Apocalypse Now!?
Well, that tatted up guy at the bottom of the page certainly thinks so. In the script we called him the DOOMSAYER, and he lives up to that name on this page, for sure. You get the feeling that he’s been standing next to the King FOR YEARS just waiting for the opportunity to blurt out this prophecy and totally ruin everyone’s day.
Oh, and if anybody out there was wondering if the Daredevils were just going to be moping around on shore leave for this entire story, this page should definitively put those predictions to rest. An active volcano…a dire prophecy…and FIERY DOOM? Sounds like a job for the DEEP DIVE DAREDEVILS!
(To be fair, though, there is still a bit of moping in store – SAD STUFF totally happened and it has taken its toll– but from here on out it will be in service to the plot.)
Be here NEXT WEEK to see just what Doc, The Chaplain, and the King all think about the volcano going BOOM and that prophecy of DOOM. And, is it possible there is more going on than meets the eye? Find out in just 7 days, when a page rife with conflicting philosophies hit the blotter!
(Jeez…”conflicting philosophies”, huh? Exciting stuff. What is this a tease for a term paper? Oh, hush you! It’ll make sense once you read the page.)
OK, so now I’m arguing with myself in the blog. The pressure is getting to me, I think. You can help lighten the mood by signing up for the MAILING LIST (located under the radio tower on the top of the left side bar). Ya see, every time someone signs up for the mailing list an angel gets its wings, the new subscriber get EXCLUSIVE DDD content sent direct to their inbox every Friday, and ol’ Uncle Matty gets a big old smile on his face. It’s a win, win WIN situation for everybody, so sign up NOW!
Anyways, till next week!
-Matt-
That’s easy for you to say, pal!
Doomsayer is his name, and saying DOOM is his game!
No earthquake associated with the explosion suggests that the “eruption” is a fake.
Diesel fuel from the underground storage bunker sprayed into the extinct volcano’s main chamber to make a fuel-air explosion, with the characteristic double shock wave (BaBoom), spray of fuel to produce a smokey fire channeled by the old volcanic vent as a chimney.
Volcanic gases tend to be white to light gray, dark gray if full of volcanic ash, not black like burning diesel. And ash clouds have a very distinct appearance not seen here.
Someone’s trying to pull a con here.
I have to ask; precisely what underground storage bunker could you be referring to; none have been shown as existing yet. Two, a double chamber collapse under pressure could create that sound but then this is a comic, “baboom” is used frequently for extra impact as a sound effect. As a side note, as I recall diesel is not the fuel of choice for detonations, it’s lack of reactivity is the main issue. In an engine it so much so that it requires compression to combust evenly. Also, in the case of the smoke, could is color be artist’s preference given the colors of the layout? consider, dark clouds in that lay out might obscure the sound effect, not work with the sky or for that matter make the brown-green volcano look off-color.
Can’t really say much here because SPOILERS…
However, don’t read anything into the color of the smoke coming out of the volcano. In the script we specifically asked for black smoke because in visual shorthand black smoke “reads” as BAD. White smoke does not, regardless of the mechanics of real-life volcano smoke.
Replying to tkg:
That vine covered piece of machinery in the foreground a few weeks ago had pipes going to something underground, a fuel bunker is logical for resupplying a submarine.
Agreed, the sound effect could be a comic cliche’.
Diesel fuel is THE fuel of choice for ANFO (ammonium nitrate fuel oil) explosives.
Diesel engines use compression to autoignite the fuel/air mixture without the need for a spark plug or glow plug, eliminating the need for distributors, spark coils, adjustable timing and other complexities of gasoline engines. Diesel works just fine for fuel/air explosions, at concentrations of 0.6% to 7.5% in air between 0 and 40 C. A spark or open flame is needed to initiate the detonation/deflagration. (For gasoline, the numbers are 1.4% to 7.6%.)
ThreeFiveOne addressed the smoke issue.
I’m a trained powderman (explosives expert) and spent most of my professional career in the petroleum industry, with over 10 years doing R&D on fuels and stuff that goes BOOM.
I’ll say it once again…we have the best, most knowledgable commenters in all of webcomicdom.
Note to self: Make sure to do A LOT of research on explosives the next time we blow something up
Did s-somebody say B-B-BOOM?!
In reply to David:
I have to disagree with you about the machinery seen in the lower right corner of the page posted on the 22nd of June. The machinery you are referring to has a pipe coming out of it but since we cannot actually see where either pipe terminates because of the page layout the guess of a fuel bunker is a guess. The art could also suggest the pipe has a 90 degree elbow just off panel or a number of options possible there. Also the lack of fueling equipment on the same page as pictured indicates that it is not likely to be a fuel pump. In order to fuel a vessel with diesel there are certain things that need to be present, none of them are. Honestly I’d bet that the machinery is probably part of a desalination system. Also, I don’t believe at any point it’s been said in the comic or otherwise what’s used to fuel the Custer. I can’t recall the ship emitting smoke when surfaced from exhaust but we do know it has a SEA drive, So my bet is in hydrogen peroxide, LOX or nuclear means but not diesel given the ships performance profile as seen. Diesel is highly unlikely given the size of the ship versus its apparent range of operations and verified dive depth as noted in the last chapter.
The machinery being a fuel pump is, of course, just a guess on my part.
But the machinery was suggested to be a “Chekov’s gun”.
The Custer must have a very advanced energy storage system, be it batteries or some unknown system, which would need to recharged.
Nuclear is a possibility, but would require that it was developed years before Chicago Pile-1 (late 1942).
Diesel was, and still is, along with bunker oil, the best mobile power source.
The Custer’s range of operation merely requires that there be refueling points around the world, which existed at the time.
Diesel submarines use double mufflers, with the second being a wet system that passed the exhaust through a spray of water, both to reduce the noise and to render the exhaust smokeless in normal operations to prevent the submarine being detected.
Hydrogen peroxide or LOX systems have more energy than diesel fuel, but are both MUCH harder to obtain, especially in the regions the Custer operates.
As to the other refueling equipment, primarily hoses, they may simply not be visible in the panel.
I’ll be happy to be shown correct, and equally happy to be wildly incorrect.
If someone else gets to make another big BOOM without Twitchy, he is going to be MAD!
Oh, nice Tattoos, on that Doom Sayer!
The Doomsayer’s tattoos are actually a sly reference to a sci-fi classic…
Anyone care to guess.
The King will hear none of this doomsayer’s nonsense. Why, the economy is up and his constituents are happy!
Hey Joseph, couldn’t reply until now because you were dead on and I didn’t want to spoil the next page.
Turn the page and you will see that The King, indeed, had none of the Doomsayer’s nonsense. Good call!