If you’re so smart, how are YOU stuck here?
on November 24, 2021 at 12:01 amLook, it’s the Cliffs Notes on Head Alien II! And probably the fanciest Head Alien helmet I’ve ever rendered, I dunno.
Interestingly, that’s a redrawn version of this Joyce and Walky! scene here. I guess I deemed its art Too Old.
Leslie and Ultra Car are aware that Head Alien II is already dead where they’re from, but this is a Head Alien II from somewhere in the middle of his lifespan, stuck here indefinitely! I gather that this loophole is how Death’s Head is still around in Marvel. Leslie and Ultra Car probably wouldn’t be 100% up on how Head Alien II died — they weren’t there for it, and they’re not close friends with anybody who was — but they kind of have to know enough for the scene to flow. It’s like how in WandaVision, when Dr. Darcy and Agent Woo and all them knew exactly what went down in incredible detail with the Avengers at the end of Endgame and whatnot. Because they have to. You can’t have semi-reliable narrators when you’re providing exposition. You gotta grease those wheels.
(Also notice that in flashback, when Head Alien II arrives, he’s in uncolored lineart, exactly like Shortpacked!‘s first strips.)
hilarious banana peel pratfall
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so wait, for how long was the drama tag already installed in the store by the start of Shortpacked and how much of the Walkyverse was it affecting by the time Robin pulled it out?
wait for it
You know, good question. Clearly not enough that the Martian invasion COULDN’T happen, and we’ll later find out that the tag eventually being pulled is capable of stemming its effects while it’s active, but assuming the colors are diegetic to Shortpacked, not just an artistic quirk, that implies the tag was probably pretty close to causing Serious Issues. Not the worst of the issues we’ll see in this universe’s stagnation, but probably some character development halting for people outside the store’s orbit. Or inside, potentially.
Amber’s Dad walked in basically right after the tag was removed so I think anyone close to him was affected as well.
Eh, I’m inclined to think a combo of drama damming but also a really bad coincidence for that. You’ll see the difference.
I’m most interested that the redrawn Joyce & Walky art has Walky with his main universe haircut, instead of the more Ethan-esque bowling ball hair that the alternate married-to-Dorothy Walky had in the original. Maybe you were concerned non-J&W subscribers would wonder “wait, why is Joyce fighting Ethan in the top right?”
My guess is that Willis looked at just that one strip for reference, and then forgot that the different hair style was intentional and not just an art mistake.
I’m just here for namedropping Death’s Head tbh
That guy rocks.
Damn you, drama-halting banana peel!
Okay wait, so this is HAII, but in… the middle of his lifespan? An alternate timeline HAII?
See might have been easier to just have one of the many other HAs just decide to go dimension hopping too but end up stuck here instead of eventually ending up in the Walkyverse.
It is, in fact, HAII before past-universe Joyce and Walky removed his immortality and he reached the main universe for one last shot at revenge. The fact that it is, specifically, HAII will be relevant towards the end of this storyline. Yes, that makes for some time loopiness, but we already had some time loopiness going on with that storyline anyway. While HAII is relevant here, he’s not really the focus of this storyline. That’s all on Leslie, the drama tag, and one more character we haven’t seen yet.
Man, I want the product HAII uses to polish his helmet.
It’s probably not so much the product as the effort he puts in. He’s been stuck here a long time with nothing to do except polish his helmet. It’s a wonder he hasn’t gone blind.
(From the glare, obviously. What did you think I meant?)
Somebody should tell the folks in this alternate universe to throw away their banana peels, not just leave them lying around for someone to slip on. Though I guess since it’s a comedic universe people aren’t likely to get too badly hurt from slipping on banana peels.
Those banana peels would inevitably escape the trash cans in improbable but wacky ways.
I like to imagine this universe comes with a laugh track after every gag. But there’s like, no discernible origin to it and literally nobody acknowledges it.