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Post by wombat on Mar 7, 2014 15:24:28 GMT
God, I was up talking to my friend at around the time the comic was posted, which keep in mind is three a.m. here, and I read the comment at the bottom and just started laughing. She wanted to know why, and I assured her it wasn't funny and showed her the page and comment, and she sat there going, "Wait, that's really sad!" and "I'm sad now." as I continued to laugh.
So basically this page made me feel like a demented person at three in the morning.
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Post by aaroncampbell on Mar 7, 2014 15:28:29 GMT
That last panel. That is likely the last time they saw each other, isn't it? Is this him retelling his final records? I was thinking exactly the same thing. Also, I really hope that Mort is using his ability to project imagery to show this to Annie (and perhaps Kat, if she's there) so that his final record will be so much more than just a talking head. Oh, and Tom: it would be sad, but a collection of final records would be interesting bonus material to sell. I mean, we know how many of them have died, but their final words of wisdom and reflections on life would be neat. We could see not only the characters we've lost but also some of their older family members and others we've never met as well. Just a thought.
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Post by crater on Mar 7, 2014 15:29:37 GMT
God, I was up talking to my friend at around the time the comic was posted, which keep in mind is three a.m. here, and I read the comment at the bottom and just started laughing. She wanted to know why, and I assured her it wasn't funny and showed her the page and comment, and she sat there going, "Wait, that's really sad!" and "I'm sad now." as I continued to laugh. So basically this page made me feel like a demented person at three in the morning. it IS funny, Tom meant it to be that way IMO the subtle hints of spite towards needless speculation juxtaposed against an almost cliche tragic background is pure comedy gold
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Post by thedoctor on Mar 7, 2014 15:32:17 GMT
I got to wondering about the slang term 'jerry' (which I had correctly guessed referred to Germans), checked on wikipedia and while it origionates in WWI, it didn't really come into common usage until WWII. So, I'm guessing it links more strongly to WWII. Can anybody place a date on the car? Looks like it could be from the 1930s. One of Tom's recent Twitter updates confirmed that this is WW2.
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Post by thedoctor on Mar 7, 2014 15:36:34 GMT
I'm pretty sure that MP to the British stands for Member of Parliment. All of the British culture Ive been exposed to tells me thats what it usually stands for. Also it would be weird for Mort's Mom to be in the Military Police. Cause 1930's. True as that normally is (MP=Member of Parliament), his mother and father would not be busy "in the MP." They might be busy "as MPs," or "in parliament" but "in the MP" implies they are in a building associated with an organization abbreviated MP, not an individual with the MP designation.
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Post by thedoctor on Mar 7, 2014 15:39:25 GMT
Nice of the Ninth Doctor to pop in for a cameo as one of the kids. I'm glad he got work after Doctor Who. He was a pretty good doctor. Also: Christ Tom, that comment. I honestly couldn't stand him as the Doctor. He was a decent actor, but he didn't fit the part (the way he was cast, at least). He looked and felt like a punk in a motorcycle jacket, not The Doctor. Part of this may also be caused by my dislike of Rose.
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Post by snipertom on Mar 7, 2014 16:13:50 GMT
The comment: I didn't find it all that sad I must admit. Then again, most of our (medical) stories are a bit like that anyway, hah. I think the whole thing was just an aside and we're all reading too much into what Betty & her brother look like.
I think it's kinda cool that Mort looks like Mort! (I'm pretty sure there's a few panels with him having an upturned nose in the comic).
Mortimer is a French name that means "dead sea" or "stagnant lake"; so "Mort" isn't just a coincidence.
Many women worked in WW2 to fill in jobs as all the men were away. Many worked in the army and the police, and in 'filling factories' like Jones. The Queen herself was a fully qualified army mechanic who worked in WW2. It was in the 50s that they were forced out of the workforce again and this indirectly or directly lead to the 2nd wave feminist movement in the 60s in the West. It also was not all that uncommon for women to work before WW2.
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Post by secondofnone on Mar 7, 2014 16:23:49 GMT
"The MP" might be the Ministry of Production, which was created in February of 1942. Mort's parents were apparently civil servants of some sort.
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Post by rosencrantz on Mar 7, 2014 16:30:00 GMT
That smile.. definitely our Mort we're looking at here. It is the smile worn by a child telling a comforting lie!
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Post by Covalent on Mar 7, 2014 16:36:42 GMT
Wait a minute... Is that... MORT?!
