December 15th, 2009
Page 331
Comics for December 15, 2009 - Page 331
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December 16th, 2009 at 12:36 am
so they took each others weapons?
December 16th, 2009 at 12:37 am
Okay, lemme `splain.
No, is too much. Lemme sum up:
What I tried to convey here is that they each were going, not for a sword-breaking impact, but a clever disarm at the last moment. Note that the sound effect in the last panel of the previous page was “kt-tok!” not “ker-rack!” or some other such wood-breaking sound. As it happened, they each disarmed simultaneously the other and grabbed the opponent’s weapon in the free hand. Note that we also show this because there are subtle differences in the hilts of the two swords, and now they’ve switched.
This is, of course, impossible.
I know it’s impossible in real life, but I am a fan of the kind of happy horseshit that you get in “The Wild Wild West”, or “The Adventures of Brisco County Jr,” where he is SUCH a good shot that he literally puts a slug in his opponent’s gun barrel, exploding the chamber.
Which is, of course, impossible. Which is one of the reasons I love it so much.
I am also a fan of one Japanese animation show only, and that is “Tobor, The Eighth Man.” I am, however, a HUGE fan of “Samurai Jack,” and I have been watching too much of it, lately.
In addition thereunto, you will notice that such an inconclusive outcome is not to Ipola’s liking, and it’s still on.
Oh, it is SO on, now.
December 16th, 2009 at 12:38 am
wow first up is it me or do you think alot of our slang sayings are going to be mis-interprited by them?
December 16th, 2009 at 12:41 am
oppsy once you see what he’s posted makes a big difference. thought they stopped cause of the whoa. bad thinking
December 16th, 2009 at 12:53 am
Panel 4: Even the Hunting Cat is astounded! I didn’t know that cats could do astonishment!
They can certainly do surprised (for maybe 2 heartbeats, before the claws come out as they land), but astonishment is a new one on me!
December 16th, 2009 at 1:03 am
To sum up what everyone is thinking in the last few panels….How the in hell they manage that!?
December 16th, 2009 at 1:08 am
Love that ” Well what do we do now.” look on their faces.
December 16th, 2009 at 1:11 am
I wasn’t seeing exactly what had happened. I could tell they were each astonished about something and so was everybody else, but I didn’t notice the switch. Awesome, funny and appropriate. Continue Indeed!
BTW excellent quote and I was surprised by how much I loved Samurai Jack when a friend told me about it.
I still say she decks him though, but she will respect him when he wakes up…in the morning…
December 16th, 2009 at 1:31 am
Of course! The swords are now in their *left* hands. But will they continue to fight left-handed?
December 16th, 2009 at 1:55 am
The shaman’s nostrils are still glowing…
December 16th, 2009 at 2:15 am
Of course, you realize, “I am not right handed.”
LOL I love it! More!
@Mentl woah indeed.
Thanks JED. Yet another great page. (At least we’re still here and not looking in on Tethik) Now to save some ‘Uncle Jack” and popcorn until Friday…
December 16th, 2009 at 2:32 am
Gotta love how the Queen, Priest, Priestess, *and* the cat all have the same “BUH??” expression. XD Well, everyone is getting a darn good show before the feast, that’s for sure.
December 16th, 2009 at 2:38 am
@Lebbrin: Aww, you beat me to it! “I, too, am not right-handed.”
I say Ipola should make them fight lefty - they’ve already shown what they can do with their dominant hands.
December 16th, 2009 at 2:41 am
Hey, JED, are you old enough to have followed Rick O’Shay? Hipshot Percussion was always good for the impossible shot. Rick was good for the unbelievable foul-up.
December 16th, 2009 at 2:53 am
>.>
<.<
“You got your chocolate sword in my peanut butter!”
“You got my peanut butter sword in my chocolate!”
*glare for a beat, then both try the new combination …*
Yeah, I’m dating myself with that one, but it had to be said. If only because otherwise I’d be thinking of the old commercials all week otherwise and I have final papers to write ^_^
Loranna
December 16th, 2009 at 3:15 am
@JE
Have you done six impossible things today?
