2019/09/02 - High Four

Post by **D-Rock** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:03 am

[2019/09/02 - High Four]
Title Text: unless of course he were some highly trained top secret squirrel operative of some kind...

Huh, it's like Emperor's New Groove.

Saturn381 · Post by **Saturn381** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:03 am

Wow, that was really easy.

Also, how does Fido know King was a human?

Nobody · Post by **Nobody** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:04 am

Saturn381 wrote:Wow, that was really easy.

Also, how does Fido know King was a human?

I would assume that Fox has told him at this point.

Vanice · Post by **Vanice** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:05 am

This one strip alone is one of the most brilliant things ever.

HundKatzeMaus · Post by **HundKatzeMaus** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:05 am

...that is simply brilliant

fenrirblack · Post by **fenrirblack** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:05 am

Fido handling the news like a champ. I'm guessing King didn't actually tell the whole truth about being Joel Robinson.

I always forget that humans have five fingers in this world.

Good ole King with the solution. Poor Marion still adapting.

Gbr23 · Post by **Gbr23** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:06 am

Never thought the comic was going to address that, and it did. Beautiful.

Champion Wallace · Post by **Champion Wallace** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:07 am

Amazing job Rick Griffin! Everything about this is perfect. The room has a good-cop cup of coffee and a bad-cop lamp. The art style having four fingered animals not only lampshaded but used to move the plot along. A simple first dialogue bubble completely filling us in to what transpired since the end of the last arc. Well done.

dr_eirik · Post by **dr_eirik** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:07 am

Saturn381 wrote:Wow, that was really easy.

Also, how does Fido know King was a human?

I assume Fox told him. Or King did.

I have to admit, I did not expect to see them all at the station. I guess it makes sense after Fox took matters into his own paws with Sasha.

It's a good test. It wasn't all that long ago that truck held up both paws for five fingers. Natural reaction.

Welsh Halfwit · Post by **Welsh Halfwit** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:08 am

One question to prove the point
in an interview worth recording.
It’s not just Squirrels with their nuts
that the gardens have been hoarding.
Fido watches King with new suspicion
as he works the questioning room
and, if the room’s not being watched,
it’s all unofficial, no doom.
He knows the psychology, does King,
and he knows he has four fingers.
But, as with anything long lasting,
the memory of what’s missing lingers.

fenrirblack · Post by **fenrirblack** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:11 am

I want to say how weird it is seeing King and Marion together. Talking. It is just strange. Like a crossover special. Exciting but feels like Reality has warped. THE SPHERES!

Hang on. From Fido's comment it sounds like they told Fido quite a bit. It find it hard to believe at no time did King say his real name. That would be a neat trick. Not hard but still. Fido should be more curious at least.

dr_eirik · Post by **dr_eirik** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:12 am

Champion Wallace wrote:Amazing job Rick Griffin! Everything about this is perfect. The room has a good-cop cup of coffee and a bad-cop lamp. The art style having four fingered animals not only lampshaded but used to move the plot along. A simple first dialogue bubble completely filling us in to what transpired since the end of the last arc. Well done.

I hope the coffee isn't for Marion. He already did that today...

So now does Fido tell the human detective that will be checking in here all this? Or do they just tell them that the squirrel was a bust and whisk him out?

leinglo · Post by **leinglo** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:13 am

Well sure, Marion might be able to convince King and Fido of his ex-human status, but how are they going to explain that to the rest of the police, among whom few, if any others, know even of King's transformation? Will they just settle for an official report of the crazy squirrel not knowing anything useful or being meaningfully connected to Marion's disappearance?

dr_eirik · Post by **dr_eirik** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:20 am

fenrirblack wrote:I want to say how weird it is seeing King and Marion together. Talking. It is just strange. Like a crossover special. Exciting but feels like Reality has warped. THE SPHERES!

Hang on. From Fido's comment it sounds like they told Fido quite a bit. It find it hard to believe at no time did King say his real name. That would be a neat trick. Not hard but still. Fido should be more curious at least.

Seems possible that Fox or King gave him the broad strokes about the game, just said he was human, and even if Fido was curious hes got bigger squirrels to fry at this second.

There really wasn't any reason to tell Fido exactly who he was. It's not like that detail is important right now. Would be nice to get a moment of Fido thinking and realizing that this explains so much about Kings behavior.

fenrirblack · Post by **fenrirblack** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:21 am

After two weeks I'm a bit out of practice so this might be rough.

Theories
Is Steward A Villain: YES.

Steward's Goal: Revenge or Regaining his Old Life

Did He Change Marion: No

Who Changed Marion: Dino-Demon or another new supernatural character that has not been introduced.

Will Marion Return Home: Yes. Soon if Lois has anything to say about it.

