AUGUST INCENTIVE ON TWC!!!
It's sweet. We're doing a flavor thing. I dunno. Just go with it.
VOTE FOR SUGAR!!!
As for this comic...
This is something that most people might have never pieced together, but is nonetheless true: Puck doesn't drive. She has never driven a car within the panels of the comic. She's always been a passenger. Phoebe drives, and Colin drives, but Puck does not. She used to drive at some point, but she drives no longer. More on that later.
You learn something new every day. Er, week.
And yes, I used to drive around in a green '99 Malibu. That Malibu went to the great Chevy parking lot in the sky a long time ago, though. I sometimes still see a '99 Malibu driving on the road now. Heck, I saw one pulling out of the grocery store parking lot just today. And every time I see one, I think, "How are you still working?" Let me tell you, they were NOT very reliable vehicles. I spent a small fortune fixing that damned car, only to have it break again and again and again. I do not miss the expense nor the misery. But I do still have fond memories. At least it lives on in this comic.
Puck 718
AUGUST INCENTIVE ON TWC!!!
It's sweet. We're doing a flavor thing. I dunno. Just go with it.
VOTE FOR SUGAR!!!
As for this comic...
This is something that most people might have never pieced together, but is nonetheless true: Puck doesn't drive. She has never driven a car within the panels of the comic. She's always been a passenger. Phoebe drives, and Colin drives, but Puck does not. She used to drive at some point, but she drives no longer. More on that later.
You learn something new every day. Er, week.
And yes, I used to drive around in a green '99 Malibu. That Malibu went to the great Chevy parking lot in the sky a long time ago, though. I sometimes still see a '99 Malibu driving on the road now. Heck, I saw one pulling out of the grocery store parking lot just today. And every time I see one, I think, "How are you still working?" Let me tell you, they were NOT very reliable vehicles. I spent a small fortune fixing that damned car, only to have it break again and again and again. I do not miss the expense nor the misery. But I do still have fond memories. At least it lives on in this comic.
Huh. Had my 2000 Malibu for a decade and the only problem I had was the driver’s side window. Replaced the switch and it was fine.
Kept my 2010 escape for a decade and now on a 2020 Niro. I figure in 2030 I might be able to get a self driving car.
My Malibu cost me thousands. Every year. Like, if I put the repair money for that car into a new car payment, I’m pretty sure I could’ve been driving a Mercedes.
That was our Cadillac, everyone thought we had a green Buick Century because that’s what they gave us for a loaner when it was in the shop and it was in the shop a LOT, the motor finally blew up right after we traded it in, when the dealer went to move it from where we’d pqrked it the block split š
Well, it gave you every ounce of life it had. I guess that’s worth something.
Indeed.
Vrrm.
and sucked every ounce out of our bank account after the warranty ran out.
We looked it up and everything before buying it, all the reviews were great and it even made ‘car of the year’ for ’97.
The price was really good for a year old and very few miles on it but putting a new transmission in after two weeks (luckily it was still under warranty) should have been a warning sign.
It ATE very expensive tires in less than 5000 km until we found a maintenance bulletin online that the dealer apparently had never heard of, telling them to change the book settings for the wheel alignment because Canadian roads aren’t built the same as German ones, it was mostly a top of the line Opel to start with, until GM got their hands on it.
I appreciate your attention to detail with the rust spots.
I went with a used VW, with a little basic maintenance they’re like cockroaches. Previous one was a rustbucket.. when we were done “restoring” it it was mostly Bondo and paint, it would have killed me in a collision, and yet.. the engine ran great (it had a stuck valve, fixable) and the steering was perfect.
Volkswagen makes cars that last. They may get a little rough, may run a little loud, but they do run.
We had a Volkswagen for 7 years, it had 54,000 km on it when we traded it in, that’s around 30,000 miles including a cross-country trip, it got great mileage because it got towed a lot.
The first car I owned before getting married was a very well used ’68 Bug, bought it from a guy at work for $60, drove it for a couple of years then sold it for $100 to the tow truck driver that dragged it off the road with a blown engine š
Iconic vehicle. Too bad it was a disaster. From what I’ve heard, a number of iconic vehicles (the DMC DeLorean, the Lamborghini Countach, the original VW Beetle, etc.) are nightmares to own. Many of them that are still roadworthy are owned by mechanics who basically treat the cars as side hobbies and do all the work themselves.
Tracee walked right into that oneā¦
Characters do that a lot in this comic.
Considering Puckās supposed age, I wonder about her history with automobiles. When did she decide that cars were the coming thing and abandoned the horse?
I can 100% believe that Puck decided riding was too uncomfortable and cars with suspension and upholstery were the best invention ever.
I am guessing that she was an early adopter of the automobile, and served a critical role in educating the world on the dangers of said vehicle.
