You asked for him, you got–well, his return was already planned for this moment. The last time we saw Swifty was in “Bubbles of Light 0.” An important SF strip if there ever was one. The Bubbles of Light, in case you don’t already know, are always a sure sign of time travel. Swifty has been going back and forth in the time stream for a while now (we first met his future self right here–a future self who is now a past self for the Swifty we see in today’s strip). I know this time travel business can get confusing, but all you really need to know is Swifty’s been gone a while and now he’s back.
Anybody else miss him?
On a special side note, I think this is one of the most gorgeous strips Marc has drawn so far. He really spared no detail rendering the cemetery. I think somebody has watched A LOT of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Oh, and one more thing–if you’d like to read more about the Bubbles of Light and see all of time traveling Swifty’s past appearances, be sure and click on the Bubbles of Light tag below. The tags are great resources for exploring particular characters or subjects. Just a tip from me to you.
1) YAY, our favorite cantankerous speedster is back! 2) He died/disappeared in 2007? So the comic has just gotten back up to real time? 3) I wonder if he’s done time travelling now.
I’ll respond to number 2.
SF launched in 2006. Late 2006. By my reckoning, all of the events through Chapter 17 took about a year. That means after making the year jump that still only puts us in… late 2008. Necessary evil of a twice-weekly comic strip. It just can’t run in real time.
A teeny tiny flap, and it sends out ripples. In Time. In Space. At the right moment. In the right place. Triumph becomes tragedy. All stemming from something obviously…Harmless.
Hmm…
Mia maybe, but a dead Swifty is impossible to determine. Plus, I do wonder what’s going to happen to Swifty now that everyone knows the truth about Jerry being evil and whether or not he knows about the current alien invasion ?
Easy way to find out–To the archives! Searching tag>Bubbles of light!
I’ll be back in a bit with the answer to that fine question, dear reader.
The timeline of time-travelling Swifty:
The start of his time travelling (or, so we assume); he finds out Jerry is the Third Man. So Jerry tries to kill him:
http://superfogeys.com/2013/06/24/bubbles-of-light-0/
http://superfogeys.com/2007/03/04/107-bubbles-of-light-1/
At Herman’s funeral:
http://superfogeys.com/2008/11/25/182-someone-steps-forward-bubbles-of-light-3/
Also, this happened somewhere in his timeline, prior to the next set of links: http://superfogeys.com/2008/08/28/158-bubbles-of-light-2/
In Las Vegas, he quickly took Matt back to the 50’s in a double-jump:
http://superfogeys.com/2011/10/17/355-bubbles-of-light-6/
http://superfogeys.com/2009/06/25/213-bubbles-of-light-4/
http://superfogeys.com/2009/05/12/sf-origins-the-society-of-heroes-pg-13-what-are-you-doing-here/
THIS IS WHERE HE TAKES OFF HIS MASK; he hasn’t yet seen his own gravestone: http://superfogeys.com/2009/05/19/sf-origins-the-society-of-heroes-pg-14-save-him-dirtlicker/
http://superfogeys.com/2009/05/26/sf-origins-the-society-of-heroes-pg-15-dude/
http://superfogeys.com/2009/06/23/sf-origins-the-society-of-heroes-pg-19-did-you-save-him/
http://superfogeys.com/2009/06/30/sf-origins-the-society-of-heroes-pg-20-he-was-a-noncombatant/
http://superfogeys.com/2009/07/07/sf-origins-the-society-of-heroes-pg-21-sayonara-sucker/
Trying to warn SpyGal of Tom’s “death”:
http://superfogeys.com/2009/08/06/219-bubbles-of-light-5/
http://superfogeys.com/2010/08/17/sf-origins-baby-swiftys-first-words-pg-1-back-to-start/
Trying to warn himself about Jerry:
http://superfogeys.com/2010/08/23/sf-origins-baby-swiftys-first-words-pg-2-preposterous/
http://superfogeys.com/2010/10/28/282-mucking-with-space-and-time/
He goes back to…someplace, after his visit with younger swifty:
http://superfogeys.com/2011/04/20/309-time-travelin-scamps/
http://superfogeys.com/2012/02/27/390-bubbles-of-light-7/
http://superfogeys.com/2013/02/25/483-bubbles-of-light-8/
Answer: I have no idea. But more likely than not, what we’re seeing now; Swifty’s grave, is something that time-travelling swifty has seen, prior to when he had warned baby-swifty of Jerry. Because by the time he spoke to baby-swifty, he was already aware that he had begun to be time-travelling; unless he had something else to corroborate it, he wouldn’t believe that Jerry actually did manage to kill him on that day he found out Jerry was the third man.
To answer the question of whether he knows about the invasion? Well, that has yet to be seen–We all know that non-time-travelling swifty is aware of the alien invasion (since he’s the one what sent CSII’s team to their deaths)…But time-travelling swifty has no currently-known reason to be aware of the invasion.
Oops sorry, there was no need for that long response…Yes, time-travelling swifty is definitely aware of the alien invasion. What we don’t know, is whether he’s aware yet of how it ended (other than having possibly ended with his death–or maybe he’s just been bouncing around without returning to a stable point in time, long enough that everyone assumed him to be dead when they couldn’t find him anywhere).
On the other hand thank you, it was nice to see them all in “chronological” order š
Nice work, King G! I believe that’s more or less accurate. One day I’ll release an official list. There’s still one moment of Swifty’s time traveling I’ve never gotten to. It’s minor, but it’s missing.
That’s what happens when you go in after sunset.
Always obey the rules, people. Always.
Mindblown. My guess is that Star Maiden got him, that would be very Shakespeare like. (did this happened in the Battle of Fresno? I want a flashback of that battle!)
I’m pretty sure that the headstone is because everyone assumed he’d been killed by Jerry (if Jerry had come clean about their encounter) – or that he’d simply been lost in the chaos of the invasion. That said, it’s always possible that Jerry may have more time travel in store for him.
One of you is right. And you won’t have to wait long to find out.
I think this is one cool strip to hook up people to read the comic. š
It’s beautiful, that’s for sure. I don’t know what new readers would make of it, but I hope you’re right!
Buh wha?! Ć“,0
Lots more Swifty to come in the next little while.
Swifty! Don’t blink!
You spotted it! Congrats! I do believe you’re the first.
Ooh…good catch! Oh dear! As if he hasn’t had enough time travel trouble! *lol*
[…] First Prev In Chapter […]
[…] awhile since he was in the same time and dimension as the other Fogeys, believe it or not. He only briefly returned after the one year time jump, but then shuttled off to Earth-Avalon almost immediately. He was great fun over there, but […]