I once was getting an APA zine printed at Kinko’s, and i heard the crew behind the counter collapsing with laughter.
I asked what was so funny, and they told me that one of them had noticed the title of my review of the Dune movie – i had used a line that i whispered to a friend in the theatre: after Paul portentously says “Now I shall drink the sacred water!”, i couldn’t resist it – “…and then, I shall make the sacred peepee…”
Look again. The way Byron’s arms are placed, and given that her pigtails are straight out make it look as if it could be someone or something behind her getting chopped…
Yeah, I’m afraid Bandit’s “bought it”. And Byron wouldn’t turn away from her to attack Syr and Frigg if Bandit hadn’t been turned into a bloody pulp. If she were alive in the sense that she’s still moving/twitching Byron’d still be hacking at ‘er.
not really, he’s zerking
if she just stop moving after the first hit, he’s looking to kill things
not mess up dead stuff
so, if the first hit drew a good amount of blood, and Bandit just going ragdoll, she MIGHT be alive
As much as i feel Bandit is dead, part of me still remains hopeful due to the fact that in the panel in the previous strip where she’s in Byron’s shadow, she looks quite see through. It may be she had an emergency trick up her sleeve, or it could just be a side effect of layers and shading . . .. I’m optimistically leaning towards the first.
Personally I think the lack of reaction from Frigg/S’yrnj to Bandit being ripped limb from limb does for the theory that Bandit got more than knocked down. That and the metatheory which says that our writers wouldn’t really kill her offhand like that.
I’m very underwhelmed by Byron’s berserking here, other than the bit where he overcame apparently fatal injuries. He gets one surprise (but non-fatal) shot in on Harki, then takes a few pretty useless swings at him, then turns on his own party-members out of sheer crazy. A lot of help this berserking lark is. No wonder he tries not to do it. Even getting his berserk on, Byron is definitely the party’s Official Load.
Harki basically took out Bandit, Syr’nj, AND Frigg, taking only minimal damage in the process. Dude was brushing off their blows and laughing at them, remember? Byron gave him a sucking chest wound, hacked deep into the chest with an axe, and collected some fingers and an ear. And all of a sudden Harki turned into a craven wuss and ran as fast as he could. I’d say berserking is preeetty hardcore.
Or Harki is a coward. Like most bullies, he was never met the other end. Only the weakest can be the bravest, as they know, that they will fall, still want to act. The bully know, he won’t fall. So he acts.
Bandit is dead. You don’t survive having your torso trisected.
The party might be a little low for access to ressurection, but they do have wealthy patronage, so that’s my bet.
Ah, old school berserkers. Pull the pin and throw em’ in.
Ah, but Arky…Harki ran like a little bitch. Berserking probably isn’t something he can turn off at the drop of a hat. We don’t really know and until we get move evidence it seems like that would be the case. If he is squirrel-poop crazy right now, he’d go after the next thing in close striking distance, which would have been the rest of the party. I’m thinking that Frigg will maybe try to just hold him at bay to see if he’ll calm down.
Harki ran because he’s afraid of being infected with suck. And maybe Byron can’t actually be killed while this is going on. But he seems to be extremely scared of this berserking thing spreading, not so much of being stabbed himself.
The bloodstains on the axes remained unchanged through the supposed Bandit-hacking. To be fair, I can’t tell whether that’s due to Byron whiffing or just the way the art’s being done, but I’ll still be expecting a scuffed up Gnome appearing in the near future if we don’t see one bleeding out on the floor soon.
I’m betting Harki got punk’d by another berserker earlier in his lifetime and has been spreading rumors about “The madness” ever since to cover for his past and future failures.
Still a good point. He’s not saying “Do you want the madness to infect me” But instead that the madness will spread.
Kind of like the crowd at a rugby match starting a brawl over a really good or really bad game.
Cutting from Bandit’s apparent death scene immediately to Byron’s charge towards Frigg and Syr’nj feels jarring. If the purpose is to avoid revealing Bandit’s fate, it would have been better to insert the trolls’ conversation in between the two scenes. The conversation doesn’t really have to come at the end of this page, since the punch line is delivered in the alt-text anyway. Maybe it’s just me?
And oooookay. Byron didn’t break out of it. Well… Okay, I was wrong, all right? Wrong on multiple counts.
… EXCEPT ABOUT FRIGG BEING A MATCH FOR BYRON! Ha! I told you guys, it’s not that Byron is better than Hark and there for better than Frigg, it’s that each of them has a unique advantage over and weakness to the other. Like “Rock, Paper, Scissors”.
There is a fantasy precedent; in “Starfollowers of Coramonde” by the late Brian Daley, the Berserkergang was a curse that could be transmitted, though in that it only went from one host to another.
Of course, with the beasty boys, as they are LESS than MEN, it could affect more than one at a time.
What is “the madness”? A disease? A curse? I personally think it’s magical, since the cultist’s general “madness” spell nearly triggered this exact response.
you mother get up come on get down with the sickness
you fucker get up come on get down with the sickness
madness is the gift that has been given to me
Well, looks like Bandit is indeed in chops. Byron, you moron. You spend all this time playing a leader, making careful plans and all. Yet you somehow forgot to tell the guys rather basic and simple thing: “If by any chance I go berserk – just fuck off”
He calls himself a berserker, and we can’t account for every off-camera conversation. I think the issue is that no one (except Syr’nj) really took him seriously (and really, you can’t blame them), and in Bandit’s case she didn’t seem to understand exactly what happens when someone does go berserk–she said flat out she thought it was a joke but clearly seemed to believe that even now proven true, he would stop and surely not harm her.
Nah, this is just too wrong. A rematch is not the thing they need right now they need a disctraction for the berzerker, so he would, maybe, charge the stands and -possibly-take down the archers. He’s the only guy who can stand against arrow fire despite being shot. With him out of the game,the rest is dead meat i’m afraid. Frig’s been driven by her pathetic ego again. Yet she’s got a chance to get her arse delivered to her. This is nowhere near dealing with pissed nuns.
Also if this ‘zerkin out session is about to end in Byron getting back to his “cute puppydog comic relief act” with Frigg helping it, i’ll be dissappointed beyond words.
One last thing, forgive the expression if this sounds rather harsh, but this was such a terrible cut. It’s distracting from the previous scene in the worst way possible- which i supposedly it’s the writers aim, however we have no idea of the surrounding, current location ..i mean what exactly happened after Byron landed(?) that blow. Feels more like a panel ortwo is missing..Oher than that, i’m surprised to see the art getting better and better so fast that, i cannot walk away without saying how much i’m amazed! It’s been only few pages and Mr John has shown such quick development! Rebrowsing the very first pages o the comic shows us how hard and long it would take an artist to sharpen the general outline of te characters, and considering this i believe the artist here is t his best. Congrats t you fine sir, you’ve my full attetion from now on.
I agree, Frigg’s stale trash-talking was the last thing I wanted to see. I hope she gets the crap beaten out of her by Byron (if not fatal) to teach her a lesson in getting her priorities straight.
Where’s Gravedust, the brains of the operation, when you need him? D:
I’ll be incredibly disappointed if Frig suddenly has an easy time of keeping Byron at bay.
I think you guys are hitting the wrong end of the stick here.
Notice 1st panel; Byron charging bloodthirstily towards Frigg/Syr.
Frigg rushes to protect them both, despite the danger she’s witnessed; IF anything she’s being selfless to protect her companions. Her smack talk ‘You mad’ is not Frigg flying into an Ego trip; it’s Simply, Frigg.
