Sam figures it out
[!0.987]2013-10-14

No, you can't have it. That's mine.

[!1.2]Hey! Don't you point that smile at me!

Color by George Peterson

For those in the tank -Sam is trying to take Florence's approach. (KALDYH)
The assumption is incorrect: it just dawned on Sam that robots have possessions, and now he's pretty much scowling at Querty.

Sam figures it out
[!0.987]2013-10-16

If something happened to you and Dvorak, who gets your stuff?

Anything you didn't steal would go back to Ecosystems Unlimited.

Officially, robots can't own anything. Unofficially, we control 99 percent of the economy.

So, if you guys are disabled, 99 percent of the economy becomes untethered. With proper direction, that could make someone very rich.

It's brilliant! A rip off on the scale of a star system! Mr. Kornada would fit in great back home!

When this comes out, your home planet may be the only safe place for him. Which means, we robots will support any plan you have to send him there.

Color by George Peterson

Sam figures it out
[!0.987]2013-10-18

While I admire the scope, Mr. Kornada is new at this. He's making an amateur's mistake.

You don't kill the people you're stealing from. You want them alive and productive so you can steal from them again and again.

[y1.4][=1.1]The tentacled horror from beyond my stars spoke, and Von Neumann help me, in my madness, I understood its words.

Oh, come on! I'm giving you a sustainable business model here!

Color by George Peterson

John von Neumann
Source of citation unknown. At comic forum it was suggested that Querty was paraphrasing something from the Cthulhu myths, or perhaps one of his mentor Max Post's sayings. (KALDYH)
It's more like “because of the stars I know”. You could try translating it as “from an unknown part of the universe” or variations on that theme, but it doesn't make much sense. If it's a quote from Lovecraft  -I'll try to find it. More likely just a stylization.))(Durable)
Eldritch Abomination From Lovecraft (Robot Spike)

Sam figures it out
[!0.987]2013-10-21

It's a bank job?

More like insider trading on a massive scale.

Sam discovered it. I'm sending him over to talk to you. He's describing… things… Things I can't bear to think about.

If I listen to him much longer, I'm going to lose my grip on reality.

And if you're a government and you spend more than you take in, you can keep borrowing money forever with no repercussions!

Color by George Peterson

Mark Stanley is openly trolling U.S. economic policy through Sam's mouth, however.
I tried to explain the concept of “insider trading” within the comic book itself, so as not to resort to footnotes. But I'm not an economist, so I could be wrong. (KALDYH)
However, CoTAN does not allow so much leeway with the length of the translation, so an explanation in a footnote is still needed (Robot Spike)
Insider is a source of valuable commercial information within the firm, who uses or leaks it to the outside for the purpose of obtaining a profit

Sam figures it out
[!0.987]2013-10-23

Blunt has a point. Conscious machines can be dangerous. This is all about the threat we represent to the human race.

No, it's not. It's about money. Mr. Kornada wasn't trying to save the human race. He was trying to rip you off.

Wait, what?

Sam, can't you walk five meters without damaging someone's worldview?

I could,
but what fun would that be?

Color by George Peterson

Sam figures it out
[!0.987]2013-10-25

With the robots disabled, their assets would be invested in waves. Pick the right stocks and a person could make a fortune.

Obvious once you know what to look for. (We've got to get the robots some financial privacy.)

We're talking a lot of money here.

Yes, we are.

I believe a ten percent finder's fee is customary.

In your dreams, squidface.

Color by George Peterson

Sam figures it out
[!0.987]2013-10-28

We'll discuss my reward later. What are you up to now?

Trying to set up a public debate.

I didn't count on a robot like Blunt. He's got a lot of the other robots convinced that the neural pruning program is a good idea.

You know, in a temporary scaled back version, this program could get robots drunk.

Dvorak, let's solve one problem before creating others.

Color by George Peterson

Surely a reference to the famous to the alcoholic bender

Or on The mechanical ego Henry Kuttner

Sam figures it out
[!0.987]2013-10-30

The robots are scared that they might become a threat to humans. Humans are scared for the same reason. Blunt is feeding that fear.

Fear is easy. Fear is cheap. Instead of fear, we're going to give the people hope.

Fear vs. Hope. Hardly an even match.

That's because you think of hope as something light and fragile. My version of hope has calluses and dirt under the fingernails and isn't past bringing brass knuckles to a fight.

Color by George Peterson

Sam figures it out
[!0.987]2013-11-01

If humans show they want the robots around, we can work through this.

Blunt would be easy to underestimate. He thinks slowly and he speaks slowly.

And for someone so slow, he moves fast.

[!1.3]KILL ALL HUMANS!

[!1.2]Don't let this happen to you. Support the Robot Neutralization Act.

Color by George Peterson

Sam figures it out
[!0.987]2013-11-04

[!1.1]STOP THE MACHINE MENACE

[!1.1]WHILE YOU CAN!

Posters. Blunt hasn't realized we're in a post scarcity situation.

There are 20,000 adult humans on the planet. There are over 450 million robots.

I don't need posters to get the word out. I have robots speaking to every single human being on the planet personally.

Color by George Peterson