NEW VOTING INCENTIVE! RUN PUCK RUN!
Twenty years ago, some crazy foreign movie about a spitfire redhead and her super-stupid boyfriend came out. A few weeks later, the comic strip Puck began. Coincidence? I think not. Anyway, if you’ve seen Run Lola Run, go vote to see my weird homage. And if you haven’t, uhm … vote anyway?
VOTE FOR PUCK TO DEFEAT THE ARMY OF BOTS!!!
As for this comic…
This one is directly inspired by my experiences dealing with my daughter. Like Daphne, she’s not one for hair care, though as she’s gotten older, she’s refused to have her hair cut short. This means that going out in public requires a bout of parent-mandated hair care. The end result is usually a whole bunch of screaming.
Reminds me of my fiance. She’s not a big one for hair care, and she ignores me when I tell her lather, rinse, repeat, condition, use an alcohol free product, preferably a leave in conditioner. Male pattern baldness runs in my family, and I’ve only recently had my hair start thinning. I’m in my 40s, so, yeah, I know what I’m talking about.
Take care of your hair lest it leave you. Though honestly, I think for most guys I see, the hair leaves you even if you do take care of it.
That’s what it started to do for me, which is why I shaved it off.
Though, now hair care is easy; I just need the razor, the shaving gel, and the aftershave. 🙂
If (when) I start going bald, I am definitely going the shaved or very, very closely buzzed look. I always see guys walking around that are going bald but they try to counteract that by growing what hair they do have longer, and I’m always thinking, “Dude, accept it! It’ll look WAY better.”
Two words: Kim Mitchell.
Well, some guys elevate it to a style all it’s own. Like Kim Mitchell. Or Hulk Hogan, with his skillet – bald in the front, party in the back.
ironically the genes of baldness are given by the mother and usually only expressed by men
It’s the curse of a shorter ‘Y’ chromosome. It’s a bad chromosome all around.
Huh….
Daphne’s hair does look like a RAT’S NEST.
Salem…Do you really want to risk encouraging EG to give Rat King powers to Daphne?
@Lokitsu
no….
I TAKE IT BACK !!
That’s a rat king. It’s different.
The horrors that happen in bathrooms! It’s more than just the results of spoiled food and swallowed bay leaves.
What kind of bathrooms are YOU going into?
Whatever kind it is, it doesn’t even come close to the public restrooms near camping areas. Those things never get cleaned.
I think those washrooms are cared for with the full knowledge that your only alternative is pooping in the woods. They know that they don’t have to reach a high bar to top the woods-pooping experience, really.
@EG
scratch scratch scratch
make liddle hole
FILL IT
scratch scratch scratch
COVER IT
I have done this literally 1000’s of times outside, yet my human pet “Baldie” admits he has never discovered a single “gift”.
I am that good at what I do.
Who’d help? Tyler aka Taylor?
I think he’s busy right now with his other girlfriend.
@EG
I like Tyler.
I hope he is very busy.
heh heh heh
I’ve learned that with long hair, most tangles can be mitigated through brushing from the bottom up to the top. Now before I get jumped on. Grab two hands of hair, it’s a measure of distance starting from the bottom. Brush in the normal direction brusquely to reduce tangles. Advance two hands and slowly increase that distance of regular brushing. When one hand is holding the ponytail flush to the skull and there are no tangles there, then lightly run the brush from front to back to detect any tangles. If so, replace brush with fingers until brush can once again be used completely from top to bottom with minimal pain and effort.
This sounds complicated and like you need very good coordination to manage. But it’s so kooky, I just might try it when combing my daughter’s hair. Anything beats the screaming.
I agree. I have hair that is wavy-curly (curls at the ends, waves in everything else), therefore, I have to put leave-in conditioner in after my showers so my hair isn’t a frizzed nest, and I have to comb my wet hair out first. I definitely comb starting at the ends and work my way up, in sections, until I can run a nylon paddle brush through the wet hair with no catching on knots. I also sleep with my hair wrapped in a satin hair cap or wearing an old t-shirt around my head (literally, put the shirt over head as normal, then pull up over face until the neckline is around my hairline). Keeps my hair smooth, in good condition, and few tangles in the morning.
Man, this is LABORIOUS. Hats off to you for putting in the care required. Because I wouldn’t.