Now, blocking him is one thing, therefore i can agree with you on that part, but keeping his concentration on his party members is a false strategy in long terms, while they’re still open to arrow rain (considering there are any archer troops at all.). Although the troll infantry being disorganized, the crowd throwing them whatever sharp they have is a pretty deadly risk to take. My humble theory is, girls need to find a way to unleash Byron right onto the audience, and run to the wounded and tend to them while confusion among the stands remains, then sneak/run/retreat/whatever.
-Btw..this sounds a little off but ehm..A Troll, somehow civilized enough to recognise elven royalty marks out of random tattoos, but is not being able to distinguish berserk from rabies? i may be wrong but ehm…Hmm.
I wonder if he has made up this “madness” talk in order to put a scare on his folk?
I say Frigg loses, but gives Syrn’j enough time to pull out some sciencejuice.
Something has got to establish Byron as a force to be reckoned with if, even with his ace in the hole, a cocksure chick in full-plate (Badass and skilled as she may be) is able to cream him, then he really has no business being in this comic at all. He can’t effectively lead if he is in danger of being a teamkilling twit, and he is not able to be of any use at all if he can’t fight anyone, except garden variety mooks, and win.
I’m with Frigg in her commentary on Byron in panel 4: http://guildedage.net/webcomic/chapter-8/chapter-8-page-16/
I have to agree. Seeing Byron make the troll who owned the entire party run scared was great, but if Frigg manages to do anything other than get her ass handed to her then Byron will be The Most Useless Guy Ever.
His plans aren’t even that good. Sure he has charisma I guess, but he needs to bring something else to the table besides kobold killing. So here’s to hoping that Frigg gets her shit ruined in the next comic or two, only to be barely saved by SCIENCE! from Syr.
now mind you I’m perfectly okay with the idea of him restraining himself to avoid this sort of thing, but if he lets loose and *still* can’t win without the element of surprisekilleverything? What’s the point?
Personally I’m not really worried about the story, the writers have proven more than capable of creating an intriguing interesting story.
In Watership Down (the book, I mean), Hazel is not the strongest, fastest, smartest, most eloquent, prophetic, oldest, biggest, best tracker, or most experienced one of the group–he isn’t the one who beats the crap out of the General or who terrifies the General’s minions. He does not start or win physical altercations, gets shot, ends up lame, and gets “chumped”. He begins the story a nobody. He becomes a good leader, however, because he understands how to manage and leverage the egos and talents of his companions, who otherwise often resort to infighting, lack direction or social skills, or do not see the big picture. Hazel also identifies the benefit of alliances with others his companions would ignore out of habit. Without him, his companions would have ultimately parted ways, and in most cases come to a bad end.
But I’m with you all in that I would still love to see more killtactular fun like panels 1-3 on page 20 of this chapter. ;-) The difference is I wouldn’t call Byron useless (yet, at least) if I don’t.
Hmm, wouldn’t it be funny if Harki was right? It is contagious.. Blood to Blood. And lookie who has some of Byron’s blood in his open wound. Lookie who’s right in there with his own side’s lackies and leaders. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if Harki slew his own men, forcing the savage races to side with our heroes or die horibly.
It would also mean that if Bandit survived that attack, she might get back up with the demon blood trying to mend her wounds, in an insane, murderous rage.
Took that into consideration.
Bandit is shorter.
Byron is dripping blood.
Hence he bled on her. (possibly)
Although the thought with Harki’s blood in Bandit is interesting.
Hey…
What if the berzerkergang really is an infectious disease?
And what if Bandit got infected when he axed her?
How funny wouldn’t a berzerker/undead gnome be?
Might not be the most popular opinion, but… Kill her Byron, strike her down and wipe that stupid look off her face. You’re my main man Byron, don’t disappoint me now!
hmm oh well,bandit is dead that’s really öhm… *yawn* huh? was there anything important?
you know i guess i would be more concerned if it wasn’T for the fact that you can find a cheeky smartass Gnome/halfling thief nearly any second corner in a city. no seriously beside thief and sometime illusionist/inventor ,do they even “have” other classes?
I like’d bandit but i really don’t get what made so many people here go crazy about her.
Now to the actual comic at hand.I agree that Frigg will probatly keep byron busy long enough for Syr to do science to him.Even though i kind of wish he would defeat frigg for the comment she made earlier. I would even more like to see how byron defeats frigg without his Berserker rage someday but i guess that really will never happen.
I hate to be a bastard, but I’ve found this battle . . . boring. Ill-paced. Disjointed. Dissatisfying. And I think some of it has to do with the art. In panels 1 and 2 in particular, you’ve gone totally manga, and that just doesn’t do it for me.
I concur. John’s art is great if this was a light-hearted comedy, but to me Guilded Age has always had a serious, down-to-earth, nitty-gritty tone, which does not go well with John’s increasingly cute art. The style makes this very dangerous berzerking seem unreal and less scary than it should be.
You are most definitely entitled to your opinions…but this comic has always had its zany, over-the-top moments. Just because this one particular scene doesn’t fit YOUR palette doesn’t mean it’s not true to the GA spirit.
You can’t read half of what Frigg does and think the comic is all srs bsns, even if it does a good job of tackling serious matters like fantasy racism.
And I actually liked panel 2 — especially Syr’Nj. It does a good job of showing her panic and the quick scramble for something that might help.
Scorpio, you are an insult to truth. Serious? THIS COMIC? You must be the kind of person who gets pissed when nobody dies. This is clearly a comedy, and that’s NOT a bad thing. You can’t look at the first few comics and say “THATS DRAMATIC!”. I’ll admit they’ve gotten abit less wacky, bit they still remain humorous.
I didn’t explain myself very clearly. I love manga and anime, I read/watch them all the time, and I love comedies too. There are points in Guilded Age where the style on this page is suitable.
For this page, though, I feel that Byron’s charge in panel one needs to be drawn a different way. His comic stance is more suitable for a “run, run away!” scenario much like their flee from the fire god/erupting volcano. The way he is charging at the girls is not frightening at all, and Syr’nj’s exaggerated facial expression in panel two also makes the scenario more light-hearted than it needs to be.
To me, this is a climax in the story, with exciting actions and sacrifices, and unknowable (possibly grave) fate for two of our beloved characters, but the art style and overly clean lines seem to weaken the dramatic punch.
John, I love the attention to details in your art, and your fresh portrayal of the party. In many scenes (especially those with dialogue and not action), you capture their personality perfectly. My problem is really just with a few panels in this battle with Harki, and I wanted to mention it in case any one cares. I hope you are not offended.
I’ve noticed lately on teh Interwebs that the words “manga” and “anime” are used almost interchangeably for “art I don’t care for”. And seriously, this comment seems to fall into that category.
I’m looking at the two panels in question, and see no serious manga influence, here. Facial features are detailed, not abstracted to generic levels; posture is dynamic without being tortured; mouths show clear expression, rather than simply being a line. If I were to compare this to anything, it would be to some of the artwork I’ve seen in MAD magazine over the years.
Huh. Looking at the wound placement in panel 4, it looks like the spear went through Harki’s spine. Even accounting for Troll healing, how the devil is he still able to walk?
Since no one else has mentioned this, I notice that the lackey is saying “But Chieftain, we don’t” before he gets interrupted.
Chieftain we don’t what? We don’t HAVE archers, we sent them all to some other fight? We don’t have bandages for your boo-boos? We don’t follow your orders anymore, you bag of slime??
./begin rant
To the people griping about “tease” and other such disappointments: I know it’s a hard thing to wait for the next update, but if you’re really THAT pissed off by having to wait and see what actually happens…or if you are that pissed off by what HAS happened…
Stop reading.
No one is twisting your fucking arm.
