New Daily Voting Incentive: PUCK’S STUPID SKETCH ADVENT CALENDAR!!!
It’s a Stupid Sketch Puck Advent Calendar! Count down to Christmas with 25 holiday-themed sketches! Instead of putting a whole bunch of effort into one really good pic, I made 25 mildly crappy yet entertaining ones! Vote to see today’s special pic!
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As for this comic…
When two villains face off in the comics, you always end up with a situation where the one villain suddenly becomes slightly more likable and the other one becomes even nastier than usual so we readers aren’t burdened with any ambiguity as to whom we should root for. I feel myself slipping into that old trope here, I suppose.
In a face-off between Tracee and Heather, though, I can’t help but side with Tracee. She’s ridiculous and a sort of untrustworthy, but her ridiculousness stems entirely from her own nature. Heather’s ridiculousness, meanwhile, stems from her ambition.
Well, just wonder when, when.
Soon. Soon.
don´t worry about containment, dear, just enjoy the show. its not as if they could trash something expensive in pucks yard….or as if one of her neighbours would call the cops because of the noise. it DOES have advantages to life in crackistan 😉
also, i can´t wait for it to come to blows. odds are upperclass heather never had a physical argument in her life, so while she´s a uber-pro at using words for weapons, this should get REALLY interesting.
You call it well. I don’t think Heather’s entirely aware a conflict can come to blows. Yet.
Oh, Heather, Heather Heather…. Really? That’s the best you can come up with? A THIRD grader could do better without much effort! I’m disappointed, but that’s ok, I guess I just set the bar too high for you…
(shakes head in disappointment)
On a completely different note, have an ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS Christmas, Gecko! GOD bless you and your household, and thank you for all the laughs this year!
I’m sorry the stinging barbs fall short of your expectations. But as for Christmas, I aim for one thing every year: survival. If I can manage that, if I can get to the other side, then I’m doing well.
It’s not that the barbs are bad, but if her goal is to humiliate Tracee rather than just anger her, she is a B-52 bombing the wrong city!
Well, like I said in my commentary, I’m stacking the deck a little here. Heather’s cruising for a bruising more than Tracee. I believe it’s called ‘telescoping the blow.’
telegraphing the blow actually. At least that’s what us martial arts enthusiast call it in Oz 🙂
I knew it sounded wrong. You can tell I don’t practice much hand-to-hand combat.
I call it “Zelda Bossing”.
Doing some bloody obvious slow moves and flashing your weak points for all to see. Please shoot bomb-arrow into giant eyeball provided.
That money can be used to get Miranda into college.
But we all know it won’t be, it will probably be spent on frivelous shopping or maybe gambling debts
Anyone who is irresponsible enough to incur gambling debts knows well enough that windfalls of money NEVER go towards paying them down.
Ah, figures. My ‘maybe’ wasn’t all that hopeful anyway
Did Tracee over-tax her brain already? I’m surprised it lasted as long as it has.
Well, she’s not necessarily the best at thinky things.
I read that comment and completely messed up one of the words, whic gave it a VERY different meaning
You know, reading my own message back, I misread that word too. She would be the best at that sort of thing, though. I’m pretty sure of that.
Yeah, she seems the type. Probably a bit more extreme than say a teacher/student kind of thing, though, especially considering who she has relations with.
Ya know, if you’re going to be a snob make sure to do it with intelligent people – all that intelligence means morales and (of course) rules … Tracee doesn’t have much in terms of mental capacity – easy to insult (obviously) but… she also has no limits lol meaning she’s not gonna stop if she gets pissed off enough 😛
She also looks like a biter, hair-puller and clawer too… 😐
Yeah, Heather is shooting ducks in a barrel here. But when all you got is ducks, and those ducks are in a barrel, and you want to do some shooting…
And yes, Tracee is not the type to contain herself. In a fight between a rich, suburban chick from Calgary and a hard-scrabbble Hamilton chick from the wrong side of the tracks, you never put your money on the money.