Hence why she “can” but “does not” drive?
First draft (actually the one on Patreon) said ācanātā but I changed it. For that reason.
So it’s not that she never learned, but every made sure she never got behind a where (ANY wheel) ever again. Heh.
So itās not that she never learned, but everyone made sure she never got behind a wheel (ANY wheel) ever again. Heh.
That must have made 1920’s Toronto interesting.
Oh no, EG wrote himself into another situation where he has to draw cars again. Thank you EG, but you didn’t have to do it.
True confession: I thought I could get away with reusing a pic of the car that I’d already drawn, but nope. It wasn’t the right angle. So I had to draw a new pic of the car. Curses!
I suppose that it could be statistically possible that 85% of your ’99 green Chevy Malibu was made either on a Monday or a Friday exclusively.
I think that’s a likely explanation.
What?
Professors at my university remarked that you never wanted to purchase a car that was assembled on a Friday where workers were eager for the weekend, or on a Monday when they had to come back from a weekend. The implications could be evaluated due to possible alcohol use of the factory workers.
Ah.
Was Puck driving that day she was fighting other shoppers for the sale on snack cakes?
Colin was probably waiting for her in the car. He seems like that kind of guy.
It doesn’t matter if a car looks like sh!& if it is mechanically sound.
Looking like sh!& is a bonus, people wont generally steal a car that looks like a turd. Protective coloration helps to keep your bored and polished block, added turbo, racing struts and discs safer from pilfering.
Well, that’s a ‘glass half-full’ framing. You’re not wrong.
It’s no Mystery Machine, but if the air conditioning and stereo work…
Air conditioning is likely busted. Stereo has no data capabilities (car predates USB) so you’re stuck with AM/FM. Or you can carry a massive number of CDs. I used to.
Somebody told me how to put songs on a thumb drive and plug that into one of the USB ports. Works fine, but I guess a 1999 Chevy Malibu wouldn’t have that.
Setting your cellphone on the cup holder for a resonator works too š
We had to have the radio disconnected because it kept draining the battery, something that apparently happens a lot with Fords but other than that we’ve had it for fifteen years now and it still runs good.
I do that with my current vehicle (a 2013 Matrix). It’s the only way I can really listen to music in the vehicle. This Malibu predated the invention of USB ports (and GREATLY predated the advent of putting USB ports into vehicles).
With my 2008 Matrix (AM/FM/CD) I used a bluetooth converter that plugged into a 12V power port (cigarette lighter). It would talk to my phone via bluetooth and then broadcast that audio over an FM frequency at low power. Tune the radio to the frequency set on the converter and hear the audio playing from the phone. It also had a microphone and answer and hang up buttons so that it could do handsfree calling.
Online sales sites seem to call them Bluetooth FM Transmitters. Mine worked great for years – recommended.
Hey, remember the tape deck CD converters? They would have a headphone Jack on one side and a fake cassette tape on the other end. I did use that in my dadās old ā92 Ford Taurus wagon. Good times.
One could, theoretically, get an aftermarket radio. At the low-end (and not including the separate wiring harness you probably have to buy), you can get something with both Bluetooth and a USB port for $25 at Walmart, in-store.
But we all know: that is never going to happen here.
Unlikely.
I shared your pain, twenty years earlier. I had a 1973 Buick Century, which was the Malibu’s sister car in General Motors. The Malibu got it’s start as the Chevelle series before rebranding. My Buick was a similar green, and had a great V8 engine, but the rest was crap. The alternator and water pump took turns going bad, the brakes and alignment were alwsys off, it leaked oil constantly, and the transmission burned out. Very expensive on my first post-college salary. I did get over 200,000 miles on it before its muffler fell off in the mall parking lot one day.
This story brings back bad memories. I did hear from a car guy co-worker that the ’99 Malibu had one of the most reliable and respected engine blocks of the era, so that was a plus, I guess, but everything failed. Everything. At one point the car was leaking transmission fluid, oil, coolant and brake line fluid all at the same time. I have distinct memories of driving around with multiple bottles of liquid in the trunk, ready to replenish the various fluids to avert disaster.
What a big chunk of crap.
Ha ha! I forgot about that. I had one of those plastic milk crates in the trunk with jugs of coolant, oil, brake/steering fluid, and carb spray. What a flashback…
My father had a 1970 Malibu with a 396 and ‘four on the floor’.
I learned to drive on my Aunt’s VW Bug, I learned to DRIVE on the Malibu š
Those 70ās-era Malibus were a different breed. They were classic cars. The 90ās reboot was an unholy mistake.
It wasn’t a classic at the time, it was still new š
Oh, and it had an 8 Track stereo which used to shred the tape in the middle of your favorite song.
