Comments on: Annotated 38-2

By: Abnaxis

Abnaxis — Sun, 17 Oct 2021 04:45:46 +0000

Is it just me, or do HR’s hands look REALLY BIG in this comic?

By: Mogo

Mogo — Sun, 17 Oct 2021 00:03:52 +0000

Oh, the masses are definitely a factor.

We are a race of functional science illiterates that just shrug and take the word of a -very disproportionately- small scientist community (a handful of scientists that often work, not for the advancement of science, but for the bottom line that funds their research). Nowdays, the better part of mankind is disinterested in science at best, or completely sceptic of it in the worst cases. This is a world where Flat Earthers and GOOP are things that exist. We’re definitely not Kriptonians

Kryptonians were described as a race of scientists that lived in pristine cities full of crystal spires and flying cars. They were centuries ahead of us. I can’t imagine even a fringe part of Kryptonian society going all “Git yer g’dless science outta my Rao fearin’ house ‘n git back to Daxam ‘n leave us reel Kryp-tonians alone” I get that in a few versions of Superman’s backstory it was implied that Kryptonians fell because of their hubris, but my point is that they were a little too full of themselves, even if that was the case. In Richard Donner’s 1978 movie, the rulers of Krypton openly mocked Jor-El for warning them about the peril they were in, even though a real scientist wouldn’t have been so flippant about a possible end of the world scenario. And those Kryptonian rulers weren’t portrayed as a bunch of meat-headed military types, or a bunch of out-of-touch senile politicians. They were supposed to be intellectuals guided by cold logic, and yet apparently only Jor-El knew how to use their catastrophe monitoring equipment.

So, yeah, it does sound unrealistic

By: Zak McKracken

Zak McKracken — Sat, 16 Oct 2021 14:36:11 +0000

A planet that has extremely smart scientists that still can’t escape a planet-wide catastrophe, despite it being easily predictable and avoidable? Gee, that sounds unrealistic!

(hint: The problem is not science, it’s the mass psychology of *all* inhabitants, and game theory)

By: Zak McKracken

Zak McKracken — Sat, 16 Oct 2021 14:31:36 +0000

HR clearly sees a link between the bodies in the tanks and the PC characters, otherwise he would have ended that experiment a long time ago.
He’s right about that link, too, as will become clear later in the story.
This means: The number of people who can “escape to Arkerra” (haha) is equal to the number of tubes which are installed in that basement, and connected to the game server.
It may be that e.g. Frigg, once she achieves her god-like status, does become independent of her tube-borne sepia body, could live on independently, but HR very clearly cannot.

That also proves that HR has no plans to “rescue” anyone to Arkerra except himself and Carol.
I believe that’s because the stuff he’s throwing around in the scene here is just plain bullshit to help Carol go along with his plan.

By: Almond Magnum

Almond Magnum — Sat, 16 Oct 2021 08:46:01 +0000

I only read the Wikipedia, and not that closely, but he’s apparently alive and part of some superpowerful group of some shit. Group which includes the person who destroyed Krypton. (Because yes, someone destroyed Krypton now, it didn’t just happen. At least, that’s what Wikipedia said.)