No, it flows right. On the last page, the question was “what caused this [loop]?” and Rastov replied, “since you asked so nicely…” and continues today with “… the name you may know me by is….”
Why is that so wrong? they say “Who could have done this” and the voice off-screen says “since you asked so nicely” and then explains who he is in the next page. Sounds perfectly logical to me.
I think it’s the camera angle. We go from a wide shot of all the heroes together with Rastov offscreen, then we go straight to a close-up of Rastov. We never get to see them together in one shot, so it doesn’t feel right when they’re talking.
This happens often when there’s so much time in between pages. I often have to back up and re-read a few in a row to make sense of what is going on. If you read the prior page again, leading right into what he’s saying in panel 1, its not that bad. Just do that once or twice and it should flow just fine
Phlogiston appears to be looking at the fingers of rock that seem to be following the shape of Rastov’s hand while the Conjurer and Firedrake are attacking head on. But where is Neuronet? Perhaps he is going backwards on the path so that he can surprise Rastov from behind. In addition, 84 looks confused by something that she is seeing. I assume that we’ll see what it is in the next strip.
Low level mage, who repeatedly got his but kicked enough that really powerful undead lich type decided to imprison him to teach him humility. Hmmm, sounds not so great to me. Most mages who style themselves “the great” usually are not.
The “adults” in the room all break into super powered action, which may be Rostov’s plan. Meanwhile 84 is, once again, trying to decide if there is an alternative.
I do enjoy the paper cutouts that are the “more-experienced” supers.
It’s a hammer and nails situation. Generally, superpowers are a pretty good hammer, and I can see after a while you just reaching for it to solve pretty much any nail issue.
There is the consideration that a threat of imminent harm requires a quick response, and defensive action is not always optimal. But yes, it’s easy to start thinking of all situations as a nail if you have the power of a hammer.
Also, most of them are relatively squishy, except for 84. They have decent attack powers, but their powers have to be applied actively for defense. If there is a threat, bringing their powers up to full and attacking back is a good strategy for them: By shifting the momentum to their attacks, they don’t have to worry about defense as much.
84 on the other hand has high level passive defense. She can afford to take a hit or two at the start of a fight to see what’s really going on.
You should also consider that unlike the adults, 84 is still under her parents’ and teachers’ conditioning to not to get into fights, so of course she’s going to hesitate.
Or just pick up a rock and throw it at his head. If it connects or not, it still disrupts his spellcasting ability and ability to concentrate long enough to clean his clock quite thoroughly.
If this guy’s puppet hand can affect his real hand, he’s an even lamer wizard than his appearance would suggest. ^^; Allowing sympathetic magic to backlash onto you is a beginner’s mistake.
It’d be really funny if it turns out that the only time that the non-FISS supers were useful inside the egg was when it came time to simply hit things with stuff.
He states “The name you may know me by is Rastov the Great” (which the popular name given to a city and region in Russia) so it’s obviously not his real name – I think its likely that he is really Ivan Tsarevich (Russian: literally John the Prince) who is one of the main heroes of Russian folklore, usually a protagonist who is often engaged in a struggle with Koschei.
And again I am not inspired by the Conjuror’s “leadership”. He is acting like a knowledgeable lieutenant, but not a leader. His first reaction should have been to see to it the others were safe. THEN see to taking down the big bad. And no he does not get points because leaders of experienced teams have trusted their companions to handle things like this. THOSE leaders had worked with their team mates for years and knew what they could do and who would do what at any given time.
Fire-duck seems to be the reason I hid being a fire/fire character in City of Heroes. “My power is cool so I rush in!” (Making me think the original Leroy Jenkins was a Fire hero.)
Phlogiston put up a shield in reflex but is concerned on the fingers, and 84 seems momentarily distracted by them.
My hope is that the unseen psychic gets to show why he is a team leader here.
I loved those guys on CoH! They drew all the agro whilst I stayed back and arrow’d the boss mobs to death.
Very few spell-casters expect “Arrow to face”from the guy in drab unassuming clothing standing 30 feet away when they have brightly coloured pyromaniacs standing 5 feet from them wrecking their night vision with fireballs.
Works much the same in Champions Online. Fire attacks draw aggro all out of proportion, while those with Munitions builds can stand 100 feet back and hit the baddie with Sniper Rifle.
And then there’s the Supernatural Bestial, up in baddie’s face with slashing claws and relying on Regeneration to stay alive…
Keep in mind that everyone’s considered the leader of their group hence why they were chosen, and while Conjurer has tried to simply take the role of leader of this particular action hero team-up doesn’t mean he actually IS the leader or the rest consider him to be so. Certainly Neuronet doesn’t look at him as leader.
