Forums: Index > Page-by-Page > 2010-09-13 (Monday)
Discussion for comic for 2010-09-13 (Monday) ✣ .
"choff" --Grapnel gun 09:50, May 20, 1892
Top web comic? Please Vote for Girl Genius.
That was confusing she jumps down a hole then shoots up ? well hopefully they will now catch up and fight. Agathahetrodyne 03:39, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
- I believe that was to slow her fall (she fell at least a couple of stories) so she wouldn't splat. Notice that even Zeetha had to roll down some rubble to a stop, while Higgs is (seemingly super-humanly) able to land flat on his feet with nothing but his legs to absorb the shock. Also, it was likely by aiming the gun slightly forward (and up) that she was able to swing forward so swiftly past the rubble pile. I'm a little confused by the rubble though -- it would seem to imply that this is all still below the Great Movement Chamber, and the rubble heap shown is the top of the rubble pile plugging the hole down to the secret lab. If they are above the Great Movement Chamber, you'd think the rubble would fall further down and through the vast Chamber. --Undomelin 06:48, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
Oooohh, giant lava lamp in panel 1. Shiny! Nfgusedautoparts 04:04, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
- That's more like the sort of thing I'd do as a spark -- create the most ginormous and dangerous lava lamp on the planet. And show them, show them all. And laugh maniacally. --Zerogee 14:15, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
- don't forget to use real lava.^^ Finn MacCool 22:27, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
- Definitely! Make a very handy reserve for those lava traps too! --Zerogee 02:22, September 14, 2010 (UTC)
- don't forget to use real lava.^^ Finn MacCool 22:27, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
Something that picture hints, is that Higgs is a construct. The way he lands is the method of someone with EXTREME confidence that his legs will not break. Could he be the creation of the heterodyne boys? Or what?
BTW: Zola jumps, then shoots to arrest her fall...
The lava lamp probably contains radioactive ooze
And I almost can't BELEIVE that Zeetha made that jump at full run, an amazon should be confident, but not mindlessly jump after her foes, particually a spark who may have critters at the bottom of that hole.125.239.7.212 06:04, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
- I still think that Higgs is actually a "failed" prototype Jaeger - he got most of the goods except the terrifying appearance and the bloodlust/love of fighting. This would make him hundreds of years old -- explaining why the "real" Castle knew him but was quite surprised to see him, why he seems to know so much Heterodyne history personally, and why he was all healed up and drinking in the secret Jaeger bar. --Zerogee 14:26, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
- The danger of letting letting Zola get away outweighed the danger of following her. Also, there's no evidence (that I'm aware of) that Zola is a Spark. As Zerogee mused on Friday, it seems likely that just possessing the consciousness of a Spark is not enough to give one The Spark, which would explain why whatever Zola was trying to do just now blew up in her hand -- she may possesses the memory of how to build weapons and clanks, but she lacks the actual faculties necessary to perform the delicate work.
- This may tie into something quite interesting about the GG world. You may have long noticed that while Sparks can make marvelously advanced creations that vastly exceed the current capabilities of our own modern technology (and apparently have been able to do so for as long as the Spark has manifested itself), the general populace remains in fairly primitive conditions, lacking the conveniences we enjoy in our modern world. I believe the reason for this goes beyond the simple explanation that "Well, this is supposed to be a steampunk or ("gaslight") universe."
- It seems that in the GG world, all industry has always been centered around the activities of Sparks. Smart but normal technologically-minded people like Dr. Merlot always get stuck working for Sparks ✣ . Sparks are madly driven to create wonders, but they have little-to-no inclination to create technology that is easily reproducible by non-Sparks. Their mad contraptions and bizarre experiments are so ad hoc that only other sparks can understand them, let alone duplicate them. The concept of mass production of anything more complicated than a wrench may be foreign to the people of the GG world, because they rely so heavily on the works of Sparks. Thus, barring any massive disruption, the GG world two hundred years later would likely look about the same as it does at the time of this story, just as brilliant works of the distant past never led to what would look to us like a modern lifestyle, with cars, PCs, telephones, etc. When you combine this with the destruction and havoc wrought by warring Sparks and their reckless creations, it adds up to one conclusion: Othar is right ✣ . As spectacularly fun as they may be, Sparks hold the world back. What's less clear is if his plan could even work. While The Spark seems to be heritable, it appears to manifest spontaneously, as well. Othar would be better served trying to discover the true source of The Spark (an endeavor that, coincidentally, he almost aided ✣ , albeit involuntarily). It seems to me that only then could he practically, once and for all, set about (ominous drum crescendo please) extinguishing it. --Undomelin 16:08, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