That’s basically what I learned when getting my nursing assistant certification.
I used to have a ponytail. This comic brings back memories better left forgotten.
I now shave my head. Has Daphne considered the cue ball look?
The Sinead O’Connor look has turned many heads, but usually not for the right reason.
Ah, to have complaints about too much hair *mopes while looking in mirror at thinning hair*
Hey man, it happens to (from what I’ve seen) almost all guys. My totally unscientific observation tells me that only about one in six guys escapes the scourge of baldness. Except in Hollywood, where magically, almost no leading men types EVER go bald. Weird how their world operates very differently from mine.
Yeah, Hollywood also acts differently to anime. while you do have a lot of technicolor spikey haird heroes, you also have a lot of bald guys who are complete badasses.
Well, there’s evolutionary precedent for that. Baldness is an actively evolved trait that scientists have observed most often goes hand in hand with full beard growth. And the net result is a dude with no hair and full facial hair, which we can all objectively say is 300% more intimidating than a dude with luscious hair and a baby smooth face. The evolutionary angle, apparently, is to do with the look’s emphasis on the mouth and jaw, making the visual more aggressive. So it’s kind of nature’s insurance policy back when males needed to duke it out for supremacy. If you got older, you might have been a little slower and creakier, but you LOOKED more intimidating.
It certainly seems to be a perspective upheld in Hollywood. Leading men never lose their hair, but action stars (Bruce Willis, The Rock, Jason Statham, etc.) are allowed to go bald as much as they want.
The end result for me is this: if (when) I go bald, I will have only one option: grow my beard out even more and get jacked.
I must have the short end of the evolutionary stick, because I’ve got the thinning head, but unfortunately, I’ve got patches on the cheeks where the beard would connect to the sideburns from the chin. 🙁
Well, you could still probably rock a mean goatee. And you could have the big sideburns AND goatee, which is always a winning combo, if you ask me.
I’ve done the Vandyke when I still had hair on top, which is the mustache connecting to the chin, but I refuse to do the “Stone Cold Steve Austin”.
Well, that’s probably for the best, really.
@EG
My human pet “Baldie” tells me losing your hair is Nature’s Way of telling a human male that they have outlived their usefulness and need to die.
Wow.
The good news is (for him), I’ve neva known him to be right about anything.
Good Lord. Daphne is . . . helpless?!?!? Say it isn’t so! Also, where’s the popcorn?
If they have any Chicago mix, get me some too.
@EG
CHEX MIX is way, way betta’.
Baldies tells me so.
I have asked him to make some, but he tells me it would remind him of his Grandma, who was a master at making it.
Then he would cry, because although she has moved on a long….. time ago, he still misses her.
Baldie is a selfish jerk.
I love Chex mix. Though in Canada, it’s often made with Shreddies, which is a cereal I don’t think is available in the U.S.
Uploading a big bucket of Garrett’s for EG 😀
https://www.garrettpopcorn.com/
yum
I always imagined that brushing my daughter’s hair would be a sweet moment of bonding.
Instead it sounds like someone is performing an exorcism.
I’m glad I’m not alone on that front.
The power of Head and Shoulders compels you!
The power of Head and Shoulders compels you!
@CC
heh heh heh
I’m probably a terrible person for laughing (loudly) at Daphne’s “send for help!” at the end.
She’s enjoyed the suffering of others for so long, it’s only right that you enjoy her suffering now.
Kaiser, you and me both.
(Starts to cry. Throws half-peeled onion in the trash.)
😉
@ChrisH
Um….
Please send ONION this way.
Is there ANYTHING that is not improved with Onion ?
And Pickles.
And Mayo.
Ice cream, yogurt, angel cake, fresh fruit…
@Lokitsu
Those are actually good suggestions !
I knew some kind soul here would help me.
I’ll let you know how it works out…..
Chicago Mix popcorn is most definitely not improved by onion. Or pickles. Or mayo.
Agreed.
@Goody
(u may be right)
No, no, Daph. You agreed to this. It’s like lockdown rehab. You explicitly gave up your right to end this early.
Or was that implicitly? Can’t remember. Been too long. Don’t wanna go through archives to find out. (At least, not tonight.)
Exactly. A very fitting analogy.
Something tells me that, when Daphne is finished, Phoebe will look absolutely gorgeous. (I did get them right didn’t I?)
