08/25/2013
Today’s installment is based on any number of 90’s comics (usually by the infamously overpaid artist and target of internet fanboys’ wrath, Rob Liefeld) where characters are pointlessly jumping out of helicopters/jets/flying crafts in overblown splash panels. I always wondered how they landed without breaking something (although, if you believe today’s comic, maybe they didn’t land so gracefully).
Whatever. The war has begun!
I love how Hypnausea can’t actually come up with any contribution to make other than awkwardly stand there and watch. Also, who’s flying the helicopter?
Babirus is flying the helicopter, although he might have taken them a little lower to avoid an accident like this one!
THAT looked painful. I also always wondered how they never managed to break anything in the retarded looking leap-downs. I mean, a simple parkour tumble would have done a lot of good from low altitudes, but enough space to dump a 10 man team would cause seriously damaged legs.
So let’s see…… Toxsick laying into people, Throgor charging to cause mayhem, Tigadactyl getting airborne, Scapula recovering momentum and……. Hypnausea wondering what to do. Yep, looks like the team’s back at typical levels of efficiency! Kick some desert hippie butt!
Tox’s eyes in the first panel freak me out, and the toxic fog coming off Throgor’s arm in the last is a beautiful touch!. An excellent job as usual, Mr. Casserly!
There’s bound to be a LOT of dust kicked up in a desert ruckus (it reminds me of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas when the sandstorm turns Johnny Depp’s beer into a ‘dirt-shake’), so putting in those clouds at least saves me the trouble on drawing extra crowd people!
The crash landing may have been pretty painful, but at this point I think the gang has endured a lot worse in their respective careers. The nice thing about losing a lot of battles is that you become pretty pain-tolerant after a while (assuming you survive).
Ah yes….. Bombastar would have landed hulk-style and been fine, had he managed to survive his head explosion issue……
Was kinda wondering that myself, since Throgor and Tigdactyl are the only two I could see doing that – Throgor can just thump into the ground without injury and Tigdactyl can just glide down. Of course, why’d he end up in the pile then? Heh.
The others, not so much – especially Toxsick, with all that gear he carries. Though considering how relatively good he looked after getting pounded by The Coven – I’d say he’s a lot sturdier than he looks!
Tigadactyl probably landed first, safe and sound, but didn’t bother to look up and got flattened by the rest of them. Seems to make more sense than any other cockamanie theory I can come up with!
Toxsick can take a hit, and here’s hoping he can take many more.
At least Hypnausea has the decency to look momentarily embarrassed.
This is probably the last time I use the words “Hypnausea” and decency in the same sentence.
Crow: “Isn’t that an oxymoron?”
Mike: “It’s some kind of moron!”
I love swiping riffs from MST3K for comments.
Unless you count describing him by saying “Hypnausea is a tasteless violation of all facets of common decency”.
Couldn’t Tigadactyl fly?
And how did Toxsick got to land on top of the others if he was the first to jump?
And how did he get convinced into jumping off in the fi-?
(Offscreen voice.) IT’S A CARTOON!
Yes, Tigadactyl can fly. Toxsick, seeing the ground approaching, fired a gas burst that elevated him slightly, or at least enough to put himself on top of the others (hey, it’s all I got right now). He jumped off because he was impatient and wanted to get it over with.
Question cartoons, people! It’s time we learned just how the hell Bugs Bunny knows how to speak English!
He’s a representative of the hyper-advanced mole people civilization?
The Mole People would have tried to enslave the bugger, but Bugs would have won. He ALWAYS won. Bastard.
Attack! Attack!
Originality, thy name is Scapula, eh?
How did they manage without breaking anything? From the look of Tigadactyl in panels 1 and 2, he probably figured out what the others were doing (before any of them did) and glided underneath to break their falls (and possibly several of his own vertebrae) but hey, he probably wouldn’t be that selfless otherwise he’d be a super-hero…
Maybe they DID break something, but are just resilient to pain by now and carried on like good sports?
Tigadactyl may not be as outright hostile as the rest of the crew, but I doubt he’d take a bullet or a crash-landing for them any time soon!
DEATH FROM ABOVE!!
wait, no…
DEATH IN AN UNDIGNIFIED PILE!
In any shape, form, or tense, DEATH! DEEEEEEAAAATH! DEATH DEATH DEATH!
Crow: “Eat death Servo!”
Tom: “Eat munchy crunchy chocolatey cocoa death Crow!”
Crow: “Enjoy a nice serving of brown betty with death…but mostly eat death!”
All right, it looks like the MiSTies are coming out in full-force!
“Normal view, norrrmaaalll vieeeww, NOORRRRMAAAAL VIIIEEEEEWWW!”
