As in earlier high-stakes battles, Flo does not waste time by having the defending team use the same moves they pulled on lesser opponents before, just so they can fail. Instead, Hammerhead taxes even his strength and endurance to perform a special maneuver, and between him and Magda, the Champions are starting to look like they might actually have a chance here. In short, Flo was wise to prioritize excitement over suspense.

Panel 3 is a neat exercise in comics time. It actually represents three moments in one, but because the action is so simple otherwise, everything remains very clear.

A+ work on that “WHUD” sound effect, too, and the way its striations loosely match the texture of the stone.