From Irv:
If there’s some pop culture reference here, it’s beyond any of the editors. Mitch suggests “Release the Kraken” but that doesn’t seem close enough.
(Further editorial rumination: Releasing the tension is a common theme in meditation or massage, but here they seem to be trying to harvest it. To what end? Could they solidify it somehow and then be able to cut that tension with a knife? Why would they be doomed?)
Comics I Don't Understand 
I think the connection to “Ghostbusters” (as implied by the post’s title) is as good as any other explanation.
It’s playing on the two slightly different meanings of “release”: to relieve or allow to relax, versus to free or allow to escape.
Maybe they’re speaking of the tension as a tangible thing, and they will release it, or free it, and put it in a jar so it can’t come back.
And by ‘We’ll all be doomed’, maybe they mean the tension will go bother them instead.
@ Maggie – Not unlike “Slimer” from “Ghostbusters”.
“Releasing the tension” might be referring to the scientifically unproven[1] idea of Chiropractic: All medical problems are because of “blockages” which hinder the “energy flow” through the body. While this idea seems plausible if your muscles are overworked or tense and a massage causes an audible “pop” it’s simply not backed by evidence or anything resembling proof.
So, the idea of having “blocked bad energy” being released as a physical malevolent entity gave me a chuckle. Thinking about what some people believe is real sobered me up again.
[1] i.e. “completely made up out of thin air and unable to prove it even exists”
It seems like just old time witch doctoring. Ills are due to evil spirits, don’t ya know?
Yeah!
I thought it was hazing the newbie (based mostly on the guy’s expression) – using the play on “release”. It got a smile from me, anyway.
@Downpuppy: You said the same idea with not even half the words than my lengthy and meandering post. Kudos! (And sorry for the rant)
Does anybody know who the cartoonist is/what he calls his work?
Maggie, when we know the comic title and creator, we usually record that in the “tags” that you can see as links on the page, if you are viewing on the main web browser interface. The links also serve the purpose of retrieving a list of posts on this site that had that same tag.
In this case, the comic is called “Mannequin on the Moon” and it is done by Pia Guerra and Ian Boothby.
… and a little different in WP Reader mode:
Ah, thanks. I missed that.
You should have created a 12-slide PowerPoint for us.
Now if only I could figure out how to determine which tags go with which comic on multiple-comic posts.
We’ve sometimes put in a note in the accompanying text of the post, but mostly just when it’s an unfamiliar strip. The ordering of the tags in the published post seems to be just Alphabetical – not, say, the order they were put in. So it’s an unfortunate limitation of the mechanism (and the way we’ve been using it).
Yes, I’m often foxed by that.
Anonymous was me, Narmitaj, replying to Powers. But it took a long time to get out of spam trap/ moderation
Sorry, Narmitaj — it was a time-zone thing.
I was about to say “Well, it’s from New Yorker. No wonder no one gets it.” But now I see that is not.
Ever have to pretend that you actually think bloodletting works? Try “living” in the 18th century. :-)
“Anne” greatly prefers to tell people about how and why her (my) nephew will the next clear owner of her (my) mother’s house – a much more interesting and less gory tale.
(Quickish, “modernly spoken” version for you – Dad died. Mom cannot inherit the house as she is a woman, only has can have a life interest for her life since they had children. House then passes on her death to oldest son who would own it outright. No sons, so passes to oldest daughter “Anne” (me). I have no children. The house is mine for my life and, of course, my husband, Alex, takes care of it for her and then will do so for me. I can pass along a life right to him if he survives me for him to live in it for his life – but unless he buys it from my nephew that is all he can have. But on husband’s death it will pass to my nephew as dad’s nearest male blood relation (dad’s grandson.)
This actually fascinates people and opens up a discussion of women’s life in the period.
My father, with his third wife, bought a large lot in South Dade and had a nice house built there. (Much of the property then was torn up by Hurricane Andrew.) When he died, the house was left to his three children, but with lifetime right of occupancy for Jeanne.
Later on, like 20 years later, she met a new partner and made plans to move away with him. Her right of occupancy was worth something, and if the heirs (owners) were going to repurpose the property, for sale or renting out (or theoretically for our own use, but that was not of interest), she would need to be compensated for abandoning the right of occupancy. My sister, who still lived in the area, managed all the negotiations and so on, involving experts and actuaries weighing in on Jeanne’s life expectancy, and probable trends in the real estate market, etc. Some of that was simplified when an actual buyer was found, so it became a case of splitting his purchase price; but even that required battling calculations.
Mitch 4 – English law continues to be an adventure today.
The trick when being Anne is being able to relate what Meryl knows as 21st century woman to what Anne knows and thinks in 1775. Our unit is set in 1775 from January to June, moves to 1776 for July and August (for two events – one involving the arrival of a copy of the Declaration of Independence in the township in mid July 1776 and it being read to the populace – a riot ensued/ensues, the other being a Battle of Brooklyn event we participate in – though due to changes in the event last year and some new B of B events this year unit will be doing one of the new events for same this year) and then returns to 1775 for the balance of the year. I
It is a civilian (militia) unit so the military aspect (drilling on the green) comes from the fact that the local men had to be prepared to defend the community from attack by French, Spanish, Dutch and possibly “natives” as there was no standing British army. (British army came for the “French and Indian War” – returned home and then returned for our Revolution.) All men from 16 to 60 were required to be in the community militia and attend the musters to practice drilling. Most of our unit’s own events are these musters for them to practice. We treat is as the wives and families have come along to visit with each other. Our end of year event is at the local 19th century period village which has one house set in our period (rest are set 19th century) and we take it over for the Christmas Candlelight Nights. (It must have taken much to restore it to period as we have seen photos of it before the restoration. It was part of one the “gold coast” houses on the north shore owned by a relative of the Philadelphia Wanamakers ). The house is lit solely by candles and a fire in the main fireplace (we say when asked that the heat comes from the fireplaces – the other two are where the furnace’s heat reaches the rooms). Some of us are in first person (know nothing past the matching day in 1775) and others do know beyond then. For the two of us it is our favorite event of the year and the most fun. We have had people come and tell us that they come every year just to see our group.
More info than I am sure you wanted.