Splinter of the Mind’s Eye – Part 19
New to Blue Milk Special? Start reading from the beginning!
Today’s strip was done at the last minute. I mean right to the wire. It’s almost midnight as I type this. We hope you missed Vader during his long absence from the strip. He’s back and this time he’s bringing with him a new catchphrase. Well, not in this strip. Slurrrrp doesn’t really cut it. Or does it? I don’t know. Anyway, we have some BMS Vader goodness lined up in the next couple of weeks so keep reading! Also, keep voting. We need daily votes to lick this TopWebComics thing.
–EDIT–
It has been pointed out to me by several very astute readers that TIE Fighters are incapable of long range travel ie hyperspace. This puts another layer of humor and absurdity into today’s strip that was not foreseen when we came up with this one. Look for this very issue to be addressed in an upcoming strip.
–END of EDIT–
I’ll leave the subtle reference in this strip for you guys to point out and discuss. It’s a sci-fi three way! Also, hope you guys like the reappearance of the TIE Pilot. That one was all me. No Leanne! I want to thank Geoffrey Padilla once again for his work in pulling together the spacecraft that we make extensive use of in these strips. Thanks Geoff. This comic would be much cheaper without you!
By the way, my name is Rod…. with a “d”. Not Rob. Just sayin’. 😉
I believe I accedentally called you Rob, didn’t I? Sorry, there is a guy named Rob and he does a pretty funny web series called Unforgotten Realms. anyway…. nice strip, Rod. Keep it up!
I get called Rob a lot. It’s no biggie! 😉 Glad you liked the strip! 🙂
It looks like their in the Time Vortex from Dr. Who….. But yeah love me some Vader action every time I see him with that mug I just want to bust out laughing!
Dash and darn it… we didn’t quite achieve the “bust out laughing” with this one. Maybe Friday then?
Ha you guys always get a laugh out of me.
TIE’s are short range fighters. They can’t go warp speed. Sluuuurrrp! =)
I don’t think BMS Vader would believe you. Besides, maybe these are a prototype squadron. Have an imagination man! 😉
I was thinking that was one of the subtle jokes, and Vader’s slurp as him keeping quiet about it. That’s how I took it anyway. 😉
Nope, it was a genuine mistake on my part. I truly like the idea of Vader flying around deep space / hyperspace in a TIE Fighter with his two home boys though. I might work this error into an upcoming joke. 🙂
Yeah, if you check around a little, you’ll find Darth Vader’s TIE, an Advanced x1, had a lot of awesome features normal TIEs didn’t, including a hyperdrive. And shields. And cluster missiles. And for Darth Vader personally, a pressurized atmosphere. And I’m sure a coffee machine.
In the young jedi knights series (about somehwere between 16-20 years after the battle of endor, Han solo’s kids and friends rebuilds an old crashed tie-fighter fro the battle of yavin during their studies at luke’s academy, and installes it with a hyperdrive. so it’s basicly possible for tie fighters to have those, but jacen (han’s oldest son) mused that palpatine didn’t alove it to prevent tie pilots from deserting 🙂
hope this helped enlighten you, since you’ve stated you don’t spend much time with the EU =3
The most I tend to spend with the EU is via Wookieepedia. I’m old school and and stubborn, hence the focus of the site. But to be honest, we’ve included a ton of EU material and I actually regret not using the original names for the cantina aliens like Walrus Man, and Hammerhead. Thanks for the info re: TIE Fighters though. 🙂
in the X-wing novels we find out that hyperdrive equipped TIE Interceptors are a common “personal vehicle” for officers, and used for scouting as well. the downside is that apparently, the addition of the Hyperdrive and more potent powerplant to run it slows the Interceptor down and makes it more sluggish. the of D6 RPG also had hyperdrive equipped TIE fighters used as scouts, with basically the same limitation.
I figured ‘warp speed’ was a Star Trek-only term… hence the focus on the coffee slurp (?)
Yay! You got it! All this hyperdrive talk has sidelined the joke!
The Time Vortex from Dr. Who…. or the Stargate? I think there’s a potential sci-fi FOURSOME going one here…
That’s true. I didn’t even think about Star Gate!
I had no idea the history with Splinter of the minds eye. We had the first print and I was captivated by the cover art work. I am new to this site and think it’s fantastic. Nice one Rod
Thanks! It’s great hearing from readers that they enjoy the strip, especially new readers such as yourself. We hope we can keep you entertained for months… perhaps years to come. 🙂
You know, Rod with a “d,” you might have yourself a fancy new rapper name….Funny D.
