I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions, but I was asked what mine was at a New Year’s Eve party. “Prepare for the nuclear apocalypse,” is what I went with.
But not producing new material. So, no longer as much of a treasure?
Mike Blanche
He claimed the news isn’t funny any more. And, considering how much of recent history has been pretty divisive, he might be right. On the other hand, if you go through his stuff, you realize pretty quickly much of it could never see the light of day if it was produced now. (And we won’t even talk about Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.)
thejeff
I hear this all the time and I don’t believe any of it. I mean, his exact stuff probably wouldn’t, because it was a part of his time, but there’s plenty of “offensive” humor being produced now.
And if you think the 50s and 60s weren’t divisive, I don’t even know what to say.
Needfuldoer
He still is, but he also was.
CoMa
WHY have I never heard this before? (well I have an idea why, but still…) This will be one of my new favourite songs!
Carms
please make sure to explore the rest of his work. a gem.
Yumi
Yeah, so I’d like to make my piece with some things first. A gun could also be useful depending on where I am from the point(s) of impact, but I don’t really want to get a gun.
Yumi
*peace, fuck.
Needfuldoer
Was that Autocorrect, or a Freudian slip?
thejeff
According to our plans from back in high school, head for the gates of the nearest arms factory with a sun reflector and a cute member of your preferred gender.
Alternately, try to calculate the best location to leave a good blast shadow and pose dramatically.
I was going to say my plan is to hide out in a CostCo, but then I remembered that’s my plan for the ZOMBIE apocalypse, not nuclear apocalypse. It’s hard to keep these apocalypses straight.
It’s great for the zombies though…giant solid building with no windows, only one entrance that closes via a heavy steel door, and well-stocked with food, clothing, and other supplies.
Yeah, I had some concerns in the last hour or so about the entire world wanting 2017 to just GDIAF, already–I mean, once I thought about how such a thing might actually come about.
That whole “Be careful what you wish for” thing, and all that. :/
You think it’s a joke, but next year we’re all gonna realize this was foreshadowing for when a magic comet turns the Earth into a nuclear wasteland and the characters have to fight for their lives
I actually got the impression that she’s already on her way of letting him off the hook, with greeting him. She might still be angry, but it’s probably difficult for her to stay angry with him for very long, seeing he’s actively trying to help (even with something simple as holding the door).
Or she might just still be very angry but the niceness in her cannot not acknowledge Joe trying to help.
Silly question, but do these strips still have hovertext on them? I haven’t seen them work on my phone (my preferred viewing apparatus) for a few days now.
Yes, he and joyce share the class. His expression in the first two panels is more than “Here comes someone with a box full of iguana DVDs”, though.
Carms
it’s a “I’m sorry your toe is broken and I was implicated in the event”
“And I kind of feeling generally unsure about myself n shit right now and am not sure what to do about how you’re mad at me”
Maybe it’s just me, but “someday soon we’ll all be nuclear ash” doesn’t sound too far apart from “someday soon we’ll all be judged by God who will gather up the righteous and condemn the wicked to eternal hellfire”.
Could you maybe be a little less eschatological, Sarah?
it’s different bc one of those is talking about ‘some people will be judged good and others bad’ and another is talking about ‘everyone will equally die’
That’s not true at all. Those close to Ground Zero could be instantly incinerated, those further out could get hit with third-degree burns and be killed by that over the course of minutes and hours, others further out could be trapped in collapsed buildings for days before starving to death….
Maybe she’s not talking about all of humanity. Maybe she’s just aware that there’s a nearby nuclear silo in Indiana, and so knows that everyone for 50 miles will be ash but that people in, say, Australia will be fine so long as they know how to off-road in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
….
IS there a nuclear silo in Indiana? I mean, corn fields just feel like the right terrain for that for some reason….
….
*Googles “nuclear launch sites in Indiana” and gets put on five government watch lists*
re: this and the above “would you (want to) survive a nuclear exchange?” – I grew up in the 80s. I’ve already spent a lot of time thinking about this stuff.