I think that in a full-scale catfight, Tracee would wipe the floor with Heather. She probably has a lot more experience. 😉
This tension is driving me crazy, and yet I do not want it to stop!
Well, we’re winding up here, so the swing has to come eventually.
Tracee is what I call honestly dishonest. She’s up front about it and doesn’t hide behind a veneer of civility. Which makes her more and less dangerous. She’s not subtle, but she can spend more time and energy screwing you over and you can only blame yourself. Heather, while bad at hiding it, can cover tracks just well enough many people won’t see it coming, but it won’t be quite as dedicated.
I’m also with Tracee.
‘Honestly dishonest’ is a very good term. I’ve met enough people like this who scream, “Hey, don’t trust me! I can’t be trusted!” Then I trust them, because I’m Canadian, and it all ends badly. But I really have no one to blame but myself. In honesty, I often can detect the ‘veneer of civility’ ones better, because it works with my inherent cynicism. When someone says, “I’m a good person,” I can’t help but laugh. But when someone flat out says, “I’m a bad person. Avoid me,” I find that strangely intoxicating.
Most people try being good but want to just let go and follow their instincts and desires regardless of the consequences. People like Tracee are intoxicating because that’s precisely what they do.
Banana republic.
That is officially my new favorite insult.
Great.
Also, as it’s gonna be Christmas before the next comic, merry Christmas from Sweden! (Or rather, from a fan and his overly obsessed fan girlfriend from Sweden!)
Do you guys have Banana Republic over there? If so, that’ll be one of the few pop culture refs that actually worked for someone outside North America! And God Jul to you too, my fine Swedish friends! I raise a meatball in your honor! At Ikea! Because seriously, I eat at Ikea way more often than my doctor recommends.
While we don’t have it here (right NOW, that is), there is a LOT of people who says the one we voted for a few months ago are going to turn Sweden into one. Sad to say, I’m one of them!
As for meatballs and Ikea… I’m way less surprised about that than I probably should be. Huh.
…Now I’m almost curious how often you eat at Ikea. Once/week?
I dunno. Maybe once a month. My kids like to eat there, and play in the ball room, though my eldest (age eight) is already too tall to be allowed in the balls. You get kicked out of Eden so fast, man. It feels like it was just yesterday that he wasn’t allowed in the Ikea play zone because he was still in diapers. Then bam. Too tall. Like, ten seconds later.
Also, this is what the insult refers to, not the actual meaning. (I assume, anyway. lol)
http://www.bananarepublic.com/
I felt that the store so clearly stood for everything Heather was about.
Sweden is not a banana republic by far.
• We are not reliant on export of any limited-resource products. Among our biggest exports are IT (and ironically a lot of weapons for a supposedly pacifist country)
• We don’t have a impoverished working class.
• We’re a socialist country, not a capitalist one. Our politicians are a bigger factor than businesses overall.
• While we have corruption we are far less corrupt than pretty much every country other than Denmark and a few rare others. Scoring significantly better than USA.
• Our army and influence from armed forces is abyssal to non-existent. An army of smurfs could conquer Sweden. (and then promptly get devoured by EU in response)
The only thing you could argue that we have is slight foreign influences which is almost unavoidable as a small country, and we do have SÄPO kicking American and Russian agents our of Sweden whenever they are found. As embarrassing as that must be for the states considering how the Americans have bizarre foreign policy of never admitting that the agents are theirs even when we’ve got them in jail. (‘They aren’t ours, but would you please release them to us?’ hah!)
Sweden is far from a banana republic, and though we have our problems most countries, definitely including the states are currently in a far worse state currently.
All I know is that Sweden is DEFINITELY not a Banana Republic store. And that’s a good thing.
I think a lot of people don’t understand that Sweden and Switzerland are ‘pacifist’ because nearly everyone is armed and proficient, and no other country is stupid enough to try them.
