Grrl Power #518 – Foot in mouth flare up
Super Hiro’s handsomeness is constrained entirely by my ability to draw handsome guys, so just pretend he’s super handsome if I didn’t quite hit the mark. Also I’m not sure how Japanese he looks, though he is supposed to lean rugged, which isn’t something you usually associate with Asian faces so much. Not that there aren’t weather beaten Japanese guys out there with strong jaws, but finding the correct combination of features to draw his face was a little challenging. Also the fact that he’s one of the only Asian characters in the comic means I haven’t gotten much practice with those particular features. Still, I think the last time I drew him was back when they were fixing the highway after the battle.
I realized after drawing this page that Sydney is saluting with her left hand in the last panel, which is probably not cool in the military unless you got your hand blown off on duty. Obviously Sydney gets a comical amount of slack, though we’ll see how lenient everyone is once she’s actually been trained up on the basics.
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You know… I remember Hiro’s hair being more… black in all his previous appearances. Also, how did he manage to grow stubble? Superheroes aren’t supposed to do that, I thought. Even at the end of the restaurant brawl, which was in the early AM, he hadn’t done so.
1. On closer inspection of anyone’s hair, you are more likely to see more detailed color
2. That was more planned with less work in the way of personal care.
Also, have you seen stubbed superman? sexy as all hell <3
Basically this. Superhero body composition is based far more on sex appeal than logic and, in the grrlpower universe, that’s an actual rule. If he’s hotter with stubble, the question shouldn’t be “how can he grow that?” but “why doesn’t he have that all the time?”.
But, of course, there’s no reason to assume that super hair can’t be shaven if his preffered look doesn’t match with whatever would be pseudo-objectively most attractive. He’ll just have to do so quite regularly because nature will do everything in its power to keep him as good looking as possible.
+1
+1
That is a reasonable assumption. The other school of thought is that artificially granted super-powers do not grant the body-type alteration effects granted to those who’s bodies are enhanced with the super powers. I.e. Sydney’s orbs, being external to her, do not cause changes within her.
Although Krona is clearly associated with the supernaturals, I think the unique nature of her power makes her more like Sydney than her fellows (or ‘natural born supers’ or ‘super-enhanced humans’ like Maxima). If Krona is dependant on her artificial interfaces (e.g. her goggles) then this would explain why she could be a super, yet not have the characteristic looks.
Alternatively that explanation is not necessary, using your proposal. Krona views herself as a geek with supernatural abilities. Her self-image therefore supports that, plus, just like Sydney, she looks great just the way she is, therefore no change in body type is necessary to ‘make her look better’, even if her powers are wholly generated internally.
They can’t grow body hair, DaveB has never written that they cannot grow FACIAL hair. The only one I think that cannot change their hair in anyway is Achilles, which is commented on once or twice within the comic.
Technicaly all hair is body hair. :P Seeing how it grow on the body and all.
Technically hair grows in the body beneath the surface of the skin. All the hair you can see on the body is dead.
And hair keeps growing even after you are dead.
Unless it is body hair and you are a super powered zombie. (later, when people wondered how the spirited discussion of super powered dead people [with detailed examples from comics such as Empowered] they found it could be tracked back to this one unfortunate comment.)
Actually, that’s a myth! It only appears to grow after you’re dead because your bodly shrivels up, exposing more of the hair that’s left. Same goes for fingernails.
But but… I haz seen the leader of the vampire faction (whatsisname) he has managed to keep a luscious growth of hair, despite having been dead for several centuries!
I hate how vampires are seen as dead, while there are actual zombies in the same universe. Vampires are just as living as you and me, they are just more cold blooded and don’t have a built-in defense in their skin against sunlight like humans do.
