Poor Dietzel — this shouldn’t even happen to a dog. I’m thinking this is going to cost Monica at least a week of pizza deliveries. Jin needs to see all of this — she’ll start feeling much better about her own craziness in comparison (or maybe she’ll think she’s suddenly gotten a lot worse — kind of a tossup when confronted by this level of strangeness).
Good point. Jin would be just the one to poit in now. She would look at Monica and think, “THIS is the person I’m depending on to help me restore my sanity!? I’m screwed.”
I think she can hear her talking, but maybe only if she’s close enough, like within a couple of miles. I’m not sure. Seems to me I recall seeing a strip of Jin doing that very thing.
It’s possible that she can see enough through the bra to be able to navigate her own living space. In my own house I can get around pretty well in near-total darkness because I know the locale so well.
I never knew ballerinas made such a strange noise when they danced. Perhaps we may get to see the Mantis’ patented grand battement head kick, followed by her spinning, arabesque onlair take down.
I’m pretty impressed myself. I figured that even had she taken ballet as a kid, the second she…erm…blossomed, she would have lost any of the balance it takes to be en pointe.
Um, the male partner would have to be rather short for that to be a problem, wouldn’t he?
I would think a problem would be maintaining her position in a pirouette. Wouldn’t she tend to bang around like a badly loaded washing machine on its spin cycle?
Yes, the characters had more of a cartoony look back then. I think they were cuter. One thing I’ve noted though is that they never had an amaturish look to them. They were well drawn then and now. I’m sure Paul has improved his art as time has progressed, but, as I see it, his style has simply changed, not so much gotten better as such. To me, the new style fits the progressing story concerning it’s supernatural aspects better. It gives the strips more visual impact than the original cartoony style.
*laughs* Not innocent, I assure you. Just on a nosalgia binge lately. I’ve pulled out Xena, Gargoyles, the 90′s X-men cartoon, Sailormoon, and I’m thinking I need to find Rainbow Brite and Rockadoodle. *nods* Maybe I can find our old tapes of Stop the Smoggies…
Haha! I can’t remember the last time I had fun around the house like that. Looks like it’s time to start! *Begins constructing a fort and dressing up cats*
Great now I want to fight crime in a silly costume with a comedic relief sidekick AND eat ice cream til my metabolism hand me a signed resignation. Ah who am I kidding i’m crazy enough Id do that anyway and light something on fire for good measure.
Oh no, that’s not crazy. Crazy is going to work like that. Then, when someone asks her why is she wearing a bra on her head, she responds “what bra?” That’s crazy.
This reminds me of the Looney Toons cartoon “Bugs’ Bonnets” in which Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd adopt a different personality for each of the hats that happens to fall on their heads.
!!!Mmmmmpppphhhhhxxxxxhahahahahahahhahah!!! Pablo, how DID you come up with “deedledeedledeedledeedle”? It’s SOOOOO perfect!
This and yesterdays are definitly in my Wapsi top ten!
MORE please?
I need a good laugh in the morning.
It makes my co-workers wonder about me.
It’s the standard cartoon noise… think Flintstones. That high plinking of the upper piano keys…
…I SO want to invent a sound effects suite for people to wear. Gloves that make the ‘boink’ and ‘bam’ sound effects of old H-B cartoons, anklets that make that ‘p-twow!’ sound for running (or maybe deedle-deedle…)
I remember, about 20 years ago, someone marketed several sets of gloves that made noises. One set had kung-fu noises, another robot noises, and the one I couldn’t find, cartoon noises. I wanted the rimshot. There is also
There was also a plastic blood-stained hatched that screamed when you hit something with it … a plastic hammer tat made a startling realistic smashing glass sound…
And a pair of Godzilla feet – one went “! Crash! Smash!” with each step … and the other gave out with appropriate screams…
The excess commas are starting to get to me…:) I wasn’t going to say anything, but I just can’t let it go. There shouldn’t be a comma after Minxi Munoz.
Ex: As the school’s librarian, Minxi Munoz performs many tasks.
As opposed to: The school’s librarian, Minxi Munoz, performs many tasks.
I agree. I would interpret it easier if I saw a dash or ellipsis, especially before “as the Crimson Mantis” and “with a dark chocolate lining.” The commas confuse me sometimes because I’m not used to them being used the way Paul uses them.
Heh, I was just thinking about suggesting the use of periods. It occurred to me that it would have two advantages. 1) It’s the way that style of talking is often represented. 2) It would still leave Fatuncle biting his tongue over sentence fragments.
