Tell me about it, the only thing I can conclude is that all the American ISPs were running slower than usual, thus allowing my post to be first instead of 5th-10th for a change.
Well, there has been reports recently that say the US and numerous other countries are running slower than usual because of, and someone please correct me if I’m getting it wrong, solar flare activity, specifically, solar flare activity that’s making the Southern Lights a lot more powerful than what they usually are.
Only reason I missed it is I’m not on my computer. I’m on a USO compy with a slow connection, and had to re-enter my info at the bottom. plus, I’m a slow as hell typer
Indeed I am! Of course, I learned how to type on a type-writer in middle school and then started on computers which was about 1998. So I’ve had a long time to practice. It’s really a difference in perspective but I can’t imagine being satisfied with index fingers! Not just because of the speed but because it’s so inefficient and a waste of both fingers and keyboard layouts.
I’d have to agree, that’s why I learned how to use my other fingers to type as well. Plus, a typewriter? really? that is awesome! I want one! it will fit nicely with the steam-punk deco in my office back home.
I have used a QWERTY keyboard of some kind since the late 70s but I never learnt touch-typing instead I have long got into the habit of pecking at the keys two fingers at a time that it is second nature with me.
……..Late seventies? I wasn’t even a twinkle in someone’s eye at that point. I think I just truly grasped the age/knowledge/wisdom difference between me and the others who frequent these pages.
@Thatguy: While I don’t any actual statistical evidence on hand, I believe you will find that a large portion of the SP! readership falls within the American 18-35 age group.
I am somewhat older than the average SP! reader but not necessarily the oldest one here.
Ya know, that makes sense, what with when this comic started and everything, but still, that’s an issue I have with the internet. You can never really tell the age of the person you’re talking to. Example, I could’ve sworn you were in your mid to late twenties.
@Thatguy: That is understandable assumption to make considering I have a username like Plasma Mongoose, the tendency to use gravs of either modified Walkyverse character or anime characters, not to mention my tendency to use a lot of ‘schoolboy humour’, reasonably modern references and corny puns.
I’m an Australian 50yo+ oddball who has has never forgotten what it was like to be a 15yo oddball.
Then, Plasma Mongoose, I can honestly say I want to be like you when I grow up. It’s a good thing to hold on to one’s childhood, and even better if you can do that and still be a productive human being, which I’m sure you, and most other people who frequent this thread are. You are a role-model for oddballs everywhere.
And the first thing you need to remember is that even if growing older is mandatory, maturity is an option. ^_-
Keep you stick on the ice. We’re all pulling for you.
@Thatguy: Thank You. ^_^ JUst as long as you don’t end up emulating my poor health or low-vision.
Maturity, at least for me is acting responsible when it is called for and being able to think clearly and not allow your mind to be swamped by every bit of emotion that inflicts you.
My discription is a bit simplistic, but it will do for now.
Man, people who are known to be histronic get to do that all the god damned time. If you’re calm, you ever have one bad day where you crack everyone’s like WTF you can’t do that!
I understand that it’s disconcerting to see someone act outside their normal mores but god damn, it’s hard to always always always be the rational, level-headed one.
Whenever anyone acts OOC to the way they have acted after so long, people do tend to have the WTF reaction, it doesn’t matter if it is a serious person suddenly acts silly, a calm person acts all agro or a loud person suddenly goes quiet, unexpected behaviour freaks a lot of people out.
The “WTF?!” reaction I can understand and experience myself sometimes as well. The part that’s frustrating is when they act like people aren’t allowed to act outside their character at all.
It’s a miracle! Robin is the messiah! Let’s start Robinism right away!
I – Thou shalt consume thy weight in sugar each day
II – Blessed are the Killmasters, for they shall have kickass names
III – Homosexuality is not only permitted, it is mandatory and Robin gets to watch.
IV – Thou shalt not tolerate Soggies, nor the rule thereof.
V – Thou shalt settle thy conflicts with pudding wrestling matches.
VI – Thou shalt not pull the Drama Tag, unless thy really craves a love triangle
VII – Honor thy mother and father, but thy sister is an annoying little camwhore
VIII – Cadbury Cream Eggs shall not grace thy cereal bowls
IX – Sarah Palin is the deceiver, reject her and all her works
X – Thou shalt keep certain sections of thy youtube channel private
Great Robin, we thank thee for not making this day so babies. May thy speed always be supersonic, and thy blood sugar super high. In the name of the Robin, the Eaton, and the Holy cheese, for rizzle.
‘fraid not. It’s not like Robin saving the day was foreshadowed.
This is entirely the result of being up past midnight studying, and taking any excuse for a break.
