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Horizon Observatory visit
Joe Dredd


Foliage associated with Venus, methinks.
 
Hugbot
Episode 1156
 
Paula
No, they didn't make a musical out of the cloned sheep story, but at least the film features a young Michael Crawford as Cornelius Hackel, long before Phantom of the Opera and other hits.
Resist the Host




 
Joe Dredd
I always liked Frank Jacobs parody in MAD magazine, with its distinctly New York/Jewish anchoring.

"Hello deli,
This is Joe, deli,
Will you please send up a nice corned beef on rye?
A box of Ritz, Deli.
And some Schlitz, deli.
Chopped liver and a sliver of your apple pie.
Turkey legs, deli,
Hard boiled eggs, deli,
With tomatoes and potatoes you french fry.
Oh don't be late, deli.
You know I can't just wait, deli.
Deli, without breakfast I will die."
 
Hugbot
Episode 1157
 
trevor travis


Grin Grin
Vote Og.
 
Paula
I'll let that one pass as I'm a big fan of pickled ginger on sushi whenever I have it. And also TT got a massive konk on the head in the comic. Made me laugh and laugh! <evil grin>
Resist the Host




 
Joe Dredd
"TT enters the mess. TT makes it an even bigger mess."

I love the panel borders for the flashback, plus the extremely comical 'sign wedged in helmet' (or cranium). It's okay for cartoons to do things in an over-the-top manner.
 
Hugbot


Paula wrote: ↑

I'll let that one pass as I'm a big fan of pickled ginger on sushi whenever I have it. And also TT got a massive konk on the head in the comic. Made me laugh and laugh! <evil grin>


Thank you for your positive reactions! Given how I handled the characters, I wasn't quite sure if it would go down well. I'm glad that you are all good sports!
Edited by Hugbot on 29-09-2026 06:31
 
Hugbot

Joe Dredd wrote: ↑

I love the panel borders for the flashback, plus the extremely comical 'sign wedged in helmet' (or cranium).


Thanks. I also tried to make the flashback banels black-and-white in Babylon 5 flashback style, but that made the sushi look rather boring, so I just desaturated the colours. If you zoom in close enough, you can see that both Ellen and I have two salmon maki, one prawn nigiri and a California inside-out roll.
 
Hugbot
Episode 1158
 
trevor travis

Hugbot wrote: ↑

Thank you for your positive reactions! Given how I handled the characters, I wasn't quite sure if it would go down well. I'm glad that you are all good sports!


There are times when strip TT says something that real TT might not (not that I mind - the strip is huge fun). But, in terms of me making a "ginger" remark in relation to the Ginger Mercenary to wind up Paula, it's spot on Wink Grin
Vote Og.
 
Joe Dredd
Shh! Don't let on we're feeding TT powdered glass. No one noticed the light was already broken as a ready-made scapegoat.

Mwhahahahaha! The pizzas will be mine! ALL MINE!!!
 
Joe Dredd
Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have said that out loud.
 
trevor travis
Next time we're on a highly dangerous mission, I'm sending out JD as our test canary Wink

No-one steals my pizzas Grin
Vote Og.
 
Paula

trevor travis wrote: ↑

Hugbot wrote: ↑

Thank you for your positive reactions! Given how I handled the characters, I wasn't quite sure if it would go down well. I'm glad that you are all good sports!


There are times when strip TT says something that real TT might not (not that I mind - the strip is huge fun). But, in terms of me making a "ginger" remark in relation to the Ginger Mercenary to wind up Paula, it's spot on Wink Grin


Yeah, it's hugely fun to tune in each day and read the most recent comic. Love it all. I'm always happy to egg Hugbot on, or any of the fellow readers, especially TT. Fun, fun, fun!
Edited by Paula on 30-09-2026 18:59
Resist the Host




 
Hugbot
Episode 1159
 
trevor travis


A whole planet which is an obligatory Red Dwarf reference? Grin Grin
Vote Og.
 
Hugbot
Episode 1160
 
Joe Dredd
Simon Templar, I presume?

Actually, that's an inventive way of keeping up a hat, as long as it doesn't get too wet. Plus you'd always be ready for a quick game of frisbee at lunchtime.
 
Hugbot

Joe Dredd wrote: ↑

Actually, that's an inventive way of keeping up a hat


It's based on a story that my mother told me. She attended a funeral where one of the guests, obviously lacking appropriate headwear, had fitted a borrowed hat with a cardboard ring. At the graveside, he respectfully took off the hat, oblivious to the fact that the cardboard ring was still stuck around his cranium. My mother had a hard time not to laugh out loud (which would have been highly inappropriate given the circumstances!).
 
Hugbot
Episode 1161
 
Joe Dredd
Ah! The perfect cue to tell Gareth Thomas' joke about butterflies.

"AND VOT IS WRONG VIS SCHMETTERLING?!?"
 
Hugbot
I feared that this old chestnut might come up. Time to lay this notion to rest.

While I’d be the first to make jokes about German bureaucracy, terrible German TV series etc., the cheap jokes about the allegedly 'harsh' German language simply drive me up the wall. After all, this is the language in which I write stories to express myself for about 56 years now. And the joke is plain simply stupid as it is based on a pronunciation that does not exist and never existed. Nobody talks like this. Remember, this is the language in which Silent Night was originally written. Can you imagine that song being sung in the tone of the mad Austrian? And in particular Schmetterling happens to be a very lyrical word, very apt for these delicate creatures.

Sorry for the rant, but this is actually one of my pet peeves. To clear up matters further, see today’s strip:

Episode 1162
 
trevor travis

Hugbot wrote: ↑

I feared that this old chestnut might come up. Time to lay this notion to rest.