It’s really good to see the care-free, light-hearted side of Monica again. Wapsi has been a little to doom and gloom during the Calendar Machine story arc (not complaining at all). But it’s good to see the goofball antics of Monica again, reminds me of the early days of Wapsi Square.
hehehe….crimson mantis! I LOVE IT! It didn’t take long for my 4yr old to start playing with mommy’s bras like this…I have blackmail pics all saved up for those special occasions when its my dutiful right to embarrass the hell outta her!
That is so true. I’ve heard many women say something like “I like you, you make me laugh.” I always thought, why do you need someone else to entertain you? If you can’t be good company to yourself, including make yourself laugh (frequently) there is a problem,
I feel your pain, Dietzel. Apparently when Monica poited her bra on her face, she poited away some of her sanity. Now, some one walking in on her, thus creating a hilariously awkward moment will commence in 3…2…1…
At least some of it was archived by the Wayback Machine. For example: The Care and Feeding of Golems thread as of October 2007. That’s likely to be very hit and miss, though.
Oh wow, a great reference, even though some of the links don’t work anymore, thanks. I downloaded it into a pdf file in case that page disappears. Maybe I’ll find some time to fix the links to the new archive.
What’s this?! Ms Munoz, the lovely local librarian, assuming an energetic alter ego? Her devoted dog, simalirly suiting-up as an apiarian avenger? Nixing nocturnal ne’er-do-wells as The Crimson Mantis and Bumbling Bumblebee, our Wapsi wunderkind unfurl their undergarments of ultimate ultra-justice each week on this very station!
Just watched “Lilo and Stitch” with the grandkids – in oe short sequence during the end credits, Stitch is doing the laundry, comes across one of Nani’s bikini tops, puts if over his pointy ears, puts on a towel for a cape, and plays “Batman”.
lol this will have me laughing for quite sometime, and more nit-picking but shouldn’t it be “a large waffle cone” not “a largeR waffle cone?” surprised no one else has noticed this….
Workaday folk who had Grammar Nazi’s for teachers and professors can’t help but notice it.
I do try to keep things like that to myself since I know I’m being ridiculous, but every now and then I just hear all of those voices from my past telling me that those poor sentences are in need of my help…
Whew, finally read the whole archive in three days’ time…. Love this comic and totally bookmarking it! Heh… anaerobic….
On topic of the current ‘arc’…. I’m now waiting for the boytoy to get home early from wherever the hell he’s been for the last year and catch ‘Ms. Mantis’
Wait…I know that deedle anywhere…omigaw! It’s the Crimson Mantis!!!
*deedle deedle deedle**
Hahahaha !
Dietzel is sooooooo NOT into this…
Yeah, I see the wheels turning, plotting his revenge even now.
Poor Dietzel — this shouldn’t even happen to a dog. I’m thinking this is going to cost Monica at least a week of pizza deliveries. Jin needs to see all of this — she’ll start feeling much better about her own craziness in comparison (or maybe she’ll think she’s suddenly gotten a lot worse — kind of a tossup when confronted by this level of strangeness).
Good point. Jin would be just the one to poit in now. She would look at Monica and think, “THIS is the person I’m depending on to help me restore my sanity!? I’m screwed.”
Does Jin still sense Monica’s thoughts?
I think she can hear her talking, but maybe only if she’s close enough, like within a couple of miles. I’m not sure. Seems to me I recall seeing a strip of Jin doing that very thing.
Jin heard Monica’s conversation here and evidence that Jin and Monica can communicate just by through is shown here
I’m kind of disturbed she’s actually got a bumblebee costume for a dog… Even an improvised one…
can this please be the next Patch Together star?
Ditto!!
Oh, my ribs hurt! And I thought yesterday’s strip was hilarious — !
Apparently bras on your head cause split personality and are hazardous to your pets.
This just made my evening.
Now…is someone going to walk/poit in on her doing this?
Oh, yes! Of course someone is going to walk in on her.
It’s almost a law of comedy.
The Roger Rabbit Principle, Corollary 2
Corollary 1 being, of course, “Complex gadgets always work perfectly under test conditions, and fail in application when it will be funny.”
Known as the “Coyote Principle”, in honour of its original formulator.
Probably poit in, startling her into turning on her eye lights and making the bra eyes effect complete.
Oooo…I like that idea!
We haven’t seen Kevin around for a while . . .
Amanda might come over with drinks or something to make up for previously thinking that Monica was going crazy. (She let herself in once before.)
BTW, poor Dietzel! I just had to say it.
