Pibgorn by Brooke McEldowney

Tags: Follow the Yellow Brick Hinky, yellow, brick, road, Not in Kansas any longer., gink, Which Ones Dorothy?, Which ones Toto?. Add Tags

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fear-ciuil said, 5 months ago

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

The Old Wolf 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

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

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/
The Pibgorn books are available at: http://pibpress.blogspot.com/

Today’s 9 Chickweed Lane can be found at:
http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2009%2F6%2F23&name=9_Chickweed_Lane

Links to the strips that comprise the Borgia Cantus arc can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/borgia
Margueritem said, 5 months ago

And, they’re off to see the Wiz, or however is occupying his throne these days.
Sisyphos said, 5 months ago

We’re not in Kansas anymore, Teau-Teau!
Sisyphos said, 5 months ago

We’re getting far, far away from the Volcano and the Frozen Tsunami!
jimbo1949 said, 5 months ago

We’re off to see the lizard!
waycyber said, 5 months ago

Lost in the Jungle

I admit I had been foolish not to listen to the advice I had been given. I had decided to drive from Pho-Lat to Kai-Tam by myself. When I had gone about a hundred and fifty miles, my land rover completely seized up. I inspected the engine, but there was no way I could get it to start again. I reached for a map and my water flask. The flask was empty. Again, I had been so sure I would arrive safely at my destination that I had not worried about running out of water. I checked the map. There was a small village about fifteen miles away through the jungle. There I would find food, water and help.

I set off in a direct line to the village, or so I thought. After several hours, and without anything to guide me, I realised I was quite lost. I was also hungry and thirsty. Now, having grown up in Pho-Lat Province, I did have some jungle craft, but I had not needed to use it for many years. I looked around until I spotted some berries, about the size of a grape and the colour of lemons. They were not good for food, they were highly acidic and would bring on terrible stomach cramps. I did recognise the broad, shiny leaves of a plant I knew to be related to the potato. I dug it up and hungrily ate the root. I had difficulty in swallowing it because I was so dry.

That is when I spotted the toad. It was bright red in the dark green of the jungle. I knew it was poisonous, but I also knew it could help me. I captured it and started feeding it the berries. The toad was highly addicted to them and devoured berry after berry. It stopped for a while and vomited out an acrid mass before returning to the fruit. It’s skin colour started to change through orange to the colour of the berries. This was what I had been waiting for. I threw the berries away. The toad just sat there for a while. Then it started jumping through the undergrowth. The berries had given it a mighty thirst and it was using it’s natural instincts to find fresh water. And all I had to do now was to follow the yellow sick toad.
Joe Minotaur said, 5 months ago

Gweedo McFlurry says:
Has Joe become a Wacom Sacom Wobot ?

That’s right Gweedo. I got the Bamboo Fun. It’s the smallest one they sell, but it includes Photoshop Elements 6.0 and Corel Painter Essentials 4.
For $99.00 that’s not bad at all.
Ladywolf17 said, 5 months ago

Another Wizzard Of Oz remake! But in a sexier version.

Too Bad my dad can’t see this, after four days of no sleep he is out cold. Both of us ache form moving furniture from old house to new hose. I’m off to see the wizzard….the wonderfull wizzard of Oz…. For some soothing bath salt
see ya later.
Joe Minotaur said, 5 months ago

We’re off to see the blizzard, the Wonderful Blizzard of Odd!
UncaAlby said, 5 months ago

OMIGOD! THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD!

I never thought he was really going to go there.

