196: Her Eyes are Up There, Holly.
Sep24
on September 24, 2023
at 8:12 PM
Chapter: Journey to the Cave of Wonders
Characters: Holly Smythe, Tiffany "Red" Thornton
Location: The Cave of Wonders
Even without Holly’s eldritch friends, these two may not see eye to eye any time soon.
Panel 3: and here, I found a STASH of SWORDS! Panel 5: I’m meant to STAR on the War Mallet Web Show! Panel 6: a prop is not a REAL sword, Panel 7: what do they even see in that AIRHEAD?
Panel 5, depending on the context, maybe she is getting ready to START STARRING on the show.
Panel 7, well it is what they see ON her. (grin)
Sorry, I updated the *post* without actually updating the *comic* after I got home from the party I was at and did the copy editing.
You may need to perform a forced refresh to see the updated version.
One more possible correction: is she talking about a “regimen” (as in a training routine) or a “regiment” (as in a large formation of soldiers)? Either way, I think “guardsmen” is the wrong tense.
Perhaps a Regiment of Guardsmen?
Um… Hollum, not to be picky, but Panel 6 has a factual problem – authentic tempered steel swords (as opposed to cheap, stainless-steel movie-type replicas) are NOT heavy. They are extremely thin-bladed, and average about 1.5 to 2.5 pounds, depending on the length and design.
If they were actually as heavy as most dumb Hollywood movies portray them, people would never have been able to swing them repeatedly in combat. I’ve held real ones, and most people’s reaction to picking up one is, “Wow, that’s really light!” So it would be better to have Red say something like, “WHOA, this is hard to maneuver”, as that’s much more likely to be the problem for her. Plus it sets things up for the “CRASH” in the next panel.
Oh – and using a knife is actually more dangerous than a sword, as you have to get a lot closer to your target to do some damage.
“Heavy” would be if she were trying to hold a two-handed sword with one hand. Also, she had been holding the sword WITH ITS SCABBARD just before, so she should be aware of its weight. I think that she might have been trying to swing it from the wrist instead of from the elbow, which puts a lot more strain on the wrist.
Agree with your comments about the weight.
It shouldn’t matter too much about pivoting from the wrist versus the elbow; most swords are well-balanced, with a heavy pommel (the big metal thing at the bottom end of the hilt) balancing the weight of the blade so that you can twirl it almost effortlessly around the center of gravity. Of course, movie props and cheap display pieces usually lack this feature, which is another reason why people picking up a real sword for the first time are typically amazed at how easy it is to handle and swing.
Yeah, the idea was mostly a lack of technique on Red’s part, but as someone who doesn’t know how to use a sword either, I really didn’t know how to portrait the lack of practice. As for the knifes, as Holly said, is for self defense and just an option. Sure, they require to get close to your opponent, but the idea here is they are a last resource in case the opponent gets close to you.
Unfortunately, the usual result of a sword being used by someone untrained is that something gets hit that shouldn’t have been. An object, a wall, an innocent bystander, or occasionally, the sword user themselves.
People are more likely to injure themselves with a knife, mainly because they don’t respect it, and therefore don’t take care. One girl in my class dropped a knife, and instead of just letting it fall, tried to grab for it. 17 stitches and a sutured tendon. (Shudder)
Actually, swords are only slightly dangerous to the user. The worst weapon I know of in that regard is a flail. They are borderline-impossible to control, and can do horrible damage if you hit yourself, as is fairly likely.
Why even assume it’s a proper sword? It’s just as likely that it isn’t a proper sword for story purposes, just a decorative sword Dick collected because it has magical properties and Red is too ignorant to know the difference. A powerful magician like Dick probably wouldn’t need it as a sword and these days you’re far more likely to find a decorative sword than a real one.
Flails certainly make for amusing videos. “Nunchaku to the nuts” is practically a genre.
There are different types of swords actually and i think these maybe made of some sort of magical metal . As I doubt that there will be normal steel swords in a magical cave full of mystical items
Holly mentioned her uncle trained her as a witch hunter. Did that include some martial skill?
Probably depends on whether witches can be injured or killed by normal weapons. I would think so, but…
-snort- Clarence still has a lot of stupid teenage boy in them xD
Just curious, but why did Red reply directly to a thought bubble? Has she gained telepathy as part of her transformation or is that Holly responding to her own thought?
If you mean the “Red” answering Holly what they see in her, that’s just Holly’s own imagination.