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http://www.pvponline.com/2010/04/05/triumphant-return/

Max is back, looking rugged and might be a permanent part of the strip. Not really funny yet, but I do like where this is headed!




Oh, this is PvP. Just in case you all forgot.

Here's hoping that the zany adventure will start soon.

lets see where this goes.

I liked the meta-reference ("You can see his eyes. Shows more emotion!")

It's alright so far. Amusing.

I wonder how Cole is going to handle this turn of events. He is used to Max always having the upper hand and always having success fall into his lap. But now if Cole hires Max Cole will have the power and will surely be tempted to abuse said power.

Hylian said:

I wonder how Cole is going to handle this turn of events. He is used to Max always having the upper hand and always having success fall into his lap. But now if Cole hires Max Cole will have the power and will surely be tempted to abuse said power.

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I think that would be out of character for Cole and I'd be incredibly disappointed. Cole and Max had quite the moment during the Thanksgiving arc in 2008. He came to terms with why he disliked Max (how Max was just a better person in general than he could ever be.) If Cole reverted back to the type of person who would give anything to be one step ahead of Max then I'd have to resort to calling Scott a hack.

Wait...

Shawnacy said:

I think that would be out of character for Cole and I'd be incredibly disappointed. Cole and Max had quite the moment during the Thanksgiving arc in 2008.

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I actually think it would be incredibly IN-character for Cole and thought that Thanksgiving arc was gonna be the arc that finally outed Cole as the series' true antagonist.

I first clicked on this thread thinking this was about Homer Simpson. And then I realized.

Wait... When did he leave? Did he sell or lose his buisness? WTF?!?

I wouldn't have recognized this new character as Max if the other characters hadn't called him Max. I probably won't recognize him as Max the next time he appears in the strip. He looks like Bearded Extra #1 to me, one of the random guys you might see in the background of a PvP strip. Or a throwaway character, like the guy who teaches Cole how to fight, or the ones who came across Francis handcuffed to a sewage pipe.

Nonetheless, if zaniness and hilarity ensue, all complaints shall be rendered irrelevant.

Jigglymuff said:

I first clicked on this thread thinking this was about Homer Simpson. And then I realized.

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You and me both, Muff.

Raemon777 said:

I liked the meta-reference ("You can see his eyes. Shows more emotion!")

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I laughed at that comic, out loud. I wasn't expecting to like this story arc, but so far it's good.

... and out loud again at today's comic. I loves me some meta.

Wow.. does EVERYONE look better with a full beard?

Dang, I was hoping this would be about an actual webcomic.

The Mex said:

Wow.. does EVERYONE look better with a full beard?

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Scarlett Johansson definitely would.

Allen said:

Wow.. does EVERYONE look better with a full beard?

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Scarlett Johansson definitely would.[/QUOTE]


Definitely.

Shego, when you kill me, I won't beg you to make it quick.

I don't get it. I keep looking at the picture, but I don't see the beard. Huh.

Also: I like the current arc.

I love Shego so much.

I said FULL beard :humph:

"Hey nursie, like the beard, gives me something to HOLD onto! WOOF! "

i also like the arc. I recognized it as Max, but he's also a character I really like.

I figured out it was max from the license plate on his motorcycle.

OK, this last strip bugged me. "Do you really think he's changed?"

What do you mean CHANGED? There was nothing wrong with him in the first place! Cole admitted this himself! And now he can see Skull? They said that people who can't are extremely "self centered" but there was never any time where Max seemed self centered to me.

I'd like to think that this is all part of the plan but I keep having the nagging feeling that Kurtz decided to ditch the earlier interpretation and go back to the earlier Max pseudo mystery.

Psyclone said:

OK, this last strip bugged me. "Do you really think he's changed?"

What do you mean CHANGED? There was nothing wrong with him in the first place! Cole admitted this himself! And now he can see Skull? They said that people who can't are extremely "self centered" but there was never any time where Max seemed self centered to me.

I'd like to think that this is all part of the plan but I keep having the nagging feeling that Kurtz decided to ditch the earlier interpretation and go back to the earlier Max pseudo mystery.

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I agree. I was really put off by that "changed?" comment too. Max has never been a rotten person. Maybe he's come off as having an ego, but he's always been there whenever anyone has needed him. Sometimes I wonder if he even has that much of an Ego based on a few incidents such as when he fired Miranda for hitting on him in the work place. Regardless of whether he's gay or not he strikes me as someone who's polite, kind, helpful, and shows people respect. If he's "changed" at all he'd become a terrible person. Hell. He'd become Cole.
And if Cole "changed" at all he wouldn't make comments like that.
I really don't know if Scott just doesn't pay attention to his own characters, or if Cole really is, and always will be, a dick.

