oooo, good point. maybe the stoned cat will make it on the short list of comics i send to people who don't know Achewood. but i am still not talking to anyone who doesn't dig "Killing is Like Basketball"

(willing, sure; but how do i know i am able if i have not tried it yet?)

no you are wrong, this is fact

Life is lonely and hard. By telling his story Roast Beef was just reminded of the fleeting nature of happiness.

I thought he just figured it was the right time to end the conversation. Because really, what can be said after that?

Excellent analysis, thanks! And we get to laugh all over again at the strip.

My god man... that was practically an essay on the social dynamic power structure in Achewood. We should see if Philippe will have you as his minister of agriculture.

Nah hells no. In the Achewood alternative universe this is actually how the bubble boy's life ended. Beef would not joke about such a thing, he doesn't have it in him to make up such a tragic story just to pull Ray's leg. The silence in the last panels is Ray listening in stunned silence to the tragic tale; Beef had not realised how much his relating of the story would affect both of them and the converstion is now over so there is nothing to do but to slowly hang up the phone.

After saying such as what Beef has said, no other words are worth saying. Despite what else may be said, the conversation is over.

"is this Acheworld or some kind of hemp rally "
I don't understand the difference.

And just what the fuck do you have against hemp rallies? Meester military rodent avatar?

Aww yeah dunkus-bolunkus that third oboe note you played just now was perfect dogg

A thick oboe steak, stuffed into my ear.

A thick bassoon steak, maybe?

I hear Faure's Pavane.

Unfortunately, your avatar looks like that guy from the Creationist videos.

What- Dawkins?

O.K., I relent. Beethovens 7th, movement two.

Best strip.

Ray doesn't get horrified at Roast Beef too easily, though. He kind of understands that Beef goes off on tangents like that, and is always depressed. But I think that's why Beef waited a second- after all, he got depression.

Yeah thats rad

It's just Beef doin' one of this things.

Chickens and phones are depressing to Roast Beef. He's an inspiration to us all--in the worst possible sense of the word.

Roast Beef somtimes wishes he had a life as fulfilling as the Bubble Boy's.

It is one of the basic meats

i love ray's oven mitts.

The meat, or the feathers? Cause chicken meat is pretty much the most inert substance in the universe, IMO.

i'm torn between this and "cunt pills" as my favorite strip. the area that both fall into is what i consider the achewood "golden age."

I would give you a chubby if I had any left.

I gave one on your behalf.

Immense-- and perfect Beef. This is pretty much the ultimate strip to make a first comment on, so yeah-- Some of the best dialog ever, and a sweet use of silence.

It's customary to post a "first Achewood I ever read", when stumbling upon it in the archives, right?
So...yes. First Achewood I ever read. Lucky me.

Onstad experiments with comedic timing.

excellent.

i think RB stays quiet and then just hangs up because really, what else do you say at the end of such a compelling story? nothing. and then you realize you should just hang up. except, because it is Beef, he relishes that uncomfortable, depressing silence.

plus it brings me back to the days where RB would just tell people about his suicidal thoughts at parties.

That slow-motion hang-up is devastating. Roast Beef is a master of this.

Tension done right

I gave this a 1 when I first saw it. I apologise profusely and change my vote to a 5

Was... Was that an accident?

IF it was not in fact an accident i would have to play a game of basketball with neonaoneo. It would be one where i was the winner.

I must agree with the depression theory. Since the strip is dated after panel 6, the impression is given that Beef hangs up well after the end of the story, after wallowing in the air of depression he has generated. Ray's response is of no importance; Beef is left to consider the many horrors of life in silence and solitude - his preferred media.

I always wonder why Onstad finishes Beef lines pretty quick. He'll indulge Ray all the time, and especially Cornelius, whose dialog style feels pretty fleshed-out by now because he basically gets bundles of whole strips delivered to his door for free (at least lately). But Beef gets cut off pretty quick and here we finally got to see a full thought process. He cuts his social losses when he goes too far and retreats into the obscuring cloud of depression. The fact that most of the action in the last half is totally ambiguous projects an outcome that would make Achewood overly confusing and even turn people off if repeated. And nobody wants to see that every day.
And I haven't read too far into this, either. It was the perfect amount.

I love this strip so hard... it sums up the brilliance of Achewood to me. Fantastic.

In little Nephew's defence, Pizza Rolls are generally superior to basically all or most chicken dishes.

True, though mini-tacos are far superior to Pizza rolls.

I just had some Totino's Pizza Rolls. I was suprised how much they tasted like spaghetti.

When I was tiny I didn't like to eat oranges because the pulp got stuck in my teeth. I really liked to drink orange juice, though. So at school when they were handing out orange slices and orange juice, I told them that I was allergic to oranges. But not orange juice.

Might have gotten away with it if my mom didn't work at the school.

"These are the days of miracle and wonder,
This is the long distance call...

Medicine is magical and magical is art
think of The Boy in the Bubble
And the baby with the baboon heart"

I always thought that was 'the baby with the battle in the heart'. What a silly person I am.

Is it just me or is Beef extra depressed aout bubble boy than the norml cat?

My uncle was apparently actually allergic to chicken.

I didn't believe him so I sneaked some chicken into his food once.

I miss him.

are we to take this to mean that the chicken you snuck him ended up killing him?

This is the best one.

David had always wanted to try Coca Cola, after seeing it in many commercials and hearing about it from other children, but the sterilization process required to insert it into the bubble ruined the taste. After he exited the bubble, he requested a Coke but was turned down. His mother said, "David had heard the word Coke so often on TV and from other children that he always yearned to try one. It was one of the first things he asked for when he was taken out of his bubble before he died. But the doctors decided he shouldn't have one in his frail condition."

I'm sorry, but the card says "Moops."

didn't anyone else besides me read this strip as beef just being like "i told a damn STORY" and hanging up all godfather style? i can't believe everyone thought this was a depression thing. i never got that feeling.

the dramatic index-finger hang up is by far the most tragic sort of hang up.