The Doctor, Beverly and Robert Dudley defeat the ambushers. Dudley comments on Beverly’s anachronistic fencing technique and the Doctor cuts her off before she can blow her cover. Dudley finds the Doctor “oddly familiar”.
The Doctor, Beverly and Robert Dudley defeat the ambushers. Dudley comments on Beverly’s anachronistic fencing technique and the Doctor cuts her off before she can blow her cover. Dudley finds the Doctor “oddly familiar”.
They didn’t do the ‘hand in the air’ thing back in the day then? Nice to see the strip touching on the educational vein of classic ‘Who’….
yay! first to leave a comment!
lol he reconizes the doctor’s pissed off expression, now that’s hilarious when you can piss someone off THAT MUCH, that their expression, no matter what face it’s worn on, looks familiar
heheh, sorry…
Go Beverly!
Rich, you might want to correct the typo as it currently says: Dudely finds the Doctor “oddly familiar”. I somehow doubt there is anyone even today called Dudely let alone back in those days….
I’m trying to remember, and failing, wether the Doctor has been in this timeline before and why is the Doctor familiar to Dudley…..
Martin, the Doctor was in this time period in his first incarnation, and was snubbed by Dudley when trying to meet Queen Elizabeth.
Karl: Well, *you* knew who I was talking about. But I’ll fix it.
Martin: Flashback from a few pages ago.
LOL that was such an Indiana Jones style moment! *thus flourihes blade, Beverly crotch kicks him*
Actually, according to my fencing teacher (of about 15 years ago), no one should fight with their off hand in the air. It’ll eventually become tired and be distracting. Just place it on your hip. Then, it’s out of the way and won’t become a distraction.
Err… add @ refusnik1 to my comment
PS – Love the comic Rich
3 and 1’s pissed off faces are very similar. Also, I would imagine that each Doctor,whilst visually and mentally different, would give off the same aura.
And as for the 2nd panel: OUCH!!!!!!!!
Sarah: When I was being taught olympic style modern fencing (back in the ’80’s, mind you) I tried that with foil and epee fencing. I had my stance corrected. Putting your offhand on your hip is correct for sabre only, I was told, for foil and epee, keep the hand raised and back out of the way. They liked to think it was some kind of balance thing and that a lunge is assisted by the arm being thrust back. I think it’s more of an etiquette thing, the original purpose of which has largely been forgotten by modern fencers. I can’t prove that the lantern thing is true, but it sure makes more sense to me than ballast.
Rich: You are right! As a someone who has been a fencer for the past 25 years or so, (and who is currently fencing epee) your offhand is in the air is supposed to be up in the air to help your balance. But when you lunge you are supposed to extend it behind you as a conterbalance and to keep you from leaning too far forward.
I am not only amazed at your knowledge of fencing, but your attention to historical detail and your encyclopedic knowlege of all things Who! You really have a knack for capturing the look and personalities of each of the Doctors! Thanks again for all the hard work you put into these stories (10 Doctors, Forever Jannette and this one!). It is really appreciated!
This comic is always so educational
I’m a little surprised someone as …staid? not sure of the right word, as Dudley can sense the first Doctor in the third, esp considering he only saw the one as a fussy old man for an instant, that he stepped over on his way to ingratiate himself to the Queen. It took the Brig several Doctors and decades of friendship to recognize a new incarnation by sight (even then, the monsters and alien weapons honing in on him helped
). Unless this Dudley is to have some sort of psychic sense, which may have helped him in the mover and shaker arena 
, then that makes sense.
Have to wait and see…
Y’know, it doesn’t nessesarly have to be that Dudley sees One in Three; the Doctor ISa time-traveller, after all.
Very true, Cleverest Name – so … more waiting and seeing in store :p
As an SCA fencer, I have been taught that they usually had a dagger, a parrying device or used the off hand to block back in Elizabeth’s day. We also do not just move forward and back, but move around and even circle trying to find an opening. We do not, however, attack from behind as that is dangerous and unchivarous.
I’ve done a small amount of sword & dagger; also some melee, and find it much easier to have my right hand behind my back rather than aloft. When dealing with actual weaponry (as opposed to sport) though it’s trickier to balance and have force behind the blade if you stick to one position – by your side is better and allows for greater mobility.
whoviankitty:
Using your offhand to parry without a weapon is dangerous if you don’t have some kind of protection. I think we can assume that spontaneous street fighters weren’t constantly clad in chainmail gloves. Doesn’t mean that barehand parrying wasn’t done, just if you slap the sharp part of the blade instead of the flat…. Just sayin’.
