Well, it was the doc that just blew up the place.
Although Phin gave him the opportunity.
They were Schtein’s bombs from the beginning!
But without Phin’s shank to kill that crazy aryan, could he have ever gotten the parts?
Nah nah it’s cool. We understand. I mean, you got sick! We wouldn’t want you vomiting all over your tech or…*clears throat* yeah. Anyways, I hope you’re feeling better :D
We get the same level of detail in the fight panels as a normal panel, but they are so small that we can’t really see that much (but we can easily see everything we need to see)
Also: holy crap I did not think he was that good at combat.
Doc is going to make an interesting supervillain. If he feels uncomfortable when people who are a threat to his life are killed, I can’t imagine what it will be like when he starts intentionally hurting those who aren’t much more than a nuisance.
I hate to spoil it for you, but the punchline is that Doc becomes one of the 0.01% and hurts people through *capitalism*. No messy knives or biowarfare!
I never saw the Doc as a supervillain. I’ve always thought he was just a smart guy who’s just trying to survive the crazy situations fate puts in his way.
Forthwith I shall presume all authority figures carry one packet fruit snacks. I shall demand the surrender of said snacks. Please donate to my bail fund.
Fear ye not! Phineas is a bastard, but you now know why (provided he wasn’t just spinning a tale to gain trust). With understanding comes acceptance. Plus, hell, he killed a man open-handed. That’s useful to have on your side, even if just for awhile.
… But he’s a likeable character :U I mean– he’s fucking LOVEABLE. He comes from a rather scarred past, he’s a little coocoo for cocoa puffs but his priorities are pretty straight, he loves his wife like there’s no tomorrow (which I find to be one of the strangest oddly compelling things about him) and he has a killer dental setup. I mean seriously, look at that gap? Can you seriously resist that gap? :D
Incredibly convenient. Two guards with full gear, including fully concealing gasmasks that don’t give off Schtein’s demon eyes. What a coincidence!
Second, only a complete idiot, excessively irrealistic cartoon character, or a Level 666 ninja would go for some kind of jump-attack-armbar-takedown when there is more than one attacker. I would also note that in order to break the guard’s arm, Phineas would have to lie on his back and overextend the limb over his pelvis; why/how is he doing it sitting upright? Oh right, so that he can conveniently reach up and stab the other guard in the neck.
Although the coloring, flow etc. is good as usual (thumbs up for that!), I can’t help but be dissappointed in this page.
Don’t think too hard on this winer, with that logic you can ruin 3/4 of peoples childhood dramas like X-Men, Transformers, Thundercats…. just stop looking for the flaws and enjoy the ride. Yanno. Unless you can actually make a better comic.
I’m fairly certain it was his neck that went *snap*… and that would be quite possible, if he slipped his heel under it, and then put pressure on the head with his upper calf…
And as for WHY, well, I somehow believe him when he says he didn’t think about it, and killing people in spectacularly unusual ways is kind of his thing. I mean come on, how boring would this all be if the people in this comic were acting reasonable?
Jeeze, this got some kinda mean replies. I’m not gonna lie that it didn’t irk me a bit as well. But I try to sit on stuff like that so I don’t just poop out a mean reply.
But, eh, you know, it’s also sort of flattering that I’ve apparently set the realism bar so high that I cannot possibly always keep it up (not sure how I did that, though, there’s a lot of unrealistic stuff flying around here, heh). I do a lot of research for this comic, but I am going to get things wrong on occasion. If anything, you can always read it like… Armastus isn’t a TRAINED fighter, he’s just a crazy pants, and he’s pretty strong from all that prison exercise. Excuse two is that I am only just now learning how to draw action scenes and I’ll get better eventually at it. Hopefully. I’ve got a lot more fight videos to watch. <:I
It's not the guy's arm he's snapping, though, I can definitely see why it would read that way. And it's okay if you read it that way, actually. Either way a dude is disabled, dead or passed out from pain.
