[PA Comic] Friday, August 2, 2013 - Sand, Part Nine

Geth

Sand, Part Nine
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2013/08/02

Commander Zoom

The verse, should anyone not recognize it, is the return of the Prodigal Son.

JAEF

I see why it's so large, it was a little hard to read zoomed out in my browser.

Edit: "Read" as in "Parse what's going on between panels and figure out which characters are in which panels"

Hewn

Gabe's art these days, my goodness, he's come on a farther journey than that there spaceship.

LaCabra

i liked them arts so i clumsily wallpapered them

Venkman90

Hewn wrote: »

Gabe's art these days, my goodness, he's come on a farther journey than that there spaceship.

Truth. Been reading since the start, it's a startling evolution of an artist.

KoopahTroopah

This storyline is cray. That's the only word I can think of to describe it.

Modred189

KoopahTroopah wrote: »

This storyline is cray. That's the only word I can think of to describe it.

Of all the words in the english language, you could only come up with one championed by Kanye West?!


On an unrelated note, I have to say i am glad this panel brought it all back around. If I had one constructive criticism, next time don't separate the time periods so much. Instead, do the 'old' west ones first. Then, just as the kid blows the wall, cut to the 'future past' and then back to panel 9. Too confusing otherwise when spread over 3+ weeks.

RatherDashing

Wait...was the kid the one who busted him out? I thought the kid's silence indicated someone else taking his place on the other side of the wall.

Brew

Commander Zoom wrote: »

The verse, should anyone not recognize it, is the return of the Prodigal Son.

"Prodigious list of offenses" is a nice reference anchor.

Darkewolfe

Does the spaceship look cracked or stylistically designed to most people?

It looks cracked to me, which makes me figure it's impossible for them to repair it.

YoungFrey

I wonder why the prodigal son can't die. I figured Protagonist couldn't die because he was a Jesus figure. But the Prodigal Son isn't a supernatural figure at all. This is more like I'd a normal person using the phrase. Wouldn't this situation be more analagous to Jesus ascending to heaven to sit at the right hand of god? I'd expect the ship to be more in line with that.

Gaslight

YoungFrey wrote: »

I wonder why the prodigal son can't die. I figured Protagonist couldn't die because he was a Jesus figure. But the Prodigal Son isn't a supernatural figure at all. This is more like I'd a normal person using the phrase. Wouldn't this situation be more analagous to Jesus ascending to heaven to sit at the right hand of god? I'd expect the ship to be more in line with that.

Remember that everything the ship AI is doing is supposed to be based on a serious misreading/misinterpretation of the Bible. Not surprising it would get things jumbled up. Or maybe the damn thing just quotes tenously-related scripture passages for every situation.

But there is more connection between Jesus and the prodigal son than it may appear. In Christian doctrine, Christ's death and resurrection paid the price for the sins of mankind, making Christ "the first-born of many brethren" as his sacrifice allows God and man to be reconciled and people to return to God as his children. So while it's true that the prodigal son of the parable does not represent Christ, it is Christ who makes it possible for the sinners who the prodigal son does represent to be reunited with their "father."

Rottonapple

Darkewolfe wrote: »

Does the spaceship look cracked or stylistically designed to most people?

It looks cracked to me, which makes me figure it's impossible for them to repair it.

Going to say cracked. As for "repairing" the ship, the sphere has none of the propulsion systems. the sphere was simply the landing system for the people traveling to what ever new world was their destination. the actual propulsion/FTL system got destroyed by the space squid in the last part.

ChrisAlgoo

This blew me away. Great comic.

YoungFrey

Gaslight wrote: »

YoungFrey wrote: »

I wonder why the prodigal son can't die. I figured Protagonist couldn't die because he was a Jesus figure. But the Prodigal Son isn't a supernatural figure at all. This is more like I'd a normal person using the phrase. Wouldn't this situation be more analagous to Jesus ascending to heaven to sit at the right hand of god? I'd expect the ship to be more in line with that.

Remember that everything the ship AI is doing is supposed to be based on a serious misreading/misinterpretation of the Bible. Not surprising it would get things jumbled up. Or maybe the damn thing just quotes tenously-related scripture passages for every situation.

But there is more connection between Jesus and the prodigal son than it may appear. In Christian doctrine, Christ's death and resurrection paid the price for the sins of mankind, making Christ "the first-born of many brethren" as his sacrifice allows God and man to be reconciled and people to return to God as his children. So while it's true that the prodigal son of the parable does not represent Christ, it is Christ who makes it possible for the sinners who the prodigal son does represent to be reunited with their "father."

The Prodigal Son story relates to Jesus, but really just in that Jesus would be the father of the story. Jesus never left in terms of that parable's metaphor. Now, if the child riding with The Protagonist is the Prodigal Son it makes more sense. If Child formerly did not believe in whatever (I have no idea what Protagonist was preaching), and now does the ship could be referring to the boy. And Protagonist is just mistakenly thinking she's talking to him.

wonderpug

RatherDashing89 wrote: »

Wait...was the kid the one who busted him out? I thought the kid's silence indicated someone else taking his place on the other side of the wall.

