Chapter 17 | Page 8b: Emotion-Reading Technology Backfires

Posted on February 5, 2026 by Brad Guigar

Dr. Muskiday tries to turn feelings into data. His emotion-reading technology translates emotions into glowing clouds. As the experiment spirals, it becomes clear that understanding emotions is much messier than measuring them.

Double-Dog Dare!

If you’re looking for something excellent to read, my friend Dave Kellett has a brand-new Kickstarter live right now. It’s packed with never-before-printed comics and is absolutely worth checking out! https://go.evil-inc.net/Double-D

Transcript

(Panel 1)
 Holo-Clone Miss Match: Oh, Musky! I’m so PROUD of you!
 Dr. Muskiday: You are?

(Panel 2)
 Holo-Clone Miss Match: Sure! And I’ll prove it to you.
 (She sprays Dr. Muskiday’s “Project: SMILE” mist onto her chest with a “Pft Pft Pft.”)

(Panel 3)
Holo-Clone Miss Match: That’s odd. I’m definitely experiencing a twenty-five percent increase in admiration.
 (He looks at her as she stands confidently in front of him.)

(Panel 4)
 Dr. Muskiday: (sighs) I know. I wrote your approval algorithm.
 (He buries his head in his hands.)

(Panel 5)
 Computer (stylized): Disappointment detected. Initiating emotional buoyancy protocols.
 (She stands looking at the dejected Muskiday.)

(Panel 6)
 Computer (stylized): Activating file: hold_and_squeeze_those_big_puppies.exe
 (She touches her lips in contemplation.)

(Panel 7)

(Two holographic dogs appear — Oso the Pug and Digby the Dachshund from the ‘Sheldon’ comic strip— to a now overjoyed Muskiday, who grabs and cuddles them gleefully.)

 Holo-Clone Miss Match: Well… I AM proud of you!

Alt Text

Comic strip featuring Holo-Clone Miss Match (a holographic clone of Miss Match) and Dr. Muskiday (a small, humanoid fly in a lab coat) having a humorous interaction. Miss Match tells Muskiday she’s proud of him. She sprays Dr. Muskiday’s “Project: SMILE” mist onto her chest with a “Pft Pft Pft.” It fails to trigger the expected results. She insists that her admiration has increased by 25% even though it’s not indicated by the mist. Muskiday sighs, saying he knows because he wrote her approval algorithm. Detecting his disappointment, Muskiday’s computer initiates an “emotional buoyancy protocol,” executing a file named “hold_and_squeeze_those_big_puppies.exe.” Two holographic dogs appear — Oso the Pug and Digby the Dachshund from the ‘Sheldon’ comic strip — to a now overjoyed Muskiday, who grabs and cuddles them gleefully. The dogs cameo from the "Sheldon" comic strip to promote Dave Kellett’s Kickstarter book, "Double Dog Dare," available at doubledogbook.com

McGruder Gone for Good

Posted on September 26, 2006 by Brad Guigar

McGruder Gone for Good

[Washington Post] It’s over for “The Boondocks” comic strip, at least for now. After six years — a remarkably short run for a strip that found its way into 300-plus newspapers, Universal Press Syndicate told subscribers yesterday they should start looking for someone to replace political/social satirist Aaron McGruder.

McGruder, a Columbia native who in his twenties became the Garry Trudeau of the hip-hop generation, took a sabbatical six months ago to recharge. The syndicate kept checking with him, reminding him that its newspaper clients needed several weeks in order to prepare for his return or his departure.

Apparently, the mind behind young black radicals Huey and Riley Freeman has gone Hollywood, or at least has further hopes of doing so, and has decided he can’t devote himself to the grind of a daily strip. His late-night animated show, “The Boondocks,” on the Cartoon Network was recently renewed for another season, the first-season DVD is out, and a film is reportedly in the works. Read more.