Why not round it off with breakfast at Millyways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
December 16th, 2009 at 3:16 am
Actually JD the good old Mythbusters proved that a gun bullet… wait no… it didn’t go down the barrel it clogged a revolver through an exposed gap…
…
Is Mentl’s hair browner?
also THE CATS are WTF’ing! AWESOME
December 16th, 2009 at 4:47 am
Little Yatta-Ta is waaaaaaaaay better than I expected! (And I think the Erogenians agree with me:p )
I love the look of the tiger in panel 4!
December 16th, 2009 at 5:14 am
Hiya,
Don’t hate me for saying this, but…I don’t like this page. Not one bit.
What happened? We don’t know. At least, we don’t get to see HOW it happened. It’s silliness without one bit of coolness. I don’t care if Yatta-Ta can do one-handed backhandsprings as a combat maneuver, but I sure am entertained and I sure am glad to see how he got twenty feet away.
To move on from that particular frustration, this page is…just so boring. Nothing happens. The thing that makes all those fights that you love awesome, JED, is that at one moment or another one character seems to be winning. As the characters one-up each other, it gets more over-the-top, because the tables keep turning. That’s much more interesting than a clash where things remain exactly the same, as here.
Anyway, feel free to ignore me, refute me, whatever. It’s the risk I take for posting something that doesn’t gush with the enthusiasm I usually possess. I look forward to seeing this wonderful and beloved comic get back to being awesome.
Moox
December 16th, 2009 at 5:47 am
Personally, I like it, Moox. It’s suggesting there’s far more to Yatta-ta than we’ve seen. Ipola is now clearly wondering what this southern Erogenian is capable of, what god or gods of luck plague him, what hidden skills he has to bring against her daughter/champion, and why he’s followed her daughter all the way into their sacred lands, insisting upon this contest between them. She’s a queen. She knows there’s usually more beneath the surface. Yatta-ta just showed a helluva lot more beneath his surface than most of us expected. (Yes, some of us said we thought Yatta-ta should win…but did we really expect it? Did we really, honestly expect something like this?)
On the plus side, Moox, you and I can have these two different opinions, they can both be valid (because they’re opinions), and we can air them in a polite, civilized manner. I like that best of all.
:->
December 16th, 2009 at 6:14 am
What a strange page. I know some guessed a simultanous dearming, but not that they would catch each others sword.
Will they continue with their left hand now? Who will eventually be the winner?
December 16th, 2009 at 6:20 am
Well … here’s to watching “The Adventures of Brisco County Jr” with a bottle of Glen Morangie. I loved “Tobor, The Eighth Man” too. Way ahead of its time. See you soon.
December 16th, 2009 at 6:50 am
The man of few words strike again: Cool !
December 16th, 2009 at 7:43 am
it did take me a bit of back and forth between the pages to get it, but I like the outcome. It DID take a bit of checking for me to verify what I thought happened, did, but it wasn’t so out there I couldn’t figure it out. also, I love Brisco County Jr.
December 16th, 2009 at 8:37 am
I LOVED Brisco County Jr. until they tried him, and Lord (forget his name) for treason found them guilty and had them executed with a “to be continued” that never was. The rest of the series was a hoot though. Especially when they finally beat Kane.
December 16th, 2009 at 8:38 am
“Why are you smiling?” I know something you do not know…. I also am not left handed.. Oh.. hold on.. right handed? Hmm, confused…
December 16th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Several of the ladies in the last panel seem to be seriously considering Yatta-ta. Check the one in the pink-striped dress on the left and the redhead in black on the right. Looks like he might get lucky if he plays his cards right, win or lose.
December 16th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Well, after looking at it a bit I got the right idea… though I thought they were their own weapons knocked back into their other hands from the collision.
However, I think it might be portrayed better if in the first panels you had them grabbing the swords out of the air… or maybe just change Yatta so he’s looking at the sword rather than his empty hand. Something like grabbing a sword after a disarm I don’t think you could do without paying attention (at least not in this circumstance).
Making the differences in the swords more noticeable might have also helped this page as well.
December 16th, 2009 at 9:56 am
the captain - yes.
vombalk - No. They didn’t. See gratuitous explanation.
Lictre - Glittereye is Ipola’s old friend, nearly twenty years old himself, and has never seen anything like this.
zangoules - Well, it wasn’t easy.
dolo-pzora - Thanks!
professor61771 - Samurai Jack is some of the finest art and storytelling I’ve ever seen on TV, let alone in animation.