Anyway, thanks for the comment regardless, I'm glad you liked the coloring at least, haha ;:D
Yeah, don’t start trashing someone who was just giving constructive critism. I was a little disappointed with the little panels too, although I was thinking they give a feeling of Doc looking at the action from distance. I would recommend giving more space to the action if (and that’s IF) you plan to ever redo the page. You can take advantage of the Internet by making a longer page if you want, or dividing it for two pages. I’m guessing you didn’t divide it now to get the punchline where you wanted, and because you don’t trust your skill to draw fighting scenes. But it’s ok, you are already better than average and I’m sure you’re gonna get better.
Wonderful colours and details as always :). String theory is one of my favorite webcomics.
I cannot close comment threads, only entire pages, so if people could do me the awesome favor of no longer responding to this trainwreck that would be pretty cool.
Just an observation, that snapping sound wasn’t the arm of the guard, it was his neck. Which is awesome just to do that from an armbar position. Seems like Mr. Grundy’s a UFC fan ;)
The owning of fruit snacks only serves to provide character for the slain guard, and further highlight the atrocity of Phinn’s actions in today’s strip.
I like Phin’s barely noticeable tattoos (I only saw them thanks to the blown up images you posted on the S.T. Tumblr. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what they’re all about.
Yanow, everyone is sayin how much the fruit snacks made them laugh, but I found it kind of a bitter shock. Phin is being all crazy and awesome killing people, then you realize the police man was a person and probably a dad. I mean, who else has fruit snacks?
Yeah… I just assumed he got them out of a vending machine, man. Ahahah, but it’s okay if people want to make up backstories for background characters. Part of the fun, really.
Tellin’ yea- everyone in my area is getting in on the snack program ((and I’m not complaining >:3))
Interesting how much people can read into something though- we should really thank our english teachers!
The part that made me laugh (in semi-horror) was Finn’s “I wasn’t really thinking about it.” I don’t know. If he does this kinda madness offhand, imagine what he does when he’s got all his brainpower behind it! :|
they must have their insides full of hands
this is a good comic. getting greater every day yyyy
!! first panel plants are very cuteee
i can’t believe the action scene you livestreamed ended up being so tiny
you put so much work into every panel so much details it amazes
ilu
Oh man Fruit snacks! Somebody really loved that guard. His daughter can’t wait for him to get him so she can ask him about those fruit snacks she hid in his prison riot gear. What have you done Becky?
Also that short small fight scene is fantastic. Any way we fans could see it bigger?
Mr. Grundy: there are those of us who don’t have to analyze every frame to enjoy reading your work. (I mean, we’re all good post-apocalptic friends here, right???)
I stumbled across this comic yesterday while looking up “String Theory” and I absoluely love it! This is the first actual web-comic I’ve read so I’m still catching the jist of it all so I’m still getting used to this. Where do I begin? Your work is so amazing art and story wise, it leavse me flaberghasted on every page. I am in love! Actually, at first, I was just in love with Doc, you know, he’s just typically my kind of guy but then when Phin was introduced I fell in love with him! His back story is kind of awsome and the way people treat him kind of reminds me of the way people treat me sometimes… Keep up the good work, I look foreward to every page!
I read a comment on the previous page that mentioned some minor punctuation issues in Phineas’ speech bubbles. Hope you don’t mind a counterpoint. <:
In dialog, anything goes. Grammar matters, certainly, but in character dialog you're trying to give the illusion of spoken word, and people often aren't grammatical in how they talk. :-P Commas are especially negotiable– ultimately it comes down to how the character speaks. Commas imply a brief pause or certain changes in enunciation. I actually like the speech bubble that they thought needed a comma, since the lack of any implied pause gave him a quiet, flat tone in my head that I thought worked well with the scene.
Punctuation is just another writing tool. Mileage may vary with pretty much any choice you make. Some people get irritated when authors write out accents, for example. (y'all jus' wait one goshdurned secun'!). What matters is that the writing is clear, well-constructed, and conveys what you intend it to.
