It’s not teleportation; Ron can see, access, and follow connections between places aside from how we usually do it in reality. If everyone has to walk or drive to and from places on ground level, Ron has a subway only he can use.
All teleportation is a subway only the teleporter can use.
I will admit that Nightcrawler would be more interesting if the dimension he moved through had been a series of subway stations instead of whatever it actually was. He appears at a station, reads the posters, gets on a train, looks at a map, and uses the connections until he gets there. He carries a small paperback book to pass the time. When he arrives, he gets off, vanishes, and reappears at his real-world destination with no perceivable time having passed. Unfortunately, this sequence is even less exciting in comic form than it is here, so it would never show up in the stories anyway.
I rather liked Blue Devil’s shortcut from LA to Metropolis, just by walking through the ‘House of Weirdness’ (whose LA doorway was coincidentally in his own closet; that’s the sort of thing that being a ‘weirdness magnet’ does to you!), back in the second half of his original series…
Well, yes, but- to be clear- I chose the subway metaphor because Ron sort of “takes a tunnel” to travel. That’s opposed to just disappearing at his origin and instantaneously reappearing at his destination the way Charles Brigman’s teleportation works.
That’s what I suspect is why any presumed anti-teleporter system that’s part of the EDL Tower’s security doesn’t work on him.
Agreed, mind-bending stories that don’t date due to changing tech. Now those were ambivalent characters. There was a comment not long before he passed that he had another Corwin idea… The Betancourt sequels never got the tension and mood right.
1. They have the chutzpah to think that they’re the greatest heroes ever, everything they do is Right and Good. They’re close enough to fool themselves, but that’s just because they have a lot of power.
2. Their preferred son has a major chaos disadvantage as a fundamental part of his power set. While they handled that by setting him up with a chaos sink, he operated for some time without it, and they probably didn’t take the time to root out all the problems that caused before they got the chaos sink set up “correctly.”
3. They did such a poor job with the chaos containment that multiple people noticed the presence of the chaos sink from outside their base. It’s therefore almost certainly been having a partial field day with their security system and stuff.
4. Things didn’t get out willy-nilly like that. Toby specifically enabled Dynamode and Moonshadow to get out with the chaos orb. Lester fell outside while Toby was holding the opening for Moonshadow. Ron’s able to get out because his powers work like that, and the Powers aren’t even aware Ron’s current power set *could* exist, so they haven’t even attempted to have their base protected from it.
Well, if they’re taking a closer look at the missing kids from the party, then Sarah is missing, ergo, she’s the fourth kid. It doesn’t matter what form she’s in, just as long as Sarah (the kid) is gone.
Zodon was invited but did intrude into the higher security areas.
I assume Sarah had a plan to avoid being followed like leave the wrist tracker inside which could also stop her being missing.
That was indeed what I was thinking about Zodon, Faust.
Did some browsing through the panels leading up to this. Right after Cecil drops through a vent duct and lands on top of Zodon, they’re discovered by Pistonic who reports back “Two intruders located!” So Cecil and Zodon were both identified as intruders at that time. So, “child intruder” plus “four other children [who] have managed what we cannot” could include any of:
– Moon Shadow
– Tyler (Ultima thinks they’re separate)
– Zodon
– Cecil
– Flea
– Ron
– Sarah
Given that Ultima was specifically referring to the kids getting out through the defenses, though, I have to agree that the “child intruder” reference probably means Moon Shadow. The “four other children” would include Ron, Cecil, and Flea, obviously. There’s no indication that Zodon got out, so that leaves Tyler and Sarah, and since half the people in the tower are being flagged by the computer as Tyler they can’t be sure where he is, leaving Sarah as the most likely #4.
If they weren’t then I’d assume that he would think he was doing right and just need to explain what was happening. His opinion of what’s right and his explanation may not have genuine merit though he likely believes in his actions.
I just had a thought come to me: what if everything that’s happening is a result of Toby’s powers? The tampering with them was to ensure that every action he took would have an equally undermining counter-reaction to result in a zero net sum. So Toby in making the decision he did would cause a tilt towards Order so his powers set up a domino action that would result in the Chaos Sphere ending up creating his nemesis, the Chaos King? That way he’d have created a counter-agent to his becoming an agent of Order, someone who was an agent of Chaos.
love this series, but due to moving had to give up all the collectors volumes Id been saving. now this online one page per week is my only fix… than an MLP.
