Level 7: #81
Chapter: Comic, Level 7 — Circus Minimus
Rusty & Co.
Monstrous Misadventures! Updated every Wednesday at noon, EST.
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YEAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You know, I get the feeling that he’s getting a bit hot under the collar here.
Yep, I’d imagine that he’s just a tad sensitive about getting wounded there.
Based on the stitches we see on his muzzle, we can guess that he once had a nasty (& poorly-healed) wound – or even a facial amputation…?
We even know when said facial amputation happened – it started about here: http://rustyandco.com/comic/level3/level-3-19/
Ouch. That’ll leave a bruise…
Yeah, but unfortunately D&D physics means everything in the bag between him and the stone wall will be totally unbroken in the pack.
Waiting for the inevitable Mortal Kombat impersonator screaming `FINISH HIM!` …
But really, think Stabs will take that role in the next frame … no more recurring villains …
I’m hoping for Grinner to get a rhino in the back into the lava.
No more recurring villans? Hah. No one stays dead around here.
So Grinner WASN’T interrupted by a third party in the prior page, Maddie’s just that good.
Wait… with that throw…. and her earlier blade deflection… and the “flippy, woo-pah” stuff, does that mean Maddie have some… Monk levels? Did she just become the anti-Miko?
I feel so conflicted right now.
I had thought of it as pure martial skill & ranks in acrobatics. Especially since when she blocked the sword blow with her hand we saw blood (paladins & sacrifice go together). On the other hand I love the idea of an anti-Miko. So let’s say it’s a good call even if it isn’t right.
I’d suggest she took a splash in Swordsage, but multiclassing stops you from being able to advance as a Paladin, so I’d guess she took Martial Study (Mighty Throw) at a previous level or something.
My suggest is that she has evolved beyond the D&D Paladin.
Maddie has awesome powers, absolute confidence, not very high wisdom, and she’s the most charismatic character I’ve seen in this webcomic.
She is a PATHFINDER Paladin. And Pathfinder Paladins can multiclass freely
That throw was impressive…
Even the ceiling is impressed
Given the stains on the last panel, it looks more like a wall.
It’s a cave. I doubt walls and ceilings are strictly separate.
Geeze Maddie is strong.
Though, given that she’s a Pally, she’s probably rocking some nice divine buffs. Lil Resist Fire, lil Divine Power, one seriously hosed Gnoll.
It’s not about strength, Grasshopper, it’s about balance.
Blocking THEIR strength consumes YOUR strength.
Blocking their BALANCE takes almost no strength at all, & then their OWN strength will do all the work of defeating themselves. She uses his strap to break his balance, then ADDS her strength to HIS. Together, they’re strong enough for him to reach the wall.
We’ll permit the wall to do all the work of being strong enough to block his strength.
I’m going to have to call bull on that one. You’re suggesting that by redirecting Grinner’s charge, that Maddie was able to assist a large male Gnoll, bedecked in heavy gold/ bronze armor, with a large-scale heavy backpack full of items, and have him FLY THROUGH THE AIR with enough force to have him crash into a wall/roof with enough force to break rock! No amount of mystic monk work could do that, a fancy throw might have provided the move, but it was pure brute strength that got that gnoll a flying. And probably superhuman strength at that.
D’OH!!!?!
My “Evil Plot To Misdirect” has been uncovered!
I would’ve gotten away with it too, if not for those meddling kids!!!?!
I wonder if there were any volatile breakables in his backpack. <.<
He might yet still go out with a "bang".
Dynamite, at least, isn’t going to blow just because he hit something really hard
Well, there is lava nearby…
Actually, dynamite, being made of nitroglycerin and an absorptive/forming matrix, can indeed be set off from a significant impact, especially if it is old.
That said, “volatile breakables” indicates something more akin to alchemical fire or similar, rather than high explosives, though one could set off the other. Grinner seems to be smarter than carrying both together at the same time would indicate, however.
A very good point – the reason that age matters is that there is a tendency in older sticks to “sweat” droplets of nitroglycerine – very delicate, unstable stuff!
Good point – at 1st, I thought he was so damaged that he’d bled all the way thru his backpack…
…but it makes more sense to imagine that there’s something/someone *IN* the backpack, & it’s now leaking fluid.
