Archery Feat

Title text: Update: I would not have embarked on this powerscaling venture if I'd known how thoroughly Mark Twain was going to roast me.

Explanation[edit]

This is one of 50 incomplete explanations:
This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

It is a common trope in fiction, especially historical or fantasy genres, for a protagonist to demonstrate their skill by performing an incredible feat of archery, such as shooting an apple off a person's head, or splitting an arrow already on the target.

Here, Randall posits a new protagonist that he has created, and wants to demonstrate that this protagonist is better at archery than other fictional protagonists, and to do so the protagonist is performing many famous archery feats strung together in a deliberately-ridiculous chain. This comic references three popular examples:

Shooting an arrow through twelve axe shafts: This was done by Odysseus in the c. 750–700 BCE epic poem The Odyssey to prove his identity. He was also the only person strong enough to string his bow. The line of axes was included in the 2026 movie The Odyssey (2026 film), which was released in the month before this comic and perhaps inspired Randall to make the comic
Shooting an apple off a person's head: In the story of William Tell , the protagonist is required to shoot an apple on his own son's head as test.
Splitting an arrow already on the target: This is a popular trick in stories involving archery competitions, originating from the legend of Robin Hood.

The alt-text may refer to Mark Twain's critique of James Fenimore Cooper.

Transcript[edit]

This is one of 33 incomplete transcripts:
Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the transcript!

[Cueball aims a drawn bow-and-arrow through a line of 12 axes, over a boy with an apple on his head, and at a target where an arrow in the bullseye has been split by another, later-arriving arrow.]

[Caption below the panel:] I want to prove that my new protagonist is a better shot than all those other protagonists.

Add comment Create topic (use sparingly) Refresh