The Gloves Come Off
or a curling stone
Comments (128)
Late to the game, but as a Canadian I will point out that, while I might lean towards the hocky stick option if someone made that comment in this particular time and place, QC's America *is* barely different than Canada. The society seems balanced, kind, and I can't remember seeing a gun. AI, and whatever other events have occurred, have clearly made at least this part of their country a kinder and gentler place. So, only barely another country than here!
A doctor with very cold, tiny hands.
You better hope they're tiny.
Sigh.
Lets see. It's a 3½ trip by the high speed CAT ferry from Bar Harbour, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and then roughly another 3½ hour trip by road from Yarmouth to Halifax. Who do we know that knows Halifax?
So having done a fair bit of research on this Marten moving to Canada would be difficult. If Claire had a job offer it would be doable (although the library would have to go through a lot of hoops to hire her) but without an advanced degree (that we know of) or specific job experience in a high value area Marten's chances of getting in are fairly low. Or am I overthinking this and narrative causality will deal with the immigration authorities. Maybe Marten actually has advanced fluency in French (worth an insane number of points on the test)
It's a post singularity world. I imagine most of the barriers of entry for migrating countries are at least a lot thinner.
I don't know. It could be kind of great - from a storytelling standpoint, it gives the character something to do. Moves his arc along.
When Jeph tweeted last week that the new comics weren't "signalling the end of QC", my hunch was that Marten would be leaving town. It does feel like something that would wrap up the comic, or would have a few years ago, when there was way more focus on his journey. Jeph's done such a great job of building a world and giving us so many characters to care about, that this just feels like the natural evolution of the strip, not a conclusion.
The bigger question is where in Canada? Montreal wouldn't be so bad, only about 5 hour drive from Northampton (Ottawa and Quebec City are not terrible, either, though she might start to run into language issues in Quebec). Toronto starts to get worse, as it's 7.5-8 hours, and the NY Thruway is duller than calculating driving times to different parts of Canada. Anything East of Quebec probably wouldn't be TOO bad, though some of those drives are deceptively long, and probably boring. Anything West of Toronto is probably going to involve plane flights. I'm hoping it's Quebec City, so we can get QC in QC, QC.
Quebec City would be unlikely because AFAIK, Claire is not fluent in French. And Jeph knows that Quebecers can be kind of touchy on the subject on language.
So that's her 'this is fine' face in the third panel, isn't it?
https://youtu.be/aRZUoHm-8Vg https://youtu.be/g_RPp4dbam8 https://youtu.be/_CF65H7j5Os All I know about Canada comes from these three songs.
Reminds me of an old "Kids in the Hall" bit about being mistaken for an American. "No, I'm a Canadian. That's *like* an American, but without the gun."
Wait, all this time I've been Canadian? Rock on, eh.
Gonna somewhat take issue with the title on this one. If there a "very specific kind of doctor" involved, I'd have to imagine this is actually when "The Gloves Go On."
*stretch* *snap*
The puck has been filed away somewhere at LAC, and the doctor in question has a PhD in Library Science.
I've been to Canada. It's nice. So nice, in fact, that I'm not allowed to come back.
That sounds unpleasant. What are your plans after the rest of the cast move to Canada? Or are you not at liberty to do that until after the rest of the cast announce they're going to Canada to follow Marten / Claire / Pintsize / someone who followed Marten, Claire, or Pintsize.
The non-biological citizens there are called either “Eh-Is” or “row-boats”.
It's ok to get into a fight in Canada. But if a hockey game breaks out...
Canada is my favorite state! #siflandolly
Don't see many Sifl and Olly references these days! Or ever, really. Underrated show.
*flashbacks to Faye and Angus*
can't tell if dress or overalls
Jumpsuit?
Dang right! As mentioned long, long ago, all Canadians have a secret blade naturally formed on our body!
And a mutant healing factor.
Speculation: this is a conscious (in Jeph's mind) parallel to when Faye would not move with her lover. Marten will have to handle the same issue, and it'll be used to illustrate the differences between them. Then he'll come to the same conclusion, work for an underground Fight Club, discover that he's gay, and get involved with an AI. Or not.
Started well, that theory...
