stall four ยท unauthorized reprint

a strip from the stockyard

ClankerBull

the new hire, as told by the bull who met him first

A caricature bull recoils in shock from a chrome robotic milking arm reaching toward him in a barn stall.
fig. 1: first contact, stall four, half past five in the morning

next panel

the stare. thirty-one seconds in, neither one has blinked.

transcript withheld by the farm office. witnesses agree it rhymed with "clank."

management arrives. the arm keeps milking anyway, and nobody is fired. technically.

the strip is a real deep link. share #panel-3 and it opens right there, no script required.

letters page

readers respond to last week's incident in stall four.

I would like it on record that I did not raise my bull to use that kind of language. He must get it from the neighbor's rooster.

— a rancher, name withheld

The new arm hums at 2am. My bull now sleeps standing at the barn door like a sentry. I am told this is called progress.

— second shift, milking parlor

In the machine's defense, it did knock first. My client maintains the bull escalated the situation unprovoked.

— the arm's attorney

memo, farm management:

The arm is not going anywhere. Please manage expectations accordingly. Complaints may be directed to the weathervane.