Oh, fine. – Page 1067

TRANSCRIPT:   A LITTLE BIT LATER … CU on GUDIK, his brows knitting. GUDIK:  So … the Urtts. TETHIK: Yes. GUDIK: Maldik. YANORA: Yes. GUDIK: Bloody Deeps … I mean I knew he was an ass, but this is an absolute  masterpiece of idiocy. TETHIK: To say the very least. IPOLA: Will you leave this war now, and come home, my lord?

49 thoughts on “Oh, fine. – Page 1067

  1. Yeaaah. Just walk away from the people you’ve been attacking. I’m sure there are no hard feelings, or anything.

    1. Indeed, war tends to create hard feelings. But I doubt there’s anything Gudik could do to remove these feelings, short of complete and total genocide. And I don’t believe Gudik planned to go that far. Well, I suppose one could shower your embattled foe with reparations in the form of gold or something. But I really doubt Gudik wants to do that, either. If you’re implying that the enemy may attack back as an act of righteous revenge or something, then yes – that’s going to be a possibility.

    2. Of course they’ll have to have quite the bit of diplomacy here.

      Lucky for them, they have the finest diplomat in Kivalia here. (And maybe Ipola’s telepresence may help as well.)

    3. We get to that in the next page. Watch this space.

      -JED

  2. The expression in that fifth panel is masterful.

    1. Indeed. As is the cascade of Thann’s guarded to Tethik’s serious to Yanora’s merry in the seventh panel.

      And of course, Ipola’s concern in the last panel. This woman is, in addition to all we already knew, an exceptional actress, I’d say.

    2. Thanks all. I am far more critical than you, but yes, we put a bit of effort into that so that my little 3D puppets don’t look like glassy-eyed Barbie and Ken dolls. 🙂

      – JED

  3. In detaching his forces from the Draconians Gudik will have to take especial care to *not* mention that Ipola now has information that the dragons have returned with all their old power, I think. Of course, it’s been well over 3,000 years since real dragons have been around. These “Draconians” may have evolved a theology that reveres them as a past power, which powerful status they might wish to emulate. They may be far less happy to know that Dragons could appear in the flesh overhead and begin demanding tribute in the form of local humans for dinner, with Kivalians or Erogenians preferred, but Draconians acceptable if the first 2 categories are unavailable by dinnertime. I don’t know how much of Draconian theology Gudik knows, or how that theology itself goes. Detachment that is successful may depend on knowing how the Draconians will react to this change in the world.

    1. I don’t think they know about the dragons just yet. They only know for sure about the Urrts and Maldik siding with them. The dragon and the ancient Erogenian? That might be a bit too much for their level of intel to gather.

    2. The Draconian schism and their own particular dogma has not yet been explained. I am planning a special page just for that.
      Watch this space. 🙂

      JED

  4. Ipola calls Gudik “my Lord” this time. Interesting. I guess a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.

    And as always, Yanora goes him one up with banter. (Is that the right turn of phrase? I’ve been doing and undoing it for five solid minutes now, it still reads weird but I think since it would seem to work with “I” and “you”, it should work with “she” and “he”. Feel free to correct me.)

    I’m a bit disappointed that we may have missed a few things we still don’t know, but all in good time, I guess.

    1. Oh all will be revealed in time.

      – JED

      1. Oh I trust you about that.

        … It’s SO FRUSTRATING!

  5. … By the way, SeanR restarted me about the “boobs” tag two pages ago, and here it doesn’t feature. Since the only boobs seen here are immaterial and somewhat in the background, I guess it figures.

    The only thing is that, in examining panel 7, I noticed that Tethik looks like he has his hand through Yanora’s right boob.

    Make of it what you will.

    1. That’s one of the illusions of her being a mere projection. He is actually behind her.

      – JED

      1. Indeed! That’s why I was careful to said it looked like that. But on second thoughts, now I think Yanora knows that it looks that way and it’s one of the reasons she’s grinning so brightly in that panel. (The walls of a prison cannot hold her wit, so what’s the fourth wall for her?)

  6. Where’s the ten to hundred pages of exposition regurgitating what’s already happened in loving detail?

    Not that I mind in the least it not being here, I just want to know so I can tell other authors where to send it!

    1. They need to go back and read from the beginning. 🙂

      – JED

  7. When he looked up I was so sure he was looking at the priest and was about to say the church. After all aren’t the bishops trying to kill him?

    1. Actually, as revealed so far it’s a conspiracy just between Gorshash, his tool Maldik and the bishop Macon. If Therik knows about it he hasn’t shown it yet.

      – JED

      1. Hey, here I thought the conspiracy was between Gorshash and Maldik, while Macon had discovered something but was just barging in on Maldik’s part of the plot to advance his own agenda, but maybe wasn’t completely aware of how awful the Urtts’ encroachment was.

        I mean, sure the man is a slimeball, and sure he’s evil, but he can’t be totally stupid either or he wouldn’t have made it to where he stands so far, right? And arrogant as he may be, he has to know that there was a reason why Kivalians deigned to ally with Erogenians against the Urtts.

        … But then, I only know like a hundredth of the whole truth and that’s not taking into account what I’ve read but forgotten.

  8. Groo The Wanderer

    Waaait… Gudik and Maldik, eh?
    “Mal” means “evil” in French, Spanish, Portuguese etc. So we basically have Good-Dick and Evil-Dick. One is good, the other is evil… but they’re both dicks…

    I really really hope that was intentional!

    1. Give that man a coconut! 🙂

      In fact, it was completely subconscious, but it fits so well I will definitely take credit for it.

