Right off the bat I’d like to invite the purists to bugger off.  Panel 2 had to flow the way it did or risk a third word-bubble layer with more confusing indicators. Frell that.

You might think I’m reaching for the sake of a joke setup but, no, this is based on an actual comment overheard during a homeward commute a few weeks ago.

In other news, this week’s comics were made with the aid of a hot pixel removal tool and a RAW extractor. I’ve been shooting JPG format in the camera up to this point, which makes it harder to deal with one particular prominent red pixel that you may have noticed, especially in some of the Quackvent posters. The downside is that, for some reason, the camera is more finicky now. It took two entire passes to get workable shots for these four frames because the focus mechanism didn’t get anywhere near the two ducks the first time through. I’m not sure what I broke while messing around in the menus, but this whole new way of doing things is difficult enough without the camera making things worse…

The remedy in question is, I kid you not, to use nail polish on all of the capacitors to cover them up so they no longer emit the ultra-high-pitch sound which has been driving me batty for months now. Me and only me, since nobody else can hear it. Mind you, the computer’s in my bedroom, so I’m the one who has to live with it.

Or, you know, I could do something far less risky… like buying a replacement card. Yeah.

I’ve had this joke bouncing around in the back of my head for years, people. You’re lucky I waited this long.

Bring on the Trekkies! And the Queen fans, for that matter!

Going to the extra effort of running the vacuum cleaner over the floors might have been a good idea, I suppose…

Realizing that I’d painted myself into a corner, I wondered: How do I either extend this or get out of it entirely?

Once again, the bookshelf saved me… somewhat. I couldn’t find a way to make funny the buildup to Sachiko’s version of the punchline, though. So I stewed, and pondered, and wandered off for a while, and read half of a book about the planet Earth, and then it hit me.

Do what the Pythons did!

Of course! And if this series of comics has got entirely too silly, well… the rest sort of wrote itself. By which I mean I oh-so-cleverly adapted The Colonel’s bits out of the classic “Full Frontal Nudity” episode from Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

One should pay proper homage to the classics, I figure.

(Speaking of which: I tried, I really tried, to work another bit of that episode into this comic… but I just couldn’t see Sachiko complaining, “But it’s my only line!”)

Apparently, revenge is a dish best served with a rubber suction tip.

And the less one ponders that statement the better, I’m thinking.

…

I’ve done ninety of these things? Wow. Ten more and we hit the 100 mark.

We should try for something special, shouldn’t we? (Admittedly, I’m more excited by the prospect of a 1-year anniversary, but hey.)

This was almost inevitable, once the roomie decided to gift me with a Nerf gun for my birthday.

Did you know that those little darts won’t stick to a shiny box side for very long? You wouldn’t believe how fast I had work to get through this shoot! For one of the panels (I think it’s #3) I only took one picture before the dart fell, so I had to hope that the shot came out okay…

(Okay, yes: I could’ve done this in a more meticulous fashion. What’s the fun in that, hmm?)

No real punchline here, I just decided to come up with a way to showcase one of the more extravagant ducks who arrived in my home during the Yule season.

…

Don’t worry: She won’t become a full cast member. Primarily this is because she has to stay safe and snug in her box, otherwise all of those itty bitty feathers would be gone in no time. It’s quite the striking effect, though, isn’t it?

(I should update the year on that copyright text, shouldn’t I…?)

Merry Christmas, everybody!

…

We’ll deal with the new guy on Monday… and we’re back on a normal schedule after this! Mondays and Thursdays from now until the next time I get a crazy notion to mess around with things.

(Whew. Could I have more tags on one comic post? Yikes.)