Java 418
Java and Matt may be powerless to do anything about Morebucks Coffee’s insidious assault. But the Devil in a Black Mask and Living Target will get to the bottom of this!
Yes, I’ve talked a few times about how Barista Matt and the entire Java Jaguar storyline is a prequel to Kickman and the origin story of Generic Kung-Fu Superhero Sidekick. But what if all of that was a misdirect, and this is actually the origin story of Living Target? I’m sure you all remember that Living Target was also a hero from the pages of Kickman. Right? Right? Anyone? Bueller?
Okay, I went back and had a look. Living Target appears in 2 panels somewhere in the last 30 chapters of Kickman. 5 Kick Points to anyone who finds one of the panels. You are only allowed to collect 5 points though! So let’s see if two people have the tenacity and/or eidetic memory to claim 5 Kick Points.
Hmm…. that’s a lot of Kickman talk in this here Java Jaguar strip. Morebucks is encroaching on their customers and now Kickman is trying to siphon away some of their fan base. This is definitely a multi-front war brewing in the coffee shop.
I’d better insert some Java news here. Here’s some excitement from last week in a little segment I’ll call:
JAVA GOES TO HOLLYWOOD
About this time last week I was finishing up a 3-dog sit in Pasadena. I think that was probably the closest I have been to the famous Hollywood sign, so after I said goodbye to my doggie wards, I drove over to the Griffith Park observatory and hiked about 1.5 miles uphill on the hottest day of August for this photo op. The return trip was much longer than that, because I made a wrong turn trying to get back to my parking lot.
Also, at one fork Java and I took the high road that goes behind the sign, because I was hoping we’d be able to get right next to the letters and I could prop him up on the back of the H. But that part was all fenced off and far away and not great for taking photos. So we had to circle back to the regular tourist spot. We were actually much closer than it looks in the photo. I probably could have thrown a ball and hit it if not for that torn rotator cuff injury… um, twenty years ago.
All in all, it was about a 5-mile hike–uphill most of the way somehow. But, hey, photo op.
It’d be easier to prove you’re right if linking to a specific page was an option on the Kickman site.
Oh… I didn’t realize that was an issue. When I go to the site in Firefox the URL reflects individual pages, but that might only be because I’m logged in to my WordPress account. When I browse in Edge, yeah it always shows the same URL. Just call out the Chapter and page number.
Since no=one else went for this I figured I would. Internship #13 in the Battle Royale scene has a guy with targets on him though they look different to Matt’s here.
He’s also one of the guys buying drinks for Sticky Buns and Blush on page 12 of Hero Mixer.