I like the comments most of the time, but I’m a little weary of the QQ/bitchfest in the last couple days’ worth of comments. It’s starting to read like the WoW forums, and honestly, it’s pointless.
You’re here reading this comic because you are interested in the story that the GA team has to tell. It’s not a fucking request line or a Choose Your Own Adventure book. You can do better? Make your own comic. Meanwhile, kwitcherbitchin and let the rest of us enjoy the suspense.
sorry but i used to be in some kind of comic business myself in the past- nowhere near professional as this one though- but “if you don’t like it, then stop reading” thingy is the biggest response cliché and the oldest trick in the book and shit DON’T JUST WORK THAT WAY.
You come up with comment section, you bear to read it. As long as one does not overcross the border of “respect”. I beleive that nobody has ever done anything extreme like that yet.
No one is complaining about having to wait a few days for the next page. I called Phil and T boxteases because they made us wait 1.25 YEARS for the berserker to berserk, and now that he has, he’s STILL not that useful. Yes, he made Harky run, but only because Harky is the classic cowardly bully who can’t face anything close to a fair fight.
To me, this scene seems like the result of the Writer Guys regretting ever having Byron claim to be a berserker in the first place, but wanting to shut up those of us who were complaining about him not really being one while, at the same time, discouraging us from ever wanting to see him ‘zerk out again. And it’s not working. -_-
I may, of course, be completely wrong. I hope I am.
Yeah, people are really assuming that Harki is wrong or misguided. I’m in the ‘the Madness really is more than meets the eye’ camp, if only because the author(s) have taken every other stereotype and twisted it ingeniously, so why not the berserker too?
Also, hooray for art! I know it’s probably a huge pain to work with textures, but it was one of my favorite things about Erica’s work too and I’m so happy to see that there’s more than one artist capable of doing it. :) Plus yay for Byron berserk art in general!
What I think the soldier is trying to say is that their are rules to fight club and that he needs to get back in there and fight his own fight. I think we’re about two strips away from Harki’s followers losing all respect for him and walking away. So really, the only wrap up we need is Harki’s death, Byron’s sedation, which Syr’nj is taking care of and the possible saving of Gravedust’s life. (maybe some mourning for bandit and the inevitable guilt that Byron will feel for the rest of the comic. This will of course make it harder to believe those “light” “comedic” moments that are sure to resume.)
I know I may be late to see the joke, but I love the “Vegeta hair” and navel gem on the Troll. I seriously couldn’t stop letting out a *snrk* when I saw that.
I just hope they have a lot of Diamonds, or whatever is needed as reagents for resurrection in this world… ‘Cause I have a really bad feeling that this mission is going to come very close to a TPK before the end.
Yeah, I was thinking the same, for when the group all discovered the ruined human town, and someone scrawled “It was Harki” … Syr and the girls had just returned from Sky City of Frigg’s Boredom.
“Sky City of Frigg’s Boredom” I think I used to listen to that as a radio show on Public Radio when I was a kid.
Either that, or it was an AD&D module.
Pornstache doesn’t mention them being sent to that floating city and terrorizing them at all…. He’d have added it to the list happily I think. I think Syr’Nj was just telling them about how lame that city was, not relating anything recently done…
For everyone having issues with the “cut” from the lastpage to this, would you really rather see Byron kicking/flinging Bandit’s body off his axes? The hits connected, and she is out of the fight, if she can recover, that’s another story.
Harki’s initial reaction to ‘Zerk Byron was way too much horror. He’s not just making this up as he goes to cover his ass, though he still stands to lose much prestige IF they can take Byron down.
As for the cut-to, there was nothing more to see, save Bandit falling to the ground in three pieces. Sorry, Gorefans, but this ain’t that kinda comic. And yeah, I too foresee a very short defense for Frigg. They can’t really redirect Byron’s rage while they’re the closest warm bodies, not without disappearing somehow.
Hi everyone! Back to continue the “my 2 cents” fun! (Seriously, I haven’t bothered with this sort of thing in years…) So here are my responses to today’s conversation:
Although we have been watching this unfold since Christmas, as far as I can tell this fight has encompassed maybe a couple of minutes, with some updates covering seconds..
Syr’nj and Frigg do not have the luxury to react to Bandit’s fate, because if they do Byron’s going to kill them. Syr’nj has been a soldier-medic. She has to triage here, in one way or another.
Even if Frigg is smugly imagining her own personal gratification (and I agree, this is no time for that), she’s still done the right thing. For the moment, it’s saved her and Syr’nj.
re: Byron going after them instead of the Bad Guys: Our Heroes and Gondaleeza were the only ones on the arena floor, and Gondaleeza took off. Since those of us who thought Bryon was climbing the walls were incorrect, there is no one else for him to attack, as long as we’re working under the assumption that a berserker will attack whomever’s in reach until there’s no one left or he drops. The Bad Guys aren’t jumping in and they probably assume the doors are still locked (we’ll see how successful Bandit was).
That said, I’m human and invested so can’t help but agree with Phyre and others who would love to see Byron do something killtactular (as he would say) to the Bad Guys because hey, he’s the hero, we’re dying to see it (er, wrong word choice?), he needs a little respect, it’s obviously not going to happen often (assuming he lives), and it would be kind of nice if this weren’t a complete debacle or if the only person he killed was a friend.
re: Byron’s a wuss/useless/etc., I agree with some of what Hawk said: there’s a whole backstory here we simply don’t know yet, nor do we know what “berserker” really means in this context. While I said I would try to refrain from speculation, it seems to me that Byron has seriously, purposefully hobbled himself and resigned himself to low-paying, low-stakes adventuring gigs (e.g. the Kobolds and his comments to Gravedust) and trying to keep confrontations to “kwoks” (Frigg, pirate henchmen, Sundar) or simply turning away (Best), because this is what could happen if he doesn’t. So to me this is the issue the cultist brought up: can he actually fight without mindlessly destroying? To me this is intriguing.
i wish i had the authority to gold star. ill give you a silver one instead. it doesn’t really mean anything, but you can stick it on your refrigerator and maybe use it as a bargaining piece with your mom for a trip to chuckie cheese.
…You know, killing Harki would probably not be very conducive to diplomacy, and if the dwarves are going to declare war, then they may need the beastfolk.
But is the situation still salvageable? That remains to be seen.
The Representatives arrived and the first thing they do is put em in a deathring. They didnt even give the Gastonians time to insult them and ruin the whole situation. The Dwarves and savage races are going to war. The time to convince em otherwise was along time ago.
also can someone hack that panel and put a (colored) troll face on frigg? So i dont have to do it. I so want that as a wallpaper.
Haha! The first panel is hilarious! And the third is right behind!
And after reading all the previous comments, I must say that I am looking forward to the entire audience slaughtering each other in contagious rage. What a win for Gastonia! Send in a team of diplomats, and the brunt of the enemy forces are suddenly gone. Given the team’s track record of wanton destruction, could this have been the Colonel’s expectation all along?
I just wanted to chime in and let John know he’s doing a fantastic job, as I knew he would from watching him on other projects. Erica’s work will always be to this comic what Ditko was to Spider-Man, but it’s great to watch John carve out his own take on these characters and world.
Thank you, Raius. That’s very nice of you. Erica was great doing what she did on GA, and I’m proud and honored to take up the drawing reins. The comic has gone though a change, and the changes will continue in next chapter.
I also want to complient your sterling job. Besisdes, I suspect that we see now rather critical point in the story, which does not make it easier for you.
