The way that Yehuda starts off black, cold and from the outside, and starts becoming flame-coloured as he’s surrounded is horrible. I mean, excellently done and more gripping and tense than ever, but terrifying.
Scary! The most scary cartoon I have ever read – Well done Rick…
Of course I am hoping for a happy ending.
Maybe the flames look closer than they are as we cannot judge perspective so well in 2D?
So Yehuda will hear SS’s scream in response to Joe and he will come out safely?
I often make a point to stay up until midnight just to read “tomorrow’s” comic before I go to bed (okay, I’m a night owl, but still…)
It will be hard to sleep this night, as well-drawn as this is. I never watched Dallas and didn’t care who shot JR. The suspense of Yehuda maintaining his mortality, on the other hand…riveting. So well-drawn, the translation to human emotion is incredible. Is there an equivalent of an Oscar or Emmy for cartoonists? I could google it, but it’s rhetorical, anyhow…
Oh no! Yehuda! : (
Problem is Yehuda is – pretty much – my mates Dan, Mark, Paul and Leon rolled into one – so I really get emotionally involved in this comic. : ) Hi Paul – if you’re reading! x
This is *not* Yehuda’s best year (but possibly Rik’s best yet) First the snow plow story had me on the edge of my seat and now this… Oh! What drama, what tension! I don’t think I can stand much more of it – this cartoon strip is giving me nervous tension!!! )
Should have seen this coming. Sprocket is a big girl and can take care of herself. It is going to be interesting to see how this plays out. Maybe she will save Yehuda?
Yehuda had his Trial Of Ice, now he has his Trial Of Fire… will he emerge as The One… The One who will free cyclists everywhere from the mindless domination of the motor vehicle..?
Sorry to comment twice… I keep checking back to see if it’s changed yet, because I’m not sure what time it changes… Can someone tell me? It looks like it might be midnight for wherever some of you guys are in the US – so 8AM GMT?
That smoke looks pretty bad, although I’m not sure how far into the Kickstand Yehuda is… If the flame is bending so much in panel 2 wouldn’t that suggest there’s a source of fresh air close-by? Maybe he’s in the doorway?
Amazing how one little sillouette can show so much emotion (panel 1) – clearly the image of a desperate man! Romantic or not, he clearly has a lot of love for that pixie! And however frosty, angry even she gets with Yehuda, it’s plain she’s got a lot of love (again, romantic or not) for Yehuda too; she must be gutted and humbled he’s put himself in danger for her.
I agree though that you don’t have to love someone to be a hero – just a fundamentally good bloke.
Wish Rick would put us out of our misery – I’ve never been so invested in a comic! Come on Yehuda! Get on out of there!
Rick – if you read this… please? x x
I kind of miss the quiet simplicity that this comic had in the past; that simplicity and capturing poetic, funny, insightful cycling moments is what distinguished this comic from the “run of the mill”. The style and the whole approach is changing more and more, and the comic is losing some of its original appeal, for me. I guess that is innevitable; so much in our culture loses its original simple uniqueness and becomes much like everything else in the genre. I don’t mean to be critical in a complaining way, and of course this is just about my own particular matters of taste. Just an observation and a comment on my own reaction to the recent trends in the comic. I still find much that is interesting, but I don’t care so much for the turn towards sensationalism and slow moving plot lines (though it must be said that the plot lines have not been predictable so far). I miss the simpler style and subtle sophistication of the earlier strips. They were refreshing and seemed to unfold naturally. Recent strips seem to be straining under their own complexity and lack the freshness of the early comic.
It seems to me that Rick is using these times of menace to create change. Change in characters, change in the story, ending of tired ideas and the birth of new ones. Like a Phoenix, Yehuda will rise from this fire stronger and with a fresh outlook on life.
Yes, I am hoping for SS and Y to get closer but not doing so gives Rick a wealth of plot ideas, so I am happy if they remain friends. So long as they remain! Please?