“Now that I’ve alphabetized my sock drawer, I can get back to work! Ooh, but it’s after 12! All my favorite webcomics have updated! Surely I can spare a couple more minutes to check them out…haha, Shortpacked is great! I think I’ll waste another 15 minutes of work (and thus sleep) writing a response!”
Awww – Jesus has; honestly unintentionally, led to a possible reconciliation between Robin and Leslie. Even though I don’t really like them dating I do like them as friends…
Jesus did something right – now he just needs to get laid…
By Ethan…
Also Ethan’s greying hair is looking sexy as usual – he and Jesus should get it on – the sash can probably be used for something – oh what’s the word – kinky…
I’ve enjoyed Shortpacked for a long time, but I’m getting pretty turned off to this juvenile imitation of insight into this subject. David Willis obviously hasn’t given much thought of his own to it beyond how to copy-paste other people’s thoughts and arguments without making it too clearly plagiarism. If the only “profound” statements you can make about a big issue are what you’ve heard, don’t bring up the issue in the first place. Be edgy about something you know something about.
What big issue is your argument talking about? Are you talking about how he’s handling religion? Are you talking about how he’s handling two people who broke up slowly reconciling? Are you talking about the really heated argument that lead to a small civil war in Switzerland over what color sash Jesus wore?
If you mean Leslie – I think it was pretty clear that Leslie was upset about Jesus because of her family issues so what the hell are you talking about?
If you mean the things Jesus said – I think Willis even mentioned he studied the Historical Jesus (for fun apparently) and seemed to come to his conclusions based on what he’d read about and from what Jesus said
In other words – everything you just said was meaningless jargon words meant to dismiss, but don’t explain what the hell your problem is…
I wasn’t homeschooled. All my friends were! But I went to public school. My parents considered homeschooling once or twice, but nothing ever came of it.
* Claim to be a longtime fan in order to disguise critique as constructive, then launch directly into bile
* Lack of examples given, despite accusations of unoriginality
* Refusal to actually state the issue in question, in blatant attempt at making it too vague to refute
* Trying to have it both ways by simultaneously insulting author’s knowledge and claiming it was taken from much smarter (but presumably still ignorant) people
* Use of term “edgy”, more than a decade removed from the 1990s
Yeah, guys, go easy on this one. It’s clearly his first time. If we aren’t understanding, how is he ever going to get better at it?
You are absolutely right! Also he dives into the bile to quickly to accurately move anyone to his side.
I’m no expert but allow me to give you a much better trolling performance.
~~The following is satire~~
Dear Willis,
I am a long time fan, but recently your strips have been dealing with a controversial subject matter that I think is being toted around in a far to shallow manner. I also believe you are ignoring the vast amount of people who have asked that you tone this down. This isn’t the first time you have done this to you fan base either. You’re showing a bias against a very large group of which many of your fans are part of and of which you have little experience in.
I respect other people opinions of course and I feel that everyone should be open minded, but the way you depicted Jesus is uncalled for. You make him out to be a hateful nutcase even though everyone knows he wasn’t like that and blast Christens. I never knew you had such extremist views before and have reason to believe your sources are inaccurate and that you are not properly educated to speak about this subject.
I’m afraid if this continues you’ll have lost quite a few readers.
~~~~
Much better right?
All the basic rules are followed combined with the attempt to make oneself out as the victim, claim a silent majority supports the view point, say I’m the open minded one, the assumption that almost everyone is in agreement with me, and who can forget the classic using the word ‘everyone’ tactic! All rapped up in a passive aggressive bow that provides me with the ability to deny I ever said anything wrong and that anyone who counters me is being the jerk!
It’s the small things in life . Although I make that mistake enough anyway; I know the difference, but sometimes I miss them when I’m spell-checking myself – ticks me off too.
Robin has set the bar for maturity so low that it still feels miraculous when she manages to get through seven panels without verbally self-destructing, but this time she managed a hell of a lot better than that. She just literally out-Jesused Jesus.
What this means for Robin and Leslie doesn’t feel like a full reconciliation, let alone “let’s give us another shot,” but it certainly feels like a big step in that direction. And that’s largely thanks to Robin not overplaying her hand– see, she DID learn something from the Leia gambit! She’s ACTUALLY LISTENING well enough to determine the CORE of Leslie’s issue, the fact that Leslie feels ALONE. It’s not just that Les’s relationships fail, it’s that when they do, she has no family at ALL to fall back on. By stressing the “family” and not the “partner” or “wife,” Robin puts herself back in the running for all three positions.
