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Wayward Page 20
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Wayward Page 20

on September 14, 2013
Chapter: Book 5: Wayward
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Discussion ¬

  1. Jenthura
    Jenthura
    September 15, 2013, 12:57 pm | # | Reply

    I can’t make out the first panel. Also, is the gun not firing in the sixth panel? Because of the rain?
    Awesome as always! 😀

    • Ben
      Ben
      September 16, 2013, 10:45 am | # | Reply

      Thank you!

    • Sharkie
      Sharkie
      September 17, 2013, 10:35 am | # | Reply

      He was aiming and getting ready to fire, but the fat man pulled a glory hand and pushes his rifle out of the way, so he could be the one to take the shot, likely fucking everyone in that group over.

      • DeathByPendulum
        DeathByPendulum
        September 17, 2013, 11:18 am | # | Reply

        *Hopefully* fucking everyone in the group over….

  2. wingsofwrath
    wingsofwrath
    September 15, 2013, 2:06 pm | # | Reply

    I’m not sure, but didn’t she have ammunition that reacted to water? Or maybe he just set that alight with his powers? Can’t really tell what’s going on, either.

    In the sixth panel looks more like he either chocked or simply taking too long to make the shot, which prompted the other guy to butt in – which is a stupid thing to do, considering the situation they’re in. He should have taken the shot himself if he was dissatisfied, but this way I’m pretty sure he just blew their chances of actually shooting Hunter, because he’ll most likely spot them and disappear again. Not that I expect shooting him will do much good in the first place, considering some of the other injuries he just shrugged off…

    • Sulucamas
      Sulucamas
      September 15, 2013, 3:16 pm | # | Reply

      I think you’re right about the exploding ammunition. Had to lookback to remember that she keeps bullets on her belts, though. 😛

      Now what the heck’s Diamonds doing? 😯

      • Zenu
        Zenu
        September 16, 2013, 3:45 am | # | Reply

        I think poor Diamond is about to take a bullet.

    • Annie
      Annie
      September 15, 2013, 3:25 pm | # | Reply

      I think Miz Black’s fancy ammo is going off on her person because of the mist Hunter called forth. And to me it looks like Flint was just starting to aim and Eli(?) pushed him aside before he had a shot (and possibly signed his own death certificate). I don’t think he had a shot yet because of the way he’s holding his rifle. Guessing that because if I were him and was about to fire, I’d be leaning further into the gun and have the center of the sight closer to my eye, instead of where my mouth is. Also, if I were steadying for recoil, my left hand would be further out and only one eye would be open. Then again, I’m basing this off my own posture when I shoot, so may be totally wrong here.

      • wingsofwrath
        wingsofwrath
        September 16, 2013, 8:16 am | # | Reply

        Yeah, that’s what I’m not sure about – wherever the ammo is detonating because of the mist or wherever Hunter is actively blowing it up with his powers.

        Flint is using a Sharps falling block rifle fitted with a ladder sight (http://www.ssfirearms.com/proddetail.asp?prod=W1193) which also has a notch on the very top, for extreme ranges, so maybe Flint is using that, because we don’t know just how far away Hunter is. Sure, his head is a bit high even for that, but then again he has the finger on the trigger, so, unless he has really poor trigger discipline, he must be ready to make the shot.

        I’ve never actually fired a Sharps, but I did fire an pretty similar 1868 Remington Rolling Block, along with a lot of other black powder types from the same era- M1867 Russian Krnka, M1870 Russian Berdan II, M1879 Romanian Peabody-Martini-Henry, 1866 Snider-Enfield… (not all of those fitted with ladder sights though, some had leaf sights, and I also shot percussion and flintlock muskets). I don’t know if you ever shot black powder, but I tell you that, besides the uncomfortable position one must take in order to sight one in the absence of proper cheek weld, the recoil is completely unlike that of modern weapons – whereas on a smokeless powder riffle recoil is a consistent -if powerful- push, on a black powder rifle, especially one with a big calibre (most of the above mentioned firearms use calibres from 0.450 to 0.577, the Sharps itself being 0.52) it’s a sudden, sharp kick.

        • Ben
          Ben
          September 16, 2013, 10:04 am | # | Reply

          It is indeed the potassium hydroxide, detonating in all the steam, as evidenced by the purple flash.

          Also I’d like to point out again that this isn’t the historical American west, and so none of these guns are meant to be real world makes and models, precisely; even so, Flint’s weapon is actually more of a Spencer repeater analog (the carbine, even), making it a tiny, tiny gun with a limited range compared to the Sharps. (Of course without seeing the barrel you’re all excused for mistaking it for the latter — they look samey and I don’t draw guns with that kind of specific precision — which is generally much cooler and pervasive in Westerns.)

          Also Annie is right — Flint is not ready to fire in panel 6: he’s hesitating and has lowered the gun, which as js pointed out, is not even cocked. 🙂

          As always, keen eyes and insights. Thanks, guys!

          • Bxious
            Bxious
            September 17, 2013, 8:52 pm | #

            Just can’t get enough of admiration for the amount of research You do for most of the strips. It’s really great to see that a lot of things are not simply ‘magic&stuff’, but some real-world references. And this makes a really nice discussion under every strip as a lot of people do their research just to check if they guessed what’s going on 😀
            Looking forward for moooore! 😀

          • wingsofwrath
            wingsofwrath
            September 18, 2013, 1:03 pm | #

            Spencer, duh! XD

            Yeah, I knew it didn’t look exactly like a Sharps, but completely forgot about the Spencer, because I was fixated on single shot rather than repeating designs…

            And indeed, the Spencer had a pitiful range, simply because it used short stubby cartridges due to the constraints of the repeating mechanism and stock mounted tubular magazine.
            Both in terms of bullet weight and powder loading, the Sharps’ .50-70 Government (I’m comparing the military calibres of these two guns, because each of them were produced in different calibres as well) with a 450 grain bullet over 70 grains of black powder wins hands down over the Spencer’s .56-56 pitiful 350 grain bullet over 42 grains of black powder, even though the latter has a larger diameter bore…

            So yeah, taking that into account, Hunter must be pretty close, no more than 150-200 yards.