Am I the only one who wants to see Frigg pwn Byron even while he’s zerking? mean, sure he was able to scare off harki, but who knows, maybe if Harki hadn’t been afraid of “the madness” he would have been able to win… If he wore armour. Come on Harki, you’re not a busty elven lady, your AC doesn’t go up when you wear nothing but a loincloth.
It’d also fit with the diplomacy thing. Someone could pick up on Frigg defeating Byron and turn to the crowds.
“Look! She has defeated him! Your chieftan could only run away like a coward, but she has stood her ground, and been victorious! Why do you follow a coward? Lay down your weapons and join with Gastonia in peace! Become our allies, not our enemies! Who would you listen to? A coward?”
Either that, or Frigg will turn to them herself after beating down Byron and be all “Who’s next, chumps?” and when nobody steps up, she’ll be all, “That’s RIGHT, you don’t mess with Gastonia, b*tches! You better sign this damn treaty, or I’ll f*ck you up.”
Busty elven lady… I laughed so hard. :D
I had a character, a female one, who wore tattered clothings and ruined armor. Only her breasts were covered by thick plate, (I mean normal plate, not just a metal bra, but still…) and her upper arms were unprotected too. I named the armor Breastplate, which in DnD mean a leather armor, and many plate parts. The GM simply decreased her AC by one. I asked: why? Then his answer was: tell me… this, or I raise the enemy Crit threat range by one against you?
I obeyed. Sometimes people think that a pair of simple pauldrons and some good looking metal pieces would protect them.
I still think Bandit’s gonna live…I mean, she WAS described as ‘the real fifth member’ (albeit in alt text for a chapter beginning) earlier. Regardless, I don’t think she’s exactly gonna be…productive, for the rest of this particular fight.
Hell, she’d be messed up pretty badly, maybe she won’t be quite so cheerful after the event.
I wonder if Syr has an anti-berserk potion in her arsenal? It looks in the second panel as if she’s rummaging in a pouch. Although that would be almost laughably convenient.
After much thought, I’m beginning to wonder… How “evil” are the cultists? Fortune-Teller-Person seemed pretty likeable until the “try to get the berserker to kill his ally” bit.
Also, Phil? Mr. Campbell? We get it. Berserker bad. Berserker dangerous. But somewhere down the line, can Byron actually stop getting Worfed and/or screwing up? Not that I’m upset by this, or anything, mainly because once this is over I feel like we’ll get to learn more of Byron’s backstory.
Discussion (218) ¬
Nice work from Frigg!
Agreed.
What’s the loop of cloth she’s holding?
Thats the leather loop hanging from the end of her mace, for hanging it from her belt
Funniest. Alt text. EVER.
I once was getting an APA zine printed at Kinko’s, and i heard the crew behind the counter collapsing with laughter.
I asked what was so funny, and they told me that one of them had noticed the title of my review of the Dune movie – i had used a line that i whispered to a friend in the theatre: after Paul portentously says “Now I shall drink the sacred water!”, i couldn’t resist it – “…and then, I shall make the sacred peepee…”
Nice. :-)
You, sir/madam, has officialy won my respect! :D ^^
Well, shit. The bloodstain placement just …axed… the “Bandit only got hit with the lower edges” theory.
:(
Only if it was Bandit got hit.
The blood sprays in the last strip seem to mean she did, though.
Look again. The way Byron’s arms are placed, and given that her pigtails are straight out make it look as if it could be someone or something behind her getting chopped…
Or you’re just being gracelessly optimistic…
Bandits dead. :L
something behind her, but not in the frame, despite the ends of the axes being in the frame?
Yeah, I’m afraid Bandit’s “bought it”. And Byron wouldn’t turn away from her to attack Syr and Frigg if Bandit hadn’t been turned into a bloody pulp. If she were alive in the sense that she’s still moving/twitching Byron’d still be hacking at ‘er.
not really, he’s zerking
if she just stop moving after the first hit, he’s looking to kill things
not mess up dead stuff
so, if the first hit drew a good amount of blood, and Bandit just going ragdoll, she MIGHT be alive
hurtn bad, but salvagable
As much as i feel Bandit is dead, part of me still remains hopeful due to the fact that in the panel in the previous strip where she’s in Byron’s shadow, she looks quite see through. It may be she had an emergency trick up her sleeve, or it could just be a side effect of layers and shading . . .. I’m optimistically leaning towards the first.
Personally I think the lack of reaction from Frigg/S’yrnj to Bandit being ripped limb from limb does for the theory that Bandit got more than knocked down. That and the metatheory which says that our writers wouldn’t really kill her offhand like that.
I’m very underwhelmed by Byron’s berserking here, other than the bit where he overcame apparently fatal injuries. He gets one surprise (but non-fatal) shot in on Harki, then takes a few pretty useless swings at him, then turns on his own party-members out of sheer crazy. A lot of help this berserking lark is. No wonder he tries not to do it. Even getting his berserk on, Byron is definitely the party’s Official Load.
I agree with Arky’s second paragraph.
New Art Guy, you’re doing great. Writer Guys, you’re a couple of goddamn boxteases.
John, the art in this, as ever, is fantastic. Good job!
Thanks, ahdok.
Harki basically took out Bandit, Syr’nj, AND Frigg, taking only minimal damage in the process. Dude was brushing off their blows and laughing at them, remember? Byron gave him a sucking chest wound, hacked deep into the chest with an axe, and collected some fingers and an ear. And all of a sudden Harki turned into a craven wuss and ran as fast as he could. I’d say berserking is preeetty hardcore.
Or Harki is a coward. Like most bullies, he was never met the other end. Only the weakest can be the bravest, as they know, that they will fall, still want to act. The bully know, he won’t fall. So he acts.
Bandit is dead. You don’t survive having your torso trisected.
The party might be a little low for access to ressurection, but they do have wealthy patronage, so that’s my bet.
Ah, old school berserkers. Pull the pin and throw em’ in.
Ah, but Arky…Harki ran like a little bitch. Berserking probably isn’t something he can turn off at the drop of a hat. We don’t really know and until we get move evidence it seems like that would be the case. If he is squirrel-poop crazy right now, he’d go after the next thing in close striking distance, which would have been the rest of the party. I’m thinking that Frigg will maybe try to just hold him at bay to see if he’ll calm down.
Harki ran because he’s afraid of being infected with suck. And maybe Byron can’t actually be killed while this is going on. But he seems to be extremely scared of this berserking thing spreading, not so much of being stabbed himself.
The bloodstains on the axes remained unchanged through the supposed Bandit-hacking. To be fair, I can’t tell whether that’s due to Byron whiffing or just the way the art’s being done, but I’ll still be expecting a scuffed up Gnome appearing in the near future if we don’t see one bleeding out on the floor soon.
Frigg, you nub, defensive stance doesn’t work without a shield.
Huh. Took me a second reading to notice Syr’nj rummaging in her satchel. Wonder what she’s got up her sleeve?
Miltown
She has an Arm, up her sleeve. Dummy :3
SCIENCE.
I really hope rage IS contagious.
RAEEEEEGHBLAAARGHLEBLAARGH
According to D&D 3.5, frenzied berserkers CAN inspire rage in nearby people at high enough level =P
It would be like Weegee. You see it and then…
when you… see it…
then…
[kill.]
[KILL.]
RAAAGGGEEEEEEE!!!
AAAGGGHHHRARNANDKLADALHDACOOOF D:<
Yep, Frigg got her wish: it’s on!
Wonder if she’ll be able to outlast the rage, just hold a defensive posture with a few jabs here and there until Byron collapses.
I totally called today. but I reckon frigg’s got about one strip worth of defense until Syrinj saves the day.
