Bad Machinery by John Allison for November 04, 2024

This was originally posted as a single-row strip. The top row was added for the published version. Also, “Why is there jostling?” was added to Jack’s first line in the (now) 3rd panel.

So, yeah, Mildred is still a month shy of 16. In “Wen-Tack”, she’ll claim to be “indistinguishable from a grown woman if you squint”. Apparently these guys are doing a lot of squinting.

I love that the entire staff is wearing ties. When I worked in newsrooms, only the bosses bothered with a tie. A couple of times during my career, management instituted a dress code requiring men to wear ties — they never lasted long. The ties, that is. The men stayed.

On one of those occasions, one of the reporters would come to work with an untied tie draped around his neck. “They said I have to wear a -- tie,” he said, “but they never said I had to -- tie it!”

Feel free to insert your favorite expletive for the --.

Mildred has that certain “je sais quoi”!

In some states in the U. S. she is considered legal.

Boys will be boys. Bad boys, lonely boys.

That’s not just jostling — there is also trampling!