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Sam and Silo, 3/7/19

I was going to do a kind of dumb “Ho ho, the sequence of noises Sam describes sounds vaguely sexual, which certainly has ribald implications for what the relationship between the two title characters is like!” joke, but, you know what those noises actually sound like? A murder. Like a guy was getting murdered and tried to call the sheriff but never was able to choke out a cry for help before his antagonist shut him up … forever. This certainly has horrifying implications for what the relationship between the two title characters is like!

Shoe, 3/7/19

The deal with the “Wizard” character in Shoe is that he’s the computer repair/tech support guy, because, ha ha, you have to be a darn magician to deal with those computers, am I right people? But the Shoe creative team long ago decided that they’re not going to hand-hold potential new readers of the strip and so no, they’re not going to ever explain why most of these bird-people are dressed like ordinary humans but one of them is wearing a wizard outfit, you just have to get it from context. This exchange is vaguely on-brand for his character because he’s being asked for his tech opinions, but the discussion really falls under the umbrella of thought leadership rather than practical advice. Anyway, I like to imagine that if you came into this cold, you’d think that this wizard-bird, using his magical powers to scry into the future, is looking forward to the day when the primitive ground-dwelling ape creatures develop intelligence and supplant the treetop civilization the birds have created.

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Gil Thorp, 1/7/18

So obviously we all knew that this billboards thing would end up as an attack on Coach Thorp, but I don’t think we were prepared for how hilariously nonspecific the accusations would end up being. “Wait!” cried Robby, of the titular report dot com. “I just meant ‘save the kids from his half-assed coaching!’” But it was too late: just hours after the #pizzagate and #qanon crowds saw the billboard posted on Reddit, the doxxing swiftly followed, and the angry mob had burned down the Thorps’ house, Kelly’s travel agency, and, just be safe, Milford High itself.

Mary Worth, 1/7/18

“I’m just going to wear these black armbands to symbolize my mourning for the trust in our marriage that’s now dead! He’ll get the hint!”

Shoe, 1/7/18

“And it seemed weird at first, but, like, we’re birds who wear clothes, you know? I mean, I’m wearing clothes. You’re wearing a shirt and shoes but no pants for whatever reason. Who can really explain the world-building here, right? Anyway, this dog is my sister, I guess.”

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Ahh, Sunday Mark Trail nature facts, what do you have for me this week?

Mark Trail panel 1, 10/28/18

“Very few!” That certainly sounds extremely reassuring.

Mark Trail panel 2, 10/28/18

Wait, WHAT. What the fuck. Holy shit. Savage. Child-sized. SQUAMATES????

Mark Trail, 10/28/18

WAIT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO BE AFRAID OF THESE HIGHLY INTELLIGENT LIZARDS OR NOT. ARE THEY FRIEND OR FOE. ARE THEY ONE OF THE VERY FEW KINDS OF LIZARD THAT POSE A THREAT TO HUMANS OR ARE THEY JUST A DANGER TO, LIKE, THE ECOSYSTEM OR WHATEVER BUT THEY’RE NOT ACTUALLY GONNA EAT US. LIKE I KNOW WE’RE PART OF THE ECOSYSTEM, ULTIMATELY, BUT LIKE ARE YOU USING “ECOSYSTEM” IN THAT REALLY INCLUSIVE SENSE HERE. PLEASE MARK I DEPEND ON YOU TO LET ME KNOW HOW MUCH I SHOULD PANIC

Shoe, 10/28/18

You know, I spend a lot of time on this blog musing about how the animals took over in Slylock Fox but next to none on the background of the bird-world of Shoe. And while I believe that the animal regime in Slylock was established by a sudden and violent revolution, I think that the Shoe bird-folk evolved to fill the niche left open after humanity went extinct on its own. The bird-men’s paleontological sciences are apparently underdeveloped, and they believe that many of the landscape modifications we left behind — the golf courses, for instance — are simply natural features of the landscape; the more religious among them see them as proof of a loving Bird-God who wants them to be happy, or, in this case, mildly frustrated.