Star Power VI: Shooting Stars (VORP VORP VORP)

[Kato]

I'm pretty sure even Hymn is smart enough to go after the non-super powered people... At least that's what I would do.

Though hiding their disappearances would likely be harder...

[Vinyadan]

He could make her pregnant, and jealousy by Brightman ensues!

[Kato]

OK, I'll give it to mookie... This one I liked. I mean, not so much in the context of what is going on but just the idea behind the comic.. It's nice and to some extent even relatable.

[Celestia]

OK, I'll give it to mookie... This one I liked. I mean, not so much in the context of what is going on but just the idea behind the comic.. It's nice and to some extent even relatable.

It's not good, but it's competent. I can't see anything wrong with it, and for Mookie, that's probably the best he's done in ages.

[Kato]

It's not good, but it's competent. I can't see anything wrong with it, and for Mookie, that's probably the best he's done in ages.

Hm.. Maybe I'm in a good mood but I feel like the recent updates were fine. Nothing great but not really anything bad.. Except maybe the lack of seriousness the three have about being a security detail. Then again, what could possibly happen at Hymn's?
Also.. I'm not entirely sure what Grex' intentions with Burke are. Is there something romantic involved? Will she have friendship drama with Danica over it? (please don't)

[random11]

I find it very hard to comment on recent pages, it's not that the updates are bad, but not a lot happens except reiterations.

Yes, we know that Dr. Brightman likes music and is crazy about Hymn.
Yes, we know Burke is nervous about the date (btw, does he know he'll spend most of his time with Danica instead of Grex? It will be awkward if he doesn't)
And by the four gods, please stop with the same style of saying something and showing the exact opposite in the last panel, it passed cliche levels long time ago.

The only thing that bothers me about the storyline, is that it feels like three stories shoved together that doesn't fit in tone or style.
Hymn's insane silver-age style does not work well with a love triangle.

[ZeroiaSD]

Yea, not much to comment on because it's just characters doing stuff, establishing mood, etc.. Some cool music scenes, bit of fashion, overall fairly pleasant but we're not in the meat of the story yet.

It's not good, but it's competent. I can't see anything wrong with it, and for Mookie, that's probably the best he's done in ages.

Honestly I have no idea what your standards are. I'd call it good.

[guttering flame]

Honestly I have no idea what your standards are. I'd call it good.

The art is pretty neat. It's a big part of why I'm reading this comic. But that's not Mookie. That's his partner Garth.

[halfeye]

The art is pretty neat. It's a big part of why I'm reading this comic. But that's not Mookie. That's his partner Garth.

I'm not a big fan of the art, it's a bit inclined to make the aliens long and thin, in ways that seem to me to be unrealistic. Art isn't really my thing anyway, but I think this is more artistic than representational.

[Celestia]

I find it very hard to comment on recent pages, it's not that the updates are bad, but not a lot happens except reiterations.

Yes, we know that Dr. Brightman likes music and is crazy about Hymn.
Yes, we know Burke is nervous about the date (btw, does he know he'll spend most of his time with Danica instead of Grex? It will be awkward if he doesn't)
And by the four gods, please stop with the same style of saying something and showing the exact opposite in the last panel, it passed cliche levels long time ago.

The only thing that bothers me about the storyline, is that it feels like three stories shoved together that doesn't fit in tone or style.
Hymn's insane silver-age style does not work well with a love triangle.

Yeah, I definitely agree. I feel like these two stories are inevitably going to clash in a bad way. Either the romance will drown out Hymn or, more likely given Mookie's past, Hymn will trivialize the romance. Either way, it likely won't end well.

Honestly I have no idea what your standards are. I'd call it good.

1/0, Girly, Pieces of Eights, DM of the Rings, Gaia, Order of the Stick (of course). These are some of the webcomics I consider good. Star Power just doesn't compare.

[Onyavar]

1/0, Girly, Pieces of Eights, DM of the Rings, Gaia, Order of the Stick (of course). These are some of the webcomics I consider good. Star Power just doesn't compare.