I’m betting Harki got punk’d by another berserker earlier in his lifetime and has been spreading rumors about “The madness” ever since to cover for his past and future failures.
Yeah. I told you he was a big yellow chicken
Aren’t orc supposed to be filled with a blood rage or something? Perhaps Harki fears this will cause it.
Harki’s a troll not an orc though.
Oh damn. You’re right. I’m so used to trolls only having two fingers and a thumb. OH WAIT. XD
Thanks though, I totally forgot he was a troll.
Still a good point. He’s not saying “Do you want the madness to infect me” But instead that the madness will spread.
Kind of like the crowd at a rugby match starting a brawl over a really good or really bad game.
I guess he’s confusing berserk with rabies. We’ll this might be good news. Misundestanding the opponent leads one’s downfall.
To be honest I think he’s just straight-fucking Terrified of Byron and needs an excuse to keep his Royal pride, without being hacked to pieces.
I love how he’s pointing at himself with his missing finger.
He’s not pointing, I don’t think – appears more like he’s yanking an arrow out of his shoulder.
But why? Even though Byron’s blows were spectacular Harki does not seem to be affected much. He seems to believe the rage is contagious.
Hmmm. What else is yellowy-brown and runny?
Cutting from Bandit’s apparent death scene immediately to Byron’s charge towards Frigg and Syr’nj feels jarring. If the purpose is to avoid revealing Bandit’s fate, it would have been better to insert the trolls’ conversation in between the two scenes. The conversation doesn’t really have to come at the end of this page, since the punch line is delivered in the alt-text anyway. Maybe it’s just me?
And oooookay. Byron didn’t break out of it. Well… Okay, I was wrong, all right? Wrong on multiple counts.
… EXCEPT ABOUT FRIGG BEING A MATCH FOR BYRON! Ha! I told you guys, it’s not that Byron is better than Hark and there for better than Frigg, it’s that each of them has a unique advantage over and weakness to the other. Like “Rock, Paper, Scissors”.
Also, berserker face Byron is epic.
Since no one else has freakin’ done it…
He mad.
God, I feel dirty now, but it had to be done.
Syr’s got winner.
Okayyyy…um, whereinthehell did the spear shaft go?
http://guildedage.net/webcomic/chapter-8/chapter-8-page-20/
he centrifuged it out when he pulled the whole spinning murder top maneuver.
Wait so is berszerking a disease? Or is that some kind of superstition? Because the king is acting about the same as I would if Byron had rabies.
There is a fantasy precedent; in “Starfollowers of Coramonde” by the late Brian Daley, the Berserkergang was a curse that could be transmitted, though in that it only went from one host to another.
Of course, with the beasty boys, as they are LESS than MEN, it could affect more than one at a time.
I concur with earlier opinions that Harki is making up some shit to cover for his failure.
As do I!
What, a macho warrior THING lying?
What is “the madness”? A disease? A curse? I personally think it’s magical, since the cultist’s general “madness” spell nearly triggered this exact response.
you mother get up come on get down with the sickness
you fucker get up come on get down with the sickness
madness is the gift that has been given to me
That is exactly the song, going on in my head at the moment. You rock! I..I
^5
I give Frigg Three Panels.
I give Byron three panels before Syr pulls out what she’s looking for while Frigg stopped him. It should be knockout stuff.
Byron’s immune to spear through the chest; I don’t think some nyquil is going to put him down.
I give her four! (but small ones.)
I bet she wins, actually. Berserkers of lore were infamous for being able to shrug off blades but NOT blunt head trauma.
Well, looks like Bandit is indeed in chops. Byron, you moron. You spend all this time playing a leader, making careful plans and all. Yet you somehow forgot to tell the guys rather basic and simple thing: “If by any chance I go berserk – just fuck off”
..and what did they think a berserker is?
It’s a type of Flower native to Gastonia.
It doth grow wild an pure, sprouting from out of piles of Ursine Faeces.
Seems like everyone but Bandit knew.
He calls himself a berserker, and we can’t account for every off-camera conversation. I think the issue is that no one (except Syr’nj) really took him seriously (and really, you can’t blame them), and in Bandit’s case she didn’t seem to understand exactly what happens when someone does go berserk–she said flat out she thought it was a joke but clearly seemed to believe that even now proven true, he would stop and surely not harm her.
Tranquilizer?
She’d need a lot of it. Like, an ELEPHANT dose.
Nah, this is just too wrong. A rematch is not the thing they need right now they need a disctraction for the berzerker, so he would, maybe, charge the stands and -possibly-take down the archers. He’s the only guy who can stand against arrow fire despite being shot. With him out of the game,the rest is dead meat i’m afraid. Frig’s been driven by her pathetic ego again. Yet she’s got a chance to get her arse delivered to her. This is nowhere near dealing with pissed nuns.
Also if this ‘zerkin out session is about to end in Byron getting back to his “cute puppydog comic relief act” with Frigg helping it, i’ll be dissappointed beyond words.
One last thing, forgive the expression if this sounds rather harsh, but this was such a terrible cut. It’s distracting from the previous scene in the worst way possible- which i supposedly it’s the writers aim, however we have no idea of the surrounding, current location ..i mean what exactly happened after Byron landed(?) that blow. Feels more like a panel ortwo is missing..Oher than that, i’m surprised to see the art getting better and better so fast that, i cannot walk away without saying how much i’m amazed! It’s been only few pages and Mr John has shown such quick development! Rebrowsing the very first pages o the comic shows us how hard and long it would take an artist to sharpen the general outline of te characters, and considering this i believe the artist here is t his best. Congrats t you fine sir, you’ve my full attetion from now on.
..and sorry about my misspellings. My goddarn keyboard is broken.
I agree, Frigg’s stale trash-talking was the last thing I wanted to see. I hope she gets the crap beaten out of her by Byron (if not fatal) to teach her a lesson in getting her priorities straight.
Where’s Gravedust, the brains of the operation, when you need him? D:
I’ll be incredibly disappointed if Frig suddenly has an easy time of keeping Byron at bay.
I think you guys are hitting the wrong end of the stick here.
Notice 1st panel; Byron charging bloodthirstily towards Frigg/Syr.
Frigg rushes to protect them both, despite the danger she’s witnessed; IF anything she’s being selfless to protect her companions. Her smack talk ‘You mad’ is not Frigg flying into an Ego trip; it’s Simply, Frigg.
She’s a crusader :)
Now, blocking him is one thing, therefore i can agree with you on that part, but keeping his concentration on his party members is a false strategy in long terms, while they’re still open to arrow rain (considering there are any archer troops at all.). Although the troll infantry being disorganized, the crowd throwing them whatever sharp they have is a pretty deadly risk to take. My humble theory is, girls need to find a way to unleash Byron right onto the audience, and run to the wounded and tend to them while confusion among the stands remains, then sneak/run/retreat/whatever.
-Btw..this sounds a little off but ehm..A Troll, somehow civilized enough to recognise elven royalty marks out of random tattoos, but is not being able to distinguish berserk from rabies? i may be wrong but ehm…Hmm.
I wonder if he has made up this “madness” talk in order to put a scare on his folk?
No. He’s made it up to hide he fact that he’s a coward.
Thank you, Swordsister. I’m getting the hang of it.
I say Frigg loses, but gives Syrn’j enough time to pull out some sciencejuice.
Something has got to establish Byron as a force to be reckoned with if, even with his ace in the hole, a cocksure chick in full-plate (Badass and skilled as she may be) is able to cream him, then he really has no business being in this comic at all. He can’t effectively lead if he is in danger of being a teamkilling twit, and he is not able to be of any use at all if he can’t fight anyone, except garden variety mooks, and win.
