^ 32 Comments...

1. Lora
   September 22nd, 2009 at 12:52 am

   I’m not in Kansas anymore? lol!

   Aw, they are so cute, those two.

2. The Old Hack
   September 22nd, 2009 at 1:35 am

   Mentl keeps using phrases that may not be comprehensible to Zona in and of themselves — but they are so fraught with emotion that it reverberates even from letters on a page. And that, Zona can hear without any trouble.

3. Uhl
   September 22nd, 2009 at 2:37 am

   That star lit sky effect is awesome.

4. Ted
   September 22nd, 2009 at 2:57 am

   Zona’s expression in the bottom panel is amazingly well rendered.
   (Woo! Glad to see ya back :D)

5. Gremalkin
   September 22nd, 2009 at 3:44 am

   Yes you are NOT in kansas anymore.
   Question is if thats a bad thing or not.
   Right now i don’t think he wants to go back !

6. Tricksterson
   September 22nd, 2009 at 6:30 am

   He may not want to go back, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t miss it.

7. Deris
   September 22nd, 2009 at 8:02 am

   When it finally hits home, everything I knew is gone… this is a nice place but no more pizza hut or starbucks… sucks but life goes on. (Hell, he’s better off anyway, but still, no more pizza….)

8. Steve
   September 22nd, 2009 at 8:13 am

   He’s not in San Bernardino anymore either … where you almost NEVER even see the stars. Funny thing is, that’s why I became a planetary astronomer - I could never see the stars but the planets bright enough to find with our small 6-inch telescope. Ah the fond childhood memories.

   Miss you bro.

9. Black Ethel
   September 22nd, 2009 at 8:36 am

   Deris, maybe he can invent pizza in his new home?

   I always wonder about that plot device in fantasy…when a person is transported to another world. When they are not having adventures, do they try to re-invent some of the things they knew back home? Do they try and re-invent pizza? Do they try and rig up primitive plumbing? Do they think about getting a quill and parchment and write down many of the things they took for granted back home?

   Sort of Like “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.”

   Or Ash in “Army of Darkness.” heh

   Just a thought…

10. The Macnut
    September 22nd, 2009 at 8:57 am

    Normally, a 21st century person getting stuck in what’s essentially the Middle/Dark Ages would be pure hell-no modern sanitation (including indoor plumbing, far as I can tell) no modern medicine (no antibiotics), and things being overall less “civilized” and more violent, among other negatives.

    And in some ways, Zona’s world is even worse-it’s got another hostile and powerful intelligent species fighting for dominance, at least one dark god seeking a return to glory, and large, powerful predators the likes of which have long since gone extinct on our world (thankfully!). I wouldn’t be surprised if there were dragons on Zona’s earth-the large, flying, fire-breathing, flesh-eating kind.

    On the other hand, in some ways its better, at least for Mentl; he’s got Zona, not just a smoking hot bodacious warrior woman, but also someone of power and influence among her people. Long as Mentl stays on her good side, life will be relatively easy for him.

    Also, the presence and use of magic (magick?) on that world-its healing abilities make up for the lack of modern medicine, and it can be used as a weapon and defense. However, its presence is also a double-edged sword, since it can be used for dark purposes as well (like possibly freeing the aforementioned dark god).

    Overall, Mentl’s still got a lot of adjusting to do to become comfortable on Zona’s world, and he may never be totally comfortable. Still, he’s got two major advantages; Zona, and his talent for controlling magic. Methinks he’ll be okay.

11. Someguy
    September 22nd, 2009 at 9:07 am

    Pizza is fairly easy to come up with. At it’s most basic it is flat bread with stuff on it. As long as they have tomatoes and some kind of cheese and know how to make yeast bread you can whip something edible up. Indoor plumbing, yeah that’s a bit harder. Just don’t go the Connecticut Yankee route and try to introduce the stock market. As I recall that was a disaster.

12. AdamZero
    September 22nd, 2009 at 9:25 am

    Macnut: Easy? HA! he’s going to CONSTANTLY be having to prove himself to jerks like P-boy because he’s so NOT Eroginian.

13. Ga'Tor
    September 22nd, 2009 at 9:53 am

    Heya JED welcome back. Interesting page, I swear that looks like Orion, but not quite, just above the treeline. It’d be really interesting to see the planet from a few hundred miles up or…? Hmm makes one wonder if Tula or Zona have any artistic talents. Considerering their previous adventures it would not be out of order for Mentl to see a painting of Erogenia from as viewed from the moon. Would the land masses be the same, subtly different or in no way similar to Earths.

14. The Macnut
    September 22nd, 2009 at 10:34 am

    @AdamZero:”Macnut: Easy? HA! he’s going to CONSTANTLY be having to prove himself to jerks like P-boy because he’s so NOT Eroginian.”

    Well, Adam, I did say relatively easy. And bad as the whole having to prove himself regularly may be (and I think that will happen less often as his magickal abilities improve), imagine if he’d never met Zona, or she hadn’t taken a liking to him.

    He’d either have been killed and eaten by Urrts or one of the other large predators, or been locked up in a dungeon in Kivalia or one of the other Erogenian tribes-if they hadn’t killed him on sight. He never would’ve had a chance to learn about and develop his magickal potential.

15. Tricksterson
    September 22nd, 2009 at 10:52 am

    Wait. Their moon is inhabited? When did this come up? And is this distant foreshadowing?

