Discussion for comic for 2018-05-14 (Monday) ✣ .
Working on your Doctorate in Mad Science? Consider making Girl Genius your dissertation topic.
Is it just me, or is Dr. Dim far less coherent than during his last appearance? --Kuopiofi (talk) 04:09, May 14, 2018 (UTC)
- Yeah, I noticed that too. Maybe they forgot a few things about his characterization? --MadCat221 (talk) 04:12, May 14, 2018 (UTC)
- A tug and twinge at this observation. Dr. Dim has always caused me pain, because of the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease -- which is far worse than what Klaus did to him, but all too similar -- in my wife's family, and to some extent my own. I cringe whenever he appears, because of the similarities. And seeing an Alz victim become "far less coherent than during his last appearance" is too, too familiar. :-( -- that old bearded guy (talk) 04:30, May 14, 2018 (UTC)
- Interesting. I was just going to say the opposite: He's much more able to focus on what's actually happening right now (because, I guess, he is no longer consumed with worry about the bears). His inferences are wrong, but they're on-topic, as we say in the ed biz. And of course he's happier now, because of the bears. ➤
- Speaking of ecological sustainability, Albia seems to have done a very rapid shrinking with any untoward display of body heat. And what is the significance of the costume change in panel 4? Bkharvey (talk) 07:27, May 14, 2018 (UTC)
- It could be that the heat is only noticible if you actually touch her. And not a complaint, but it's interesting to note that in the print novels, Vapnoople is not at all free of malice. If they ever get around to writing up the current scene, it will be interesting to see how they depict him. --Geoduck42 (talk) 15:07, May 14, 2018 (UTC)
- Please note that it has been 15 years since we readers last saw Dr. Vapnoople. The Foglios do not have a highly detailed storyboard or finely detailed notes on each and every character. They have admitted to using the printed volumes as back reference. And, as someone who witnessed a relative sink into degenerative dementia, I understand that Dr. Dim can be a bit distressing. --Fred1740 (talk) 11:25, May 14, 2018 (UTC)
- My mom started having moments of incoherence shortly before she died. I didn't have to deal with it for a long time, but yes, it was distressing. I sympathize with the people who've commented about that. But what happened to Dr. Dim is quite different from organic failure over time. It's more like the cases in which people get large objects (in one famous case it was an I-beam at a construction site) penetrating the skull. ➤
- About malevolence vs. cheerfulness, I can easily imagine being reunited with his cat and bears making a big difference to his state of mind, But what's really interesting is that both Krosp and Albia think they may be able to tease useful information about what Tweedle did to Agatha out of Dim's brain. Will this happen by Albia "rummaging around" his mind as she offered/threatened to do to Agatha? Krosp did talk about this plan as part of the explanation for why he brought Dr. Dim to England. Bkharvey (talk) 20:27, May 14, 2018 (UTC)
Maybe we are talking about different aspects of his speech patterns. What jumps out at me most is that the Dr. Dim on Castle W. would never have uttered a sentence with "ecologically sustainable" in it -- used correctly in a sensible (given his one wrong assumption) context. What jumps out at you, I guess, is that he wouldn't have made the one (spectacularly!) wrong assumption back then. To put it in stark, oversimplified terms (which I would never use about an actual person!), then he seemed stupid (but in touch with reality); now he seems crazy (but smart). I wonder if the Foglios are softening us up for the brilliant insight he's about to have about Tweedle. ➤
Is someone gonna explain to me what Albia's change of costume in panel 4 signifies? Thanks! Bkharvey (talk) 10:52, May 15, 2018 (UTC)