2007-08-06

Main comic, one panel: An orange-haired man stands facing a worried-looking blonde woman in a green room. In a large speech bubble he says, "In about 30 seconds, I'm going to tell you your mother died. But don't worry, I've banal pleasantries to ease you into the moment." He then says, "Nice weather we're having today." The woman tries to interject twice -- "Wait, my mother-" and "Seriously though, my-" -- but the man insistently repeats in bold, "Nice weather we're having today," steamrolling her with small talk to delay the bad news. Votey (bonus panel, black-and-white sketch): A man in a shirt and tie says, "You look nice tonight." When the other person starts to respond, "Okay, but-," he cuts them off loudly with "New shampoo?!" -- using the same tactic of deflecting with chitchat to avoid letting the other person speak.