Doctor Custard sounds like the best supervillain EVER. I mean, not at being evil, but like.. who wouldn’t want to have him as their arch nemesis?
I believe Dr. Custard’s evil lair probably is located in the refrigerator. This may lead to another pig-out session.
I believe I have been imprisoned by Dr. Custard myself…curse that dark chocolate lining!
Mmmmm . Chocolate covered custard .
Doctor Custard had his day (Sunday was National Custard Day, according to my local stand).
…and was promptly foiled by the TIck. If you listen closely to the wind you can still hear him enjoying his victory… spoooooon!
And of course his peppery cousin, Mean Mr Mustard.
every time i see the words deedle deedle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Harvey_Birdman,_Attorney_at_Law_characters#Recurring_characters
Ohmydearlord.
ummm…very many more “deedles” and walking blind at that. I look to a future broken metatarsal in Monicas future.
It’s possible that she can see enough through the bra to be able to navigate her own living space. In my own house I can get around pretty well in near-total darkness because I know the locale so well.
Mmmmm…. Chocolate!!!
I didn’t know Monica took ballet, at least enough to be able to go around in en pointe shoes
I never knew ballerinas made such a strange noise when they danced. Perhaps we may get to see the Mantis’ patented grand battement head kick, followed by her spinning, arabesque onlair take down.
I’m pretty impressed myself. I figured that even had she taken ballet as a kid, the second she…erm…blossomed, she would have lost any of the balance it takes to be en pointe.
Actually, it’s not because of the balance – it’s the bruised faces and broken noses of male partners when top-heavy ballerinas do a fast pirouette…
Um, the male partner would have to be rather short for that to be a problem, wouldn’t he?
I would think a problem would be maintaining her position in a pirouette. Wouldn’t she tend to bang around like a badly loaded washing machine on its spin cycle?
You didn’t know she took…
(FACEPALM)
Okay, that’s it, BACK to the archives with you.
Thank you, thank you for that! Wipes off monitor again!
I love Amanda’s bugged-out eyes in that one.
wow all the characters look so different from back then, if i didn’t know better i would say they were 2 separate comics!
Yes, the characters had more of a cartoony look back then. I think they were cuter. One thing I’ve noted though is that they never had an amaturish look to them. They were well drawn then and now. I’m sure Paul has improved his art as time has progressed, but, as I see it, his style has simply changed, not so much gotten better as such. To me, the new style fits the progressing story concerning it’s supernatural aspects better. It gives the strips more visual impact than the original cartoony style.
I don’t know why, but the insect sorta theme and the ‘Deedles’ have me thinking the Sweeney Todd movie with Johnny Depp
Hmm… all I thought about was Strawberry Shortcake. Though her nemesis may have brought that to mind more than M did…
Strawberry Shortcake? How innocent are you?
*laughs* Not innocent, I assure you. Just on a nosalgia binge lately. I’ve pulled out Xena, Gargoyles, the 90′s X-men cartoon, Sailormoon, and I’m thinking I need to find Rainbow Brite and Rockadoodle. *nods* Maybe I can find our old tapes of Stop the Smoggies…
My former roommate had Stop the Smoggies on DVD.
OMG <3 !! I can't find them anywhere anymore, except for one "special" DVD on ebay… o(ToT)o
Being a dancer myself – I have had these moments…Ok maybe not this exact one, but it strikes close to my heart!
Awesome
My congratuations. I’ve often thought professional dancing must be one of the most strenuous jobs there is.
Haha! I can’t remember the last time I had fun around the house like that. Looks like it’s time to start! *Begins constructing a fort and dressing up cats*
Great now I want to fight crime in a silly costume with a comedic relief sidekick AND eat ice cream til my metabolism hand me a signed resignation. Ah who am I kidding i’m crazy enough Id do that anyway and light something on fire for good measure.
Haaaaa, ha, ha, ha, ha, haaaaaaa! Monica is hilarious tonight.
I hope that she doesn’t lose her footing and fall down.
Hahaahaha now this is a comic!
BWA-HAHAHAAAHAHAAAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAAAAA…
~deedle~
HAHAHahahahahHAHAhahaaaaa.
Pablo, I think you may have totally lost your mind, but this has to be one of my favorite Wapsi sequences ever. Hysterical. Thanks!
Dr Custard? I just had Danger Mouse flashbacks.
COR!
A few too many Black Russians, Monica…
ROFL LMAO
in a word… EPIC!
I’m *so* glad Monica managed to convince us she’s not crazy.
