Pibgorn by Brooke McEldowney

Tags: I*m from the gummint and I*m here to hep ya, The only thing worse than hell...the government!, infernal.revue.service, the, department, of, they, All that in one breath...Impressive!, M.I.B., Men In Blue, Its the ...Bureau...!, Anybody missing Tom Torquemada?.... Add Tags

Comments (168) Jump to Comments Form

GEE1A said, 7 months ago

Doctor’s without scalpels or scruples.
Checks and balances, my checks never balance.

Thank you Justin and Brooke, great podcast.
The creative process never ceases to amazes me.

interview link:

http://comicscoasttocoast.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=144&Itemid=1
Margueritem said, 7 months ago

They’re going to find a doctor there? Certainly will find someone who’s amoral and without scruples, but an MD?
txmystic said, 7 months ago

Youch…first insurance companies, and now the most bureaucratic bureau of the whole bureaucracy!
fieromike1945 said, 7 months ago

First?
Sisyphos said, 7 months ago

Let’s see. If the Men in Black from the FCIEOBWMAIJFIHSTFCB & PA come, will they try to seize “the specimen”? Will it be deja vu from the former investigation arc (The Internal Fairy Harvesting Service)?
txmystic said, 7 months ago

By the way, I did not see “unnecessary surgery on a specimen for research purposes” in any part of that long title…
The Old Wolf said, 7 months ago

As was previously pointed out by some wag, the doctors have called “they”.

I’m sorry I can’t favorite this one a dozen times… Pib strips don’t usually make me laugh out loud, but this one certainly did.

@Skulker: Your bookmarklet works perfectly! :^)
fear-ciuil said, 7 months ago

If you would like to ‘favorite’ the strip, (and maybe the sketch, too), simply log in and click on the ‘Favorite’ star directly above the strip. Mr. McEldowney very kindly asked for us what purpose is served by favoriting, and this was the answer:
I asked my editor at Gocomics about the purpose of “favoriting” a strip. Her answer was this: “‘Favoriting’ allows people following you to see what comics you like. ‘Favorited’ comics also show up under your profile, and allow us to see what comics people are enjoying.”
Basically, I think it provides a method for spreading the word.
Brooke

A number of resources have been provided by members of the Order of the Couch, and links can be found here:
http://www.talkaboutcomics.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=45301
For registration assistance, go to: http://marmoe.livejournal.com/34590.html

If you are new to Pibgorn, start with ccdesan’s Pibgorn Tribute Page, which gives story and character info:
http://home.comcast.net/~ccdesan/Pibgorn/Pibgorn.html

ccdesan has also created a GoComics comments posting guide to special formatting: italic, bold, indents, large fonts, etc.
http://home.comcast.net/~ccdesan/Pibgorn/StyleGuide.html

Come one and come all, de-lurk and join in! Add your own voice to our great, joyous din!
Just one bit of wisdom ere joining our game: Read all of the comments, or you’ll miss something! (Shame!)
(No trolls need apply.)
Please do not feed the cuisine-challenged bridge substructure symbionts. Just flag them.
http://picayune.uclick.com/comics/pib/2002/pib021218.gif
Mr. McEldowney’s Pibgorn blog: http://officialpibgorn.livejournal.com/
Mr. McEldowney’s 9 Chickweed Lane blog: http://chickweedcafe.blogspot.com/

Today’s 9 Chickweed Lane can be found at:
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2009%2F4%2F7&name=9_Chickweed_Lane
debra4life50 said, 7 months ago

Hey, the PB isn’t up yet….someone’s falling behind! Oooops, we must have posted at the same time.
fear-ciuil said, 7 months ago

Sorry ‘bout the late boilerplate … I got distracted. ::hangs head in shame::
Gweedo Murray said, 7 months ago

Reprint from 4-07:

Gweedo Murray says:

HEY SKULKER

Links 2 and 3 updated to 4-08. Zip-a-dee-doo-da and all that.
The Old Wolf said, 7 months ago

@9CWL: I know Amos appreciates Edda for everything she is.

Francis Durly had better do the same for Diane, that’s all I can say.

