|
That's not how I expected Demons of Baseball to end, but then, I had no idea how Demons of Baseball would end. It was quite a ride! F Minus  Mark Trail  So it turns out bats are a pretty common source of rabies (although bites are more dangerous than scratches), but in looking it up I found this, which included this.  So, I thought he had been given a raccoon kidney, but it wasn't that after all. He died of rabies after receiving a kidney from another person who died of rabies. Why they chose to harvest organs from someone who died "with vomiting and upper extremity paresthesias and progressed to fever, seizures, dysphagia, autonomic dysfunction, and brain death" remains a mystery. Mary Worth  The Phantom  Pooch Cafe  Rex Morgan MD  If he dies, he dies. Andertoons  Apartment 3-G 
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 02:41
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2024 21:23 |
|
|
Doomykins posted:
 Thank you for this. And yeah, that's a powerfully downer ending. Kinda reminds me of the ending of Tekkaman Blade, if I squint real hard.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 02:42
|
|
|
Some Guy TT posted:The Demons of Baseball I DIDNT THINK SHE WOULD ACTUALLY BE COMMITTED TO A MENTAL HOSPITAL OR THAT COPPER MA WOULD LITERALLY GO "i was NOT owned, do not tell anyone i was owned, i won also, we both won, do not put in the papers that i was owned" absolutely incredible series start to finish, thank yo ufor bringing it to us
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 02:57
|
|
|
Giant Ethicist posted:I'm just glad the comic ended with Copper Ma being permanently and unequivocally owned while still being completely Copper Ma about it. Also yes, agreed on this part if possible.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 03:07
|
|
|
Cowslips Warren posted:wait. And he lost his eyesight!
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 03:10
|
|
|
Giant Ethicist posted:I'm just glad the comic ended with Copper Ma being permanently and unequivocally owned while still being completely Copper Ma about it. Well, how I tend to interpret the story is about the conflict between economic success (represented by Copper Ma and Director Sohn's obsession with high quality baseball) and social values (Planck and Maggie's doomed love). Planck and Copper are foils of each other. Planck sees baseball as a means to an end, of making him worthy of Maggie's love. Copper sees it the other way around- Maggie's love is important because it empowers his ability to play baseball. This all happens off-panel, mind you, but he seems to break up with whatshername because all of the political bullshit at the Meteors' front office is just a distraction which doesn't actually have very much to do with Copper's talents as a baseball player. Copper sees objective success as more important than political power. This is the apologist right wing view of modern South Korean history- what mattered about the dictators wasn't that they crushed political dissent, but that their actions eventually created economic development. Debatably this could apply to Copper himself, but we don't really see enough about his family background to say for sure. Director Sohn's beliefs are similar, but way more big picture. While Copper's focus is on individual achievement, Sohn believes that individual achievement is meaningless without national unity, and he barely even puts up a fight against being fired from the Meteors because despite this success, he knows that this team's Copper Ma centered success will never break into the level required for South Korea to be a meaningfully competitive world player. Sohn believes that true transcendent achievement requires a goal beyond just success at baseball itself. Planck's brutal backstory, Toppen's desire to impress his son, Winnie's desire to exceed the shadow of his father, Hardy's anger about being short, and Two Guns' indignation over getting blacklisted for sticking up for his best friend, all represent rebellion against South Korea's increasingly individualist, empathy-lacking culture. By harnessing this strength, Sohn achieves true power- ironically by the definition of the very system these characters were rebelling against in the first place. Planck rejects this paradigm entirely, ultimately sacrificing his newfound power for his original goal (love for Maggie) and never giving up on his ideals. Planck can't really hope to achieve much more than that, as he's not a revolutionary, just an individualist who values love over power, and rejects a society that doesn't share those values. This same value is at play with Maggie's story, with her inability to have faith in Planck compared to more immediate, concrete improvement in her material conditions having a deleterious long-term effect on her mental health as much as Planck's. They've achieved social prowess in a society they don't even like all that much, and which doesn't really like them in turn, placing no value on their mental health, a now famously stereotypical representation of South Korean culture which was at the time still quite recent. In this way Demons of Baseball reframes the generally positive social value of "never giving up" as being a flawed one if there's no greater purpose to