Mystery Poster

This “mystery poster” was created by my friend Howard Hendrickson.  Please examine it for hidden clues before reading further.

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According to Howard, the Duluth map represents the setting of my web comic.

The superimposed unicorn represents the unicorn ponies and is an iconic tie to the WASS story.

The poster proposes an alternative history where intelligent cabs were manufactured in the first decade of the 1900’s.  This was many decades before the “Magical Cab Awakening” happened in the cannon comic.  The poster is for an early incarnation for the Choleric Coach Company.  Choleric is an anachronistic word for ill-tempered.

In the lower right you can find an invitation for me to come to Duluth to experience this coach company’s automated driven coaches - known for their distinctive, if foul tempered artificial intelligence.  This also supposes that I was born in the 1880’s, have automobile mechanics skills, while living in another city, such as Chicago, Illinois.

This invitation is from my friend Nikola Tesla who invented intelligent cab technology.  Only Nikola Tesla and a few trusted scientists who work for him understand the mechanism that creates intelligent cab technology.

In the upper left, if you look you will find a message in Morse code.  If Howard got it right, it is a happy anniversary message for my comic.

This poster opens up possibilities for an alternative universe, where angry cabs were manufactured in a steam punk universe, instead of created by an unknown force that made ordinary cabs into intelligent beings.

I thank Howard for this poster.  It was not what I expected, but I’m thankful for his artwork and the ideas expressed within it.

Note:  The cab in the cannon story only becomes angry when Abigail Adams’s family that feared and hated intelligent cabs sent him from New York City to Duluth, Minnesota.

Note:  Some of my readers have asked me if intelligent cabs can drive themselves, why these cabs need human drivers in the first place.  Because, that is the way I wrote the story.  I suppose that intelligent cabs need human drivers to interact with other humans, such as helping people and their luggage into and out of the cab, collecting fares, filling out tax forms, and so on.

Note:  “Washington's Army of Sorcerers and Sorceresses” (WASS) was created on April 19, 1775 by George Washington.  Working in secret, WASS Sorcerers and Sorceresses made great contributions to defend America.

For example, in 1776 they summoned storms and then a fog that made possible Washington’s retreat across the East River.

During the British attack on the city of Washington in 1814, WASS Sorcerers and Sorceresses summoned a severe thunderstorm and a tornado that helped to extinguish the fires set by British soldiers, while persuading them to evacuate the city.

Note:  In this world, most people are aware that magic exists and most use minor magical artifacts.  Yet, few know how common it is or how to control it to their advantage.

Two Twilights

These two Twilight Sparkles watch over me eight feet from my writing chair.  Yes, I measured the distance with a metal tape measure.  I suppose that attraction to detail, which most people would not take to the time to consider let alone do, is what makes me and my fictional counterpart Twilight so adorkable.

Pony dreams

The sun was setting during late evening.  Jim’s friend Kathy stood in Jim’s living room.  She surveyed the room’s many My Little Pony merchandise collection before looking down at the palomino coated, unicorn stallion pony sitting like a human in an armchair.  The pony looked down at his fore hooves, a hand towel draped on them.  The only noise in the room was the pony’s low sobs, followed by the pony’s awkward attempt to blow his nose into his hand towel.

With an almost imperceptible frown of her lips, Kathy said, “Jim, didn't you know that you are what you eat and become what you think?”

With his hand towel, the pony wiped tears from the checks of his sad face.  With a dejected voice, Jim said, “I know, but I didn't think that would literally happen.  I didn't think that if I spent too much time thinking about ponies that I’d become a pony.”

Kathy patted Jim’s large head and then stroked his long flaxen mane, resisting a sudden urge to brush it and then braid it with colorful ribbons.  “Don’t worry; in elementary school my daughter Megan wore the body of a Pegasus pony for seven days before she turned back into a human.”

Kathy then added, “As these human to pony and pony to human transformations only happen when someone is sleeping, there was no chance that my daughter would transform back into a human in the middle of class.”

Jim gave Kathy a worried look.  “How am I supposed to write with hooves?”

“Today, don’t worry about writing.  Just enjoy your time as a pony, as you can always write after you turn back into a human with hands.  If you must write, use your horn magic or use voice to text software.”

Is this the start of a romantic comedy?

This chapter concludes with an unexpected budding romance between Larry the Pegasus stallion and Fluttershy the Pegasus Mare.