The expressions in panel two: Is Clinton already expecting Claire to freak out? I mean, he does seem to know when his mom or sis are on edge, and has a supportive streak in him.
Yes. Marten texted him about the situation sometime during the time skip.
I sense a slight art shift...
You got that right, eh!
If Canada is such a different country, why did all the Kids in the Hall move here?
Did you want a serious answer? Its complex.
Indeed, despite what JJ McCulough says
Don’t listen to that guy, he’s a twit
Y U P
My Canadian wife agrees, and comments "+sometimes the hockey stick too."
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Please no breakup. At least consider a spinoff. Actually, a spinoff with Canadian robots would be cool.
I could be massively wrong, but I don't expect this to lead to a breakup story, if only because this would be a repeat of the Faye and Angus breakup. And, well, Marten is basically a supporting character at that point, it's not like he couldn't move to Canada ^^
Eh, Canada!
is clinton wearing contacts now?
As a Canadian living in the states I mostly have a 14 point PowerPoint presentation on the differences on candy.
At the bar I've been playing trivia at, the prize for first place the one time was Smarties candy. I was (pleasantly) surprised to find that Smarties in Canada are basically M&Ms rather than chalky sugar pills.
i'm sensing departure from this strip. The only question is how many...
The entire cast moves to Canada 😌
Just to point out, didn't Jeph move from Massachusetts to Canada a number of years ago? This could open an opportunity for a substrip or a spinoff, it thing happens a certain way. Or just a patreon thing.
Everyone relax, it could just be an ENT doctor.
It could be a gastero-intestinal surgeon...
I notice the Ukranian flag in the background.
"Fine"?? 🚩🚩🚩
Would *you* want to have Claire dissecting your every comment on your relationship, squeeing over it, giving relationship advice, and probably rebroadcasting it on group chat?
was the time-skip an excuse to iterate your style again? i like it a lot!
Please don't be a breakup arc please don't be a breakup arc
As a Canadian I will have to agree with Claire
As a fellow Canadian, seconded.
Hey, we don't know if she'll get the job yet. My prediction is that she doesn't, but maybe the conversations from this or opportunities give rise to something more awesome for her and Marten
Canada, you say? In that case I shall wish you all "Greets from German, eh?"
As an American living in Canada, my experience is that there is little difference. Canada is basically just the U.S. with worse barbecue restaurants, much worse Mexican restaurants, better A&Ws, more affordable health care access, and theoretically colder weather (I live in southern Ontario and moved here from Chicago, so the weather difference is negligible.)
My brain is not coping with the multi month time skip 😭
I noticed the trees in the background have what appears to be brown leaves. So this could be 3 months in the future?
I think the big questions are does Pintsize join Claire & Marten in Canada? Or is he already banned from entering Canada? And how soon before Marten becomes a VJ host at MuchMusic and get his own Canadian radio gig on SiriusXM?
Depends on the region, Claire. You might end up with lacrosse or ringette injuries if you end up out on parts of the East Coast.
So tempted to share this with Canadian co-workers (I have a lot of them).
As a former Canadian, I can say this is reasonably accurate. A hockey stick or a steel-toed boot could also be applicable in these circumstances.
Afterwards, Emmitt & their mom overhear Clinton’s Canada dis and at the very least Clinton has to get a new robotic hand.
Psst - Emmett's a they/them.
Claireface!
Indeed, three good Clairefaces. Including the internalized panic one.
Uh-oh! Martin and Claire getting written out of the strip? Or at least being seperate from the rest of the cast? I still like Martin and kinda miss seeing him as more than an ancillary character.
No, this is just the beginning of the predicted move wherein all characters slowly migrate to Canada, specifically to whatever town Jeph now calls home.
I don't quite know what it is but the two of them look especially nice in the third panel.
Also.... how much time did we skip that apparently the Ukraine War is happening in the QC universe? Are we in 2014? 2022?
Could just be a Ukrainian-owned business xD
Is Elliot Canadian? He seems Canadian.
He's been Canadian in my headcanon more or less since his 2nd or 3rd appearance, if I recall correctly.
Canada, eh? I can see why a "don't freak out" warning was issued.