16. JE Draft
    September 22nd, 2009 at 11:53 am

    Lora - yes, finally things slow down and now - time to think.
    The Old Hack - It’s pretty affecting when he suddenly realizes that he’s completely cut off from his prior life, not just by distance, but by reality itself.
    Uhl - You’d be surprised how easy that was to do in Photoshop.
    Ted - Thanks. It’s getting easier and also harder. Easier with practice, harder because I’m pickier about it, and so I spend forever, sometimes, tweaking eyes and cheeks and mouth curls. Other times, like this, were fairly simple and came out fine. Go figure.

    Gremalkin - That is, indeed, a question that he’s thinking of.

    Tricksterson - Indeed. He’s going through a taste of reality shock, right now.

    Deris - Like culture shock, only with no way home that he knows of.

    Steve - So? Come on out here, you with the frequent flier miles. We’ll go to Santa Monica or Venice Beach and look at the freaks.

    Black Ethel - Mentl has so far had to deal with just staying alive. When he gets a roof and a modicum of stability, he might think of pizza.

    Macnut - Certainly Zona’s a powerful inducement as well as a survival advantage.

    Adamzero - You may find that things in the Moon Tribe are a trifle more relaxed. Not completely, mind you, but, well … you’ll see.

    Ga’Tor - Zona can draw stick figures and maps well. Tula is the resident prodigy, and if any astronomical paintings were done it would be her.

    Tricksterson - In “Zona and The Children Of The Moon,” which was obliquely referenced on page 123 and again on page 232.

17. AdamZero
    September 22nd, 2009 at 12:52 pm

    JD: Yeah, in nature one of the biggest advantages you can have? Have a flank. (Spouse or Buddy or whatever)

18. Addup2
    September 22nd, 2009 at 1:01 pm

    Love this one JE, but it does lead to one question - if they’re not in Kansas anymore, where’s Toto?

19. JE Draft
    September 22nd, 2009 at 1:09 pm

    Addup2 - Well, I have an answer to that one, but it’s dirty …

20. Dar
    September 22nd, 2009 at 4:04 pm

    I really love Zona’s look in the last panel. Really well done!

21. wysiwyg
    September 22nd, 2009 at 5:25 pm

    It could be worse. He could be in Nebraska.

22. RevWaldo
    September 22nd, 2009 at 6:33 pm

    Just remember Mentl, should you ever find yourself thrust into a medieval society via either dimension hopping or time travel, 3 parts charcoal, 2 parts sulfur, and 15 parts saltpeter.

    Grind and mix these components together, and you have black powder, the simplest form of gunpowder. Be careful with it. Use it to conquer history.

23. Gemma
    September 22nd, 2009 at 10:30 pm

    Ditto to Dar and Ted, Zona’s facial expression is really delicate and well done. Cheers and welcome back!

24. Matti
    September 23rd, 2009 at 2:29 pm

    [quote="Black Ethel"]Deris, maybe he can invent pizza in his new home?

    I always wonder about that plot device in fantasy…when a person is transported to another world. When they are not having adventures, do they try to re-invent some of the things they knew back home? Do they try and re-invent pizza?[/quote]
    Reminds me about sci-fi novel serie, where man from Earth crashlands on lowtech planet and starts making sandwiches. Novel was Life, universe and everything… I think. Part of the Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy.

25. TheLastGarou
    September 23rd, 2009 at 4:23 pm

    RevWaldo- Heh. THAT should give the Urrts a suprise.

    Although, if they ever got ahold of it, it wouldn’t take someone like Gorshash time to figure out a way to duplicate it, and that would deffinately fall under the “Bad Things” catagory.

26. vZ
    September 23rd, 2009 at 5:37 pm

    JED, the last panel is the most… ok, that really makes me speechless. The words are not good enough - but it really brings a girl out of the ferocious killing machine we are used to think Zona to be. That’s just warm. Fragile.
    If you ever find yourself in need of picking some idea for bonus, calendar background, incentive, art - do not waste your time wondering, pick that. Zona fans will be grateful, I am sure of that

27. Tricksterson
    September 23rd, 2009 at 5:55 pm

    Actually he’s already introduced a big cultural changer, a new type of music. Given the reaction he got at that Kivallian party, it’s very likely *someone* is going to try to imitate him. Likewise when/if he plays for the Erogenians.

28. The MacNut
    September 24th, 2009 at 1:24 am

    They may be able to imitate Mentl’s style, but they won’t be able to imitate his special magic touch. Methinks our favorite magical bard will be very much in demand that very reason.

    Let’s hope Zona can do a better job of controlling her jealousy than last time.

29. Lora
    September 24th, 2009 at 6:20 am

    He just needs to learn not to magically make everyone fall in love with him.

30. Jean
    September 24th, 2009 at 3:23 pm

    “Kan-ziss? I thought you said you were from…San Ber-nar-der-in-o? Where is this Kan-ziss place?”

    Have fun explaining that one, Mentl!
    XD

31. mark
    July 31st, 2010 at 3:21 pm

    Just reading all this for the first time and having a ball. Love the Webelos comment. (old scouts never die…)

32. Prairie Son
    August 29th, 2011 at 1:04 am

    @Matti

    Nope. Mostly Harmless, the one where it was all wiped out for good. In part because Adams was getting a bit fed up with it all. I think he was already into negotiations for the movie as well, which would require the story be tied off for syndication.

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