I missed the first three so far, thanks for recommending them, will check them out. Aside from OotS, my favorite story-driven comics due to their involved and consistent universes are K6BD, Schlock Merc and... I guess Unsounded is numero 3 at the moment. I read (or have read) two dozen others, but consider them only 'good' for the one or the other subjective reason.

Starpower now, is probably on top of the lower quartile. Yet I struggle to name others which I still read that are worse. Well, Goblins has clearly fallen below that threshold, it was among my top5 once. Years ago, I dropped The Wotch and Exiern from my reading lists, too. It's possible to enjoy them, but as Celestia says, they just don't compare.

[Kantaki]

Is it bad that my first thought was "Why is Burke looking at a outfit clearly meant for women?"

I mean, he can wear whatever he wants, but I'm not quite sure that dress really is his style...

[Celestia]

I missed the first three so far, thanks for recommending them, will check them out. Aside from OotS, my favorite story-driven comics due to their involved and consistent universes are K6BD, Schlock Merc and... I guess Unsounded is numero 3 at the moment. I read (or have read) two dozen others, but consider them only 'good' for the one or the other subjective reason.

Starpower now, is probably on top of the lower quartile. Yet I struggle to name others which I still read that are worse. Well, Goblins has clearly fallen below that threshold, it was among my top5 once. Years ago, I dropped The Wotch and Exiern from my reading lists, too. It's possible to enjoy them, but as Celestia says, they just don't compare.

Quick warning if you decide to check out Girly: it is very NSFW and includes full frontal nudity. It's not porn, but there is nakedness now and again.

[random11]

Update

Yes.
I'm sure you are the first person who tries to follow a lead on the slave trade that way.

Is this even in his jurisdiction?
At least if the story provided some excuse like a personal reason, but he's been digging on it for awhile, and no one sees it as worth mentioning.

Also, kudos on noticing Burke is obsessed with StarPower.
It's very fortunate that he goes on this date, because it's not like he was a prisoner for months with some sort of leverage on him...


Can we go back to crazy Hymn and leave this so the next story arc please?

[Onyavar]

Is it bad that my first thought was "Why is Burke looking at a outfit clearly meant for women?"

I mean, he can wear whatever he wants, but I'm not quite sure that dress really is his style...

From all the posters around him it looked like he was in the man's department of a clothes störe. So I assume the shirt he looks at must be a men's shirt.
I admit that while light pink is a current trend, deep purple isn't but we're talking about future fashion in Mookieworld, here.

[Vinyadan]

Is Chief holding a Space Joint?

[Celestia]

Is Chief holding a Space Joint?

It's a chewing stick.

[Kantaki]

Is Chief holding a Space Joint?

It's a chewing stick.

So yes, it's basically a space joint.

[Onyavar]

And we never saw him without it, right?

So he must be a notorious addict.

[Kato]

And we never saw him without it, right?

So he must be a notorious addict.

Apparently, yes. Also, when stressed he uses more...

Also: dun dun dun? I'm... so not excited what he found, really... Considering the Computer did all / most of the work...

[random11]

I consider the data mining process itself a minor nitpick, mostly because it doesn't make sense 90% of the times it's done on TV.

Still, I would like to understand WHAT he was looking for.
Search deliveries, search recipients, search destinations, but search for what?
What information did he have to narrow down the data?

Anyway, the only point that really bothers me, is not the search itself as much as the fact no one else thought of doing that 0.5 seconds after the incident.

[Zaq]

Credit where credit is due: the presentation of Da Chief’s wardrobe did a reasonably good job of conveying that this searching process is taking a very long time and isn’t necessarily a simple process.

Still not a hell of a lot of content or plot advancement, but Mookie’s really bad at writing arcs that aren’t crammed with filler, so what else is new?

