11/17/2005 Archived Entry: "The Forest Friends"

This comic is at once funny and sad. Surprisingly, it’s been on my mind for many weeks now as I’ve been finding new layers of subtext to it. It is the best comic strip I have ever seen.

The main question I have is whether Scorpy will continue to play along in the tail touching game until this tragedy continues to its ultimate conclusion: the slaughter of all forest friends. Clearly, he is aware of the danger he represents to his 4 limbed counterparts but is unwilling to exclude himself from the game.

Perhaps he fears ostracization from the only group of friends he has been able to make since his displacement from the desert and he just wants to feel loved, to feel that he belongs. Maybe these are the only friends Scorpy has been able to make in his life and the joy of inclusion has clouded his judgement. It’s possible that he loves touching tail just a little too much and is disregarding the pain he is causing others so that he may experience the thrill of a few minutes of tail enjoyment. Lastly, Scorpy may be in denial about how dangerous he is and has convinced himself that there would be no harm in a short game of tail touch.

One also cannot discount scorpion psychology. Their nature is to sting; no matter what their upbringing might have taught them, they can never escape this undeniable truth about themselves. This leads us to the possibility that Scorpy has every intention of poisoning the forest friends, killing every last one of them until he is the lone resident of the forest, weeping at what he had no choice but to do.

No matter the cause, you can’t help but feel an outpouring of sadness for Rokie and his mammalian brethren as their naïveté and open armed acceptance of an outsider leads them all to oblivion. They too are victims of their nature. Their easy going lives and sheltered existence has left them ignorant of real world dangers; it was only a matter of time until some kind of threat came along to shatter their reality. Ignorance, as they are painfully learning, is never bliss.

The tail of Scorpy and the Forest Friends stands along with the works of G.W. Bush as one of the greatest tragedies of all time.

Replies: 7 comments

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Posted by Dave @ 11/18/2005 11:46 AM EST

http://www.collegehumor.com/pictures/1618898/

Posted by Rayne @ 11/18/2005 12:00 PM EST

I don't know if that's the best comic strip I've ever seen...but this may be the best post you've ever made. Such analytical depth from such a simple story...I love it...:P!

Posted by dAN @ 11/18/2005 01:12 PM EST

here's a better link, from the original webpage :
http://70.86.201.113/imageserv2/temporary/PBF073ADScorpy.jpg

thanks for making me discover the perry bible fellowship, i just love the author's humour and storytelling.

(i posted abt it on my blog too and quoted you, thai :P )

Posted by Étienne @ 11/18/2005 09:06 PM EST

fixed the link, thanks =)
my excuse is that I was at work where I can only use IE which doesn't allow me to do the "copy image location" thing.

dAN: I like this post, but I dont think it's my fave. up there, though.

Posted by Rayne @ 11/19/2005 12:52 AM EST

i just had to say ... there are few people i like more than you, thai!!!

Posted by k1m @ 11/21/2005 10:05 PM EST

I was just thinking about poor Scorpy late this evening, and did a Google search, to see what others might've said about him. This page came up.

Sad, sad story. And no one wins.

Except the readers.

Posted by Theropod @ 12/01/2005 12:59 AM EST