When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon, there was a few minutes Aldrin had to wait while Armstrong completed a task with equipment or such. Aldrin had time to just look around and take in the scene — the fact he was on the moon, the entire concept that he was where he was, and that he was a tiny, tiny part of a huge universe. It was a profoundly moving experience. Something similar happened to a Gemini astronaut, standing in the open doorway, looking at the earth passing by below while his partner finished his task. Likewise, it was a life changer.
Jin has seen all that and more in her own way. Now that the pressure is off, the question is — Now What?
She needs a hug like no other, and a hug just isn’t going to cut it.
“I abso-f***ing-lutely am standing on the surface of the f***ing moon. I am talking to you from the g0dd@mned f***ing moon. Jesus H. Christ in a chicken basket.”
We all need time to just spend time on our own and think. Gazing at a lovely/calming landscape helps but, unlike Jin, we humans get cramped, tired and hungry if we stayed too long in the same position. Not mentioning the fact that we don’t know how hot/cold it is there.
i’m glad that Bud’s joined her because I suspect that, without intervention, she could easily spend a decade or more just staring into space.
Did Bud join her voluntarily, though, or did Jin reach out and poit her? Since Bud didn’t demand to know where she was or what she was doing there I would suspect the former, but it’s also possible she’s worried enough about Jin’s unstable psyche that, finding herself suddenly in Jin’s presence, she decided to keep quiet and see what happened…
I get the impression from Bud’s face that she was checking up on Jin. She was concerned when Tina had first said that something was wrong, but had to deal with calming Monica down at the time.
Jin is probably reacting in part to not having her mother around. Someone like that would leave a big hole when they are gone. Even though she is nearby now, it probably reminds Jin of what it was like to have her missing for so long.
No… Pablo used the same Jin-image for panels 1 & 2. Panels 3, 4 & 5 are alike (except for Bud’s lips as she speaks in 4), but different from the others. Same for 6 & 7. Panel 8 would be the same as 6 & 7, except for Jin’s lips, chin and eyebrow as she speaks.
I don’t know. Even though they are immortal, I think they would get just as bored as the rest of us. They probably have more patience, but they live in the moment just like anyone else. They are their minds, just like humans, and the mind is a restless thing. I don’t think immortality translates into the ability to just sit for days, or years.
**Fairport**and**Julie** Great Pinky & Brain. I get the feeling this is ‘Padding’ – stalling for time Then again its not filled with overexpanded balloons and thought bubblesfilled with exposition.
OK, for the record, you made me think of Pinky and the Brain, but it’s been a very long time since I’ve seen it and I don’t know what else I might have missed that you might have been referring to.
If it makes you feel better, I had no idea what Fairportfan was talking about. 🙂
LOL…yes, that does make me feel better. 🙂 There I was thinking that I must have been the only person to have watched Pinky & the Brain enough for it to have left a permanent reference in my brain…
Reminds me of the bit from an old John D McDonald novel from the 1950s or so – hero’s a used-car salesman. Lot manager asks him if he knows where another salesman is.
He says he’s over there, dickering with a local farmer about a pickup.
“They’ve been sitting on the tailgate for an hour or more – I figure any minute Rafferty’s gonna make an offer and then Bud’s gonna think about whether it’s enough for an hour or so and them they’re gonna shake hands and Rafferty’s gonna haul out his wallet…”
Day-yum, you people like to fill silences. For me, someone with whom you can just sit without having to fill every silence with words (that usually say much less than the silence) is a friend to be valued indeed.
Two words. Well, actually one word repeated. But there was a whole conversation there, if you look.
Jin, lost in thought. Intro Bud, in a manner that would surprise a normal person, but at least as surprising as someone suddenly entering the room to Jin. But she gives no reaction at all- she is focused on what is off to the left. No turn, no acknowledgement whatsoever.
Bud, a longtime companion who, while often at odds with Jin, shares a common bond that makes them like sisters, detects this distraction. She initiates conversation, a simple ‘Hey” in an attempt to get her attention.
After no immediate reaction, or even a hesitant one, Bud decides to join Jin in looking (at whatever is off to the left). There is a long moment where the two of them, lost in thought together, share the experience. A sense of kinship is rekindled.
Jin responds with the one word that is appropriate to the situation. “Hey.” As in ‘Hey, yourself. Thanks for being here. You are the unexpected friend.’
I’d like to believe that Jin is zoned out completely while staring off, listening to that little bit–er brat– er…. being in the back of her head… Also in panel 8 her eyes are suddenly focused and clearer with a more obvious pupil, suddenly realizing that Bud is in fact there and it wasn’t another word being spoken by the kid in her head, but that may not be a purposeful effect. I’ve known artists to make eyes slightly different without intending to, so I won’t officially guess as to the meaning of the sudden change yet.