Oh no, that’s not crazy. Crazy is going to work like that. Then, when someone asks her why is she wearing a bra on her head, she responds “what bra?” That’s crazy.
No, that’s evil.
No, that’s friggin’ awesome.
This reminds me of the Looney Toons cartoon “Bugs’ Bonnets” in which Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd adopt a different personality for each of the hats that happens to fall on their heads.
!!!Mmmmmpppphhhhhxxxxxhahahahahahahhahah!!! Pablo, how DID you come up with “deedledeedledeedledeedle”? It’s SOOOOO perfect!
This and yesterdays are definitly in my Wapsi top ten!
MORE please?
I need a good laugh in the morning.
It makes my co-workers wonder about me.
It’s the standard cartoon noise… think Flintstones. That high plinking of the upper piano keys…
…I SO want to invent a sound effects suite for people to wear. Gloves that make the ‘boink’ and ‘bam’ sound effects of old H-B cartoons, anklets that make that ‘p-twow!’ sound for running (or maybe deedle-deedle…)
I remember, about 20 years ago, someone marketed several sets of gloves that made noises. One set had kung-fu noises, another robot noises, and the one I couldn’t find, cartoon noises. I wanted the rimshot. There is also
http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/interactive/a5bf/
There was also a plastic blood-stained hatched that screamed when you hit something with it … a plastic hammer tat made a startling realistic smashing glass sound…
And a pair of Godzilla feet – one went “! Crash! Smash!” with each step … and the other gave out with appropriate screams…
I remember seeing Gozilla slippers that did that at an anime specialtiy store in Austin, once….
The Jetson’s car sound was suggested for electric cars so they wouldn’t be silent in parking lots and have inattentive people step in front of them.
But Nooooooo!
Programmable ‘Car-Tones’ have been pre-emptively disallowed!
Pablo, muy bueno! Ms. Mantis and the Bumbling Bumblebee to the rescue…
Your sense of pacing is superb; dark interrupted with extreme light, introspection broken by slapstick. More, please!
The excess commas are starting to get to me…:) I wasn’t going to say anything, but I just can’t let it go. There shouldn’t be a comma after Minxi Munoz.
Ex: As the school’s librarian, Minxi Munoz performs many tasks.
As opposed to: The school’s librarian, Minxi Munoz, performs many tasks.
Option A in play here…sorry to be a nitpicker!
Think about an Adam West or William Shatner type delivery of those lines.
That’s a good point, but perhaps dashes there instead of commas might be better for that effect. Just a thought.
I agree. I would interpret it easier if I saw a dash or ellipsis, especially before “as the Crimson Mantis” and “with a dark chocolate lining.” The commas confuse me sometimes because I’m not used to them being used the way Paul uses them.
Not going there, not going there, not going there –
Heh, I was just thinking about suggesting the use of periods. It occurred to me that it would have two advantages. 1) It’s the way that style of talking is often represented. 2) It would still leave Fatuncle biting his tongue over sentence fragments.
*cough*evil*cough*
Bill Shatner:
SPAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHK….I DON’T, THINK, YOUSHOULDGODOWN, TO, THEPLANET,…..WITH THE AWAYTEAM…
Adam West:
That’s, right, old, chum…BUT ONLY IF, my, calculus…is, correct…
HOLY BRA CUPS BATMAN!!!!!
Well that makes a bit more sense at least. My sense of punctuational propriety is not offended now.
Dietzel: “I ‘on’ get *NO* effin’ respeck ‘roun’ here…”
I see another bottle of ice-cold shower water in Monica’s future.
More like an ice chest, preceeded by a toilet flush.
It’s really good to see the care-free, light-hearted side of Monica again. Wapsi has been a little to doom and gloom during the Calendar Machine story arc (not complaining at all). But it’s good to see the goofball antics of Monica again, reminds me of the early days of Wapsi Square.
Bumped our head coming out of the shower? No, wait. What were those mushrooms in the spaghetti sauce?
Oh my stars and garters…
I don’t see any garters.
Other lingerie, however…
Hey, when does the Pershing missile come up through the living room floor, and her evil brother turn into a slug?
Weird Science reference gotten…
No, no, evil sister. This is a female-centric comic remember.
Slug? Google “Turd Monster” images, and lol!
hehehe….crimson mantis! I LOVE IT! It didn’t take long for my 4yr old to start playing with mommy’s bras like this…I have blackmail pics all saved up for those special occasions when its my dutiful right to embarrass the hell outta her!
Exxxxxcelent [rubbing hands together]. That should help to deflate over blown high school know-it-all ego.