- I think the ad hoc nature of sparky works DEFINES what a spark does and is. A spark thinks in the cracks of nature, in the inbetween spaces of rational and irrational thought. Remember Agatha and the Coffee Engine -- she got all the tools and custom parts designed, but that was almost trivial compared to what she then did with them (and getting it all to somehow explode several times was, I suppose, nature's protests at being warped -- this seemed to be standard operating procedure for a proper Heterodyne spark by the people's and Carson's reactions). Just having the pieces and tools won't give you the sparky creation -- that's the structure of thought that creates that. Lu probably has no idea about that yet -- all her "heavy lifting" in Sturmhalten was in Agatha's mind: perhaps THE most powerful spark in existence. --Zerogee 02:43, September 14, 2010 (UTC)
- Nicely put. And that's an interesting idea, that Lucrezia, for all her genius, might have failed to anticipate just how limiting a non-spark mind is. It also raises questions about Lunevka's possible limitations -- the Muses, while inspirational, aren't known to possess The Spark themselves. It would seem a rather big issue for Lucrezia to overlook, however. Time will tell... --Undomelin 06:20, September 14, 2010 (UTC)
- The overlooking of certain crucial gotchas seems to often be the critical weakness of the spark hyperfocus (in fact, it could even be considered a "corollary" of sorts) -- even Gil showed this when his father's soldiers were about to shoot him - and of course, the infamous Falling Machine, with both Agatha and Gil "redesigning" the engine in mid-air. Also, remember that the Castle said that Lu was never very interested in theory. Finally, the master plan was always for Agatha to be the perfect vessel for Lu to download herself into - alternatives were never really considered at the time apparently. Then there was the round the clock redesign of the Summoning Engine - not the ideal circumstances for deeper thought and contemplation of limitations. --Zerogee 07:14, September 14, 2010 (UTC)
- Nicely put. And that's an interesting idea, that Lucrezia, for all her genius, might have failed to anticipate just how limiting a non-spark mind is. It also raises questions about Lunevka's possible limitations -- the Muses, while inspirational, aren't known to possess The Spark themselves. It would seem a rather big issue for Lucrezia to overlook, however. Time will tell... --Undomelin 06:20, September 14, 2010 (UTC)
- I think the ad hoc nature of sparky works DEFINES what a spark does and is. A spark thinks in the cracks of nature, in the inbetween spaces of rational and irrational thought. Remember Agatha and the Coffee Engine -- she got all the tools and custom parts designed, but that was almost trivial compared to what she then did with them (and getting it all to somehow explode several times was, I suppose, nature's protests at being warped -- this seemed to be standard operating procedure for a proper Heterodyne spark by the people's and Carson's reactions). Just having the pieces and tools won't give you the sparky creation -- that's the structure of thought that creates that. Lu probably has no idea about that yet -- all her "heavy lifting" in Sturmhalten was in Agatha's mind: perhaps THE most powerful spark in existence. --Zerogee 02:43, September 14, 2010 (UTC)
Von Zinzer and Snaug didn't follow? BTW I'm getting worried about Snaug. What was that about "Off you go girl, but no permanent damage" ... "Twist my arm" - "Soon enough" ... "They're crazy" - "I think it's romantic" ... "She will die" ... "He's very supportive of my needs" (which isn't "good"). I think Moloch had better watch out. Brrokk 12:38, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
- Reminds me of the Castle not wanting Agatha to say that it did "good". --Zerogee 14:26, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
- Von Zinzer and Snaug have no quick way of jumping down. They don't have Zeetha's athletic prowess, nor the nigh-indestructibility of Higgs. But yeah, Snaug has been making a lot of odd cryptic comments to and regarding Von Zinzer. It remains to be seen what the steps are to the secret mating dance of the chestnut-crested minion (Assistens snaugius), which may or may not be a species of loon. --Undomelin 18:49, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
Atually the Lava Lamp reminds me of the bubbles used in the Prisoner to track down escapees . Agathahetrodyne 14:36, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
Orange alert! Bwahahaha! I LMAO when the Department of Homeland Security came out with "Orange Alerts." Billy Catringer 05:25, September 14, 2010 (UTC)
- Huh? We're alerted in the what now? --Undomelin 06:28, September 14, 2010 (UTC)
On reflection, i think we don't fully understand the previous panel (explosion, "Blast!"). if Zola was really hurt (i'd consider losing a finger really hurt), she's certainly not behaving like it in the aftermath. Nfgusedautoparts 16:16, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
- I'm pretty sure that Zola has a curled right pinkie and a small, painful burn on the web of her right thumb rather than a lost finger in that panel. That's not only the way the drawing looks to me, but much more consistent with the way she is acting. Von Zinzer and Snaug now have a chance to slide down the rope, pick up a nice Choff Gun for free, or both, if they want to. They would be entering the room at just about the last panel, this page, I think. Datkhound 20:13, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
- I think the "blast" was in reaction to seeing who showed up when she yelled. Argadi 23:38, September 13, 2010 (UTC)
Is no one going to mention Higgs' expression in the last pannel? Scaed 1:07, Sept 14 2010 (UTC)
- Higgs' expressions on this whole page are interesting -- he's not at all in mellow mode right now. I think the last panel expression is due to Pinky almost making him lose his hat - if he's the proto-Jaeger I think he is, that means war. Pinky's expressions and actions are interesting too - she didn't even try to posture, bluff, or mess about - she just scrammed! We know she's good at fighting, but she knows (most likely Lu's knowledge - Lu recognized what Zeetha is; does Lu also know what Higgs is?) that she's no match for either of these. --Zerogee 02:03, September 14, 2010 (UTC)