As for Jesus himself: I have to admit I’m disappointed that this particular story ends here. David’s concerns about religion are weighty enough that I hoped we’d grapple a bit more with the big questions raised by this thought experiment (I mean, how does Jeshua react to Fox News? Does he educate himself sufficiently to learn of things like environmental damage and possible nuclear war and attach those to his apocalyptic vision? But oh, well, always next time, I guess.)
Yeah, if I exhausted all my Jesus gags and Jesus story potential, Shortpacked! would be nothing else but Jesus for months. And not even I want to do that. Sometimes you just gotta do a Batman joke.
If you ever want to run a -third- strip, I would totally be all over “Modern Jesus” where Historical Jesus has to move in with a collection of nerdy roommates.
Oh!
Oh!
Have Historical Jesus move in with Ken and Malaya’s roommates! It could run Tuesdays and Thursdays when Shortpacked is in non-storyline mode. It could be called “Hatemail Manor”!
1) If Jesus was Batman, Batman would be short.
2) Shorter versions of Batman are called Robin.
3) Robin loves Leslie.
4) Leslie is angry with Jesus.
5) But Jesus = short Batman = Robin.
6) So Leslie is angry with Robin.
7) But Leslie just made up with Robin and embraced her.
8) So Leslie has embraced Jesus.
9) Leslie is now a born-again Christian.
So logically, if Jesus were Batman, even Leslie would worship him. Because Batman is just that awesome.
Also: God-damn-, but this is a gutpunch. A beautifully done gutpunch, but one all the same. I’ve never wanted to reach into a screen to give an imaginary pixilated character a hug so hard before.
As a gay guy to an imaginary lesbian: Hold in there, Les. It gets better… I hope.
Its nice to see Robin showing such tactful and mature approach to consoling Leslie. She’s been doing that a lot lately (like after the thing with Malaya went south), which is showing a lot of great character development for her. Bravo.
I’ve never liked Leslie. Her tendency to just simply sit back and let things happen, and hope for things to get better, rather than try to change things herself, or even voice her own opinion, has made me dislike her. And then the fact that she gets called a saint and an awesome character for it by the readership frustrates me and makes me hate her even more.
But this arc? I love this arc. This arc is where she actually communicates. This arc is where she actually voices what’s going on inside her head. This was an extremely well-written ending, Willis.
I think you both just put your finger on the reason I LIKE Leslie so much. She’s one of my favorite characters, probably because I identify with the part of her you just mentioned – her tendency to be a doormat and keep quiet and let things just happen.
I’m getting better, though. Still not assertive enough to stand up to the abusive woman I work with, but… one step at a time. I have managed to stand up to my dad a couple times about how he talks to people (he really likes to use a condescending tone).
This is actually why I don’t like most of this cast. I know the story is about them, but frankly, a little mystery can be a very good thing (and for the most part, I find myself liking the cast over in DoA better, for some reason). Hopefully, now that we’re starting to look at Leslie a lot more these past few months, I’ll still love her as much as I do.
That said, even with my dislike of anyone who could even begin to resemble a main character, I still rather LIKE SP! Good job, Willis! *thumbs up*
I guess Historical Jesus will now replace Reanimated Reagan on the “wise old character other characters go to for life advice?” He will play the same role and there will occasionally be a gag about the fact a famous dead person is working in the store?
If that is indeed the case I’m certainly ok with it, but it seems a little odd that you would just replaced one dead Conservative icon with another, both of whom aren’t really “Conservative” by today’s standards.
I dunno how I didn’t see it before. Jesus returns (in this comic strip) in 2012, the year the world ends. Considering we did get a story arc that involved fighting a giant monster, could Willis be leading us into some epic story later this year??
The mention of Historical Jesus and then Traditional Jesus made me think of Bitter and Angry Jesus, which then brought back a flood of other religious caricatures that I have read somewhere else [RIP GC TMATGWLT].
Mind you that if Willis was to pull that off he would have to add some other recurring settings outside of the store itself. Like why would an Angry and Bitter Jesus even be in the shop in the first place?
…Maybe I’m a terrible Christian, or something, but…
I can’t be the only one who has completely missed the joke this ENTIRE storyline, right? I got that Jesus was brought back (because he’s popular? Because he’s going to bring customers in? To get on Fox News? He… hasn’t really done any of these).
I also get that Robin and Leslie have made up (sorta).
Everything else? What? Is it all the dense Bible in-jokes that I’ve been missing? I know nothing about Transformers, but normally I get by alright enough with SP!