Kryss LaBryn
Me too. :/ Nothing like the certainty that you won’t reach thirty to really put a crimp in making any actual, you know, long-term career or retirement plans. Because why would you, after all?
*Sigh* I really, really have not missed this. 🙁
Liquid Len
I grew up in the 80s, and in close proximity to several military equipment manufacturers, as well as not that far from New York City. No need to prepare if you’ll most likely be incinerated…
Not a “nuclear missile” site per se, but Google “Nike Missile Site C47” to read about an antiaircraft missile site was meant to take down Russian bombers that looked like they were headed for Chicago. It’s listed on the National Park Service web site.
thejeff
There’s a bunch of abandoned Nike sites around here. I’ve found a few of them hiking.
Jhon
I searched for ‘abandoned Nike sites’ and found a couple near me.
Wowsers.
Of course if you live near a major target…
Mother Jones has already done the work for you. Of course, clicking on a link to Mother Jones will probably also get you on five government watch lists.
Wondering where the nearest nuclear site is? Wonder no more.
I didn’t go through anything like what Joyce went through, but, I’ve had something bad happen, and I’ve felt that “I shouldn’t still be like this” feeling. The “I should be over this by now” feeling. And I felt guilty about how “this isn’t normal” until my therapist told me “it’s normal for you”. There is no universal normal, everyone’s recovery is different.
I’m really glad Joyce has Sarah to remind her that she *will* get there one day. It’s scary and frustrating being stuck in that state. I’m really glad Joyce has good friends.
(hug) Amen to this. It was my biggest fear after my anxiety attack that I’d be afraid forever. Having someone to tell me it was only for now really helped. I’m glad your therapist was there for you.
136 thoughts on “Toe thing”
Ana Chronistic
a little too soon ¬.¬;
Yumi
I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions, but I was asked what mine was at a New Year’s Eve party. “Prepare for the nuclear apocalypse,” is what I went with.
Marsh Maryrose
What’s to prepare?
We will all go together when we go
All suffused with an incandescent glow
But look on the (very) bright side: “There will be no more misery / When the world is our rotisserie.”
Marsh Maryrose
My first post of 2018 and I screw up the link. That was supposed to go to Tom Lehrer’s We Will All Go Together When We Go.
AresTheVagrant
Tom Leher was a damn national treasure.
Chris Phoenix
Um, he’s still alive according to Wikipedia.
Reltzik
But not producing new material. So, no longer as much of a treasure?
Mike Blanche
He claimed the news isn’t funny any more. And, considering how much of recent history has been pretty divisive, he might be right. On the other hand, if you go through his stuff, you realize pretty quickly much of it could never see the light of day if it was produced now. (And we won’t even talk about Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.)
thejeff
I hear this all the time and I don’t believe any of it. I mean, his exact stuff probably wouldn’t, because it was a part of his time, but there’s plenty of “offensive” humor being produced now.
And if you think the 50s and 60s weren’t divisive, I don’t even know what to say.
Needfuldoer
He still is, but he also was.
CoMa
WHY have I never heard this before? (well I have an idea why, but still…) This will be one of my new favourite songs!
Carms
please make sure to explore the rest of his work. a gem.
Yumi
Yeah, so I’d like to make my piece with some things first. A gun could also be useful depending on where I am from the point(s) of impact, but I don’t really want to get a gun.
Yumi
*peace, fuck.
Needfuldoer
Was that Autocorrect, or a Freudian slip?
thejeff
According to our plans from back in high school, head for the gates of the nearest arms factory with a sun reflector and a cute member of your preferred gender.
Alternately, try to calculate the best location to leave a good blast shadow and pose dramatically.
autogatos
I was going to say my plan is to hide out in a CostCo, but then I remembered that’s my plan for the ZOMBIE apocalypse, not nuclear apocalypse. It’s hard to keep these apocalypses straight.