The Marion & Lois Part
Fox, Fido, Marion, Lois, and King leave the station and go to see Tarot and Sabrina for a meeting to decide what to do next.
A. Tarot, having no idea what to do, goes to Kitsune for advice.
B. Tarot explains the game and the past magical happenings much to the surprise of Lois and Marion.

Lois and Marion explains to his parents what happened to him and together come up with a way for Marion to regain some normalcy while still being a squirrel.

The King Part
King serves as Marion's mentor and guru to the life as a therianthrope and helps lead him to the ECP.
King guides Marion and friends to the Kitsune statue but ops out of doing anything else for the time being having all ready done all of this himself.

The Steward Part
Steward knows Marion is like him and will now use Marion to his advantage by getting him to join the ECP and get back into the Milton's good graces:
A. He lost his job and his life and the Miltons are the best chance at regaining some type of normalcy like being rehired or finding a new job.
B. Steward wants to get back in the Milton's good graces so he can get something from them like a method of returning too human.

Steward is going to discover that Marion was once human and gets the idea in his head to use the coin to turn other humans into animals so they will follow the same logic of Marion and see the ECP as their best chance at retaining normalcy.

dr_eirik wrote:
fenrirblack wrote:I want to say how weird it is seeing King and Marion together. Talking. It is just strange. Like a crossover special. Exciting but feels like Reality has warped. THE SPHERES!

Hang on. From Fido's comment it sounds like they told Fido quite a bit. It find it hard to believe at no time did King say his real name. That would be a neat trick. Not hard but still. Fido should be more curious at least.
Seems possible that Fox or King gave him the broad strokes about the game, just said he was human, and even if Fido was curious hes got bigger squirrels to fry at this second.

There really wasn't any reason to tell Fido exactly who he was. It's not like that detail is important right now. Would be nice to get a moment of Fido thinking and realizing that this explains so much about Kings behavior.

It would be a nice little moment but I doubt we'll see it. If something like that happened it would have happened in the time between the two strips like immediately after King finished his story.
I would love to see Fido narrow and eyes and ask "Which human?" It makes me feel like after ten years Fido either forgot about what Joel did or simply doesn't care anymore.

dr_eirik wrote:
I hope the coffee isn't for Marion. He already did that today...

So now does Fido tell the human detective that will be checking in here all this? Or do they just tell them that the squirrel was a bust and whisk him out?

I hope the coffee is from Moosenebula.

If I've learned anything about this comic is that the humans are both oblivious and usually leave the animals to deal with their own matters especially when it involves other animals. As much as it would suck, I can see the officers writing Marion off as a runaway and putting the case to bed. Marion's parents, well, we'll see how they react come morning cause right now they haven't done anything that shows that they are concerned about their son's disappearance. I'm hoping that is just because it's happening off panel. I read enough YA to know that dealing the the parents in a story is tricky which is why killing them off is a popular trope.

TOPCATDIGIANIMEFAN · Post by **TOPCATDIGIANIMEFAN** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:32 am

GASSSP Dose This Mean FIDO Now Knows King Was JOEL:shock::o?"

GameCobra · Post by **GameCobra** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:32 am

I liked that one, Rick. :3

Part of me wished there was a super naked joke in there.

King: We can see your butt, Marion.
Marion: ... *covers it* Ahhh!

dr_eirik · Post by **dr_eirik** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:33 am

fenrirblack wrote: It would be a nice little moment but I doubt we'll see it. If something like that happened it would have happened in the time between the two strips like immediately after King finished his story.
I would love to see Fido narrow and eyes and ask "Which human?" It makes me feel like after ten years Fido either forgot about what Joel did or simply doesn't care anymore.

I dunno, Fido could easily think of something that happened a few years before, or the HP goto, "That's why you dont sniff butts!" But your right, that does seem like a natural realization once he is told the truth. That does assume that he fully believes it.

I doubt Fido would approach the question of who King was with suspicion unless Fox or King didn't want to tell him. I could see it coming up in a "How did your family take this?" kind of way. Unless hes been told everything and just rolled with it, he likely wouldn't expect to know who King had been.

Though I wonder if he might get curious if there is an open missing person's case that should be closed...

EDIT. I wonder if we are about to actually get some backstory now. Seems like this is the first time since the third page of this arc that Marion is in a place to actually reflect on what might have happened with others who may be able to ask the right questions. Assuming no new characters, between King, Fox and Fido they could get a pretty good idea of what happened the weekend before he transformed.

IceKitsune · Post by **IceKitsune** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:45 am

Absolutely perfect!

Post by **CyberDragon** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 1:23 am

I love this one. There are a couple of little details I noticed. One, in the first panel, Marion has a cup of what looks like coffee in front of him. This is strange considering his earlier reaction to caffeine. Second, Marion must either be standing up in the last panel, or he's on a booster seat. Otherwise, I don't see how he would be able to look over the top of the table.

Just a couple details I noticed.

