^ 18 Comments...

1. The MacNut
   January 2nd, 2009 at 5:33 am

   At least Mentl’s keeping his sense of humor about their present situation.

   Best he wishes he was back in San Bernardino about now though….I know I would.

2. AdamZero
   January 2nd, 2009 at 5:50 am

   Wait, where’d his shirt go? or was it a vest…. oh he prolly scrapped it for the bandages.

3. AdamZero
   January 2nd, 2009 at 5:51 am

   Still he looks rather toned.

4. hans
   January 2nd, 2009 at 8:03 am

   Aah, let´s face it. All of us who aren´t training for a triathlon are way too flabby and eat too fricken much. Power camping, walking, riding and sexin´ Zona like Mentl does, should toughen one up a bit(especially those abs).

5. The Origami Guy
   January 2nd, 2009 at 12:34 pm

   Time for Mentl to break out James Taylor’s “Shed a Little Light”….

6. JE Draft
   January 2nd, 2009 at 12:42 pm

   Adamzero, Mentl’s vest is now the pressure bandage around Tula’s leg. (see panel 4 of this page and panel 3 of page 234.

7. hans
   January 2nd, 2009 at 3:15 pm

   Hate to be a nag, but I´m getting used to them monthly Zona Calendar Desktops. January coming soon?

8. JE Draft
   January 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 pm

   Hans,

   I hope to have it out today.

   I’ve been a little busy.

9. Jezzi
   January 2nd, 2009 at 10:26 pm

   Why doesn’t Mentle sing her well? His magic obviously works there.

10. captain Marsupial
    January 3rd, 2009 at 12:10 am

    Of course he could sing “You light Up my life.” But then Zona might become bioluminescent.

11. Lucca
    January 3rd, 2009 at 12:16 am

    There is no way to express how much I love the sarcasm in the last 2 panels.

12. Possum
    January 4th, 2009 at 2:35 pm

    Umm, Vito messed up. When a woman is suffering from blood loss, you give her *water*, not alcohol

    So now she’s back and suffering thirst, tsk, tsk, tsk. Mentl may have gotten his First Aid merit badge, but Vito obviously never did.

    And don’t tell me that what happens in the spirit world doesn’t affect your body. Haven’t you ever had a passionate, exciting dream and woken up exhausted in the morning?

13. JE Draft
    January 4th, 2009 at 3:25 pm

    The Otherwhen is not your father’s spirit world, possum. Nothing there is real. Note that Vito even makes a distinction between dreaming and the otherwhen when Mentl first gets there.

14. Possum
    January 4th, 2009 at 5:30 pm

    Oh, good answer

    I was thinking about this music magic thing of Mentl’s. The possibilities are intriguing, even remaining within the 60’s rock genre that seems to be Mentl’s forte.

    If they were caught in a storm, could he play the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” and magic up a tent or hut?

    Likewise it occurs to be that perhaps some songs could be dangerous to play. For example, Dylan’s “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” could be bad mojo. Or “Venus”, by Shocking Blue could be dangerous for an entirely different reason…

    Anyhow, just idle fancies. The strip continues to be vastly amusing and entertaining. I’m impressed that the gay Grand Vizier is a real, likable, and highly amusing character whose antics I look forward to with genuine interest, not just a “oh look I have a gay toon in my webcomic, I’m so hip” concession to fashion. Big Kudos to you, Mr Draft. Well done.

15. Jana C.H.
    January 4th, 2009 at 7:38 pm

    I agree with AdamZero. You don’t get abs like that by spending a few weeks hiking with a backpack and horseback riding. Reading the story all at once, I get the impression that it hasn’t been a month since Mentl plopped down into this strange reality. If it’s more, it can’t be much more.

    I’ve been thinking about the exaggerated bodies in this strip, and why they sometimes bug me here and not in superhero comics. In 2D comics you have ink drawings (or computer art imitating ink drawings) which are by necessity stylized and loaded with artistic conventions. These 3D images in natural colors look like people, so I find myself expecting them to be more realistic than the more obviously “art-like” figures in regular comic books. Captain American doesn’t look silly to me, but Vito does. The characters haven’t slipped into the Uncanny Valley since a few of the extremely early strips before JE had fully mastered the medium, but exaggeration to the degree one sees in 2D comics doesn’t, to my eyes, sit entirely well.

    That’s just me, of course. I don’t happen to find exaggerated physiques sexy, either in men or women (and believe me, I can appreciate both). I’m told that all these people are supposed to be incredibly hot and sexy, whereas– unlike the majority of your readers– I find most of them to provoke grins rather than passion. Thank Darwin for Tula and Mentl! It would be seriously annoying if I didn’t find anyone in the strip sexy. Don’t change anything for me, but you can’t keep me from laughing.

    Jana C.H.
    Seattle
    Saith Lily Tomlin: The trouble with being in the rat race is that even if you win you’re still a rat.

    P.S. I shouldn’t have to repeat that this is entirely my own opinion, and no one else’s. I shouldn’t have to repeat it, but I think I’d better.

16. Jana C.H.
    January 4th, 2009 at 7:40 pm

    P.P.S. My reference to Vito above is to the pin-up of young Vito, not to Vito as he’s been shown in the strip.

    Thought of that right after I hit “submit.”

    JcH

17. Ebony14
    January 5th, 2009 at 3:33 pm

    Jezzi, as the Chronicles of Jon-Tom Meriweather (also known as the Spellsinger series by Alan Dean Foster) demonstrates, one should not muck around with magical music (or musical magic) while under duress if one does not know what one is doing. Otherwise you end up with all sorts of unforseen side effects. Mentl’s got the power and he’s got the knowledge, but he’s not got the experience. Experimenting on someone who might die of blood loss and/or shock is not a Good Idea.

18. Vadelent
    November 12th, 2011 at 7:18 pm

    just like how jon was going for a car in his first intentional use song magic and got a huge (but domesticated) exotic riding snake instead

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