Sunday, April 6, 2008

A New Ipp Strip!

Hey this is neat - I'm posting this straight from my Flickr gallery! Anyway, here's the latest Ipp Strip which involves a stubborn candy wrapper. Click on it to see it full size!

Cell "Dragon Ball"

Cell is a fictional graphic novel supervillain from the Dragon Ball universe created by Akira Toriyama as an antagonist character
Series creator Akira Toriyama went through many different drawings before settling on the design he used in the Dragon Ball manga. Cell's appearance varies depending on which form he is in. He evolved from a cocoon-like form and his first form is insect-like in appearance. Both Cell's first and second forms have a tail that ends in a stinger-like appendage and allows him to absorb other organisms. His final form has a tail, albeit it is unclear whether it is able to absorb organisms, all forms have spots.

Cell is the ultimate creation of a fictional scientist named Dr. Gero, cloned from the cells of several characters from the series. As a result of the cloning, he is labeled the "perfect warrior", possessing genetic traits from Dragon Ball characters such as Piccolo and Freeza. Cell's existence is first hinted at when Future Trunks, Son Gohan and Bulma discover Cell's shed skin. He is first seen when confronted by Piccolo, who learns of the creature's history, as well his goal of absorbing #17 and #18.

After absorbing a sufficient amount of beings, Cell then found #17 and #18 and nearly absorbed #17, if not for #16 who was able to fight Cell one on one. He eventually manages to absorb #17 and changes into his second form. This second form would have absorbed #18 as well if Tenshinhan did not intervene. Tenshinhan is able to stall him long enough for #18 and #16 to escape. Cell gives chase to the two artificial humans and tries to flush them out of an island they were hiding in until Vegeta arrives to challenge Cell.Vegeta easily defeats Cell by utilizing his new Super Saiyan 2nd Grade abilities. However, Vegeta, wanting to battle a more challenging opponent, assisted Cell in absorbing #18. In this new form Cell easily defeats Vegeta and Trunks (who comes to assist Vegeta). Instead of killing the pair, Cell abandons the battle and announces that he would revive the Tenkaichi Budokai, a martial arts tournament not held since the end of Dragon Ball.

Called the "Cell Games" the tournament would pit any fighters Earth could muster against Cell. Many of Earth's heroes enter the competition. The so called "World Champion Martial Artist" Mr. Satan is the first to fight Cell and the first to lose. The series protagonist, Son Goku, battles after Mr. Satan. Though he had become very powerful from training in the Room of Spirit and Time, Goku is not powerful enough to defeat Cell. However, Goku's child, Gohan, is thought to have latent abilities greater than that of Cell's. However, Gohan looks to have no chance at defeating Cell until Cell destroys #16, filling Gohan with rage that transforms him into a Super Saiyan 2. Instead of losing gracefully, Cell decided to blow himself up, a feature that many of Doctor Gero's creations possessed. Before Cell could kill himself, Goku uses his ability to teleport to transport Cell and himself to the planet of the North Kaio, saving Earth but killing Goku. However, Cell was able to regenerate and teleport back to Earth, and upon arrival killed Future Trunks. Gohan manages to destroy Cell with a Kamehameha that obliterates the tyrant completely.

Cell also appears in Hell during filler episodes of Dragon Ball Z and makes a few appearances in Dragon Ball GT.


RAVE or Groove Adventure RAVE, known in the USA as Rave Master, is an anime and manga series by Hiro Mashima.

It all begins in the year 0015 when a force known as the "mother" Dark Bring, Sinclaire, threatened the world. Sinclaire had the power to create more dark brings, which were evil stones that bestowed incredible powers on the bearer. The Kingdom of Leagroove used these dark brings to conquer neighbouring nations, until only one nation stood in its way, the Kingdom of Symphonia. In an attempt to stop the Kingdom of Leagroove, Holy Bring, or RAVE as it came to be known as later, was created to defeat the Dark Brings. Rave could only be wielded by the Rave Master, who was Shiba at the time.

Shiba, the first Rave Master, attempted to destroy Sinclaire with his sword, the Ten Commandments. The resulting explosion, known as "Overdrive", destroyed one-tenth of the known world. However, in truth, it destroyed much less than that because most of the world had yet to be explored.

The "Holy Bring" or "RAVE", was named after its creator, Resha Valentine, using the first and last letters of her first and last name. Resha Valentine created Rave using the incredible power within her, known as Etherion. Rave was used to power the ultimate form of The Ten Commandments, but it was shattered in the Overdrive, breaking Rave into five pieces. Shiba was able to hold onto the piece that was required to power the sword, but the remaining pieces were scattered across the world. In the end, Shiba was unable to destroy Sinclaire, but it too was broken into five pieces by the Overdrive.

