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Otto Mation Comic Series
Meet Otto Mation!
Little Otto Mation was born with a rare gift called the C.A.P. (Certified Automation Professional), which is an objective assessment and confirmation of skills as an automation professional offered by the International Society of Automation (ISA). Those of us in the automation profession have studied and worked for years to earn the C.A.P. Follow the life of Otto through this unique comic series.
This month’s comic
Take a look at this month’s comic. If you think of a good caption, send it on over to us!

Meet Otto Mation!
Little Otto Mation was born with a rare gift called the C.A.P. (Certified Automation Professional), which is an objective assessment and confirmation of skills as an automation professional offered by the International Society of Automation (ISA). Those of us in the automation profession have studied and worked for years to earn the C.A.P. Follow the life of Otto through this unique comic series.
310 Results Found
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - May 10, 2017
The winning caption for this comic caption contest was submitted by David L. in Massachusetts. Congratulations, David! -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - April 19, 2017
The winning caption for this comic caption contest was submitted by Zach S. in Ohio. Congratulations, Zach! -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - March 15, 2017
The winning caption for this comic caption contest was submitted by Peter L. in Pennsylvania. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - February 22, 2017
We couldn't pick just one! We have two winners for our recent comic caption contest. The winning captions were submitted by Kim K. of British Columbia and Klaus G. of Germany, respectively. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - January 25, 2017
The winning caption for this comic caption contest was submitted by Peter N. in Arizona. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - January 4, 2017
The winning caption for this comic caption contest was submitted by Peter F. in Pennsylvania. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - November 30, 2016
The winning caption for this comic caption contest was submitted by Peter F. in Pennsylvania. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - November 2, 2016
The winning caption for our recent comic caption contest was submitted by Garvin F. in Texas. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - October 12, 2016
The winning caption for our recent comic caption contest was submitted by Damian S. in Ontario, Canada. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - September 14, 2016
The winning caption for our recent comic caption contest was submitted by Jerry L. in Ontario, Canada. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - August 17, 2016
The winning caption for our recent comic caption contest was submitted by Aaron C. in Texas. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - July 20, 2016
The winning caption for our recent comic caption contest was submitted by David L. in Massachusetts. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - June 15, 2016
The winning caption for our recent comic caption contest was submitted by Peter F. in Pennsylvania. Congratulations (again) to Peter! -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - May 25, 2016
The winning caption for our recent comic caption contest was submitted by Peter F. in Pennsylvania. -
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Otto Mation Comic - May 18, 2016
Otto realizes a big problem with the younger generation coming into the workforce; they tend to avoid reality. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - April 27, 2016
The winning caption for our recent comic was submitted by Stanley H. in New Jersey. Another good caption was submitted also. See below the comic for a honorable mention... -
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Otto Mation Comic - April 20, 2016
Otto and Mr. Barnes disagree on the budget for their upcoming major automation project. -
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Otto Mation Comic - April 13, 2016
Otto faces a new challenge when the company's collaborative robot has a few ideas of his own. This comic idea was submitted by Eric N. in Colorado. -
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Otto Mation Comic - April 6, 2016
Otto continues his conversation with automation vendors about his new prototype control system project. -
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Otto Mation Comic - March 30, 2016
Otto meets with automation vendors to let them know about his new prototype control system project. -
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Otto Mation Comic - March 23, 2016
Otto discovers a new application for the thermal imaging cameras recently purchased by his company. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - March 2, 2016
We selected two captions as winners this week. The winning captions for our recent comic were submitted by Jerry L. in Ontario and Cory J. in Wyoming, respectively. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - February 10, 2016
The winning caption was submitted by Pete F. in Pennsylvania. Congratulations, Pete! "Otto, in recognition of your automation excellency, you can have my seat at the theater tonight!" A few other good captions were submitted also. See below the comic for a few honorable mentions... -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - January 20, 2016
The winning caption was submitted by Eric N. in Colorado. Congratulations, Eric! "Glad you're happy with the new frictionless conveyor system, Otto, but we've got a shift starting in ten minutes!" A few other good captions were submitted also. See below the comic for a few honorable mentions... -
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Otto Mation Comic - January 13, 2016
Otto attempts to explain his industrial IoT strategy for the manufacturing plant to his boss, Mr. Barnes. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - December 16, 2015
The winning caption was submitted by Robert J. in New Jersey. Congratulations, Robert! Robert submitted these new lyrics for the favorite song, "Up on the Rooftop." "Up on the roof top reindeer paws, Out from the chimney robot claws" A few other good captions were submitted also. See below the comic for a few honorable mentions... -
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Otto Mation Comic - December 9, 2015
Mysterious man encourages Otto to run for President again, claiming he has a much better chance this time. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - November 18, 2015
