07/14/2013
I kind of get the feeling that someone out there is going to get offended by today’s comic. To that I say keep this in mind: this isn’t so much about Wicca (or Catholicism) as it is about two radically different characters interacting with each other. The focus here is contrasting personalities, not sacrilege.
If you’re still upset, leave a comment or just relax and grab one of Scapula’s Big Jerk Ales!
Weed, weed, weed, weed.
I am offended by anyone who is offended!
I am offended by your offense of being offended by those who are offended by the offensive content!
…wait, hang on, I need to sit down and think about this one.
Love Scaps final line there, so true so true.
I’d imagine Scap spent his youth reading comics during mass (and getting them confiscated).
Nothing sacrilegious about it – no matter the topic, if they are wholeheartedly excited about it, and tend to be a chatterbox to begin with, they will likely go on for a while about it. Just gotta learn to listen and nod, heh.
Very true; I’ve seen this type of jibber-jabber from folks who weren’t even remotely interested in religion. Whether someone is passionate about politics, sports, celebrity gossip, nerdy interests, favorite soup recipes, or unsettling murder stories, a true devotee will happily recite an encyclopedia’s worth of knowledge to anyone within earshot.
Not that I’m innocent of this habit…just don’t ever bring up monster movies or Marvel comics when talking to me at conventions. I’ll go on for quite a while.
As a catholic, I am deeply offended! The sermon’s aren’t long religious speeches that go nowhere!
…… they’re long, generally outdated speeches usually badly translated from a book that is often taken way too seriously despite the many re-translations it’s been through, often vaguely religious, usually with a point that is missed in all the constant and never ending quotations and attempts to generate interest!
And occasionally they’re actually really good. Okay, sometimes. Rarely, but on occasion you get one from someone that should be parting seas and the like. Just saying.
Also, I want a Big Jerk Ale.
Big Jerk Ale is a parody of a certain brand of IPA which I normally would not drink except that it has a cool devil mascot.
Regarding the inclusion of Catholicism in SCAPULA…I’ll get to that another time. I will point out, however, that Scapula says, “I’m Catholic” instead of “I used to be Catholic”. That’s open to a LOT of interpretation, but it’s a story for another day.
For here and now it’s just something of a little window into Scap’s past and his outlook of the world and life, but the current story isn’t about that. It’s about a crazy hippie girl and whether or not there’s some action ahead!
Big Jerk Ale is for pansies! I drink Absolute Degenerate Whisky.
Like. A. Boss!
As my name and stupid-looking avatar might suggest, I’m also a catholic, Jenn, and I say that I, too, have the sneaking suspision that many of Christ and his Apostles’ original teachings may have been bastardized to some extent after the romans tried to preach it to their politheist brethren and subjugated nations.
Some speeches are nice if you listen closely to the priest, though. But of course, some times a priest might repeat what another one just a few days before.
Also, yes, I did notice that Scapula said that he was still catholic (A fellow, disgusting hypocrite! High five!), and was about to ask about it.
I do recall that in previous strips you mentioned that Scapula had a catholic upbringing (despite being apparently illegitimate.) and that you yourself re, or used to be, a catholic yourself.
I’ve seen Family Guy and believe me, this sh*t is nothing compared to to some things I’ve seen in my life concerning anti-religious groups.
It’s great that you allow yourself to mention religion explicitly in your works. For me it seems that political correctness is making mainstream religions to become more and more taboo on “first-world” societies. I hate that.
My own religious beliefs are, for the time being, my own business, until I find away to share them without warding off readers. Some cartoonists get a lot of flack for incorporating their religion too much or too awkwardly into their work (Johnny Hart supposedly, although I never read much B.C.), while some cartoonists put the work first with the occasional religious reference and shared their beliefs to those who asked (Charles Schulz did this best, perhaps).
As for Scapula, yes, it was mentioned in passing that he had a Catholic upbringing (and this was honest, too, because you can’t lie to an evil sock puppet that’s reading your mind).
If a cartoonist chooses to avoid religious references, it really should not be done for the sake of “political correctness” (probably the biggest unspoken rules of bullsh_t). If it can’t be used for any good reason regarding the story, or you have nothing smart or new to say on the matter, then it’s probably best avoided.
Moonie is a Wiccan because it seemed to fit the character I was writing (spoiler: Wicca does not affect this storyline or figure as a plot point). Scapula as a Catholic is a background hint and a story for another day. That’s pretty much it for now.
Do you belief in the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Deep-Sea BLT?