Yo! Word to your mother!
Or something.
I will consider that as my rapper name if I ever wake up one morning and suddenly discover that I like rap or hip hop. But until that fateful morning, I’ll stick with His High Rodness of Rodopolis.
Perfect. Understated, subtle, with not even the slightest hint of pretentiousness.
As for the strip today, I’ve noticed that while there have been Star Trek references here and there, nobody’s ever directly commented to Vader about his Star Trek mug. I believe this is also the first time he makes a verbal Trek reference. His latte mug is obviously a nonverbal one.
You make an excellent observation. The reason is that Vader couldn’t remain static forever. Like Leia’s iPhone and twittering, one trick ponies can get old fast. Something about the mug of coffee was earning it a lot of mileage, but it was time to expand the humor a bit.
TIE fighters don’t have hyperdrives. The emperor wanted the fighters to be reliant upon bigger installations so that it would be hard to go defect to the rebellion when in a TIE due to its short range. They didn’t even have a life support system. I call shenanigans. Sluuuuuurp.
Well that’s all part of the BMS absurdity then! I actually confess I didn’t realize or remember that TIE Fighters couldn’t do hyperspace. I hope this isn’t detracting from the Star Trek joke in anyway. Bummer!
Well, “no TIE Fighter has hyperdrive” was not canon in 1978, so that’s all that counts here.
I mean, I laughed out loud when Vader said he would “drop out of warp,” and that’s all that matters.
I love this comic.
Hah! And we celebrate the early canon vs later canon… so maybe that’s the answer?
Alas, actually in 1978 the line was, “No. It’s a short range fighter” in regard to the “Imperial TIE fighter races past the cockpit window.” That being taken from the script here: http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Star-Wars-A-New-Hope.html
So, yeah it was always a part of canon that they couldn’t have been followed through hyperspace by a TIE fighter.
I still stick by the story that Vader’s guys would have been made of sterner stuff and have special perks as the explanation tho. Do I get a no-prize?
You definitely get No-Prize. 😉 ’nuff said.
Yep I caught the Warp Speed gag. Maybe the Enterprise’s tractor beam was rented out to fling the fighters to their destination at WARP SPEED! Looking forward to the “actual” explanation.
If memory serves, Vader flies a TIE Advanced X1, which did have hyperdrive and life support. And had his wingmen been flying TIE Interceptors (if the extra source materials are to be acceptable) then they too would have hyperdrives. However, we can suspend disbelief and just accept that Vader’s personal wingmen would be outfitted better than the general TIE compliment, can’t we?
Hey, I recognize that name and picture! It’s the Wayward Sons guy! 😉
We could suspend disbelief, but this strip is all about poking things into the plot holes, isn’t it?
Prepare for Ludicrous Speed!
Yeah, caught… but even us Webcomics guys can be fans of other Webcomics, right? I mean, I even made TWO trips to the Blue Milk Special booth at San Diego Comiccon to meet the creators… They weren’t there EITHER time, but hey… I made the trip.
I just saw your comic. It looks beautiful! I think I’d seen it advertised on TopWebComics before but I hadn’t checked it out thoroughly until now. Beautiful work and professional caliber!
Thanks! I’ve long been a reader of Blue Milk (which I still laugh every time I think of that gag… it comes from the MALES. HAH!) I only wish I could advertise Wayward Sons on here! LOL.
Though I understand you probably don’t want to run afoul of Lucas on that front.
Absolutely a HUGE fan and think Blue Milk Special is one of the true great webcomics out there. But I know I’m preaching to the choir on that front.
Any relation between the Starcore, and the Kaiburr Crystal (Aside from them both being immensely powerful crystal plot devices that is)?
No plans for them to be connected in BMS. I have zero knowledge of Star Wars Galaxies, so that doesn’t help.
I was referring to the “Wayward Sons” plot device, not anything in Star Wars continuity.
Just to see if anyone got the reference really, but there are probably other Star Cores out there.
Top Web Comics should have the creative teams for every comic vote separately on there favorite comics, to see who gets the best peer reviews.
Not a bad idea. Fortunately users can vote for as many different comics as they want in one day. I vote for both BMS and Star Wars Age 9 each day. Admittedly I’ve been a bit slack the last few weeks since NYCC. I like the fact I can support other comics out there that deserve recognition.