What’s wrong with cash? It’s the gift you can spend in any store, not just the one the gift card’s from…
Dude, I’m with you. My parents recently got me cash for my birthday, and I was elated. Why? Because I could put that cash toward my purchase of a Lego Star Destroyer and not needlessly suffer the indignity of being a grown man asking for a gift card from the toy store. My in-laws, meanwhile, gave me a gift certificate to Eddie Bauer. Practical, level-headed, and sensible gift for a grown man. But I can’t buy Lego with it.
There exists, though, amongst the upper-middle suburban class, this strong aversion to cash gifts. They think it’s some horribly tacky act, but there is NOTHING I like more than cash. Gift cards feel to me like confined money. Set your money FREE, damnit!
The Theory is that a cash gift takes no thought… It’s completely impersonal, and does not take into consideration the personal tastes of the person receiving it…
However, the REALITY of it is… Most people I know LOVE cash as a gift (or at least a $50 American Express Gift Card)!!!!
CASH RULES!!!! EVEN IN SUBURBIA!!!!
I gave up gift card giving. (1) ‘Cause it was hard to match the store to the receiver, and (2) long about the start of the last recession, I started worrying about stores going bust before the gift card could be used. Cash is better—cheaper, too, ’cause I can give less of it.
The Rutles did a song about that.
But this runs into problems so often, even with someone whose tastes you know well. My wife knows that I collect Lego, but she’s apparently had to go back to the store about three times to return a gift that she found out afterwards (from my son) that I already had. My son knows. I told her that a gift card is always a reasonable solution. She doesn’t listen.
If I got cash instead of useless cheap trinkets I would have a lot less guilt throwing away crappy trinkets and would also have the money to buy something expensive that I would love…
Why do relatives never understand that their misguided quest to provide me something endearing, but within their price range, bestows upon me nothing but a dull holiday-season depression??
There’s one thing that you have to remember about women. It doesn’t matter if they are American, Canadian, British, Asian, or even cartoon characters. They are still WOMEN! At least they are warm, and soft, and cuddly. Except maybe the cartoon ones.
It’s the gift that keeps on goin
Theoretically it could take out major cities.
Duck and cover, man. Duck and cover.
These two types are muscular, toned and ready for battle Royale and the mutual destruction…Problem is the collateral damage may be equal to the cash brought in…at least they are outside…this Hamilton house may end up looking like one in a Detroit neighborhood…
Yeah, property values are pretty low in this neighborhood. I think the whole house would have to be flattened to amass ten grand worth of damage.
Every baby shower needs a good floor show.
I’m just going to say it…I want both of these women but oddly, not for the same reasons.
That make much sense?
That makes total sense. To me.
I wish I could imitate Tracee’s expression in panel 3 – I feel like it can only be managed through some heinous act that erodes your soul, though, like dating Satan
Nonsense! It just requires intense rage and a certain flexibility in the jaw.
Well, then my family may see that look on my face, but I’ve yet to meet someone outside of my family who could evoke that amount of anger in me.
Puck, you cannot contain this fire.
You can only keep your distance and avoid being caught up in it. ^^;
Well, that’s as good a plan as any.
We’ll have to wait and see what the money is used for.
In Puck’s place, I’d use it to get the family the *bleep* out of crack-land…
Don’t just stand there woman! Get your phone out and start filming. This could go viral on YouTube!
Smart move. Daphne’s totally the type to do that.
How about Puck and company as bodsleders in a vote comic.
I just started this comic today and couldn’t work out why it wouldn’t go to the next strip. Then the slow horror of understanding dawned on me: I’m up to date!!!
*cue drop to knees and screaming at the sky*
That’s the sad nature of of this comic: a few years of work can be breezed through in an afternoon. But oh well. More are coming. Just … slowly.
I don’t know what a Banana Republic is, but the Alt Text seems to imply it’s either something you hit violently, or a shop (please never get those mixed up).
Banana Republic is a clothing store. It’s a division of the Gap; it’s their ‘upscale’ brand that sells pricier goods and fancier clothing. It’s a hot destination for wealthier suburban types, and Heather looks like she’d shop there. There’s a rather complicated cultural association with Tracee’s insult that can’t easily be explained to an Aussie.