PTC 27-06-19 A special bond

[Giz]

New comic is up! http://www.ma3comic.com/strips-ma3/a-special-bond/

[Dragon Paladin]

And now we can add racist to Aaron’s list of oh-so-quirky-and-charming qualities.

[OllieOrOlly]

Now, Aaron is low-key racist. He gets better and better!!! On a serious note, I don't think Aaron is really meant to be a *real* racist, more like he is ignorant as an insulated child would be; similar to his sexism and homophobia... Still doesn't quite excuse them, though.

I appreciated that earlier Zadie had eased back in her clumsy flirtations at Felix, but she has gone back to coming on too strong to the point that it's annoying. Aaron's delusional beliefs that he and Zadie have something when they clearly do not is pretty close to Zadie's approach to Felix - a superficial attraction that is fuelled by a delusion that the other person just *has* to be into them; except, Aaron is clearly meant to be seen as a buffoon, but Zadie isn't portrayed as anything worse than perhaps bordering on desperate. Guess an arc has to start somewhere, yet usually an endearing trait would be provided first...

To end on a positive, the art is really good. Yes, goes without saying, but I needed a positive!

[Spidrift]

Stupid and obnoxious though Aaron is, I'm not reading "racist" into this strip. Sure, he acknowledges Felix's ethnicity by the "Wakandan" line, but he doesn't hold that against the guy or treat it as a sign of Felix's inferiority. Heck, he implicitly acknowledges that black people can look hot, and has previously commented favourably on Felix's drawing skills. He's only hostile to Felix insofar as Felix seems to be competition for Zadie.

He's only racist if even mentioning someone's ethnicity in passing is racist -- in which case, I guess that the Black Panther movie was racist...

Anyhow, the strip is going round in circles with Aaron's annoying idiocy and Zadie's annoying fixation. But I guess it sets up an excuse for having Felix appear regularly in the comic, so it advances the plot one tick. But sheesh, Zadie's body language and expressions are irritating.

[samtheman]

I agree with Spidrift in that I'm not seeing racism regarding Aaron's thoughts either. He's just being a jealous idiot.

And I wish this scene would end already but if it must continue please have Ruby make an appearance.

[Lokitsu]

What's making this scene drag even worse is that every strip has ended with basically the same punchline for weeks now. We get it already: Zadie is hot for Felix, Aaron is a horny jackass and Ramona is flattered by attention from the hottie. It's gotten very repetitive.

[RemoWilliams]

Is it too early for a Gary cameo?

On one hand, I feel that it is.

On the other hand, it would be a great object lesson for the Doofus.

"See that guy? He's a geek too. And, he got his shit together. Now, he has a stable relationship with a hot girlfriend and a solid career."

Then, when the stammering Doofus asks for details, he gets told that the career came from hard work and that the hot girlfriend came from actually talking to women as people.

(Granted, this eliminates a lot of twists and turns and Gary-esque screw-ups. But, the Doofus doesn't need to hear about that.)

It would give him something to strive for. And, hopefully, be a wake-up call before somebody punches him in the face.

--Remo Williams,
The Master of Sinanju.

[Spidrift]

Actually, the career came from getting caught in the middle of a fight between two models and geeking out for one of them, and the hot girlfriend came from letting himself be used as a fucktoy in a weird foursome scene... Gary really isn’t a useful role model. And Aaron knows him already, and probably knows his rep.

I suspect the better lesson to take from Gary is “If he can, anyone can”. Which I further suspect may be the lesson that Jung took. And Aaron may also be taking it. But Jung worked out a good answer to the follow-up question (“How?”), whereas Aaron is getting it all wrong

[Azrael]

Oy vey, what a putz.

[brasca]

I agree with Spidrift in that I'm not seeing racism regarding Aaron's thoughts either. He's just being a jealous idiot.

And I wish this scene would end already but if it must continue please have Ruby make an appearance.

Well Jung is back so we have at least one adult in the room.

[Error of Logic]

Heh. Okay, watching Aaron's deluded certainties erode is pretty amusing. ^_^

I also like the phrase "Hot enough to look Wakandan".

[Spidrift]

Well Jung is back so we have at least one adult in the room.

DON’T SAY THAT!!!

I have this terrible feeling that any moment now, it’ll be Jung’s turn with the idiot ball.

[LegendaryKroc]

*groan* Mother of God, they just keep doing the same thing over and over. The setting and/or characters may change from comic to comic, but the dumb decisions remain the same. I've heard broken records that didn't repeat themselves this much.

[sparky]

Any chance that the obsessed stalker kid can get hit by a bus when he is crossing the street to go home? Please? Pretty please? He's icky but I'm also beyond bored with this so far.

[Cresset]

So now he's racist for having an internal monologue about how Alex is handsome enough to be an action movie hero and seeing him as a dangerous rival (high praise considering Aaron's opinion of himself). Aaron just can't win, lol.