Star Power IV: Boldly Bolding Where No Man Has Bolded Before!

[guttering flame]

Meh. I don't think they were equipped for prison transfer. They're a peaceful scientific station. What was surprising was that they had such good security force to begin with. They should have been wiped up in the previous adventures. What's up with that?

So obviously this station 6, due to its semi-independence, remoteness and nice living conditions became the prime retirement place for military and pirate veterans. And so they have good security forces but their equipment is still lousy. They need to defuse bombs like they're in the 20th century and run a space battle with a bunch of pathetic robots but most times they can still handle it.

[Cen]

I think they make Dominica look insane or purpose. Seriously - last panel is best Joker imitation I've seen

[Traab]

I dont... I dont think thats what astronomers do, is it? Also, yes, strange tea sets does say something about her. It says she is a moron who enjoys making something like drinking tea difficult.

[Kornaki]

I dont... I dont think thats what astronomers do, is it? Also, yes, strange tea sets does say something about her. It says she is a moron who enjoys making something like drinking tea difficult.

It's a reasonable description of part of their job, just twisted in a way that doesn't make sense. One thing astronomers do is see patterns of light (typically not visible wavelengths, but things like X-rays or radio waves), and say "gee that's weird, we don't know anything that makes that", followed up by trying to figure out how those waves were made. For example

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic....c-radio-burst/

How it correlates with their current conversation doesn't make sense - it's not the light itself that is acting weird, it's whatever making the light that is weird. The light behaves in a perfectly regular and predictable manner.

[Kato]

Yay, science mumbo jumbo! I'm already excited for when this becomes concrete enough to really rip it apart
Also, while the porfessor's taste is definitely a bit eccentric... I don't really mind, to be honest.

[Oracle_Hunter]

It's a reasonable description of part of their job, just twisted in a way that doesn't make sense. One thing astronomers do is see patterns of light (typically not visible wavelengths, but things like X-rays or radio waves), and say "gee that's weird, we don't know anything that makes that", followed up by trying to figure out how those waves were made. For example

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic....c-radio-burst/

How it correlates with their current conversation doesn't make sense - it's not the light itself that is acting weird, it's whatever making the light that is weird. The light behaves in a perfectly regular and predictable manner.

Actually, making light *not* act normally would be a good way to introduce Super Science. But if the light isn't acting "normally" then there would be no way for Danica to recognize the star.

So close Mookie. So. Close.

[guttering flame]

Don't her 'star' powers give her ultra light speed? Maybe the wierdness is about light breaking the lightspeed barrier (not that they don't already have that technology themselves)

[Oracle_Hunter]

Apparently AIs belong to the Snakepeople and the to-be-defined Zori

Still no foreshadowing regarding AI's role in this universe, which puts it in the same column as Dominion's "universal teleportation" as far as World Features That Are Not Adequately Considered

[guttering flame]

Possible explanations:

1) In some sci-fi stories AI are expensive while meatpower is pervasive and cheap.

2) There's also the possibility of meat-power unions preventing AI from stealing their jobs.

3) Another possible explanation is that every task has a unique alien made just right for it. Why go to the trouble of designing an AI when there's an alien who can do it for crakers? That small handed alien from 'the weird planet' sounded like one.

4) Danican was right! Your spoon has an AI, every one of those space robots has one. Even funky little telescopes in the lab-asistant rooms have an AI personality. But they're boring and dumb so no one else bothers talking to them.

[Kato]

I feel like Mookie again doesn't realize AIs are like... A HUGE DEAL. Every sane scientist would want to know how these AIs work, if they are reasonable intelligent, which this one seems to be. You don't just use it to run a few space ships...
If AIs are really that common, we should have met at least a few, assuming they're not mega-expensive, like require a huge amount of processing power to the point where they are uneconomical. (Which wouldn't be unreasonable, but Bill's ship doesn't look like it's made to be just a vessel for its AI) Urgh...


btw, Bill's wearing some weird shoes.

[Kornaki]

The art details in this strip are nice. BHB picking his nose and Chief snapping his cigar/wheat-grass thing definitely help set the mood.

[MReav]

New Star Power

What is Mookie's obsession with villains who execute their allies for their own blatant incompetence?

[Neoriceisgood]

Glad to know Mookie still remembers how to create memorable sympathetic villains, I was worried he left DD's subtle nuances and moral ambiguity behind.

[slayerx]

New Star Power

What is Mookie's obsession with villains who execute their allies for their own blatant incompetence?

Well how else are we supposed to know that they are EVIL!?
Doesn't give Bill much credit though... Would have been smarter to make a copy of the AI before scrapping the ship. Must be a pain to have to teach a super intelligent AI to work the way you want.

[smuchmuch]

Eh, he's just getting rid of his gateway vehicle. (One who could give information about him as well if captured) Seems a logical enough step.

Glad to know Mookie still remembers how to create memorable sympathetic villains, I was worried he left DD's subtle nuances and moral ambiguity behind.

Once again, to be fair, BHB was meant frm the very first strip to be a sociopathic mercenary sumbag with little to no redeeming qualities. He doesn't come as nearly menacing (or entertaining) as I suspect Mookie think he is but sympathic he was never meant to be.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Well how else are we supposed to know that they are EVIL!?
Doesn't give Bill much credit though... Would have been smarter to make a copy of the AI before scrapping the ship. Must be a pain to have to teach a super intelligent AI to work the way you want.

It looks like AI are still rare, and surely there must be extensive additional equipment required to permit an AI to effectively control a ship.

Which, of course, makes BHB's actions all the dumber. Did he not notice that his last escape (and possibly every single one he's made) were entirely due to his ship? I mean, of course he doesn't, but it just makes BHB seem less threatening since he has no idea what he's doing nor how it works.