I’ll be needing more yellow M&M’s.
UncaAlby said, 5 months ago

demons and fairies and bears, Oh My!
rainman5353 said, 5 months ago

Gats on Gams
Joe Minotaur said, 5 months ago

I think that Brooke is letting us direct this adventure.
A lot of the action is following our speculations.
I don’t think he’s become that predictable.
He may be doing this story just for us.
Gweedo Murray said, 5 months ago

Here comes the big Bamboo, or should I say the little yellow Wolf Boo Boo.
Sisyphos said, 5 months ago

waycyber, go sit in the corner! That shaggy dog pun was too delicious!
debra4life50 said, 5 months ago

From the left - Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Dorothy, and Tin Man (metaphorically speaking, cause those three ladies are anything but brainless, fearful, or heartless.) Where’s Toto?
Joe Minotaur said, 5 months ago

So, who plays the flying monkey, Luciano?
Will Glinda the Good Witch of the North be played by Edda?
Will the Wicked Witch of the West be played by Isabel?
Will Geoff play the Wizard?
Where’s Maurice? Toto?
Will Lena play a Munchkin?
Sisyphos said, 5 months ago

–More to the point, debra4life50, where are Geoff and the Pibsicle and Maurice? We need more players to fill out the cast for a Wizard of Oz remake!
ejcapulet said, 5 months ago

Snort snort… yellow, sick toad… snort snort.
Joe Minotaur said, 5 months ago

I guess there’s no time for Teau-Teau, Bouncy-Bouncy, Humma-Humma.
VicTR said, 5 months ago

FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK - FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK - FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD ! ! :}
ejcapulet said, 5 months ago

So does that make Nat Dorothy? Freak idea there.
Sisyphos said, 5 months ago

Dunno. It’s hard for me to figure out the assignment of rôles here. I think maybe Dinah=Scarecrow, Pib=Cowardly Lion (mainly because of her mane-like red hair), Nat=Tin Woodman, and, by default, Teau-Teau=both Dorothy and Toto???
UncaAlby said, 5 months ago

we represent
the Succubus Guild,
the Succubus Guild,
the Succubus Guild,
and in the name of
the Succubus Guild,
we wish to welcome you to
Demon Land
LLeRay said, 5 months ago

All that way in high-heels?
Joe Minotaur said, 5 months ago

waycyber
You asked for it!

At the edge of a thick forrest lived a small family. This family owned a nanny goat. This goat would eat anything and give the sweetest milk you have ever tasted. The goat’s favorite thing to eat, was the brightly colored junk mail that the family received. The children would deliver the milk from the goat to their grandmother who lived on the other side of the forrest.
So that the milk would not go sour, the children took the goat along with them and kept it happy by feeding it junk mail. With it’s cast iron stomach, the goat would soon produce pellets as all goats do, but in the colors of the mail she had eaten.
The children had no fear of getting lost in the woods, because all they had to do was turn around and follow the paper trail.
Sisyphos said, 5 months ago

A song for our Oz-fest: http://tinyurl.com/nqy52y
Gweedo Murray said, 5 months ago

Yuck! Get that paper off me!
Joe Minotaur said, 5 months ago

Check out Bob The Squirrel!
Our missing cast members are there!
Gweedo Murray said, 5 months ago

Time for me to go. Nite t’all.
BJamesB86 said, 5 months ago

follow the bellow rick yoad
KalahariNight said, 5 months ago

I wonder if we’ll stay on the Yellow Brick Road for a while, or if Nat’s been indulging in Old Movie Marathons - in which case, who knows what’ll be next?

Let’s see… he took in a Casablanca/Maltese Falcon double feature, then maybe he saw the WoO… omigosh, Fred and Ginger might be next!

EDIT: Or a Hope-Crosby “Road Show”?
BikeNBoatN said, 5 months ago

Oh No! First, Goodbye Yellow brick Road, then yellow sick toads, then paper trails…..Aargh!!
Ladywolf17 said, 5 months ago

Any ways I missed you all, and I’m glad that I’m back with you (my couch-mates) You all are fun to be with and I can’t wait to see how this story line plays out.
Sisyphos said, 5 months ago

And, in honor of the recent French themes of Pib, a version of “Over the Rainbow” by a delightful French chanteuse, Mireille Mathieu: http://tinyurl.com/nqoh3t
Ladywolf17 said, 5 months ago

I wonder if we’ll see some munchkins on the way.
Ladywolf17 said, 5 months ago

Good night for now.
mjolnir 9 said, 5 months ago

We definitely have our metaphor here.
We have Oz.
We have the poppy-field and the Yellow Brick Road.
We have our bouncy little Toto; Oognat currently believes she’s an danseur l’Apache named Teau-Teau.

