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

52 Web site

Posted on June 20, 2006 by Brad Guigar
DC Comics has been having a lot of fun with its 52 Web site, a site created to help readers follow 52, the comic series that will unfold this year, chronicling the aftermath of Infinite Crisis.

Check out the TV listings from the Daily Planet’s Senior Entertainment Columnist:

WGBS Announces Summer Season

Metropolis, May 17 — Last week, the series finale of “The Worst Wing” – a fictionalized version of the Luthor Administration – got its biggest ratings ever for a two-hour special where President Rex Boother pardoned himself on his way out of the Oval Office, only to be killed in an accident involving a lobbyist’s limo.

SPECIAL:
CRISIS OF INFINITE MIRTH
Comedians claiming to be from different dimensions offer their humorous looks at race, relationships and superheroes in a benefit for Star City.

SERIES PREMIERE:
LEADER OF THE BAND: SCARE TACTICS
Following last summer’s surprisingly popular reality show about the revived 1970s band Great Frog, this incarnation follows the cult-favorite “monster rock” phenomenon Scare Tactics as they look for a new lead singer. In the debut, singer Susie Kavanaugh has a voice unlike any the band has ever heard… but will being a soul-draining banshee keep her in the running, or make her the first contestant to be eliminated?

RETURNING SERIES:
I WANT A HOUSE! NO, A BIGGER HOUSE!
Master carpenter Roger Gail and country singer Alison Stevens travel the country, creating homes for people who need them. In the heartbreaking premiere, it’s a family who fled Bludhaven. Does a townhouse in Coast City offer them a second chance, or just a sad reminder of what they’ve lost?

GOOD KNIGHT AND GOOD LUCK
The sitcom about King Arthur’s trusted squire (Kevin McKinley) working at a Medieval-themed restaurant in 21st-century Metropolis returns for a third season. In the premiere, Sir Tristan decides to reveal his true background to his best friend, “mead wench” Traci (Alyssa Barrett) but will she believe him? Plus, comedian Frankie Sennett makes one of his popular cameos as Tristan’s meddling Uncle Modred.

MOVIE:
THE NEW FRONTIER
Director Darwyn Cooke’s award-winning 2004 epic about superheroics during the Kennedy era makes its network-television debut. HDTV viewers can enjoy the movie with enhanced “Absolute” features.

TV MOVIE:
INTERAMERICAN
Fact-based drama follows a suburban advertising executive (Gregg Rice) who quits his job and drives across country in search of the daughter he never knew he had… because her mother was his girlfriend on a parallel Earth.