COMIC & BLOG
iTUNES FEED
EMAIL JOEL
June 2nd, 2008
Can’t Stop The Signal Fire
Universal Studios is burning. No, there weren’t any reports of Firefly/Serenity set pieces going up in flames, but they did lose the Courthouse from Back to the Future. If any of you find yourselves traveling in the past to June 1st 2008 and you have to solve a time paradox that requires a massive fire, I know exactly when and where you will be able to find one. Unless that already happened and you actually traveled back in time to cause the fire. If that’s the case, go about your paradoxical business and don’t mind me.
Tomorrow is my 27th birthday. I anticipate cake.
Tags: fire, firefly, joss whedon, serenity, universal
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February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Love the comb-over.
Happy Birthday Joel!
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Very nice, love the Serenity reference
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
The cake is a lie! [too obvious?]
I was sad to hear about that fire, but the firefly wall tugged a heartstring. Oh how I wish that didn't ring so true. I'm seriously waiting for someone to rediscover old he-man and she-ra cartoon prints and go 'OOH! OOH! I HAVE AN IDEA FOR A NEW MOVIE THAT WILL KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF!'
But I digress, leave your mitts out of my stinkin' paradox's kay? -.-
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Happy tomorrow-birthday!
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I love the composition of that last frame. Looks authentic – as if you are actually just noticing it in the background. Also makes me want to say "Enlarge….. enlarge.."
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
booooooooooooooooooooo! to being bummed out! great comic though.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Heh.. When we got to the story on the newscast I was directing last night, my audio guy just said "Damn… Damn, Damn."
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
The words "oh god…that's where they keep the delorean!" were actually the first to come out of my mouth when I heard about the fire.
Perhaps you an I are some sort of brain wave Siamese twins?
Perhaps we are both big nerds?
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Ouch…the Courthouse? Why not the damn Simpsons ride? That thing stole BTTF's spot, and now it's getting smited by natural forces too?!
The freshly made Simpsons ride can be rebuilt. Historic geekery like the Courthouse square can't be. Not easily, and without the age and history behind it.
Also sad that the last BTTF based filming there was the DirecTV advert. How the fuck did 1955 Doc know about Cable and High Definition?
(Shows how much they gave a crap about logic.)
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Happy 27th Lord FB!
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Well at least Waterworld turned out to be good for something!!!
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Happiest of tidings on this the eve of the day of your birth Lord of the Fancy Bastards! It is my hope that the day finds you joyous and full of mirth!
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
So will there be spankings, or did Josh get enough spankings up in Chicago last weekend for the whole crew for the whole year? Happy Birthday Day, here's hoping no one feels compelled to open you up and count the rings!
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Am I the only one who's glad the Courthouse Square burned? They used that set WAY too often. It's been in everything from The Music Man to BTTF to O Brother Where Art Thou, and about a thousand movies in between. Every time I see it, it totally pulls me out of the movie.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
What the hell do they build sets out of at Universal, bass-wood and creosote? I knew those burning temporal skid-marks were gonna' be trouble.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I can see what you meant by taking too much time on detail…
Feliz cumpleaños hombre.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I was hoping for more coverage of the space station toilet problems, personally.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/28/space-stations...
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Heh. You bastard.
(funny, but sad, I'm just hoping the mule is ok – rumors have it placed about where the fire was, so the last panel is not entirely far fetched!)
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Thanks. This is actually one of the way they CAN take the sky from me.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I bet we see a He-man movie in the next 3-4 years, no doubt. SheRa was never popular enough to warrant a remake (I would assume).
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Thanks. It's actually a cheap perspective trick that I try to use sparingly.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
This dose of Salt in the Wound brought to you by Hijinks Ensue.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
They claim nothing irreplaceable was lost.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
it's probably more like the 2nd one.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I saw a bit about that Simpsons ride on TV last night. I love how mainstream media still refers to the simpsons as "cutting edge" and "offbeat humor." Compared to what? "Everybody Loves Raymond?"
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Even saving the studio couldnt forgive it's long list of heinous crimes.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
We dont do spankings. Everyone just takes turns telling me how Ive disappointed them in the past year.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Yeah, they don't want you to know that there was a spinning license plate found near the flash point of the fire.
OUTATIME indeed.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Dude, thats where they kept all the spare orphans for period pieces. Too soon. Too Soon.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
it is my gift… it is my curse.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Had I known about that, you probably would have gotten it. It's not too late.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
The rough draft of this comic HAD THE MULE in it, but I was too tired to keep going.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
NOOOOO!!! Not the Courthouse! *sobs inconsolably*
*Collects himself after about 10 seconds*
Seriously though, I just on a whim decided to watch the BTTF Trilogy this weekend! Did I have a sense of impending doom for the poor Clock Tower or what?
And Happy Berfdae, Ho-el! It's funny, you have the exact same birthday as my best friend.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Sounds like a my family having a typical dinner conversation to me.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
They already did a He-man movie in the 80's, I'm old enough to remember hating it back then – how depressing
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I would just like to say that I was out of the country at the time. Most likely.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
ZING!
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I hate to be that spelling error guy, but it's "To Wong Foo"
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
The BTTF DirecTV commercial wasn't shot on the Courthouse square set, it was shot on the Warner Bros. backlot:
http://www.bttf.com/forums/showpost.php?p=196992&...
And the Courthouse it self was not burned down, just damaged:
http://www.foxnews.com/blogentertainment/?bbPostI...
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Sad but oh so true. They're as cutting edge as Larry the Cable Guy and Carlos Mencia these days.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Can't stop the sadness…
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
The cake is a lie! Happy B-day.
The word bubbles in this one threw me off a little, but I like the blur effect in the last panel. A lot. Do it again and again. It's like something out of The Matrix, but in unanimated 2D form.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Good comic, but I think I enjoyed the snark about paradoxical fires even more. Seems like your having a birthday – good wishes and all.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Happy Birthday, friend. Got the Roslin T-shirt and it is sweet. Enjoying the podcast as always (did I mention Spiraling is podsafe?)
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Happy Birthday, friend. Got the Roslin T-shirt and it is sweet. Enjoying the podcast as always (did I mention Spiraling is podsafe?)
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Thanks!
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
"Its not a comb over… its… how my hair does…"
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
It was shot in the BTTF ride during business hours. Also thats an animatronic Christopher Lloyd.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Kiss the rings, bitches.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
That was a fancy bday greeting indeed.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Tell your friend to get a new birthday and stop trying to copy me!
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Your hands smell of lighter fluid.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
SONOFABASTARD! I never get through one without an error.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
That would have made a great shirt a few years ago.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Was your day as fun as previously hoped? You get lots of good cake and loot?
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Oh shit. Panel two's ballons ARE NOT supposed to be joined. Gotta fix that.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Wear it with pride. I should switch to all podsafe music so I dont get in trouble. I might just put Spiraling on random.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I thought he was BORN an animatronic, personally.
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I came across this strip on the BTTF.com message board, it was pretty hilarious… great work Joel… love the details on the ship.
As a huge BTTF fan, I am happy to say that the Clocktower and Courthouse Square were saved.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjhendrix/2547069784...
http://www.bttf.com/index.php?/weblog/more/univer...
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Thanks! The Serenity probably took as long as the rest of the comic.
Loved this image:
https://www.bttf.net/v/vspfiles/photos/BTTF-Clock...
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Am I dreaming, or was that the one with a pre-famous Courtney Cox?
February 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am
IMDB says yes. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093507/
I only remember Dolph Lundgren, my memory has blotted all other details out as an act of kindness (although I think it must have been better than Streetfighter)