Editing 2718: New Year's Eve Party

{{comic
| number    = 2718
| date      = December 30, 2022
| title     = New Year's Eve 2023
| image     = new_years_eve_2023_2x.png
| imagesize = 306x274px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = [Earlier, at the eye doctor] 'No, for the last time, the numerals on the paper aren't my prescription, it's the shape I want you to make with the laser.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|New Year's glasses}} are novelty eyeglasses typically worn at New Year's Eve parties, shaped like the digits of the upcoming year. They were popularized in the late 1990s and early 2000s since the middle digits (9 and 0) had holes large enough to look through or mount lenses into. 

[[Ponytail]], [[White Hat]], [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are at a party. The first three are wearing novelty glasses in the shape of the numerals "2023", representing the upcoming New Year. Cueball has chosen to obtain cosmetic {{w|laser eye surgery}} instead. Usually, such procedures are intended to adjust a  patient's corneas to correct vision problems, as an alternative to glasses and contact lenses. Cueball has apparently had the digits 2023 etched into his eyes as an alternative to wearing novelty glasses. While {{w|scleral tattooing}} is performed for cosmetic reasons, and {{w|corneal tattooing}} for both cosmetic and vision benefits, the efficacy and safety of either process is not universally accepted. The laser procedure has damaged Cueball's vision so much that he mistakes a newcomer to the party resembling [[Hairy]] as [[Rob]]. Realizing he made a mistake, his second guess is that the new arrival is named Mike.

In the title text, an earlier conversation with his {{w|ophthalmologist}} has established Cueball's problems are due to the laser burning the digits straight onto his eyeballs, without regard to endangering his vision. Most previous depictions of Cueball have not shown him wearing glasses. Laser eye surgery was referenced along with other laser equipment in [[1681: Laser Products]].

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail and White Hat stand talking to each other to the left while Megan walks to the right away from them. The are all wearing glasses in the shape of the number 2023. Ponytail holds a glass up in one hand and White Hat a plate with snacks in one hand and a single snack in the other. Megan has an extra pair of 2023 glasses in one hand and a wine glass in the other. Cueball is standing to the right of Megan looking at Hairy to the far right. Hairy is facing Cueball and has his coat over one arm. Cueball is indicated to squint at Hairy as depicted by a set of short radial lines projecting away from Cueball's face.]
:Cueball: Hey Rob! Or, uh... 
:Cueball: Sorry, is that Mike?

:[Caption below the panel]:
:I'm regretting my New Year's Eve novelty "2023" laser eye surgery.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:New Year]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Medicine]]