It’s great for the zombies though…giant solid building with no windows, only one entrance that closes via a heavy steel door, and well-stocked with food, clothing, and other supplies.
Lokitsu
I’d say the timing was eerily prophetic.
Kryss LaBryn
Yeah, I had some concerns in the last hour or so about the entire world wanting 2017 to just GDIAF, already–I mean, once I thought about how such a thing might actually come about.
That whole “Be careful what you wish for” thing, and all that. :/
coru
She’s making so much progress though
Doctor_Who
Agreed. A while ago, she’d be trying to nuke humanity herself instead of just waiting for it to happen on its own.
Oh, wait, you probably meant Joyce. Nevermind.
Keulen
Sarah never misses an opportunity to be pessismistic about things.
Clif
And yet, it’s an oddly comforting thought.
AnvilPro
You think it’s a joke, but next year we’re all gonna realize this was foreshadowing for when a magic comet turns the Earth into a nuclear wasteland and the characters have to fight for their lives
marianne
A magic comet nuking us instead of us doing it ourselves would almost be a win.
IllogicalBobcat
So this comic is a prequel, then?
Stephen Bierce
Who Wants To Live Forever?…
Stephen Bierce
I don’t believe I actually SAW this. I know the Seal remake from the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert better.
CoMa
There’s a Seal remake?
I actually don’t know if I even want to look into that…
Ed Rhodes
“I intend to live forever, or die in the attempt!” – Villa – “Blakes 7”
ValdVin
Joe will be nuclear ash too, but he’ll be better nuclear ash than before, bit by bit.
Raen
“The bomb drops tomorrow.”
Kryss LaBryn
“Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love you, Tomorrow! You’re always a day away!”
Haven
Aw Sarah, that’s so sweet.
Even she had to do her equivalent of the thing Walky does.
Keulen
I’m reminded of this Firefly scene by the way.
Yumi
That panel three Joyce.
I feel that so hard.
Yumi
I love you, Jocelyne, but you confuse me as to where my comments are.
Passchendaele
Nuclear ash, on the other hand, has a pretty impressive lifespan, so we can be nonexistent and faintly dangerous *forever*.
Reltzik
Nuclear ash has a very very short lifespan. MOLECULAR ash that is radioactive as a result of nuclear detonation has a much longer lifespan.
So when the missiles fly, you can say to yourself, “at least I won’t have to worry about nuclear ash for long!”
Passchendaele
Hmmm being radioactive molecular ash would do wonders for my plan to destroy the world, thanks! 😛
DailyBrad
I wonder when Joyce will let Joe off the hook for what was also her fuckup.
I mean, I get it’s easier to blame someone than recognize it was an accident she was equally responsible for, but this is pretty icy of her.
CoMa
I actually got the impression that she’s already on her way of letting him off the hook, with greeting him. She might still be angry, but it’s probably difficult for her to stay angry with him for very long, seeing he’s actively trying to help (even with something simple as holding the door).
Or she might just still be very angry but the niceness in her cannot not acknowledge Joe trying to help.
DailyBrad
Yeah, grudging acknowledgment is still more than she’s shown him before now.
Dr T
Silly question, but do these strips still have hovertext on them? I haven’t seen them work on my phone (my preferred viewing apparatus) for a few days now.
Commentary Ver.2.72
Yes. As for phone viewing, pressing near the navigation buttons works, so long as you don’t press the buttons, which do their job if you do.
Hoodiecrow
Yes. I believe you press and hold the empty area to the right of the “end” arrow.
NickG
They haven’t been working for a few days on my i-phone, never had any problems before.
MM
Eat Arbys.
Reltzik
Now that’s just depressing.
EvilMidnightLurker
At, or an?
Jhon
It won’t matter what, or if, you ate at Arby’s when the sun expands and turns the Earth into an incandescent blob.
