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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 though twelve axis, though an apple on a someone's head, and then splitting another arrow.

• Shooting an arrow through twelve axes: This feat is from The Odyssey, in which the ability is so unique to Odysseus he uses it to prove his identity. A film version of The Odyssey was released in the month before this strip and may have inspired the concept.
• Shooting an apple off a person's head: In the story of William Tell, the protagonist is forced to shoot an apple off his own son's head to prove his skill.
• 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 - technically no more difficult than splitting the first arrow (assuming identical arrows) but appearing more impressive.

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

Transcript

[Cueball aims a drawn bow-and-arrow through a line of 12 axes, over a 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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