Again, as Fairportfan suggested, this scene so much reminds me of the Paddy Chayefsky story “Marty” (both book and movies). Jin truly looks like a person who has absolutely no idea what to do with her life. Remember, Jin has gone through the calendar machine ordeal 50-odd times, and remembers every time, unlike everyone else (except Phix, who was outside that realm, and maybe Tepoz). She dedicated her life to fixing/destroying the calendar in order to be able to live a normal life, and now that she finally has it… I don’t think she really knows what to do with it. Be careful what you wish for… you just might get it…
…As for where they are: We last left Jin at her place, and it looks like she’s still in her PJs, so it’s my guess that they’re sitting on Jin’s bed, and what we’re looking at is a blank spot on the wall and the rumpled bedspread/comforter.
Are we at loose ends, now that we have saved the world?
…
…
“What’re you looking at?”
…
…
…
…
“Nothing.”
…
Gut reaction: Is this the Easter Island approach to conversation? : /
So…
… what’s the poi(n)t? 😉 lol
When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon, there was a few minutes Aldrin had to wait while Armstrong completed a task with equipment or such. Aldrin had time to just look around and take in the scene — the fact he was on the moon, the entire concept that he was where he was, and that he was a tiny, tiny part of a huge universe. It was a profoundly moving experience. Something similar happened to a Gemini astronaut, standing in the open doorway, looking at the earth passing by below while his partner finished his task. Likewise, it was a life changer.
Jin has seen all that and more in her own way. Now that the pressure is off, the question is — Now What?
She needs a hug like no other, and a hug just isn’t going to cut it.
http://www.members.shaw.ca/rlongpre01/moon.html
“I abso-f***ing-lutely am standing on the surface of the f***ing moon. I am talking to you from the g0dd@mned f***ing moon. Jesus H. Christ in a chicken basket.”
Yeah, I think Jin’s thinking something like that.
I’ve given my sister a look like that before. ‘Are you gonna blow up at me? Should I have brought my facemask?’
Some of my favorite stories are told with few or no words…
~D.
I imagine they have had plenty of time to get used to spending plenty of time on their conversations.
I don’t know why, but this seems like a bad thing.
…because what else do you say when you suddenly teleport in next to the girl looking blankly off the edge of the bed…?
Is it a bed or a rock outside somewhere?
Now I look again, it looks like a cliff edge.
In that case, I’m a little surprised he didn’t make this into a cliff-hanger!
Booooooooooooooooo…….
Hmmm . . .
“I don’t know, Jin – what do you want to do tonight?”
“The same thing we do every night, Bud…Try to take over the world!”
*sings* They’re Bud…Bud and Crazy Jin Jin Jin Jin JIN!
I was sort of thinking of Ernest Borgnine, actually.
*sigh* well phooey… 🙂 So much for thinking I’m clever.
I’m not as familiar with Ernest Borgnine as I am with Animaniacs unfortunately.
Marty
I just assumed you were injecting yourself into the comic. (Not as a replacement for Bud, of course.)
Gah! You’re going to knock my “wittiness” knees out from under me too?! 🙂
Maybe they could roll some joints and do a Cheech & Chong routine.
Well, at least it would be better than them saying “Wazzzupppp!” back and forth.
I was thinking the “Marty” thing, too.
“Well… whaddaya feel like doin’ tonight?”
“I dunno; whaddaya feel like doin’?”
“Well… we oughta do somethin’…”
We all need time to just spend time on our own and think. Gazing at a lovely/calming landscape helps but, unlike Jin, we humans get cramped, tired and hungry if we stayed too long in the same position. Not mentioning the fact that we don’t know how hot/cold it is there.
i’m glad that Bud’s joined her because I suspect that, without intervention, she could easily spend a decade or more just staring into space.
Did Bud join her voluntarily, though, or did Jin reach out and poit her? Since Bud didn’t demand to know where she was or what she was doing there I would suspect the former, but it’s also possible she’s worried enough about Jin’s unstable psyche that, finding herself suddenly in Jin’s presence, she decided to keep quiet and see what happened…
I did wonder whether Jin instigated it but I would have expected Jin to look in Bud’s direction in anticipation if that were the case.
They do have the ability to find people they want. Remember when Brandi turned up at the coffee shop to tell Monica something.
I get the impression from Bud’s face that she was checking up on Jin. She was concerned when Tina had first said that something was wrong, but had to deal with calming Monica down at the time.
Jin is probably reacting in part to not having her mother around. Someone like that would leave a big hole when they are gone. Even though she is nearby now, it probably reminds Jin of what it was like to have her missing for so long.
Weird how Jin looks more and more human as the panels progress, especially after Bud says “Hey”. Wonder what that means.
Unless I’m just making stuff up?
No… Pablo used the same Jin-image for panels 1 & 2. Panels 3, 4 & 5 are alike (except for Bud’s lips as she speaks in 4), but different from the others. Same for 6 & 7. Panel 8 would be the same as 6 & 7, except for Jin’s lips, chin and eyebrow as she speaks.
If they wanted to, they could spend all day looking at the sunrise.
All day.
Over and over.
Would that be a bad thing?
I don’t know. Even though they are immortal, I think they would get just as bored as the rest of us. They probably have more patience, but they live in the moment just like anyone else. They are their minds, just like humans, and the mind is a restless thing. I don’t think immortality translates into the ability to just sit for days, or years.
We’re the Monkees.