There are a fair number of biblical jokes, yes. (And one done twice about the illustrations about a particular storybook version.) But the jokes have been mostly along the lines of a confused Amber tacking the guy (and being confused about having done it) and a fairly weak one about Leslie being a murderous gentile – the latter one there having been less the point of the strip than the drama that has ensued. This strip, for example, is mostly about the drama.
And Jesus was explicitly brought back to be controversial. (Galasso overheard that controversy is good for sales. In that respect he’s succeeded, at least in the comment section.
If comments were toys (and you had to pay money to post them, and Galasso wasn’t fictional, and my metaphor kid getting away from me here), Galasso’d be rich!
He still needs a white shirt or even a dressing robe.
So wait. Wait. Wait wait wait….
You got first on DoA and SP! today?? What sorcery is this?
Tell me about it, the only thing I can conclude is that all the American ISPs were running slower than usual, thus allowing my post to be first instead of 5th-10th for a change.
Naruto avatar?
Yes but he is in his ‘Naruko’ form.
But clearly he can still use Shadow Clone Jutsu to get multiple first posts
Well, there has been reports recently that say the US and numerous other countries are running slower than usual because of, and someone please correct me if I’m getting it wrong, solar flare activity, specifically, solar flare activity that’s making the Southern Lights a lot more powerful than what they usually are.
There was indeed a super solar flare like yesterday and it’s supposed to make both Auroras go nuts on the nights of the 11th and 12th.
Thats kind of a hard call, “Can I punch Crist?”. And where did the blue sash come from?
Hammerspace?
Robin’s bag of holding
Skittlepower!
I can’t tell if your avatar is “The Dude”, or Jesus.
There’s a difference?
…I don’t understand the difference.
The answer is yes.
Looks more like Gir to me.
Since Robin was the one who wanted him to have it, I’m assuming she used her superspeed to get it on him while he wasn’t noticing.
Nope, sorry, that’s entirely too reasonable. Has to be something else.
Okay, it was Yuki doing Robin a favour, helping out a fellow super speed magical girl.
The same place where Optimus Prime’s trailer always go when Prime transforms.
AHA – that finally explains why Optimus always sounded like he had something wedged in his tailpipe.
Shit, Mongoose beat me too it! I was gonna comment on the robe….
I haven’t been first to comment since laSt year and I wasn’t even trying to either.
Only reason I missed it is I’m not on my computer. I’m on a USO compy with a slow connection, and had to re-enter my info at the bottom. plus, I’m a slow as hell typer
I’m no touch-typer either, I still peck at the keys even after all these years.
Hey, me too! It took me years to learn how to use more than just my index fingers to type.
I’m content with only being able to type at 30-40 words a minute, it’s not like I have to type for a living.
*boggles at both of you*
Does this mean that you are a touch-typer then taekwondogirl?
You lost me at boggles. what?
Indeed I am! Of course, I learned how to type on a type-writer in middle school and then started on computers which was about 1998. So I’ve had a long time to practice. It’s really a difference in perspective but I can’t imagine being satisfied with index fingers! Not just because of the speed but because it’s so inefficient and a waste of both fingers and keyboard layouts.
I’d have to agree, that’s why I learned how to use my other fingers to type as well. Plus, a typewriter? really? that is awesome! I want one! it will fit nicely with the steam-punk deco in my office back home.
I have used a QWERTY keyboard of some kind since the late 70s but I never learnt touch-typing instead I have long got into the habit of pecking at the keys two fingers at a time that it is second nature with me.
……..Late seventies? I wasn’t even a twinkle in someone’s eye at that point. I think I just truly grasped the age/knowledge/wisdom difference between me and the others who frequent these pages.
@Thatguy: While I don’t any actual statistical evidence on hand, I believe you will find that a large portion of the SP! readership falls within the American 18-35 age group.
I am somewhat older than the average SP! reader but not necessarily the oldest one here.
Ya know, that makes sense, what with when this comic started and everything, but still, that’s an issue I have with the internet. You can never really tell the age of the person you’re talking to. Example, I could’ve sworn you were in your mid to late twenties.
@Thatguy: That is understandable assumption to make considering I have a username like Plasma Mongoose, the tendency to use gravs of either modified Walkyverse character or anime characters, not to mention my tendency to use a lot of ‘schoolboy humour’, reasonably modern references and corny puns.
I’m an Australian 50yo+ oddball who has has never forgotten what it was like to be a 15yo oddball.
Then, Plasma Mongoose, I can honestly say I want to be like you when I grow up. It’s a good thing to hold on to one’s childhood, and even better if you can do that and still be a productive human being, which I’m sure you, and most other people who frequent this thread are. You are a role-model for oddballs everywhere.
