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

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

Miller to Adapt the Spirit

Miller to Adapt the Spirit[VARIETY] Comic book artist Frank Miller will adapt and direct The Spirit, based on comic legend Will Eisner’s classic strip.

Miller co-directed Sin City with Robert Rodriguez.

The Spirit, which debuted in 1940, tells the story of a masked detective who is believed to be dead. Using a mausoleum as his home base, Eisner’s character fights crime in the dark shadows of Central City, using cunning and ingenious forms of punishment.

“I intend to be extremely faithful to the heart and soul of the material, but it won’t be nostalgic. It will be much scarier than people expect,” said Miller.


Read the whole story.

I like Miller’s work an awful lot, but I’m a little bit worried about the way he’s parsing his words. He’s going to be extremely faithful to the heart and soul of Eisner’s work. Not to the work itself — but to the heart and soul of the work. And since he’s going to be the one to decide what that heart and soul is…

I guess I’d feel more comfortable is he promised to be faithful to Eisner’s work. And, yes, if it were almost anyone but Eisner, I probably wouldn’t care. But we’re talking one of the heads of the Comics Pantheon.

Tread carefully, ‘k?