Tag: web comic

#275- San Marino

#275 reposted 29apr19

San Marino is the world’s oldest republic, and possibly the only thing I really remembered from the original Carmen Sandiego game.

I would be a terrible detective in real life. I have no idea how to get information from people or put clues together. Luckily, this occurred to be before I finished filling out the application for for the RCMP. They’d have to post me to someplace like Nunavut so that I could solve every crime by just asking everyone within a day’s travel if they did it.

In the games, Carmen always leaves a few henchmen to make sure you’re going the right way.

#274-Tax on XP

#274 reposted 22apr19

I’m not sure how the government can tax experience points (might be called XP or EXP where you’re from, depending on how many bytes the programmers could spare). If there is a way, you can be sure the CRA would do it. “Jeff” never actually makes an apperance. His part was cut due to lazy writing and incompetent artwork.

#273- Ministry of Quests

#273 reposted 15apr19

I had meant for the Ministry to be a bigger thing in Vindalf world, but everything I could think of for them to do was hard to draw. The general idea was that they regulate and tax adventuring. The average dragon’s hoard has enough taxable loot to pay for five quests like Vindalf’s.

One of my friends figured out that adventuring in fantasy worlds is like crab fishing in real life. You spend two weeks trying not to die, and maybe you get a year’s pay for it. Most people only do it a couple of times before retiring to a less dangerous profession.

#272- Costume Upgrade

#272 reposted 8apr19

I’ve gotten so used to drawing Vindalf with his chainmail, I forgot that he wasn’t always wearing it until issue 237. Henceforth, he is always wearing chainmail. Around that time of 2007, I also was almost always wearing chainmail. Between work at the castle and re-enacting with the SCA, I had to keep a set of garb and accessories in my car at all times. I eventually just made it into a full D&D adventuring kit; complete with 10-foot pole and 50′ of rope.

Going for the complete outfit makes it less wierd. Imagine someone walking around with a shield on the street. That’s suspicious. You add a helmet, a hauberk, and the right shoes: it’s just someone way behind the latest fashion trends.

Vindalf at work circa 2010

#271: Good Luck, Gumshoe!

#271 reposted 1apr19

For a long time, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego was my favourite game. It was on our flashy new DOS machine, the IBM PS/1. Vindalf’s helmet is a much smaller target than the VILE gang usually goes after. In the old DOS game, they usually take Hudson’s Bay, or the entire fishing harvest of Iceland.

Apparently, “gumshoe” refers to the rubber soles that old time police had for their shoes, as the traditional leather would wear out too quickly from walking the beat. Somewhat like the term “flat-foot” for old-timey cops.


#270: Helm of Kylcleigh

#270 reposted 24mar19

This helmet might be the only thing to get a decent back story in the whole comic. I had considered skipping to this one since Carmen Sandiego is back on the TV. That was super exciting, and the new series is awesome!

New Carmen isn’t the same as the one who stole the show, our hearts, and Hudson’s Bay in the 90s. It’s a fun show nonetheless. It made me want to go play the old DOS game, which is harder now that half those countries don’t exist.