And while I love hyphens, I can understand why you might decide against changing and reuploading a page just to fix one. It's always more of a butt than people realize. <<
Did that guard try to mace Phineas? Kind of a bad idea on a guy who feels no pain. :I
Do Phineas’ eyes still tear up? They can probably be irritated but beyond blurring his vision, it probably wouldn’t do more than irritate him. Hm.
Yeah. Macing = Pain, Tears, Blurred Vision, Irritation to the Eyes. Macing Phineas = Tears, Blurred Vision, Irritation to the Eyes. It’d probably be a bad idea to try and mace stchein, what with his magical cyborg eyes.
Dr. Schtein would still totally feel it, and would probably be pretty incapacitated by it. Shoulda maced Schtein! Too bad he was hiding in the shadows of the stairwell like a baby!
Maybe they’re not after you, Phin. Maybe they’re after Doc!
….no, no, they’re after Phin.
Well, it was the doc that just blew up the place.
Although Phin gave him the opportunity.
They were Schtein’s bombs from the beginning!
But without Phin’s shank to kill that crazy aryan, could he have ever gotten the parts?
I am at war with myself, apparently.
This gave me a crazy good laugh. Nothin’ like killin’ dudes, looting thier bodies, and enjoying some yummy fruit snacks :D
Wonderful work as always <3
Big ol' smile on my face with every page.
Also, here's a picture I drew for you earlier…
http://il-cervo-di-venezia.tumblr.com/post/13541059465/bandito-burrito-this-little-fiend-got-poor-beckey
Bandito the burrito. The little turd that got you sick during your livestream yesterday. I rushed it hoping to get it done before the stream ended… I didn't make it in time <:D
*bows* Sorry in advance if you're not pleased with this comment/picture posting.
hahah, thanks, man. Aaah, I feel bad about cutting and running like that but, well, you know. D:
Nah nah it’s cool. We understand. I mean, you got sick! We wouldn’t want you vomiting all over your tech or…*clears throat* yeah. Anyways, I hope you’re feeling better :D
We get the same level of detail in the fight panels as a normal panel, but they are so small that we can’t really see that much (but we can easily see everything we need to see)
Also: holy crap I did not think he was that good at combat.
yeah I really need to practice drawing stuff that’s gonna be small. I tried a bit here, but in the end it was still too detailed. >:|
I like details, but sometimes it undermines me.
I laughed far harder than was necessary at that last panel. To be fair, though, I also would be much more enthralled by fruit snacks than by radios.
I really love the lighting on this page, it looks fantasti– wait wait Jayjay’s gone oh please tell me he isn’t dead aahhhhhh
Well, if he isn’t dead yet I doubt it’ll take too long. Snitches and stitches and all that rot.
Fruit snacks are awesome!
he’s not dead, he’s just gone. Elsewhere!
I got a feeling his return will be very important to this comic.
Doc is going to make an interesting supervillain. If he feels uncomfortable when people who are a threat to his life are killed, I can’t imagine what it will be like when he starts intentionally hurting those who aren’t much more than a nuisance.
I hate to spoil it for you, but the punchline is that Doc becomes one of the 0.01% and hurts people through *capitalism*. No messy knives or biowarfare!
You’ve been reading my notes!
Still hurting people!
I avoid reading the extras, it’s more fun to wait :D
I never saw the Doc as a supervillain. I’ve always thought he was just a smart guy who’s just trying to survive the crazy situations fate puts in his way.
Fruitsnacks: The best reason for brutally and efficiently slaughtering guards trying to arrest you.
Forthwith I shall presume all authority figures carry one packet fruit snacks. I shall demand the surrender of said snacks. Please donate to my bail fund.
Looking aghast at things: the comic.
God damn it I’m THIS CLOSE to starting to like Phineas a little. I don’t want that.