At best he's an Anti-Luna: someone so exceedingly lucky that he can do stupid things and still win against the best laid plans of everyone else. At worst he shoots a puppy outside the shop, is arrested, fails to escape from his prison ship, and is never heard from again

[Kato]

Once again, to be fair, BHB was meant frm the very first strip to be a sociopathic mercenary sumbag with little to no redeeming qualities. He doesn't come as nearly menacing (or entertaining) as I suspect Mookie think he is but sympathic he was never meant to be.

I don't know... yeah, he's kind of incompetent, but so are the heroes. And he has that "psychopath" vibe about him..


Random guessing: The AI surives somehow and when Danica picks up his trail, she'll befriend it. Or Mookie really just made that character up to show us again, how "evil" Bill is.

[Gez]

So now the scrapyard can report to Galactic Defense that they've just scrapped the ship they are looking for, and meanwhile BHB is stuck without a ship.

Oh sure he's gonna steal or hijack one but he still lost his greatest asset.

[Kwatsu]

He... I... What??

"Oh hey, people are now looking for my super awesome ship because they know what it looks like. Better crush that sucker! ^_^"

This is a universe with stealth tech, FTL travel and jump gates, but not the starship equivalent of a paint job and change of licence plates?

[random11]

Eh, he's just getting rid of his gateway vehicle. (One who could give information about him as well if captured) Seems a logical enough step.

It's not just a getaway vehicle, it's supposed to be a vehicle he used for years after heavy modifications.
I can imagine superheroes or super-villains destroying the equivalent of the bat mobile if they need to, but not as a first option.

Once again, to be fair, BHB was meant frm the very first strip to be a sociopathic mercenary sumbag with little to no redeeming qualities. He doesn't come as nearly menacing (or entertaining) as I suspect Mookie think he is but sympathic he was never meant to be.

Sociopath, but he isn't supposed to be stupid ( I don't see how he survived untill now if he is).
He needs another ship anyway, so why not simply send the AI to a different direction to distract whoever chases him?

[Oracle_Hunter]

This is a universe with stealth tech, FTL travel and jump gates, but not the starship equivalent of a paint job and change of licence plates?

To be fair, his ship did have a distinctive shape and appears to be of a rare design. Oh sure, he could have performed some extra modding (example of use in a superior webcomic) but that wouldn't have been nearly as fun as destroying your partner-in-crime that just got you out jail

[Traab]

Well how else are we supposed to know that they are EVIL!?
Doesn't give Bill much credit though... Would have been smarter to make a copy of the AI before scrapping the ship. Must be a pain to have to teach a super intelligent AI to work the way you want.

It probably would be tough to yank out the ai. Its not like grabbing an ipod from the control panel, its integrated with the entire ship.

[Spojaz]

I have to admit, that last comic made me feel something. The casual execution of something/someone who loved him, just for convenience was far more effective than the previous pages at making me hate Bill.

[Oracle_Hunter]

I have to admit, that last comic made me feel something. The casual execution of something/someone who loved him, just for convenience was far more effective than the previous pages at making me hate Bill.

Actually, I pity him for being so incompetent that he doesn't even know how bad he is. Also for being a Jock in a Mookie comic.

I imagine I will hate him when he continues to be treated as a threat and remain free due to Deus Ex Machina and Pure Dumb Luck for the rest of the issue -- if not longer

[Kornaki]

I feel like the ship could have used a bit more characterization before we got to this point.

[Traab]

I have to admit, that last comic made me feel something. The casual execution of something/someone who loved him, just for convenience was far more effective than the previous pages at making me hate Bill.

Agreed, I also admit it was a bit of a shock to see him do that. And the thing is, it was a smart move, jokes aside. He has what amounts to an incredibly uncommon vehicle the entire galaxy knows to look out for. He cant keep it around, and im guessing altering it in some way wouldnt help or would be too difficult to pull off under the circumstances. He was smart, cold,a nd calculating there, and the fact his ai seemed to genuinely like him made him an utter bastard to do it.

[slayerx]

He needs another ship anyway, so why not simply send the AI to a different direction to distract whoever chases him?

Ya, that would have been more useful. Send it in the opposite direction to distract the authorities and bounty hunters; anyone gets close enough to it, rig it to explode. Heh he also could have just cleaned out the ship of anything authorities might find useful and SELL the ship. Authorities will be tracking down the right ship but with the wrong pilot and he in the meantime gets some cash out of it to buy another ship. Heck, it be rather hilarious if someone saw him arrive at that scrap yard and reported it; he's stuck looking for a new ship while everyone knows right where he is

I have to admit, that last comic made me feel something. The casual execution of something/someone who loved him, just for convenience was far more effective than the previous pages at making me hate Bill.

Meh. I might feel the same way if this happened AFTER we got to know the ship. If i actually had some attachment to the ship i might actually feel some pity for its demise and some rage for Bill for killing it. Instead, its just kind of meh.

[Zaq]

This strip made me laugh. It's just so perfectly Mookie. Villain being unnecessarily heartless to the point of being self-damaging? Check. Sudden amputation of last strip's plot point in a way that makes no damn sense? Check. Mookie writing himself into a corner requiring another asspull (where is Bill gonna go now, huh?)? Check.

Only Mookie could have written this.

[Mr. McGician]

Nooooo! The only competent character in the comic! Now we're stuck watching a bunch of idiots tripping over their own shoelaces. Bill, you are truly irredeemable.

[Kornaki]

Which is more likely, that BHB's ship loved him, or that BHB's ship isn't really capable of emotions but BHB programmed it to protest like this just so he could feel a little more evil.