The 8-Track is one of those technologies that lives on in nostalgia even though the tech itself was mostly terrible.
Was at a church rummage sale, two teen girls were wondering what the heck this thing was. Was an old 8-track. I explained what it was. Hey, look, I study history, and the 8-track was history the moment it was produced!
There are still some guys who insist it was the superior medium. Those guys are fools.
Many of us are.
I bought my Mini Cooper S brand new in October 2002. I’m still driving it 21 years later with 78,000 miles on the clock. No rust. Some cars last if you do proper maintenance.
And drive them less than 4000 miles per year. š
I walk or cycle to work, that really keeps the miles off my car.
Iy’s good for both you AND your car.
It’s
I don’t question that with a Mini Cooper at all. They built those things to last. The Chevy Malibu is a completely different ballgame. They did not build those things to last.
So I guess that Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act was heavily influenced by Puck’s early adoption of the Iron Horse. Probably because she couldn’t convince horses, mules, donkeys, asses, onagers, oxen, Galapogos tortoises, etc to bear her…
No word of a lie, but my wife loved the Malibu for the simple reason of the FONT used on the badge. Also, no amount of under-spray or other anti-rust technology can keep pace with 24 YEARS of Hamilton winters and road salt…
Well, that’s true. Though oddly enough, my Malibu survived a good 15 years without any noticeable body rust, so that’s a plus. Everything else fell apart, but the body was intact!
We had a Buick station wagon in the early 70’s that very color green. I loved it! But i was a little kid and had no taste. We used to ride “loose” in the “way-back” of that station wagon (before seat belt laws kids)…good times, good times.
I love a wagon. They were wonderfully practical vehicles. A shame they went away.
https://www.miniusa.com/inventory.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7du96JCDgQMVa_SUCR3gcQrbEAQYAiABEgIqwPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds#/detail/WMWXJ1C03R2V23461?store=10699-02
In the 1960s we – the boys in the family rode loose-back in a blue Plymouth station wagon while the girls sat in the midsection, Dad and mom and the baby in the front. We played with the levers that controlled the drop gate and fortunately never pulled them both down at the same time or there might have been fewer of us reaching legal adulthood. Those were the days!
1999 was the year of my last car (Saturn not Malibu). Getting PARTS was the big – it still ran fine but whenever something went out there MIGHT be an aftermarket product but more likely the replacement came from a pick-and-pull.
Still, repairs were cheaper than a new car and insurance was super low.
But last December the trani went out (218,000 miles, I wasn’t complaining). It was hard to let go. I comforted myself with cash from some place that will probably piece it out to keep other 99’s on the road.
Basically it was an organ donation.
—
What are the odds something will go out on Colin’s Malibu while Tracee’s driving?
I think the Malibu will hold out for this ride. But yeah, when I got rid of this car, I was shocked to find out how infinitely affordable the payments on a new car were. I was paying $5k to $10k a year just to keep that old car on the road, so the few hundred a month I paid on a new one seemed like chump change.
It may be 3rd class driving but it beats the hell out of 1st class walking.
Depends on the neighborhood, I guess. In this area of town, though, you are correct.
Poor Colin. He was so proud of this car. I’m guessing.
Nah. Iām pretty sure itās an embarrassment for him too.
O.K.
Touche, Robin š
She gets her points in a match. Consistently.
I owned three Saturns – 95,96,98
The 95 was the best. Yet I junked it first. A mistake in retrospect. It was pretty strong although the Brake lines needed replacement.
Long ago I thought the Transmission was gone. Transmission shop was baffled. On a hunch I replaced the Battery, and all was well. Apparently a weak battery cannot work the solenoids properly.
The 96 and 98 also have funky transmissions.
Every few miles the 98 stops shifting. So stop, turn off the engine, restart. Then it works again.
The 96, however, is toast. Transmission consumes a Quart a mile, Repairs would be over $1500. So goodbye.
The best thing about these early Saturns is that the Doors and most of the body is Plastic. Years after the chassis rusts to dust, the cars still look good. But they become, in fact, rotten to the core.
I have not have issues with parts. On the contrary, although they are drying up, stores are anxious to be rid of them, and when found, are often heavily discounted.
Oh, those Saturns. Ugly cars. Weird cars. But interesting.
Waitaminute! You’re begging a ride and then complaining about the ride you’re riding in? JEEZ!
Sheās a class act, she is.
My first car was a ’69 Dodge Dart, and almost that color. Cost my father twenty-five dollars. No air conditioning. If the radiator hadn’t blown, there’s a good chance I’d be driving it yet.
Iād say thatās $25 well spent.
Hi I just had a quick recap of the series. Can I just ask why people keep calling Puck, āRobinā and āPuckā seemingly at random.