(…which just happens to be red…)
Yes, there is a rather valuable breakable in that pack: Cube. I really hope that Maddie didn’t make our slimy go splatty.
Cube is in there? Well then. Ask not for whom the belle gnolls– ’tis for he.
Where-&-how does a translucent green cube hide red blood?!?!?
Nah, Cube is hanging up in a bag elsewhere in the chamber. http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-7-70/ First panel, the stick beside the candy-golem.
His Mushieness is too large (and dangerous) for Grinner’s pack, anyhow. ^_^
Seriously, who would think that Grinner had a ten foot cube in his bag?
Is it just me or does Grinners backpackstrap change place on hos chest?
5th panel? Yes it does.
Correct – in the 1st 2 panels, it reaches diagonally from his RIGHT shoulder. After that, it switches to his LEFT shoulder.
Based on re-viewing the previous page, I’d say that it’s the 1st 2 panels that have correct strap-placement, & the rest are mistaken.
Continuity problem is correctly identified and proven.
But Mike is working hard to get these comics we love out and we should say that minor continuity problems are forgiven in view of the overall artistic achievement. I will forgive a dyslexic shoulder strap error so long as the artwork and action remain at the current high quality.
how frustrating Grinner must find this fight. . . teeheehehehehehe. . . .
How fortunate that gnolls come with flinging handles! Wait…song… coming on …A-fling-a-gnoll, A-fling-a-gnoll, A-fling-a-gnoll (rpt several)…WWEEEEE-EE-EE-EE-EE-EE-EE-MO-MO-MO-WAYYY
“In the ‘cano, the hot volcano, Maddie sweeps the gnoll!”
”hush my darlings… don’t fear my darlings ..the gnoll he flies tonight”…
.
Wow. That was worth the wait.
Dislike.
This is starting to be Madeline’s show and no more rusty and co.
I hope this mood changes.
Yes, I know I am a minority.
Well, this story arc IS about the group’s friends coming to rescue them after they were captured by Grinner, so it’s only natural that the spotlight would be on them. And since Madeline is pretty much the “strongman” of the story (alongside Cube), this is prime time for her. Although, yeah, she’s gotten more of the spotlight than the others.
What really nags at me, though, is that these arcs are labeled with levels. How will Mimic, Cube, and Rusty even level up after being absent for most of the adventure.
Absent? I think you mean captured.
While characters can be overused, I don’t know if I’d call that here. Maddie was absent for much of this chapter, and the others got plenty of screen time then.
Soooo… We got a Rusty plush doll, when will we get a Madeline action figure?
Maddie Goodlaw… MARRY ME
I personally suspect she’s married to (or at least in love with) Derek The Cleric.
I would almost say Maddie has levels up…. She didn’t just survive the lava did she? She killed it and got XP for it. LEVEL UP!
I would believe it, except Mike has been very careful to show Level Ups after the end of the battles, not during. Otherwise, it would make perfect sense that she fell in the lava, but gained experience as she fell, allowing her to level up, complete with spell points renewed, and then healed herself continuously to get out of it alive.
I was surprised that Maddie would have a fling with the gnoll. She seemed so chaste…
The only other problem I see with this comic page (since the strap was already addressed by others) is that Grinner somehow bled THROUGH his entire backpack. I don’t really see that happening. Since it seems none of his items in the backpack would be damaged or broken, bleeding through it seems even less likely. Still, like others, I love seeing Maddie fight seriously. There have been several comics dedicated to just talking about Maddie possibly having Monk levels, and since it has been going on for so long, I already assume she does and am not surprised by anything related to it. She has done a great job this time around.
Maddie hasn’t opened her eyes in 3 strips. Maybe it’s some kind of weird sleep-fluidity, like the drunken monkey techniques?
Maddie always fights with her eyes closed. Nobody’s exactly sure why, but that’s why getting to see her eyes open, and angry, was such a big deal a couple of pages back.
ReaderAt2046 is right. Maddie fights with her eyes closed. The theory as to why I like best is that she doesn’t like to see violence.
Oh Mouse, if you haven’t read Maddie from the beginning, you so should! Go archive diving! You won’t regret it!
I shutter to think what she would do if she ever used a real weapon, is she Jax’s kid?
Maddie aces the Gnoll toss! (holds up a 10 card)