What ain’t we got?
We ain’t got….

Well…actually…it’s what we *do* got.
For Oz, we got too many dames,
If the correspondence in characters is one-to-one, we’re still missing either the Tin Woodman, Scarecrow, or Cowardly Lion…and either Dru or Pib is Dorothy. Which means that either Dru or Pib is going to be doing a transgender thing…

Or the character correspondence is not going to be one-to-one and the metaphor not exact…

Or that tiny cloud from yesterday is going to put an end to our speculation by jerking things around again, blow this metaphor all to $¶ !¢ and sweep us into another dreamscape entirely…

Or that tiny cloud means nothing, just put in for artistic purposes (or as a teaser, tsk! tsk!)…

I go to seek supplies for what looks like a ‘road trip’ (in several senses of the phrase) and leave you - for the moment - with a question I still think is key:

How the &#*% did Geoff get trapped in that glacier?
Story Teller said, 5 months ago

ChukLitl said: “If that time-lord’s still about, ask him to go to Ma Penn’s & pick me up a River Rat. Taco meat, Ortega peppers & Jack cheese, grilled on Rye bread. I don’t remember how long the place has been gone, shoot for the mid’70s. It’s worth the trip.”

I wondered where all those tasty sammiches came from. Stacks on platters on the sideboard.

(He says he’s off for good, all this running around is making him fat!)
SirMirom said, 5 months ago

UncaAlby, when did you come back?? Welcome! You can hang out on my end of the Couch - the Dabblers End, where we read the first page of comments, perhaps say one thing, and then - alas - have to go back to work…
Adrienne Gormley said, 5 months ago

The mystery of Geof is still unsolved; I’m sure the Honorable master will work him and Maurice back in somehow.

meanwhile, between the poppy field and Oognat coming up Teau-taeu, i’m way not surprised to see the yellow brick road here. ;)
The Old Wolf said, 5 months ago

Don’t forget that Baum loved puns, hence the scarecrow spoke in a rather husky voice…

All hail the punsters of Oz!
EZasPi said, 5 months ago

While I am never one to jump to the last page of a novel, I can’t help but consider the summation of the movie version of OZ. In that case, you may recall, Dorothy had only to click the Ruby Slippers and she returned home. As Glinda the Good Witch advised, Dorothy had the power to return home at any point she wished. If logic follows, it would seem that whomever turns out to be “Dorothy” should in fact be driving this dream sequence, and possess the ability return them all.

At first blush, one might think Dru as Dorothy, since she was our entre into this adventure. However, as Nat seems to be the only one self aware, much like Dorothy in Oz, I would suggest he may, in fact, be our Dorothy.
Buggerit said, 5 months ago

Shouldn’t it be “Safeties ON Ladies”?

Where they are holstering their gats could mean a nasty shock if they were to go off accidentally.
Sisyphos said, 5 months ago

As I read it, Buggerit, they are drawing, not holstering, their pieces….
Story Teller said, 5 months ago

@ wannabeaussie: Thanks for the potables and partakables! Most tasty!

Captain Smokeblower said: “@Story Teller, Thank you, thank you, a hundred thank you’s Story Teller. Thanks to you I can correct people. I’m not old, I’m Añejo! Oak barrels are just smaller, unpadded, rooms correct?”

You should have seen the place I just moved out of, it didn’t have the class of an outhouse in late summer, let alone an oak barrel, and not much bigger than either one. Four of us sharing a kitchen and bathroom in a rooming house and half the denizens were refugees from a booby hatch…and the other guys were worse! The guy I shared a wall with had that disorder where the part of your brain that says “Shut the flip up!” does not work. You could here him at al hours of the day and night, sitting amongst his piles of trash yelling at the walls. One of the former inmates did his best to goad me into a fight so he could get me arrested. I presume he intended to ransack my room while I was away. Or maybe he was just nuts.

“Oh, was no one paying attention to her hat?”