+1. Rick has a positive genius for portraying the ordinary, average, everyday ride as something trascendental, thus reminding us of why we do what we do. I sorta miss those strips.
However the strip’s also become more inclusive of the diversity of cycling, and less of a(nother) utility bike polemic. I think that makes it more enjoyable.
When did the words “inclusive” and “diversity” become talismans of goodness? If you put dog poop in your killer chocolate brownie recipe you are being inclusive with the ingredients. If you have shingles, beri-beri, malaria and the clap, you have a diversity of diseases.
Perhaps Rick is evolving the concept of the Kickstand from comic strip to graphic novel.
I think the world of the Kickstand is well-enough realized at this point that Rick can start to develop very long arcs of plot and character development, and this sort of storytelling is going to be more deeply satisfying than the strict comic format.
I admit, things can be irritating sometimes because sometimes the strip is traditional comic format, where you have conflict and resolution ever day in three or four frames. And then we have things like this, where we can be in a WEEKS long cliffhanger waiting around, tension building and building every day, with no resolution in sight.
Getting the pacing down right, and balancing the longer storylines with more contained little observational things, is something that is going to be a work in progress, as it was for people like Dickens who wrote in serialized format. I look forward to seeing how Rick does. For me, this makes my little subscription investment feel like a lot more value for the money.
It’s possible this is a trick of perception. If there were flames in the foreground and the background, and Yehuda were standing in a small clear space in the middle with the firelight illuminating him, then he would look as if he were engulfed in flames when he really wasn’t. Filmmakers do that sort of thing all the time, by using long-focus lenses to “flatten” depth perception and make the foreground and background look as if they are merged. We’ll just have to wait to see what Rick really has in mind.
Yehuda’s wool will serve him well. Synthetics melt to the skin under intense heat, whereas wool is naturally somewhat flame resistant, enough that it can be used untreated as house insulation.
Man, hardcore. Wool has some natural flame resistance but it’s no match for a full-on house fire (with plenty of accelerants, as others have noted). At least we know Yehuda certainly doesn’t have any synthetics on him!
Oh nooos!
Oh the guilt the good sister will feel now.
Hopefully she is too tough to wallow in guilt!
My hope is that all her years training while smoking are finally going to pay off.
i’m guessing she saves him and calls him an idiot.
Where’s the leftover beer so he can pour it over himself?
that second panel is very scary in how morbid it looks, like yehuda is being overwhelmed by the flames.
I think that panel 2 appears to give the flames a ‘liquid’ look as if Yehuda is about to have a’flood’ of fire upon him
All that molten rubber from bicycle tires…I truly shudder to think.
The way that Yehuda starts off black, cold and from the outside, and starts becoming flame-coloured as he’s surrounded is horrible. I mean, excellently done and more gripping and tense than ever, but terrifying.
: P
Where’s Fred? He could appear and lead Yehuda to safety.
Is this what Sister’s smoking habit has done?
I briefly thought the same thing then remembered it was the downed eletrical cables that started the fire – when the tree came down.
Scary! The most scary cartoon I have ever read – Well done Rick…
Of course I am hoping for a happy ending.
Maybe the flames look closer than they are as we cannot judge perspective so well in 2D?
So Yehuda will hear SS’s scream in response to Joe and he will come out safely?
I often make a point to stay up until midnight just to read “tomorrow’s” comic before I go to bed (okay, I’m a night owl, but still…)
It will be hard to sleep this night, as well-drawn as this is. I never watched Dallas and didn’t care who shot JR. The suspense of Yehuda maintaining his mortality, on the other hand…riveting. So well-drawn, the translation to human emotion is incredible. Is there an equivalent of an Oscar or Emmy for cartoonists? I could google it, but it’s rhetorical, anyhow…
I Googled it, and found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Cartoonists_Society
Oh Crap!
