Proof Positive · No. 27

Blocked Off

The daily comic from Hooray News, by Frankie Ragan. November 11, 2026.

Four-panel strip in a kitchen. Goldie comes home from the store holding a shopping bag and tells Ansel she ran into the Hendersons and said they should get together sometime. Ansel, holding his mug, repeats 'Sometime' with a flat look. When she says it's just a nice thing to say, he asks when she first said it to them. Goldie shrugs with a small smirk and answers '2009. We're still penciled in,' while Ansel stares at her, wide-eyed.

Four panels of Goldie and Ansel sitting up in bed in pajamas. Goldie asks if the glass of water in her hand is okay to drink and says it has sat there all night. Ansel raises a finger and says the water has been around four billion years. Goldie smirks and tells him to drink it, then. Ansel eyes the glass sideways and says he'll get a fresh one. Goldie, smirking, says it's the same water.

Four panels in a plant nursery greenhouse. Goldie, in overalls and holding a watering can, tells her husband Ansel about an easy plant for a customer: it likes routine, needs little, just steady attention. Ansel, looking pleased, says she's describing him. Goldie gives him a sideways look and says she's describing a peace lily. Ansel shrugs and says he'll take it.

A four-panel comic at the kitchen table on Goldie and Ansel's 24th anniversary, both holding coffee mugs. Goldie smiles and says it's been twenty-four years; Ansel says he reread their vows. She gives him a sideways look and asks if he was looking for loopholes. He says it's a habit but he found one thing: the vows end 'till death' with no extension. Goldie, hand on hip, asks who he would even ask. Ansel calmly answers that he left a message.

Four panels in a kitchen. Goldie reads her screen-time report on her phone while Ansel leans in with his mug and guesses her time is mostly the plant app. She says it's for work, and he mocks the nine hours of 'what's this one.' Goldie then scrolls to his entry and reads that he spent three hours on the calculator. In the last panel Ansel, flat-faced, mutters that it was mostly tip, and that it was a nine-dollar soup, while Goldie smirks.

Four panels in a greenhouse. Goldie, in overalls and holding a watering can, thanks Ansel for watering everything. He proudly says every plant got eleven ounces. She asks if that included the cactus and the bog fern, and he says it was the same for all, the average. In a close-up Goldie says the cactus is sitting in a puddle and the fern is crispy. In the last panel she flatly asks if any plants are happy, and Ansel, still pleased, says six of them look fantastic.

Four-panel comic. In a living room, Ansel with his PROVE IT mug tells Goldie he is working on being spontaneous. He says he has blocked off Thursday from 7:00 to 7:15 for whimsy. Goldie gives him a lidded, smirking look and asks what happens at 7:16. Ansel answers flatly, 'Recovery.'

Read the transcript

PANEL 1: Living room. Ansel, holding his PROVE IT mug, says to Goldie, who is scrolling her phone: "I'm working on being spontaneous."
PANEL 2: Goldie looks up, eyebrows raised. GOLDIE: "Oh yeah? How's it going?" ANSEL (pleased): "Good. Thursday, 7 to 7:15. Whimsy."
PANEL 3: Close on Goldie, lidded eyes and a smirk. GOLDIE: "...Hm. What happens at 7:16?"
PANEL 4: Close on Ansel, deadpan, mug in hand. ANSEL: "Recovery."

Start your day with four reasons to smile.