Star Power V: The Final Yawntier

[Vinyadan]

Is it just me, or did their website just turn itelf inside out?

[Traab]

So new comic, and I guess he was bored with only two splits in the story, and decided to bring back the third for no reason other than to expose why the countess acts the way she does. Hopefully when she hulks out and escapes in a towering rage it wont take too many updates and we can get back to the mad giggler who finds explaining jokes to be hilarious.

[halfeye]

Hm, it seems the website "the webcomic list" is no longer tracking Star Power. I wonder how long that will last?

[guttering flame]

Didn't the Countess say the SPS were just engineered dissidents her side created? Why should she be jealous of the naive fools they were using? They didn't actually create a functioning state.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Didn't the Countess say the SPS were just engineered dissidents her side created? Why should she be jealous of the naive fools they were using? They didn't actually create a functioning state.

Technically, the SPS were the stormtroopers of the Evil Empire, so she's ticked off because they rebelled and embraced weak ideals. The fact that the SPS keep winning is infuriating.

[random11]

For those who enjoyed the silly joke about being forced to explain jokes, let's make sure you hate it by repeating the same thing.

Next planet will contain creatures that can only laugh at jokes if you repeat them three times.

[Traab]

Hey man! Dont mock their culture! Im actually happier that this seems to be a cultural thing than just one screwball. Yeah its an odd one, but these guys live in the desert and stare at the sky waiting for superheroes to arrive all day. They gotta be a little weird!

[random11]

Everything we had so far was "cultural".
Race of warriors, race of traders, race of dancers, and now - race of people that can't understand jokes.

Because god forbid that we have a character with a PERSONALITY!

[Traab]

Everything we had so far was "cultural".
Race of warriors, race of traders, race of dancers, and now - race of people that can't understand jokes.

Because god forbid that we have a character with a PERSONALITY!

There isnt much point in developing a personality when a half dozen strips later she leaves and will never return to that planet again. The main cast and the villains and such tend to have personalities, these guys are basically cameo appearances who are nothing more than sentient sign posts pointing her in the direction she needs to go.

[Welf]

For those who enjoyed the silly joke about being forced to explain jokes, let's make sure you hate it by repeating the same thing.

Next planet will contain creatures that can only laugh at jokes if you repeat them three times.

The dreaded planet of the average webcomic reader
Well, the other dreaded planet of the average webcomic reader.

[Kato]

Okay, stupid as it was... their whole race being weird like that is slightly funny.

Danica being shocked by the way they look... hardly. Are you telling me all your aliens are cute?

[random11]

Tradition!

Isn't she the first to pass the tests in, like, forever?

Sounds to me like an excuse to not complete this "quest" in 10 minutes.

[random11]

A bit forced for my taste, but at least it explains why it's a "no fly mission".

Let's just see where it goes from here.

[random11]

Stilgar, do we have wormsign?

Just curious.
In Dune and all adaptations that used sandworms as a creature (like "Tremors"), the worm is basically blind and can sense vibrations when people move.
Why and how is this sandworm more annoyed at flying creatures?

[Cavelcade]

How tragic. It's become so bland, you can't even really mock it. Although, this does seem like Mookie "subverting" a worm trope without really understanding why it's a trope or why what he's doing is dumb. Let's hope he tumbles further down that hole!

[Vinyadan]

Stilgar, do we have wormsign?

Just curious.
In Dune and all adaptations that used sandworms as a creature (like "Tremors"), the worm is basically blind and can sense vibrations when people move.
Why and how is this sandworm more annoyed at flying creatures?

In theory, it could not be a problem of annoyance, it could be that it is specialized in hunting birds.

[Traab]

In theory, it could not be a problem of annoyance, it could be that it is specialized in hunting birds.

There are a number of creatures that burrow into the ground, then lunge out at prey that passes by. These desert dwellers are able to see the sarlaac mouth waiting to strike and thus go around, but "birds" tend to not notice that, so they lunge up and grab them, eating a good meal.

[random11]

There are a number of creatures that burrow into the ground, then lunge out at prey that passes by. These desert dwellers are able to see the sarlaac mouth waiting to strike and thus go around, but "birds" tend to not notice that, so they lunge up and grab them, eating a good meal.

But the birds ARE aware of the worm, that's why they avoid its location and the sky is clear around them.

[guttering flame]

But the birds ARE aware of the worm, that's why they avoid its location and the sky is clear around them.

Obviously this creature subsists on tourist and scientist vessels. The government cover it up because it's an endangered species and the local refuse to be its food.

[random11]

Yum

I feel sorry for the worm, it just swallowed something that can pierce battleship shield and hull like butter.

Hopefully, Danica will find a way to get away without killing the poor creature.

That's the limit of tension I'm willing to take.

[Zaq]

Um . . . I literally do not understand what just happened. How did we get from panel 2 to panel 3? Did . . . did Mookie forget to include how Danica got free and rescued her friends? He was so busy milking his "explain the tepid pun" cow that he didn't bother to explain what actually happened.

I think that maybe she dropped the shield and just did her Shoop Da Whoop attack inside the sandworm's throat? That kind of makes sense, but it's not in any way clear from the page as presented. Especially with panel 3—how did she get out? Where are her friends when that is happening? Dammit, Mookie.

