Agent Brown can detect stealth when no one else can? AND he’s fluent in Sarnothi? I guess that part makes sense after all this time working with them, but … hmmmmm.
The first part’s not too hard to believe either. He is a professional, and in a position to know such things exist. Stealth is very hard to make perfect, it would really rely on most people NOT even thinking to look for it.
It strikes me Agent Brown has known how to speak Sarnothi since he was a child. It’d be ironic if he had adopted parents in the inverse form of Selkie. At the very least, he most be close with one (or more) of them. He seems way too familiar and concerned with the species to be just an “FBI protector.”
I don’t think it’s Sarnothi at all, but Japanese (?) If you look closely at the outline in panel six, that looks suspiciously like Lillian, one of the caretakers at the orphanage.
I’m pretty sure that ‘Teeth and Scales of the Eel’ isn’t a Japanese profanity. Also, name me one character in the strip who’d willingly take a swing at Lillian.
Am I the only one who is kind of disappointed that something like this shows up? While Selkie is supposed to be a fictional comic about fishy folks, the author claimed it was supposed to be grounded to reality.
I don’t know why, but I find the concept of a foreign aquatic species more believable then “stealth fields”.
It’s perfectly in the scope of reality. We’ve invented stationary things that can do it, the Sarnothi have just been doing it longer, and have made it mobile.
It’s fine that the comic is going here (and extreme sarnothi technology has been telegraphed for a while, so it’s not a surprise at all), and I enjoy things like this, too, but I do have a personal preference for things that are particularly “down to earth”—a story about mer-people in which nobody at all has superpowers or fancy technology, just some of the characters can breathe water.
If you’d given me the choice of which kind of story Selkie would end up being—one about normal folks with some extreme things going on around them, or one about normal folks, one of whom happens to be amphibious, I’d choose the latter.
But there’s nothing wrong with the former, and this is obviously the ride Dave wants to take us on, so that’s fine, too.
Why not? Such a thing either already exists or is pretty darn close to existing for humans. Back in the 90s, one of my close friends’ father was developing “stealth paint” for military jets.
And while this is fantasy-based, you never know. Oceans and deep lakes are widely unexplored regions of the Earth. A whole civilization could be growing undetected (seriously). If one did, it realistic to assume they can have technology we don’t and vice versa—especially as physics works differently in water and air. I have a feeling, though, they need to make sure their devices are “sealed” before they come to land so they work the same as they do in the water.
A civilization that came from elsewhere with the Sarnothi’s tech, yes. I don’t find it plausible that they developed their current technology *and* (apparently) huge population on Earth, especially in any of the great lakes, without being widely known.
For instance, how would they develop chemistry and metallurgy to a human level? Water at Earthlike temperatures and pressures is almost a universal solvent. Given that they are a partially amphibious race, it makes more sense that they depended on access to land for matching and surpassing human technology: so many things are simpler when separated compounds (like sulphur and hydrochloric acid, to name just two) stay put, and air is *far* less an electrical conductor than water.
Have you ever seen footage of octopi camouflaging itself? I don’t find it at all surprising that an aquatic species is ahead of the curve on stealth devices.
Huh, I guess you just have to be trained to look closely. I went back up to the comic after reading the comments, and happened to look at panel 6… and THERE HE/SHE WAS! Nice job, Dave! It was so faint I missed it the first time….
Hmmm, how many comics in the archive do I have to hunt through looking for faint green lines now? I can tell you they at very least show up in the last one (574)
Very well done, Dave, I can see the thin blue lines in the previous comic, when hey first see those two talking! Looks like legs! A d I never noticed it before, either, till I looked for it!
No, I think he noticed the tiny tiny, wonderfully subtle green lines behind him and to his right that none of us noticed, UNTIL he smacked the guy and made us look again!
Perfect Dave! You could not have done that better!
Agent Brown can detect stealth when no one else can? AND he’s fluent in Sarnothi? I guess that part makes sense after all this time working with them, but … hmmmmm.
The first part’s not too hard to believe either. He is a professional, and in a position to know such things exist. Stealth is very hard to make perfect, it would really rely on most people NOT even thinking to look for it.
It strikes me Agent Brown has known how to speak Sarnothi since he was a child. It’d be ironic if he had adopted parents in the inverse form of Selkie. At the very least, he most be close with one (or more) of them. He seems way too familiar and concerned with the species to be just an “FBI protector.”
