That ‘nightingale floor’ thing is something that actually existed in some residences in Edo-period Japan, pretty much for the express purpose of keeping people like Professor Ninjaiakis out, or rather, alert the inhabitants to their presence. It seems to have worked rather well, as far as low-tech anti-burglary systems go, but it probably also made chamber pots a necessity – any innocent nighttime trip to the bathroom would still have put the whole mansion into turmoil.
And after service as an anti-ninjary device, ‘nightingale floor’ went on to take care of wounded soldiers during the Crimean War, and became the foundress of modern nursery. Or perhaps I’m confusing something, there, but I’m sure I can’t be too far off. ._.
Anyway, as acurate and important as Professor Ninjaiakis remarks are, one is still left wondering why he even bothered. He hasn’t known Biff for anything like a long time, but it doesn’t usually take people very long to form an opinion on the guy – it’s easier because you don’t have to go very high for it. And that basically everything about Biff LOUDLY proclaims that he isn’t the right guy to employ stealth or subtlety is the thing most easily noticed.
But the thing is, probably, that Professor Ninjaiakis is a professor, after all, and people in that line of work have a marked tendency to be overly optimistic regarding peoples’ potential to be taught. It’s either that, or alcohol, to get through the day, and Professor Ninjaiakis has a bad liver.
When I drew the panel showing Biff crashing through the paper wall, I suffered a flashback to the notorious Shockmaster incident, so there’s a shout-out to that in the last panel. I could kinda imagine Biff turn into a wrestler after the end of his football career, and if he does, I hope that they’ve still got that glittery, purple stormtrooper helmet around. It would be perfect for him.
More on Thurs…uh, Monday!