Elizabeth - Probably not.
aPrincess - Not any more.
Lebbrin - You’re very welcome. And I hope I can get it out on time this week.
reddwarf - Best show they’ve had in years, actually.
SamuraiDemonPuppy - I remember Rick O’Shay very well, though it wasn’t in the Sun-Telegram, so I had to go to our grandmothers’ and read it in the Herald-Examiner.
IncursionZero - Of course you got the reference!
Patricia - Yes, he is.
Moox - You’re naturally allowed your opinion, and others may differ. I am not objective about it, so I won’t dispute you but will definitely take note. But with all due respect, you’re not the one taking any risk, here. I am, in that I put my little contribution to the decline of Western civilization out where anybody on the planet can read it and praise it or pan it. I’m pretty sure you’ll get back to liking it, but there are no guarantees.
Jean - Thanks.
But there’s no telling who will actually win.
Lora - Well, I did feel the need to explain it, so maybe not my best work. But I’m still having fun with it.
Anyway, I think they’ll use the right hand once they get over themselves a bit.
Steve - See you next week!
Gremalkin - Theng-kyew!
Sockpuppet - So, you all are witness to me learning as I go. Side-note: I had half a notion to give Yatta-ta a sword akin to “Pete’s Piece” that he might go postal if anyone touched, but then I didn’t want him to be totally batshit crazy. Just crazy.
Uhl - Oh, but they totally finished that story! It totally was continued in the season finale. I speak as one who has the complete series on DVD. It was actually quite a satisfying ending, so go rent or buy it today!
Wesley - Be not confused. Check back on Friday.
Wofgang - noted, but I also have other reasons for making the differences in the swords subtle.
December 16th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Took me a while to figure out what happened. Jeez JED, you are so the master of expression. Love Zona’s face in the first panel and the astonishment of all the spectators, even the cat. Errr, did you slip a little hot stuff in on the last panel? Is that a bit of pussy fur I see peeking out just above Ipola’s insert?
December 16th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I suspect there’s a really good reason why Tula (in panel three) is the only character on this page who looks unsurprised. Perhaps she knows something that she hasn’t let on yet…
Or perhaps I’m just reading too much into her expression…
December 16th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Well….that was surprising.
Still, you know the two of them are going to be fighting for the next 5-6 hours, right….
December 16th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
That’s what I thought happened, nice of JED to confirm it.
Not that have anything against Moox or that I completely disagree with him, that fact that JED felt the need to explain indicates that yeah, you could have maybe done it better by showing what ha[[ened either in this page or the last. I just like burning people alive. 
DOes that mean we can’t burn Moox as a heretic?
Yeah I think both those women were giving Yatta the eye. If I was right in my virgin theory I suspect that’s not going to last long.
Finally, Rule of Cool prevails!
December 16th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Oh, and I think the barechested guy on the extreme right is also giving Yatta the eye.
December 16th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
That swordfight was Epic Fail; no idea what the frak was going on, and even the author’s explanation doesn’t really make much sense. But the comic is usually good, so I and most others can and will ignore this one infraction in hopes of future continued awesomosity.
December 16th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Hi! I’ve been lurking for about a year now, and loving every minute of it. I’ve never commented before because most everybody else thinks of the good stuff first. ^_^
But this time, I think I’ve got something to contribute - in the way of constructive criticism and a possible answer to same.
It’s true that without your explanation, JED, I wouldn’t have been able to quite figure out what happened. The page layout itself is not bad, but there’s something MISSING.
One solution would be to try and put in inserts of each sword hilt smacking into their respective “catchee” hands with a small sound effect. That’s IF you were going to “redraw” that part of the page.
I KNOW how much of a pain in the ass that would be, though. So how about the following as a compromise?
In order to direct the eye where it should go better - take the speed lines in the first two panels and instead of having them originate from behind the center of mass of the two characters, how about shift the center/radiant point down to the HANDS that are now holding the swords? Thus redirecting the eye where it should go. Perhaps add in a small sound effect near each one indicating a small impact?
Anyway. Still loving the comic. Carry on!
December 16th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Ga’Tor - No, I don’t think anyone’s flashing in that scene - except Glittereye, who’s naked.
Keith Arnold - Hm. Possibly she does, or possibly she’s just that cool.