Hmm ... Main character moving to another country would be a natural stopping point for most webcomics. But also QC has like 70 main characters... HMMMMMMMMMMMM
Honestly, Marten leaving the plot entirely would just streamline the process.
Marten exits the comic?
I just want to say that, as ground shattering as it would be, I would have nothing but respect for Jeph if he actually had Marten move to Canada with Claire. Jeph has always been good about shifting the status quo in QC, and moving the original protagonist (cause I think there’s no question that Marten hasn’t been the protagonist in years at this point) out of the picture to that extent would be a real brave move. I trust Jeph to make it a good move, too.
Besides, in practice, will it make much of a difference? There are already a squillion stories going on around these characters, a little bit of distance won't affect the comic if Jeph chooses to focus on Marten for a bit. Plus, the others can visit, or text, or... they've got VR, right?
It's OK, Claire, Marten can move to Canada. It's not like he's a major character here or anything.
I know this is tongue in cheek but with so many characters in the comic I wonder if it is time for Martin to move on? People do move away IRL...
As a Canadian: accurate. But we will be very polite about the insertion. And our socialized healthcare will pay to remove it.
"I'm very sorry, but I am now required to insert this puck into you as a cultural awareness training experience. There's a few places I can stick it. I would highly recommend you let me choose the one that will be the most comf- wait, no, it won't be at all. I mean, the one that'll be least uncomfortable..." ?
Hey if you do get injured, free Healthcare
It's fake free, without private insurance and proof of poverty and malaise everything is costly behind the scenes in way that deliberately hides it. I know this, because of 1st hand life experience. In my province everything is behind the scenes done by Blue Cross and Pacific Blue Cross and Blue Shield since they're all behind their barriers interconnected to add layers for federal funding to the province and native Countries and reserves along with everybody else in a disability situation or welfare or absolute poverty homeless no address and beyond situation.
As a Canadian... it's all of us. Both. Just depends on mood.
C'mon, Jeph. Show us the puck-extractor. You know you want to.
If you're moving to Ontario or Alberta he's basically right tbh
I don't know if this'd apply in the QCverse, but...Claire has an advanced degree and, if she gets the job, a visa sponsor. Marten would have a much harder time with his educational background and work history. *worries*
Unless they were married....
yells in nova scotian// you’re gosh darn right
Such language!
Marten has been a chump the whole time. He should've quit the Smif library and found something else, so Claire could take the job she really really wants.
But he's not a librarian, he just restocks the shelves. I don't think Claire would be happy with being an intern again.
I would think worst case would involve the geese.
The ones they have stationed across the border to keep us in line? I found some vacationing in Florida.
I know one of the second sort of Canadians. I love her to death, but she can be scary.
I hope scary in an intense loving sensation filling them with tumult that they fix by figuring it out with anyone involved very quickly.🤞💖
oh nyo claire. Marten did move across country for a fairly silly fling from what we (and hopefully she) know, but of course leaving the country is something else. And Marten is not great with changing things...
Breathe Claire... Martin would follow you to the sun if he needed to.
Looks like the QC Putin has also invaded Ukraine, given the flag on Gregor's deli, in the background
I want more Clinton & Elliot! ♥
YES!!!!!! 🤤🥰💝😸😍😋😻😺💘💝💖💗💋🌈🏳️🌈
I'm literally driving back home from getting the monkeypox vax in BC rn
...or a week-old chocolate chip muffin from timmies
As a one time Tim Hortons employee, please remember to recycle the bag.
I've always said that I really enjoy watching curling. The girls in Olympic curling are hot. And how do you not love a sport that has official rules that the losing team buys to beer?
Easy. I don't drink.
Fun fact: Canadians call them Puckoligists for a reason.
Def the curling stone. With maple syrup to, ah, help it in? :P
that's not gonna be a good lube, on account of the stickiness...
Additional danger is involved if you bring French Canadians into the conversation
Am ethnically Francophone, can confirm.
I'm a Candian and honestly? We're just American lite.
Well, some say a lack of bloat helps...
Some things never change with those two... 😝
Called it.
Accurate
Don't use your brother as a distraction, he is a person.
Using him as a human shield is OK, though.
Le gasp
Ruh-roh, Raggy