I don’t think it’s Sarnothi at all, but Japanese (?) If you look closely at the outline in panel six, that looks suspiciously like Lillian, one of the caretakers at the orphanage.
I’m pretty sure that ‘Teeth and Scales of the Eel’ isn’t a Japanese profanity. Also, name me one character in the strip who’d willingly take a swing at Lillian.
Okay, that curse is a bit out of places, but those outlines REALLY look like Lillian.
Perhaps Brown can’t tell *who* is hidden, only that someone is?
I doubt it’s Lillian, but it’s a possibility.
Am I the only one who is kind of disappointed that something like this shows up? While Selkie is supposed to be a fictional comic about fishy folks, the author claimed it was supposed to be grounded to reality.
I don’t know why, but I find the concept of a foreign aquatic species more believable then “stealth fields”.
It’s perfectly in the scope of reality. We’ve invented stationary things that can do it, the Sarnothi have just been doing it longer, and have made it mobile.
Yup, you’re probably the only one :p
Actually, I admit I’m with you.
It’s fine that the comic is going here (and extreme sarnothi technology has been telegraphed for a while, so it’s not a surprise at all), and I enjoy things like this, too, but I do have a personal preference for things that are particularly “down to earth”—a story about mer-people in which nobody at all has superpowers or fancy technology, just some of the characters can breathe water.
If you’d given me the choice of which kind of story Selkie would end up being—one about normal folks with some extreme things going on around them, or one about normal folks, one of whom happens to be amphibious, I’d choose the latter.
But there’s nothing wrong with the former, and this is obviously the ride Dave wants to take us on, so that’s fine, too.
Why not? Such a thing either already exists or is pretty darn close to existing for humans. Back in the 90s, one of my close friends’ father was developing “stealth paint” for military jets.
And while this is fantasy-based, you never know. Oceans and deep lakes are widely unexplored regions of the Earth. A whole civilization could be growing undetected (seriously). If one did, it realistic to assume they can have technology we don’t and vice versa—especially as physics works differently in water and air. I have a feeling, though, they need to make sure their devices are “sealed” before they come to land so they work the same as they do in the water.
A civilization that came from elsewhere with the Sarnothi’s tech, yes. I don’t find it plausible that they developed their current technology *and* (apparently) huge population on Earth, especially in any of the great lakes, without being widely known.
For instance, how would they develop chemistry and metallurgy to a human level? Water at Earthlike temperatures and pressures is almost a universal solvent. Given that they are a partially amphibious race, it makes more sense that they depended on access to land for matching and surpassing human technology: so many things are simpler when separated compounds (like sulphur and hydrochloric acid, to name just two) stay put, and air is *far* less an electrical conductor than water.
Have you ever seen footage of octopi camouflaging itself? I don’t find it at all surprising that an aquatic species is ahead of the curve on stealth devices.
We’ve already had examples of their technology though. This is nothing new
Huh, I guess you just have to be trained to look closely. I went back up to the comic after reading the comments, and happened to look at panel 6… and THERE HE/SHE WAS! Nice job, Dave! It was so faint I missed it the first time….
Look even harder and you will notice him in panels 2, 3, 4 and 5 as well.
Now I’m going back a few days to see if it’s there.
Hmmm, how many comics in the archive do I have to hunt through looking for faint green lines now? I can tell you they at very least show up in the last one (574)
https://selkiecomic.com/comic/selkie566/
This is the first page I found that has the cloaked Sarnothi in it.
Very well done, Dave, I can see the thin blue lines in the previous comic, when hey first see those two talking! Looks like legs! A d I never noticed it before, either, till I looked for it!
So, either he’s really observant, or he regularly checks for the invisible, and just got lucky this time. 😀
No, I think he noticed the tiny tiny, wonderfully subtle green lines behind him and to his right that none of us noticed, UNTIL he smacked the guy and made us look again!
Perfect Dave! You could not have done that better!
Did he forehand him on the back – WHAP!, or backhand him on the chest – WHAP!?
Can’t tell from the strip. I, personally, think ol’ Agent Orange there would do a backhand to the breastbone, but that’s just me.
Looks more like the shoulder or arm?
Been re-reading again
https://selkiecomic.com/comic/selkie499/
Is this the cuss Selkie was miss using?
I just want to say that I really like that graphic effect around the WHAP! Nicely done, Dave!
Am I the only one who wonders if this has anything to do with the bow?
No.