Hah. I would love a crossover. LMAO. I admit for a second there I thought “Starcore” must also be something in the vast Star Wars universe as well. I was a SWG gamer going back to beta days (hint… it was more fun before they unlocked the Force) but don’t profess to know the continuity of everything Star Wars, so…
And agreed on voting for multiple comics. I certainly vote for Blue Milk. I’d love it if they had some form of PEER voting thing too… but that level of coding is enough to make my eyes cross. LOL.
Maybe a once-a-year thing would be cool for some sort of “peer awards” thingamajig? That would be cool. I know I wouldn’t win… but I’d enjoy voting.
Both the models mentioned do have hyperdrive. I just overlooked the fact that regular TIEs were in ‘warp’ for the humor of the strip. Keep up the good work.
I got the warp speed joke, but didn’t notice the Dr. Who swirliness (if that’s what it is). So many layers to this comic! :p
Maybe Vader drinks so much coffee everything looks like hyperspace to him…or something. Like that Futurama when Fry achieved hyperspeed.
Glad the warp speed joke wasn’t completely lost. We love sticking in references to our other interests, even if we’re not necessarily big Battlestar Galactica fans and so on. Perhaps a Futurama reference might make it into the strip sooner or later?
I think the Dr.Who worm hole is more of a spiral.
Cool Strip!
Cool Pilot!
I got another MIlk carton to design.
Once again why would vader only bring 2 tie fighters on a mission, with the thousands of ships available to someone of his rank?
Perhaps the rest of the fleet is making a Queso run for the emperor.
Thanks T. Vader likes flying his TIE prototype around. It’s just something he doesn’t get to do enough so he’ll take whatever opportunity he can to do it… even if it means defying later Star Wars canon! The TIE pilot’s first appearance was here.
I always thought the TIE pilots had the best helmets of all the Stormtrooper gear.
Agreed, Karen. You have good taste! Too bad they don’t get the armor to go with it.
I think flying around with 12,000 ships around you makes it look like your trying to make a statement.
I love the second panel, of the fighter with Vader sitting in it with his coffee cup. Strikes fear in the hearts of rebels everywhere!
So glad you liked that panel. Originally that panel was going to be a punch line in itself.
This is why we all love Vader. I love that perpetual ^_^ face he has when he’s drinking. That and it’s not easy to make star trek jokes in star wars without rabid nerds crawling out of your monitor like ‘the ring’. Wherein they wipe their cheeto-y hands on your furniture, correct you, then ask for a ride home because mom is making tacos.
I’ve always found it funny how rabid extremist fans of “Trek vs. Wars” fans can be. That’s why if I ever DID start wearing T-Shirts, I’d probably buy and wear this one– http://io9.com/5400095/android-on-android-love
LOL. Perfect. Yeah, I don’t get the need for a perceived rivalry between fandoms. Both universes are entirely different, even in theme. What’s the expression? Comparing apples to oranges? Something like that. Both Star Trek and Star Wars offer space opera entertainment in distinctly different packages. Both are fun. I prefer Star Wars, but ragging on Trek seems a little juvenile and bullying for my tastes. I mean come on… Orion Slave Girl… Twi-Lek… Red Shirt female officer…. Slave Leia… All these things have made sci-fi a better place. 🙂
Exactly Rod. So much easier to simply IGNORE anything related to Star Trek 😉 and move on.
LOL. Agreed. As long as the Sci Fi centers of our brains are being stimulated, can’t we all just get along? (Although let’s face it, in a battle my money’s on a Light Saber vs Kirk’s judo chop shoulder attack).
My name is Rod D
I made this strip
Sometimes I use a pen
With a felt tip
Sometimes it makes sense
Sometimes it’s Absurd
Sometimes it’s last minute
Yo Slurp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tacos Rule!
Best rap ever, of all time.
Wait, why are standard TIEs in Hypserspace?
Thanks for the votes Rod. You’re part of a quite exclusive club!
Maybe it’s Voyagers slipstream drive
I didn’t read all the comments, but it really seems the hyperspace discussion distracted from the joke.
As I really like Star Wars AND Star Trek, I laughed hard at this comic.
It could even be my favourite strip, but probably because I can remember this one better than others.
Thanks D-Fens. Yeah, I felt the same way. 🙁
I actually did think there were two jokes here when I read it, but afterwards I immediately thought “I bet people pointed out the standard fighters can’t do that”, and sure enough that was the case.
This made me laugh out loud.