Oh no! Yehuda! : (
Problem is Yehuda is – pretty much – my mates Dan, Mark, Paul and Leon rolled into one – so I really get emotionally involved in this comic. : ) Hi Paul – if you’re reading! x
True love in the making! Admirable!!
Rivetting, but please don’t kill him off. Morning coffee after my pedal to work wouldn’t be the same..
This is *not* Yehuda’s best year (but possibly Rik’s best yet) First the snow plow story had me on the edge of my seat and now this… Oh! What drama, what tension! I don’t think I can stand much more of it – this cartoon strip is giving me nervous tension!!!
)
snow plow story.. isnt it years ago (in yehudayears) ?
Yehuda may be barking at every passing car, I still believe that his years are the same length as ours.
There’s a lot of beard to burn before the actual Yehuda catches fire…
Should have seen this coming. Sprocket is a big girl and can take care of herself. It is going to be interesting to see how this plays out. Maybe she will save Yehuda?
Can’t stand this
Oh no… (wait, I said that already before!)
I really don’t want Yehuda hurt
I was a fire fighter for about 5 years, that second frame scares the hell out of me. Well drawn
I only did it for about 3 years in a volunteer FD, and we saw a lot more grass fires than structure fires, but that frame scares me too.
Yehuda had his Trial Of Ice, now he has his Trial Of Fire… will he emerge as The One… The One who will free cyclists everywhere from the mindless domination of the motor vehicle..?
Only if this is Matrix: The Bicycle Years.
oh sonofabitch. I can’t handle this.
He look rather dead in that photo.
“…photo…”?
Sorry to comment twice… I keep checking back to see if it’s changed yet, because I’m not sure what time it changes… Can someone tell me? It looks like it might be midnight for wherever some of you guys are in the US – so 8AM GMT?
That smoke looks pretty bad, although I’m not sure how far into the Kickstand Yehuda is… If the flame is bending so much in panel 2 wouldn’t that suggest there’s a source of fresh air close-by? Maybe he’s in the doorway?
Amazing how one little sillouette can show so much emotion (panel 1) – clearly the image of a desperate man! Romantic or not, he clearly has a lot of love for that pixie! And however frosty, angry even she gets with Yehuda, it’s plain she’s got a lot of love (again, romantic or not) for Yehuda too; she must be gutted and humbled he’s put himself in danger for her.
I agree though that you don’t have to love someone to be a hero – just a fundamentally good bloke.
Wish Rick would put us out of our misery – I’ve never been so invested in a comic! Come on Yehuda! Get on out of there!
Rick – if you read this… please? x x
I am in Coventry, Uk.
I get the new ones around 08:10 GMT usually.
I’m pretty sure someone predicted this plot line a couple of days ago.
I am pretty sure that most every possible plot line have been predicted by our fierce commentors.
And more than a few impossible ones as well.
Can I predict a prediction that someone will predict something?
I kind of miss the quiet simplicity that this comic had in the past; that simplicity and capturing poetic, funny, insightful cycling moments is what distinguished this comic from the “run of the mill”. The style and the whole approach is changing more and more, and the comic is losing some of its original appeal, for me. I guess that is innevitable; so much in our culture loses its original simple uniqueness and becomes much like everything else in the genre. I don’t mean to be critical in a complaining way, and of course this is just about my own particular matters of taste. Just an observation and a comment on my own reaction to the recent trends in the comic. I still find much that is interesting, but I don’t care so much for the turn towards sensationalism and slow moving plot lines (though it must be said that the plot lines have not been predictable so far). I miss the simpler style and subtle sophistication of the earlier strips. They were refreshing and seemed to unfold naturally. Recent strips seem to be straining under their own complexity and lack the freshness of the early comic.
It seems to me that Rick is using these times of menace to create change. Change in characters, change in the story, ending of tired ideas and the birth of new ones. Like a Phoenix, Yehuda will rise from this fire stronger and with a fresh outlook on life.