OK, I just looked at the home page, and he’s on a road trip that’s just ending. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m breathing easier. I worry when people who are as usually dependable have a hic-cup in their schedule. (I still remember the guy doing the Dr. Who crossovers who just STOPPED running the Dr. Who/James Bond strip! It’s still dead!) Anyway, I hope he had a good time, even taking into account the car key story and stopping off in Las Vegas with a plague of grass-hoppers! (Hey, maybe the Flea came back to town! 🙂 )
That’s a relief. Last time a dependable author/artist didn’t update on time for me it was because the author/artist for Gene Catlow had died unexpectedly in his home and nobody knew about it until people who could check on him realized something was wrong because the comic didn’t update on time. Sadly it looked like he was in the home stretch for tying everything up and finishing the final story arcs for the comic that we’ll never see now.
Non-Comic Fan: “Why would this ‘Justice League’ have Batman not only as a member, but a founding on at that? He has no powers.”
Comic Fan: “Because the majority of Superheroes don’t have 2 brain-cells to rub together and need someone who actually uses their head for something other than a hat-rack. That’s Batman in this case.”
Non-Comic Fan: “So superpowers cause brain damage and/or retardation?”
Comic Fan: ” No… Um…. Yeah, it looks like it.”
🙂
I like how Flea describes it.
You fools! You have your security set to ‘Child Proof’! That is why no adult can open it!
It’s not teleportation; Ron can see, access, and follow connections between places aside from how we usually do it in reality. If everyone has to walk or drive to and from places on ground level, Ron has a subway only he can use.
All teleportation is a subway only the teleporter can use.
I will admit that Nightcrawler would be more interesting if the dimension he moved through had been a series of subway stations instead of whatever it actually was. He appears at a station, reads the posters, gets on a train, looks at a map, and uses the connections until he gets there. He carries a small paperback book to pass the time. When he arrives, he gets off, vanishes, and reappears at his real-world destination with no perceivable time having passed. Unfortunately, this sequence is even less exciting in comic form than it is here, so it would never show up in the stories anyway.
I rather liked Blue Devil’s shortcut from LA to Metropolis, just by walking through the ‘House of Weirdness’ (whose LA doorway was coincidentally in his own closet; that’s the sort of thing that being a ‘weirdness magnet’ does to you!), back in the second half of his original series…
^_^
Well, yes, but- to be clear- I chose the subway metaphor because Ron sort of “takes a tunnel” to travel. That’s opposed to just disappearing at his origin and instantaneously reappearing at his destination the way Charles Brigman’s teleportation works.
That’s what I suspect is why any presumed anti-teleporter system that’s part of the EDL Tower’s security doesn’t work on him.
So…Ron’s walking the Pattern?
Wow, that takes me back. Might have to re-read the Amber series.
Agreed, mind-bending stories that don’t date due to changing tech. Now those were ambivalent characters. There was a comment not long before he passed that he had another Corwin idea… The Betancourt sequels never got the tension and mood right.
Not so much walking the Pattern as shifting shadows to get from here to there, I think.
I’m pretty sure he’s negotiating the Logrus, rather than walking the Pattern.
I kinda wanna know exactly what those pictures were…
But he does have a point, how is their security so crap that things get out willy-nilly!?
1. They have the chutzpah to think that they’re the greatest heroes ever, everything they do is Right and Good. They’re close enough to fool themselves, but that’s just because they have a lot of power.
2. Their preferred son has a major chaos disadvantage as a fundamental part of his power set. While they handled that by setting him up with a chaos sink, he operated for some time without it, and they probably didn’t take the time to root out all the problems that caused before they got the chaos sink set up “correctly.”
3. They did such a poor job with the chaos containment that multiple people noticed the presence of the chaos sink from outside their base. It’s therefore almost certainly been having a partial field day with their security system and stuff.
4. Things didn’t get out willy-nilly like that. Toby specifically enabled Dynamode and Moonshadow to get out with the chaos orb. Lester fell outside while Toby was holding the opening for Moonshadow. Ron’s able to get out because his powers work like that, and the Powers aren’t even aware Ron’s current power set *could* exist, so they haven’t even attempted to have their base protected from it.
5. Rule of funny.
I mean…the original “Twilight Zone” was in black and white, so that really doesn’t seem to fit.
He could have refered to the SONG by Golden Earring.
I wonder if contact with that “distortion field” or whatever it is, is what triggered Ron’s new powers in the first place?
Four??
Tyler/Moon Shadow plus these three.
No, he says “child/intruder” who I assume is Moon Shadow (I wonder if they even care where Tyler is at this moment) and FOUR others.
#4 is Sarah/Dynamode.
Right now they think Sarah is an adult.