I’m trying to remember if Pablo has ever done a strip with less dialogue than this. Anyone?
Mmmm.. this one came to mind, but had more words than I thought:
There’s this one that actually has less dialogue than the one you cited.
There’s also this one which doesn’t have much dialogue, if you count going “Auughhh!” and “Weeeee!” as dialogue.
The closest to a “no dialogue’ strip would, of course, have to be this one (it matches the only-two-words” of this one).
…yes, I’m a webcomic geek, why do you ask?
DOH! I forgot two consecutive strips!
Phone?
Thanks.
Aaaaand of course there was Bud’s explanation of her whole backstory to Monica.
Here and following.
To some people I know … that consitutes a whole conversation.
If one person doesn’t have anything to say … he won’t, no matter what the others say.
**Fairport**and**Julie** Great Pinky & Brain. I get the feeling this is ‘Padding’ – stalling for time Then again its not filled with overexpanded balloons and thought bubblesfilled with exposition.
No, i was talking about Paddy, not padding.
I’m glad you got it. 😛 No one else did.
OK, for the record, you made me think of Pinky and the Brain, but it’s been a very long time since I’ve seen it and I don’t know what else I might have missed that you might have been referring to.
If it makes you feel better, I had no idea what Fairportfan was talking about. 🙂
LOL…yes, that does make me feel better. 🙂 There I was thinking that I must have been the only person to have watched Pinky & the Brain enough for it to have left a permanent reference in my brain…
I like the comfortable silences the best.
Reminds me of the bit from an old John D McDonald novel from the 1950s or so – hero’s a used-car salesman. Lot manager asks him if he knows where another salesman is.
He says he’s over there, dickering with a local farmer about a pickup.
“They’ve been sitting on the tailgate for an hour or more – I figure any minute Rafferty’s gonna make an offer and then Bud’s gonna think about whether it’s enough for an hour or so and them they’re gonna shake hands and Rafferty’s gonna haul out his wallet…”
Where are they sitting? Are they at Jin’s place? Are they some where else? The formless gray mass, with the gray background is not helping.
I had thought it might be a high place, but their hair isn’t blowing. For all we know it could be on Mars. Or this may be Monica’s custard dream.
Hey
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………hey.
Day-yum, you people like to fill silences. For me, someone with whom you can just sit without having to fill every silence with words (that usually say much less than the silence) is a friend to be valued indeed.
The lack of activity on the board reflects the lack of conversation in the comic…
So, Pablo … How did Bud and Jin learn to speak like men so fluently?
Probably while destroying the world. Seems like a male thing to do.
As is building the world.
Two words. Well, actually one word repeated. But there was a whole conversation there, if you look.
Jin, lost in thought. Intro Bud, in a manner that would surprise a normal person, but at least as surprising as someone suddenly entering the room to Jin. But she gives no reaction at all- she is focused on what is off to the left. No turn, no acknowledgement whatsoever.
Bud, a longtime companion who, while often at odds with Jin, shares a common bond that makes them like sisters, detects this distraction. She initiates conversation, a simple ‘Hey” in an attempt to get her attention.
After no immediate reaction, or even a hesitant one, Bud decides to join Jin in looking (at whatever is off to the left). There is a long moment where the two of them, lost in thought together, share the experience. A sense of kinship is rekindled.
Jin responds with the one word that is appropriate to the situation. “Hey.” As in ‘Hey, yourself. Thanks for being here. You are the unexpected friend.’
Beautiful.
A lovely take on the situation, Kaiser.
I’d like to believe that Jin is zoned out completely while staring off, listening to that little bit–er brat– er…. being in the back of her head… Also in panel 8 her eyes are suddenly focused and clearer with a more obvious pupil, suddenly realizing that Bud is in fact there and it wasn’t another word being spoken by the kid in her head, but that may not be a purposeful effect. I’ve known artists to make eyes slightly different without intending to, so I won’t officially guess as to the meaning of the sudden change yet.
Sorry, symbiote, not Kaiser, got lost in the chain of people
Again, as Fairportfan suggested, this scene so much reminds me of the Paddy Chayefsky story “Marty” (both book and movies). Jin truly looks like a person who has absolutely no idea what to do with her life. Remember, Jin has gone through the calendar machine ordeal 50-odd times, and remembers every time, unlike everyone else (except Phix, who was outside that realm, and maybe Tepoz). She dedicated her life to fixing/destroying the calendar in order to be able to live a normal life, and now that she finally has it… I don’t think she really knows what to do with it. Be careful what you wish for… you just might get it…
…except that she’s not living a normal life – she’s still immortal, if i recall what May told her.
…As for where they are: We last left Jin at her place, and it looks like she’s still in her PJs, so it’s my guess that they’re sitting on Jin’s bed, and what we’re looking at is a blank spot on the wall and the rumpled bedspread/comforter.
Could very well be. Just too bad the bedspread pattern looks like granite
Could this be the start of reconciliation between Bud and Jin?
I think you’re right. And that would be nice.
Sometimes, just being there is enough.
What?
Huh?
Woof!
hey is for horses…I’m a golem