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Archery Feat

|< < Prev #3288 (August 21, 2026)

Title text: Update: I would not have embarked on this powerscaling venture if I'd known how thoroughly Mark Twain was going to roast me.

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Explanation

It is a common trope in fiction, especially historical or fantasy genres, for protagonists to be skilled archers. Sometimes this is demonstrated by incredible feat of archery, which may be merely difficult or nearly impossible.

Here, Randall posits a new protagonist that he has created, and decides to create a super-feat of archery by combining three famous feats from fiction. This feat will evidently involve firing an arrow through twelve axes, through an apple on a someone's head, and then splitting an arrow that has already split another arrow.

• Shooting an arrow through twelve axes: This feat is from the Odyssey, in which the ability is unique to Odysseus, and so distinctive that he uses it to prove his identity. The 2026 film adaptation of The Odyssey was released in the month before this strip and may have inspired this instance of the concept. Interpretations of the original arrangement vary. The axe heads are popularly known to be in a straight line, with one end of each axe buried in a trench to keep them upright. (How this comic, as with other common portrayals, have depicted the scenario. Though alternate configurations have been suggested.)
• Shooting an apple off a person's head: In the story of William Tell and other Germanic tales before it, the protagonist is forced to shoot an apple off his own son's head as punishment for disrespecting a bailiff or other ruler. While placing fewer restrictions on the path, angle, or force of the arrow, this feat required the target to be at a considerable distance, with a significant chance of hurting the son if the arrow flew low. Depending on the version, the son and possibly the archer may be executed if the arrow misses the apple. The challenge is thus especially stressful, and relies on the steadiness and cooperation of the person balancing the apple. To match the feat, Randall's protagonist should be under similar pressure. It is unclear whether the planned plot involves an assassination or rebellion against the tyrant administering the challenge, as many of the original stories do.
• Splitting an arrow already on the target: This is a popular trick in stories involving archery competitions, most famously in the legend of Robin Hood. Randall's protagonist apparently intends to split an arrow which has already split the original arrow. There are three ways that this situation could arise without rearranging the equipment. 1. Most impressively, the protagonist fired both previous arrows (performing the super-feat three times in a row). 2. The protagonist fired the first arrow and a competitor fired the second. 3. Two competitors each fired one of the previous arrows (least likely because it suggests two competitors with skill approaching the protagonist's, and because success at splitting the second arrow is not much more impressive than splitting the first).

The title text refers to power scaling (a trope in various fandoms where the characters' power levels are compared with each other based on what feats they can perform), as well as Mark Twain's highly satirical essay Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses. Twain roasts Cooper for having three marksmen shoot bullets though the same bullet hole in The Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea.

Transcript

[Cueball aims a drawn bow-and-arrow through a line of 12 axes, over a seated Hairy-like boy with an apple on his head, and at a target where an arrow in the bullseye has been split by another, later-arriving arrow.]

[Caption below the panel:]

I want to prove that my new protagonist is a better shot than all those other protagonists.

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