Nice Story 2012-10-12

[ShadOBabe]

You know, I have to ask, what is with the characters in this comic jumping to the absolute extremes in order to make their points?
I like all the characters, but sometimes I question their use of traumatic tactics. Maybe it's because almost all of them are nigh-immortal that they feel that they don't need much restraint.
But seriously, even if I didn't die because of it, if you ripped my heart out of my chest and if I ever came out of my state of "curled in a fetal position in the corner, traumatized" afterwards, I'd totally kick your @$$ for it.

EDIT: Saw some other comments. This drastic measure sure does make a lot more sense if there is some real and immediate danger heading their way and they need Monica to shape up quickly.
But still... what would they do if all it did was turn her into a gibbering, crying mental case?

[Yamara]

Or, this time, Patrick Duffy really is in the shower. The set up is in place, and M's bad night sleeps have never really been explored.

[sonicthunder]

Let's just hope Monica doesn't take this revelation to the other extreme. Namely, now that she knows she can't die, she intentionally starts tempting fate (ala that one early Family Guy episode (the first 2 seasons were decent) where Death is out of commission, now we'll see Monica jumping off skyscrapers or picking fights with her old biker buddies in bars).

Let's also hope Monica doesn't become the punching bag for Bud or Shelly when they get upset. We already know that role can get traumatizing (see Officer TB's origin).

[waldosan]

well shoot... i guess that's the end of this webcomic...


i wonder where they are getting this information from? how do they know that monica is a phoenix

[bmonk]

No time right now to read all the comments. Just add my first thought: Monica's door is now open again for business?

[Opus the Poet]

OK several looks at the comic after reading the comments, Bud hit M with an uppercut (you can see her elbow behind M's back), the trajectory took her hand clear of the top/bra so no wardrobe malfunctions. and that appears to be Bud's fist rather than M's heart coming out of her chest.

And it's still Friday...

[Dave]

No time right now to read all the comments. Just add my first thought: Monica's door is now open again for business?

No, I don't think so.

My first reaction to the image was that this was a demon, reaching out from within Monica's "door" (which I think is what you also took it as).

Consensus seems to be that this is not the case... that Bud just gave Monica one hell of an uppercut to the mid-spinal area.

OK several looks at the comic after reading the comments, Bud hit M with an uppercut (you can see her elbow behind M's back), the trajectory took her hand clear of the top/bra so no wardrobe malfunctions. and that appears to be Bud's fist rather than M's heart coming out of her chest.

To me, it looks like Monica's heart, firmly grasped in Bud's hand. I agree that the arm in question appears to be Bud's rather than Shelly's - Bud has occasionally lamented her drinking-straw arm physique, which is completely at odds with her actual world-pulverizing strength.

[Dave]

Well, if this little stunt works - if Monica blazes up and heals the cardiectomy that Bud has just performed - it'll be oddly comforting. It'll confirm that Monica has Phoenix blood, and that probably means that the "Tithonus problem" that some of us were musing about a few days ago isn't actually a problem.

If Monica can regenerate as a phoenix does, it doesn't matter all that much if she ages as she lives. Immortality would not be a "life sentence". Old age would be an occasional, periodic part of her extended life, not a continual ongoing debility such as it was for Tithonus. She would grow young again... although I suppose that like Highlander immortals, she may find it necessary to pretend to die, "go underground", and assume a new name and profession in order to avoid attracting unwanted attention.

Every once in a while, Monica will grow so old and enfeebled that she can't really do very much, I suppose. At that point, all she has to do is wait for a while longer, for her next Phoenix regeneration cycle. She can just sit back, grab her eBook reader, download the latest Robert Ludlum spy novel, and kick back on a comfy couch.

Eventually, she will Kindle, and be rebourne into a new identity.

EDIT: as davids4250 reminds me in the next post, I really do owe the Pun Jar something for that.

it seems appropriate to offer the Jar something fancy. I rather like this sculpture, both for its golden color and for its composition and meaning.

[davids4250]

No time right now to read all the comments. Just add my first thought: Monica's door is now open again for business?

No, just her chest...

My first thought was that Bud had ripped out M's spine, ala Russell Edgington from True Blood. Closer look reveals that what I thunk were vertenrae are just Bud's bloody fingers.

Dave, the pun far with the Acme hole in it want's to talk with you.

