The First Word

January 29, 2012 1:25 PM

The First Word. A new Electric Sheep comic by Patrick Farley on the psychedelic origins of language. [NSFW, Via]
posted by homunculus (37 comments total)

Stoned Ape Theory
posted by homunculus at 1:34 PM on January 29, 2012 [2 favorites]

Loved Farley's The Spiders
posted by Ironmouth at 1:41 PM on January 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

I remember Delta Thrives crashing my browser. Good to see the tech is keeping up with PF's vision.

I would totally hit the protohuman Delta.
posted by localroger at 1:55 PM on January 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh wow, I remember loving his comics ages ago, but didn't he kind of vanish off the face of the Earth for while?
posted by Panjandrum at 2:08 PM on January 29, 2012

Farley draws beautifully but he does seem to have a problem finishing things.

* checks on status of 10 years late sequel to web novel
posted by localroger at 2:13 PM on January 29, 2012

It always irks me when I'm making love to my SO and she screams another monkey's name.
posted by not_on_display at 2:14 PM on January 29, 2012 [3 favorites]

Why are media experiences on the web (beyond embedded video) so awkward? The horizontal scrolling here is kind of a pain.
posted by victory_laser at 2:14 PM on January 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

The horizontal scrolling here is kind of a pain.

Holding down the right arrow key is a pain?
posted by localroger at 2:15 PM on January 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

Try using an opposable thumb instead, then.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:32 PM on January 29, 2012 [3 favorites]

The First Complex Sentence: "Magic mushrooms good - make law against."
posted by evilmidnightbomberwhatbombsatmidnight at 2:41 PM on January 29, 2012 [2 favorites]

It is interesting to find out that language came about because ancient hominids had magical blue glowing genitalia.

The things I learn on metafilter!

Seriously, it was beautifully drawn and the execution was clever and the overarching concept was well served by the presentation, but somewhere about the fourth depiction of monkey love I was all meh scroll scroll scroll. It seemed to only serve to draw out the punchline at that point.

Note to everyone reading this at work - with the exception of the aforementioned glowing blue genitalia the monkey sex is tastefully drawn* and apparently ancient hominid females did not have nipples.

*within the confines of the concept 'early hominid intercourse', that is
posted by winna at 2:49 PM on January 29, 2012

So the moral of the story is that sex on mushrooms has always been kinda weird since the dawn of mankind
posted by Hoopo at 2:53 PM on January 29, 2012 [5 favorites]

That was really gorgeous and well-executed. I still have my reservations about the Stoned Ape theory in general, but it was great to see such a vivid representation of the birth of the first word, which I agree was probably that one.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 2:57 PM on January 29, 2012

I was going to bitch about the horizontal scrolling and then I got to the bits with parallax scrolling and was all oh, wow.
posted by Nelson at 4:48 PM on January 29, 2012 [3 favorites]

All I did was move my mouse to the right of the screen. No clicking or pressing was needed.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 5:02 PM on January 29, 2012 [2 favorites]

1. I have really enjoyed Farley's work in the past, and liked this as well, but he goes so long between updates that I kind of forget about him. (And also am a bit irritated at abandoned projects.)

2. This is really beautiful.

3. Despite not having language or tools, let alone exercise equipment, early hominids were remarkably buff. Curious.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:28 PM on January 29, 2012

The horizontal scrolling here is kind of a pain.

Actually, I thought this was the most seamless comic navigation I've seen yet.
posted by DU at 5:43 PM on January 29, 2012

HJ, early hominids had to catch their own food. There were no McDonald's or or Taco Bells in the Pleistocene. This meant their diet wasn't full of cheap synthetic carbs. And if they weren't somewhat buff, they would probably die.
posted by localroger at 5:43 PM on January 29, 2012 [2 favorites]

Also, I would think that "yes" and "no" would be the first words. Especially "no". You can use it in answer to things that aren't words (like someone stealing something of yours) and it's the first word many toddlers really understand conceptually, rather than skinnerianly.
posted by DU at 5:47 PM on January 29, 2012

Also, I would think that "yes" and "no" would be the first words. Especially "no". You can use it in answer to things that aren't words (like someone stealing something of yours) and it's the first word many toddlers really understand conceptually, rather than skinnerianly.

And this why "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is the best movie ever. Wait, I said what?
posted by IvoShandor at 5:52 PM on January 29, 2012

This is great work. The endless monkey sex and magical glowing penises seemed... unnecessary, at the very least. But the panels showing the evolution of mankind, and the birth of language, were nothing short of breathtaking. Definitely worth the 5-10 minutes it takes to read.
posted by Green Winnebago at 6:10 PM on January 29, 2012

We're all descended from Monkey Dr. Manhattan?
posted by mkb at 6:24 PM on January 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

I really liked the fade-to-Ice Age section.
posted by jiawen at 6:30 PM on January 29, 2012 [2 favorites]

Also, the evolution part reminded me strongly of this sequence from Cosmos. Perhaps Farley had it in mind.
posted by jiawen at 6:35 PM on January 29, 2012

Do cetaceans have psychedelics?
posted by cmoj at 7:51 PM on January 29, 2012

Yeah, "good" seems like kind of a let down after all that set up. But whatever. My browser crashed after the first word was uttered (le petit blue screen), so I don't know if the follow up w/ Delta made up for it.

Nice to see Farley back at it.
posted by Barry B. Palindromer at 9:24 PM on January 29, 2012

early hominids had to catch their own food

It's much worse than that localroger; they had to scavenge up their own mushrooms!
posted by Hoopo at 10:59 PM on January 29, 2012 [1 favorite]

My only question is: WHY IS THIS NOT A FILM!?
posted by Fizz at 6:44 AM on January 30, 2012

I'm generally a skeptic of the psychedelic model (human exceptionalism is becoming increasingly problematic) but this was interesting and beautiful.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 7:56 AM on January 30, 2012

I was going to bitch about the horizontal scrolling and then I got to the bits with parallax scrolling and was all oh, wow.

I was impressed as well. Very nice implementation, imo.
posted by mrgrimm at 8:05 AM on January 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

That's not drawn, that's RENDERED. I like The guy I almost was much more — it is drawn, imperfect, timeless — it could've been drawn today. These psychedelic monkeys look like a 90s trance flyer.
posted by Tom-B at 10:03 AM on January 30, 2012 [4 favorites]

That's not drawn, that's RENDERED.

#nothinggoodcomesfromcomputers ?
posted by IvoShandor at 8:09 PM on January 30, 2012

#nothinggoodcomesfromcomputers ?

#manygoodthingscomefromcomputers, but maybe generic plastic-looking 3D rendered monkeys aren't one of them.
posted by Tom-B at 10:25 AM on January 31, 2012

Here's #onegoodthingthatcomesfromcomputers, for example
posted by Tom-B at 10:30 AM on January 31, 2012

#manygoodthingscomefromcomputers, but maybe generic plastic-looking 3D rendered monkeys aren't one of them.

I'm pretty sure those aren't monkeys.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:04 AM on January 31, 2012

yeah ok, hominids
posted by Tom-B at 12:49 PM on January 31, 2012

I thought it was shame that Farley gave up his line art style which was extremely expressive for his newer poser based style but I'm half way thru this media and I can see why he headed in this direction and it smacks of ambition. Wow. He is going for it - this would look fantastic rendered into a animation - subpixel motion to make liquid smooth scrolling.
posted by vicx at 10:06 PM on January 31, 2012 [2 favorites]