Yes, I am hoping for SS and Y to get closer but not doing so gives Rick a wealth of plot ideas, so I am happy if they remain friends. So long as they remain! Please?
+1. Rick has a positive genius for portraying the ordinary, average, everyday ride as something trascendental, thus reminding us of why we do what we do. I sorta miss those strips.
However the strip’s also become more inclusive of the diversity of cycling, and less of a(nother) utility bike polemic. I think that makes it more enjoyable.
When did the words “inclusive” and “diversity” become talismans of goodness? If you put dog poop in your killer chocolate brownie recipe you are being inclusive with the ingredients. If you have shingles, beri-beri, malaria and the clap, you have a diversity of diseases.
Perhaps Rick is evolving the concept of the Kickstand from comic strip to graphic novel.
I think the world of the Kickstand is well-enough realized at this point that Rick can start to develop very long arcs of plot and character development, and this sort of storytelling is going to be more deeply satisfying than the strict comic format.
I admit, things can be irritating sometimes because sometimes the strip is traditional comic format, where you have conflict and resolution ever day in three or four frames. And then we have things like this, where we can be in a WEEKS long cliffhanger waiting around, tension building and building every day, with no resolution in sight.
Getting the pacing down right, and balancing the longer storylines with more contained little observational things, is something that is going to be a work in progress, as it was for people like Dickens who wrote in serialized format. I look forward to seeing how Rick does. For me, this makes my little subscription investment feel like a lot more value for the money.
sometimes haiku works
sometimes Ginsburgh known as “Howl”
why can’t I have both?
Can anyone survive this?
Not the way it is drawn. This is a coflagration! And Yehuda is engulfed in flames. He cannot survive.
It’s possible this is a trick of perception. If there were flames in the foreground and the background, and Yehuda were standing in a small clear space in the middle with the firelight illuminating him, then he would look as if he were engulfed in flames when he really wasn’t. Filmmakers do that sort of thing all the time, by using long-focus lenses to “flatten” depth perception and make the foreground and background look as if they are merged. We’ll just have to wait to see what Rick really has in mind.
I’d wager Sprocket’s habit (the nun suit) is fireproof. She brazes frames in it.
Yehuda’s wool will serve him well. Synthetics melt to the skin under intense heat, whereas wool is naturally somewhat flame resistant, enough that it can be used untreated as house insulation.
This is all too familiar. The bike shop I worked at was sold. And the new owner burned to the ground within a year.
Whuh-oh… this is not good for Yehuda…
The second frame is nicely done though, hope he pulls out.
This is beginning to seem a cautionary tale about hanging around the bike shop rather than riding.
Man, hardcore. Wool has some natural flame resistance but it’s no match for a full-on house fire (with plenty of accelerants, as others have noted). At least we know Yehuda certainly doesn’t have any synthetics on him!
You know that I’ll be up until midnight waiting for the next comic to appear. Really.
I am going to avoid that impulse. I think tomorrow is going to see Yehuda DEEPER in doo doo than today… I think we have a few days of panic to go.
I have to admit that I laughed pretty hard with this one.
Laughed?
Maybe Shuck will rescue him.
You’re driving us CRAZY with tension! Wow, excellent work, Rick and friend, very much so!
I wonder how much extinguishing power Captain Dashboard’s extinguisher has? I don’t think it’s going to be any match for flames that intense.
I thought this comic was supposed to be about bikes?
No, it is supposed to be about the goings-on in and around a bike SHOP. There is a difference.
Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery
Yehuda is not my favorite character…but I don’t want him to perish! SS will save him and Yehuda will be even more crazy about her!
If Ashtray Mouth never felt like an ass before, I’m sure she does now. Not that I’d expect she has the humanity…
Funny, just yesterday she said the same of you.
My feelings would be hurt if I gave a fuck about a pipesmoking penguin in a comic book.
No problem. Slackware is not for everyone.