And the first thing you need to remember is that even if growing older is mandatory, maturity is an option. ^_-
Keep you stick on the ice. We’re all pulling for you.
I second the notion of Thatguy. Iwant to grow up to be like Plasma .
@Thatguy: Thank You. ^_^ JUst as long as you don’t end up emulating my poor health or low-vision.
Maturity, at least for me is acting responsible when it is called for and being able to think clearly and not allow your mind to be swamped by every bit of emotion that inflicts you.
My discription is a bit simplistic, but it will do for now.
His sash is almost as powerful as the green ranger’s vest.
I just have to say, I *love* Ethan’s expression in the last panel.
That avatar, where did you get it?
I too would like to know. Looks like it’s cropped from a pretty awesome pic of Octavia.
Awwwwwwwwww.
Seconding!
Coming soon… Robin DeSanto IS the messiah.
(Well, okay, let’s not go that far)
Seconding coming soon……
Jesus does perform miracles. He’s certainly made it possible for Robin to get back into Leslie’s graces.
Yes, Robin, comfort your lesbian! Robin do good!
Man, people who are known to be histronic get to do that all the god damned time. If you’re calm, you ever have one bad day where you crack everyone’s like WTF you can’t do that!
I understand that it’s disconcerting to see someone act outside their normal mores but god damn, it’s hard to always always always be the rational, level-headed one.
Hear hear!
Whenever anyone acts OOC to the way they have acted after so long, people do tend to have the WTF reaction, it doesn’t matter if it is a serious person suddenly acts silly, a calm person acts all agro or a loud person suddenly goes quiet, unexpected behaviour freaks a lot of people out.
The “WTF?!” reaction I can understand and experience myself sometimes as well. The part that’s frustrating is when they act like people aren’t allowed to act outside their character at all.
Please, please, PLEASE for the love of EVERYTHING, do not screw this up. Even if they never actually end up together they NEED to reconcile.
Leslie pulls some profound stuff out of Robin, doesn’t she?
And that what makes them such a great couple! They pull out the best in each other.
Make-up sexings now? Can haz?
It’s a miracle! Robin is the messiah! Let’s start Robinism right away!
I – Thou shalt consume thy weight in sugar each day
II – Blessed are the Killmasters, for they shall have kickass names
III – Homosexuality is not only permitted, it is mandatory and Robin gets to watch.
IV – Thou shalt not tolerate Soggies, nor the rule thereof.
V – Thou shalt settle thy conflicts with pudding wrestling matches.
VI – Thou shalt not pull the Drama Tag, unless thy really craves a love triangle
VII – Honor thy mother and father, but thy sister is an annoying little camwhore
VIII – Cadbury Cream Eggs shall not grace thy cereal bowls
IX – Sarah Palin is the deceiver, reject her and all her works
X – Thou shalt keep certain sections of thy youtube channel private
Great Robin, we thank thee for not making this day so babies. May thy speed always be supersonic, and thy blood sugar super high. In the name of the Robin, the Eaton, and the Holy cheese, for rizzle.
You sir, win the internet for the day
I think I’ve found religion!
+1 Like x100
This is pretty great.
I love you forever.
I want to have a million of your babies.
You could get into the Guinness Book of Records for biggest stretch-marks if you did that.
That’s more useful than the real Ten Commandments. Seriously.
Though diabetics should be advised to be a bit fast and loose with the first commandment, I think.
Comment blog’s over, Doctor_Who just won. You can all go home now. Drive safely, everybody.
…
*Narrows eyes*
This smells… suspiciously like prepared material. You’ve waiting ALL WEEK for this, haven’t you? *laugh*
‘fraid not. It’s not like Robin saving the day was foreshadowed.
This is entirely the result of being up past midnight studying, and taking any excuse for a break.
“Now that I’ve alphabetized my sock drawer, I can get back to work! Ooh, but it’s after 12! All my favorite webcomics have updated! Surely I can spare a couple more minutes to check them out…haha, Shortpacked is great! I think I’ll waste another 15 minutes of work (and thus sleep) writing a response!”
You realize she hates her dad?
Awww – Jesus has; honestly unintentionally, led to a possible reconciliation between Robin and Leslie. Even though I don’t really like them dating I do like them as friends…
Jesus did something right – now he just needs to get laid…
By Ethan…
Also Ethan’s greying hair is looking sexy as usual – he and Jesus should get it on – the sash can probably be used for something – oh what’s the word – kinky…
I’ve enjoyed Shortpacked for a long time, but I’m getting pretty turned off to this juvenile imitation of insight into this subject. David Willis obviously hasn’t given much thought of his own to it beyond how to copy-paste other people’s thoughts and arguments without making it too clearly plagiarism. If the only “profound” statements you can make about a big issue are what you’ve heard, don’t bring up the issue in the first place. Be edgy about something you know something about.