I’m with Frigg in her commentary on Byron in panel 4:
http://guildedage.net/webcomic/chapter-8/chapter-8-page-16/
Indeed! I’ll be sad if he loses steam now. ._.
I have to agree. Seeing Byron make the troll who owned the entire party run scared was great, but if Frigg manages to do anything other than get her ass handed to her then Byron will be The Most Useless Guy Ever.
His plans aren’t even that good. Sure he has charisma I guess, but he needs to bring something else to the table besides kobold killing. So here’s to hoping that Frigg gets her shit ruined in the next comic or two, only to be barely saved by SCIENCE! from Syr.
now mind you I’m perfectly okay with the idea of him restraining himself to avoid this sort of thing, but if he lets loose and *still* can’t win without the element of surprisekilleverything? What’s the point?
Personally I’m not really worried about the story, the writers have proven more than capable of creating an intriguing interesting story.
In Watership Down (the book, I mean), Hazel is not the strongest, fastest, smartest, most eloquent, prophetic, oldest, biggest, best tracker, or most experienced one of the group–he isn’t the one who beats the crap out of the General or who terrifies the General’s minions. He does not start or win physical altercations, gets shot, ends up lame, and gets “chumped”. He begins the story a nobody. He becomes a good leader, however, because he understands how to manage and leverage the egos and talents of his companions, who otherwise often resort to infighting, lack direction or social skills, or do not see the big picture. Hazel also identifies the benefit of alliances with others his companions would ignore out of habit. Without him, his companions would have ultimately parted ways, and in most cases come to a bad end.
But I’m with you all in that I would still love to see more killtactular fun like panels 1-3 on page 20 of this chapter. ;-) The difference is I wouldn’t call Byron useless (yet, at least) if I don’t.
Hrm… either Hark thinks general berserking and madness is an actual, spreadable disease type thing… or…
Beastmen don’t like Rabies? Could make sense I suppose.
Syr is about to do some science! Yay!
OH wait! Did Harki just forfeit for control of the
hordesavage races? Are they his prophesied army?Hmm, wouldn’t it be funny if Harki was right? It is contagious.. Blood to Blood. And lookie who has some of Byron’s blood in his open wound. Lookie who’s right in there with his own side’s lackies and leaders. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if Harki slew his own men, forcing the savage races to side with our heroes or die horibly.
It would also mean that if Bandit survived that attack, she might get back up with the demon blood trying to mend her wounds, in an insane, murderous rage.
That would really be fun.
You lost track of which weapon has whose blood.
Spear – Byron blood -> Harki
Axe – Harki blood -> Bandit
So if anything, the regenerative troll blood might be what saves Bandit, while Harki gets frothing mad in his own ranks.
O snap! Nice catch there! Wow. Now that makes perfect sense.
Took that into consideration.
Bandit is shorter.
Byron is dripping blood.
Hence he bled on her. (possibly)
Although the thought with Harki’s blood in Bandit is interesting.
*Spock voice*
Fascinating.
Never thought of the medicinal properties of Troll blood.
Also, if Berserker madness really IS contagious, then seeing Harki ‘zerk out on his on troops will be priceless.
Hey…
What if the berzerkergang really is an infectious disease?
And what if Bandit got infected when he axed her?
How funny wouldn’t a berzerker/undead gnome be?
So I’m not the only one to have that idea, I see :-)
Oh, Frigg. You and your memes…
Also, trolls are totally broken. He just pulled a blade out through his /heart/ without breaking conversation.
I hear they’re getting the nerf bat next patch along with unholy dk’s, survival hunters and mages.
If Frigg’s a sacrificial lemming, at least she’s a blocker.
Man Frigg is great.
But poor Bandit :( She’s dead, has to be.
Might not be the most popular opinion, but… Kill her Byron, strike her down and wipe that stupid look off her face. You’re my main man Byron, don’t disappoint me now!
-5
Hey, life’s just more fun… with murder.
Looks like someone plays chaotic evil.
hmm oh well,bandit is dead that’s really öhm… *yawn* huh? was there anything important?
you know i guess i would be more concerned if it wasn’T for the fact that you can find a cheeky smartass Gnome/halfling thief nearly any second corner in a city. no seriously beside thief and sometime illusionist/inventor ,do they even “have” other classes?
I like’d bandit but i really don’t get what made so many people here go crazy about her.
Now to the actual comic at hand.I agree that Frigg will probatly keep byron busy long enough for Syr to do science to him.Even though i kind of wish he would defeat frigg for the comment she made earlier. I would even more like to see how byron defeats frigg without his Berserker rage someday but i guess that really will never happen.
She may have been the only “conventional” member of the party, but you don’t have to be different and original to be quite likable.
Ok, so is this a Zerk rush?
Yes.
looks like Syrinj is making a sedative
I hate to be a bastard, but I’ve found this battle . . . boring. Ill-paced. Disjointed. Dissatisfying. And I think some of it has to do with the art. In panels 1 and 2 in particular, you’ve gone totally manga, and that just doesn’t do it for me.
I concur. John’s art is great if this was a light-hearted comedy, but to me Guilded Age has always had a serious, down-to-earth, nitty-gritty tone, which does not go well with John’s increasingly cute art. The style makes this very dangerous berzerking seem unreal and less scary than it should be.
Serious? Down-to-earth? THIS comic? For REAL?
Sorry, fellas. Just…no.
You are most definitely entitled to your opinions…but this comic has always had its zany, over-the-top moments. Just because this one particular scene doesn’t fit YOUR palette doesn’t mean it’s not true to the GA spirit.
Keep up the good work, John!
lol wut?
You can’t read half of what Frigg does and think the comic is all srs bsns, even if it does a good job of tackling serious matters like fantasy racism.
And I actually liked panel 2 — especially Syr’Nj. It does a good job of showing her panic and the quick scramble for something that might help.
Scorpio, you are an insult to truth. Serious? THIS COMIC? You must be the kind of person who gets pissed when nobody dies. This is clearly a comedy, and that’s NOT a bad thing. You can’t look at the first few comics and say “THATS DRAMATIC!”. I’ll admit they’ve gotten abit less wacky, bit they still remain humorous.
I didn’t explain myself very clearly. I love manga and anime, I read/watch them all the time, and I love comedies too. There are points in Guilded Age where the style on this page is suitable.
For this page, though, I feel that Byron’s charge in panel one needs to be drawn a different way. His comic stance is more suitable for a “run, run away!” scenario much like their flee from the fire god/erupting volcano. The way he is charging at the girls is not frightening at all, and Syr’nj’s exaggerated facial expression in panel two also makes the scenario more light-hearted than it needs to be.
To me, this is a climax in the story, with exciting actions and sacrifices, and unknowable (possibly grave) fate for two of our beloved characters, but the art style and overly clean lines seem to weaken the dramatic punch.
Sorry, Catbus, Scorpio. I did draw Robotech Sentinels for eight years, and sometimes it crops up every now and then. It gets into your blood.
John, I love the attention to details in your art, and your fresh portrayal of the party. In many scenes (especially those with dialogue and not action), you capture their personality perfectly. My problem is really just with a few panels in this battle with Harki, and I wanted to mention it in case any one cares. I hope you are not offended.
No… no… not at all. (boo hoo hoo>sob<) no.
I like it that Harki looks like a panicked ninnie. He looked badass enough beforehand, so this is just hilarious.
Great job so far, John. And berserked Byron is just FEARSOME to behold.
I’ve noticed lately on teh Interwebs that the words “manga” and “anime” are used almost interchangeably for “art I don’t care for”. And seriously, this comment seems to fall into that category.
