Chapter 17, Page 27a: Applied Mad Sciences

Posted on September 15, 2026 by Brad Guigar

After several hours of applied mad sciences, Dr. Muskiday finally has a plan.

The macronanos have been feeding on Fairmount City’s emotions, growing stronger with every burst of anger, embarrassment, infatuation, and fear. Muskiday’s new device is designed to reverse the process — converting a macronano back into harmless micronanos while safely discharging all that stolen emotional energy.

There’s just one problem.

To test the thing, they need a macronano.

Fortunately, HoloClone Miss Match knows exactly how to bait the hook. A little romance. A little melodrama. And perhaps just a touch more enthusiasm than Dr. Muskiday was expecting.

Science demands sacrifice. Apparently, dignity is first on the list.

One Hot August

On Friday, I posted a wrap-up of all of the August exclusives — complete with previews of all the spicy selections. You can download all of them without becoming a Patreon backer here.

Transcript

Panel 1
Dr. Muskiday finishes tinkering on his device in front of a whiteboard that shows how the device works.

Macronano —> containment unit —> compression field emitter —> emotion output emitter

Muskiday: OK… I think we’re ready to test it out. Can you attract one of the macronanos?

Panel 2
HoloClone Miss Match: Musky, darling, this may be our last chance to consummate our love before the macronanos take over! 

Panel 3
A macronano reacts as Holoclone Miss Match (continues off-panel): Take me, my love. I’m yours, body and soul!

Panel 4
The macronano enters the lab, and HoloClone Miss Match slams the door behind it.
HoloClone Miss Match: Ha-HA! You sure are gullible! I can’t believe you fell for that. GET ’IM MUSKY!

Panel 5
Dr. Muskiday is in the act of taking off his pants: …Huh??

Requiem for a Snow Miser…

Posted on December 18, 2008 by Brad Guigar

The Year Without A Santa Claus is my all-time favorite Rankin-Bass Christmas special. There’s just no beating the charm of the hopelessly dated plots, proudly corny character designs, and jerky stop-motion animation.

But the real reason Year Without stands apart from the pack is the Heat Miser and Snow Miser. For starters, there’s the theme songs each sings. Once you hear ’em, you’ll be humming the tune for the rest of the year. Need proof? Here’s the Snow Miser song. (If you’re at work, put some headphones on!)

But beyond the enjoyment of the TV special itself, watching Year Without lets me launching into my story about Dick Shawn. Mr. Shawn was the voice of the Snow Miser. He was an up-and-coming comedian in the 50s. He was a contemporary of Jonathon Winters and styled the same manic, zany, weird delivery.

Unfortunately, he just never had that One Major Break to catapult him to Super Stardom. The movie role that he is best remembered for is the “Hitler” character from Mel Brooks’ original “The Producers” starring Gene Wilder and Zero Mostell. He was also the distraught hippie in “It’ a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.”

But he toured a lot — and his act was big on college campuses.

So, he’s playing the University of California in San Diego in April 1987… He’s worked his set up to a fevered pitch, launching into a bit about nuclar war… He was his manic self as he began to imagine the holocaust. Nobody would survive, he explained, except the audience in the little sheltered theater! Then he shouted, “And I would be your leader!!”

And then he fell face-first onto the stage.

The crowd erupted into thunderous applause. The house positively shook as Shawn lay on the stage, unmoving.

The applause died down… aside from a few nervous giggles… and still no motion from the comic. An audience member rushed up.

Dick Shawn, of course, was dead.

New York Post columnist Cindy Adams remembered what Shawn said about trying to find the right audiences for his brand of comedy: “I can’t work places like Vegas or the Catskills where people are belching. Maybe I belong in colleges. At least if I die, I die in front of intelligent people who know what I’m talking about.”

Year Without a Santa Claus airs throughout the Christmas season on ABC Family.