Sleepinin - Well, even Zona has her limits. Of course, nothing prevents them from taking a break after two or three hours …
Tricksterson - Nobody gets burned at the stake. It seems that the whole scene worked better in my head than on the screen.
Craze - “Epic Fail.” *sigh* Okay.
Logan Darklighter - Thanks for the comments, and though I do take note of it all, I don’t think I’ll do it over at this time. Maybe later when we publish the print version.
December 16th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
@Keith She is surprised, though much more composed about it. Check her eyebrow. Looks to me like it’s raised, anyway.
I agree that I couldn’t see what happened, so the first thing I thought to do was read the comments. Someone always points something I missed out. And after reading the explanation, I can take that into context and see what happened, and it makes me love the page while most others hated it.
@Jean Yes, I thought he would win. Still think so. I’m probably the only one.
But if you want to look at it now, he just proved his skill equal to the Erogenian champion. That has to count for something; at the very least, his claims of being the best swordsman might be true. And as Zona was probably trained here, just the fact that he can match her is astounding. Although the fact that they went for the exact same move at the same time makes me wonder exactly where Yatta trained, or if he had the same training as Zona.
December 16th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
I do enjoy the fact that in the first panel both Yatta and Zona are apparently as astounded by the events as most of the onlookers — and I really like how they both look to the Queen with “well, bugger, now what?” expressions.
December 16th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
JE Draft - hmm, well i think my criticism wasn’t particularly tactful so I apologize for that, since I really do love this comic and don’t want to discourage you. I think that the speed lines were slightly comedic, but really left me wondering what exactly was happening. It’s not exactly Goku fighting Frieza hehe. Something as complicated as a double-disarm needs to be made clearer visually. If they’d both broken their swords in half then that would’ve made a lot more sense at the end from what you built up to.
December 16th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
JED has a consistent history of finding the unexpected thing; it’s a strength. Was wondering how we’d pull this one out. Now I know, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that outcome.
Having said that, in a comic, if you have to read the comments to understand, the sequence didn’t work. But the sequence is NOT over - so a re-do may not be necessary.
Understanding can follow in the NEXT set, as long as the characters do something visual that immediately clarifies. Possibly testing the balance of the new sword, and/or definitely tossing them back in the right hands before continuing, will cal attention to what’s different. In fact, only one character needs to toss the sword back into the right hand for that to work, which creates flexibility.
So I’ll only partly agree with some of the commenters here, and say - I like the idea, and it’s not a fail… yet.
December 16th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Added comment: I hope Yatta-Ta has good enough taste to like amazon redheads. Check out the lady on the right, in the final panel.
December 16th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Lurker says: “Did someone say Samurai Jack? Glomp them!” XD
I miss Samurai Jack; I friggin’ loved that! I can say, however, that Zona inspires the same sort of goofy adoration for story and characters.
Goin’ back to lurkin’ now.
December 16th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Reminds me of how I go my first date with my wife. No, really. We were squared off by the fencing master at our club, because we’re the same height and I am a left handed fencer. I liked what I saw so made a bet with her. If I got the first touch, she had to go out with me. If she got the first touch, I had to buy her dinner. Well, she found out during the non-electric bout that I wasn’t really left handed either. How did it turn out? I did say the match was with my wife, didn’t I?
December 16th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Oh and I agree. Judging by the looks he’s getting, not only from the redhead, but the blonde on the opposite side, and the two in the middle, he’s gonna get some tonight. Not by Zona, but he’s gonna get some.
December 16th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Kudos JE. Kudos. your page was truly epic. though i needed the explanation, i still thought the page was well put together. The fact that it showed how much people love the comic, getting into slight controversy over how good a job you do, says something about how good a job you do. Quite the community you’ve inspired here JE. Well done.
December 16th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
To all the people saying this was a ‘fail’ page for the lack of ‘logic’ behind the sudden switch, I gotta say this.
It’s fantasy!
plus it’s one of those crazy moments like in the Three Stooges or M.A.S.H. where everyones arguing they end up wrestling with each other, and somehow, everyone is wearing everyone else’s outfit. (Since Mash was full of Crossdressing disguises.
December 16th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Um, ok. So next time I recommend reading the scene in Hamlet where they take each others swords.
Also this is really more of a rapier trick where you can grip the cup of the opponent’s guard and rip the weapon from their hand.