Zodon got through the defences and they saw Moonshadow + 3 leave through the shield.
I had assumed the child intruder was Zodon, who breached the chaos sphere’s containment, although you + Stephen may be correct.
Well, if they’re taking a closer look at the missing kids from the party, then Sarah is missing, ergo, she’s the fourth kid. It doesn’t matter what form she’s in, just as long as Sarah (the kid) is gone.
And Zodon was NOT the child intruder, he was there as an invited guest, as said long ago.
Zodon was invited but did intrude into the higher security areas.
I assume Sarah had a plan to avoid being followed like leave the wrist tracker inside which could also stop her being missing.
That was indeed what I was thinking about Zodon, Faust.
Did some browsing through the panels leading up to this. Right after Cecil drops through a vent duct and lands on top of Zodon, they’re discovered by Pistonic who reports back “Two intruders located!” So Cecil and Zodon were both identified as intruders at that time. So, “child intruder” plus “four other children [who] have managed what we cannot” could include any of:
– Moon Shadow
– Tyler (Ultima thinks they’re separate)
– Zodon
– Cecil
– Flea
– Ron
– Sarah
Given that Ultima was specifically referring to the kids getting out through the defenses, though, I have to agree that the “child intruder” reference probably means Moon Shadow. The “four other children” would include Ron, Cecil, and Flea, obviously. There’s no indication that Zodon got out, so that leaves Tyler and Sarah, and since half the people in the tower are being flagged by the computer as Tyler they can’t be sure where he is, leaving Sarah as the most likely #4.
Wait Last Place has relatives. Does she mean Toby and Tyler? If not are any of them decent people?
Well, we know that they’re related to the Nuclear Family, at least.
O yea thanks for reminding me.
Susie seems pretty good. I’m not sure about her parents.
The Powers/Marlockes are related to the Nuclear Family? Where was this mentioned?
What I know is that Julie/84 is related to the Nuclear Family: 11182011.
They may all even have the same last name of Finster: 12232011.
Ah, but were they photoshopped? And by whom? Been conditioned have a low opinion of a lot of the adult nonteacher superheros in this universe….
If they weren’t then I’d assume that he would think he was doing right and just need to explain what was happening. His opinion of what’s right and his explanation may not have genuine merit though he likely believes in his actions.
And by “classic”, does he mean the B&W TV series hosted by Rod Serling, or one (or more) of the movies from 1983 to 2002?
Of course, when this series started, “new” might have meant the more recent of those movies…
I just had a thought come to me: what if everything that’s happening is a result of Toby’s powers? The tampering with them was to ensure that every action he took would have an equally undermining counter-reaction to result in a zero net sum. So Toby in making the decision he did would cause a tilt towards Order so his powers set up a domino action that would result in the Chaos Sphere ending up creating his nemesis, the Chaos King? That way he’d have created a counter-agent to his becoming an agent of Order, someone who was an agent of Chaos.
The action is centered around the leaky chaos orb, creating it is one of the first domino stones.
There might have been a different chain of action, but probably involving even more chaos.
love this series, but due to moving had to give up all the collectors volumes Id been saving. now this online one page per week is my only fix… than an MLP.
A month between pages? I hope everything is alright.
I agree.
OK, I just looked at the home page, and he’s on a road trip that’s just ending. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m breathing easier. I worry when people who are as usually dependable have a hic-cup in their schedule. (I still remember the guy doing the Dr. Who crossovers who just STOPPED running the Dr. Who/James Bond strip! It’s still dead!) Anyway, I hope he had a good time, even taking into account the car key story and stopping off in Las Vegas with a plague of grass-hoppers! (Hey, maybe the Flea came back to town! 🙂 )
That’s a relief. Last time a dependable author/artist didn’t update on time for me it was because the author/artist for Gene Catlow had died unexpectedly in his home and nobody knew about it until people who could check on him realized something was wrong because the comic didn’t update on time. Sadly it looked like he was in the home stretch for tying everything up and finishing the final story arcs for the comic that we’ll never see now.
Non-Comic Fan: “Why would this ‘Justice League’ have Batman not only as a member, but a founding on at that? He has no powers.”
Comic Fan: “Because the majority of Superheroes don’t have 2 brain-cells to rub together and need someone who actually uses their head for something other than a hat-rack. That’s Batman in this case.”
Non-Comic Fan: “So superpowers cause brain damage and/or retardation?”
Comic Fan: ” No… Um…. Yeah, it looks like it.”
🙂
Super powers are a working example of the maxim; “When all you have is a hammer, every problem is a nail!”