Proof Positive · No. 20

Number Eight

The daily comic from Hooray News, by Frankie Ragan. November 4, 2026.

Four-panel comic in a living room. Goldie asks Ansel how his review went. He says he meets expectations, the same as every year. Goldie cheerfully says she'd want 'meets' from a bridge, and Ansel mentions that a coworker named Rick got 'exceeds.' Goldie says 'Good for Rick,' and Ansel, deadpan, says, 'They're looking into Rick.'

Four panels in a kitchen. Goldie talks on the phone with her mother while Ansel whispers, 'Tell her I said hi.' Goldie passes it on, listens, and says goodbye. She lowers the phone and tells Ansel her mother says he's a wonderful man. Ansel narrows his eyes and asks, 'Those her words?' In the last panel Goldie shrugs with a smirk and admits, 'She said, "Oh. Him."' Ansel, mug in hand and a small, satisfied smirk on his face, answers, 'Huh. Last Easter it was "Who?"'

Four-panel comic. Goldie, in pajamas with a cold, holds a glass of water and asks whether it's her third glass or fourth. Ansel, in a sweater vest with his PROVE IT mug, says it's the fourth and that she needs five by noon. Goldie narrows her eyes and asks how he knows. Ansel calmly says he wrote it down. Goldie, wide-eyed, asks if he made a spreadsheet for her cold. Ansel smirks and says there's a soup tab and it's going great.

Four panels in a kitchen. Goldie and Ansel each hold a coffee mug. Goldie suggests replacing the coffee pot with a newer one. Ansel points out it's twenty years old, nearly twenty-one, and that the coffee isn't good but is the same every morning. Goldie gives him a sideways look and says a new one could be better. Ansel, alarmed, shrugs and says it could also be worse, and then he'd wonder every morning.

Four panels on a back porch. Goldie, in overalls, says her back aches from pinching off dead petunias all afternoon. Ansel, holding his PROVE IT mug, says dead is his department. Goldie says his department is people, not petunias, and he says dead is dead and he does the odds on it. Goldie says okay, forty more tomorrow, they're his. Ansel raises a finger and says he meant the odds, not the pinching. In the last panel Goldie sips her coffee and says the gloves are on the porch rail, and Ansel, deadpan, asks if there's a form for this.

Four panels on a back porch. Goldie and Ansel stand on either side of Breaking News, their motionless tortoise. Ansel says he ran some numbers and the tortoise will probably outlive them. Goldie, chin in hand, asks if they should put him in the will. Ansel, studying the tortoise with a small smirk, says he's thinking executor, because the tortoise would never rush the paperwork.

Four-panel comic set in a kitchen. Goldie says she's putting her coffee back in the microwave, and Ansel points out it's the seventh time. He notes she hasn't taken a sip. She calmly says she can't drink it now because it has been through too much. Ansel shrugs, smirking, and tells her to hand it over, he'll be gentle.

Read the transcript

Kitchen, morning. PANEL 1: Goldie holds her mug, heading for the microwave. GOLDIE: Back in the microwave. ANSEL (watching over his own mug): That's seven times, hon. PANEL 2: Close on Ansel, eyebrows up. ANSEL: You haven't had one sip. PANEL 3: Close on Goldie, serene and a little smug. GOLDIE: I can't now. It's been through too much. PANEL 4: Ansel shrugs, resigned and affectionate, as Goldie smiles and holds the mug out to him. ANSEL: Give it here. I'll be gentle.

Start your day with four reasons to smile.