Prepare to get curbstomped, shorty!
on December 5, 2021 at 1:01 amDouble-sized strip! These often happened on Fridays back then, mostly because I wanted weekend cliffhangers to end where I wanted them to, and a Friday cliffhanger ending on Head Alien’s “Yup” would be pretty anti-climactic to hang from for two days. That and comic strips are like sentences, and you don’t want to end one mid-clause.
Witness one of my favorite tropes! The normal person versus the superpowered! Remember Dumbing of Age‘s Amazi-Girl Vs Traffic? Same principle here. But in this case, it’s Leslie, who’s never fought a person in her life vs Head Alien II at his most powerful. Walky, Joyce, and Jason fought a mostly depowered Head Alien II, and two-thirds of them were superheroes! This is a battle that Leslie can’t possibly win.
Head Alien II is echoing a few judgments on Leslie that were around in the comments section at the time. Surprise, Head Alien is being meta. Who knew.
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Oh, this one hurt to watch, but even still it’s obvious Leslie’s not dying here. Mainly because Shortpacked leans a bit too wacky hijinks to pull a Dina, especially in a storyline built on unfridging Rachel.
All the same, ow. Even if HAII doesn’t know Leslie that well, he knows enough to hurt in this moment, especially since this entire Shenanigans-ed adventure began because she didn’t want Robin to leave for Denver.
Meanwhile, UC is downloading those Short Circuit movies and has yet to notice either the fight with HAII OR her mom being here.
Shortpacked! isn’t just “too wacky hijinks to pull a Dina,” it’s “too wacky hijinks to allow a Dina to remain pulled,” and honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Indeed. And as you said, this isn’t early Shortpacked anymore. Leslie’s gonna shenanigans her way into undoing another death later, but first, we’re gonna see what Leslie Bean’s really capable of.
…yeah, this has to really sting. Because while Head Alien is wrong about some things here, he’s not wrong that, at least in the early days of Shortpacked!, Robin didn’t really care at all about Leslie’s feelings, and Leslie just forgave her over and over until she couldn’t anymore. Before they broke up, their relationship really wasn’t healthy.
The line that really drives it home is when he proclaims that this universe agrees with him that Leslie’s life is a joke– because this is (or very recently was) an early-Shortpacked! styled universe, and when she first showed up Leslie’s life really was just a joke. A quick one-off gag, meant to be forgotten and have no lasting impact.
But this isn’t early Shortpacked! anymore. The fact that Leslie did come back, and that she grew so much that she became the comic’s heart, is a testament to just how wrong Head Alien II really is about her.
Ah, Magnetix. Good times, good times. Magnets truly can improve any toy.
I remember somebody had put HAII’s speech up on TV Tropes’ The Reason You Suck Speech page almost immediately obviously it hit the right notes.
Hmm, Magnetix? Name rings a bell…
one google search later
OMG I LOVED THESE THINGS AS A KID
Man, that’s kind of a low blow…
Then again, that’s HA’s thing
I haven’t seen Box before in IW! have I? Is this its origin story?
There’s nothing worse than someone talking to you while they beat you up. I know I’m not treading on any new ground here, but fuck me Head Alien is a great villain.
“Witness one of my favorite tropes! The normal person versus the superpowered! Remember Dumbing of Age‘s Amazi-Girl Vs Traffic? Same principle here”
Who was the superpowered in that scenario? Amazi-Girl? Toedad with a shotgun? The concept of the human body not being acclimated for action at highway speeds?
The cars.
Cars weigh 3000 pounds and can move at 150 mph.
Humans can’t.