Cubit and the Moon: The Search for Simon Practical

This comic story opens with a man named Simon Practical sent to investigate the city of Cubit and its two scientists; Horatio Boomfarter and Serious Straightface. He finds them and other peculiar characters. However, it's not until he befriends the moon that his path is changed.

Excerpt:

I had stopped an elderly gentleman who wore a labcoat and a baseball cap. Red hair protruded from under his hat and it was Shirley Temple curly. Not that he was the female I was looking for. Only his hair. He said, “This is a large umbrella we are constructing. We have led a profligate lifestyle. Our barbecues, our space heaters in the winter time have caused the temperature to rise. We used to attribute this to the acts of God but now we know it is the acts of man. We have decided to build a large umbrella to shade us from the additional heat of the sun. This will minimize the damage we have already done.”

“I see,” I said. Did he say barbecues were causing a rise in the temperature? Surely he couldn’t be serious. “What’s your name, my friend?”

“My name is Horatio Boomfarter and I am a scientist.”

Ah, just one of the men I was looking for. “Well, Mr. Farter, are the townspeople at all concerned that the resources and manpower they are using may be in vain? I mean is this not overkill? Perhaps this is an over reaction.”

Horatio looked at me, puzzled, but said, “Sir, the city is going to fall into the heart of the sea because of what we have done. If we continue down this path the grass will grow so heavy the land will sink.”