In Part 7:

Panel 1 - the kid's conversation gets to the point where the kid makes up his mind he wants to rescue the guy

Panel 2 - the kid is mysteriously absent for a bit, because he has run off to get dynamite

Panel 3 - the kid is back, jailbreak time

Vashistheobvious

I assume we've already discussed how this strip series is just Trigun rehashed?

YoungFrey

Vashistheobvious wrote: »

I assume we've already discussed how this strip series is just Trigun rehashed?

Yes, and the idea for this predates the Trigun anime.

Vashistheobvious

YoungFrey wrote: »

Vashistheobvious wrote: »

I assume we've already discussed how this strip series is just Trigun rehashed?

Yes, and the idea for this predates the Trigun anime.

The ideas and stories in the bible predate it, but that doesn't change the fact that the bible is the main referenced source.

Just like Trigun is probably the most common form of this story.... if your claim is correct.

I'm unfamiliar with this story predating Trigun, so you could reference it....

Gaslight

Coincidentally relevant - What Sand looked like when Gabe drew it in 1996, from his Twitter.

Darkewolfe

Oh my fucking god that art is awesome.

Please, please let them use that dragon thing in something sometime somewhere.

YoungFrey

Vashistheobvious wrote: »

YoungFrey wrote: »

Vashistheobvious wrote: »

I assume we've already discussed how this strip series is just Trigun rehashed?

Yes, and the idea for this predates the Trigun anime.

The ideas and stories in the bible predate it, but that doesn't change the fact that the bible is the main referenced source.

Just like Trigun is probably the most common form of this story.... if your claim is correct.

I'm unfamiliar with this story predating Trigun, so you could reference it....

I can't easily dig up the sources (old blog posts and the extra material in the books). But Mike and Jerry thought up Sand when they were in highschool. I think Jerry graduated HS in 94 (assuming from his age). The Trigun Manga started in 96 and the anime in 98. And that's all the Japanese versions. The US anime aired in 2003 according to Wikipedia. And the similarities are fairly surface level.

Green

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

Whyroon

Is this the right place to make a post about how there are new Acquisitions Incorporated podcasts out and that is a wondrous thing?

I hope so.

Sicarii

Because the basic premise of:

Space western with outlaw protagonist is derivative enough that it's not necessarily "Trigun rehashed"

foodle

Green wrote: »

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

Except that in this case it's the protagonist that's being chased.

Gaslight

Who is the person on the back of the sherriff's horse? It seems like another kid...?

RatherDashing

Pretty sure it's the guy from panel four of http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2013/07/17....the deputy or something. Maybe a bank examiner (guys with vests are always bank examiners in Westerns...)

Gaslight

B-but...they're all wearing vests!

Shadowen

Hewn wrote: »

Gabe's art these days, my goodness, he's come on a farther journey than that there spaceship.

Now, I ain't suggestin' anythin' in seriousness, but if I was a mod, I'd be infractin' people left right and center who wasn't commentin' on this here storyline like the fella quotated in the post y'all're readin' at the moment (that is to say, you varmints would best learn to type in the appropriate vernacular).

Twenty Sided

Gaslight wrote: »

Or maybe the damn thing just quotes tenously-related scripture passages for every situation.

That's my explanation. Let's go with this. Dropping Bible quotes as a cultural reference is a thing.

RatherDashing

Gaslight wrote: »

B-but...they're all wearing vests!

This story just got a whole lot more interesting.

RatherDashing

Twenty Sided wrote: »

Gaslight wrote: »

Or maybe the damn thing just quotes tenously-related scripture passages for every situation.

That's my explanation. Let's go with this. Dropping Bible quotes as a cultural reference is a thing.

It also tends to fit with the Western setting to have people nab verses out of context to provide authenticity, since that was a real thing that got super pervasive with tent revivals and such.



Also, maybe the damaged AI of the ship has a faulty parser and can only communicate in Bible quotes. Like the ship from Flight of the Navigator but less PeeWee Herman.

Embassy

I was getting some wonderful Dark Tower vibes off everything, and I loved it.

YoungFrey

RatherDashing89 wrote: »

Twenty Sided wrote: »

Gaslight wrote: »

Or maybe the damn thing just quotes tenously-related scripture passages for every situation.

That's my explanation. Let's go with this. Dropping Bible quotes as a cultural reference is a thing.

It also tends to fit with the Western setting to have people nab verses out of context to provide authenticity, since that was a real thing that got super pervasive with tent revivals and such.



Also, maybe the damaged AI of the ship has a faulty parser and can only communicate in Bible quotes. Like the ship from Flight of the Navigator but less PeeWee Herman.

I'm not saying my suggestion(kid is Prodigal Son) is the most likely , but I picked it for two reasons.
1: It's a long shot that will make me look smart if it pays off.
2: After the "Jim Darkmagic's face looks bizarre" episode, I'll bet on Mike & Jerry thinking things out well.

Twenty Sided

You get more credit for hitting the bull's eye based on some evidenced intuition, more than because you got lucky. Or threw enough darts.

SanguineAngel

Panel 4 is wonderful