Now while Conjurer is still being a twit and showboater he’s not wrong in thinking that being heroes the others can take care of themselves, and the questioning nature of his comment leaves room for anyone who needed it to say ‘I need some help over here Conjurer!’ and get it. If nothing else his own arrogance would demand he promptly aid a comrade in need to demonstrate his ‘superior’ skills.
Of course the real question is, where is Neuronet? Since we don’t see him he might end up being the one to actually deal with the threat, now that he knows where the challenge is and because their opponent may not be as protected against mental powers as he is against magical and mundane (i.e. physical) threats.
Probably not – when Rastov first spoke, it was “off-screen” while Neuronet was “on-screen” in the same panel, looking towards the voice. Given their relative positions in that panel, Neuronet should be just off-screen to the right in the last panel on this page. Julie might even be looking at him instead of the rock fingers.
If I have the spatial relationships right, last panel of the previous page, they were arranged thus:
Row 1 – 84, Phlogiston (Phologiston is on 84’s right, and they’re facing backward.)
Row 2 – Firedrake, Conjurer, Neuronet (Left to right and front to back–Firedrake is slightly ahead of Conjurer, and Neuronet is slightly behind.)
The voice comes from off-panel to the right, but could also be a bit behind Neuronet, who’s turning to look that way. If so, you’d expect Row 2 to turn around, reversing their apparent order, while 84 and Phlogiston would remain facing the same general direction. Panel 3 of this page bears this out, with 84 and Phlogiston in the back and Phlogiston to 84’s right, and with Firedrake now on Conjurer’s left and moving from behind him.
Assuming no sudden maneuvers on Neuronet’s part, that would place him off-panel to Conjurer’s left and slightly in front of him. The fact that he’s off-panel, however, suggests to me that something is going on with him.
Neuronet actually looks to me to be to Conjurer’s left (our right); I don’t think he shifted that far from the middle panel to the last panel. Especially given the direction he looks in (presumably towards Rastov) in the last panel.
I agree, though, that “The fact that he’s off-panel … suggests to me that something is going on with him.” Now we just have to wait to find out what; there’s not enough information available for fruitful speculation. I’d be happy if somebody could prove me wrong on that last point, though.
So, if after he defeats the group he gets his freedom, and his desires are at least not in opposition to that of the group (being as the purpose of the group is to get something for Veles and he wants vengeance against Koschei the Deathless), wouldn’t the easy solution be for the group to surrender to him, which gets him out of the way and lets them continue?
I doubt any of them would, since surrendering generally means Game Over. Surrender in super-hero comics in particular is also almost never the answer (other than as a delaying tactic during a hostage situation or to otherwise try and get villains to delay or stop some evil plan). The only time I can remember surrender being the right answer was when Quasar fought the personification of paradox, since what it embodied meant you defeat it by giving up to it since that’s paradoxical to it.
Remember that this pocket universe is small enough to throw a rock and hit someone standing behind you. Un-conditioned to the ‘I am the X-slot on the team’ mentality of the others, I’m betting 84 continues to shatter the molds the others are cast from.
Oh come on, Guys! The guy even laid heavy emphasis on the word “Defend” (rendering it both larger and bold to those of us who can’t hear him). And you two clowns respond by attacking him?
While it is true that Vince Lombardi said the best defense is a good offense, the two are not always interchangeable, and yet you have clearly mistaken one for the other.
Kudos to the party members who chose the “wait and see what happens next” approach.
What were the odds that this comic and Use Sword on Monster both have our main characters standing on the palm of a rocky hand that threatens to do them violence ?
I just looked over the comments and realized that I am the ONLY one who thought that Koschei sounds AWFULLY CLOSE to Kostchtchie. I wonder if it’s relevent…
Is the Eye that thing on Rastov’s Staff?
Nah, that’s probably just a Mystic Focusing Crystal(TM).
looks like one of Phlogiston’s knee pads.
Is it just me, or is there a page missing? We go from “Since you asked so nicely…” to an introductory diatribe.
No, it flows right. On the last page, the question was “what caused this [loop]?” and Rastov replied, “since you asked so nicely…” and continues today with “… the name you may know me by is….”
Why is that so wrong? they say “Who could have done this” and the voice off-screen says “since you asked so nicely” and then explains who he is in the next page. Sounds perfectly logical to me.
I don’t think we’ve skipped anything, but it is a bit jarring somehow.
I think it’s the camera angle. We go from a wide shot of all the heroes together with Rastov offscreen, then we go straight to a close-up of Rastov. We never get to see them together in one shot, so it doesn’t feel right when they’re talking.
It’s just you – this is the page you are looking for… Please read on…
…it’s just me, …this is the page I’m looking for, …I’ll read on
Still haven’t found the droids yet?
There were droids?
