Editing 556: Alternative Energy Revolution

[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are looking at modern "{{w|windmills}}" (known as {{w|wind turbines}}) harnessing wind energy into electrical energy. They comment that there's something creepy about the windmills. They allude to the book ''{{w|The War of the Worlds}}'' by {{w|H. G. Wells}} (The Jeff Wayne Musical version of {{w|Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds|The War of the Worlds}} has paintings of the martian tripods somewhat like these turbines) and also to "The Tripods" from {{w|John Christopher|John Christopher's}} {{w|The Tripods|tripods trilogy}} a children's series of books about aliens who ride in walking tripods.

Suddenly the windmills' pylons split into three legs, becoming the tripods suggested.

They exclaim that {{w|Al Gore}} has doomed us all. He is a former Vice President of the United States, known for his environmental activism and promotion of green energy sources, relevant because wind turbines like the ones here are one of the alternative energy sources he supports.

 

In the final frame, the 16th century literary figure {{w|Don Quixote}} arrives ([[Randall|Randall's]] depiction seems to be inspired by {{w|Don Quixote (Picasso)|the drawing}} by {{w|Pablo Picasso}}). In the original story, Don Quixote is a wandering knight of ''very'' questionable sanity who fights windmills, which he believes to be giants. Hence, he is the appropriate person to deal with this threat.

 

The title text is another reference to The War of the Worlds: "But there are no bacteria in Mars... when I watched them they were irrevocably doomed... By the toll of a billion deaths man has bought his birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers."  

 

Of course this time we are only saved because we - in spite of having evolved - still produce somewhat insane members of our species.

 

Wind turbines also appear in later comics. In [[1119: Undoing]] Randall still seems to dislike them. And in [[1378: Turbine]] the Turbine is also alive and talks with [[Megan]].

:[A field of windmills is silhouetted against dusk sky.]

:[Cueball and Megan are standing and sitting on the ground overlooking the windmills.]

:Megan: They -are- unnerving.

:''RUMBLE''

:[A leg begins to split off one windmill.]

:''crack''

:[The leg separates from the body of the windmill.]

:''BOOM''

:[Another leg begins to split off the other side of the windmill's body.]

:''crack''

:''BOOM''

:[Smoke rises from destroyed buildings as the windmills rampage across the field.]

:[Cueball and Megan are now standing.]

:[One of the enormous tripod windmill feet lands right behind the running couple, sending debris flying.]

:''BOOM''

:[Cueball and Megan run.]

:Voice from next panel: Stand aside!

:[Don Quixote sits mounted at the top of a hill, lance at the ready.]

[[Category:Windmills]]