Unfogs glasses
ejcapulet said, 7 months ago

They’re so not going to like what happens when she wakes up.
Gweedo Murray said, 7 months ago

I believe I see a smiling bi polar bear.

http://www.gocomics.com/mythtickle#
The Old Wolf said, 7 months ago

@Fearc: Lawz-a-massey, honeychile… you ain’t got nuffin’ to be ‘shamed ‘bout.
AliKzam said, 7 months ago

Well now it’s perfectly okay to opperate on her because the suits will make it all so confusing! When the volcano erupts and the survivors find those who are to blame and ask them how they could let this happen, their response can be, “Huh?”
Sisyphos said, 7 months ago

I note that the FCIEOBWMAIJFIHSTFCB & PA proudly sports an all-yellow [as far as we can see] agency flag.
Fairportfan said, 7 months ago

Paging Dr Tottentanz!

If he’s recovered from Dru’s retribution (if he survived it with his sanity even approximately intact), he’d walk in, take one look at what’s on th eoperating table …

…and the next anyone would hear about him would be in about twenty years when news of the crazy gringo doctor finally came seeping out of deepest Bolivia…
Captain Smokeblower said, 7 months ago

I bet they all had that number on speed dial.
He’s not official because he left out, “Flag Preservation, Patriotism Enforcement and Duplicate Department of Redundancy Reduction Department.”
I thought I worked with this guy, but his tie is the wrong color. Should be red on Wednesday.
The Old Wolf said, 7 months ago

Good night, all.

Brought a bowl of Whole Foods store-made tortilla chips and some organic salsa for the late-night crowd.
Fairportfan said, 7 months ago

The Stars & Stripes to his right really ought to have a gold fringe…

Flicker from yesterday is up (finally) - http://electronictiger.net/avail/flick/090407.htm
Story Teller said, 7 months ago

margueritemPro says: “They’re going to find a doctor there? Certainly will find someone who’s amoral and without scruples, but an MD?”

The list of stated qualifications are fairly extensive, but being a doctor is not on the list.
fatuncle said, 7 months ago

Uh, huh. Saw that one coming.

“She isn’t human, we can do as we wish.”

If she isn’t human, they don’t need a MD. Just someone to take the blame if anything goes wrong.
Gweedo Murray said, 7 months ago

Good flicker, and those other comics.
Fairportfan said, 7 months ago

For anyone who didn’t get my “yellow frings on the flag” reference: http://preview.tinyurl.com/cesm7m
Captain Smokeblower said, 7 months ago

Mr. McEldowney has taken the time to include the right number of stripes in the flag; the right number of red versus white stripes; and, while he confused me to begin with, the right number of stripes beside as well as below the field of blue.
I just know someone on the Couch is going to say one of us is @n@l Retentive.
Joe Minotaur said, 7 months ago

When in doubt, send in the clowns!
Margueritem said, 7 months ago

Joe_Minotaur says:

When in doubt, send in the clowns!

~ Good one, Joe!
GrumpyOldbear said, 7 months ago

Some stuff from yesterday:
NYC beer (or something)
Knickabocker, Piel’s, Schlitz
I 3rd Shiner and a big vote for Bell’s Best Brown.
.
I have heard of people dying while the hospital filled out the paperwork.
.
Pain 1 to 10. After my gallstone attack and the stupid question I quantified it.
10 - unconscious
9 - black spots in front of eyes
8 - unable to speak
7 - gallstone attack
2 dentist drilling without novocain.
.
Gravity: My theory is that gravity is increasing ever since the stopping of atomic testing. Those born after that date do not notice it but those of us born before then can see it.
Just look at my chest - my belt is the only thing keeping it from falling further. It is so much harder getting up, from the floor or chair or bed or climb stairs. Things fall so much faster - we used to be able to catch stuff that hit the floor now. And a myriad of other examples.

01:03 CDT❀ ☜(a rose)
TheSkulker said, 7 months ago

fairportfan says:
For anyone who didn’t get my “yellow frings on the flag” reference:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/cesm7m

Thanks. And we’re supposed to be a “free” country!

2321 PDT [0621z 0408]
dataweaver said, 7 months ago

Great. At least the worst thing that Dru had to deal with in the last story arc was Hell. Now she has to deal with the Federal government…
Gweedo Murray said, 7 months ago

GrumpyOldbear says:……… etc ……………

Pain 1 to 10. After my gallstone attack and the stupid question I quantified it.
10 - unconscious
9 - black spots in front of eyes
8 - unable to speak
7 - gallstone attack
2 dentist drilling without novocain.
.
]
Category #11: It hurts like a mother f!cker! At the top of your voice.
TheSkulker said, 7 months ago

Gweedo Thanks for the feedback. Updates coming with additional strips.