(Secretly, the two are the same!!)
If there is a flying spaghetti monster I would probably eat it. Hey, I’ve eaten old pasta in the back of the fridge before, but it’s never had the courtesy to fly right into my mouth!
I’m not actually all that offended. I’m a pretty thick-skinned gal (what with all the scar tissue). And I’m not all that good at being catholic (what with being a violent lesbian). That having been said, the church has been there for me many times in my life, so eh. When it comes down to it, most of the heat we catch is self-generated by a lot of our snobby rich white members, and really folks, you can shank those anytime!
Also, got you all beat. I drink ‘My God! It Killed That Pig!’ ‘shine with a dash of pepper and gunpowder, like me pa always does. And brother, you wanna talk hangovers…..
This is a mighty woman…and that poor little piggie!
It was a tasty roast at least. Its death was not in vain!
A Catholic, eh? Hey, I heard of those. Aren’t they that mad cult, you know, the ones with priests dressing in black and saying our Lord’s gonna come back and punish us all?
God bless you, Dougal O’Guire.
The only cult I’ve seen lately that dresses in black and worships something that leads to a downward spiral of doom are Tim Burton fans. D’ohhhhhh!
To use the urban vernacular, “Oh, snap!”
Drops the mic, walks off-stage, gets yelled at by an angry mob of kids who worship Edward Scissorhands.
At least it wasn’t a Jhonen Vasquez rip. Those kids NEVER stop whining!
Panel 5. Dat face.
The smiley face or the completely blitzed face?
Probably the blitzed one, since Moonie has the smiley face in pretty much every panel she appears in.
I understand that some people are more sensitive than others about certain topics due to their circumstances, but I feel like everyone is allowed to make comedy about most everything. It’s a free country (for now).
Hear hear! Well said…waitaminnit, “for now”? Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good.
So who will be the one who enslaves America? A politician? A sentient computer? Oprah? Dadaman?
*Whistles casually, hides the wrench behind his back while closing the door that leads to the Robot Army Staging Area.*
Hand over that wrench, son. You know you’re not supposed to root through the toolbox when we’re not looking! You’re grounded, and no more spearheading robot uprisings for you, me laddo!
Oh no, you don’t, Mr. Undercity! I am the one who shall become the center existence!
All right, you brats, just for that, NONE of you get to destroy the capitol tonight! Now go to your rooms until you can learn to get along!
Didn’t the canadians already destroy the capitol? Damn, they’re always ahead on the fun stuff!
*Stuffs blowtorch in tool kit and skulks home*
When can I get my Big Jerk Ale tshirt?
As soon as you design it, print it out, and iron it onto a T-shirt. C’mon, man, you have it into you!
Damn I thought that was in the works
OMFG, I just had a hideous thought. Could Moonie be somehow related to Knuckle Sam? I mean they have similar builds and Moonie is as verbose as Sam is taciturn … Nahhhh, couldn’t be … Or could it? Dunnnn … Dunnnn … Dunnnnnn!
Not a bad guess, but thankfully there’s no relation between big-butt Sam and big-butt Moonie. We already had our “surprise relative” twist in the last story, and think how bad this series would get if we learned every week that all the characters were related (although that shared awkward moment would make for a funny comic panel).
Not to mention the false “surprise relative” plot twist in the very first story.
Ahh…good times….doesn’t get much better than confronting wierdo villains who switch money for dog s**t.
Wow…was I ever that young? Next thing you know I’ll be repeating some of the really ridiculous crap, like living sock puppets!
But hey, you get an extra point for knowing your SCAPULA history.
Everyone is actually everyone else’s evil twin!
@XMinusOne “Oh my fucki-” What?! What is that supposed to mean?! Do you worship some kind of sex god? What are you? A Dionisius acolyte?
There are far worse sex gods to worship…like Ron Jeremy.
Thank you for mentioning that. Now I absolutely need to be drunk to get that image out of my head.
Like a hairy version of Jabba the Hutt, slobbering over some stripper girl with a tentacle head.
And that also takes me back to the day I watched the first season of “Two hutts, one cup.” where the one on the left first grabbed the….
Oh, THAT stuff doesn’t bother me in the least. I’m a retired dominatrix. But Ron Jeremy…. *shudder*
The ambrosial aroma of something sickly sweet is in the air… could it love?
I sure hope so! Either that or Moonie brought along something a lot more potent than weed.
Moonie is like a disturbing hyperactive caricature of myself except for the fact I have short hair and don’t talk very much.
