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Beef and the Hell Phone Friday, December 12, 2003 • read strip Viewing 64 comments:

Brilliant.

Word, I mean who the hell needs to make a balance transfer for less than $45 anyway?

I can't believe I am still the only person that has chubbied this comment. Does no one else see this comment? Am I taking crazy pills or something? This comment is funny!

Goodness, 30 chubbies. I didn't think I had this kind of power...

It's the internet. Lots of idiots become influential, tekende.

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I wonder if Onstad's got an official stance on this. The info when you google search achewood does mention a retarded otter, but i don't think Philippe is actually impaired.

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Phillipe is retarded? I always just thought he was 5

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You must not know many five-year-olds.

As a high school teacher, I know teenagers who I do not give that much credit to.

I am a teenager and I find myself in reluctant accord. But really, aren't we all just a helmet and some bubbles away from being retarded ourselves?

I'm pretty sure i'm retarded. And a teenager.

A RETARD COULD NOT DRIVE A VAN WITH HIS TEETH! Wait...maybe that's not the best example.

I submit Philippe's prayer about bed-wetting as proof of his being merely 5, and a rather high-functioning 5 year old at that.
The bit about misting burn victims' lidless eyes? Even taking into consideration his upbringing, that is some heavy stuff for a kid to think about.

Or his imaginings of getting made into dog food, as a result of... a bad choice .

I can not find this strip. I've read it before of course, but I'm trying to send the link to a friend and I cannot find it anywhere by text search. Do you happen to remember the date?

https://achewood.com/index.php?date=08242007

HOW'S THAT FOR SERVICE?

If you were delivering a pizza, I would actually be legally bound to give you a princely tip, some cigarettes, and half of the pizza.
That is how efficient your service has been.
It is that good.

I believe Chris originally meant him to be kinda retarded, but after a while the explanation has mostly been that he is 5.

He's an otter.

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I think the google search info was written a long while ago, as it does not actually mention Ray or Beef being members of the cast.

Telemarketing: It All Makes Sense Now.

A comment left by agika was marked lame too many times and excluded. (marked lame by bearattack, telegramsiam, friendofyou)

It is really your friends calling you from hell. They only want to speak with you. But it is telemarketing.

I am going to explain this theory to the next telemarketer that calls me and then reminisce with him about shenanigans we had back in small times, before he fell in the thresher.

Philippe is just so excited that he finally has the opportunity to use his well practice telephone etiquette, only to squander it on what he thinks is a tele-marketer.

Here's a hint: it's where the Devil lives!

Genius.

man, used to call people like that. i worked in hell. for the devil.

The booth is Pacific Bell.

I live on the east coast, and find this to be an odd sight.

Naah, basically all the phone booths out here in CA have that logo on them. Of course, they 've since been bought out a bunch of times . . .

Never having had wireline phone service out here, I can't say whether I find it likely they would be the official phone company of Hell or not. Maybe Ray and Beef ended up in the California Hell or something.

In California Hell the fire and brimstone comes with avocados and sun-dried tomatos.

And hella red wine.

This is where telemarketing comes from.

The only strip in which Beef's spoken words are even slightly punctuated.

Before he was developed as a character and was only seen with Ray and Pat, he had punctuation.

Of late, Beef has had punctuation (check the strip where he's hell of pissed off about the price of marriage), but it's always been spaced away from the preceding text, like it's not comfortable existing in his speech

Actually it's like that in the very next strip after this one.

[IMGS OFF]

This is Genius! my eyes are welling up with tears!

That is a very special Philippe face in the last panel. This is a scientific fact.

There have been 7-eleven stores in hell for several centuries. The first non-dead franchise was opened by Joe Thompson in Dallas, in 1927. Heaven does not have 7-eleven, due to regulations on Sunday trading.

I love 7-elevens. in los angeles there is one every 50 feet. go look. its is my favorite thing.

This is such a good comic.

All those phonecalls from telemarketers may in-fact be old aquaintences calling us from hell?

Show me a comic that achieves that same level a subtle brilliance. I dare you. 5.

The contrast in Philippe's words, facial expression, and implied tone of voice between panels 4 and 6 are so great.

Oh man. <3 Phillipe. So innocent and light-hearted, yet so capable of getting down and dealing with the business as necessary.

Gave me a good laugh.

Sweet!

I love the versatility of phones in the Achewood universe

I asked my boss if I could answer the phone like this when clients called. She didn't seem very enthusiastic.

I wonder if I explained I was inspired by a five year-old possibly slightly retarded talking stuffed otter would help...

the devil is one sly dog.

So much win.

I've been there.


It's true.

Nice touch, the italics from panel 5 carrying over to their translation in panel 6.

May just be a coincidence, but either way, it's cool.

This is one of my favorite ideas put forth in Achewood. Telemarketers are actual hellions.

Of course! Telemarketing makes so much sense now!

Fived for Philippe's face.

This explains so much

If telemarketers are calling from hell, where are my creditors calling from? Some lower hell perhaps?

Maybe you should worry more about paying your debts than where the creditors are located.

one of the funnier things i've seen in a lifetime

Having worked in call centers for a very long time, I enjoyed this strip a little more than intended.