03/13/17 A Helping Hand




As this posts, I’m probably rolling in late to San Diego, re-uniting with my gal. Tired, road-weary, and needing a hug. Of course, I’m blogging this before I leave, back last Monday, so right this moment as I type I only feel the desire for a cookie and a nap.

BTW, in the “molten acid” strip last week? I changed it to “boiling acid.” “Molten” seemed to bother people, and I was fine with the change (not that “molten” was technically impossible by any means). And I hope to have more interesting things to bother you than THAT. 😉


  1. andreas


    Was this an official invitation to nitpicking ;-?

    I’ll start. How does the one-way glass work?

    Our one-way mirrors are normal planes of glass coated with reflective material which allows light to pass from both directions. It work as a consequence of one room being brightly lit, and the observation room kept dark.

    Since the inside seems to be as well-lit as the outside, this one-way glass appears to work by different means. That is assuming suspiciously-friendly clerk is telling the truth and it works at all. And why would security-guard glue his face to the glass if it did (unless those 8 holes contain vibration sensors)?

    It certainly would be funny if Heltch really was a trophy – next thing Nogg will crash the soccer world championship on Earth and disintegrate the world cup to put a stop on all those nations fighting over it 😉

  2. Nathan

    I would like to say, I was actually tempted to post in defense of the “molten acid” thing, but decided not to because I haven’t been in the mood to argue with trolls for several years. Sorry Chris!

    I love all your comics, by the way. Always both funny AND interesting, a rare combination.

  3. John Campbell

    Sorry, Anesu, I’ve got to admit that I ogled at your cleavage a little. But I’m on the other side of the fourth wall, and you can’t tell I’m looking at you, so that makes it okay maybe?

  4. Schismatism

    Heeeey… Moulthzar has six of those little eye dots. So does his assistant, the greeter behind the door. THIS guy, on the other hand, has seven, and he’s obviously somewhat older than the other two.

    I wonder if this means anything.

    1. Nick

      i’m guessing with the “bag-o-snakes” thing + his posture looks weirdly rigid compared to the other aultroons (is that what they’re called?) + 6 eyes vs 7 (good catch) he might be a spy from one of the other species in disguise (maybe that has the appearance of something extra tendral-y that when disguised would look like a bunch of snakes stuffed into a “aultroon bag”) and Anesu, as clever as she is, automatically saw right through it.

  5. Muzhik

    Next time you want to use “molten” with something really high-tech and scary, use “molten salt”. It’s used in some solar energy collection thingys — the sun heats the salt to the point of melting, which is then used to boil the water to drive the steam turbines. Since it stays hot and molten for a long time, it can be used to continue to drive the turbines at night.

    Experiments in using molten salt in making salt-crusted sea bass, though, have not proven successful.

  6. Night-Gaunt49

    I thought her reference to “bag of snakes” is that he isn’t speaking the whole truth and she detects something in his demeanor or posture that causes suspicion. Since in many Western societies the snake is an evil omen or symbol. Forked tongue and lying, Eve and the possessed “snake” with legs and so on.

    Since they have to feel their way around this they don’t even have a list of the players to trust and not trust in this war.

    Molten salt in relation to certain types of nuclear power plant designs.
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Example of a molten salt reactor scheme

    A molten salt reactor (MSR) is a class of generation IV nuclear fission reactor in which the primary nuclear reactor coolant, or even the fuel itself, is a molten salt mixture. MSRs can run at higher temperatures than water-cooled reactors for a higher thermodynamic efficiency, while staying at low vapour pressure.[1]

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