SFP

sfp-6-51-for-web

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  • chaosvii

    My gawd, even his blushing is sinister!

    Ha, no not really.

    • Tylikcat

      Oh, it’s flippin’ adorable. I mean, concerns or no, I’m happy to sit back and enjoy this part.

    • Tylikcat

      I will defend his right to have those cheekbones and not be totally non-villainous to the death! (He kind of reminds me of a childhood friend. Who didn’t come to a particularly great end, admittedly.)

      That nose-shading, however…!

  • Loranna

    Interesting progression of color in this page. The top two panels feature some prominent blue-greens (the fruit baskets, the picture in the gallery) that sort-of match Alison’s and Max’s color scheme. Then, as the sun sets, the panel backgrounds take on the same rosy hue of the sky – which also happens to have been the color background associated with Max for the past couple of pages.

    Not only that, but the gold/yellow of the picture in panel two, matches the lighting of the restaurant in panel three, “framing” the blue of Alison and Max the same way the picture’s gold framed the blue in the gallery.

    I don’t know enough art theory to know what it all means, but I like the attention to detail nonetheless ^_^

    Loranna

    • Ralph, the Dire Opossum

      The first two panels seem predominantly white, perhaps representing a blank slate? Although with Alison, a blank slate isn’t really an option – she’s too famous to meet anybody without any preconceptions. I have no idea about any of this, so it’s just a stab in the dark. Your analysis seems nice!

    • ∫Clémens×ds

      On the other hand, in-universe consistency is absolutely off the rails. The height difference between Max and Alison is completely different from panel one to two. This is an outrage.

      • TRenn

        Simple answer. In panel 1, Alison was (literally) walking on air. At some point before panel 2, she noticed (or Max pointed it out) and she knocked it off.

      • Shjade

        Panel two does make Al look unusually short compared to the rest. Hadn’t noticed until you mentioned it, but…huh.

        • ∫Clémens×ds

          You may soon come to realize I am an expert in noticing pointless details and nitpicking them like a frustrated madman.

      • Ralph, the Dire Opossum

        Maybe she’s slouching? It’s been a long day, and the beginning of a date does tend to incite good posture. Also, maybe Max is walking on a slightly elevated surface? Perhaps that’s why they’re holding hands? Max needs to keep his balance? I haven’t got a clue.

    • Weatherheight

      Continuity of color or color progression (either one) can be used to imply tranquility and passage of time. I didn’t consciously recognize that use here, but you’re correct.

      You know more than you think. 😀

    • I keep thinking of the old rhyme:

      Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight.
      Red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning.

      From what I recall from reading about the weather as a child, I think that means that tomorrow is going to be sunny (a red sky in the morning is caused by sunlight scattering off waterdroplets in clouds). Of course this is from memory.

      • Arthur Frayn

        I always heard the rhyme for sailors, not shepherds. I live near the ocean.

  • OoO!

    I think this is my favourite page yet, the artwork is beauty full!
    Also I am taking notes from Max. Wandering through an open air market as a safe and distraction full beginning, then critiquing or making fun of modern art (and I thought modern art was useless!) as a way to get comfortable being creative around each other. Then you’re ready for a nice dinner and if you can time your walk to have a pretty view at sunset you’ve practically manufactured a romantic moment.

    • Weatherheight

      Billy Dee Williams is taking notes from Max, the dude is so smooth.

  • Susan Smith

    Such a sweet first date! So far…

  • Anna

    Sucks to be Clevin

  • Monica Gorman

    I just don’t trust his face.

  • Sage Tuttle

    The more perfect he is the more suspicious I become…

  • Sage Catharsis

    Union Square Farmers Market & The High Line. Cool.

  • Nathaniel Stalberg

    Ah, circuit design, my favorite date activity. But for some reason, a lot of girls don’t seem to find it as interesting as Allison apparently does. They’d rather go to art museums or something.

    • Tylikcat

      I usually think of circuit design as more of a second date thing – I mean, you really want to map out the project over coffee first. (Or a hike and then drinks. Something.)

    • That painting gave me flashbacks of Chipmunk (an old circuit design software for Linux). It’s so old that the instruction manual teaches how to use the pointing device known as “mouse”. Also, it gave me the worst RSI I ever had.

  • Bobo Chimpan

    The colors here are SO great!

    • ∫Clémens×ds

      The pinkization of the last line of panels doesn’t go unnoticed. Either it’s a graphic metaphor representing blossoming feelings of connection, or they all happen dozens of minutes from each other for the sky color of the sunset to change in-between panels, and Max is the slowest hand reacher in the history of mankind.