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Post by alpacalypse on Mar 7, 2014 16:52:15 GMT
I'm pretty sure that MP to the British stands for Member of Parliment. All of the British culture Ive been exposed to tells me thats what it usually stands for. Also it would be weird for Mort's Mom to be in the Military Police. Cause 1930's. "so busy in the MP?" Either I yet again don't understand this weird 'English' garble of yours which occasionally almost resembles a civilized language, or, gosh golly, that member of parliament may have some serious indigestion problems. Sheesh I misread it chillax. Also could be some other way of using grammar that is foreign to us, but yea, quite possibly not. Although I still dont think its military police. But whatever, at this point i think ill just wait for Tom to tell us what it is.
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Post by alpacalypse on Mar 7, 2014 16:57:02 GMT
"The MP" might be the Ministry of Production, which was created in February of 1942. Mort's parents were apparently civil servants of some sort. The Blitz ended in May of 1941, almost year before then. Its possible they were still worried about bombings and were moving children out of the city when the Ministry of Production was created. If that is what the MP stands for then I would think that Mort doesnt meet his end from a bomb. Edit: Huzzah, New Member status no longer.
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Post by wombat on Mar 7, 2014 17:17:07 GMT
God, I was up talking to my friend at around the time the comic was posted, which keep in mind is three a.m. here, and I read the comment at the bottom and just started laughing. She wanted to know why, and I assured her it wasn't funny and showed her the page and comment, and she sat there going, "Wait, that's really sad!" and "I'm sad now." as I continued to laugh. So basically this page made me feel like a demented person at three in the morning. it IS funny, Tom meant it to be that way IMO the subtle hints of spite towards needless speculation juxtaposed against an almost cliche tragic background is pure comedy gold Oh, I'm sure it's meant to be funny, but like all things it takes a certain sense of humor to be taken that way-- one which my friend apparently does not have. It's always interesting to be laughing for a prolonged period with someone who is not.
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Post by csj on Mar 7, 2014 17:37:47 GMT
"The MP" might be the Ministry of Production, which was created in February of 1942. Mort's parents were apparently civil servants of some sort. The Blitz ended in May of 1941, almost year before then. Its possible they were still worried about bombings and were moving children out of the city when the Ministry of Production was created. If that is what the MP stands for then I would think that Mort doesnt meet his end from a bomb. Edit: Huzzah, New Member status no longer. This overlooks the use of the V-1 and later, the V-2 - as well as a handful of other raids that were made up until 1942, like the Baedeker Blitz. As it stands, I don't think we can pinpoint the date just yet, but it should become apparent before too long.
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Post by mglvna on Mar 7, 2014 18:02:25 GMT
Starts out cute and ends depressing. Betty's story is a bit dark, but it sounds like she lived a long and mostly happy life. I wouldn't throw her grandson and daughter out as irrelevant to our current characters, but the blurb was probably intended to make fun of our rampant speculation.
Mort's chapter is turning out exactly as sad as I expected. He might even have lived to still be a very old man when Annie started attending, considering his age. The question is whether or not he actually went on to become a soldier, and died there (which seems unlikely at this point), or some other series of events led to his death.
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Post by GK Sierra on Mar 7, 2014 18:18:31 GMT
Though seriously, I am not particularly surprised that based on the end of the last chapter that this one is shaping up to be a sad one. I'm not the only one who had thought Mort died as a soldier in a war, was I? I had thought WWI too, but I was more thinking he was a civilian killed on the sidelines, given Tom's severe disinclination to rely on violence for storytelling. Looks like this chapter will hit like a... bombshell Too soon
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Post by philman on Mar 7, 2014 19:00:37 GMT
"The MP" might be the Ministry of Production, which was created in February of 1942. Mort's parents were apparently civil servants of some sort. The Blitz ended in May of 1941, almost year before then. Its possible they were still worried about bombings and were moving children out of the city when the Ministry of Production was created. If that is what the MP stands for then I would think that Mort doesnt meet his end from a bomb. Edit: Huzzah, New Member status no longer. Although the period known as "The Blitz" only lasted 8 months or so between 1940-41, that just refers to the intense period when there were bombings almost every night. Even after that period there were still plenty of bombings of cities, just nowhere near as regularly, The V1 and V2 doodlebug rockets were only invented for use in bombing cities in 1944 and were in use right up until the launch sites were overrun by allied armies. Some people even suggest that the later bombings were even more dangerous, as there was a lull in attacks causing people to become much less cautious, and many parents bought their children home from the countryside as they thought it was safe now.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2014 19:03:30 GMT
I find it unsettling to think that had I been born sixty to seventy years ago, Mort and I might have been enemies by default, because our birthplaces lie on opposite shores of the North Sea.
