Rejected Narbonic Plots Redux
August 14, 2011 ~ 5 Comments
I always liked these little features, not in the least before they were easy to do. That said, Caliban looks extremely dorky in his ponytail and sunglasses. I often draw Older Caliban that way, though. He’s kind of a dork.
The “Dave gets bored” storyline was originally going to end with Dave going mad, until I decided to make that development more central to Narbonic. Yes, there was a time when Dave going mad was just a subplot. Narbonic went through a lot of drafts.
Meanwhile, let’s get back to the adventures of Christopher Heiny’s gerbil, Smokey, in the Philippines. Writes Christopher:
Smokey investigates the stalagmites in Hinagdanan Cave on Panglao Island. Kind of small for a lair, but with three entrances – very important when the villagers come with pitchforks and torches. For soup lovers, there’s also an extensive collection of swallow’s nests.
Relics of an ancient 20th century civilization in the mahogany forests of Bohol.
It’s difficult to determine who is cuter: a super-intelligent gerbil or a rare Philippine tarsier. Tarsiers are endangered both due to loss of forest habitat and because people trap them and sell them for pets. Unfortunately, they do not do well as pets, since most households do not keep a sufficient supply of live insects on hand to keep a tarsier well fed.
Did the silly humans take any pictures of Smokey and the sea turtles when the visited the sea turtle sanctuary? No, they didn’t. They put hermit crabs on his nose and laughed themselves silly. This indignity is nearly enough to move them up past those fools at the institute on The List, but not quite, so they’ll be allowed to live. For the moment.
Thanks, Christopher, Thelma, and Smokey! Also, awesome tarsier.
Helen saying “frou-frou” makes me weirdly delighted.
The loss of the sulphuric acid strip is a loss to all humankind.
By the way, what is that charming title font?
Why does that tarsier remind me of Courage, the Cowardly Dog? Must be the facial expression …
@shaenon: If you never published that first errata strip as a part of the canon, you certainly should have. I’d pay for that one any day….
Such a pity that Narbonic ended, or I’d beg and plead for those to be turned into official strips…
Then again, who says they can’t be added in after the fact, nyao? I can see it now: Narbonic: The Would-Have-Been-A-Motion-Picture!