your goal. In the end, Prudence Hong valorizes strength as beauty in part to argue that the spectacle of the game (with her show literally being called Pro Baseball Spectacle) has aesthetic value regardless of its motivation. South Korean culture in general moved to this idea of political thought through the eighties, with even the Democratization Movement succeeding culturally less because of its political aims (the first two democratically elected presidents were still basically right wing dictators) and more because it was a movement willing to succeed at nearly any material or ideological cost. That much is a bit of editorialization on my part. Obviously Lee Hyun-se didn't know anything that was going to happen in the succeeding decades, but you can clearly see especially in any part of the story that deals with Japan how national insecurity is a constant, driving background motivation, the long shadow of which precludes any sort of sentimentalist thinking about national identity. The Demons of Baseball is also notable for not having a sentimentalist view about American style democratic ideals at all. Despite such values being critical to national identity in the democratized era, even the actual United States in this setting is pretty clearly implied to not actually have any kind of lofty moral beliefs. The short of it is that South Korea used to be a lot angrier about basically everything really with contradictory, impossible to resolve ethical beliefs, and that this energy which used to drive the country's cultural and economic development has largely trickled out ever since as platitudes have come to be more acceptable than results. The Demons of Baseball represent a philosophical era where the ends were considered as important as the means, whereas these days it's the means at best that are considered worthy of discussion. The ends barely even factor into it, everyone just takes hellworld capitalism for granted now. The politics of The Wandering Culinarian from the aughts which I'll do next are an interesting intermediate state between the eighties and today. The political content is very helpfully frontloaded, and food culture at all levels is discussed as something quintessentially Korean that doesn't necessarily have to be competitive, although the story inevitably gets into competitive arcs. Beauty without strength, basically. I'll be taking a bit of a break before starting up with that.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 03:22
|
|
|
I disappeared down a non-comic strip rabbit hole tonight, but you still get Mousetrapped, because I'm still curious about "Mousetrapped". Julet Esqu posted:I feel like just yelling "NO REALLY THIS IS TOTALLY STEAMBOAT WILLIE MICKEY AND NOT NORMAL MICKEY" without any other signifiers to differentiate him might not be enough to keep it in the public domain, but what do I know? I'm not a copyright lawyer. Plaid shorts, no gloves. No jury in the world would convict him. Kazinsal posted:John Allison managed to briefly get away with an obvious Batman fan comic in Allisonverse clothing. It would be deeply ironic if this is what drew Disney legal out instead of one of the many "mouse with a chainsaw" projects.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 03:32
|
|
|
Some Guy TT posted:The Demons of Baseball Plastic surgeon did a hell of a job, you can't even see the stitches anymore! https://www.instagram.com/p/CcGpfwcJfJv/ EDIT: And yes, I very much agree with Giant Ethicist Giant Ethicist posted:I'm just glad the comic ended with Copper Ma being permanently and unequivocally owned while still being completely Copper Ma about it. thisusedyet fucked around with this message at 03:49 on Jan 11, 2024 |
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 03:46
|
|
|
Powered Descent posted:Slylock Fox
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 03:50
|
|
|
Murdstone posted:
Rex, this is Rene Belluso! 
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 03:52
|
|
|
Bruceski posted:Them's some good beavers. I enjoy how he draws personality into everything. I agree; that panel is absolutely perfect!
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 04:28
|
|
|
Honestly, I'm just glad May has moved past the entire drama and seems to have gotten together with Kwan. Good on her.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 04:29
|
|
|
The_Other posted:In Breaking Cat News an old friend is remembered My cat Autolycus passed away today, a nine-year-old clown prince who had baseball mitts for paws and made friends with everyone he met. He had advanced kidney disease but was a fighter; he lived three years longer than anyone thought he would. Last month before Christmas he relapsed and my wife and I turned our home into a cat hospice. His vet gave him three days and he grabbed three weeks instead, and we made those three weeks as comfortable for him as possible. He was himself right up to the end, which came mercifully quickly when it did. We love the little guy, always will, and miss him terribly, achingly, completely. I've had a very long day involving a lot of veterinary logistics and crying, and just now checked SA. Oh, Lupin.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 04:42
|
|
|
Some Guy TT posted:Demons of Baseball!