Its just a left over from when they actually were near death/dead and required to make some sort of deal with the Devil/supernatural or be turned by one who had in order to keep walking around. They drank blood for mystical life force. And so on…
But now a days they are all caused by mutations, viruses, alien/government tinkering, or whatever and can even go out in the sun if they don’t mind the sparkles. Drink blood to replace some missing protein or chemical like those poor resurrected dinos in Jurassic Park (before they miraculously got over it) or have some mental disorder that makes them think they need it.
So I guess their history is kind of like a certain character’s quote.
“I thought you were dead?!”
“I got better.”
Whatsisname being several centuries old predates government tinkering and mad science capable of vampire creation existing. Therefore his origins are likely to be of the ancient supernatural type origins. So there is a very good chance that he is
dead undead non-livingliving challenged.Thats a bit of a misnomer. Hair and nails actually appear to have grown on exhumed bodies because of the shrinkage of the skin as the corpse naturally dehydrates.
-sigh- I’m going to leave this here. Everyone, educate yourselves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_hair
Short version: People normally have three types of hair. Head hair (grows from birth), body hair (grows from puberty) and vellus hair (fine, lightly colored hair all over your body that is barely noticeable and helps with insulation and perspiration).
So why doesn’t Achilles have a big unshavable beard?
Because Achilles had shaved the day he got his super powers. (That is also why his hair is stuck in a mullet)
Which is the Haircut Of The Gods
… which may also be how he got his powers…
I was waffling on that for a while, then someone pointed out I drew a super with a beard already once, so I guess they can grow beards.
I meantioned above before seeing this, super genetics is based on what would make society see the character as most attractive. As a result, beards will probably appear on a case by case basis and Hiro’s here might even remain as good looking stubble forever if unshaven.
Actually, it’s not what society finds attractive. Their appearance is subconsciously directed, and as MOST people want to be attractive, supers end up however they think they’ll be most appealing. Among the numerous other things our society has done wrong, for decades it’s created children and teens who (perhaps incorrectly) perceive certain characteristics (biologically impossible breasts and butts, flat bellies, and long straight hair in women, excessive musculature and square jaws in men, etc.), yielding a generation of supers whose subconscious minds use their heightened control over their bodies to maintain these types of unrealistic appearance.
Sadly, given the obsession of modern media over superheroes, this is an issue which will snowball over the ensuing generations, yielding supers who have progressively more unrealistic bodies. This will, in turn, create an obvious schism in ‘mundane’ society between those that strive to reach such impossible goals (destroying their own self-image and likely their health in the process), and those who decide to settle for whatever bodies their work schedule and eating habits allow.
Or everyone will give into peer and media pressure and accept the gene-engineering to gain the body of an Olympian.
Alternatively, before our technology base has advanced that far, they might just do a bit of grave-robbing.
I’ll just wait for my cybernetic replacements for everything :3
Ok, if we are to go with that (I don’t recall if it’s word of Dave or just realistic speculation) then why is Hiro not clean shaven here when he was before? Surely he wants to be one or the other and will naturally end up that way as a direct result of that phenomenon?
Depends on how he idealised himself when he got his powers, probably well before he joined the military, and now he simply shaves every morning, but this day he got called into action before he had the time
In Japan they’d probably just assume he was gay.
Y’know… because “society” has different notions of attractiveness depending on which society you’re talking about.
Personally I find the meat-cloud look utterly revolting in men, and frankly even Anvil is pushing the limits of acceptability for the XX side. They’re supers, so there is no need for them to look like aesthetic bodybuilders in order to be strong… and frankly I’ve no clue how anyone can find that attractive either. I’d say the Bruce Lee build is about the upper limit of what “strong” should look like.
You may want to look at Bruce Lee again. He was as built up as any bodybuilder, just 10 inches to a foot shorter than most of them. His latissimi dorsi in particular almost extended as wide as the outside of his arms.
What, where, when?
OMG I have slipped into another dimension where that happened.
Or I am forgetting more stuff, as I get older…
… *starts looking for a noosed rope*
I think it was the search and rescue super in the really early pages who does stuff in the mountains.