      – JED

      1. Is that an african or a european coconut?

  9. Just discovered this page and it is awesome.

    I have a serious question though, one which must be asked to determine whether any true barbarian warrior is worth their salt…

    Is Zona strong enough to punch out a camel?

    1. In a word, yes. See here:

      https://barbarianprincess.com/comic/present-and-past-light-and-dark/page-151/

      And here:

      https://barbarianprincess.com/comic/friends-and-family-part-2/page-712/

      Naturally, as Stan Lee would say, “no matter how strong you are, there’s always somebody stronger.” But Zona’s definitely up there.

      And welcome welcome! Here’s hoping you enjoy the free comic and also consider the rewards and delights of becoming a Patreon Patron!

      https://www.patreon.com/JEDraft

      Regardless, we are delighted to have you.

      – JED

      1. Awesome, delighted to be here. I’m a massive fan of fantasy and sword and sorcery, especially Red Sonja, but it’s nice to see somebody stabbing the genre with a broadsword of mirth.

        PS I haven’t visited the pages you linked yet but can already see Zona’s done some mind blowing stuff like snapping chains and tossing that giant log with the guy standing on it. It’d still be cool to see her taking out an enemy rider by punching his mount though. Mungo did it, Conan did it … hell, even Batman’s done it!

        1. PPS TV Tropes says that you’d previously done a story called The Three Challenges Of Zona. Is that available anywhere?

          And have you heard of the webcomic Brunhilt? Totally different artistic style from your’s but I think you’d get a kick out of it

        2. Three Challenges of Zona was a Choose Your Own Adventure book back in the days when dinosaurs hadn’t quite mastered this walking thing. It’s long out of print (as is the sequel), but JED did offer it up at times as a donation bonus. Don’t know if that still holds with the Patreon.

        3. We will be making it a reward on Patreon for our $10 patrons soon.

          Warm regards,

          JED

      2. As far as *I*’m concerned, Zona’s most impressive feat of strength is juggling kids here: https://barbarianprincess.com/comic/much-rejoicing/page-317/

        As in, juggling them and catching them without mishap. Pretty extreme stuff to my eyes as a father.

        1. I’m a dad too – my two year old’s smaller than those girls and I doubt I could throw him 3 feet up, let alone 20.

          To be fair, they’re not Zona’s kids and she’s a warrior-born in a hard world so she misses once or twice and a kid splatters across the courtyard, that’s all just part of life’s Rich tapestry, I guess.

  10. I tend to mentally hear the Kivalian nobility with British accents. With that in mind, I find “arse” to be a better word choice than the very American “ass.”

    @Groo, we noticed the “mal” equal “evil” or “bad” a long time ago, possibly when the comic was on Soul Geek. Since the comments didn’t transfer, you may have missed that discussion.

    1. “Ass” in this context is probably referring to donkeys, not to the sit-upon. If you think of it that way, the British dialect works fine.

      🙂

      – JED

    2. Feh, whippersnapper. We were discussing that back when Zona was on Barbarianprincess.com the FIRST time.

  11. JED:
    One of the things I enjoy about your story telling is that you are able to convey so much information within a very few frames. Love the time jump to avoid unnecessary exposition (Points to Salisria) =D and the juxtaposition of the faces in the subsequent dialogue. It all just works … you can see so beautifully Guldik’s incredulity at what he as been missing while engaging in his little crusade. I am betting that Thann’s role in this little tale is about to add a little more to the mix.

    1. Thanks muchly. Really, it’s just me trying to save myself the work of putting in either a wall of text or two or three extra pages.

      – JED

  12. ‘Bloody Deeps’ and ‘masterpiece of idiocy’ may be some of my new favorite expressions. 😀

    I hope Gudik is smart enough to know he needs to return home and get back in control of Kivalia. And then he has a new war to fight.

    1. This and other questions will be answered in the next thrilling episode!

      And I have to admit I cadged the “masterpiece” line from Mark Twain. 🙂

      – JED

      1. If you’re going to steal, steal from the best.

  13. Scrapped Yanora line: “And you wonder why I keep calling you my favorite son.”

  14. How tall is Zona anyway? She towers over almost everyone else but her dad, a seven footer, was much bigger than her. My guess is she’s about 6’4” or 6’5” … is that about right?

    1. A mite over six and a half, if memory serves. Dad is actually over seven foot.

      1. Thanks very much. I will definitely become a Patreon once I’m settled into my new job, it’s just a question of which level.

        Are you guys happy with people doing Zona fan art? I’d love to do a pic of Zona and Mentl some time. Feel free to check out my gallery here: https://conradknightsocks.deviantart.com/

        1. Nick,

          I have no problem at all with fan art. I consider it very flattering and also a very nice way to get the word out about Zona.

          By all means use her as a subject with my blessing, so long as you refer to the original. 🙂

          Warm regards,

          JED

    2. Zona is 6’6″. Here are the three heroes together in front of a scale to show relative height.

      JEDHeroes Relative Height

      Warm regards,

      1. Is Tula 6′ or a shade under?

        Known about your webcomic for quite a while but actually sat down and read it all in the last few weeks. I quite enjoyed it.

        1. Tula is 5’10”. Like the others, her hair makes her look a bit taller.

          Warm regards,
          JED

      2. I’m amazed so many guys try to start trouble with Zona, given how big she is. She’s actually the same height as the Mighty Thor, and She-Hulk is only an inch taller. I’m even more amazed that I haven’t discovered any Challenges Of Zona fanart in my travels, given the comic’s popularity. Of course I will credit you.

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