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 05:02
|
|
|
Howard Beale posted:My cat Autolycus passed away today, a nine-year-old clown prince who had baseball mitts for paws and made friends with everyone he met.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 05:18
|
|
|
Corto Maltese   Blueberry   
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 06:36
|
|
|
Daddy Daze Take It From The Tinkersons  Macanudo  Dark Side Of The Horse  Legend of Bill   
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 07:11
|
|
|
Howard Beale posted:My cat Autolycus passed away today, a nine-year-old clown prince who had baseball mitts for paws and made friends with everyone he met. He had advanced kidney disease but was a fighter; he lived three years longer than anyone thought he would. Last month before Christmas he relapsed and my wife and I turned our home into a cat hospice. His vet gave him three days and he grabbed three weeks instead, and we made those three weeks as comfortable for him as possible. He was himself right up to the end, which came mercifully quickly when it did. We love the little guy, always will, and miss him terribly, achingly, completely.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 07:19
|
|
|
Demons of Baseball was a glorious trip. It earned its dark ending, I'd say. Thanks for posting it!
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 07:21
|
|
|
Howard Beale posted:My cat Autolycus passed away today, a nine-year-old clown prince who had baseball mitts for paws and made friends with everyone he met. He had advanced kidney disease but was a fighter; he lived three years longer than anyone thought he would. Last month before Christmas he relapsed and my wife and I turned our home into a cat hospice. His vet gave him three days and he grabbed three weeks instead, and we made those three weeks as comfortable for him as possible. He was himself right up to the end, which came mercifully quickly when it did. We love the little guy, always will, and miss him terribly, achingly, completely. Goondolances. We lost our cat Abigail about a year ago. Autolycus sounds like he was an excellent cat who had an excellent family.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 07:57
|
|
|
goondolences. also, quote:Now is the time for all good cats to go to sleep
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 08:22
|
|
|
Heathcliff Compu-toon  Garfield  Whale?????  Monty  For Better or For Worse  Classic Arlo and Janis (February 07, 2002)  Rae the Doe, which you can support by pledging to the author's Patreon  On The Fastrack  Safe Havens  Zippy The Pinhead  Howard Beale posted:My cat Autolycus passed away today, a nine-year-old clown prince who had baseball mitts for paws and made friends with everyone he met. He had advanced kidney disease but was a fighter; he lived three years longer than anyone thought he would. Last month before Christmas he relapsed and my wife and I turned our home into a cat hospice. His vet gave him three days and he grabbed three weeks instead, and we made those three weeks as comfortable for him as possible. He was himself right up to the end, which came mercifully quickly when it did. We love the little guy, always will, and miss him terribly, achingly, completely. sorry to hear, he sounds like he was very loved. its been a year and a couple months since our old man passed and its still fresh sometimes. riderchop fucked around with this message at 08:45 on Jan 11, 2024 |
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 08:39
|
|
|
riderchop posted:Overboard  a new Overboard animal just dropped
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 08:43
|
|
|
Fingerpori
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 09:06
|
|
|
Shaman Tank Spec posted:Fingerpori A minor detail I'd like to add: Word "yllättää" can mean "to catch red-handed" (by surprise) or just "to surprise" (doing something unexpected with no implication that the target was doing anything wrong). Kennel fucked around with this message at 10:36 on Jan 11, 2024 |
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 10:31
|
|
|
Kennel posted:A minor detail I'd like to add: Yes, I made a minor edit so the joke would work better in English.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 11:19
|
|
|
I shot an elephant in my pajamas
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 12:13
|
|
|
you broke my grill posted:I shot an elephant in my pajamas How he got in your pajamas, you'll never know.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 12:37
|
|
|
Some Guy TT posted:The Demons of Baseball Thanks for translating and posting Demons, it was a great read. And thanks for the post explaining your interpretation of it it too! Vintage Valiant (Mar. 12, 1961)  edit: Howard Beale posted:My cat Autolycus passed away today, a nine-year-old clown prince who had baseball mitts for paws and made friends with everyone he met. He had advanced kidney disease but was a fighter; he lived three years longer than anyone thought he would. Last month before Christmas he relapsed and my wife and I turned our home into a cat hospice. His vet gave him three days and he grabbed three weeks instead, and we made those three weeks as comfortable for him as possible. He was himself right up to the end, which came mercifully quickly when it did. We love the little guy, always will, and miss him terribly, achingly, completely. It's always horrible to lose a pet. I'm sorry. 
Medenmath fucked around with this message at 13:33 on Jan 11, 2024 |
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 12:52
|
|
|
Howard Beale posted:My cat Autolycus passed away today, a nine-year-old clown prince who had baseball mitts for paws and made friends with everyone he met. He had advanced kidney disease but was a fighter; he lived three years longer than anyone thought he would. Last month before Christmas he relapsed and my wife and I turned our home into a cat hospice. His vet gave him three days and he grabbed three weeks instead, and we made those three weeks as comfortable for him as possible. He was himself right up to the end, which came mercifully quickly when it did. We love the little guy, always will, and miss him terribly, achingly, completely. I'm so sorry for your loss. He was a very lucky cat to be so loved by such awesome people.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 13:04
|
|
|
Rhymes with Orange Get Fuzzy 1/10/04  Brenda Starr 6/1/52  Smokey Stover 2/15/59  Everyday Movies 2/18/37  "She don't have to tear up all her letters on my account." Invisible Scarlet O'Neil 11/29/42 Spoilered for continuing presence of Lee Sung.  Closer Than We Think! 2/15/59 
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 13:05
|
|
|
Kennel posted:
The author has no knowledge of sea creatures, so the animal is horrifying and endearing.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 13:35
|
|
|
Howard Beale posted:My cat Autolycus passed away today, a nine-year-old clown prince who had baseball mitts for paws and made friends with everyone he met. He had advanced kidney disease but was a fighter; he lived three years longer than anyone thought he would. Last month before Christmas he relapsed and my wife and I turned our home into a cat hospice. His vet gave him three days and he grabbed three weeks instead, and we made those three weeks as comfortable for him as possible. He was himself right up to the end, which came mercifully quickly when it did. We love the little guy, always will, and miss him terribly, achingly, completely. Damnit dude I'm sorry. This year has been poo poo already.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 14:19
|
|
|
Bizarro The Family Circus  Slylock Fox  Flash Gordon  I must admit, I did not have "wedding crashed by a drunken failson of Ming" on my bingo card. (Mongo card?)
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 14:27
|
|
|
THORN, February 16-22, 1983 
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 14:45
|
|
|
Frank and Ernest (9/27/1993)  I swear I'm not putting these new and old ones in similar positions next to each other on purpose, they just use the same setpieces SO MUCH. (9/28/1993)  Ziggy  (7/5/1971) 
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 15:18
|
|
|
Breaking Cat News Phoebe and Her Unicorn  Wallace the Brave  Heart of the City  Alley Oop  Curtis 
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 15:52
|
|
|
Howard Beale posted:My cat Autolycus passed away today, a nine-year-old clown prince who had baseball mitts for paws and made friends with everyone he met. He had advanced kidney disease but was a fighter; he lived three years longer than anyone thought he would. Last month before Christmas he relapsed and my wife and I turned our home into a cat hospice. His vet gave him three days and he grabbed three weeks instead, and we made those three weeks as comfortable for him as possible. He was himself right up to the end, which came mercifully quickly when it did. We love the little guy, always will, and miss him terribly, achingly, completely. Goondolences, I lost two cats in the span of about six months last year and it was pretty miserable - even though both of them had only lived with me for a few months before I lost them (One was my grandmother's 17-year-old cat Ella, already in iffy health, that I had to adopt when grandmama entered hospice care. The second was Bella, a 2- or 3-year-old shelter cat I adopted about a month after Ella passed; she turned out to have FELV, a diagnosis that the shelter either didn't test for or didn't inform me of. She only made it to April before it turned terminal.) Cul de Sac  Foxtrot Classix  (Andy's gaming group acronym...almost a problem these days. Also, Amend is still drawing N64-style controllers in 2003. We've moved on, Bill! Dual sticks are the norm by now!) Rose is Rose 
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 16:00
|
|
|
riderchop posted:
Why does the whale have a foreskin?
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 16:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2024 21:23 |
|
|
LvK posted:Why does the whale have a foreskin? Why does that dork have eyeballs?
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2024 16:41
|
|