Not unless it was hidden under his mask. The victim he was rescuing had facial hair mind, but there was no suggestion that he was anything other than a (hypothetical) human in danger.
Perhaps Dave was thinking of the facial hair of this super villain?
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1889
Ahh, thanks.
I guess I ignored those, for speculative purposes, due to them being homages. Like the DJ Ponz one, at the disco, I take them as one-off gags, rather than president setting. But clearly if Dave is accepting it as such, for this purpose, then that is fine.
I can empathise. That is what I would be like if I got to meet Sydney. Or, if she turns out not to be real (we must consider the possibility), whoever gets to play her in the live action Grrl Power, the Movie.
Even commissioning Larry Elmore, to draw my elf character, Felf, inside my Players Handbook, had me barely able to string a cohesive sentence together! And that was just from meeting one of the great role playing game artists.
I dread to think what would happen should I meet someone who I both admire professionally and fancy! I think tripping over my tongue might go so far that I would fear it literally happening!
I met Maria Shriver before she married the Governator, when I was much younger. I realized I didn’t have anything to get her signature on, and ran off to grab a piece of paper. I ran right back, tripped over myself, and faceplanted the ground.
I won’t forget the look on her face; she was pretty concerned. I paid the blood pouring from my face no mind. I wanted the signature.
The guy I feel for the most for had gone to a [insert name of my favourite female musical artist but who my brain refuses to let me know her name] concert. He managed to get backstage and talked to one of the ‘stage hands’ and said I am desperate to see [spoiler]. Please tell me where I can meet her and let her how much I love her and her work. Whilst waving a copy of her latest CD.
She then turned it over, held up the picture of the star, next to her face and said..
“Recognise me now?”
Oh, dear. That had to be embarrassing.
Depends on if the artist was one of the modern ‘low-talent’ diva’s, or one of the older ‘true-talent’ Stars
Katie Melua. The name finally came to me on seeing the words ‘true-talent’ (literally). Which she is. She is not just a singer but also a talented song-writer. Plus her raw talent shows through in that she is capable of performing her material with just an unaccompanied acoustic guitar, and still sounding heavenly.
I won’t link to any of those though, as Katie does not have any examples, of such, on her official channel. But here is an example of her dueting with one of the late great performers. Despite the fact that Eva Cassidy died long before Katie Melua even got her break into the industry.
Okay, have heard of her, and yes, she does have talent
Was only previously familiar with this song of hers
I think saluting with your left is also sorta-kinda okay when the other hand is busy using/doing something mission-critical- in this situation, the fact that Sydney’s holding her shield orb with her right prevents her from using that hand, and so she would be forgiven the breach of etiquette.
I think you are likely correct, though I cannot say that I remember precisely from my own long-gone military days. I think the correct etiquette is to forego the salute entirely under combat conditions.
Yes, you are not supposed to be saluting in the field. For one, it’s a distraction on your part, and two, it’s identifying your CO to potential enemies.
She is holding an orb. They may have to make a ruling for saluting like that.
While they are at it, they may also want to put in rules for holding dogs and coffee cups too.
https://mediaweb.fox23.com/photo/2014/09/24/bush_obama_salutes_2330584_ver1.0_640_360.JPG
outside of basic training, if on duty doing work, saluting is not done. saluting is also not done indoors. In basic, recruits outdoors almost always have to arrange their loads so that the right hand is free for saluting. also, if a work detail (ie, several soldiers) encounter an officer, only the leader of the work detail salutes.
The situation here would definitely require that Sydney NOT salute, because saluting Hiro looks like this to a sniper: https://writersontheloose.com/large_photo.cfm?largephoto=writer1323/photos/59628/bear%20in%20cross%20hairs%2Ejpg
One thing to remember. She doesn’t know all the military rules. So its obvious that she might salute in the “wrong” fashion or at the wrong time.
just adding info to the discussion. lots were speculating on what the rules are for saluting.
i didn’t think she was saluting, i thought she was blocking Hiro from her vision to stop drooling and focus on talking the right none sexy words.
