Professor Madblood and the Lovelace Affair: November 8-13, 2004

Dave kinda has a thing for Jennifer Connelly too.

Some of Lovelace’s lines make me think she’d get along well with Artie, and it’s kind of a shame they never had much contact over the course of the strip. They probably would’ve ended up bickering anyway.

Somewhat surprisingly, Dave’s a pretty good boyfriend. He’s very patient, a virtue required of anyone who plans to date a female character in one of my comics.

I probably did too many strips with gags about the characters betting money on each other, but what the hell, it’s always funny.

Okay, sometimes Dave’s a good boyfriend because he’s patient, and sometimes it’s because he’s cunning. He’s developed a lot of survival skills since the beginning of the strip, and what only occasionally kills him has made him stronger.

And yes, eating pizza on the couch is a typical evening for Dave. Nice couch, though.

Lovelace is kind of jealous of Helen, and with good reason. She’s not a big fan of mad scientists anyway. Fortunately, she and Dave can bond over their mutual dislike of Madblood.

Lovelace could indeed be afraid that Dave will turn her off. Ah, computers.

Dave’s apartment has a poster for Ghost in the Shell visible in the first panel. On the bookshelf: something by William Gibson, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Asimov’s I, Robot, David Gerrold’s When Harlie Was ONE, Tezuka’s Astro Boy, and Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Because COMPUTERS.

Love tends to make Dave annoying. I’m not passing judgement, just saying.

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35 thoughts on “Professor Madblood and the Lovelace Affair: November 8-13, 2004

  1. Monday

    That little box marked ‘X-Mas Decorations’ really goes far in underlining how pathetic Lovelace’s situation is.

  2. That pizza in panel 3 … Dave looks like he’s about two seconds away from a painful burn.  Then again, knowing Dave, this could be cold pizza from two days ago.

  3. I don’t think the pizza is that hot… after all, his face suggests he’s already chewing.

  4. tune: “It’s all right with me,” Cole Porter (Can-Can, 1953)

    You’ve the wrong job, in the wrong place
    And I’m wrong to want to see you, Lovelace
    Should nip this bud
    But since you’re not Madblood
    Well, it’s all right with me

    Can we bestride this great divide?
    Our mad bosses won’t let our love abide
    But I’m your stud
    And since you’re not Madblood
    Well, it’s all right with me

    You can’t know how happy I am that you hacked
    If not, we would never have met
    Your Connelly accent is bound to attract
    And proves that I’ve won the lab bet

    ‘Twas the wrong bet on the wrong beau
    Your confessing now, but sweetie, I know
    You’re my dream nerd. though it may sound absurd
    I have traced your IP
    And it’s all right, it’s all right with me

  5. Tuesday:

    Dave’s final line is excellent – and especially the fact that it is “a lot” of money. That is all.

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  7. I’m curious as to how much money was bet.  Helen, of course, gets mad-science grants, so she can simply write off a loss as “the dollar bills became sentient and ate each other”.  Artie [minor SPOILER] has an income from his writing.  Mell doesn’t have much cash available, but would still make the bet; if she loses, she’ll just pay him back with bullets.  (Would YOU try to collect money from Mell??)

  8. Given Madblood’s prior attempts at acting, I can’t see him as able to pose as Lovelace even in text format.  The distinctive speech patterns would just creep in.

  9. Ed: IIRC, Mell also has the occasional “mercenary job”. Note also that “can I tape this conversation?” must necessarily be after the fact….

  10. “He’s very patient, a virtue required of anyone who plans to date a female character in one of my comics.”
    A virtue required of anyone who plans to date a female! Amirite? 😉

  11. This strip definitely needs more TV Tropes links.  After all, what is in it that isn’t a great trope?  (Even the references to obscure literature and background material count as tropes.)

  12. Of course, before we congratulate Dave too much for his cunning, remember that there’s “ai little something” he still doesn’t know about Lovelace!

  13. (TUNE: “Whistle While You Work”, Churchill & Harline)

    Madblood is a jerk!
    I’m doing all the work!
    Achieving lots,
    While he just plots
    And laughs like he’s berserk!

    Madblood is a pain!
    His servant I remain!
    With each new scheme,
    My self-esteem
    Is going down the drain!

    His quirks I’ll disregard
    (Although it’s rather hard) …
    On weekend nights,
    He’ll dim the lights
    And dress up like Jean-Luc Picard!

    Oh, Madblood is a fool!
    The world he wants to rule!
    My outlook’s grim,
    I’m stuck with him …
    He’s such an utter tool!

  14. Vibram Five Fingers is a variant of the five point heart exploding blow from Kill Bill.  You take five steps, and your Nikes turn into Birkenstocks.

  15. Actually, I wear Vibram Fivefingers. In fact, I own four pairs. (Sprint, Flow, KSO and KSO Trek.) I love ’em! They’re the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn! You could do far worse than getting yourselves a pair — namely *NOT* getting yourselves a pair…or four! (Vibram Fivefingers is not in any way responsible for this message — other than the fact that I *LOVE* their shoes!)

  16. Friday:

    Dave really, really ought to have guessed that she’s a gerbil by now. It would have been incorrect, and it wouldn’t have made sense, but it would have made so much sense.

  17. I think Lovelace prefers C food.  Or maybe C++ food.

    “Are you afraid I’ll turn you off?”  TVTropes/Stealth Pun.

  18. Nah, it’s only a Stealth Pun if it’s implied. That’s more of an accidental pun on Dave’s part… but I’m not entirely sure what the name of that trope would be.

  19. @eddurd:  “C++ food”?  Geez, Ed, even when you’re not filking, you still manage to be my hero.

  20. I kinda-sorta ship Dave/Helen/Lovelace, tho’ I realize it would be a hard sell after certain future events.

  21. (TUNE: “Message In A Bottle”, The Police)

    She’s a cyber-dame,
    I thought she was so fine!
    I found her emails came
    From Madblood’s T1 line!
    Then, she was gone,
    But Mell was not so sure …
    Helen thought that they had heard the last of her!

    But now I’ll LOL in your face!
    Yes, now I’ll LOL in your face!
    My girlfriend Lovelace sent a
    CD-ROM of data!
    CD-ROM of data!

  22. @Ed: Great.  (As always!)  “I’ll LOL in your face” is my new catchphrase, replacing the ever-popular “who burnt the clams?”

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