The winning caption was submitted by Mike B. in Pennsylvania. Congratulations (again), Mike! "I know this sounds crazy, but I feel like we should put on our PPE before we get started!" -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - October 28, 2015
The winning caption was submitted by Pete L. in Pennsylvania. "If he gets assembled in that order, he's going to be a real butt-head to deal with." -
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Otto Mation Comic - October 21, 2015
Otto makes his demands after Mr. Barnes asks for more advanced automation at the plant. -
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Otto Mation Comic - October 14, 2015
Otto discovers why all the vendors are trying to sell him "IIoT-related" products. -
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Otto Mation Comic - October 7, 2015
Vendor sales guy attempts to sell Otto an IIoT platform that will solve all of his problems. -
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Otto Mation Comic - September 30, 2015
Otto is growing tired of everyone jumping on the IIoT buzzword bandwagon. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - September 9, 2015
The winning caption was submitted by Anibal R. in Spain. "Yes, it's an Autumn Mation overflow. " -
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Otto Mation Comic - September 2, 2015
Otto convinces his boss to give him money to implement a manufacturing information management system. -
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Otto Mation Comic - August 26, 2015
Otto's new CEO asks him to bring more technology into the company. Where does that leave Mr. Barnes? -
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Otto Mation Comic - August 19, 2015
Otto explains to Mr. Barnes why he has a better chance of being elected President in 2016. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - July 29, 2015
The winning caption was submitted by Rob D. in Ontario, Canada. "Otto! You cannot robohandle everyone that disagrees with you! Put that man down!" -
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Otto Mation Comic - July 22, 2015
Otto tells Mr. Barnes that the company needs to hire more young engineers to update the automation systems. -
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Otto Mation Comic - July 15, 2015
Otto asks his engineering team to brainstorm about how the Internet of Things (IoT) will affect manufacturing automation. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - June 17, 2015
The winning caption was submitted by Kate M. in Washington. "Otto CONVEYS the SWEET benefits of automation." -
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Otto Mation Comic - June 10, 2015
Otto talks to his veteran maintenance technician about new methods of determining what equipment needs to be repaired. -
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Otto Mation Comic - June 3, 2015
Mr. Barnes informs the engineering department that the company just purchased cyber breach insurance. -
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Otto Mation Comic - May 27, 2015
Otto informs his technicians that the company is moving their maintenance management program to the cloud. -
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Otto Mation Comic - May 20, 2015
Otto's older colleague reflects on the good ole days of simpler automation systems. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - April 29, 2015
The winning caption was submitted by Mike B. in Pennsylvania. "Do you like my new robot? I call it 'automowtion.'" -
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Otto Mation Comic - April 22, 2015
Otto and his colleague discuss the possible standards wars brought on by Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). -
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Otto Mation Comic - April 15, 2015
Otto debates with economist and psychologist about whether technology is stealing jobs from workers. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - March 25, 2015
The winning caption was submitted by Peter F. in Pennsylvania. "So now, who was it that you were saying was wet behind the ears?!" -
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Otto Mation Comic - March 18, 2015
Otto gives his colleague a hard time about partying too much on St. Patrick's Day. -
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Otto Mation Comic - March 11, 2015
Mr. Barnes presents Otto with a gift that he believes will help alleviate his work load. -
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Otto Mation Comic - March 4, 2015
Otto walks in on Mr. Barnes who has a hired a psychic reader to predict the future. -
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Otto Mation Comic - February 25, 2015
Otto asks his manager for a historian to help analyze plant data. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - February 4, 2015
The winning caption was submitted by Terence M. in Pennsylvania. "How else did you expect me to keep all of our projects on time and under budget?" -
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Otto Mation Comic - January 28, 2015
Otto stops an engineer from plugging a USB drive into a production PC and has an awkward moment. -
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Otto Mation Comic - January 21, 2015
Otto suggests possible outcome when Mr. Barnes asks for change to old production line. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - December 17, 2014
The winning caption was submitted by Terence M. in Pennsylvania. "Santa, this is the Elfa version of the new automated assembly line." -
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Otto Mation Comic - December 10, 2014
Mr. Barnes tells Otto that he can't use an innovative new controller because it's not on the approved vendor list. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - November 19, 2014
The winning caption was submitted by Nicholas R. in New York. "No Mr. Barnes, I clearly said we needed a "Turn-Key" solution for our egg inspection line." -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - November 19, 2019
The winning caption for this comic caption contest was submitted by Gavin K, in Wisconsin. Congratulations, Gavin! -
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Otto Mation Comic - November 12, 2014
Otto questions Mr. Barnes about wanting to save money by using Cloud services for their manufacturing software systems. -
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Otto Mation Comic - November 5, 2014
Otto suppresses Mr. Barnes' excitement over using IoT technology in their manufacturing facilities. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - October 29, 2014
The winning caption was submitted by Brad H. in South Carolina. "You think you are patched together? You should see our 20 year old DCS system." -