What big issue is your argument talking about? Are you talking about how he’s handling religion? Are you talking about how he’s handling two people who broke up slowly reconciling? Are you talking about the really heated argument that lead to a small civil war in Switzerland over what color sash Jesus wore?
I think he’s just talking out his ass
What?
If you mean Leslie – I think it was pretty clear that Leslie was upset about Jesus because of her family issues so what the hell are you talking about?
If you mean the things Jesus said – I think Willis even mentioned he studied the Historical Jesus (for fun apparently) and seemed to come to his conclusions based on what he’d read about and from what Jesus said
In other words – everything you just said was meaningless jargon words meant to dismiss, but don’t explain what the hell your problem is…
You said it much better than I did.
Well put sir.
-Please- tell me you aren’t trying to imply that David “Christian Homeschooled” Willis doesn’t know anything about Christianity or Jesus.
Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease.
I wasn’t homeschooled. All my friends were! But I went to public school. My parents considered homeschooling once or twice, but nothing ever came of it.
“Deeply Familiar With Christian Homeschooling Culture Through Childhood Friends and Family Connections” is a more unwieldy nickname, though.
I still apologize for the misrepresentation. Mea Culpa
Hmmm…
* Claim to be a longtime fan in order to disguise critique as constructive, then launch directly into bile
* Lack of examples given, despite accusations of unoriginality
* Refusal to actually state the issue in question, in blatant attempt at making it too vague to refute
* Trying to have it both ways by simultaneously insulting author’s knowledge and claiming it was taken from much smarter (but presumably still ignorant) people
* Use of term “edgy”, more than a decade removed from the 1990s
Yeah, guys, go easy on this one. It’s clearly his first time. If we aren’t understanding, how is he ever going to get better at it?
He is far too easy of a target, isn’t he?
You are absolutely right! Also he dives into the bile to quickly to accurately move anyone to his side.
I’m no expert but allow me to give you a much better trolling performance.
~~The following is satire~~
Dear Willis,
I am a long time fan, but recently your strips have been dealing with a controversial subject matter that I think is being toted around in a far to shallow manner. I also believe you are ignoring the vast amount of people who have asked that you tone this down. This isn’t the first time you have done this to you fan base either. You’re showing a bias against a very large group of which many of your fans are part of and of which you have little experience in.
I respect other people opinions of course and I feel that everyone should be open minded, but the way you depicted Jesus is uncalled for. You make him out to be a hateful nutcase even though everyone knows he wasn’t like that and blast Christens. I never knew you had such extremist views before and have reason to believe your sources are inaccurate and that you are not properly educated to speak about this subject.
I’m afraid if this continues you’ll have lost quite a few readers.
~~~~
Much better right?
All the basic rules are followed combined with the attempt to make oneself out as the victim, claim a silent majority supports the view point, say I’m the open minded one, the assumption that almost everyone is in agreement with me, and who can forget the classic using the word ‘everyone’ tactic! All rapped up in a passive aggressive bow that provides me with the ability to deny I ever said anything wrong and that anyone who counters me is being the jerk!
I think Fox News would be proud of me!
Wow.
You’re good.
I think I need a cigarette after that.
:Awards gold star:
See, Ragble? With mentorship like this, you could go far. Don’t be afraid to ask for pointers.
Your misspelling it “Christens” is icing on the cake
It’s those tiny things that really matter in trolling. (Although I don’t troll myself; I’m just naturally gifted at it.)
Like a sort of Boddhisatva of trolling, you stay here to help us reach troll nirvana….
MIIIMAAAAAS!!!
I also like the misuse of “to”. It drives me nuts to see but all the best trolls confuse to and too.
It’s the small things in life
. Although I make that mistake enough anyway; I know the difference, but sometimes I miss them when I’m spell-checking myself – ticks me off too.
Damn, the comments have really been top flight today.
Oh, I like you…
Willis, for some odd reason, seems to get a treasure trove of ultra-religious readers that read the strip simply waiting to be indignant.
Fail troll is full of fail.
I dunno, if he’s trolling, I think this is a success. Look how many people bit.
Sadly he failed on the goal all Trolls should aim for; getting people mad or even slightly annoyed.Starting fights really…
What a failure of a troll.
It’s shameful really; try harder next time I say…
Robin has set the bar for maturity so low that it still feels miraculous when she manages to get through seven panels without verbally self-destructing, but this time she managed a hell of a lot better than that. She just literally out-Jesused Jesus.