He doesn’t have an Asian nose. My spouse is Asian, so I know how Asian noses look. They blend a lot more with the cheek and brow line near the eyes than a western nose. His nose is too pronounced near the eye line, so it makes him look like he’s at least part western.
That’s my input. Nose looks wrong. Also his jaw seems off but I can’t put my finger on why. Maybe it’s a bit too angular, especially up by his cheeks? Not sure.
He might not necessarily be “pure” blooded, Hiro reminds me a bit of Daniel Dae Kim or Ian Anthony Dale, perhaps a mix of both.
Both happen to be on the new Hawaii 5-O
It says on the side that Sydney is orbited by orb thingies. What if that model is wrong, and the orb thingies actually reside in a sphere around her and have a certain probability of being found in some exact spot there?
So, they only exist in certain orbitals around her? Well, recently Sydney did say she needed 2P.
She doesn’t seem too stable and she’s pretty positive all the time so maybe she is missing a few orb thingies.
Are you implying that Halo has lost her marbles?
*assumes mock-fierce glare*
Nope! They can’t even go that far from her.
It works as follows: Point A) Sydney. Point B) her marbles. The part acting or being acted upon to increase the distance between between A and B beyond the maximum specified range is stopped. Period. End of sentence. Even Max can’t manage to make Sydney lose her marbles (although the same can’t be said about Sydney making Max lose hers!).
Though she does lose track of them now and again.
Okay I need coffee or something if I’ve actually had this thought. Here goes…
Her orbs aren’t separate items. She MIGHT have “found” them while scuba diving but it’s more likely that they’re actually just how her power manifests, because she isn’t sane, and they’re visual representations of her powers, which is why they can’t be detected magically. They’re part of her psyche. I could go into this WAY more but I got chores to do right now. (I usually don’t have any)
if that was the case they would have a psionic imprint, but they don’t even have that
Viirin, they can be detected magicly, just need the “right kinda” magic as seen on https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2447
Even though it doesn’t line up with all the details we’ve already been shown, it’s still an interesting and creative idea.
Actually, I can’t find flaw with it, myself. The magical and psionic investigation is trying to find out the nature of the ‘objects’. If they do not actually exist then naturally there would be a ‘null’ result!
Except that they didn’t have a well known energy type allowing people to see and feel them. Or they were super duper stealthed.
Sydney could be deluding herself there though, too. She didn’t go scuba diving (or did and it just so happened that her powers manifested at that time and showed themselves to her by appearing as items to loot) and no one has felt them (she just remembers it that way, remember we’re still in the past, being retold by Syd) or has (but it’s part of her telekinesis).
Fairly sure both Dabbles and Math have felt Sydney’s balls, not to forget that villain, Shadowy McNoNuts
There are two implications that can be drawn from the presumption of the orbs only existing due to Sydney’s delusion.
The first being that she is clinically delusional and all interactions with them are simply how she rationalises her super powers. In other words this entire comic is showing things from the point of view of her delusion. Any person being hit by one is just getting a thump from her telekinesis, for example.
Likewise any mention of them is just part of her wild fantasizing. In actuality people would be saying something else, but Sydney’s memories have been repainted by her delusion.
The second conclusion though is that it is not just a delusion it is a mass-delusion, which is also affecting everybody else. People think they are real. If they are hit by them, it hurts.
A supporting bit of evidence: Sciona’s arm was broken. We have a clinical professional assess the damage and declare that Sciona should not have been able to continue to hold her up. If she only thought that her arm was broken though, then everything we saw was accurate.
As to why Sydney might have developed this delusion, in the first place, is that it could be an emotional self-defense. Subconsciously she realised that she was developing super powers, and knew that all supers developed super-model-like bodies. Yet this would go totally counter to her tom-boy self image!