Also I would reverse their grips to make what happened more obvious (i.e. the swords pointing down and back. You could even finish with a raising slash which thunks into reversed crossed blades.
In rapier fighting it was not unheard of for opponents to end up switching blades in this manner, but heavy swords generally aren’t fought forward enough to make this a common tactic. It really takes good stage fighters to make the Hamlet scene not look like they just hand each other their swords for no good reason.
December 16th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
I LOVE The Adventures of Brisco County Jr! My entire family used to watch it religiously! It was so funny as my brother got to meet Bruce Cambell in person during a book signing and while he was getting his book signed by Bruce, my brother told him how much we all loved that show and were so sad when it got canceled. Bruce looked up at my brother and said, “Oh, you’re the ones.”
December 17th, 2009 at 1:46 am
Wolfgang, I like him looking at his empty hand; Zona is looking at her left hand with his sword in it. It told me what happened fairly clearly, though double-checking the different hilt shapes did help…
December 17th, 2009 at 2:33 am
That was fun. I’m just wondering, was I the only one who got it when I saw the first two panels? I looked back to make sure (and yes, Zona’s hilt is clearly shown on several pages earlier), but I thought the left hand thing made it obvious they had swapped weapons. Oh, skipping the real life fighting stuff (where nobody is as uber and cool as characters), I guessed it was a flashy disarm designed to put your opponent’s hilt in your off hand.
I do agree you might need something for the print comic though, one suggestion would be to clearly show both hilts in earlier pages. Several ways to do that. Heh, maybe a flashback by both to a training type sequence where they are doing the disarm and catch in mirror image….
Other than the boobie KO, I’m going to stick with a Zona “win” that is a technical loss…KO of Yatta (by something besides the sight of Zona’s boobs) with Zona disarmed.
December 17th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
While I didn’t get what happened until it was explained, any problems I had with the page completely melted away when I saw what essentially amounts to a saber-toothed lion emoting “WTF”. Also, throughout this I love how the detail put into even the crowd. And the redhead in black is kinda “yowza”.
Good show, sir. Good show indeed.
December 17th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I wouldn’t say epic fail, the idea was good, I just would have liked to have seen how it happened.
And chalk up another fan of both Samurai Jack and Brisco County Jr.
December 18th, 2009 at 9:00 am
It took me a minute to get it, but I expect that it’ll work much better on the printed page, considering the ease of flipping backwards to figure it out. The fact that they’re staring at their disarmed hands in open astonishment helps too.
December 18th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Nah, it´s clearly not working very well. Mentl needs to give us more than just a WHOA in the next panel.
I´d advise to add a “Double-Disarm?!?”, so the reader at least has a chance to get what´s supposed to be going on. Nobody even can suspect a “simultaneous disarm”, as it´s so unintuitive because of the clear impossibility.
Basic physics, dear Watson.
December 18th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Maybe it happened because Yatta didn’t know it was impossible? Maybe he’s actually a toon.
December 18th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Um, it looks like Zona’s bottom clothing has a gap… Or am I seeing things?
December 18th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Hans, I’ve seen it happen in the SCA. Admittedly the fighters are using lanyards and ‘thumb triggers’ on their swords (loops of material that either wrap around the wrist or the thumb, respectively) to keep them from flying off into the distance, but I’ve seen some fights where two heavies (sword’n’shield types) have double-disarmed themselves. Mostly among lesser-trained fighters, but once or twice at most among the very skilled, too (I’ve been in the SCA for twenty-mumble years). It’s extremely rare (see twenty-mumble years and “once or twice”) among skilled combattants…but again, mostly because they’re using security straps to keep their weapons from flying off. I’ve also seen it happen among two rapier fencers, oh, a half-dozen times at most (see twenty-mumble again). (lol)
Not very probable, not very common, heck, barely even rarely. But impossible? No. Just highly improbable.
December 18th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
JIm, I’m not sure if there is one…but I’ll freely admit I’ve been admiring Yatta-ta’s fall. On his breeches. (It’s a clothing term for a double-buttoned front flap on a pair of tight breeches.) I wouldn’t mind seeing a gap there! XD
December 18th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
…I’m also beginning to feel like someone cursed Yatta-ta with a lot of good luck. (Or maybe cursed everyone around him, lol.)