Probably something like Blackvelvet Funkmistress Gemini.

  10. Dave Van Domelen
    November 20, 2014, 6:24 am | # | Reply

    There are pistols with the profile of popguns like .25’s but chambered for .45 ACP or 9mm rounds. The smaller size means less accuracy at range (which is largely a function of barrel length and mass), but if you have the skill to hit a target they’ll be just as dead as if you shot ’em with a 1911A.

    • Miserichord
      November 20, 2014, 10:31 am | # | Reply

      Alice – Snub nose revolver, traditionally .38 special, but also available in .357 Magnum, .357 P+ magnum, and .44 Special

      • Stickmaker
        November 20, 2014, 4:51 pm | # | Reply

        Don’t forget the older and less potent but classic .38 S&W.

    • John Campbell
      November 20, 2014, 4:24 pm | # | Reply

      Alice is a .38 Colt Commando.

      • Miserichord
        November 20, 2014, 9:17 pm | # | Reply

        Colt Commando Revolver, WWII issue.
        .38 Special, mostly with a two inch barrel, with less than 10% manufactured with a 4 inch barrel and many of those shortened to 2 inch afterwards. More than 45,000 produced.

        Detailed discussion at:
        http://gunandswordcollector.com/Templates/articles/7_WW2_colt.html
        From that article:
        “In August 1942, a request for the procurement of 20,000 of Colt’s Official Police revolver [for the DSC] brought a price of $28, considered high by the District. Colt’s insistence that this was the lowest price at which their regular commercial gun could be sold to the government led to a request to design a gun as near like the Official Police as possible which Colt’s could make for $25 or less. Thus the “Commando” was born. It differed from the Official Police only in having a matted blued finish rather than the polished blued, and eliminated checkering on the cylinder latch and trigger, and the matting on top of the frame. It had plastic stocks. No polished surfaces were visible to reflect light.”

        Alice may have aftermarket grips (stocks).

  11. Eddurd
    November 20, 2014, 7:21 am | # | Reply

    Robert, just because you asked so nicely …

    (TUNE: “White Rabbit”, Jefferson Airplane)

    One gun’s so much larger,
    And one is rather small …
    We’re preparing for a duel, now,
    In a crowded shopping mall!
    I’ve got Alice …
    Don’t need more at all!

    I’m confronting Tigerlily,
    And she wants her mojo back …
    So she’s arming for the battle,
    ‘Cause she’s done with talking smack!
    I’ve got Alice …
    Alice has my back!

    Into Hammerspace she reaches …
    Man, that’s one Big Freakin’ Gun!
    But I have my favorite weapon
    That is second-best to none …
    I’ve got Alice!
    She is Number One!

    Now the words are getting heated,
    And the battles getting hot!
    I recall the words of Yoda,
    Who said, “Size, it matters not!”
    And when dueling,
    One thing I was taught …
    Don’t get shot!
    Don’t get shot!

    • January Powell
      November 20, 2014, 2:52 pm | # | Reply

      I heard the whole thing in Grace Slick’s voice. Goosebumps of flawless victory happened on the last few lines.

    • mrmonkeyhead2013
      November 20, 2014, 3:48 pm | # | Reply

      Exceptionally well done in a long list of well done filks. I, as always, am in awe of your talents sir. I echo JPs comment. :v

    • roberttheaddled
      November 20, 2014, 5:08 pm | # | Reply

      Eddurd – That is FAR FAR better than what I was trying to come up with driving in at 4 in the morning. I posted after I parked so I didn’t lose the thought (as happens WAY too often…

  12. bergerjacques
    November 20, 2014, 8:47 am | # | Reply

    The moment Tigerlily gets her Mojo, gone will be Tip’s clothes … and Alice. And Tigerlily’s just gonna wonder what Wilkin is thinking.

    • =Tamar
      November 20, 2014, 10:12 am | # | Reply

      Mojo a Mojo, then.

    • mrmonkeyhead2013
      November 20, 2014, 3:45 pm | # | Reply

      I think if Tip ends up naked, it’ll be very obvious what he’s thinking…

  13. Dante
    November 20, 2014, 10:08 am | # | Reply

    Tip may actually have the advantage since Tiger Lilly’s gun is so big it would be much less maneuverable and the extra power would be unnecessary agains flesh. Dead is dead while spinning a hunk of metal that big would be slow. That said they’re both mad so physics doesn’t apply to them in the usual way.

    They seem to like extreme flirting.

    • Rex Vivat
      November 20, 2014, 11:38 am | # | Reply

      Now Tip’s supposed to be mad too? It seems a character can’t have any quirk in this comic without someone calling “mad!”.

      • Marisa Mockery
        November 20, 2014, 2:49 pm | # | Reply

        If he’s mad, is his specialty sexing people up and wearing fabulous outfits?