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Otto Mation Comic - October 8, 2014
The sales engineer from key software supplier gets distracted by a request from Otto's company. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - September 24, 2014
The winning caption was submitted by Thomas O. in Texas. "See what I mean Mr. Barnes? I wasn't kidding about our equipment predating the stone age!" -
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Otto Mation Comic - September 10, 2014
Much to the chagrin of the CEO, Otto proposes more worthwhile and cost-effective control systems expenditures than past purchases. -
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Otto Mation Comic - August 27, 2014
Otto bluffs Mr. Barnes into thinking he is leaving the company. -
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Otto Mation Comic - August 20, 2014
Otto is the victim of his company's understaffed automation group. -
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Otto Mation Comic - August 6, 2014
Mr. Barnes' exemplary management style and use of Pig Latin will help him lead the merge of the I.T. and Automation departments. -
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Otto Mation Comic - July 30, 2014
Instead of getting a pay raise, Otto receives inexperienced help to lessen his workload. -
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Otto Mation Comic - July 23, 2014
Otto laments over his salary, but delivers an unrecognized jab to his boss. -
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Otto Mation Comic - July 16, 2014
Otto tries to convince his veteran colleague to embrace the latest technology in smartphones and tablets. -
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Otto Mation Comic - June 18, 2014
Otto's company suffers the consequences because management didn't take cybersecurity seriously. -
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Otto Mation Comic - June 11, 2014
Otto questions his colleague about the stacks and stacks of trade magazines on his desk. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - May 21, 2014
The winning captions were submitted by Russell Smith in Ontario, Canada and Stan Hoo in New Jersey. The top caption was submitted by Russell and the bottom caption was submitted by Stan. -
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Otto Mation Comic - May 14, 2014
Otto questions his colleague about all the data from the manufacturing systems. -
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Otto Mation Comic - May 7, 2014
Otto asks Mr. Barnes for money to redesign their best-selling machine. -
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Otto Mation Comic - April 30, 2014
Otto walks in on Mr. Barnes giving a hug to one of his robots. This comic idea was submitted by Nancy Zarrow from Massachusetts. Thank you, Nancy! -
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Otto Mation Comic - April 23, 2014
Mr. Barnes inundates Otto with all of the latest industry buzz-words. -
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Otto Mation Comic - April 16, 2014
How to use robots and stay compliant with the Equal Opportunity Employment Act. This comic idea was submitted by Nancy Zarrow from Massachusetts. Thank you, Nancy! -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - April 2, 2014
Congratulations to our winner! The winning comic caption was submitted by Douglas Zimmerman in Texas. Otto, is this an April Fool's joke, or is this machine still running on XP? -
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Otto Mation Comic - March 26, 2014
Otto warns his manager about those Windows XP computers that are running production. -
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Otto Mation Comic - March 19, 2014
Otto is introduced to another set of clones, this time female, who were created to help achieve W.A.D. -
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Otto Mation Comic - March 5, 2014
Mr. Barnes asks Otto about a new trend where robots are coming out of the closet. -
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Otto Mation Comic - February 26, 2014
Otto's clones ask for more help to achieve automation domination in their countries. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - February 12, 2014
The winning caption was submitted by Rob Dickson of Ontario, Canada. Congratulations to our winner! -
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Otto Mation Comic - February 5, 2014
Otto introduces his clones to the concept of Worldwide Automation Domination (WAD). -
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Otto Mation Comic - January 29, 2014
Martians show up in Otto's office with a bunch of Otto clones and news about his C.A.P. gift. -
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Otto Mation Comic - Janauary 22, 2014
Otto finds geneticist to clone engineers so he can achieve World Automation Domination (WAD). -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - December 18, 2013
Congratulations to our two winners - Todd Scott of Texas and Alvin Augustin of New Jersey! Enjoy your new Automation.com coffee mugs. The top caption was submitted by Todd and the bottom caption was submitted by Alvin. -
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Otto Mation Comic - December 11, 2013
Otto questions his manager about the military uniform and crew cut. -
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Otto Mation Comic - December 4, 2013
Otto explains to management why the future is so bright for automation engineers. -
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Otto Mation Comic - November 20, 2013
Otto is too young to realize that he is using a inappropriate Seinfeld reference. -
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Otto Mation Comic - November 13, 2013
Otto says, "The Automation Future's so Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades." -
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Otto Mation Comic - November 6, 2013
Otto and Mr. Barnes lament the large number of industry acronyms and twitter hashtags. -
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Otto Mation Comic - October 30, 2013
Otto draws comparison between project delay and delay in government responsibilities. -
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Otto Mation Comic - October 16, 2013
Otto and his fellow engineers discuss politics around the water cooler. -
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Otto Mation Comic Caption Contest - October 2, 2013
Congratulations to our winner! The winning comic caption was submitted by Nelson Gil in Texas. "He's old school...from back when a blinking red light was a high priority alarm."




































































































