2510 The Tinkerer.

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Reggie is a character who tends to operate on instinct. He wants to be logical and intelligent in his actions, but his great flaw is that in the moment he just does whatever his emotions guide him to. He wants to be successful, to be recognized for his skills, and deep down he wants to be loved as he is. The conflict he causes and is inflicted upon him often comes from not quite understanding how to get what he wants and lack of self confidence that hides itself behind arrogance. He cares about Maddison now, even though he doesn’t know exactly how to manifest it. Their earlier interaction from this arc might be seen as cruel, but from his perspective he was trying to treat her with respect in the way he understands respect. Now he wants to be helpful, even though this is probably beyond his abilities. If he can get out of his own way it might not be beyond the abilities of people who might accept a genuine plea for help. I guess we’ll see how it goes.

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21 Comments

Man, when I started this comic I hated Reggie. Like a lot. As someone whose worked retail with exactly this type of person he hit all my buttons immediately.

However, now? Now I genuinely think I like him. With the aid of the others he’s become more well-rounded and less… Reggie.

Also, this comic rocks, I’m still recommending it to people. Found it this year when a friend linked it to me and binged it all in like two days? Your writing style is incredibly addictive. Thanks for all the entertainment!

I used to hang out with a guy who is a lot like Reggie. The guy was exceptionally helpful, very supportive of community needs . . . volunteered at food pantries and shelters, led support group meetings . . . he was just . . . abrasive and blunt . . . sarcastic to a degree that turned most people off to a point they didn’t bother looking closer. I kept him amongst my friends because he was there when I needed him, and I did my level best to keep him on the rails.

Unfortunately, we had a parting of the ways a few months ago. From what I hear, he’s still out there doing amazing, good things for the community while continuing his effort to piss off every man, woman and child in the region.

I have a coworker at my current job who I met while starting to read this comic and catching up. Somewhere along the Reggie greater arc, between the Nina thing and the Order of The Pelt meeting.

Those were two very different sides of Reggie.

This guy in my real world? I gave him every chance simply to not be obnoxious (manager’s term). He only has one, annoying, braying side; and only one level of volume when speaking. At least everyone here knows it!

Anyway, I like the way that layers of Reggie have been revealed. And now I’m wondering where the nearest 3D printer is in The Town.

I get Reggie here…

As member of the Retail Gang, his specific knowledge when it comes to electricity and construction isn’t ordinarily needed, but this thing runs on Wires.

Between it being the Last of its Kind, a Damsel in Distress, and the goading of his sister…. he has to.
An Itch that must be scratched.
The fact that a serious attempt would severely increase the probability of having *his* Damsel in Disdress at a later stage may play a part as well.

He can’t do it all by himself, but the wider group does, unless I missed something, have the combined skills to pull this off.
I’m curious on how he’ll pick this up.

I don’t know. Reggie may or may not be able to fix this. As much construction as he’s done, he might be able to pull a rabbit out of his hat.

Everyone else has said it so well, but I’ll add on that Reggie is actually a great character.

Also, what are the odds that, while Reggie is fixing Beary, he stumbles onto another secret shelter built by his grandpa?

You know, I think he can do it. He might need some help thinking outside the box, but he’s on better terms with Jo again, and this kind of fool’s hope is just the sort of thing to hook Jess.
Jess and Reggie have a frightening amount of drive between the two of them. Harnessed to a Purpose of making a silly girl happy again, they’ll move mountains. (And then find a way online to monetize having done so.)

It says a lot about Reggie that he doesn’t stop to worry about practicalities or rewards, he just sees a friend hurting and refuses to accept defeat.

We can rebuild him…better…stronger…faster.
The hardware side is probably doable. Even with a successful chain the puppets wouldn’t have exactly been mass produced. Most of the armature would be pretty durable. Motors, gears, servos, etc. would probably be off the shelf items. They have a furry in the group who could help source a costume. The main problem would be if the software side of things was fried. If Reggie can channel his dad a bit he could probably organize the project.

The question is — is it controlled by a computer, or by an older technology like paper player piano reels? Either could be fixable, but would take quite different skills.

Assuming Beary is just a recast Showbiz, you’re talking robots from maybe 40, nearly 50 years ago. This stuff should be common today. Though harder to find since Radio Shack or its equivalent here buckled.

I miss RadioShack. I still have a shortwave clock radio on my desk. The last store I did business with also sold Zenith televisions.

Not once in 20-odd years did I actually find what I needed when I went to a Radio Shack. It was always either not carried or just… off. I assume I wasn’t their target market. /shrug

Find the right community on the Internet, and you’d be drowning in practical advice. :)

Took a break after I read the whole thing late last year, struck me as a cross between early Questionable Content and Clerks, in a good way.
I think big girl is trying to have her cake and eat it too, but consistent with the conflicted nature of someone not used to being successful in love. Thank you for making this.

Either will earn big ? points with Maddiosn (and Alex by association) or burn the place to the ground. I give it 50/50.

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