ValdVin
Did Joe ever see Ryan last time ( http://www.dumbingofage.com/2017/comic/book-7/03-the-thing-i-was-before/presidential/ ) And could Joe be feeling more protective of his frineds in this spot?
Needfuldoer
Aren’t they just going to the same class?
ValdVin
Yes, he and joyce share the class. His expression in the first two panels is more than “Here comes someone with a box full of
iguanaDVDs”, though.Carms
it’s a “I’m sorry your toe is broken and I was implicated in the event”
“And I kind of feeling generally unsure about myself n shit right now and am not sure what to do about how you’re mad at me”
Owlmirror
Eugh.
Maybe it’s just me, but “someday soon we’ll all be nuclear ash” doesn’t sound too far apart from “someday soon we’ll all be judged by God who will gather up the righteous and condemn the wicked to eternal hellfire”.
Could you maybe be a little less eschatological, Sarah?
Liliet
it’s different bc one of those is talking about ‘some people will be judged good and others bad’ and another is talking about ‘everyone will equally die’
Reltzik
That’s not true at all. Those close to Ground Zero could be instantly incinerated, those further out could get hit with third-degree burns and be killed by that over the course of minutes and hours, others further out could be trapped in collapsed buildings for days before starving to death….
Emperor Norton II
You’re just a ray of sunshine, aren’t you, Reltzik?
A ray of sunshine as viewed from Mercury, that is.
Reltzik
Maybe she’s not talking about all of humanity. Maybe she’s just aware that there’s a nearby nuclear silo in Indiana, and so knows that everyone for 50 miles will be ash but that people in, say, Australia will be fine so long as they know how to off-road in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
….
IS there a nuclear silo in Indiana? I mean, corn fields just feel like the right terrain for that for some reason….
….
*Googles “nuclear launch sites in Indiana” and gets put on five government watch lists*
StClair
Most silos are in plains states.
re: this and the above “would you (want to) survive a nuclear exchange?” – I grew up in the 80s. I’ve already spent a lot of time thinking about this stuff.
Kryss LaBryn
Me too. :/ Nothing like the certainty that you won’t reach thirty to really put a crimp in making any actual, you know, long-term career or retirement plans. Because why would you, after all?
*Sigh* I really, really have not missed this. 🙁
Liquid Len
I grew up in the 80s, and in close proximity to several military equipment manufacturers, as well as not that far from New York City. No need to prepare if you’ll most likely be incinerated…
DSL
Not a “nuclear missile” site per se, but Google “Nike Missile Site C47” to read about an antiaircraft missile site was meant to take down Russian bombers that looked like they were headed for Chicago. It’s listed on the National Park Service web site.
thejeff
There’s a bunch of abandoned Nike sites around here. I’ve found a few of them hiking.
Jhon
I searched for ‘abandoned Nike sites’ and found a couple near me.
Wowsers.
Of course if you live near a major target…
Marsh Maryrose
Mother Jones has already done the work for you. Of course, clicking on a link to Mother Jones will probably also get you on five government watch lists.
Wondering where the nearest nuclear site is? Wonder no more.
DallyDaydream
Hey, um.
Thank you. This hit home for me.
I didn’t go through anything like what Joyce went through, but, I’ve had something bad happen, and I’ve felt that “I shouldn’t still be like this” feeling. The “I should be over this by now” feeling. And I felt guilty about how “this isn’t normal” until my therapist told me “it’s normal for you”. There is no universal normal, everyone’s recovery is different.
I’m really glad Joyce has Sarah to remind her that she *will* get there one day. It’s scary and frustrating being stuck in that state. I’m really glad Joyce has good friends.
PB
(hug) Amen to this. It was my biggest fear after my anxiety attack that I’d be afraid forever. Having someone to tell me it was only for now really helped. I’m glad your therapist was there for you.
Hoodiecrow
I would like to see Joyce stop hurting. I would also like to see Sarah stop hurting.
mrj
Suggested song for this strip: “Never Quite Free” by The Mountain Goats.