Fifty years later, Haru Glory, a teenager living on the peaceful Garage Island discovers a strange creature with a small white body, and a huge drill-like nose while fishing. He names it "Shabutaro" at first until he encounters a wizened old man called Shiba, who corrects Haru by calling the creature "Plue". As it turns out, this Shiba was the first Rave Master and he explains that Plue is actually his long lost companion and also the Rave Bearer.

Soon, Feber, a member of Demon Card, an organization that is attempting use the Dark Bring to take over the world, finds Shiba and demands that he hand over the Rave. Shiba refuses and tries to retaliate by using the Rave's power. It fails and Shiba is quickly injured by Feber's giant arm cannon. Shiba hands Haru the Rave and tells him to run away. Haru refuses and tries to help Shiba. With Rave clutched in his fist, he punches Feber. To everyone's surprise, Haru manages to unleash the Rave's power with this punch, defeating Feber with an explosion. Seeing this, Shiba realizes that Haru has been chosen by the Rave to become the second generation Rave Master. Thus begins Haru's search for the other pieces of Rave and his quest to defeat the Demon Card.

Super Saiyan

The Super Saiyan was introduced as a fictional legend in the Dragon Ball manga created by Akira Toriyama. The first character to transform into a Super Saiyan is the series' main protagonist Son Goku, in volume 27 of the 42 volume manga series, better known to general fans as Dragon Ball Z; named so after the anime adaptation of the manga series was split into two sub-series. The Super Saiyan also appears in a third, anime-only series called Dragon Ball GT. In the series, the Super Saiyan is a transformation that is only accessible to characters who possess heritage from the fictional race called the Saiyans. The effects of the transformation results in greatly enhanced physical abilities.

The first transformation to Super Saiyan occurs involuntarily, when a Saiyan has reached his natural limit and is overcome with intense emotion. Future transformations are achieved when the Saiyans massively increase a certain energy in their bodies called chi. As the series continued, the status of the Super Saiyan as being "legendary" is quickly departed from due to more characters developing the ability to transform.

The legend of the Super Saiyan is first introduced by the Saiyan prince Vegeta during the second story arc of the series called the Freeza Saga. Even though a detailed description of the legend is stated in the Freeza Saga, an indirect reference was made to it earlier in the series in the previous story arc called the Saiyan Saga. The legend told the story of a Saiyan with unlimited power who had existed a millennium prior. The assumption that many Saiyans had was that any Saiyan becoming a Super Saiyan was an extremely rare event, and only being a possible transformation for the stronger individuals of the race. When a Saiyan achieved the state of Super Saiyan, it was said that his pure heart would be overcome by rage, resulting in this radical transformation. The Super Saiyan legend was known by many races, and was considered the strongest being in the galaxy.

Because the Super Saiyan transformation had not been demonstrated by any Saiyan in recorded history, most races that had heard the legend of the Super Saiyan dismissed it as simple mythology, even most Saiyans. This was until several Saiyans emerged that possessed physical potential that had rapidly evolved beyond their known natural limits. The galactic overlord Freeza also had dismissed it as simple legend until he witnessed a genetically weaker Saiyan defeat one of his elite warriors. As a result, Freeza realized that a Super Saiyan emerging was a possibility. Fearing the Saiyans, he destroyed the race and their planet.

However, four Saiyans (Goku, Vegeta, Raditz, and Nappa) escaped the destruction, and one of the four would ascend to the legendary form and use it to defeat Freeza. Goku and Vegeta procreate with humans later in the series to produce hybrids, and most of the hybrids inherited the potential to ascend to Super Saiyan in spite of their impure heritage.

It was originally stated that a Saiyan must be pure of heart to make the transformation, whether it be pure good or pure evil. The legend also originally stated that only one Super Saiyan would emerge in a thousand years; this is later contradicted when another Super Saiyan appears one year later. As a result, the legendary status of the Super Saiyan ceases and by the end of Dragon Ball, there are numerous other Super Saiyans. It was later discovered that any male with at least half Saiyan heritage was biologically capable of ascending to Super Saiyan if they were powerful enough, but only under the appropriate conditions. In the written series, all the male characters with Saiyan heritage who existed after the Freeza Saga managed to achieve Super Saiyan, and some of the characters managed to achieve advanced Super Saiyan

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