This happens often when there’s so much time in between pages. I often have to back up and re-read a few in a row to make sense of what is going on. If you read the prior page again, leading right into what he’s saying in panel 1, its not that bad. Just do that once or twice and it should flow just fine
Phlogiston appears to be looking at the fingers of rock that seem to be following the shape of Rastov’s hand while the Conjurer and Firedrake are attacking head on. But where is Neuronet? Perhaps he is going backwards on the path so that he can surprise Rastov from behind. In addition, 84 looks confused by something that she is seeing. I assume that we’ll see what it is in the next strip.
She might just be looking at the rock fingers popping up right next to her. Or you could be correct.
Looks like she is looking at the rock fingers to me.
… and once again, the wanna-be leaders rush into the obvious reaction rather than taking just a second or two to think.
Well he did tell them to defend themselves. Getting their powers going isn’t an unreasonable move.
Though now I think 84 should clock Mr. the Great with a rock through the loop, like before.
Sometimes, taking a second or two is a terrible idea. Like when you’re in the path of an oncoming train, for example.
That depends on who is standing there and if you are on the side of the train or not.
For or against this train for example.
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20150119#.VL6p6oGQGrU
Rostov the Great? As compared to what? According to the Wikipedia, Rostov-on-Don is now a much larger city. ^_^
Low level mage, who repeatedly got his but kicked enough that really powerful undead lich type decided to imprison him to teach him humility. Hmmm, sounds not so great to me. Most mages who style themselves “the great” usually are not.
So what you’re saying is, this is The Great and Powerful Rastov?
Seems legit!
Wonder how he’ll take finding out that the egg is now held by Veles…. ?
“Where have the years gone…? Where has my LIFE gone?! *followed by wild sobbing*
The “adults” in the room all break into super powered action, which may be Rostov’s plan. Meanwhile 84 is, once again, trying to decide if there is an alternative.
I do enjoy the paper cutouts that are the “more-experienced” supers.
It’s a hammer and nails situation. Generally, superpowers are a pretty good hammer, and I can see after a while you just reaching for it to solve pretty much any nail issue.
There is the consideration that a threat of imminent harm requires a quick response, and defensive action is not always optimal. But yes, it’s easy to start thinking of all situations as a nail if you have the power of a hammer.
Also, most of them are relatively squishy, except for 84. They have decent attack powers, but their powers have to be applied actively for defense. If there is a threat, bringing their powers up to full and attacking back is a good strategy for them: By shifting the momentum to their attacks, they don’t have to worry about defense as much.
84 on the other hand has high level passive defense. She can afford to take a hit or two at the start of a fight to see what’s really going on.
Exactly!
You should also consider that unlike the adults, 84 is still under her parents’ and teachers’ conditioning to not to get into fights, so of course she’s going to hesitate.
I think she’s getting better at that ever since she had a little chat with her inner superhero, back in Las Vegas.
well, if hand can make rock fingers move, then grab rock pinky and bend it backwards until wizard says “uncle”
Or just pick up a rock and throw it at his head. If it connects or not, it still disrupts his spellcasting ability and ability to concentrate long enough to clean his clock quite thoroughly.
If this guy’s puppet hand can affect his real hand, he’s an even lamer wizard than his appearance would suggest. ^^; Allowing sympathetic magic to backlash onto you is a beginner’s mistake.
Which is why, all you need to do is pelt him up side the head with a rock.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that 84 has already figured out that Rostov and his fingers of rockiness are illusions. 🙂
It’d be really funny if it turns out that the only time that the non-FISS supers were useful inside the egg was when it came time to simply hit things with stuff.
Yes, yes it would.
He states “The name you may know me by is Rastov the Great” (which the popular name given to a city and region in Russia) so it’s obviously not his real name – I think its likely that he is really Ivan Tsarevich (Russian: literally John the Prince) who is one of the main heroes of Russian folklore, usually a protagonist who is often engaged in a struggle with Koschei.
And again I am not inspired by the Conjuror’s “leadership”. He is acting like a knowledgeable lieutenant, but not a leader. His first reaction should have been to see to it the others were safe. THEN see to taking down the big bad. And no he does not get points because leaders of experienced teams have trusted their companions to handle things like this. THOSE leaders had worked with their team mates for years and knew what they could do and who would do what at any given time.
Fire-duck seems to be the reason I hid being a fire/fire character in City of Heroes. “My power is cool so I rush in!” (Making me think the original Leroy Jenkins was a Fire hero.)
Phlogiston put up a shield in reflex but is concerned on the fingers, and 84 seems momentarily distracted by them.
My hope is that the unseen psychic gets to show why he is a team leader here.
I loved those guys on CoH! They drew all the agro whilst I stayed back and arrow’d the boss mobs to death.
Very few spell-casters expect “Arrow to face”from the guy in drab unassuming clothing standing 30 feet away when they have brightly coloured pyromaniacs standing 5 feet from them wrecking their night vision with fireballs.