However, if she rationalised herself finding ‘magical orbs’ that granted her super powers, then she would avoid following that stereotypical super hero development.
Clearly, if using the second rational above, it would then be some aspect of her super powers that extended this delusion to others too.
You’re dangerously close to this whole thing being a dream.
Though given Sydney’s personality and reactions I could see that…
I prefer the Buffy the Vampire slayer episode, where she turns out to be a patient in a mental institution. And therefore all the preceding episodes and series were just her delusional life!
The fact that they were able to switch between each viewpoint, as she ‘lost consciousness’ in one, and we see things from her alternate perspective was very cleverly done. A most disturbing episode as there was a credible rational for the psychiatric hospital scenes to be a demonically-induced illusion.
Plus it was resolved in such a way that viewers cannot say which was actually the ‘true’ reality. All they can do is decide which to accept. Or just pretend they never watched it, and wave that away as ‘it was just a dream’. Which, as you imply, is a feeble route to take, either as a writer or a viewer.
At first I tought he was talking in codes, but they just both have given name that are also landmarks.
Speaking of army protocol, shouldn’t he call them by their code names, or at least by their last name?
‘Archon protocol’, not ‘army protocol’. And, no, that is not being pedantic. Archon is a different arm of the military. Each service has its own protocols and etiquettes. Archon’s is much more relaxed and informal than the others.
It is worth pointing out things like this though. Dave is not of a military background, so sometimes he decides to tighten things up (like making their ranks more appropriate to their ages and experience). But, if he is happy with the tone and result, after considering the feedback, then he has a perfect get-out-of-jail-free card, with the reason stated.
Most elite units of any of the services tend to have more relaxed standards of “proper military protocol” than would be expected of other units. Since Archon can be considered that by any definition, they can go with “whatever.”
One factor is that everyone in ArcSwat is a specialist, and no two of them have exactly the same specialty. (There are several pairs of somewhat-similar-to-a-point – most of them involving Syd, Max, and/or Xuriel, because those three have the most diverse powersets.)
Specialists, when it comes to their specialty, outrank everyone else, period end of discussion.
Yea. I have met not one but two individuals, who, in my opinion had the capability to end all human life. I respect their opinion, on any subject they choose to offer such.
Because I am still alive, to do that.
Oh, so you met my grandmother? Small multiverse, huh?
Probably should and that looseness could be a problem with the right agent (Like from Arc Dark). At least it causes no real damage here since Super Hiro is his “codename” and Sydney’s real identity is well known publicly now as well. They aren’t going the secret identity route with the public SWAT team, instead treating them like cops of a sort, so I guess for that crew its really just their commander’s preference/policy that matters.
It would be a good habit to get into though so they automatically don’t slip when speaking with agents who’s lesser known identity is useful to their job.
Oh that face, it’s… it’s… it’s Robin secret face in Teen Titan Go.
To be honest, I’m not really liking Anvil’s and Hiro’s art style in the last couple pages.
Anything in particular? If there is something you can put your finger on, it provides more useful feedback.
On the previous page, for instance, another reader was complimenting Dave on drawing Anvil’s muscles being anatomically realistic and well drawn. Which I agree with. This despite the fact that I am not into heavily muscular women (Peggy is within my comfort zone, by contrast).
But, regardless of that, I do like the aesthetics of Anvil’s muscles, the dynamism of her poses and even her flowing red tresses!
Yeah Anvil sure look like a powerfull badass here.
I don’t know how to explain it very well. Maybe it’s the inking or shading( I don’t know art), but they don’t look good to me. They look like a different artist drew them, compared to how they looked previously. Which sucks because I really like Anvil.
I don’y know, maybe I’ve become rather sensitive to sudden art changes after a couple of my favorite webcomics switched artists.
Dave is experimenting with different art styles. I was particularly fond of Dabbler in one such wave, but she has progressed in a different way.