I’m looking at the two panels in question, and see no serious manga influence, here. Facial features are detailed, not abstracted to generic levels; posture is dynamic without being tortured; mouths show clear expression, rather than simply being a line. If I were to compare this to anything, it would be to some of the artwork I’ve seen in MAD magazine over the years.
True dat.
I see very, very little manga influence. What I notice is only in expressions, and it’s not bad at all.
Uhm. The axes are breaking. He hits pretty hard.
What’s the break-DC of an axe?
That’s a lighting effect for where the blades meet the socket. I suspect they’re plenty strong enough.
Maybe it makes me a bad person, but “You mad?” cracked me up.
I totally agree.
Me too. The best context for this meme I’ve ever seen till now, imo.
I love how spot on Frigg’s expression is for the “u mad?” meme guy
It would appear that they’re not the only trolls around here ¬_¬
Huh. Looking at the wound placement in panel 4, it looks like the spear went through Harki’s spine. Even accounting for Troll healing, how the devil is he still able to walk?
Since no one else has mentioned this, I notice that the lackey is saying “But Chieftain, we don’t” before he gets interrupted.
Chieftain we don’t what? We don’t HAVE archers, we sent them all to some other fight? We don’t have bandages for your boo-boos? We don’t follow your orders anymore, you bag of slime??
./begin rant
To the people griping about “tease” and other such disappointments: I know it’s a hard thing to wait for the next update, but if you’re really THAT pissed off by having to wait and see what actually happens…or if you are that pissed off by what HAS happened…
Stop reading.
No one is twisting your fucking arm.
I like the comments most of the time, but I’m a little weary of the QQ/bitchfest in the last couple days’ worth of comments. It’s starting to read like the WoW forums, and honestly, it’s pointless.
You’re here reading this comic because you are interested in the story that the GA team has to tell. It’s not a fucking request line or a Choose Your Own Adventure book. You can do better? Make your own comic. Meanwhile, kwitcherbitchin and let the rest of us enjoy the suspense.
./end rant
We don’t like pit fights turning to target practice?
What are you talking about? Phil is twisting my fucking arm right now. Well, not so much twisting as simply sitting on it but it hurts just as much.
Agreed, Mr. Hawk, agreed.
mrs. or miss i believe
Miz Hawk will do :P
@the good captain: And just what was your arm doing in Phil’s chair, I wonder?
My arm is the chair!
Now I have a mental image to scrub out of my brain.
Hmmm…or really sick fan art to sketch.
Why not both?
I’m sayin’.
sorry but i used to be in some kind of comic business myself in the past- nowhere near professional as this one though- but “if you don’t like it, then stop reading” thingy is the biggest response cliché and the oldest trick in the book and shit DON’T JUST WORK THAT WAY.
You come up with comment section, you bear to read it. As long as one does not overcross the border of “respect”. I beleive that nobody has ever done anything extreme like that yet.
“But Chieftan, we don’t” know why you don’t get your pansy self-healing ass back in there and fight.
“But Chieftain we don’t” Allow anybody to leave the challenge pit before all their foes are dead!
“BCwd” have any of your favorite lace doilies left!
“But Chieftain we don’t” want to ruin the sick groove you got goin on down there.
No one is complaining about having to wait a few days for the next page. I called Phil and T boxteases because they made us wait 1.25 YEARS for the berserker to berserk, and now that he has, he’s STILL not that useful. Yes, he made Harky run, but only because Harky is the classic cowardly bully who can’t face anything close to a fair fight.
To me, this scene seems like the result of the Writer Guys regretting ever having Byron claim to be a berserker in the first place, but wanting to shut up those of us who were complaining about him not really being one while, at the same time, discouraging us from ever wanting to see him ‘zerk out again. And it’s not working. -_-
I may, of course, be completely wrong. I hope I am.
All I’ll say right now is that nothing is happening in this chapter that wasn’t planned for since the beginning of the project.
OK, sorry. I’ll try to have a little faith.
No, not faith! Rational conjecture towards potential outcomes. :P
THAT’S DEVIL TALK!!!
It’s just GA unorthodoxy maaaaan, you need to roll with it duuude. It’s why I keep reading this even though I’m not much of a comic fan.
There needn’t always be symmetry. Maybe it’s Byron’s fate to be a “useless piece of shit” like Frigg said. Sometimes life just turns out that way.
By the by, panel #3 is my new sig. I really do love it.
hahaha no joke… it won’t even need to be resized!
Yeah, people are really assuming that Harki is wrong or misguided. I’m in the ‘the Madness really is more than meets the eye’ camp, if only because the author(s) have taken every other stereotype and twisted it ingeniously, so why not the berserker too?
Also, hooray for art! I know it’s probably a huge pain to work with textures, but it was one of my favorite things about Erica’s work too and I’m so happy to see that there’s more than one artist capable of doing it. :) Plus yay for Byron berserk art in general!
Awww look! Harki and Nilkuff are giving each other Eskimo kisses!
What I think the soldier is trying to say is that their are rules to fight club and that he needs to get back in there and fight his own fight. I think we’re about two strips away from Harki’s followers losing all respect for him and walking away. So really, the only wrap up we need is Harki’s death, Byron’s sedation, which Syr’nj is taking care of and the possible saving of Gravedust’s life. (maybe some mourning for bandit and the inevitable guilt that Byron will feel for the rest of the comic. This will of course make it harder to believe those “light” “comedic” moments that are sure to resume.)
I know I may be late to see the joke, but I love the “Vegeta hair” and navel gem on the Troll. I seriously couldn’t stop letting out a *snrk* when I saw that.
I just hope they have a lot of Diamonds, or whatever is needed as reagents for resurrection in this world… ‘Cause I have a really bad feeling that this mission is going to come very close to a TPK before the end.
Oh my lord I missed that connection…
What as been seen can’t be unseen….!
I know its a bit dated, but I’m going for it.
Madness? He HAS SPARTAAA!!!!!
Alt-text totally stealing the thunder. Best I can come up with is “Quick, kick him in the codpiece!”.
It’s a good thing that I don’t write this comic.
Here, for all Short Atention Spam readers
http://guildedage.net/webcomic/chapter-4/chapter-4-page-1/
Its still to happen. So, Bandit still be around. (UN)Dead or Alive.
I think that happened before they got sent on this diplomatic mission to the Savage Races.
Yeah, I was thinking the same, for when the group all discovered the ruined human town, and someone scrawled “It was Harki” … Syr and the girls had just returned from Sky City of Frigg’s Boredom.
“Sky City of Frigg’s Boredom” I think I used to listen to that as a radio show on Public Radio when I was a kid.
Either that, or it was an AD&D module.
No, it’s past. It is girls met with Byron and Dusty after this meeting and saw troll slavers. And Dusty mentiond it here: http://guildedage.net/webcomic/chapter-7/chapter-7-page-4/
Pornstache doesn’t mention them being sent to that floating city and terrorizing them at all…. He’d have added it to the list happily I think. I think Syr’Nj was just telling them about how lame that city was, not relating anything recently done…
Frigg + Trollface = Unstoppable. U jelly, epic fantasy?
For everyone having issues with the “cut” from the lastpage to this, would you really rather see Byron kicking/flinging Bandit’s body off his axes? The hits connected, and she is out of the fight, if she can recover, that’s another story.
Harki’s initial reaction to ‘Zerk Byron was way too much horror. He’s not just making this up as he goes to cover his ass, though he still stands to lose much prestige IF they can take Byron down.
As for the cut-to, there was nothing more to see, save Bandit falling to the ground in three pieces. Sorry, Gorefans, but this ain’t that kinda comic. And yeah, I too foresee a very short defense for Frigg. They can’t really redirect Byron’s rage while they’re the closest warm bodies, not without disappearing somehow.