That was always fun. Everyone laughed at my soldier with the assault rifle build. Until I was the one picking off the baddies cleaning their clocks.
Works much the same in Champions Online. Fire attacks draw aggro all out of proportion, while those with Munitions builds can stand 100 feet back and hit the baddie with Sniper Rifle.
And then there’s the Supernatural Bestial, up in baddie’s face with slashing claws and relying on Regeneration to stay alive…
Keep in mind that everyone’s considered the leader of their group hence why they were chosen, and while Conjurer has tried to simply take the role of leader of this particular action hero team-up doesn’t mean he actually IS the leader or the rest consider him to be so. Certainly Neuronet doesn’t look at him as leader.
Now while Conjurer is still being a twit and showboater he’s not wrong in thinking that being heroes the others can take care of themselves, and the questioning nature of his comment leaves room for anyone who needed it to say ‘I need some help over here Conjurer!’ and get it. If nothing else his own arrogance would demand he promptly aid a comrade in need to demonstrate his ‘superior’ skills.
Of course the real question is, where is Neuronet? Since we don’t see him he might end up being the one to actually deal with the threat, now that he knows where the challenge is and because their opponent may not be as protected against mental powers as he is against magical and mundane (i.e. physical) threats.
Unless Neuronet is under an illusion to look like Rastov after Rastov possessed him…
Probably not – when Rastov first spoke, it was “off-screen” while Neuronet was “on-screen” in the same panel, looking towards the voice. Given their relative positions in that panel, Neuronet should be just off-screen to the right in the last panel on this page. Julie might even be looking at him instead of the rock fingers.
If I have the spatial relationships right, last panel of the previous page, they were arranged thus:
Row 1 – 84, Phlogiston (Phologiston is on 84’s right, and they’re facing backward.)
Row 2 – Firedrake, Conjurer, Neuronet (Left to right and front to back–Firedrake is slightly ahead of Conjurer, and Neuronet is slightly behind.)
The voice comes from off-panel to the right, but could also be a bit behind Neuronet, who’s turning to look that way. If so, you’d expect Row 2 to turn around, reversing their apparent order, while 84 and Phlogiston would remain facing the same general direction. Panel 3 of this page bears this out, with 84 and Phlogiston in the back and Phlogiston to 84’s right, and with Firedrake now on Conjurer’s left and moving from behind him.
Assuming no sudden maneuvers on Neuronet’s part, that would place him off-panel to Conjurer’s left and slightly in front of him. The fact that he’s off-panel, however, suggests to me that something is going on with him.
Clarification: I meant Neuronet would be off-panel to the left of Conjurer from our point of view, which would be on Conjurer’s right, not his left.
Neuronet actually looks to me to be to Conjurer’s left (our right); I don’t think he shifted that far from the middle panel to the last panel. Especially given the direction he looks in (presumably towards Rastov) in the last panel.
I agree, though, that “The fact that he’s off-panel … suggests to me that something is going on with him.” Now we just have to wait to find out what; there’s not enough information available for fruitful speculation. I’d be happy if somebody could prove me wrong on that last point, though.
One leader born in battle, coming up.
So, if after he defeats the group he gets his freedom, and his desires are at least not in opposition to that of the group (being as the purpose of the group is to get something for Veles and he wants vengeance against Koschei the Deathless), wouldn’t the easy solution be for the group to surrender to him, which gets him out of the way and lets them continue?
Good point!
Well the aggressive two won’t come up with that one.
I doubt any of them would, since surrendering generally means Game Over. Surrender in super-hero comics in particular is also almost never the answer (other than as a delaying tactic during a hostage situation or to otherwise try and get villains to delay or stop some evil plan). The only time I can remember surrender being the right answer was when Quasar fought the personification of paradox, since what it embodied meant you defeat it by giving up to it since that’s paradoxical to it.
Remember that this pocket universe is small enough to throw a rock and hit someone standing behind you. Un-conditioned to the ‘I am the X-slot on the team’ mentality of the others, I’m betting 84 continues to shatter the molds the others are cast from.
Go 84!
Oh come on, Guys! The guy even laid heavy emphasis on the word “Defend” (rendering it both larger and bold to those of us who can’t hear him). And you two clowns respond by attacking him?
While it is true that Vince Lombardi said the best defense is a good offense, the two are not always interchangeable, and yet you have clearly mistaken one for the other.
Kudos to the party members who chose the “wait and see what happens next” approach.
What were the odds that this comic and Use Sword on Monster both have our main characters standing on the palm of a rocky hand that threatens to do them violence ?
I noticed the same thing but only posted on USoM because that’s where I was at the time I noticed.
I just looked over the comments and realized that I am the ONLY one who thought that Koschei sounds AWFULLY CLOSE to Kostchtchie. I wonder if it’s relevent…