As far as who can or cannot see Skull I was under the impression that it had to be someone who could accept fantasy as a reality. If you didn't have your head in the clouds, or you didn't really consider "what ifs?" then you probably couldn't see Skull. Doesn't mean he's self centered. Just means he was more of a realist at the time.

It's a perfect comment for Cole. He has always held a grudge (if I recall, because Max went out with the girl he had a crush on in college). What I don't get is that Max owns PvP, so why does he need a job there?

Shawnacy said:

I really don't know if Scott just doesn't pay attention to his own characters, or if Cole really is, and always will be, a dick.

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See? SEE!?

PROVEN!

Using a Hook reference, to me Skull has always been someone that Peter Banning could not see but Peter Pan could. It's an inner innocence and sense of wonderment. Max has always been fun but very pragmatic, which is why he could never see Skull before.

Apparently Max went on a walkabout and discovered his inner child.

Mmmm... No. Still nothing.

MindDetective said:

It's a perfect comment for Cole. He has always held a grudge (if I recall, because Max went out with the girl he had a crush on in college). What I don't get is that Max owns PvP, so why does he need a job there?

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http://www.pvponline.com/2007/12/01/pandamonium-part-18/

I hate that you can't search PvP.

The PvP crew is like a budget basement version of the Seinfeld cast. A bunch of mean losers that you love anyway. And Max was just a nice winner that wanted to fit in.

I don't like way Kurtz did the "hey, I can see you now". It just seems so in your face and assumes that anyone who reads his strip doesn't have the mental capacity to remember that he couldn't see Skull in the past. it would have been better for him to just pass skull in the skull and say "oh hi" and have Skull do like three pannels of reaction/realization shots.

Also, Kurtz is a HACK.

How long has it been since there was a strip about Max not being able to see skull? It's not just a matter of how good memories are, what about new readers in the last several years? Not all readers go through the archives.

Dave said:

Using a Hook reference, to me Skull has always been someone that Peter Banning could not see but Peter Pan could. It's an inner innocence and sense of wonderment. Max has always been fun but very pragmatic, which is why he could never see Skull before.

Apparently Max went on a walkabout and discovered his inner child.

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I was thinking something similar.

Or maybe, since we know Skull was originally there because Brent needed him, Max's journey of self-discovery has resulted in his realization that his life is not complete somehow which would place him in the category of people who "need" to see Skull.

I think people are being overly critical here. There are comics that are excellent pieces of storytelling that it's worth analyzing whether a character arc has been perfectly executed or not. PvP might have been such a comic once, but it hasn't been in so long that ranting about how not-perfect the character arcs is... I dunno, not exactly like kicking a puppy, because Scott clearly wants to be a good writer, but at this point, saying "Kurtz is a hack" is sorta like saying the sky is blue. We know.

In any case, I think there's room for Cole to be a somewhat petty and insecure person while still being a generally good guy.

I also thought Max's deliver of "heh, I can see you now" was pretty funny. I mean, that fact that he suddenly CAN see this mythical creature is a big enough deal that it makes sense for him to remark upon, but the fact that it's just kinda "oh, well okay then whatever I guess that's cool" makes it all the more funny.

Anyone remember what happened last with Sonya Powers and Skull? She's been gone from the strip even longer than Max, I think.

Raemon777 said:

I also thought Max's deliver of "heh, I can see you now" was pretty funny. I mean, that fact that he suddenly CAN see this mythical creature is a big enough deal that it makes sense for him to remark upon, but the fact that it's just kinda "oh, well okay then whatever I guess that's cool" makes it all the more funny.

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Plus, the obvious implication that he knew about Skull since some undefined point in the past and is amused that he's finally able to do so.

That's why I like the "realization that he's not complete" theory. If I wanted to get mildly interpretive, and since I still consider myself a fan I reserve the right to do so , Max's relaxed attitude could be simply explained as taking comfort in knowing that his feelings of something missing from his life have been explicitly validated by his being able to see Skull.

Would that we could all be so lucky.

Hylian;368346][QUOTE=MindDetective said:

It's a perfect comment for Cole. He has always held a grudge (if I recall, because Max went out with the girl he had a crush on in college). What I don't get is that Max owns PvP, so why does he need a job there?

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http://www.pvponline.com/2007/12/01/pandamonium-part-18/

[/QUOTE]

Wow, I totally forgot about that. Thanks for the refresher.

I found the "Heh! Cool. I can see you now" line to be pretty painfully clumsy

Eh, to each his own I guess. I liked that it implied that Max had been on some huge epic adventure, to the point that seeing Skull only registered a "heh, neat."

Huh? They did whatever the comic says they've been doing since Max left? I don't get what your point is.

This thread is too intense for me right now

Not entirely related to the topic at hand, but still pretty cool:

figmentPez said:

Not entirely related to the topic at hand, but still pretty cool:

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Scott's combat stats are pretty sick for his level.

Well, he IS The Creator

His defense should be lower.