You know what we should be seeing out here on the high desert?
Sandstorm! SANDSTORM!
DEEP HURTING! DEEEEEEEEP HURRRRRTING!
Push the button, Frank!
….smooth like industrial sandpaper, shouldn’t hypnasya have the upper hand here? so many drugged out of their mind people 😀
He’d actually be the most powerless here – all his tricks rely on bizarre behavior and strange narcotics. Trying to use those here would be totally redundant, like trying to set fire on fire.
VERY well said!
We’ll see what Hypnausea does this week, but for here and now he doesn’t seem to know which side he should be on!
Also, did anyone else notice the naked woman in the bottom-right corner of the third panel?
…wait a minute. My mistake. I only just noticed that almost ALL those people are naked or half-naked.
There’s not a lot of decency rules at Burning Man, or so I’ve heard (maybe there’s a special section quarantined off for people who want to keep their knickers on).
His comment made me scroll back and look… and I’m disappointed that we don’t see anything.
Can’t be Liefeld, some of them have feet…
Liefeld’s characters have feet! Just deformed, vaguely diamond-shaped, tiny-sized, useless for supporting the human body, pointlessly standing on one toe, crummy little feet!
But they have feet!
Liefeld’s characters have feet! Just deformed, vaguely diamond-shaped, tiny-sized, useless for supporting the human body, pointlessly standing on one toe, crummy little feet!
…whoa. Deja vu!
Man, you’re just hearing them going “uff!” in panel two. Good choice to not write it out.
Tox’s face in the pile is just perfect. I had to laugh at that quite a bit. And then there came Hyp in panel three…
My hat is off (well, not as off as Hyps obviously, but you get the idea.). You got yourself some really good comedy here, sir!
Aww, glad you enjoyed! When you’ve got a crew of goofball characters to work with they pretty much just write themselves.
In fact, I pretty much do let them write themselves…except Dadaman. That bastard can’t be trusted with anything!
Considering Dadaman, he probably could write himself… in the Deadpool vs. Fourth Wall sense.
I never took the time to realistically reflect on the repercussions of jumping from an incredibly high altitude. I was just sucked in to how cool it looked. Sorta like the way movie guys walk away from explosions that would sear the backs of any lesser men.
You did an amazing job drawing and coloring this one, A. I always find myself looking at your art marveling at how you drew certain objects, or how you chose some colors. That’s a mark of a true talent.
We could compile a list of the top ten (even a hundred) extremely cool things in movies that would NOT be fun to experience in real life. Anyone care to start one?
Glad you enjoyed the coloring; the classes I took a decade ago on painting seem to have all been for the sole purpose of making these SCAPULA comics look real purty!
Number one: BEING SHOT. Trust me, you do not get up and start waltzing around afterwards, leaking mysteriously endless red fluid and otherwise being able to handle an RPG in one hand and a shotgun in the other. In movies, main characters treat bullet wounds like cosmetic errors.
I know what you mean. I stubbed my toe once and that one event changed the direction of my entire day. I was not about to rescue any hostages, save any day, or even get my own mail. It was a complete wrap. So, I know with certainty that I could not plod along after suffering a bullet or knife wound. 🙂
Eye front when holding that gun, Scap. Your buds already think you’re a liability without shooting someone in the butt.
He’s safe for now since they’re all in a perimeter circle…unless if he loses his concentration and turns around. Nobody ask him what time it is!
Panel 2 is just priceless! … with Hyp’s hat floating down…and his booty in the air…
This would be an amazing animation short! I can see it! Dramatic music as they jump… and then the complete silence of failure. Nice going, Dada!
Aww, glad you enjoyed! Scapula animated…it could happen someday, but I have to build up more of an audience first.
Tell your friends, neighbors, and random pedestrians on the street about SCAPULA, folks!
If you ever need animation minions then I volunteer! I’m back at school for character animation in maya but I still animate 2D!
I just realized that I sound like a creepy stalker fan D:
I pretty much think of all of my readers as creepy stalkers…and I shiver at night in fear.
Good for you for learning Maya. Learning 3D was never easy for me back in the day, so here’s hoping you have luck with it!
Looks like the trouble is piling on! Spectacular panel work, Aidan! The color, the spectacle, the sheer comic action! Methinks thou art enjoying thyself.
Thanks, Mark! I might have to do a painting tutorial with samples from this particular comic; I never thought much about teaching, but it seems like some folks are enjoying this one so I might give it a shot.
Thanks, it’s my second time learning. I hate maya but want to do many things through it. On a side note, I was watching some old Ren and Stimpy and tried to imagine Scapula in that same John K lense!