      • TSED

        I’d like to point out that it’s Al’s hand that reached.

        • ∫Clémens×ds

          Not so sure about that. The way I took it at least, and everybody else as far as I know reading comments, it’s him who went for her finger.

          • Emily Crowe

            I read it as Al reaching for his finger.

        • Weatherheight

          I’d like to believe they each reached for the other.

          I’d like to, but I’m not sure I can 😀

  • someladyontheinternet

    Aww. I love this page! The choice for no dialogue works really well and the art is perfect.

  • Martin Cohen

    Aw, how cute. First date ever!

  • ClockworkDawn

    Well, I’m calling it.

    He is definitely a supervillain, or another sort of ne’er-do-well.

    • ∫Clémens×ds

      You can tell because he puts his elbow on the table. At a restaurant, even.
      The kind of disregard for anything that is sacred to us kind God-fearing humans you can only find in mad men.

      • J B Bell

        The sort of unrestrained savage who puts cream in tea.

    • deebles

      I’m also waiting for Al’s new beau to cause her sudden but inevitable disappointment. Because where would this plotline be without drama?

    • sammybaby

      Yeah, this is pretty much where I am too.

      My money is on super-roofies.

  • Harry Burger

    He’s totally going to be the bad guy.

    • ∫Clémens×ds

      You can tell because of his affection for modern art. So evil.

      • He may be a modern artist.

        • ∫Clémens×ds

          Don’t say those things, I still have nightmares. The official government announcement saying they burned them all is the only thing that keeps me going.

  • Steele

    MAX uses FINGER HOLD.

    It’s SUPER EFFECTIVE!

  • lizasweetling

    TTTT^TTTT
    ISH SHO CUOOOOOOOOOTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Weatherheight

    a) Beautiful Artwork!
    b) Nice Date!
    c) Best part – no words to analyze, therefore still in suspense! Brilliant!

    Hurts so good…. Again, please. 😀

  • Kid Chaos

    Well, that’s what first dates are for. 😍

  • weedgoku

    Gasp, he touches her finger! How dastardly! The most villainous thing we’ve seen yet in this comic!

  • Tylikcat

    Though I don’t think you can conclude from this that the restaurant is affordable to students – Max either has financial resources, or is pulling out the stops, considering the suit he shows up in right after an apartment fire. (And I don’t think we know anything about his employment, do we?) And, in the case they’re going Dutch, I doubt this would be a particular strain on Al’s budget.

  • Weatherheight

    “Say, isn’t that Mega-Girl?”
    “Yeah, I think it is.. Hey, let’s get her autograph!”
    “Sweetie.. remember the hospital?”
    Yeah, I do. Let’s .. go…”

  • Weatherheight

    “Always fade out in a montage, (montage)
    If you fade out
    It seem like more time has passed in a montage (montage)”

    Yeah!

  • Meg Muckenhoupt

    By the looks of it, they’re walking on the High Line, a park in New York which really does look like that.

    • damocles6

      Yeah, Jesus, I have never seen the High Line with no people on it. It’s usually a zoo.

  • Weatherheight

    Damn, that would be so awesome! Patrick walking in on this would be insane! Didn’t *even* consider that…

    • Happyroach

      “Oh, Patrick? He’s uh, my ex. I mean my, um, ex nemesis.”

  • Weatherheight

    “Do you always get picked out in police lineups?
    Do little children point at you and scream “Bad Man! Bad Man!”?
    Do total strangers throw glasses of water in your face?
    Do you get immediately arrested whenever you visit a city for the first time?
    You could be suffering from EFS – Evil Face Syndrome.
    There is no cure, but there is treatment…. and hope.”

    • ∫Clémens×ds

      Strong pushback against the classification of its medication as luxury item and taxable as such; because it’s unfair to tax people for being British.

    • bta

      Worth it for the Peter Cushing cheekbones.

    • Christophe2314

      “Or, alternatively, you may be black.”

      • ∫Clémens×ds

        This is terrifyingly sour, and I laughed. You monster.

    • damocles6

      You joke, but my boyfriend has what I think of as a “mysteriously haunting” handsome face, and it mostly means that he gets patted down by airport security every time and randomly stopped by police on the street, etc, etc. He looks amazing in villain cosplays, though.

    • Call today and we’ll through in a new set of clothes.

  • bta

    Not paranoid enough:
    Max: *takes off hyperrealistic mask*
    Allison: Max?!
    Max: No, this is Patrick.