Ryusuta · Post by **Ryusuta** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 1:25 am

Oh man, that was adorable as heck! <3

NHWestoN · Post by **NHWestoN** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 2:55 am

That one goes right into the Police Interrogator's Handbook..........

Mr. Whisper · Post by **Mr. Whisper** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 3:38 am

Finally getting around to questioning. My question is this: Is the alt text referencing Secret Squirrel or SpongeBob?

Argent · Post by **Argent** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 3:50 am

And King works that lampshade like a master.

dr_eirik wrote:I hope the coffee isn't for Marion. He already did that today...

Violating Evil Overlord rule 22: No matter how tempted I am with the prospect of unlimited power, I will not consume any energy field bigger than my head.

Mr. Whisper · Post by **Mr. Whisper** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 3:51 am

fenrirblack wrote:Who Changed Marion: Dino-Demon or another new supernatural character that has not been introduced.

I've been thinking about this and I think you may not be completely right on this one. But, I don't think you are completely wrong, either. With that demon (and a couple other guys) having escaped from Pandemonium, I imagine a certain taskmaster might want them back.

Argent · Post by **Argent** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 4:19 am

I'm going for Thomas's cursed coin, since he did give one to Steward as "his share".

trekkie · Post by **trekkie** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 5:17 am

Well, that was easier than expected. Good test, King. Maybe the hot beverage isn’t coffee but tea. Great job on the details of the strip here, Rick!

Nathan Kerbonaut · Post by **Nathan Kerbonaut** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 6:32 am

This is what we call a big brain moment.

So we're going down the King route? Or maybe Fox is also talking to Tarot and Sabrina, and the two groups will do their own investigations?

Post by **SeanWolf** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 7:02 am

Nathan Kerbonaut wrote:This is what we call a big brain moment.
So we're going down the King route? Or maybe Fox is also talking to Tarot and Sabrina, and the two groups will do their own investigations?

Presumably the later as both Tarot and Sabrina have more knowledge of this.

Post by **Obbl** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 7:09 am

I am blown away by the creative ingenuity behind this elegant way forward. I also laughed out loud

enoua5 · Post by **enoua5** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 7:43 am

I wonder if King will mention that he hasn't been human for around a decade now. I don't think Marion would take that news very well.

TheOne · Post by **TheOne** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 8:10 am

enoua5 wrote:I wonder if King will mention that he hasn't been human for around a decade now. I don't think Marion would take that news very well.

So long as King openly states that he chose to remain a dog, I don't think it would be that much of a problem.

On that note, I wonder if King has ever considered switching breeds. He made himself taller in Heaven, so maybe he would prefer to be a husky like Bailey, or maybe even a Great Dane? It never came up in the comic, but I wonder if that's merely because King didn't think that was an option. After all, he was only presented two obvious options at the time of his choice; maybe he would've chosen something different if it seemed available.

Buster · Post by **Buster** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 9:01 am

it's probably decaf.

dr_eirik · Post by **dr_eirik** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 9:10 am

Argent wrote:I'm going for Thomas's cursed coin, since he did give one to Steward as "his share".

While certainly possible, the coin has worked instantaneously the two times we've seen it used. For that to work, Marion would have had to be transformed in his sleep, meaning this was extreamly intentional, or somehow gone to bed not thinking it was odd he was now 2 feet tall. That, and not recall his odd dream about being so small or something even after waking up.

I suspect we are going to get some hints of this in the coming pages. Marion had some encounter with someone or something that he still dosent think much about, but will be huge to someone else in the room.

tych · Post by **tych** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 9:15 am

is it weird that I am assuming that Fido meant something else when he said "reductive"? or was that correct usage of the word?

Macsen · Post by **Macsen** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 9:47 am

...has King accidentally found his potential career?

dr_eirik · Post by **dr_eirik** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:05 am

tych wrote:is it weird that I am assuming that Fido meant something else when he said "reductive"? or was that correct usage of the word?

It is correct. I was just thinking that Rick liked that word, but I think it's only come up once before. Peanut says it when Max simplifies how the temple works.

Gael · Post by **Gael** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:07 am

tych wrote:is it weird that I am assuming that Fido meant something else when he said "reductive"? or was that correct usage of the word?

Fido is correct in his usage, he thinks King is simplifying the situation too much by only needing one question

NHWestoN · Post by **NHWestoN** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 11:17 am

Gael wrote:
tych wrote:is it weird that I am assuming that Fido meant something else when he said "reductive"? or was that correct usage of the word?
Fido is correct in his usage, he thinks King is simplifying the situation too much by only needing one question

Still, that question seems to have "fingered" the solution.

Argent · Post by **Argent** » Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:20 pm

trekkie wrote:Well, that was easier than expected. Good test, King. Maybe the hot beverage isn’t coffee but tea. Great job on the details of the strip here, Rick!

Tea often has more caffeine in it than coffee.