While I’d be the first to make jokes about German bureaucracy, terrible German TV series etc., the cheap jokes about the allegedly 'harsh' German language simply drive me up the wall. After all, this is the language in which I write stories to express myself for about 56 years now. And the joke is plain simply stupid as it is based on a pronunciation that does not exist and never existed. Nobody talks like this. Remember, this is the language in which Silent Night was originally written. Can you imagine that song being sung in the tone of the mad Austrian? And in particular Schmetterling happens to be a very lyrical word, very apt for these delicate creatures.

Sorry for the rant, but this is actually one of my pet peeves. To clear up matters further, see today’s strip:

Episode 1162


Any language can sound harsh if you've got the wrong man speaking it. As Trump is currently proving with the English language

Anyway, let's move quickly on from politics, before we get told off * Grin Grin

* which seems daft, given the deeply political nature of B7 Wink
Vote Og.
 
Hugbot
Episode 1163
 
Joe Dredd

Hugbot wrote: ↑

the cheap jokes about the allegedly 'harsh' German language simply drive me up the wall.


Apologies Hugbot, no offence was meant. That stereotypical "Cherman" accent is about as accurate as thinking every pirate must have spoken with a Robert Newton/exaggerated West Country accent. Totally untrue but having developed (wooden) legs of its own. Arrrr!

To be fair, I didn't quote the joke and my point was the B7 connection with butterflies (the topic in question) via Gareth Thomas, because he liked to tell it. It wasn't to denigrate the language that came up with brustwarze.

I read somewhere that butterflies are called so because their excrement is yellow. I've no idea if that's true, though coincidentally I happened to read something last week about another insect who also produces yellow 'output'. ( I stress 'coincidentally' I'm not filling my hours reading Insect Excrement Weekly.)
 
Hugbot
No need to worry, Joe, I didn't feel offended by you. I understood exactly what you were doing, i.e. mentioning the joke because of its B7 connection via GT. But I just had to put the record straight for the general public. As you said, these things tend to develop a leg of their own. There are lots of elements of German culture that deserve to be mocked, and I'm happily doing that myself, but this one is just nonsensical.
Edited by Hugbot on 05-10-2026 08:09
 
Hugbot

Joe Dredd wrote: ↑

I'm not filling my hours reading Insect Excrement Weekly.

Now there's an idea for an new story... Shock
 
Hugbot
But now for something completely different!

In previous years, there was a special Halloween episode on 31st October. This year, I have a whole Halloween story arc for you, starting... today!

Readers of a nervous disposition may want to exercise caution!

Episode 1164
 
trevor travis

Hugbot wrote: ↑

But now for something completely different!

In previous years, there was a special Halloween episode on 31st October. This year, I have a whole Halloween story arc for you, starting... today!

Readers of a nervous disposition may want to exercise caution!

Episode 1164


Sounds scary! Plastic pants on just in case Wink

And will Og finally make his strip debut during the month of Og-tober? Sadly, I fear it may prove to be a red herring Pfft Pfft
Vote Og.
 
Joe Dredd
I'm scared already! The yokels with the hats remind me of scarecrows, which reminds me of the Doctor Who novel "Scratchman" (supposedly written by Tom Baker but ghosted by James Goss, I believe). At the start, all the villagers in a small town are being turned into scarecrows. Frightening, walk-around-and-turn-you-into-a-scarecrow-too scarecrows.
Brr!

(Oh yes, there was Human Nature as well but they were hatless sack-head scarecrows. The ones in the book had hats, and were made of all sorts of bits and pieces.)
 
Hugbot

trevor travis wrote: ↑

Sounds scary! Plastic pants on just in case Wink

Joe Dredd wrote: ↑

I'm scared already!


Oh dear, what have I done? I hope the storyline will not be too shocking! Pfft
 
Hugbot

Joe Dredd wrote: ↑

The yokels with the hats remind me of scarecrows, which reminds me of the Doctor Who novel "Scratchman"


The hats are actually inspired by the headgear that Branimir Karabajić used to give any peasant characters in his Pauli the Mole comics in Fix & Foxi, the leading German comic strip magazine for children (don’t worry – in German, the name Foxi does not evoke any associations with “foxy”!).
I was reminded of them a few month ago when I got a hardcover edition of the legendary Pauli adventure, Das Geheimnis von Schloss Grauenfels (The Mystery of Craig Dread Manor). As an 8-year old in 1972, I read the story in its original run of twelve exciting episodes, and re-reading it at the tender age of 61 was a lovely experience. In contrast to many childhood memories, it still holds up. Furthermore, in 1972 I missed the first instalment, and now after all these years, I was finally able to read the beginning of the adventure!
 
Hugbot
Episode 1165
 
Joe Dredd
We're all still asking for zombies!

Does that add-on to the title say "spooky" or "spoofy"? Either works...
 
trevor travis
Bring on the zombies! Grin Grin

PS Joe, I'm pretty sure it's spooky!
Vote Og.
 
Joe Dredd
Thanks TT.
 
Hugbot

trevor travis wrote: ↑

I'm pretty sure it's spooky!

It is!

Reminds me of the scene in Billy Liar where on of his three girl friends tries to read the inscriptions on old gravestones and confuses the 'long s' with an f: 'Here lief...'

At work, we had (for whatever reason) an old book with the title 'Reisen und Abenteuer' (Travels and Adventures) written in a Gothic font, which my boss jokingly read as 'Reifen and Abenteuer' (Tyres and Adventures).
Edited by Hugbot on 07-10-2026 08:49
 
Hugbot
Episode 1166
 
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