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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 a protagonist to demonstrate their skill by performing an incredible feat of archery, such as shooting an apple off a person's head, or splitting an arrow already on the target.

Here, Randall posits a new protagonist that he has created, and wants to demonstrate that this protagonist is better at archery than other fictional protagonists, and to do so the protagonist is performing many famous archery feats strung together in a deliberately-ridiculous chain. This comic references three popular examples:

• Shooting an arrow through twelve axe shafts: This was done by Odysseus in the c. 750–700 BCE epic poem The Odyssey to prove his identity. He was also the only person strong enough to string his bow. The line of axes was included in the 2026 movie The Odyssey (2026 film), which was released in the month before this comic and perhaps inspired Randall to make the comic
• Shooting an apple off a person's head: In the story of William Tell , the protagonist is required to shoot an apple on his own son's head as test.
• Splitting an arrow already on the target: This is a popular trick in stories involving archery competitions, originating from the legend of Robin Hood.

The alt-text may refer to Mark Twain's critique of James Fenimore Cooper.

Transcript

[Cueball aims a drawn bow through a line of 12 axes, over a boy with an apple on his head, and at a target where an arrow has been split by two bullseyes.]

[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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