Nah, like, how Tigerlily is from the seventies, or how that other mad was from the early colonial period, Ira is from some period in the past, but Alzheimer’s disease made him forget exactly when he’s from, thus, brain shenanigans.
Assuming he was at least in his 40s when the leisure suits reached their 1970s US peak of popularity, that puts him at least in his eighties…is Ira a time traveler? Perhaps a frequent and inadvertent time traveler? Or is it just his mind, randomly drifting between past and future, Billy Pilgrim-style?
(Of course, maybe he’s the same age now as he was in the 1970s, which would support my older “Ira is an Eldritch Abomination with memory troubles” theory. Isn’t Iog-Sothoth supposed to be coterminous with all time and space?)
I suspect Ira is not mad or mentally infirm. I bet he is cleverly concealing his actual abilities behind an act of dementia for other reasons. The question is if we will we ever learn why.
Of course, if everyone got sent back in time, as supported by Manifesta smashing her car a few strips back, then this is just another predestination-paradox…
I wonder…if you erase someone’s memory on a daily basis, will they forget to age? That seems to be what’s happening to Ira. Either that, or they hired him when he was just entering the job market, and he’s only aged physically ever since, which would be cruel even for a government black ops agency.
I mean, consider that he can’t even have a home life or relationships, unless they’ve set up a group home for people whose memories have to be erased every day. Even then, you’d have to have a reminder notebook given to you at the door, after the driver comes and picks you up at work and takes you “home.”
I’d think Ira was 40-50 when the 70s hit full steam. The difference between the “under 30” was staggering. He’sstill very old but he could be in his late 90s to very early 100s–so plausibly still mortal.
A seer, a sear, a future, a flame, there’s lots in a spelling, but what’s in a name?
A present, a past, a gift, half-daft, we think we know, but what of it lasts?
Once upon a time, I acquired a bunch of free avatars of Skin Horse characters from among these pages, several of which I used a time or two, one of which I have been using for years now as my Facebook profile image, but now would like to have a couple of female ones for my partner’s use, but I cannot find the set of avatars here anumore.
If they are still available, can someone tell me where to look, in a reply?
If they are gone, could someone tell me so, and let me stop looking?
Thanks for any help.
/s/ xanthian.
Kent Paul Dolan, very old guy with modest needs, but unreasonable expectations.
Ah, and now I remember why I never used an avatar here.
Who ever thought that Gravitar was a good idea?
Millions of people, perhaps, but making it the standard for a site removes any other choice.
Has social media really become that bereft of individuality?
Gravatar requires a pointless membership in WordPress, not something I am likely ever to use, wasting some few bytes of the world’s large but at any time finite supply of data storage, potentially until long after I am dead.
Gravatar, tries to reuse a set of “global” avatars, as if a personal image trying to convey ones ideal reality or fantasy based personality bereft of personal errors or personal choice should be attractive to a creative type.
If one creates and uploads an avatar image of ones own, the problem reverses; what one creates to uniquely represent oneself, is thereby automatically inappropriate for use of anyone else, yet Gravatar seems to intend to share it around, destroying the avatar designer’s sense of ownership and uniqueness.
For those who are unable to scrawl something, anything, acceptable to themselves, I suppose Gravatar is better than nothing, but, how sad that anyone would find oneself that inadequate to ones own needs.
You know, I’m not sure if we ever actually got an answer for how the hell Ira could see the future in this particular case. We got answers for quite a lot of other things about Ira, but not this one.
While it is true that no one ever came right out and said “this is how Ira saw the future”, all the other things we learn later on should make it fairly clear. Obviously, I’m not going to give the answer here, because that would be a spoiler.
Reporting from the past… is Ira an elderly Mad?
Living backward? Is this a timey-wimey non-linear experiential situation?
Nah, like, how Tigerlily is from the seventies, or how that other mad was from the early colonial period, Ira is from some period in the past, but Alzheimer’s disease made him forget exactly when he’s from, thus, brain shenanigans.
Elderly enough to think leisure suits are what young folk wear.
Assuming he was at least in his 40s when the leisure suits reached their 1970s US peak of popularity, that puts him at least in his eighties…is Ira a time traveler? Perhaps a frequent and inadvertent time traveler? Or is it just his mind, randomly drifting between past and future, Billy Pilgrim-style?
(Of course, maybe he’s the same age now as he was in the 1970s, which would support my older “Ira is an Eldritch Abomination with memory troubles” theory. Isn’t Iog-Sothoth supposed to be coterminous with all time and space?)