2324 PDT [0624z 04-08]
TheSkulker said, 7 months ago

Looks like girl Genius is going to get more complicated and convoluted. Fun!

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090408

2332 PDT [0632z 04-08]
Sisyphos said, 7 months ago

Why did an actual human (assuming he is one) answer the phone rather than a machine?
Nabuquduriuzhur said, 7 months ago

Don’t think gravity is increasing, but cores from the Mid-Oceanic Ridge suggests that the magnetic field is decreasing. We’re long overdue for a flipflop in the poles, in fact.
Nabuquduriuzhur said, 7 months ago

Hmm, judging by the list he went through, he must be the receptionist for the Secretaries of Commerce, Agriculture, Justice, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Treasury. Must be a drag being a receptionist for so many Departments. Must have another guy answering for the other half of government- the Departments of Defense, Interior, Transportation, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Energy, Labor, State and VA.
baslim_the_begger said, 7 months ago

Doesn’t a yellow flag signify plague?

How very appropriate.

9CWL: LOL! Poor Amos, You have forgotten so many anniversaries, that you will never be forgiven — except by true love.
Nabuquduriuzhur said, 7 months ago

Considering how awful a job they’ve done since their inception, ever wonder why we still have Education, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and were it not for nuclear oversight, the DOE? Don’t think anyone would miss the first three if they suddenly disappeared, considering what they have done. The Ed dept has reduced overall education standards countrywide, while at the same time substituting “alternatives” to lifestyles, religions, philosophies, and economics that have helped create our current situation since the 1960s. HHS is a miserable failure in every sector. Labor pretty much does makework as the states have taken over most of this role, especially as OSHA no longer goes after actual safety problems. The DOE is a joke because no comprehensive energy policy can get going- the senate and house tear it to pieces. etc. etc.
Nabuquduriuzhur said, 7 months ago

Brooke’s genius shows in 9CWL today. We have female rationalization for doing something wrong, but making it seem romantic and right. Seen it more times than I want to count. It’s also brilliant in that it shows a nun who was never saved- i.e., giving advice that a saved person would never give, because the Holy Spirit would be constantly tugging at their mind and telling him/her to correct their friend. For the former nun to endorse Edda and Amos living in sin, so to speak, and rationalize it so beautifully, speaks volumes. As I said, genius!
Gunnr said, 7 months ago

He’s answering the phone for all those departments because of the bean counter principle – when you have to cut back on expenditures, you lay off half the people who know how to get the job done, and make the other half do twice the work with half the resources, but you never, ever, ever let any of management team go.
Nabuquduriuzhur said, 7 months ago

Absolutely true. Management never gets cut.

Or in the case of Oregon schools: with a cut required for budgets, instead of cutting sports, which take up a whopping 50+% of the all-sources budgets, they are planning to shorten the school year by 15 days. ARRRRGH!
MasterDiver said, 7 months ago

A yellow flag??? Are they lepers, or are they just in Quarantine? (A nice quiet little place, but not much Night Life)
JosephR4570 said, 7 months ago

Somebody wanted to know about “health care in this country,” presumably funded by the government, aka paid for by you and me but run by nincompoop bureaucrats. Looks like Mr. McE is giving us a glimpse of what it will be like.
Delawarebob said, 7 months ago

Am I losing it, or is Dru trying to supress a grin?

(Think I need another cup of coffee … )
TiggerLeBounce said, 7 months ago

Think we oughta call in the exterminators and get Dru out of there?

Oh yes, I brought a tray of cream cheese danishes today! Let me sit them on the table here.
Moe A. said, 7 months ago

CC: I’ll see your reaction and raise you two…. this is wonderful.

RISITAS: Regarding yesterday’s posting, I always wondered about that term “Extreme Unction.” I mean, as opposed to what? “Casual Unction?”

-Curious Moe
Franny P said, 7 months ago

HEY! I work for the gubmint and I resemble that remark!

Am I still allowed to visit the couch of confusion occasionally?

Have mercy, please, I work for THEM!!!
Orgelspieler said, 7 months ago

Hi-yo Pibgorn and the Lone Gumshoe! This is gonna have to be good.

And FYI, Geoff is probably just fine. If he’s like the rest of us church organists, he’s locked the door to the choir loft and practising his buns off trying to get ready for Easter.
borusa said, 7 months ago

I always confuse Extreme Unction with Extreme Prejudice.