[random11]

Just a thought on how it could have worked a bit better:

Chief - With the amount of data we have, it can take years for our fastest computer to find all the possible locations.
Mitch - <Beep> I calculate it can take me about a week
Chief - Then what are you waiting for?!
Mitch - Danica, if I'm separated from you your powers greatly diminish, will you handle it?
Danica - Oh, come on, it's just a CONCERT, I'll be fine!


1) Slightly better excuse of why it was never done before by other investigators (we still don't know what they are looking for, but that's the current situation anyway)
2) Slightly increases the threat level without finding a contrived reason for Hymn being able to threaten Danica. (or at least, a slightly less contrived reason)
3) Push the CSI story for the next story arc.

I admit it's not perfect, and it relies on timing coincidences - something we have too much of anyway, still, given the limitations I think it would work a bit better.

[Celestia]

Credit where credit is due: the presentation of Da Chief’s wardrobe did a reasonably good job of conveying that this searching process is taking a very long time and isn’t necessarily a simple process.

The problem, though, is that his inquiries are largely still vague and follow a logical progression from panel to panel. So, it looks like it took five minutes, and Chief just decided to quickly disprove while waiting. Mookie is only capable of getting things half right, after all.

[Gez]

All these slaves were smuggled to Hymn's estate, weren't they?

I mean, the A-plot and B-plot are going to be linked somehow, and Hymn got a lot of people on his choir that he can murder with full impunity, so they have to be people kept out of the grid somehow.

[Celestia]

All these slaves were smuggled to Hymn's estate, weren't they?

I mean, the A-plot and B-plot are going to be linked somehow, and Hymn got a lot of people on his choir that he can murder with full impunity, so they have to be people kept out of the grid somehow.

Oh god. I didn't even consider that. You're right. It would explain a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if, somehow, Burke is the first to figure this out, and then the story becomes about him trying to convince everyone thay Hymn is an evil, murderous slaver while Danica believes that Burke is just an a**hole who wants to ruin everything. That might actually be a decent story, despite the horrible string of coincidences leading to it.

[Kantaki]

„Chewing Sticks” = drugs confirmed.

[Kato]

Oh god. I didn't even consider that. You're right. It would explain a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if, somehow, Burke is the first to figure this out, and then the story becomes about him trying to convince everyone thay Hymn is an evil, murderous slaver while Danica believes that Burke is just an a**hole who wants to ruin everything. That might actually be a decent story, despite the horrible string of coincidences leading to it.

Hm... I agree. This would be an interesting development..

Also: I actually rather like this page. Not considering the surrounding strange investigation thing. But standing on its own, it's a decent thing.

[Vinyadan]

„Chewing Sticks” = drugs confirmed.

I guess that he'll now go on a biscuit eating rampage, or something like that...

[ZeroiaSD]

The problem, though, is that his inquiries are largely still vague and follow a logical progression from panel to panel. So, it looks like it took five minutes, and Chief just decided to quickly disprove while waiting. Mookie is only capable of getting things half right, after all.

.... not only is there a visual indication of time passed in the clothing, which rather cuts your point off the knee right there ("Sure, there's clear visual indication, but it's not *enough*" does not strong criticism make), and the use of chewsticks and change and posture and attitude and expression, but the tasks mentioned are all ones that would logically take a lot of time.

Sorry, I think you're the one getting this wrong. You can't just say "this doesn't work for reasons," and brushing aside the things that do, well, address it exactly not being those reasons, and the '5 minutes' comes entirely from your own point of view going in and not anything in the art or writing.

Honestly most of your points are like that, vague tisking about it not being good enough 'cause Mookie, but empty in terms of critical value. "I'm going in assuming there's something wrong and even if it addresses the thing that there's no reason to assume going in, I'll give half-credit while complaining about the thing it," only tells me about your assumptions, not the comic. Maybe if you don't have anything to contribute, go do something else? Because it's not really entertaining to listen to half-hearted criticism without substance.

If you don't actually have a way of articulating problems with the comic and give it minus points for doing the opposite of your complaints, you're not criticizing, you're showing us the grumpy-Celestia show, and the grumpy-Celestia show is poorly written and doesn't show it's work.