  • deebles

    The power of plot compels it!
    Amazing Al’s rooftop rescue of a dashing dude will wind up in rueful romantic dire disappointment soon, surely. 😛

    • wouldn’t it be cooler if the relationship just went nowhere and she had to deal with that annoying state of “what is my status here?” for months

  • Tylikcat

    How much of that is just the height difference? – we’re culturally biased towards reading a lot into someone looking up, and someone looking down.

  • FlashNeko

    It’s all going swimmingly until they get back to Alison’s place and she discovers that Max wants to watch Game of Thrones while she wants to watch Outlander.

    Everything goes downhill from there.

  • Monica Gorman

    I was taken to an art museum on a first date by the man who will be my husband in two weeks. But he didn’t have sinister eyebrows.

    • MisterTeatime

      Congratulations on the impending nuptials!

  • Monica Gorman

    The overall level of the artwork in this comic is too high for it to be an accident.

    • Weatherheight

      Congrats and Best Wishes to you both!

  • chaosvii

    No, it’s far more insidious, he makes all the unimportant civilians fade into the background. Soon, Mega-Girl will be unable to help anyone that doesn’t advance the drama, because she’ll be blind to over 99% of humanity!

    • ∫Clémens×ds

      Does it mean the grandma buying broccoli is actually the mastermind behind the supers’ abductions and it’s all clever foreshadowing? I knew it.
      Who in their right mind would buy New York market broccoli.

  • Happyroach

    He’s a boy, of course he’s evil ,dag-nabbit! He’s trying to take Alison away! Mark my words, no good will come of this! *Shakes cane in air*

    • Weatherheight

      “Giddoff my boardwalk!”

  • He may or may not be bad for her — either because he’s a villain or a player, etc. More mundanely, he may simply be incompatible with her. However, even if none of those scenarios are correct, there still may be problems:

    1) She doesn’t realise that she’s just broken Clevin’s heart.
    2) Assuming things go genuinely well between Max and Alison, I suggest Max does some reading.
    3) Come to think of it, maybe Clevin should do some as well and maybe he should read some more.

    • Rose

      I’ve never seen the True Love list before. Awesome!

      Agreeing that there may be more mundane issues to look out for rather than secret supervillainry. Hope it goes well for them!

  • Just because it looks fancy, it doesn’t mean it is fancy.

  • Or a villain, who’s seen them out and about, decides to attack Max to get at Alison. She may be physically invulnerable but the closer she gets to Max the more likely it is that someone uses him to get to her.

    • Balthazar

      I’m hoping Max dangling helpless from a shark tank.

      Masked Villain: Ah, Ms. Green. You can save yourself or your man but not both. Choose!

  • I hope that you’re wrong.

  • He doesn’t have a place — it burnt down.

    I wonder where he does live at the moment.

  • So many comments expecting a horrible twist ending after the montage completes … maybe we’ll get the double-twist that things actually work out well, save the nasty surprises for later …

  • Weatherheight

    Yeah, sorry, but I had “Patrick walking in on Clevin and Max and Ali furing this awkward moment” from that post. Walking in after the date has officially started or just as Max is going in for the kiss is FAR more Patrick’s style. 😀

  • Susan Smith

    Reminds me of looking for the cat in the “Camp Weedonwantcha” comic.

  • Chabneruk

    Evil smile cannot lie: He is Mr. Gurwara, who is secretly also a shapeshifter. And who is now out to teach Allison another lesson. *shudders*

  • Dean

    A side-hug! Evilest of all hugs!

  • chaosvii

    Even if you’re correct about any of that stuff, you’re still being paranoid.

    • Weatherheight

      To quote Doctor Johnny Fever:
      “When people actually are out to get you, paranoia is just good thinking!”

      The Senator, while intoxicated, could not explain his nudity.
      >zzzzz<
      And remember, it's genuine plastic, so don't settle for cheap imitations. 😀

    • Balthazar

      I’m only paranoid when I’m wrong. Otherwise, I’m justified.

      • chaosvii

        I’m sure you jest, but all the same, being correct is not the same as having a justified position. Anyone could be correct about a factual matter for which they have no evidence or coherent reasoning to form the basis of why they are correct about one aspect of the matter in question.

  • Weatherheight

    I see what you did there. Not at all stalky. 😀

  • Balthazar

    Maybe that’s just what he wants you to think?!

  • This whole scenario just reminds me why I hate going on dates….
    The more composed they are, the more you feel like something is expected of you D: