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Comments
Yeah, I say I'd have to support Reagan here. Breaking up a family is bad all 'round, no matter how bad the family was to begin with - and with this particular family, do you think they'd just *let* anyone take Zora away? Those knives ain't just decoration, y'know.
Posted by B at February 5, 2008 07:17 PM
75.157.107.16
This being Templar, I would imagine the Social Services caseworker would roll his/her eyes, say something to the effect of "They're Jakes, what d'ya want me to do?" and roll out without doing anything. I mean come on, people eat fried guinea pig, squatters are kept in check by what amounts to a terrorist militia - typical notions of black/white/up/down just do not apply in this town.
Posted by Anomie at February 5, 2008 08:12 PM
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Is the compliment Reagan saying there is nothing crazy about trying to drag a hump out of Scip?
Posted by Lisavilisa at February 5, 2008 08:35 PM
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Okay, so...is it just me, or did Scip focus on what was perhaps the LEAST frightening and unsafe thing going on upstairs to call Services about? I mean, concerning Zora directly, not counting the low-grade creep of the Jake-rhetoric itself.
Hello? /Knives/?!
Posted by Boy at February 5, 2008 08:39 PM
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Scip focused on what freaked him out the most. A bald girl. He just substituted Zora for...well, the other bald girl. And he DOES have a point; Zora could have a very hard time in school with that haircut. However, I have to side with Reagan on this one: as long as the kids are being taken care of, fed, loved...don't take them away. Having a rather abnormal family does not amount to cruelty.
Posted by Louisa at February 5, 2008 08:44 PM
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I know kids who have been sent to school bald for cultural reasons. And kids who are given knives! (though smaller ones than these). Reagan is right for once- there's nothing Social Services can do on that count.
Posted by jdalton at February 5, 2008 10:25 PM
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I just wanted to say spike i love the perspective in the first frame. ray is just dripping ire and it comes through perfectly.
i dunno cps seems a bit extreme but that is one extreme family up there. then again they are jakesian and ya know how they are! :)
Posted by moebius8 at February 6, 2008 12:01 AM
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I love the art in panel 2 for Reagan, seeing her disheveled is especially satisfying for some reason!
Posted by tgjason at February 6, 2008 02:28 AM
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I'm almost certain that any school in Templar has seen Jake kids before...Zora might get hassled a bit, but it's not likely to be as bad as Scip might think. Also...hey, at least she's -going- to school. I'm not sure about those cousins of hers...
Also, yay Spike for the nominations! Not that you need it, but best of luck!
Posted by coyoteweeps at February 6, 2008 05:12 AM
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Not cool? Are you nuts? you're one of the coolest people I don't know!
Posted by Jesus Jones at February 6, 2008 07:34 AM
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To be honest, I dont see eye to eye with Reagan. The way you take care of your family is your own business, but theres a problem.
Zora is Genes kid. We havent heard a single word from him this entire time, so NOBODY here can testify whether or not he even agrees with this whole Jake thing, not even Reagan can. Jake for all we know is the reason hes been raising Zora alone all this time.
And on that note, Reagan mentioned that Social Services had been trying to get at Zora before, so perhaps Jake ISNT a Templar approved thing. I think endangering children by letting them handle knives and whatnot is problematic for anyone anywhere.
I think Scip is right. Some things just dont fit rightm, not even in Templar.
Posted by Chris at February 6, 2008 10:08 AM
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This fear of children handling knives is a modern urban prejudice. Young children can be taught to handle knives safely, and in days of old, they were.
Child Protective Services, at least in anyplace I've been, is far more dangerous and injurious to children than what we've been shown with these Jake people.
I am completely with Ray on this.
Posted by Scott Bieser at February 6, 2008 11:05 AM
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Reagan's reactions in this strip are actually really touching... it's good to see that she actually cares about Gene and Zora, that she's not just hanging out to see the freak show.
Well, that's what she's doing now, but I mean in general.
Posted by sushi jones at February 6, 2008 01:14 PM
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'Sjust haiir...but still. D; They do seem...a bit...um....DANGEROUS?
Posted by MissusHow at February 6, 2008 02:20 PM
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I think that the CPS has most likely been after Zora and Gene not because of the Jake-ness, which after all we hadn't seen much evidence of till now, but because of Gene's obvious (to a government official, anyway) unfitness to be a single parent. And as much as I love the big lug, and I really-really-really do...Reagans in my corner on this one. Scip is a sweety...but his -social- IQ seems to be a bit on the...slow side. His best friend is a chicken. 'Nuff said.
Posted by coyoteweeps at February 6, 2008 03:10 PM
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CPS is deeply flawed but better than the alternative, which is usually kids being fucked with like nobody's business. There's a sort of natural defense mechanism for people growing up where any situation can be 'normal'. Most of the time it's just arbitrary but benign stuff that would look really weird to a complete outsider, like shaving your head bald or congegating with people with similar opinions and listening to a learned man (or, often, a pointedly unlearned one) pray at you. But sometimes it's hideously fucked-up stuff like beatings or rape.
The Jakes' worst thing is the big honking knife thing (because a bowie knife is so much better than a pocketknife? Just because civilization is gonna collapse doesn't mean you can't take advantage of whatever it leaves behind while it exists.), and there's a clear religious motive to that. And whatever else I might think about it, religion fosters a sense of community and coherence vital to a loving family relationship. (Or the trappings of it do, at least. It doesn't matter if it's a junior theater club or something, it's still good.)
Louisa is 110% right, and it's hilarious. Some bald white chick leers at him a little creepily, makes a fairly gauche pitch for jungle love, and all of a sudden shaving a girl bald is WROOOOOONG.
I love Scip. He's like every PTA mom I've ever met, right down to the creepy, warped channeling of repressed sexual energy. They're hilarious enough as is, but put one in the body of an enormous kilt-wearing man and you've got instant comedy.
From a distance, mind you. Actually knowing someone like Scip would likely result in being frustrated that he was too muscular to get away with cuffing him for some of this bullshit. >_<
Posted by alec at February 7, 2008 06:46 AM
70.173.192.87
Jakes Kin are not my favorite people... let's just say that. But I think that once Momma, Feather, and Apollo roll on out of town everything will settle down again.
Is Gene best father of the year material? Probably not. His intellect has been described by Spike as "clinically subnormal." However, seeing as he is a genuinely nice guy who I don't think would ever intentionally hurt his own daughter, I think he can be trusted to keep her. Spike also said that he's strung up a web of safety nets, Reagen being one of them, and it's obvious that Ben is also starting to develop some sort of role in Zora's life. That being said, I would never call Child Protection because of Gene.
My fear is if the Jakes stay around too much. Thus far, we have seen a small sample, but I don't think it looks that good. It's a sub-culture that's going for the Hannah Experiment route of being a baby factory. What worries me is having our little Zoradysis forced into pregnancy at a young age or not being allowed to get an education. That girl is quick on the draw and there's a glimmer of something there. I don't want anything bad to happen to her. That being said, if I felt that the Jake lifestyle was being tough on her I might call someone, or at the very least hang around a hell of a lot more.
I'm curious though, does anyone know how long Emma has been gone?
Posted by the maljax at February 7, 2008 06:35 PM
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My congretulations about your nomination for three Webcartoonist's Choice Awards!
Posted by Krupp at February 8, 2008 12:56 AM
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This comic made me wonder if Reagan has some daddy issues. Like, maybe he wasn't around, or maybe he was abusive or something.
Posted by Nate at February 8, 2008 04:02 AM
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For me, it's not that they're handling knives. As said before, you can teach children to handle knives safely.
The problem is that they seem to be BABIES handling knives. I'm not sure how you can safely teach babies anything.
Posted by Lewis at February 8, 2008 09:21 AM
69.54.43.13
My G-d, it's good to see Reagan in action again. :)
And let's face it: Neither Scip or Reagan have the best concept on how to deal with the situation. I mean, Scip only gets the positive news feed so of course he's going to blank out the worst of the moment he was just privvy to and latch onto the least offensive. And Reagan, well... she's probably seen worse so to her, this is hardly noteworthy(minus the delicous comic value). That and if the Jakeskin don't care, why should she? It's not her life they're slipping knives and baldness into. I can't wait to hear Ben's opinion. As visualized in the comic, he's probably the "neutral" middle.
In any case, this is great stuff. I love it!
Posted by Julia at February 8, 2008 09:37 AM
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And I just remembered: the knives are a defensive weapon for them. The Jakeskin are just making sure everyone they love is protected.
... you know, in their own weird, crazy Jakeskin way.
Posted by Julia at February 8, 2008 09:42 AM
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Maybe it's Ben's meds that keep him so neutral...
Posted by Nate at February 8, 2008 07:31 PM
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Nooo, I think they use those knives as part of their active efforts to destroy civilization. What we know about 'catalyzing' is that you don't want to get caught doing it, and you do it while carrying a knife.
Posted by Fishy at February 10, 2008 09:46 PM
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Nooo, I think they use those knives as part of their active efforts to destroy civilization. What we know about 'catalyzing' is that you don't want to get caught doing it, and you do it while carrying a knife.
Posted by Fishy at February 10, 2008 09:46 PM
158.182.248.247
I got my copy of Templar from my local comic shop. Whooo!
Anyhow, I have to roll my eyes a little not at Regan's position but at her surprise at Scip's response. She was wearing a big, gleeful, shit-eating grin when Scip was introduced to the Jakeskins and their, uh, unique customs because she knew they would appall him. Now that he wants to go one step further and act on that shock, it's funny to see her so belligerent. Oh Scip, you party-pooper.
What bugs me most about the Jakeskins is their crazy racist ideology and unsafe medical practices but I'm not sure I know enough about them and how they work to want to take a side yet.
Also, yes, really looking forward to Ben's take on the whole thing.
Posted by Sylv at February 11, 2008 01:55 AM
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lots of people refuse medical attention. I'm pretty sure that's their right.
So they stereotype people by skin color. Big deal. I think everybody does that to some extent or another. I'm not really sure it can be helped. I think it's just human nature. As long as you're not rude or cruel to people, I don't really see where it's an issue. It's not like they exclude anybody from their groups, or go to any great lengths to treat others badly. They just dislike civilization in general.
Posted by Nate at February 11, 2008 03:13 PM
74.140.6.96
It's peoples right to refuse proper medical treatment, but that doesn't mean it's something that I have to LIKE, especially when it comes to children.
And the thing is their stereotyping isn't just casual "Well, you know what they say about RACIAL/ETHNIC CATEGORY HERE", it's stereotyping based on pseudo-mystical "root differences" bolstered by vague allusions to scientific studies. I get nervous whenever this kind of stuff is set systematically into an actual belief system.
I'm not saying that this should be grounds on which to whisk Zora away, mind you, no matter how I disapprove.
"They just dislike civilization in general."
Me, I LOVE civilization, so I'm probably inclined to take a dim view of their philosophy in the first place.
Posted by Sylv at February 11, 2008 03:40 PM
68.151.45.172
ah. I'm pretty casual about civilization. I'm actually more of the opinion that we aren't at our best when there's a hundred thousand of us within a ten mile radius.
Sure, civilization helps us invent neat digital watches, but really. Are we really doing anyone a service by living like this? By the looks of it, it doesn't really seem like it.
Nobody's all good, and nobody's all bad. That's pretty much all I'm getting at.
Posted by Nate at February 12, 2008 01:37 AM
74.140.6.96
The Jakes are cons pure and simple. Stealing wallets wont be the catalyst that brings down civilization. Unless you are asking me to believe that they throw away the money they take, it seems as though they are in it for personal gain. common criminals, and nothing else.
Posted by Johnny Funwrecker at February 12, 2008 12:28 PM
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"ah. I'm pretty casual about civilization."
You're telling us this using a computer hooked up to an international telecommunications network.
Posted by Wagner at February 12, 2008 02:15 PM
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And this is what makes Templar, and thus Spike, so awesome...getting this kind of discussion, serious discussion, from an imaginary religion in an imaginary world.
Personally, I appreciate the dichotomy inherent in being addicted to the internet, indoor plumbing, and grocery stores with self-check-out aisles and twenty-four hour...umm...hours, while at the same time daydreaming about the collapse of civilization and a return to "every-man-for-himself".
;p
Posted by coyoteweeps at February 12, 2008 04:17 PM
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The only REAL problem I'm having with the Jakes is their refusal to seek proper medical attention for their children. Adults are free to choose; kids are not. That's the law, too...at least in this version of reality. Who knows what it is in Templar?
Even the racial profiling doesn't bother me too much as it seems pretty benign. Everyone's qualities are different but equally good, and they are encouraged to mix rather than segregate. Wish more backwards religious cults had that ideal, rather than the opposite.
Posted by Louisa at February 12, 2008 08:00 PM
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I strongly disapprove of mugging drunk people. If this was common, I would be perpetually broke
Posted by Johnny Funwrecker at February 13, 2008 12:06 PM
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And by dog she means that he was: "taught to sit when they say sit but the dog doesn't speak English" or something right. Not in the vernacular of "he's such a dog." This has been your Raye-to-English translator...
Posted by That Guy at February 14, 2008 09:08 PM
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I love the subtle reference to Regan being a "Recovering Catholic" in panel 3...
Posted by Yasei at February 15, 2008 01:08 AM
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I'm pretty sure you're right, That Guy.
The theory of Dog...Dog hears "Sit!"...Dog thinks "that combination of sound means ass goes on the ground"...Dog sits. Doesn't matter if the sound is "Sit", "Down", or what. The result is the same.
Not sure I totally agree with Reagan on this one, though. I think Gene'd surprise her, if she dug deep enough. I don't think Gene's hair, or the way he's choosing to raise Zora, are a matter of his simply "losing his training" or anything. Otherwise, he'd have let his mom cut his hair.
Posted by coyoteweeps at February 15, 2008 05:52 AM
71.195.226.194
No you're right, something might have happened to Gene or someone he knew. That managed to find the portion of his brain that can still think and got him to leave most of the Jakeskin lifestyle behind.
But think of it like this- A person leaves a Christian faith after being raised in it, sometimes that person might hum a hymn or something without realizing it. That doesn't mean that deep down that person still believes in it. They're just letting their programing out.- That may be what Gene's "prophet" comments are. He is just letting his programing out.
Gene probably is rebelling against Jakeskin culture. His hair could grow back but somewhere in his head Gene must know that it would be giving in. Maybe we'll find out what turned Gene off from being a Jake soon.
Posted by That Guy at February 15, 2008 03:49 PM
71.244.141.108
When Gene was mugging Dr. Bash, one of the rules was "Unnumbered," which, now that we've met Feather, I've taken to mean not one of the Five.
1)African
2)Asian
3)White
4)Indian
5)Aboriginal
Unfortunately, unless I'm mistaking Feather's descriptions, there's not much left unless she's making some fine distinctions somewhere in there.
Or maybe Unnumbered means something else.
I dunno, I guess I've always had a problem trying to make religion make sense.
Posted by Tyler at February 15, 2008 06:12 PM
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Tyler, Dr. Bash is white, so he fits into Jake numbering.
Unnumbered means alone--because it isn't smart to steal from numbers of people. People who are drunk alone are going to lose their money anyway, thus stealing it catalyzes decomposition--it doesn't change what happens, it just makes it happen quicker.
Posted by Sarah at February 15, 2008 06:49 PM
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I can testify to having remnants of religious programming (look, I even said testify.) I'm a dyed-in-the-wool atheist, but I was raised Episcopalian. Sometimes I'll sing a hymn because I simply like them, and they bring up fond memories of childhood.
Posted by Louisa at February 15, 2008 11:37 PM
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I half wonder if Spike hasn't updated the blog just to see where this conversation leads...
Posted by Nate at February 16, 2008 02:29 AM
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Thanks, Sara. That makes perfect sense. That's what I get for over-thinking.
And as far as former-X now-Y, I was raised Roman Catholic, and have no religious affiliation now (personally believing no man can give an unbiased accounting of God) yet the trappings of the RC church have imprinted to the point that I am given warm fuzzies by a bank of candles, or the smell of incense.
Always liked the taste of host, too. When I was a kid I wanted to figure out a way I could save a few and snack on them like chips.
Posted by Tyler at February 16, 2008 04:50 AM
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Aww...that first panel is wonderful. Reagan is relaxing as she sees that once again she's managed to talk her way around Scip...and taking advantage of the moment for a little cuddle time with the big lug. Go, Rea.
And at least she -has- noticed that some things "stick" with Gene. Good. Even though she's a little too much of a surface-skimmer to realize what that means, in the long run.
And Tyler...eww. Sorry, maybe there're different...I dunno, brands of Host...but the times I went with my grandma it always tasted like flour-paste, without as much flavor. I was always glad that at home we were Mormon (Boy, did -that- not last long past teenhood.) and got -real- white bread in our sacrament. ;p
Posted by coyoteweeps at February 16, 2008 12:44 PM
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CPS is deeply flawed but better than the alternative.
Posted by Filon at February 17, 2008 02:51 AM
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