But I’m also a “larger” woman who loves wide brimmed hats and caftans, I’m obsessed with cute socks, falafel, hummus, weird men (and women), and I’m Wiccan.
Also, I have weed. Want some weed?
Egad…this was all YOUR doing! You used some sort of spiritual magic to manipulate me into creating this character! True, the hair is different, but perhaps you’ve been planning to grow your hair out but wanted to see what it would look like in cartoon form first!
The talking a lot is my doing, since I tend to write a truckload of dialogue for most everyone.
But hey, our first Wiccan reader has spoken up! Good to know there’s someone out there who can ‘fact-check’ or just make sure I haven’t written anything incorrect (well, except for being ‘politically incorrect’, but I’m fine with that).
I really pissed you off when I said “political correctness”, didn’t I? Well, at least you can’t say you got bored!
Next thing you know you’ll be calling me a teeth-brusher!
Hey… Scap shouldn’t be smoking pot… that’s illegal!… Oh wait… it is legal in California, right?
It is legallier than terrorizing a piss and love parade, at any rate.
There’s no way Scapula is smoking evil pot! Those are good, wholesome, government-approved cigarettes hes got there!
What do you think Scapula is, a CRIMINAL?!
I don’t think there’s anything to be offended about. This was fun (for me, but not Scapula, though). Oh, the prices we gentlemen will pay just to get a lil’ bit closer to yonder nappy dugout. I’m glad that I’m now married and only have to hear takes like hers for the….rest….of….my….life. Oh, dear me.
Glad you enjoyed, George, and yes, ’tis all part of the game. In all fairness, though, it’s not like what we guys say is exactly captivating for women to hear (especially guys like us who make comic books)!
Passing jokes are passing jokes.
Scapula has said far worse.
Also, Mr. Addanac City, if it’s any consolation, the average human life-span world-wide is about 85 years or something, so don’t worry too much about poor choices if they don’t last beyond death: They won’t stay around to torment you for long.
My wife says she’s signed up to haunt me forever after. No matter where I go, she says she’s gonna be the to say ‘I told you so’. 😀 It’s just good to know that she cares.
An eternal afterlife of “I told you so”….it’s like regular marriage, only somehow it’s even longer!
So.. this might be a little long-winded; so bear with me here. This is my first comment, and I usually am a strict lurker, but I guess I finally had to say hello! I don’t remember how I found your comic, but it was in some unknown alley of the interwebs, on a dark and stormy night… Next thing I knew, I stayed up until the sunlight broke and I had read all of Scapula until that point (this was last month) and have been hooked ever since. That poor guy, Scap. I love him. No wait, I hate him! No… I don’t. I love him. Well now I’m just confused! Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that you have a fan here, and I quite adore Moonie. I’m Wiccan myself, and even though she’s nothing like me, I find her amusing and a cheerful spot amongst the cast. Scapula will always be my favorite though; creepy sob. He’s delightful.
Hello there, Rielle, and thank you for your comment! I love it when previously-quiet readers let me know they exist, and even better is when they’ve read up on all the Archives. If that’s not flattering to a cartoonist, then I don’t know what is!
One of the many things I tell my readers is that it’s perfectly fine to either love or hate Scapula (it keeps the series interesting that way), but if you can do both then all the more better.
I’m also glad that Wiccan readers are leaving their feedback; to be honest, I was pretty curious how that particular group would take to Moonie. So far so good, I hope.
In any event, great to hear from you, and hope you will comment again. As you can see from the weird comments above, we have some pretty interesting conversations around here…okay, mostly irrelevant, silly conversations, but those are interesting, too!
Oh, I think you’ll be hearing more from me. There have been so many occasions where I wanted to leave a comment but went into shy mode, as usual. When I read through the comic, I did skim through the comments for each, and one thing I noticed was that you seem to reply to every one. It made me really happy to see that you actually interact with your readers. I’ve also definitely had quite a few chuckles reading some of the conversations that go on here. 😉
Excited for tomorrow’s comic!
Welcome to the funny farm!
Why thank you! 🙂 Oh I’ve been silently reading your conversations for a month. How creepy is that? Does that mean I fit in?
Welcome aboard, Rielle!
Hey, I’ve had weirder stalkers. Compared to all the freaky, whacked out cartoonists around here…..
if i was to talk about my spiritual beliefs freely(which are a mixture of pagan and christian) i would end up talking just like that! but Scap’s reaction is exactly why i choose to keep my mouth shut lol.