Editing 1198: Geologist

{{comic
| number    = 1198
| date      = April 12, 2013
| title     = Geologist
| image     = geologist.png
| titletext = 'It seems like it's still alive, Professor.' 'Yeah, a big one like this can keep running around for a few billion years after you remove the head.'
}}
==Explanation==
[[File:Alces_alces_elan_trophee_chateau_Tanlay.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5| Moose head and deers antlers mounted as hunting trophies. (from Wikimedia Commons)]]
{{w|Geology}} is the study of the physical and chemical makeup of the {{w|Earth}} and {{w|geologists}} are sometimes called rock hunters, sometimes derisively.

Hunters, after killing an especially difficult or rare beast, sometimes remove its head and hang it up on a wall as a {{w|Trophy hunting|trophy}}. [[Cueball]], as a geologist, "kills the Earth" by shooting at it. He removes its "head," a chunk of rock, and hangs it up on his office wall. Above the trophy it says Earth, and below it gives it lifespan from 4,500,000,000 BCE (Before {{w|Common Era}}), which is the current age of the Earth, and then until the day where he shot Earth, which is also the day this comic was released: 2013-04-12. The topic of hunting things that are not usually hunted is also in [[640: Tornado Hunter]]

The title text is probably a reference to a chicken running around with its head cut off. A few billion years (7,600,000,000 years) is also about how much longer the Earth is expected to last, assuming {{w|Future of the Earth#Red giant stage|it gets swallowed up by}} {{w|Sun#After core hydrogen exhaustion|the expanding Sun}} at the end of the Sun's life.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, wearing earmuffs and goggles and holding a gun and a rock hammer in his hands, is walking away from his van in the background towards a group of rocks. The largest of these rocks is almost as tall as Cueball, but five smaller rocks are scattered on the ground, with a bit of grass growing at their bases. The van has text on its side:]
:'''Dept.''' of 
:'''Geology'''

:[Zoom in on Cueball close to the base of the largest rock. He has put the rock hammer on the ground next to him and aims his gun at the ground and shoots three holes in the earth, the last hole is just forming, as smoke comes out of the end of the gun.]
:<big>Blam Blam Blam</big>

:[Zoom out again with Cueball hacking away at the top of tallest rock formation with his rock hammer. The gun has been left near the three holes in the ground. The van can again be seen as can most of the text.]
:Clink Clink
:'''ept.''' of 
:'''ology'''

:[Cueball, without his head gear, sits at his desk in his office reading a piece of paper he holds in his hands. Three other papers are lying on the otherwise empty desk. Behind him various items hangs on the wall most likely images and diplomas etc. One of them is blank, two looks like images, and four has unreadable text. The last item is the top of the rock that he just chipped off in the previous frame. It has been attached to a mount as a hunting trophy. Above and below there are labels:]
:<big>Earth</big>
:4,500,000,000 BCE - April 12, 2013

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Geology]]