I suspect Ira is not mad or mentally infirm. I bet he is cleverly concealing his actual abilities behind an act of dementia for other reasons. The question is if we will we ever learn why.
Keep in mind that he’s had his memory erased on a daily basis for many years now, so he might well still think it’s 1970.
Well, assuming he isn’t either crazy, obfuscating stupidity, or both, anyway.
Well, that’s the point of the “Say, that’s a stylish outfit” joke. But it indicates that even in the 70’s he was old.
Of course, if everyone got sent back in time, as supported by Manifesta smashing her car a few strips back, then this is just another predestination-paradox…
If they got sent back in time, wouldn’t they run into themselves? At least, that’s why I think it’s gonna be the *car* that gets sent back in time.
Not if they were sent a few days before they got there. That would explain the dragon reference.
If the car were sent back how would they know a dragon had sat on it.
HE CAN SEE THE FUTURE!
He didn’t know, he just dragged the dragon in.
If only Tip were there, to drag in the dragon while in drag
It’s a real drag, dragging a dragon in drag.
Maybe he fell into the portal when he was young, so they wiped his memory?
So you’re saying Ira is Jonah, with a few decades attached? That would explain a lot.
Where’s the wrench? Toolbelt?
OMG Ira’s mind is unstuck in time! It all makes sense now.
Would somebody find a link to the comic referenced here? I can’t find it in the archives…
Previously on Skin Horse
http://narbonic.com/comic/august-4-9-2003/
And here’s someone getting unstuck in time.
Itself a reference to the classic and brilliant Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut.
laughing…so…hard…right now…
I wonder…if you erase someone’s memory on a daily basis, will they forget to age? That seems to be what’s happening to Ira. Either that, or they hired him when he was just entering the job market, and he’s only aged physically ever since, which would be cruel even for a government black ops agency.
I mean, consider that he can’t even have a home life or relationships, unless they’ve set up a group home for people whose memories have to be erased every day. Even then, you’d have to have a reminder notebook given to you at the door, after the driver comes and picks you up at work and takes you “home.”
I honestly would be surprised if “Group home for those with wiped memories” wasn’t an organization that Skin Horse had to deal with at some point.
I’d think Ira was 40-50 when the 70s hit full steam. The difference between the “under 30” was staggering. He’sstill very old but he could be in his late 90s to very early 100s–so plausibly still mortal.
I hope, and trust, that Ira shall forever remain a wonderful mystery. Explaining him would only spoil his magic 🙂
A seer, a sear, a future, a flame, there’s lots in a spelling, but what’s in a name?
A present, a past, a gift, half-daft, we think we know, but what of it lasts?
Once upon a time, I acquired a bunch of free avatars of Skin Horse characters from among these pages, several of which I used a time or two, one of which I have been using for years now as my Facebook profile image, but now would like to have a couple of female ones for my partner’s use, but I cannot find the set of avatars here anumore.
If they are still available, can someone tell me where to look, in a reply?
If they are gone, could someone tell me so, and let me stop looking?
Thanks for any help.
/s/ xanthian.
Kent Paul Dolan, very old guy with modest needs, but unreasonable expectations.
Ah, and now I remember why I never used an avatar here.
Who ever thought that Gravitar was a good idea?
Millions of people, perhaps, but making it the standard for a site removes any other choice.
Has social media really become that bereft of individuality?
Gravatar requires a pointless membership in WordPress, not something I am likely ever to use, wasting some few bytes of the world’s large but at any time finite supply of data storage, potentially until long after I am dead.
Gravatar, tries to reuse a set of “global” avatars, as if a personal image trying to convey ones ideal reality or fantasy based personality bereft of personal errors or personal choice should be attractive to a creative type.
If one creates and uploads an avatar image of ones own, the problem reverses; what one creates to uniquely represent oneself, is thereby automatically inappropriate for use of anyone else, yet Gravatar seems to intend to share it around, destroying the avatar designer’s sense of ownership and uniqueness.
For those who are unable to scrawl something, anything, acceptable to themselves, I suppose Gravatar is better than nothing, but, how sad that anyone would find oneself that inadequate to ones own needs.
I tend to rant a lot, and am sure no one notices.
Or maybe disco is going to come back?
Didn’t Ira’s shirt used to be light gray?
You know, I’m not sure if we ever actually got an answer for how the hell Ira could see the future in this particular case. We got answers for quite a lot of other things about Ira, but not this one.
While it is true that no one ever came right out and said “this is how Ira saw the future”, all the other things we learn later on should make it fairly clear. Obviously, I’m not going to give the answer here, because that would be a spoiler.