TITLE The Bastich By Hart
PANEL 1 (A female USER approaches BASTICH at the Helpdesk.) USER: Hi there. I was wondering if you could recommend any of the local book stores for buying programming manuals... BASTICH: Not in good conscience, no...
PANEL 2 (BASTICH and the USER speak.) USER: Well, I need something to help me out with my first programming assignment. I'm stumped. BASTICH: Who needs books? Just use the web.
PANEL 3 (BASTICH excitedly raises his right fist and extends his left index finger.) USER: The Web..? BASTICH: Sure, why not? We're living in the midst of a digital revolution, my friend. Embrace it, as I have, and expose your world to the universe that is -- ON-LINE DOCUMENTATION..!
PANEL 4 (The USER leans in as BASTICH shows her something on his workstation monitor.) USER: Hey, you're right! With On-line Documentation, I'll never have to buy a book again! BASTICH: NOW you're thinking!
PANEL 5 (Some time later, the USER returns and speaks to BASTICH.) CAPTION: Later... BASTICH: Blast it! Cornered by a Rattlesnake and a Squinty-Eyed Rogue! Oh, Hi again. What's up? USER: I just wanted to thank you for the help you gave me earlier... BASTICH: No problem.
PANEL 6 (The USER holds up a stack of paper.) USER: Also, I wanted to report that the printer cartridge in the DeskJet downstairs is out of ink. The good news is that my hard copy of the C++ tutorial I found on the web has only BO more pages to go... BASTICH: SOMEbody wasn't paying attention!
CREDITS Bastich (c) 1997 Joshua Adam Hart
Commentary
The Helpdesk saga continues! This time, Bastich fails to pass on the age-old adage: "You can't grep a dead tree."
You might run into Rattlesnakes and Squint-eyed rogues while playing Moria, a text-based Roguelike dungeon crawler that was gaining popularity with my friends around this time.
The user is wearing an XTC T-shirt - the English rock band, not the drug (in case you were wondering).