Honestly, I had not made it that far up. }=)

aerwalt said: ” I think I’m in love with these women.”

Get in line, brother! Get in line! =)

Gweedo Murray said: “I too remember some decadent treats that I no longer partake of, custard filled dough treats being one. Custard was so-so for me. Ice creams and cheese embellished foods were my faves.”

Diabetes is probably the cruelest joke the universe could have laid on me…I am a notorious sweet tooth! I have heard that the cheesecake at Legal Seafood in Boston is the finest on the planet, but the chances of me getting to try it out are mighty slim. Perhaps, someday, if I am a good boy and beat this thing into submission.

Oddly enough, my little home-town grocery store was the last place on Earth they made the maple bars with real egg custard, the sugar-cream filling being so much cheaper. In 40+ years of searching, I have never found any other place that makes them.

Joe Minotaur said: “Gweedo, Thanks. It looks like you’re one of the rare fans I’ve got left. Very few people have remarked on my little musings anymore. I still have people check out my blog daily, but it’s like my neighbor’s sputtering lawn mower. It either needs a tune-up, or I should let it Rest-In-Peace.”

Au contare, JM! Usually I am so awe struck by your efforts that I am speechless…an unusual condition for me, as you might imagine.

Joe Minotaur said: “New Avatar! Can you figure out what it is? I did it myself on my new graphics tablet.”

Joe, don’t you know it is dangerous to draw fire…? Ask any soldier!

@ Waycyber: Long trip for a bad joke. Don’t you know that the shortest distance between to puns is a straight line…?

(Stop me before I pun again!)

mjolnir9 said: “Or the character correspondence is not going to be one-to-one and the metaphor not exact…”

I disagree. We have three of one and one of the other, they’re just the other way around from the original. The analogs work out like so:

Dru is the most forceful and arguably the most powerful of the three, an excellent analog for the Tin Woodsman. Although TW was a sweetheart like the rest of them, when the situation called out for muscle, he was the ne to turn to.

AS has been mentioned, Pib’s flaming and billowing locks echo a lion’s mane, The Cowardly Lion was certainly a powerful creature when he wanted to be and PIb is certainly nearly Dru’s equal for raw power, she just doesn’t use it as often…perhaps a little shy and even now naive instead of cowardly.

Oognat at scarecrow: The scarecrow was the most physically resiliant of the bunch, not having any bones to break and all. Never saw him do the leaping-tall-haystacks routine, but in a tactical situation he could hold his own against anything but fire or overwhelming numbers. As I recall, in the assault on the the witch’s castle he gave as good as he got until they were captured. The athletic physicality of the character was impressive at times, much like Oognat/Teau-Teau.

And Nat as Dorthy…? Ignorant of the situation, but gamely carrying on with fortitude.

I am impressed with how many couchies picked up on the subtle clues Honorable Master was dropping about the direction of this story. Using a volcano instead of a tornado, but the hints were there if you go back. Drinks for all on the house! Actually on the Kline bottle. =) Or “in” the Kline bottle…same thing…
waycyber said, 5 months ago

OK, Joe Minotaur, you realise this means WAR!

Danny Scurry leaned against the door frame watching his colleague, Doctor Roxy Muller.

‘You been working all night?’
Muller pulled off her mask, exhaustion etched on her face.
‘What do you want, Scurry?’
Scurry offered her a cup of steaming coffee, which she took gratefully, nursing it in her hands as if it was something precious.
‘Just fill me in on what you’ve found, then you can go home for some rest.’
‘It’s pretty much what it looks like. He’s been dead for approximately five days. Death was by massive blood loss. No blood was found at the scene, and no marks on the body except for this.’
Scurry’s eyes followed where Muller was pointing. All around the skull was what looked like a ring of raw flesh.
‘What is it? An allergic reaction? A rash?’
‘I can’t say at the moment. I’m waiting for a toxicology report. What did you find out about him?’
‘His name is Father Charlie Collins. He came into town two weeks ago. Part of some Vatican investigation into the supernatural. The landlord hadn’t seen him for a few days. When he discovered the room was locked from the inside and no-one was answering his knocking, he barged the door down. Apart from that, no sign of forced entry.’
‘So, you think something went bump in the night and killed him?’
‘You tell me. What could kill a man in this way?’
‘You OK, Scurry? You drifted off for a moment.’
‘I’ve had an idea. The room where they found Collins is secured, isn’t it?’
‘Totally.’
‘Then meet me back there in, say, three hours.’