You did. I commend you. So many people get it mixed up. It’s my fault for naming two characters with Greek names ending in a hard ‘e’.
Also, it always amazes me how many people have never seen the name Phoebe in print and think her name is pronounced Foab.
@EG
Please, no FOAB for Puck.
Tho at least half of all Web Comic plots depend on one being set off prior to Episode One.
That’s why we luv PUCK – it treads fresh ground.
Yep.
Daughter of Satan washes hair of Human / Jackal Hybrid.
You won’t see that elsewhere.
Daphne needs a SWIRLY.
LOL. I only laugh because I had no idea how to pronounce Phoebe the first time I ever saw it. I thought it was pronounced Foe-be. LOL.
It’s all that weird Greek spelling. But yeah, tons of people have heard the name Phoebe said out loud, and seen the name written out, and never connected the two. So you’re not alone.
EG, a phoebe is a kind of bird. Not too inappropriately. 😉
You could say Daphne now has to eat her own dog food. 😉
@ChrisH
Have we evah seen Daphne EATING ?
I’m betting Robin sets the ALPO on the linoleum, Daphne barks, then scrambles right down to it.
Yes, actually. We’ve seen her eat a few times. Mostly cereal. Could be Alpo in the bowl, though.
I love how little Miranda is playing with Puck’s hair in the first panel, then stops and starts exchanging horrified glances with Puck as she hears her big sister’s response to having her hair… manipulated. 😀
I felt it would be funnier to watch these two react, rather than see what actually is going down in the washroom.
SalemCat, I’d gladly give you my onion, but I’m too thin-skinned!
😉
EG, Bathrooem horrors include shaving accidents, bad clogs, and bad hair days (of course.) 🙂
@ChrisH
That’s ok.
Baldie explained to me Onions are very expensive, and very few can afford them.
Tho he promised me if he won the Lottery he’d buy me one.
Baldie is a good pet.
😛
I threatened my Niece with shaving her head if she didn’t start actively brushing her hair for at least 5-10 minutes once a day. Cruel, but it works. She’s 15 now and, while not quite tamed, at least she doesn’t have bird’s nests (or worse) in that mop of hers.
Some girls need that sort of steering. And though Puck is good at threats, I personally think she never probably took enough of an active interest in Daphne to bother threatening her into taking care of personal hygiene.
I like how Phoebe’s tail presents itself in the last panel. Sort of like: “It’s not torture, but let’s not forget who my father is.”
I’m glad you caught that. It felt like the tail needed to be in the shot.
Ball gag, Phloebes?
Uh, definitely not.
@Billy Yank, that’s a very interesting comment you made. I certainly hope Puck gets the, uh, point. 😉
Just like my childhood, lucky I wasn’t a Barbie doll, my head would’ve popped right off.
Yes, that was a weak point in the Barbie structure.
Puck #456 is late.
I pray everything is ok in Canada.
I was at Canada’s Wonderland. Sorry.
@EG
Nothing to be sorry about !
Hope all had a great time.
The weather here in Salem ,has been pretty good (finally), hope it was in Canada’s Wonderland as well !
The weather was perfect – light cloud cover and warm but not hot. That’s saying something, as most of this summer has been unbearably hot around here, with humidex temps in the +100 F range almost every single day. So it was a glorious day to go to the amusement park. Unfortunately, everyone else thought so too, and the park was PACKED.
Still, we had fun. My son saw a ‘Five Nights At Freddy’s’ stuffy at one of the prize places where you had to toss three balls into a peach basket. Two in meant a win. It was five bucks a go. I have never felt more pressure than that. But after three rounds, I actually won. It’s the first time I’ve ever taken on one of those rigged carnival challenges, and I’m proud of my win. There was a a bit of a crowd watching and they cheered. My son got his stuffy. In honesty, I would have rather just bought the damn thing, but they don’t ever put the prizes on sale in the shops. They’re too smart for that.
HAH!
No one miss the mouseover/hovertext gag on this one. It’s gold! ^_^
Sometimes gold comes to me. Sometimes it’s just tin.
Going to be a generational hit-or-miss for that one, I’ll admit.
Probably not many Millennials or younger who remember the opening to The Twilight Zone.
For those that do though, well, it put a huge grin on MY face. 🙂