[Traab]

Um . . . I literally do not understand what just happened. How did we get from panel 2 to panel 3? Did . . . did Mookie forget to include how Danica got free and rescued her friends? He was so busy milking his "explain the tepid pun" cow that he didn't bother to explain what actually happened.

I think that maybe she dropped the shield and just did her Shoop Da Whoop attack inside the sandworm's throat? That kind of makes sense, but it's not in any way clear from the page as presented. Especially with panel 3—how did she get out? Where are her friends when that is happening? Dammit, Mookie.

She rescued them last comic, then went back to fight because the giant worm was pissed. That part threw me too until I went back to read it again. And yeah, im not exactly sure what she did. I see a spurt of blood coming from its mouth, so all I can think of is she blasted through its teeth maybe? And I have to admit, im starting to find the joke explanation thing amusing. Im not sure why.

[Zaq]

She rescued them last comic, then went back to fight because the giant worm was pissed. That part threw me too until I went back to read it again. And yeah, im not exactly sure what she did. I see a spurt of blood coming from its mouth, so all I can think of is she blasted through its teeth maybe? And I have to admit, im starting to find the joke explanation thing amusing. Im not sure why.

Huh, fair point on her rescuing them in the previous comic. I had forgotten that because the last comic was boring and genuinely didn't register in my brain at all beyond "generic fight scene."

That doesn't excuse the lack of clarity between panel 2 and panel 3, mind you.

As far as the "explaining the joke" thing goes, I did find it amusing when it first came up (and I even posted here giving credit where credit was due). As far as Mookie's tired running gags go, this one is at least better than "we're going to load the final panel with pairs of words that start with the same letter for no apparent reason," but I'm still wary that it'll stop being funny long before Mookie gets tired of it. And like I said earlier, it's kind of jarring when we devote a panel to explaining a pun in a comic that leaves the reader wanting an explanation of the action, you know?

[Zaq]

She rescued them last comic, then went back to fight because the giant worm was pissed. That part threw me too until I went back to read it again. And yeah, im not exactly sure what she did. I see a spurt of blood coming from its mouth, so all I can think of is she blasted through its teeth maybe? And I have to admit, im starting to find the joke explanation thing amusing. Im not sure why.

Huh, fair point on her rescuing them in the previous comic. I had forgotten that because the last comic was boring and genuinely didn't register in my brain at all beyond "generic fight scene."

That doesn't excuse the lack of clarity between panel 2 and panel 3, mind you.

As far as the "explaining the joke" thing goes, I did find it amusing when it first came up (and I even posted here giving credit where credit was due). As far as Mookie's tired running gags go, this one is at least better than "we're going to load the final panel with pairs of words that start with the same letter for no apparent reason," but I'm still wary that it'll stop being funny long before Mookie gets tired of it. And like I said earlier, it's kind of jarring when we devote a panel to explaining a pun in a comic that leaves the reader wanting an explanation of the action, you know?

[The site got a little wonky when I first tried to post this, so I hope that this doesn't end as a double post.]

[Vinyadan]

I'm still wary that it'll stop being funny long before Mookie gets tired of it.

It will, because Mookie is many things, and relentless is one of them.

One day, the Encyclopaedia Britannica will have a page for Mookie the Inflexible (byname of Michael Terracciano, 1st Baron Terracciano).

[random11]

The joke was bad enough the third time, but it was worse since I was expecting hoping for some kind of negative reaction like "you took the sand-worm's food after he had claimed his victim" or "you disobeyed our tradition by flying"

[guttering flame]

Attacking the big worm was unnecessary (she already rescued her friend) and goes against the hero code?

As for the 'jokes', they don't bother me. It's two(*) people sharing a unique brand of humor. Good for them and their Jokes That Must Be Explained subculture.

(*) Only one of these desert aliens is laughing at our superhero's jokes. The rest of his people just stand around looking blankly.

[Onyavar]

My head-canon for the "jokes":
Mookie writes his dialogs for the target audience: Underdeveloped aliens. The puns are annoying for human readers because we read them in English when they are supposedly in Uni-Galacto (or however Mookie calls the language that everyone on every planet understands without any problem even if there hasn't been contact between the civilizations for thousands of years).

Also, Danica thinks her jokes in English, but then tells them in Uni-Galacto, where the term "one shot at something" wasn't derived from actual "shooting with single pieces of projectile weapons". Thus it has to be explained if the audience is supposed to find it funny.

[Vinyadan]

TBH, I can't think of any language other than English in which that joke works. Of course, there are some 6.000 different languages I don't know, but there also are a lot of words to combine differently in each of them.
I can think of something similar, but it already is one step removed.

[Traab]

Attacking the big worm was unnecessary (she already rescued her friend) and goes against the hero code?

As for the 'jokes', they don't bother me. It's two(*) people sharing a unique brand of humor. Good for them and their Jokes That Must Be Explained subculture.

(*) Only one of these desert aliens is laughing at our superhero's jokes. The rest of his people just stand around looking blankly.

No, everyone is laughing at her joke explanations. Well, all the aliens on this planet at least, brightman doesnt seem to be entertained. Nor does squidward. And back when she was meeting them, well, look. Lots of laughing going on.