Return of the Summer Gerbil Contest
Commentary: On
September 18, 2011 ~ 7 Comments
Not much to say about this strip… but man, I got a lot of cool gerbil photos over the years, didn’t I?
Speaking of amazing gerbil photos, I think the time has come to show yinz this one. Some years back, Tiff Hudson made this:
That’s right. It’s a stained-glass butterfly gerbil. The glass above broke from stress fractures, but Tiff made a second one, which now hangs proudly in my kitchen window.
Check out Tiff’s blueprints:
Canny readers will notice that publisher Mike Barklage and I used Tiff’s design for the cover of Narbonic Volume 6. Because it’s that great. Thanks again so much, Tiff!
Really, what creation of Helen’s hasn’t cracked from the stress? Replacing them with clones is entirely to be expected.
Awww, it was fun! Thank YOU, Shaenon, for Narbonic!
I agree that we all owe Shaenon a debt of gratitude for creating Narbonic… but that stained glass gerbil is still adorable!
Awwwwwww.
The butterfly-gerbil really does bespeak a whimsical and elegant future beyond the end of the webcomic, possibly even more so than the actual end of the webcomic does. The laboratory animal has returned, transformed, to the world of nature, as Helen’s bespectacled laboratory animal, emerged from his underground chrysalis, reconciles himself with his true nature.
(TUNE: “The Last Rose Of Summer”, Thomas Moore & Sir John Stevenson)
‘Tis the glass buttergerbil, now taking its flight,
To sit by my window and catch the sun’s light.
Alone of all rodents, this gerbil has wings,
And songs palindromic it cheerfully sings.
Our friend, Mr. Hudson, was clearly inspired
By dear Shaenon’s artwork, which all have admired.
With time and with effort, with copper and glass,
This lovely creation has now come to pass.
O dear buttergerbil, please brighten my day,
And stay by my window; do not fly away!
Implore Mr. Hudson to work ’round the clock
And finish his “Girlbot” for Diana Nock.
This might be the sweetest fancraft ever made for anything ever. It makes me affectionate all over.