Real Larry’s reaction to this comic page is “Cool! A romantic comedy?”

In the first two panels, Larry is steadying himself with his left hoof while sitting on the sofa.  The reason is that Larry is not accustomed to sitting down on his pony rump.  Also, the ragdoll was too big and cumbersome to fit into Larry’s high back chair.

One of the most talked about criticisms of web comics is that they have too many chatty explanations and there is not enough action.  I hope that my comic has the correct balance of talk and action.

So far, fictional Larry started this comic as a human shopkeeper and is now a Pegasus stallion and secret agent.  Just imagine the possibilities for adventures when Larry starts his flight training in Cloudsdale and his friendship with Fluttershy.

A few of my fans have asked me the reason why the title character, “Angry Cab” is a secondary character in his comic.  I need to rework the character and redefine Angry Cab’s relationship with Abigail Adams.  What I will not do is use overused, dumb and sexist clichés, such as “break the cutie” or the “damsel in distress” plot devices.

Original Angry Cab Story Copyright © 2013, James Patrick Buchanan

My Little Pony:  Friendship is Magic, Copyright © Lauren Faust, DHX Media, and Hasbro Studios

Garry's Mod Copyright © Garry Newman and Facepunch Studios

Comipo! Copyright © ComiPo LLP

“Larry traded his trademark brown polyester blazer for a brown fur coat.”

Larry commented, “I'm honored; and I look damn good in a flight suit!”

I didn't want comic book Larry to wallow in self-pity, as Larry is too sagacious and sensible to indulge in meaningless self-pity.

Also, I don’t want Larry to say things that would be apparent to my readers, such as, “I never thought I’d look this good with a pony tail.”

“Larry gets some shocking news!”

This conservation takes place in one of the WASS base hospital patient rooms.  The point of view is Larry looking at Twilight Sparkle and Nurse Redheart.  I find creating images from the point of view of one the characters to be a bit harder to do well than third person point of view images.

Will fictional Larry be using Mane and Tail shampoo and conditioner from now on?

Trixie is looking after the artifact, making sure that no other human becomes “ponified by accident”.

My text describes my ponies’ origin story and my reasons why pony society is so similar to human society on this fictional Earth.  For some reason, I like the idea of the magical ponies evolving from broadminded and magical humans.

It must be my journalism training that motivates me to find out how things come into being the way they did.  I would like to see the My Little Pony writers explore why pony society and the human society described in the movie “My Little Pony:  Equestria Girls” are so similar in future television episodes or comic books.

I've seen the movie “My Little Pony:  Equestria Girls” and loved it.  This movie was better than I expected it to be and recommend it for fans who want to see these established characters in a new world.  To my surprise, no one walked out of the theater when the credits were rolling, perhaps to see a neat cameo appearance by Derpy Hooves holding a muffin.

My Little Pony:  Friendship is Magic (favorite character Twilight Sparkle) is a rare series that I've invested my time, money, and energy into.  The last time I was this invested in a television series at this level of intensity was Sailor Moon (favorite character Sailor Jupiter).

I’m aware that this is a text heavy page; yet what law of comic book design decrees that every comic page MUST be filled with illustration frames?  There is no “one true way” to create a comic, as there is no one true way to create any other type of art.

Will Twilight and Trixie be able to save Larry?

The first panel shows Babs Seed and Twilight having a conversation.  It appears that Babs Seed is a gymnast to have made herself into a pony bridge between two turnstile structures.

The second panel shows that ponies can ride motorcycles.  Two (pony sized) helmets are inside the sidecar and unseen.

The third and fourth panels show the “Great and Powerful” Trixie relaxing beside a swimming lake in the ponies’ home world.  These panels also show that the ponies can move from their world to ours and back again with ease.

The fifth and sixth panels show James Buchanan and Hayate Anderson running in a hurry to the central command station.  I would imagine that it would be unfortunate if a strong enemy were to attack in the next few days, when their most experienced WASS agent is in the hospital.

What is that artifact, who built it, and why is it so powerful that reading an inscription can trigger it?  Keep reading my Angry Cab Comic and you will find out.

P.S.  If I ever have three daughters, it would be cute if their first names were inspired by My Little Pony:  Friendship is Magic characters.  My first daughter will be named Twilight, the second daughter will be named Luna, and the third

daughter will be named Trixie.