Annotated 47-6
FB: Some faces, no words or even emoji can do justice.
This page adds little to the plot…Hammerhead has spelled out his reasons for leaving, and there’s not much Penk can counter with, so we already knew on the last page that this was goodbye. But it says a whole lot about Penk’s character that he treats Hammerhead like this as they part ways. Harky, in an effort to get Hammerhead back in line, would probably have threatened to suspend the truce between trolls and land sharks, not volunteered to extend it.
My cynical side says that this promise is not entirely Penk’s to make. He has just demonstrated, violently, that his coalition can reset policy every so often due to a change in leadership. Penk’s successor may not be quite so “respectful” toward a group that never quite agreed not to eat his citizens. But, you know, the same goes for every decision Penk’s gonna make. The best of us leave the best world we can behind for those who come after. And all we can do is all we can do.
In response to your cynical side, Penk’s exact wording was “Never make prey of”, not “Never kill at all”, meaning self-defense or other forms of fighting are still on the table. While his successor may not be respectful perhaps, I don’t think it’s beyond reason that the trolls can resist hunting land sharks as food. After the final battle, the Trolls probably have access to, for lack of a better word, sources of food that don’t have the capacity to turn them into food. I imagine hunting land sharks for sustenance would never come back into style.
You’re using those “words” again, Hammerhead hates that.
But in seriousness, Hammerhead just finished sort-of describing Penk’s defeat of Harky as “making prey.” I think that to Hammerhead, “prey” is anything you kill, for any reason.
Well, to the sharks, there is no such thing as “any” reason. The only reason that exists for killing is for food, from prey. All these higher purposes like war are meaningless.
I do agree. But I think Hammerhead knows that Penk does not use the word ‘prey’ the same as him. And by him saying that he could not promise the same, I think he’s lowkey calling Penk’s bs on his promise.
Otherwise he would accept it as that no matter what, no landshark would ever be killed by member of the coalition… Which is indeed a much. XD
Might be that Penk is also aware that he ‘using the word wrong’, but he might be trusting, and sort of respecting Hammerhead’s intelligence to know what he means. That they know each other well enough.
Something we could use these days instead of everyone being instantly insulted, hurt or such by words they perfectly well knew were spoken with no malice or hate.
And yes, there are people who use their words to hurt too, but sticks and stones.
Calling Penk’s bs, otherwise he would accept it? How weirdly cynical.
I think it makes sense. Hammerhead made clear that he his worldview has two categories of beings: Friends and Prey. Nothing and nobody can be in both categories. His objection to Penk’s ideas comes from exactly that point: Humans are to him either prey or friends, and they’re certainly not friends, so why do you talk to them? His frustration is exactly that Penk changed direction, and declared (some) humans friends, when they were prey before, and therefore he would have a hard time believing that
Penk’s promise would carry very far. He also does not explicitly accept the promise, either.
I would like to believe, though, that he will *try* to not make prey of Trolls in the future, because Penk’s speech here has left an impression. Maybe he’ll even sit down at some point, think more about it, tell his children one day, and maybe Landsharks will become a little less beast-y as a result? I don’t know but the light is just too beautiful in this scene :)
Very Alan Moore, those last three panels.
Thank you!
Your welcome, it’s nice work!
Is the second to last panel a small bow, or simply the motion of turning around?
I think Hammerhead is pointedly drawing his closed hand away from Penk’s outstretched one.
I think it’s a little bit of both. ;-D
I’m sorry if this was gone over before, but what exactly is the process of getting the land-sharks to break with the World’s Rebellion as a collective? Did Hammerhead just shout “HEY LET’S LEAVE THESE GUYS!” from the top of a rock until it turned into a meme picked up by the collective?