I'm also surprised that nobody has thrown around »Chekhov's Gun« yet (which is to literary studies as »Schrödinger's Cat« is to physicists), even though this page shows Mort firing a toy gun at imaginary Jerries, and he may have been killed by serious Jerriais weaponry.
I've been thinking a bit about Betty's significance here. Bethany is a region in Palestine where the Biblical Lazarus lived, died, and was resurrected. Betty's blue eyes and red jacket link her to Annie visually; as though in a resurrection of memory, familiar details thereby appear to surface from entirely new, and otherwise foreign, combinations. Perhaps this poses a clue as to how the transformation of the dead works in the Ether: their minds and beliefs are likewise recombined into mythical creatures. Thus, a being such as Coyote is really a continuation of individual fantasies; which means that while the Ether keeps Coyote alive, in turn, he keeps small parts of the dead in the Ether alive. It's quite a comforting thought.
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Post by jsstryker on Mar 7, 2014 19:29:14 GMT
So, the British forum personnel, pray enlighten us: What does 'the mp' stand for? Munitions plant would be my guess.
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Post by warrl on Mar 7, 2014 19:45:32 GMT
I got to wondering about the slang term 'jerry' (which I had correctly guessed referred to Germans), checked on wikipedia and while it origionates in WWI, it didn't really come into common usage until WWII. So, I'm guessing it links more strongly to WWII. Can anybody place a date on the car? Looks like it could be from the 1930s. Well, a history note... a typical American who has a clue about WWII thinks it started with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Really, it didn't even become a world war on that date. Historians generally regard the war as beginning with the German attack on Poland on September 1, 1939. By the end of September of 1939 there was a declaration of war against Germany from countries on every continent except South America. (That continent became more heavily involved after the Pearl Harbor attack.) And Britain began evacuations as a precaution against German air raids almost immediately after declaring war. But a lot of related stuff happened even before then. Japan's invasion of China began in 1931; they also had (mostly lost) a minor war with the Soviet Union in 1939 and and thus turned their attention to the Pacific islands which increased stress on their relations with, particularly, the US and the British Empire. Early in 1939 they blockaded some British holdings in China. Also, Italy attacked Ethiopia in 1935 and Albania in early 1939; Germany annexed Austria and chewed up Czechoslovakia in 1938. (The latter event began with Germany seizing the portion of the country that contained a large share of its industry and most of its military defenses, with the full consent of the British and French while the Czechoslovak government was not invited to send a representative to the conference on the partitioning of their country - this was the inspiration for Chamberlain's infamous "peace in our time" declaration.)
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Post by exuberancium on Mar 7, 2014 20:14:39 GMT
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meltea
Junior Member
Heavy rain of snow
Posts: 51
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Post by meltea on Mar 7, 2014 20:23:57 GMT
... But a lot of related stuff happened even before then. Japan's invasion of China began in 1931; they also had (mostly lost) a minor war with the Soviet Union in 1939 and and thus turned their attention to the Pacific islands which increased stress on their relations with, particularly, the US and the British Empire. Early in 1939 they blockaded some British holdings in China. Also, Italy attacked Ethiopia in 1935 and Albania in early 1939; Germany annexed Austria and chewed up Czechoslovakia in 1938. (The latter event began with Germany seizing the portion of the country that contained a large share of its industry and most of its military defenses, with the full consent of the British and French while the Czechoslovak government was not invited to send a representative to the conference on the partitioning of their country - this was the inspiration for Chamberlain's infamous "peace in our time" declaration.) My great-grandfather told me that we would have held out against the germans for some considerable time and caused them heavy losses. It would be massively difficult for them to climb over our heavily fortified mountain regions. But as Munich Dictat would have it, we were ordered to surrender our, at the time, superior weaponry and factories to the germans, making them even more effective in the coming years. Lot of resentment there. Also, on a comic related note. If we compare the life of Betty to the average of human experience, she had a pretty good life. One war, one tragic death and at least one child. I am sure we could find worse life stories in those records.
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Shire
Junior Member
Posts: 77
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Post by Shire on Mar 7, 2014 20:41:54 GMT
Given where Mort eventually ends up, it seems more likely than not that the nice "safe" place they find for him is Gunnerkrigg Court. Which means...