[Heather_Dee]

As long as Monday's, Tuesday's, Wednesday's and Thursday's strips are not single panel deals with Bud and Shelly standing over Monica's body looking more and more apprehensive and finally next Friday with Bud saying, "I really thought that would work..."

Part of me wants to see that.

I mean, really now Bud, have a hea . .

Um. I mean get a grip . .

. .never mind.

[NebulousRikulau]

Do you have any idea how much that STINGS?!?!?!

Well, Bud DID help found the MIB.
Or so Euryale told Monica. http://wapsisquare.com/comic/men-in-black/

[illiad]

OK several looks at the comic after reading the comments, Bud hit M with an uppercut (you can see her elbow behind M's back), the trajectory took her hand clear of the top/bra so no wardrobe malfunctions. and that appears to be Bud's fist rather than M's heart coming out of her chest.

And it's still Friday...

well I thought it was just a 'splat' until I got home to my *good* monitor... I am sure I see a heart in that fist....

zoom in real close... what is larger than a fist, and has two tubes sticking out the top???? certainly cannot explain it away as 'cannot draw hands'... :/

[Casey]

If Monica still doesn't buy the Phoenix blood explanation after this, she will be so deep in denial that she would need to be rescued by an Egyptian lifeguard.

[bmonk]

What I get from this page is that M's denial of her true nature constitutes a real, serious danger to her (and Bud knows that). So Bud isn't so much justified in what she's doing, as she is required to do it by her position as bodyguard.

The drastic method Bud has selected to bring Monica back from her Egyptian river-side retreat suggests a lack of time for a milder lesson to sink in. Are there ways for M to get in serious trouble by refusing to believe in her own power? Wandering too far from the world of the living, maybe, thinking that because it's a dream it can't hurt her? Or is something coming very soon for which she needs to practice her powers (which implies admitting those powers exist)?

It could be payback for M's method of demonstrating poiting to others, as well as guarding against danger from M's power. But I'd think that the danger is not just to Monica--her powers, used unknowingly or uncontrolled, may be a danger not just to herself, but to others.

And the phoenix blood may be a sideways clue too--if we knew what it was useful for, or how it worked.

Which leaves several questions to hang over a cliff for a couple of days, if not longer:

Do Jaguar Girls all have phoenix blood?

Will Monica's phoenix blood make the rounds without her heart beating?

Is this the first step in a sacrifice to the gods?

If the GGGs really do "love Monica to pieces," what will be the next to go?

Will Bud's impromptu surgery leave a scar?

[Mark N]

If Monica still doesn't buy the Phoenix blood explanation after this, she will be so deep in denial that she would need to be rescued by an Egyptian lifeguard.

Egyptian Lifeguard??? Are you kidding? Monica is so deep in denial that she would need the entire cast of Baywatch Egypt and Seaquest DSV to save her.

[jwhouk]

EDIT: Dangit, bmonk, you beat me to it.

[illiad]

If Monica still doesn't buy the Phoenix blood explanation after this, she will be so deep in denial that she would need to be rescued by an Egyptian lifeguard.

..... or she could wake up, say "gee, that was some weird nightmare....."

[illiad]

Will Monica's phoenix blood make the rounds without her heart beating?

Is this the first step in a sacrifice to the gods?

If the GGGs really do "love Monica to pieces," what will be the next to go?

Will Bud's impromptu surgery leave a scar?

Or will she just shout "hey! gimme that!!!" and shove it back in.... cue very shocked face, and Bud saying to Shelly (a day later!), " gawd, is she still catatonic???? "

[bmonk]

If the GGGs really do "love Monica to pieces," what will be the next to go?

Will Bud's impromptu surgery leave a scar?

Or will she just shout "hey! gimme that!!!" and shove it back in.... cue very shocked face, and Bud saying to Shelly (a day later!), " gawd, is she still catatonic???? "

Phix would know about people being cat-a-tonic. I assume she had some sort of bar in the Library for mixing drinks. . . .

[sonicthunder]

well shoot... i guess that's the end of this webcomic...


i wonder where they are getting this information from? how do they know that monica is a phoenix

I have to admit, it would be hilarious (if not a bit tragic and sick) if Bud was wrong. Or even if Bud and Shelly are still right, that Monica's body doesn't actually 'heal' from the damage like OfficerTB does, she just doesn't die from it.

Death Becomes Monica.