Ninja’d.
Hi everyone! Back to continue the “my 2 cents” fun! (Seriously, I haven’t bothered with this sort of thing in years…) So here are my responses to today’s conversation:
Although we have been watching this unfold since Christmas, as far as I can tell this fight has encompassed maybe a couple of minutes, with some updates covering seconds..
Syr’nj and Frigg do not have the luxury to react to Bandit’s fate, because if they do Byron’s going to kill them. Syr’nj has been a soldier-medic. She has to triage here, in one way or another.
Even if Frigg is smugly imagining her own personal gratification (and I agree, this is no time for that), she’s still done the right thing. For the moment, it’s saved her and Syr’nj.
re: Byron going after them instead of the Bad Guys: Our Heroes and Gondaleeza were the only ones on the arena floor, and Gondaleeza took off. Since those of us who thought Bryon was climbing the walls were incorrect, there is no one else for him to attack, as long as we’re working under the assumption that a berserker will attack whomever’s in reach until there’s no one left or he drops. The Bad Guys aren’t jumping in and they probably assume the doors are still locked (we’ll see how successful Bandit was).
That said, I’m human and invested so can’t help but agree with Phyre and others who would love to see Byron do something killtactular (as he would say) to the Bad Guys because hey, he’s the hero, we’re dying to see it (er, wrong word choice?), he needs a little respect, it’s obviously not going to happen often (assuming he lives), and it would be kind of nice if this weren’t a complete debacle or if the only person he killed was a friend.
re: Byron’s a wuss/useless/etc., I agree with some of what Hawk said: there’s a whole backstory here we simply don’t know yet, nor do we know what “berserker” really means in this context. While I said I would try to refrain from speculation, it seems to me that Byron has seriously, purposefully hobbled himself and resigned himself to low-paying, low-stakes adventuring gigs (e.g. the Kobolds and his comments to Gravedust) and trying to keep confrontations to “kwoks” (Frigg, pirate henchmen, Sundar) or simply turning away (Best), because this is what could happen if he doesn’t. So to me this is the issue the cultist brought up: can he actually fight without mindlessly destroying? To me this is intriguing.
Sorry that was so long. Done for now. ;-)
Not at all. I can only /agree.
Seconded.
third.
Yes, I concur. And you put it much more nicely than I did in my pre-first-morning-cup-of-coffee nerd rage :P
(It would be nice to see Byron kill someone and be effective in combat, but I still do not agree with Phyre that the GA team are teases.)
i wish i had the authority to gold star. ill give you a silver one instead. it doesn’t really mean anything, but you can stick it on your refrigerator and maybe use it as a bargaining piece with your mom for a trip to chuckie cheese.
“Can we break it?” Oh yes, you definitely can, Byron…
I think Frigg will finally get that rematch she was looking for.
At first I was like *Clang!* D::)
* D:< and then I was like "U mad?" (:<
…You know, killing Harki would probably not be very conducive to diplomacy, and if the dwarves are going to declare war, then they may need the beastfolk.
But is the situation still salvageable? That remains to be seen.
The Representatives arrived and the first thing they do is put em in a deathring. They didnt even give the Gastonians time to insult them and ruin the whole situation. The Dwarves and savage races are going to war. The time to convince em otherwise was along time ago.
also can someone hack that panel and put a (colored) troll face on frigg? So i dont have to do it. I so want that as a wallpaper.
Haha! The first panel is hilarious! And the third is right behind!
And after reading all the previous comments, I must say that I am looking forward to the entire audience slaughtering each other in contagious rage. What a win for Gastonia! Send in a team of diplomats, and the brunt of the enemy forces are suddenly gone. Given the team’s track record of wanton destruction, could this have been the Colonel’s expectation all along?
Yes, I’d say so. Prolly working with the cultists.
“We must yield to Gastonian ultimatum. They thretened us…”
“With shock troops and moose artillery?”
“Worse. They will send ambassadors…all 3 of them”
“Not the incompetent baboons?”
“Exactly the incompetent baboons! They leave a trail of death and despair behind them!”
-face palm- worest one liner ever you mad way to go frigg piss off the zerking zerker even more lol
So the troll’s plan is “Nuke him from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure”?
*continues the minion’s interrupted speech*
“But sir, we sent the archers off on an important mission like… two hours ago! Remember?!”
I just wanted to chime in and let John know he’s doing a fantastic job, as I knew he would from watching him on other projects. Erica’s work will always be to this comic what Ditko was to Spider-Man, but it’s great to watch John carve out his own take on these characters and world.
Thank you, Raius. That’s very nice of you. Erica was great doing what she did on GA, and I’m proud and honored to take up the drawing reins. The comic has gone though a change, and the changes will continue in next chapter.
I also want to complient your sterling job. Besisdes, I suspect that we see now rather critical point in the story, which does not make it easier for you.
Am I the only one who wants to see Frigg pwn Byron even while he’s zerking? mean, sure he was able to scare off harki, but who knows, maybe if Harki hadn’t been afraid of “the madness” he would have been able to win… If he wore armour. Come on Harki, you’re not a busty elven lady, your AC doesn’t go up when you wear nothing but a loincloth.
It’d also fit with the diplomacy thing. Someone could pick up on Frigg defeating Byron and turn to the crowds.
“Look! She has defeated him! Your chieftan could only run away like a coward, but she has stood her ground, and been victorious! Why do you follow a coward? Lay down your weapons and join with Gastonia in peace! Become our allies, not our enemies! Who would you listen to? A coward?”
Either that, or Frigg will turn to them herself after beating down Byron and be all “Who’s next, chumps?” and when nobody steps up, she’ll be all, “That’s RIGHT, you don’t mess with Gastonia, b*tches! You better sign this damn treaty, or I’ll f*ck you up.”
According to cultist prophecy it is Byron that will lead the army.
Busty elven lady… I laughed so hard. :D
I had a character, a female one, who wore tattered clothings and ruined armor. Only her breasts were covered by thick plate, (I mean normal plate, not just a metal bra, but still…) and her upper arms were unprotected too. I named the armor Breastplate, which in DnD mean a leather armor, and many plate parts. The GM simply decreased her AC by one. I asked: why? Then his answer was: tell me… this, or I raise the enemy Crit threat range by one against you?
I obeyed. Sometimes people think that a pair of simple pauldrons and some good looking metal pieces would protect them.
I still think Bandit’s gonna live…I mean, she WAS described as ‘the real fifth member’ (albeit in alt text for a chapter beginning) earlier. Regardless, I don’t think she’s exactly gonna be…productive, for the rest of this particular fight.
Hell, she’d be messed up pretty badly, maybe she won’t be quite so cheerful after the event.
I wonder if Syr has an anti-berserk potion in her arsenal? It looks in the second panel as if she’s rummaging in a pouch. Although that would be almost laughably convenient.
After much thought, I’m beginning to wonder… How “evil” are the cultists? Fortune-Teller-Person seemed pretty likeable until the “try to get the berserker to kill his ally” bit.
Also, Phil? Mr. Campbell? We get it. Berserker bad. Berserker dangerous. But somewhere down the line, can Byron actually stop getting Worfed and/or screwing up? Not that I’m upset by this, or anything, mainly because once this is over I feel like we’ll get to learn more of Byron’s backstory.
Well they did try to poison the city’s water supply…over some chips and beer…
262 on mon, 319 for wed, but only 212 for friday, with the extra day for the weekend to boot. Prolly ‘cuz nobody got taken out this comic…