Chapter 1: Section 1: Page 4: Line 19

 "Say, that is enough, Lindsay," advised Randolph St. Cosmo.

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This sentence would probably go better with Randolph's next bit of dialogue but what am I supposed to do? Betray my rules? You can see as well as I the full stop after "Cosmo"! My hands are tied! But maybe there's enough to talk about here anyway.

What we see here is a captain and leader who can be calm and rational even in the face of one of his crew's life being threatened. Sure, Randolph almost certainly believes Lindsay isn't serious! But we've all heard the word "accident" before, haven't we?! Who knows how sweaty Darby's ankles are at this moment, or how loose his red, white, and blue socks are?! But Randolph, calm and collected, is all, "Pip pip! Tally-ho! That's quite enough, my good chap! Bugger down, by tea! Chop chop!"

Man, now I'm mad at Jamie Oliver for some reason!

My point (yes, I actually have one this entry!) is that Randolph doesn't seem to mind his second-in-command bullying the crew. His casual tone. The use of "advised" as a synonym for said as opposed to "reprimanded" or "screamed" or "cussed informally." And the stodgy name Randolph! He's the epitome of The Man! Ew! I can't believe I was fooled into liking him when he was first introduced because his name seemed so nerdy!

Right? It is nerdy! It would be right at home in this statement: "Randolph St. Cosmo's mother was disappointed that her son's clothes were once again soaked with urine and excrement from having received four swirlies at school that day."

Chapter 1: Section 1: Page 4: Line 18

 As all the while, however, Darby was screaming in terror, it is doubtful how many of the useful sentiments actually found their mark.

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Lindsay Noseworth doesn't seem to use punishment as a deterrent but more as an opportunity to be a huge jerk. "Keep in line and follow my arbitrary rules or you'll be shaken over the side of the airship again!" Tow the line or get punished. And since Darby can't actually take in any of Lindsay's lessons in this position (although what is there really to be learned? That maybe not talking like a stiff robot with a plunger up your I/O port might lead to saying naughty words?!), Darby probably only learns resentment. Maybe one day, Darby will violently rise up against Lindsay's oppressive regime!

Poor Darby! Also, imagine Darby as a literal baby now instead of a "baby" in quotes! That makes this scene even more enraging and/or hilarious! Remember when Michael Jackson held his baby out of that hotel window and we all got angry about it when other people were around to share our anger but also laughed uproariously in the privacy of our own domiciles?! Ha ha! It's not as funny as the time Cerebus threw that baby but it's a close second! Man, that Michael Jackson was such a prankster!

Seriously though if you view Michael Jackson's life as ironic and a big in-joke, it's much more comforting than if you take him seriously. He was the Andy Kaufman of pop music.