Don't You Lecture Me, Cracker! Aug 30th 2005

[AlohaDawg]

This is an odd turn. Has the subject of hulls come up before?

http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=08302005

[Mantonio]

This is an odd turn. Has the subject of hulls come up before?

First I've seen of 'em. What happens if Beef gets pulled over by a human cop?

[mudokon]

Horrifying and surreal, but also pretty funny. Look at Ray, just shuffling around in his little socks.

[Doc]

Hulls is a good word for them though.

The weird thing is I always assumed that they had to park on human streets anyway and climb down to the underground, I always assumed that gay bar was just an exception. This changes everything.

[ndpatel]

you know what? i hate the Underground. fuck*ng hate it. i mean, for fuck's sake, it's not like we question 10,000 AIBOs, or wireless spinal internet, or even the fuck*ng *****s, why the HELL do i care about some stupid artifice that just seems like the most hokey contrived thing ever?

ooookay. calm now.

ps. that said, "don't you lecture me, cracker" is still really funny.

on preview: since when is "fuck" okay but "fuck*ng" starred? that seems new around here.

[Noah]

i don't think chris onstad came up with the underground thing just to explain something, i bet he thinks the concept is funny ! i think it's pretty funny too

is that thing supposed to look like a shrunken head? it looks more like a shrunken head to me than a scary black man

[cellardoor]

Heh, Patel's falling down!

Good strip, I like Ray dancing in socks. That must be quite a novel sensation for a cat.

[evan]

First I've seen of 'em. What happens if Beef gets pulled over by a human cop?

They've probably got an understanding going with police. If nothing else Beef could probably claim he's a furry trapped in the body of a scary black man, that just might fly in San Francisco.

on preview: since when is "fuck" okay but "fuck*ng" starred? that seems new around here.

presumably this started shortly after this strip.

[arlucasinc]

Bug-eyed Earl makes his first appearance in Achewood.

http://www.redmeat.com/redmeat/1996-06-24/index.html

[CortJstr]

So wait, was Ray just dancing there at the beginning in his socks for no reason? And why'd he take them off? I'm so confused.

[Bobby Isosceles]

So wait, was Ray just dancing there at the beginning in his socks for no reason? And why'd he take them off? I'm so confused.

I think he was trying to see if he could dance/shake them off, but couldn't so in the end just took them off normally.

[MSC]

i don't think chris onstad came up with the underground thing just to explain something, i bet he thinks the concept is funny !

I think Noah is right.  At first I was bothered by this strip, thinking "geez, we don't really need an explanation for this."  But Noah has to be correct.  Onstad never sees the need to explain anything else; the Underground is just another source for odd ideas and funny strips.  

Case in point: the harness.  "Got the harness on right?"  This is one of those prosaic details that most other writers would find unnecessary (and likely never think of to begin with), and so its very inclusion is extremely clever.  It shows that the joke is not just the hull itself, but the whole damn concept of hulls.  Huzzah for the Underground, I say!

[aparrish]

Bug-eyed Earl makes his first appearance in Achewood.

http://www.redmeat.com/redmeat/1996-06-24/index.html

No, really, Beef's "hull" looks exactly like him.  Is this subconscious influence or clever reference or outright plagiarism or what?!

[side_show]

Bug-eyed Earl makes his first appearance in Achewood.

http://www.redmeat.com/redmeat/1996-06-24/index.html

No, really, Beef's "hull" looks exactly like him.  Is this subconscious influence or clever reference or outright plagiarism or what?!

Well when I read this strip I immediatly took it as an homage to Red Meat -the style of the hull's face, and even the odd surreal feel of the whole strip matches the way Red Meat grooves.  Then again, the whole Jonny Cash storyline felt tied to Red Meat for me too, as per its style.

As for Ray's Dancing socks - they are awesome, and the reason they must be taken of is two fold:  1) they are quality socks, not to be sullied by wear in the clearly unfinished basement hull-storage area (note the unfinished drywall behind them), and 2) you don't want to try climbing down stairs in baggy socks, and soul could hurt oneself.

I like this strip,  I really, really like it.

[MattFish]

I love this strip for all the reasons you've already conveniently brought up.

Yikes man