Fear ye not! Phineas is a bastard, but you now know why (provided he wasn’t just spinning a tale to gain trust). With understanding comes acceptance. Plus, hell, he killed a man open-handed. That’s useful to have on your side, even if just for awhile.
… But he’s a likeable character :U I mean– he’s fucking LOVEABLE. He comes from a rather scarred past, he’s a little coocoo for cocoa puffs but his priorities are pretty straight, he loves his wife like there’s no tomorrow (which I find to be one of the strangest oddly compelling things about him) and he has a killer dental setup. I mean seriously, look at that gap? Can you seriously resist that gap? :D
See panel ten, wherein Phineas exclaims to the friendly guard that it is knife to meet him.
“Neck, this is knife. Knife, neck.”
Incredibly convenient. Two guards with full gear, including fully concealing gasmasks that don’t give off Schtein’s demon eyes. What a coincidence!
Second, only a complete idiot, excessively irrealistic cartoon character, or a Level 666 ninja would go for some kind of jump-attack-armbar-takedown when there is more than one attacker. I would also note that in order to break the guard’s arm, Phineas would have to lie on his back and overextend the limb over his pelvis; why/how is he doing it sitting upright? Oh right, so that he can conveniently reach up and stab the other guard in the neck.
Although the coloring, flow etc. is good as usual (thumbs up for that!), I can’t help but be dissappointed in this page.
arm?
I guess there will always be nitpickers… :/
I thought the page was awesome, but maybe I didn’t overthink it too much?
tl;dr
Don’t think too hard on this winer, with that logic you can ruin 3/4 of peoples childhood dramas like X-Men, Transformers, Thundercats…. just stop looking for the flaws and enjoy the ride. Yanno. Unless you can actually make a better comic.
Wow, it’s almost as if Phineas is crazy or something.
And this comic IS totally super realistic, you’re right.
Thanks for your scintillating analysis.
I’m fairly certain it was his neck that went *snap*… and that would be quite possible, if he slipped his heel under it, and then put pressure on the head with his upper calf…
And as for WHY, well, I somehow believe him when he says he didn’t think about it, and killing people in spectacularly unusual ways is kind of his thing. I mean come on, how boring would this all be if the people in this comic were acting reasonable?
There’s always someone who has to be a poop poopi.
Dude, we left reality behind a long time ago, stop talking and accept the page for what it is.
Plus, he wasn’t breaking his arm, it was his neck.
Jeeze, this got some kinda mean replies. I’m not gonna lie that it didn’t irk me a bit as well. But I try to sit on stuff like that so I don’t just poop out a mean reply.
But, eh, you know, it’s also sort of flattering that I’ve apparently set the realism bar so high that I cannot possibly always keep it up (not sure how I did that, though, there’s a lot of unrealistic stuff flying around here, heh). I do a lot of research for this comic, but I am going to get things wrong on occasion. If anything, you can always read it like… Armastus isn’t a TRAINED fighter, he’s just a crazy pants, and he’s pretty strong from all that prison exercise. Excuse two is that I am only just now learning how to draw action scenes and I’ll get better eventually at it. Hopefully. I’ve got a lot more fight videos to watch. <:I It's not the guy's arm he's snapping, though, I can definitely see why it would read that way. And it's okay if you read it that way, actually. Either way a dude is disabled, dead or passed out from pain. Anyway, thanks for the comment regardless, I'm glad you liked the coloring at least, haha ;:D
Yeah, don’t start trashing someone who was just giving constructive critism. I was a little disappointed with the little panels too, although I was thinking they give a feeling of Doc looking at the action from distance. I would recommend giving more space to the action if (and that’s IF) you plan to ever redo the page. You can take advantage of the Internet by making a longer page if you want, or dividing it for two pages. I’m guessing you didn’t divide it now to get the punchline where you wanted, and because you don’t trust your skill to draw fighting scenes. But it’s ok, you are already better than average and I’m sure you’re gonna get better.
Wonderful colours and details as always :). String theory is one of my favorite webcomics.
