Duel In The Somme – Page 18
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Does Lorraine look... disgusted? exasperated?... in panel 5?
LOL! I love all of the little "Flying Ace" Snoopys! Bill's homage to Charles Schulz no doubt.
Interesting, sounds like he went ahead and did the integrated physics option, not the simpler flight simulator option. This means if he finds an exploit to win, it will prove that a) he ignored his boss and the contract, and b) proved that the system is not ready in time for the deadline (which is Lorraine's biggest worry).
We already know that he's going to lose the dogfight. That was on the first page of the comic.
The exciting part is whether or not he's going to win the battle for Lorraine. He took a big risk by integrating the airplane with the main physics engine, let's see if that's going to pay off for him.
And if he wins, then that first page will be just a metaphor and a pun.
Actually, we don't know he's going to lose, just that his plane plane we'll be very shot up while he is unable to shake Kelso. Admittedly that's very close to losing, but since this is a comic it's still possible he could pull off a win. Or of course the more likely lose the fight and win the girl option.
All I am saying is that the first page said that Kelso was on his butt all the time in RL
and that he could not get out of being criticized and harassed *as though* he was being
plotted and shot in an airplane game. This interpretation is as valid as the one you two are
pushing. And if he wins it will be the intended interpretation all along.
Nope. It says "literally". Not "as though".
stunt flying is dangerous, even for skilled pilots, but in a gunfight there are no second place winners. while this is "vitual" somebody is going down in flames when its over.
ooops, sorry! typo, read as "virtual"
Had to chuckle at the Porco Rosso poster in the background - I love that movie.
Yeah, the Porco Rosso poster had me grinning as well.
WOO Porco Rosso! Awesome!
Snoopy, "Porco Rosso", and "Wings". Snoopy, of course, as others including myself have commented, was bound to show up somewhere, but the
"Porco Rosso" and "Wings" are superb touches. I rather suspect only the available real estate for that panel and not wanting to clutter it up kept
"Blue Max" out of it.
Lorraine looks worried in that panel. I suspect she's *really* hoping not to have to spend a weekend with the Red Barren.
Loving it, I can't wait for tomorrow!
Lorraine is probably dreading the weekend. Kelso himself is not presented in any depth past the off-the-shelf character, that is all surface, no depth. He's handsome, rich, even daring, but completely self-possessed. Little more than a walking stereotype. The panel where we see Kelso's date with Lorraine, she does not look charmed, so if she doesn't look "into" the duel, it's because she already knows what the outcome will be.
There's another undeclared variable here. ToBIAS. When Henri tells Our Hero that his boss is coming, we learn two things. ToBIAS knows Our Hero, and ToBIAS has some awareness outside the battlespace it is simulating and the interfaces for working with it. Even outside the VR cage room. And it knows who Kelso is. Can ToBIAS understand the dogfight challenge, and make a choice to influence the outcome? Given the way the story starts, maybe not, but will Kelso make it safely back?
And past the weekend? Who's really going to "win" here? The weekend date is phrased as choosing who the "better man" is but that choice is Lorraine's, the first undeclared variable here.
Our hero has shown he can do what a team of programmers at Lorraine's company is struggling to do and he's obviously unhappy in his job. Lorraine's company can pick him off with better pay, a staff and a smile from Lorraine. After all, she doesn't work for Kelso's company. She's not going to be around forever. In fact, once ToBIAS is delivered, she may not be around at all.
The likely predictable ending here is "Our Hero loses before he wins". We know he's going to get shot down, he spends a lonely weekend in Aspen to come back to find a job offer working for/with Lorraine at HER company. Variation #1 is Lorraine showing up at Aspen to deliver said offer. We're being set up for this outcome from the beginning. I'm waiting for the twist. I'm waiting to see how it plays out and I'm thinking ToBIAS may be the agent of twistiness.
Wow, good analysis.
There was a guy that did a lengthy and logical star wars analysis, and was personally told that
the logic was tight, but that was not the way it would actually play out.
And see my comment above for why it might not be a front page style shoot down.
Though your way of handling the action is very good for the story.
He could also go for a tie: stull-turn* into the following aircraft, with the result that both aircraft perish.
*I had to look this up: go up, kill engine, aircraft stalls, falls to one side, and reverses course.
Hmm. Early on, i thought that it would yurn out that our masked hero would triumph because he could handle the realistic environment better than his jock/bully boss. But with the boss being a stunt flier, *he* is more familiar with the environment and so it is his chances that are improved.
So yeah, looks like only Tobias can win one for the Zapper.
That is, unless Lorraine did a tweak of her own.
You missed one thing on Porco Rosso poster.
His plane has engine above top wing. (both planes)