Also, attacking from behind might be unchivalrous, but unless you’re answering a proper challenge to duel (illegal at best) you’re fighting to kill and survive. Remember that the rules of SCA fighting are in place to maximize both players safety (and make it possible to practice it as a sport so that the SCA insurance will cover any accidents -unless you’re Canadian, but we’ll ignore that for now-). Historic fighting tactics were less concerned with pissing off or hurting your opponent who you presumably want dead in the first place.
Rudi: Having your offhand behind your back in melee is preferred mainly because you’ve got a buddy to either side of you. You wouldn’t want to weild your dagger behind your back if you’re using both weapons in combat.
Having your offhand “aloft” as Robert Dudley puts it above, is used only in Olympic sport fencing which, I have been told (though I have no historic proof) comes from 1700’s France when people would fight in narrow alleys with lanterns held behind their heads for visibility.
Further discussion on Historic Fencing practices should be taken to the Forum. I’ll start a new thread there.
Rich: Are you in the SCA?
Duchess: We used to be. We were very heavily involved in Dragon Dormant, but dropped out after we moved to a different group and found the politics (internal and external) and attitudes not to our liking. It’s been about two and a half years since we’ve played.
Ah, It happens too often! I play in Drachenwald, principality of Nordmark.
All this chatter about swordfighting is interesting, but after a three-day absence from websurfing, it’s just fun to watch a good old-fashioned action scene.
And Beverly’s tribute to Tchiakovsky in panel two is awesome.
@Mitchell Craig – “Tribute to Tchaikovsky” is the oddest euphamism I’ve ever heard for that particular move. I think I like it. What is its source?
Ah, Panel 2. One of the advantages of being a woman in a fight is that we have no remorse on using that tactic.
Beverly hadn’t realized she’s posing as a man? Us 20th and 21st century girls don’t know what we have. Wow
Spanish tutor? Funny… sword-fight with a sword in one hand and a long dagger in the other one is called “Spanish style”.
Oops sorry. I read the remark about sword-comments too late. My apologies.
She knew, but didnt seem to see the need to keep it up in front of Dudley – she’s historically fascinated by him … and I’m not sure she doesnt have a mild case of semi-hero worship, seeing him as romantically wronged by society in the future. The Doctor, not having a high opinion of Dudley at all, wouldnt trust him with a socially disastrous secret for her even if Beverly did just help save his life.
Oops – Maki P, my comment above was reply to yours, my opinion on Beverly’s reasoning, but I forget to label it so
Animate Mush – no doubt, Mitchell Craig is referring to Tchiakovsky’s most famous composition, performed every year around the holidays… though rarely with such brevity and panache.
The second panel – Nice one Beverly! haha!
And someone has Doctor deja vu…
I was beginning to fall in love with Beverly,but watching her kick that poor slob in the gnads…….the emotion is closer to fear now
Always loved The Doctor’s hard stare, no matter what Incarnate he’s in, it’s always unforgettable.
*Cheer* Way to go, Bev! When in doubt…fight dirty. XD
I *LOVE* Panel 6. So LotR: RotK. “I am no man!” *Stab* Well, minus the stab, of course.
Great work, as ever, Rich!
~CoZ
Well, we have finally learned how to keep the fencers happy with historical accuracy in action scenes — have a fencer produce the story.
Well, now that we’ve found Dudley and he’s survived, I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Swords! Bah! A medium sized shoggoth would have eaten half of London by the time they got done sword fighting. Primatives!
Bow before Cathulu!
@nightfly – ah, light dawns. Well, now I do feel silly. Thanks!
@CoZ – in a roundabout way, Eowyn’s “No living man am I – you behold a woman!” was inspired by precisely this kind of thing. Tolkien was always annoyed that “no man of woman born” didn’t end up meaning that Macbeth would be killed by a woman. (He was also annoyed that Birnam wood wasn’t just made up of walking trees – hence, Ents).
Animate Mush – you have repaid the favor. I had never noticed a connection with Eowyn and the Ents to MacBeth, but that makes a whole lot of sense.
Nightfly – thank you for recognizing my reference to (ahem) “The Nutcracker”.
@ Animate Mush:
I love LotR and am currently reading Macbeth-But I haven’t reached that part yet. That is so cool, and nothing I had ever heard before. So now when we read that bit in English I’ll have to blurt that out.
~CoZ
I have been readin yafgc for quite some time. I just discovered these little jewels in the back! You rock
Ron – if you’re in the mood for treasure hunting, you should really check out The 10 Doctors, an epic adventure Rich took us on for 2 yrs- the first of his online Doctor Who stories
(you can also download the whole thing in the download section, if you like)
Oh – and I’ve been saving the line: “I guess that mashed his turnips!”
Ron: Thank you and welcome to the Comix Blog!
M’reen: Pshaw.
nightfly: Good one! Haha!
LOVE The Guys expression in the second panel. Ouch!