        • Dante
          November 20, 2014, 9:54 pm | # | Reply

          Actually I’m fairly sure he’s meant to be a mad psychologist based on the archives, including the Narbonic comic. While the comics are very comical (pun intended) there are some trends that keep the world coherent, like mad scientists are capable of things impossible for sane people. A good example for comparing genius and madness that comes to mind is the “My brother sam is dead” story arc, with Artie and Dr. Lee. Narbonic also constantly hinted Dave was a mad scientist in the making throughout, even in the first comic.

          Also what do you have against being “mad”?

          • WJS
            July 24, 2019, 9:31 pm | #

            Yes, Narbonic hinted at Dave being Mad by having him build Mad Science devices. What has Tip done that you consider comparable to that?

  14. Robert Nowall
    November 20, 2014, 10:14 am | # | Reply

    I thought they knew each other well enough to be on a first-name basis…

  15. Vinnie Tesla
    November 20, 2014, 10:45 am | # | Reply

    http://static.tumblr.com/m9c5cga/i9llrnby9/sammax.gif

  16. GammarayCanon
    November 20, 2014, 11:13 am | # | Reply

    Tigerlily looks extremely adorable in that last panel. She seems so happy.

  17. Wdot
    November 20, 2014, 11:55 am | # | Reply

    “Noisy Cricket” anyone?

  18. Rob
    November 20, 2014, 1:56 pm | # | Reply

    THERE’S the super-weapon.

  19. Alphaghoul
    November 20, 2014, 2:39 pm | # | Reply

    So she thinks killing him will get her “mojo” back, even though he’s a psychologist and he’d could use his professional knowledge to help her with that provided she bribes him with a night in bed. But I guess it just makes as much sense as Imogene going down to her local library and researching changes in casually worn clothing from the fifties to modern times. But of course, that would make sense, and these people are mad scientists.

  20. Smithnik
    November 20, 2014, 7:17 pm | # | Reply

    In reply to Robert Nowall, one does not duel informally, nor should a proper villain utter threats on a first name basis.
    For example, “I have you now, Professor Jones” is much more proper than “Gotcha, Indy.”
    My real concern is that a two-handed weapon is not normally considered a pistol, for dueling purposes. While Rule 10 of the Code Duello might argue that as the “offended lady,” Dr. Jones has more leeway in choosing her weaponry after Tip has chosen a pistol, the spirit of the rules are that the weapons be at least comparable. In addition, the use of a second hand and grip would violate Rule 19, by providing an aiming rest, which has been prohibited for centuries now. There’s a reason why the Musketeers fought with swords…fighting a duel with two arquebuses on stands was just ridiculous to watch…but I digress.
    Since both have apparently waived their right to a second, they should be discussing this in the next panel, to maintain the propriety of the duel, since they also need to establish firing distance and any rules involving collateral damage.
    Or, they could just skip the preliminaries and get undressed…

  21. mickeyf
    November 20, 2014, 8:14 pm | # | Reply

    She has no intention whatsoever of killing him. She needs his help. Also, notice she said “*First* we’re gonna duel…”

  22. Shadowmehr
    November 20, 2014, 8:36 pm | # | Reply

    Okay, I’m calling it now. The next several strips will be the two of them jumping around, imitating movie badasses as much as possible while sniping at each other, and ending with a draw: Alice out of ammo, Tigerlily’s rifle(?) out of power, both of them facing each other panting.

    And the entire shopping mall little more than rubble around them from the fallout.

    • oneuniverse2
      November 20, 2014, 10:33 pm | # | Reply

      Jeff does that once in a while, but I’m thinking one of the other of the Skin-horse gang will wander over and prevent the firefight.

  23. Gyrre
    December 2, 2014, 3:27 pm | # | Reply

    Okay, I’ll be the first to admitt I’m no gun expert. That being said, HOW IN THE SEVEN HELLS IS THAT A PISTOL?!?

    • WJS
      July 24, 2019, 9:33 pm | # | Reply

      It doesn’t have a shoulder stock. In the U.S., that makes it legally a pistol. The U.S. has some weird gun laws.

      • awgiedawgie
        July 24, 2019, 10:23 pm | # | Reply

        Depends on what that gun fires. A pistol must fire a projectile.

      • awgiedawgie
        July 24, 2019, 10:25 pm | # | Reply

        Oh, and it has to be designed to be held in one hand. Which means that’s not a pistol, since it is clearly designed for two hands.

  24. Darkstarr
    May 18, 2016, 7:41 am | # | Reply

    Obligatory musical interlude here:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

More by Jeff

  • The Scrivnarium

More by Shaenon

  • Horror Every Day
  • Li'l Mell
  • Monster of the Week
  • Narbonic
  • Shaenon.com
Creative Commons License
Skin Horse by Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.skin-horse.com.

©2007-2022 Skin Horse | Powered by WordPress with ComicPress | Subscribe: RSS | Back to Top ↑