What this means for Robin and Leslie doesn’t feel like a full reconciliation, let alone “let’s give us another shot,” but it certainly feels like a big step in that direction. And that’s largely thanks to Robin not overplaying her hand– see, she DID learn something from the Leia gambit! She’s ACTUALLY LISTENING well enough to determine the CORE of Leslie’s issue, the fact that Leslie feels ALONE. It’s not just that Les’s relationships fail, it’s that when they do, she has no family at ALL to fall back on. By stressing the “family” and not the “partner” or “wife,” Robin puts herself back in the running for all three positions.
As for Jesus himself: I have to admit I’m disappointed that this particular story ends here. David’s concerns about religion are weighty enough that I hoped we’d grapple a bit more with the big questions raised by this thought experiment (I mean, how does Jeshua react to Fox News? Does he educate himself sufficiently to learn of things like environmental damage and possible nuclear war and attach those to his apocalyptic vision? But oh, well, always next time, I guess.)
Yeah, if I exhausted all my Jesus gags and Jesus story potential, Shortpacked! would be nothing else but Jesus for months. And not even I want to do that. Sometimes you just gotta do a Batman joke.
Because Batman is comedy gold
Batman is awesome because of this. What other superhero can pull this off? Wolverine?
He’s the best there is at what he does, and what he does is garden.
If you ever want to run a -third- strip, I would totally be all over “Modern Jesus” where Historical Jesus has to move in with a collection of nerdy roommates.
Oh!
Oh!
Have Historical Jesus move in with Ken and Malaya’s roommates! It could run Tuesdays and Thursdays when Shortpacked is in non-storyline mode. It could be called “Hatemail Manor”!
I would love it forever, I am totally serious.
The ultimate foil for Historical Jesus would of course be Traditional Jesus. Blue sash and all.
I would read this strip.
I’d read it.
I… feel the need to leave this here. http://www.mangafox.com/manga/saint_oniisan/
It’s a manga. About Jesus and Budda. And they are room mates in modern Japan. On vacation from their ‘main’ jobs.
They’re not even superheros or anything rubbish like that!
Do they at least solve crimes?
But I hope to see him pop up in the strip in the future! Jesus > Ronald Reagan for comedy potential
BLASPHEMER!!!! Thou hast taken the name of Reagan in vain!!! Oh Crap!! Now I’ve done it too! Oh! Reagan why hast thou forsaken us?
So, does that mean you’ll get to that stuff eventually?
but what if jesus WAS batman?
Then Jesus would be comedy gold!
And Batman would be kinda short.
1) If Jesus was Batman, Batman would be short.
2) Shorter versions of Batman are called Robin.
3) Robin loves Leslie.
4) Leslie is angry with Jesus.
5) But Jesus = short Batman = Robin.
6) So Leslie is angry with Robin.
7) But Leslie just made up with Robin and embraced her.
8) So Leslie has embraced Jesus.
9) Leslie is now a born-again Christian.
So logically, if Jesus were Batman, even Leslie would worship him. Because Batman is just that awesome.
10) Automatic emoticons are annoying.
Charles Dodgson would be impressed with your logic I think.
Man, that paper you’re working on must really be a doozy, to produce such high-quality procrastination comments!
Also: God-damn-, but this is a gutpunch. A beautifully done gutpunch, but one all the same. I’ve never wanted to reach into a screen to give an imaginary pixilated character a hug so hard before.
As a gay guy to an imaginary lesbian: Hold in there, Les. It gets better… I hope.
Think my thoughts are summed up best like this.
“Are you guys okay??”
“We’re getting there.”
This. This is good.
I am commenting without reading the other comments, so if this has already been said… well… good.
Robin being genuinely apologetic for her crap makes me very, very happy. Her status as my favorite forever has now been assured.
Its nice to see Robin showing such tactful and mature approach to consoling Leslie. She’s been doing that a lot lately (like after the thing with Malaya went south), which is showing a lot of great character development for her. Bravo.
Jesus returns, and Robin is the voice of reason? Maybe 2012 really is the year the world ends…
Thank you, Willis.
I wear a sash now. Sashes are cool…
In my church growing up it was a pink sash – maybe he could have a different colour one every day so that everyones illustrated bibles would be canon.
I hope Leslie takes Robin back.
…to the stockroom for make up sexytimes.
You should finish your thoughts
Yayyyyy! ^^ Even if they don’t end up back together, I can take them being friends again instead.
It’s almost like this part of the story has very little to do with Jesus himself…SUSPICIOUS!
