BP #40

[KIP LEWIS]

Why haven't the Skrulls shapechanged? I would guess that BP had a vibranium enhanced/based quantum atomic inhibitor piggy backing on the disruptor that destroyed the Skrullsm armory.This atomic inhibitor denied the Skrulls their shapechanging power before they could even land on Wakandan soil.That's a typically BP thing to do.

I had a thought along a similiar line and have no problem with the idea, except for one thing--if that's what happened, someone should tell us that!!!  I miss the good old days of captions when that kind of information would have been included.

[supreme illuminati]

^^^^ Yeah I feel that...but I'm hoping for a explanatory reveal in the last ish or so.When BP might be explaining some of the more subtle and slick aspects of his preplanning and stuff.

[Hypestyle]

hmm... who knows.. since the Waks have intel on Skrulls (from their own gathering and i'm sure shared info from the FF) perhaps there was some type of Wakandan unleashed nerve-attacking weapon (energy burst) that retards the skrulls ability to shift temporarily... a few hours?  whoops, I see somebody already pointed that out-- silly me.. 

Also, the super-fighter skrull seemed to lack shape shifting along with his other improvements-- or perhaps he sacrificed one for the other.. same for the Asgardian-skrull and the Powerhouse-Skrull..

anybody notice any women skrull soldiers?  just wondering..

...I'm sure that Ororo has had a knife to her throat before.. we'll see what fun happens next issue.. (her capture- part of the plan?)

[Naki]

In reference to the lack of shapeshifting I believe someone mentioned that in this issue the two Skrulls who weren't discovered transformed back to their original form, ie. nothing is preventing them from transforming other than the author.  Aaron has probably limited their shapeshifting in order to promote a more entertaining fight between the Skrulls and the Wakandans.  There is no way in hell the Wakandans could touch them if they transformed into some seriously deadly creature.  Seeing how Aaron hasn't given the Wakandans any real fighting skills, like some of us hoped, he had to decrease the power of the Skrulls to make them a bit more evenly matched.

[Seven]

I think it was done, also to do justice to BP (Wakandans dieing, Wakandans are badass, but BP is way above that)... and it was also the only way that we can see BP as the spiritual leader of his people and him praying to warriors that died.

[supreme illuminati]

i think aaron has already foreshadowed the answer to the skrull shapeshifting thing when he had commander kvvr and his forces get greeted by beheaded skrull spies. the wakandans uncovered the skrulls when under their deepest cover. the wakandans are plenty slick enough to deprive their opponents of their greatest asset--shape shifting--before they even know what's happening,once they'd been uncovered. remember,the skrulls came to wakanda under the false belief that wakanda was unprepared and the skrull agents have already compromised wakanda's defenses.the invasion fleet probably came at the signal of whom they mistakenly thought were their skrull spies,and they walked into a trap.The Skrulls shall learn to their chagrin how multilayered said trap is

[Wise Son]

I just wanted to point out - Storm is right next to the Skrull commander, and all the remaining Skrull agents have revealed themselves, while the Wakandan troops have all left the field of battle. How could this not be part of BP's plan?

Also, I noticed the use of captions to show what was going through T'Challa's mind while he was fighting, and how it completely negates the fact that the images show him getting his arse kicked for most of the issue - he's genuinely holding back to work out the best strategy. By only using the captions to elaborate on the immediate action, it makes BP's strategic strengths look even stronger, without spoiling any details of his grand plan - which serves to build up the anticipation of the master plan.

I do think it's a tool that could be used by Reggie. After all, Priest got around it by having Ross's retroactive dialogue in the captions ("What I didn't know at the time was that T'Challa was really doing so and so...."). I think, for instance, the Kilmonger fight could have been enhanced if you had T'Challa's internal monologue talking about how he wasn't fighting all out, just actually trying to keep the fight going long enough to win the real battle (freeing Monika and taking down Kilmonger's monkey-enhanced tech). That way, monika's revenge attack on Kilmonger would have still served as a great twist, being a wrench thrown into T'Challa's plans.

[supreme illuminati]

I agree with arything WS posted,except that I don't think that BP was getting his arse kicked even while he was out-strategizing the H2H Skrull.

[Wise Son]

I agree with arything WS posted,except that I don't think that BP was getting his arse kicked even while he was out-strategizing the H2H Skrull.

Good point. Steroid Lad got a few punches in, that was all. BP didn't actually let him get his hands on him until he'd worked out the Skrull's tells, and 1 second later, he'd snapped his arm nearly off.

[supreme illuminati]

Steroid Lad! LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!! STEROID! LAD!! Sounds like Bane's son.

[stormyrider]

There is definitely a plan going on here.Storm could have sent down a bolt of lightning or a huge gust of wind to get away from her captor,but I think the King & Queen had planned for something like this in advance.Lose a small battle,but win the big war

[Naki]

Well, the good thing is that in just 2 weeks the speculation will all be over and we can see which of our theories played out in the book.  The unfortunate thing is that in just 2 weeks we will read the last of the BP issues until next year.  Here's hoping that the Storm mini will be a worthy replacement for the next 4 months.

[supreme illuminati]

^^^Beautifully summed up,Naki

[moor]

The skrulls MUST have a dossier on Storm, though.  I'm assuming they know what she's capable of.

And, I don't know if I'd call any of the Wakandans "average" fighters.  Let's not forget these are conscripted folk fighting, and holding their own with the Skrulls - who have what, 3 castes: warrior, priest, and scientist that I've seen?

[supreme illuminati]

None of the Wakandans are "average" fighters; by the very nature of their culture ans unique heritage,they are superior to the average human due to eugenics,superior diet,superior science,demanding daily physical regimen and superior mandatory combat training integrated into the daily fabric of every Wakandan (think of the literally hundreds of millions of Chinese in China practicing tai chi or some form of martial arts daily.Not quite 10-20% of their nation practices daily.100% of the Wakandana do and they so it with an intensity equal to Chinese practice of martial arts x 100 because nobody's gonna invade China; whereas invasion of Wakanda is a fact of life).Holding off an invading force of aliens whom outnimber you 3,4,or 5 to 1 is a mooore than impressive feat.