Now THAT is nuts. And i love it.
Major kudos, Paul! I bow before your supreme skills!
WOW! Someone is really bored. Doesn’t she have a boyfriend that can entertain her.
He’s always gone. This what lack of sex will do to ya.
And again I say:
bwwwwwaaahahahahahaahahahaaaaaaa!!!
If you can’t amuse yourself, something is very wrong
That is so true. I’ve heard many women say something like “I like you, you make me laugh.” I always thought, why do you need someone else to entertain you? If you can’t be good company to yourself, including make yourself laugh (frequently) there is a problem,
Hey – laugh with yourself, play with … errr … by yourself…
Well, yes…but it is also nice not to have to entertain ourselves.
Poor Dietzel. He looks soooo not into this COSPLAY.
Monica must have bribed him with something VERY good.
Say, this one is pretty funny.
Okay, maybe THIS is now my favorite strip. XD
Maybe so, but Bud has a wicked sense of humor. Remember what she did when she was found naked on the beach in snow by reporters?
She wasn’t naked – till she tore off her bra …
And this is still the benchmark for Bud’s weird and veering sense of humor.
Now thats funny right there. I don’t care who ya’are, Thats funny! But Dietzel doesn’t think so. NOW, Enter her Boyfriend.
I feel your pain, Dietzel. Apparently when Monica poited her bra on her face, she poited away some of her sanity. Now, some one walking in on her, thus creating a hilariously awkward moment will commence in 3…2…1…
On an unrelated topic, I’ve just noticed that all of the old Blank Label forum stuff is gone.
It was an honor to participate and a shame it isn’t archived somewhere.
RIP
At least some of it was archived by the Wayback Machine. For example: The Care and Feeding of Golems thread as of October 2007. That’s likely to be very hit and miss, though.
Oh wow, a great reference, even though some of the links don’t work anymore, thanks. I downloaded it into a pdf file in case that page disappears. Maybe I’ll find some time to fix the links to the new archive.
She made the same sound as Fred Flintstones bowling approach, lol! Nice.
What’s this?! Ms Munoz, the lovely local librarian, assuming an energetic alter ego? Her devoted dog, simalirly suiting-up as an apiarian avenger? Nixing nocturnal ne’er-do-wells as The Crimson Mantis and Bumbling Bumblebee, our Wapsi wunderkind unfurl their undergarments of ultimate ultra-justice each week on this very station!
*deedle-deedle-deedle-deedle-deedle*
Just watched “Lilo and Stitch” with the grandkids – in oe short sequence during the end credits, Stitch is doing the laundry, comes across one of Nani’s bikini tops, puts if over his pointy ears, puts on a towel for a cape, and plays “Batman”.
And then bumps into Nani’s legs…
Ummm – does this mean that the bra is crimson?
Ooooh…
No, but the tutu is,,,
I was wondering the same thing…
ROFLMFAO
lol this will have me laughing for quite sometime, and more nit-picking but shouldn’t it be “a large waffle cone” not “a largeR waffle cone?” surprised no one else has noticed this….
Maybe she was already accosted by an amazingly large cone, so the dastardly dairyman decided to double the dirty deed.
ah, nertz, I’m having a hard time turning off the Dozier Mode today.
Ya know, I’ll bet with a some effort we could make deedle deedle deedle a new meme. Sorta like num num num or durr durr durr.
You know, she’s acting an awful lot like my sister and my brother’s girlfriend when they’re together
Hey, you people. Stop being grammar nazis, k? Workaday folk don’t even notice that crap, so leave him alone.
Workaday folk who edit copy for a living notice it in the dark and around corners.
Workaday folk who had Grammar Nazi’s for teachers and professors can’t help but notice it.
I do try to keep things like that to myself since I know I’m being ridiculous, but every now and then I just hear all of those voices from my past telling me that those poor sentences are in need of my help…
Ain’t cosplay a bitch? Deitzel thinks so…
must…avoid…the evil…doctor Custard…NO! it’s no use; I’m too weak willed…such inconceivable power! I will join your horde of candy minions doctor!
Whew, finally read the whole archive in three days’ time…. Love this comic and totally bookmarking it! Heh… anaerobic….
On topic of the current ‘arc’…. I’m now waiting for the boytoy to get home early from wherever the hell he’s been for the last year and catch ‘Ms. Mantis’
I died laughing at this strip; PAUL TAYLOR, YOU KICK BUTT!
Alright, M has proved me wrong. You can be sexy and a dork at the same time.