Muller’s car pulled up outside an apartment block. She flashed her ID card at the officers posted outside, strode in, and knocked on the door of the investigation scene. Scurry opened the door, pulled her in, and secured the door behind them.
‘Look at these pictures, Muller. Notice anything familiar?’
‘Ivan Helsinki, about a year ago. He has the same mark around his head.’
‘He was involved in a vendetta against certain eastern European families. Two days before he died, he brought a lead box into the country from Romania. When he died, the box was found empty.’
‘You think whatever was in there killed him?’
‘Look at the next set of pictures.’
‘That’s Buddy Winters, the werewolf hunter. I remember reading about him. He died last Autumn in mysterious circumstances. Case unresolved.’
‘Same marks again. And on his minder, Robert Gale. They were looking into Helsinki’s death, and whatever killed him, killed them.’
‘Who is this woman?’
‘Sally Kane. Comes from a long line of ghost hunters and witch finders going back to the 17th century. She was the last of her line.’
‘Cardinal Lex Anders?’
‘Again, the same ring around the skull. He worked with Father Calhoun who died a month afterwards. I’m thinking that it was the deaths of these two men that Collins was investigating.’
‘John Rook, Dick Bayliss, Annie Black, Harvey Coe.’
‘All died the identical way. All were paranormal investigators of one kind or another. And so we come back to Collins.’
‘And you think whatever killed them is still here?’
‘It has to be, Muller. Look around for anything unusual. Anything out of place.’
‘Heyy, I’ve been wanting one of those?’
‘What’s that you’ve found?’
‘They call them Russian Trooper Hats. This one looks like real fur. It feels so warm.’
‘Can we concentrate on the job in hand?’
‘Hold on, Danny. Let me try it on.’
With one quick movement, Scurry grabbed the hat and threw it to the floor.
‘What’s got into you, Roxy?’
‘Sorry, Scurry. I don’t know what I was thinking about.’
They searched everywhere, in the cupboards and wardrobes, in the bathroom, but they found nothing unusual.
‘Well, Roxy, I’m stumped.’
‘Have we finished now?’
‘Why?’
‘Because I want that hat.’
She went to pick it off the floor, then stopped.
‘There’s something inside it, Danny.’
Cautiously Scurry flicked it over. The hat was empty.
‘Look around the rim at the hat-band.’
‘That’s a curious design. It looks like rows and rows of tiny teeth.’
‘That’s it, Roxy!’
Scurry grabbed a wooden chair, smashed it, broke off a leg and thrust it into the fur. A pool of blood flowed from the hat across the floor.
‘That’s what killed all those people?’
‘Yes, Roxy. It made people want to wear it, then it fastened itself to their head with it’s teeth, then it sucked all of their blood.’
‘You mean?’
‘Yes, Roxy. It’s a vampire hat.’
pibfanbrux said, 5 months ago

Hey Unca Alby! That’s just silly….I love it!! Follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick road, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick road….dum de dum de dum de dum…..oh this is going to be fun!
AliKzam said, 5 months ago

So, Pib is obviously the Lion (with her mane), Nat would be the Tin Man, I’m going to say Dru is Dorothy and Oog would be the Scarecrow? Of course Nat could also be the Scarecrow, which would make Oog the Tin Man. But if you take them in order, Pib would become the Tin Man and Oog would be the Lion.
This has all probably already been posted. Don’t care. Posting it anyway.
sarge112751 said, 5 months ago

jimbo1949 - [singing] “OFF to see the Lizard; deja-deja-deja_vu; If it’s good for me, was it good for you?”