Puck is a nickname. Her full name is Robin Goodfellow. The concept is lifted straight from A Midsummer Nightās Dream where Puck is referred to by both names. In this comic, though, Robin is her legal name. The only character who uses it regularly is Colin, though. He really doesnāt call her āPuckā.
Is it confusing? Yeah. Donāt know what I was thinking twenty-five years ago when I started this silly comic.
Works for me. I can see her dad calling her Robin and her mom calling her Sweetie.
Happy Puck anniversary! Itās been a ton of fun! š
Thanks man. I appreciate you sticking with it.
I just thought of something. Is Phoebe an only child or do her siblings just never leave hell. Iām just saying 4000 years or so of sexual debauchery is a long time for only one child. (Accidental or otherwise)
No siblings have ever been established. But as youāve noted, the existence of siblings is rather likely.
I have a suspition regarding a certain M.D.
[Puck] used to drive at some point, but she drives no longer. More on that later.
Puck: “Yeah… back in the mid 1600s sometime, I tried driving a carriage (or was I stealing it? Can’t remember…) Anyway, I don’t know what someone had been feeding that horse (I was pretty drunk on VERY cheap liquor… possibly someone had fed it very cheap liquor) but the horse farted so foul and toxic, blowing it straight into my face, that I immediately threw up and collapsed, falling down under the carriage wheels (which was fortunately empty and not super heavy but that still really hurt, like a lot.) I swore to myself, ‘never again!’ Driving is too dangerous!”
Tracee: “I think the driving experience is a LITTLE different 400 years later, you elvish loli-grandma!”
Puck: “I’m less sure. There’s occasional weird smells coming out of this ’99 Malibu’s vents too. Seems similar.”
Tracee: “THERE IS AN AIR FILTER YOU CAN CHANGE BEHIND THE GLOVE COMPARTMENT! …You know, on further thought, clearly the most unsafe thing about you driving anything is the person behind the wheel. Just gimme the keys.”
You write this stuff very convincingly. Perhaps too convincingly!
Now if only I could DRAW!
(At the very least, you’d get a guest-comic buffer for when you need time off).
If only. I need a break.
I’m sorry, but I did not go thru all the comments…but Jimmy Buffett is dead (76). Kind of pivotal person to me, like Jim Henson was, and I am crushed. Thanks EG for always doing this, and thanks to the goofy crowd here and over at Webtoons for being great people. Bless All.
Sad. He certainly embodied a particular approach to life. Not a figure that loomed large in my life, but I get why he was so important for some people.
All the icons in the chat seem to be broken today. What’s that about?
Had a glance at your new “25 years of Puck” voting incentive! Very nice!
…but it gets the mind churning… Phoebe was 19 at the comic start, IIRC, plus 25 years… She would be 44 now (or at least in the context of a 25th anniversary pinup, if not in-character on the comic page). Shouldn’t she LOOK more like a 44 year old?
Phoebe looks over Hino’s rambling thoughts, frowns strongly, and turns back at us with her hands on her hips.//
“No, no I most certainly should not!”
…Okay, fair enough!
Well, this comic is now running into what Iāll call āSimpsons syndromeā where a long-running comic or cartoon seems to decouple from temporal reality. (Itās not just the Simpsons that display this but thatās the most culturally relevant example.) for instance, back when the show started, Marge and Homer met in high school in the 70s. But now, decades later, that wouldnāt make any sense, so theyāve reset the timeline a few times. Marge and Homer now went to high school during multiple eras. And Bart has been in elementary school for, like, six or seven US presidencies.
The situation with Puck is even weirder because it doesnāt have a static timeline. Miranda IS aging; there IS a passage of time. But itās just very slow. The webcomic reboot started at the point where Puck was pregnant with Miranda. Miranda now seems around two years old or so. That means itās been a little under three years of time passing in-comic, while about thirteen years have passed in our world. But theyāre definitely not stuck in chronological lockstep with their timeline, because that would put them around 2014, and Daphne has worn shirts referring to things like Fortnite, which werenāt around then.
My head spins to think about it.
As for Phoebeās age, I suspect that her parental lineage gives her a certain level of immortality. I think her aging stopped around 25 and things are frozen there, like with Puck. As for Colin, he ā¦ seems to look even younger now? I dunno, man. This whole thing is a mess.
You should try The Whiteboard some time.
Oh, and the icons door chat are periodically broken all the time. If I knew how to fix it, Iād be a happy man. But I donāt.
Where can I buy a Phoebe cake?
The cake store.
Puck is wise! Who needs the hassle of driving? š
Well, almost everyone in North America outside of those incredibly large cities that have decent public transportation. I can attest that if you have no car in Hamilton and you have no one to drive you around, you’re kinda doomed. Back when I was a student with no car, I found that you could walk anywhere in the city faster than public transportation.