Oh, and as an answer to last page, “Finn” is what I’ve been taught. Finnish is the language.
It wasn’t very constructive, gotta say. It was more “this sucks, because of rather nitpicky reasons.”
I cannot close comment threads, only entire pages, so if people could do me the awesome favor of no longer responding to this trainwreck that would be pretty cool.
Joyless pedantry! Hooray!
Just an observation, that snapping sound wasn’t the arm of the guard, it was his neck. Which is awesome just to do that from an armbar position. Seems like Mr. Grundy’s a UFC fan ;)
Clearly, the fruit snacks make it all worth it.
When no one was looking, Becky made FOURTEEN panels. That’s as many as two sevens. And that’s awesome.
*Beckey
I always make a typo :(
The E’s important! Hahah, don’t sweat it, bro. C:
it’s too many damn panels! I should’ve made the page longer or something. >:|
But then how would I print that?? Aaaahh who knows.
The owning of fruit snacks only serves to provide character for the slain guard, and further highlight the atrocity of Phinn’s actions in today’s strip.
but EVERYONE loves fruit snacks. What kind are they? Gummi? Fruit rollups? Whatever, it’s all the same (tasty)
Even a psycho needs a full day’s supply of vitamin C.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Yes! I loved the fruit snacks bit!
Oh my GOD, I love the dynamic of these two working together. Please keep it going for a long time. <3 rngh this comic.
Schtein doesn’t seem to like Phineas very much. I think this won’t last…
This must be how Phineas stays in such good shape, what a workout, whew.
hm, what’s that growing in the corner of the top panel I wonder
they’re in the prison garden! Those are peppers. :D
Well, Jayjay’s no longer on the scene, so someone has to look appalled…
i dont think a “whole thing” is a proper means of measuremen
I disagree. >:D
It’s pretty much the most accurate form of measurement for something such as fruit snacks.
YES. FUCKING FRUIT SNACKS. get them Phin, make them yours and devour them.
I should have him snacking on them on the next page. Ah, fuck, spoilers.
No way, make them fight over the fruit snacks!
I like Phin’s barely noticeable tattoos (I only saw them thanks to the blown up images you posted on the S.T. Tumblr. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what they’re all about.
I think those are scars. I could be wrong, but that is what they look like.
they are scars. the tattoos are under his sleeves.
incorrect, they are tattoos. Scars are under his sleeves. :>
but… but… D’:
The fruit snacks made me laugh out loud.
Can’t blame Phin! I mean, all that prison food… Fruit snacks must seem like caviar! :D
Yanow, everyone is sayin how much the fruit snacks made them laugh, but I found it kind of a bitter shock. Phin is being all crazy and awesome killing people, then you realize the police man was a person and probably a dad. I mean, who else has fruit snacks?
Maybe they had a snack program at the prison?
Yeah… I just assumed he got them out of a vending machine, man. Ahahah, but it’s okay if people want to make up backstories for background characters. Part of the fun, really.
Tellin’ yea- everyone in my area is getting in on the snack program ((and I’m not complaining >:3))
Interesting how much people can read into something though- we should really thank our english teachers!
Aside from the episode where Phin ripped the other inmate’s throat out, this is the first time Doc has seen him in action.
The part that made me laugh (in semi-horror) was Finn’s “I wasn’t really thinking about it.” I don’t know. If he does this kinda madness offhand, imagine what he does when he’s got all his brainpower behind it! :|
they must have their insides full of hands
this is a good comic. getting greater every day yyyy
!! first panel plants are very cuteee
i can’t believe the action scene you livestreamed ended up being so tiny
you put so much work into every panel so much details it amazes
ilu
This makes me very self-conscious about what I’ve been doing in Skyrim.
have you been looting fruit snacks off people?