COURT HISTORY TIME!
(With Mort)
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Post by Chancellor on Mar 7, 2014 21:16:59 GMT
The comment didn't bother me all that much. I've had a lot of death in my family as well so I understand that's what happens to people in some cases, and eventually we all die, and rarely in circumstances we'd consider ideal. I'm also going to make note that the overall coloration of this time period is very similar to the one where we see " Emma" in the bombed-out factory. I think newly-christened Jones will have herself a cameo.
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QuotePilgrim
Full Member
Behind my door, there are twelve other doors.
Posts: 142
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Post by QuotePilgrim on Mar 7, 2014 23:56:15 GMT
I just refuse to accept Tom’s comment as true.
It’s only true if it happens in the comic itself.
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Post by keef on Mar 8, 2014 0:59:17 GMT
I find it unsettling to think that had I been born sixty to seventy years ago, Mort and I might have been enemies by default, because our birthplaces lie on opposite shores of the North Sea." If I had been born around that time, or a bit later, I would have been send to Indonesia to kill people fighting for their independence. The history of Europe is a bloodbath. Well that's stretching Chekhov's idea a bit I guess. But you're right about that cat though, I'm sure it survived and had kittens. It's beautiful. Also wild, wild spec. On the other hand it could be us, keeping a small part of our ancestors alive. We believe our grandmother is watching over our shoulder. And why should this be linear, I could die today and parts of my soul end up in a child born 2000 years ago in a child named Thomas. I think I should get some sleep now..
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Post by smjjames on Mar 8, 2014 2:50:13 GMT
I got to wondering about the slang term 'jerry' (which I had correctly guessed referred to Germans), checked on wikipedia and while it origionates in WWI, it didn't really come into common usage until WWII. So, I'm guessing it links more strongly to WWII. Can anybody place a date on the car? Looks like it could be from the 1930s. Well, a history note... a typical American who has a clue about WWII thinks it started with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Really, it didn't even become a world war on that date. Historians generally regard the war as beginning with the German attack on Poland on September 1, 1939. By the end of September of 1939 there was a declaration of war against Germany from countries on every continent except South America. (That continent became more heavily involved after the Pearl Harbor attack.) And Britain began evacuations as a precaution against German air raids almost immediately after declaring war. But a lot of related stuff happened even before then. Japan's invasion of China began in 1931; they also had (mostly lost) a minor war with the Soviet Union in 1939 and and thus turned their attention to the Pacific islands which increased stress on their relations with, particularly, the US and the British Empire. Early in 1939 they blockaded some British holdings in China. Also, Italy attacked Ethiopia in 1935 and Albania in early 1939; Germany annexed Austria and chewed up Czechoslovakia in 1938. (The latter event began with Germany seizing the portion of the country that contained a large share of its industry and most of its military defenses, with the full consent of the British and French while the Czechoslovak government was not invited to send a representative to the conference on the partitioning of their country - this was the inspiration for Chamberlain's infamous "peace in our time" declaration.) What made you think that I thought WWII began with Pearl Harbor? I am aware that there were events that led up to the war in 1939.
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mariposa
Full Member
Hi, I'm Elise!
Posts: 149
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Post by mariposa on Mar 8, 2014 5:13:33 GMT
I, too, had concluded that she could be Anthony's grandmother. I feel like they have similar facial features.
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Post by philman on Mar 8, 2014 10:13:37 GMT
I've been thinking a bit about Betty's significance here. Bethany is a region in Palestine where the Biblical Lazarus lived, died, and was resurrected. Betty's blue eyes and red jacket link her to Annie visually; as though in a resurrection of memory, familiar details thereby appear to surface from entirely new, and otherwise foreign, combinations. Perhaps this poses a clue as to how the transformation of the dead works in the Ether: their minds and beliefs are likewise recombined into mythical creatures. Thus, a being such as Coyote is really a continuation of individual fantasies; which means that while the Ether keeps Coyote alive, in turn, he keeps small parts of the dead in the Ether alive. It's quite a comforting thought. *claps* Well done, you win the reading-the-most-into-insignificant-characters prize for today!
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Post by legion on Mar 8, 2014 13:27:24 GMT
If I had been born around that time, or a bit later, I would have been send to Indonesia to kill people fighting for their independence. The history of Europe the world is a bloodbath. Fixed.
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