I’ve never liked Leslie. Her tendency to just simply sit back and let things happen, and hope for things to get better, rather than try to change things herself, or even voice her own opinion, has made me dislike her. And then the fact that she gets called a saint and an awesome character for it by the readership frustrates me and makes me hate her even more.
But this arc? I love this arc. This arc is where she actually communicates. This arc is where she actually voices what’s going on inside her head. This was an extremely well-written ending, Willis.
Holy crap, I was just thinking to myself “I have never liked Leslie” right before I scrolled down and read your comment. GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
I think you both just put your finger on the reason I LIKE Leslie so much. She’s one of my favorite characters, probably because I identify with the part of her you just mentioned – her tendency to be a doormat and keep quiet and let things just happen.
I’m getting better, though. Still not assertive enough to stand up to the abusive woman I work with, but… one step at a time. I have managed to stand up to my dad a couple times about how he talks to people (he really likes to use a condescending tone).
This is actually why I don’t like most of this cast. I know the story is about them, but frankly, a little mystery can be a very good thing (and for the most part, I find myself liking the cast over in DoA better, for some reason). Hopefully, now that we’re starting to look at Leslie a lot more these past few months, I’ll still love her as much as I do.
That said, even with my dislike of anyone who could even begin to resemble a main character, I still rather LIKE SP! Good job, Willis! *thumbs up*
I guess Historical Jesus will now replace Reanimated Reagan on the “wise old character other characters go to for life advice?” He will play the same role and there will occasionally be a gag about the fact a famous dead person is working in the store?
If that is indeed the case I’m certainly ok with it, but it seems a little odd that you would just replaced one dead Conservative icon with another, both of whom aren’t really “Conservative” by today’s standards.
You did -however- trade up.
Based on what we’ve seen so far, I’d be a little scared of the kind of ‘wise advice’ historical Jesus might give.
It sounds like he’s going to be around more for religious gags than advice.
Personally I’m eagerly waiting for the first time historical Jesus goes to Reanimated Reagan for life advice.
That’s it, Jesus is totally Worfing it up.
My cat did that one the hardwood floor a few times. It’s really a pain to clean up.
Cue the Klingon Jesus / Leslie slashfic.
Is that Jesus, as a Klingon, with Leslie, or Jesus/some Klingon/Leslie? Cause I’m not sure which one would be better
I dunno how I didn’t see it before. Jesus returns (in this comic strip) in 2012, the year the world ends. Considering we did get a story arc that involved fighting a giant monster, could Willis be leading us into some epic story later this year??
The mention of Historical Jesus and then Traditional Jesus made me think of Bitter and Angry Jesus, which then brought back a flood of other religious caricatures that I have read somewhere else [RIP GC TMATGWLT].
Mind you that if Willis was to pull that off he would have to add some other recurring settings outside of the store itself. Like why would an Angry and Bitter Jesus even be in the shop in the first place?
We already have Malaya; he’d fit right in.
…Maybe I’m a terrible Christian, or something, but…
I can’t be the only one who has completely missed the joke this ENTIRE storyline, right? I got that Jesus was brought back (because he’s popular? Because he’s going to bring customers in? To get on Fox News? He… hasn’t really done any of these).
I also get that Robin and Leslie have made up (sorta).
Everything else? What? Is it all the dense Bible in-jokes that I’ve been missing? I know nothing about Transformers, but normally I get by alright enough with SP!
There are a fair number of biblical jokes, yes. (And one done twice about the illustrations about a particular storybook version.) But the jokes have been mostly along the lines of a confused Amber tacking the guy (and being confused about having done it) and a fairly weak one about Leslie being a murderous gentile – the latter one there having been less the point of the strip than the drama that has ensued. This strip, for example, is mostly about the drama.
And Jesus was explicitly brought back to be controversial. (Galasso overheard that controversy is good for sales. In that respect he’s succeeded, at least in the comment section.
If comments were toys (and you had to pay money to post them, and Galasso wasn’t fictional, and my metaphor kid getting away from me here), Galasso’d be rich!
I just gotta say: Awwwwwwww. So sweet.
Willis, you are absolutely awesome.
Even your funniest characters still have such a great well of depth. I hope I can write like you someday. :3
I don’t understand the significance of the blue toga thing. What am I missing?
The traditional pictures of Christ as depicted by Catholism, have him with a blue sash.
http://www.prayerfulrosary.com/jesusheart.gif
Ah. Thanks!
It’s actually a callback to the “Sash” strip from a few days ago.
Poor Leslie.
So I guess Blue Sash Jesus ended up officially canon.
So in an alternate timeline where Robin is still in congress, will Ethan try to get Robin to help BW Megs or Sky-Byte win the Hall of Fame?