            I also completely failed to notice the fact that the hammer was down for some reason – for me having your finger inside the trigger guard when you aren’t ready to fire is such a big no-no, I just assumed it’d be the same for him. Of course, now that I think about it, there’s no reason he’d be trained, quite the contrary, I’m sure he’s NEVER had formal training with firearms and simply learned how to shoot “on the go”.

            So that’s me getting two gun related things wrong in a row. For shame , where shall I put my face? 😀

            On the other hand, thanks for clarifying the ammo explosion thing for us. I thought it was really clever, and your research, as ever, is superb!

  3. mschief
    mschief
    September 15, 2013, 6:33 pm | # | Reply

    Ah so Diamond still runs to Hunter when called, huh? That poor pony, caught in the parents’ messy divorce.

    Can’t wait for more! Thank you for the beautiful work, as always! 🙂

    • Ben
      Ben
      September 16, 2013, 10:45 am | # | Reply

      Thank you so much.

  4. jsfury
    jsfury
    September 15, 2013, 8:15 pm | # | Reply

    Annie, what you say your last name was? Oakley? 😉 And your right about Flint, or should we say Clint? (Needs more beard stubble Erin) My guess is Flint wasn’t really sure to take the shot, we see his Sharps isn’t even cocked. I think those of us who have Eli for an avatar better start looking for another one, he’s about to become toast.

    • Annie
      Annie
      September 15, 2013, 9:08 pm | # | Reply

      Onymus, actually. 😛 I pay attention to posture ’cause I grew up shooting skeet and hunting. Out of practice with the shotgun, haven’t shot one in years, but I’m still a pretty decent shot with a rifle. Granted, seated, at a range, with a scope. Much too blind these days to shoot without one. Pistols and I aren’t really friends…so yeah, no trick shooting from me.

      The Eli avatar reminds me of Prospector from Toy Story 2. And now, thanks to Mschief, I’ve got a lovely mental image of Miz Black and Hunter going at it, Ace Attorney style. Well, Hunter, anyway. I can’t really picture Miz Black as being that flamboyant. (I’m also not sold on them being married to each other, see, e.g., ringless flashback.)

      • Ben
        Ben
        September 16, 2013, 10:49 am | # | Reply

        Good eyes, guys, and thanks for the comments!

  5. Night Hawk
    Night Hawk
    September 15, 2013, 10:26 pm | # | Reply

    Thank you!

    • Ben
      Ben
      September 16, 2013, 10:44 am | # | Reply

      You’re welcome! … for what?

      • Night Hawk
        Night Hawk
        September 21, 2013, 9:14 am | # | Reply

        Thank you for trying so hard to get the update in on time. 🙂 I (and likely not just I) really appreciate it!

  6. Floyd
    Floyd
    September 15, 2013, 10:43 pm | # | Reply

    Is it just me, or does our overeager rifleman have a slight tinge of RED in his SHIRT…

    • Ben
      Ben
      September 16, 2013, 10:51 am | # | Reply

      Ha!

      … and good gracious: love your Author gravatar!

  7. The lawyer with the funny foreign name
    The lawyer with the funny foreign name
    September 16, 2013, 10:28 am | # | Reply

    I’d assumed Annie was shorting out from the steam, what with a mechanical spine and all, but I suppose she’s been immersed in water before, so I should have twigged that it was the ammo.

    • jsfury
      jsfury
      September 16, 2013, 7:55 pm | # | Reply

      Lawyer, you lost me. Annie is not shooting. It’s Miss Black’s (Vane) specially made ammo having a bad reaction to the steam summoned by Hunter. Well, at least that’s what I think it is. Also Vane does not have a mechanical spine. I believe Hunter has that. 😉

  8. Otookee
    Otookee
    September 20, 2013, 9:59 pm | # | Reply

    My confusion is – she just rode/walked through the rain without the ammo exploding, why would steam make it go off if the downpour did not?

    • Annie
      Annie
      September 21, 2013, 8:14 am | # | Reply

      Cause she’s wearing some sort of rain proof cloak, I think. But a cloak’s only good against a downpor from above, while the mist is going through all the openings?

      • Ben
        Ben
        September 22, 2013, 10:31 am | # | Reply

        More or less what Annie said — droplets of water falling are easily enough deflected by her serape and her jacket, but a dense cloud of magicked steam is a lot more permeating. Yes, I realize there’s a bit of an unrealistic exaggeration at work here, but it’s hardly NTO’s first! 🙂

  9. Javier
    Javier
    September 21, 2013, 10:42 am | # | Reply

    Problem:
    How did Hunter know to use this particular “countermeasure” against Miss Black’s water-detonating bullets? I’m not sure mere observation of the poor boy and dog’s death would have been enough for him to realize she was using potassium hydroxide rounds. However, given their past together, maybe he’d known her to make and use such cartridges.

    • Ben
      Ben
      September 22, 2013, 10:32 am | # | Reply

      He also saw an exploding pig, an exploding bath tub, and was winged in the shoulder with one himself? Not to mention bullets don’t generally detonate in a purplish flash on impact.

  10. Zonk
    Zonk
    September 23, 2013, 11:55 am | # | Reply

    Am I reading that in the last panel properly? Does he say “Wait, let me die first!” ?

  11. sarge
    sarge
    December 9, 2016, 9:10 pm | # | Reply

    They about to learn the whole “exploding bullets” thing?

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