Oh lookit! Doc’s hairline found some time to recede while Beckey was out sick!
his hairline’s the same :(
I was never out sick, it was thanksgiving, my parents were in town. :(
He is far too excited about those fruit snacks. Though I suppose as long as the blood’s not coming from the gut it would add some nice flavoring.
Mm! Pepper spray! Phin’s favorite!
I think Doc got more than he bargained for when he signed up for making Phineus his sidekick!
Is there an upload of the fight scene in larger maybe :3? I wouldn’t mind trying to see the detail!
oh wait, just saw the sketch blog! XD
there’s an aghast quota to fill, dammnit
Oh man Fruit snacks! Somebody really loved that guard. His daughter can’t wait for him to get him so she can ask him about those fruit snacks she hid in his prison riot gear. What have you done Becky?
Also that short small fight scene is fantastic. Any way we fans could see it bigger?
There’s a few larger panels up on my tumblr: http://outinthewastes.tumblr.com/post/13585853001/i-clearly-hit-some-size-limitations-but-i-think
Oh Doc. You hate the word ‘nifty’
Anyone else glad he was more excited about the fruit-snacks then peeling of their skin?
And he seemed so bored after it all XD
Mr. Grundy: there are those of us who don’t have to analyze every frame to enjoy reading your work. (I mean, we’re all good post-apocalptic friends here, right???)
I stumbled across this comic yesterday while looking up “String Theory” and I absoluely love it! This is the first actual web-comic I’ve read so I’m still catching the jist of it all so I’m still getting used to this. Where do I begin? Your work is so amazing art and story wise, it leavse me flaberghasted on every page. I am in love! Actually, at first, I was just in love with Doc, you know, he’s just typically my kind of guy but then when Phin was introduced I fell in love with him! His back story is kind of awsome and the way people treat him kind of reminds me of the way people treat me sometimes… Keep up the good work, I look foreward to every page!
So the good (bad) doctor can taste then?
“I wasn’t really thinking about it.”
Definitely the crowd I’d want to be hanging out with….
I read a comment on the previous page that mentioned some minor punctuation issues in Phineas’ speech bubbles. Hope you don’t mind a counterpoint. <:
In dialog, anything goes. Grammar matters, certainly, but in character dialog you're trying to give the illusion of spoken word, and people often aren't grammatical in how they talk. :-P Commas are especially negotiable– ultimately it comes down to how the character speaks. Commas imply a brief pause or certain changes in enunciation. I actually like the speech bubble that they thought needed a comma, since the lack of any implied pause gave him a quiet, flat tone in my head that I thought worked well with the scene.
Punctuation is just another writing tool. Mileage may vary with pretty much any choice you make. Some people get irritated when authors write out accents, for example. (y'all jus' wait one goshdurned secun'!). What matters is that the writing is clear, well-constructed, and conveys what you intend it to.
And while I love hyphens, I can understand why you might decide against changing and reuploading a page just to fix one. It's always more of a butt than people realize. <<
Did that guard try to mace Phineas? Kind of a bad idea on a guy who feels no pain. :I
Do Phineas’ eyes still tear up? They can probably be irritated but beyond blurring his vision, it probably wouldn’t do more than irritate him. Hm.
Yeah. Macing = Pain, Tears, Blurred Vision, Irritation to the Eyes. Macing Phineas = Tears, Blurred Vision, Irritation to the Eyes. It’d probably be a bad idea to try and mace stchein, what with his magical cyborg eyes.
Dr. Schtein would still totally feel it, and would probably be pretty incapacitated by it. Shoulda maced Schtein! Too bad he was hiding in the shadows of the stairwell like a baby!
his eyes would tear up to get foriegn stuff out. I guess that guard didn’t get the memo. Macing would just be kind of irritating to phin.
Oh! Thanks, I was wondering why the mace didn’t seem to affect Phin at all… I can’t believe I forgot he doesn’t feel pain.
Hahaha! Phineas: Arkham Asylum. Get it now!
Jayjay’s aghast was more JAW-DROPPING :O, while Doc’s just seems to be >_o.