“Striking Sparks” — Page Forty-Nine
Awesome! Now we can hang ourselves before we burn to death!
But this, of course, is just Stage One of Max’s rapidly-forming plan.
You will notice that after the earlier discussion of certain pulp heroes, our indulgent artist has ensured that Holbeck’s shirt is indeed getting appropriately shredded and his skin tone is developing a bronze hue. This is just for fun; Max is still the hero of the story, but Holbeck is earning a distinct Supporting Actor role. And alert pulp fans will notice my choice of moniker for the previously unnamed aide. (I would have used “Dent” but Two-Face has for the most part taken possession of that surname in illustrated literature.)
Sure, we’ve got our specific story to tell, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun along the way.
Speaking of which — New Vote Incentive! Safe for work – hey, it’s squeaky clean! – but with something for everyone this time!
And remember, all previous Vote Incentives get high-rezzed, print-optimized, and made available on the Artist’s Donation Page!
Click the link to the right to read more!
Bobservations
A Sudden Change
Holbeck’s reaction to the startling appearance of the rope is somewhat similar to my own reaction when I woke up to discover that it was an hour earlier than I thought it was. I use my phone, Ellen, as a bedside clock, and of course Ellen, being much smarter than I am, knew that Daylight Savings Time had ended and had adjusted herself accordingly.
I was vaguely aware that this would be happening, but it still caught me off guard. My various computers also had made the adjustments on their own, and hopefully this comic has updated promptly at midnight EST as it was supposed to. But I myself felt like I had missed a step somewhere.
Well, of course, part of the extra hour is used to wander around the house finding those various clocks apparently manufactured back in the Stone Age using quartz technology and trying to remember what obscure pattern of buttons must be pressed to adjust their displays to reflect the new “correct” hour. You’d think I could just blow this part off, but no – it turns out that the entire family still uses the clock on the microwave as a primary timepiece, especially when they are headed for work. So if I’m going to adjust that one, I may as well do the oven and coffeemaker and the “antique” chiming mantlepiece clock with its cherrywood finish and swinging pendulum and battery-powered internal quartz mechanism manufactured by Seiko.
But I myself am not so easy to adjust, and I know from experience that the dogs – whose own internal clocks know Suppertime to the exact second – will find the unexpected delay in dinner extremely distressing. So I may not understand it, but I will just accept that for some reason this fragmentary bit of worldwide jet-lag is somehow a Good Thing, even though I notice that Arizona has somehow managed to survive without it. Maybe the phones they have in Arizona are just not as clever as Ellen.
All I know is extra hour just showed up in my morning, and like our trapped victims here in the building, the sudden appearance seems like a good thing, but it’s not quite clear what is supposed to be done with it.
Yet.
Stay tuned!
— Bob out
That really is some cheap office furniture. I’m pretty sure even particle board would have held together better then that.
> Awesome! Now we can hang ourselves before we burn to death!
Always have an exit option!
I love my webcomics when they teach Best Practice …
nah with the amount of smoke they will suffocate before the burn
I just had a radical notion, which I’m sure is completely different than where you guys are going to take the story. You know the (sadly real) story about a guy demonstrating the strength of the windows in a high-rise by throwing himself against one, and it popped out and he fell to his death. Max could repeated throw himself against the bulletproof window until it pops out, and then he gets teleported back as he’s falling. But trying to adjust for an accelerating falling body might throw Madison’s momentum compensation system into fits!
I would think that the bullet proof windows are in the current plans that were downloaded. Max and team would have thought of some way to get it “open.”
How would be the question, some kind of explosive? detonating it would be the problem (no electronic detonator) but could still be done. Some kind of acid, or other dissolving compound? maybe something in two components that Max will have to mix on sight.
And speaking as an Arizonan, I don’t understand why the rest of the country still uses daylight savings time.
Speaking as someone from the rest of the country, I don’t understand it either!
Bob, off topic but I just got your bullet hole pack. Can’t believe what a deal it is. After trying to make ballistic hit refs with a rock hammer and a car door the real thing’s a whole lot better.
Thanks, Joe! Hope Pepperpot finds them useful!
This is what happens when you order tempered glass panels from Nokia.
Alternate title for the vote art: ‘The suds that bind.’
Sadly you can tell these guys have never watched someone fitting windows. If someone has a Swiss army knife or a Leatherman you can just pry the beading out of the edge of the frame. That’ll let you remove the armoured pane without resorting to a battering ram.
For the purposes of this comic, Max-the-artist attempted to show they were actually embedded in the masonry. Not deep, but they’re not coming out without a concrete saw. After all, being ballistic glass, it wasn’t likely they’d need replacement.
I was really hoping nobody would look that closely! Hope I’m not being graded 🙂
Actually, ballistic glass is pretty perishable. UV light (of which there is plenty in SoCal, as you well know) causes the polymer to degrade. So does high or low temperatures (exact range classified as a trade secret), certain chemicals, including ones often found in smog and some other things. And ballistic glass doesn’t handle lateral sheer well, because of how it is constructed (which means earthquakes).
Oh, and the polymer also degrades with time as it dries out.
For story purposes, it’s probably enough to say it was replaced within the last decade.