But do not despair. Both Sydney and Pixel went through a ‘bobble-head’ phase, which I had problems with. Either I got used to it, or Dave managed to refine his style and now Sydney is just as awesome as ever.
Not the same as her original style, but she can evoke all the same feelings, in me, when she is feeling awkward or embarrassed. And that is the most important thing. Well, on top of her still being really hot, even if she does not realise that!
Like Hiro, the more that Dave gets to draw these characters, the better he will be able to allow you to connect with them. Once he has optimised depicting them using his present art style.
such as feeling awkward or embarrassed.
As examples, from the current comic. I am happier when she is enjoying herself. But still want to cuddle her, when she is feeling vulnerable!
You may be averse to the slight realism on what had been traditionally cartoonized characters. It leads to the uncanny valley effect where somewhere along the line of similarity and familiarity you have a certain dip where things look real but are structured on non real principles
This can look a bit manufactured or decidedly unreal, which makes some people uncomfortable.
If you look at the strip and the whos who character shot the main thing to notice is DaveB and team trying to lighten the lineweight and depend more on lighting to depict form. This can be a cool effect ALA SeanBros spying with Lana but maybe because of the original exaggerated character design you might feel comes off looking less than ideal.
You will find as the comic goes along a lighting scheme might be adjusted to mke this work better or DaveB might try shift further down the graph of familiarity to similarity and produce art that balances in a favorable way one direction or the other.
I personaly like that this sort of experimentation happens in this webcomic. The quality will always improve as a result.
I absolutely agree. What I think part of what you are picking up on is the new lack of a black outline. Previously they all had black inking but now it’s gone in favor of a outlineless look. However I don’t think it’s working quite yet personally because without the black lines, and the softness of the shading (things have the same undertone to them as well, a consequence I think of they fact that if they are doing things the same way, everything is done grayscale and then color flats are overlaid. But if they aren’t tweaked enough the shadows lack depth, and the shadows end up being darker versions of the midtone color which doesn’t always look right. Like shading yellow can look richer if you use brown, not dark yellow for example.) it’s making the art look a bit mushy. I preferred the black outline but ultimately I support Dave in stretching his artistic legs and aspect that there will be some growing pains.
Very thoughtfully analysed, thank you.
Any time! I wanted to put my opinion out there without being an overly critical jerk. :3
Yours is a masterclass in constructive criticism.
*presents a golden star*
Psst [spoiler]I figured a connoisseur, like yourself, would appreciate an edible one.[spoiler]
+1
Nicely put.
What happened to Anvil in that last panel? Boobs all but vanished and turned into massive shoulders and upper body. She went flat chested she hulk.
‘Camera’ angle is wonky, she’s slightly bent over, so her upper body is slightly top down while the rest of her body looks ‘ normal’ so we are seeing it straight on.
Looks like boobs to me. See the shadowed part?
Yeah, can still clearly see her motor-boat dock (aka, cleavage)
Hiro looks like he can’t decide weather to be upset or amused. A lot like Max.
I took it as ‘having difficulty keeping a straight face’, but it is the kind of expression that is very much down to personal interpretation. It is a fairly neutral expression, so our own impressions of what he might be thinking will unconsciously flavour the interpretation that we make when reading his face.
Mine being influenced by the fact that he will be:
a) used to turning girls heads and, like most guys, would not find that a problem (emotionally speaking, rather than professionally).
b) aware that Sydney has not been trained in the correct way to address an officer.
c) will therefore likely leave it up to those training her to get on with that (but may pass on a comment to Peggy to make sure that is done before Halo is next exposed to public speaking). Training to reduce the chances of her dying in the next fight, or burning down another forest, probably takes priority over that though.
d) Can see she is dreadfully embarrassed, so her lesson has probably been learnt, in any event.
e) Will not want to make any expression which might be misinterpreted as favouring her Freudian slip (the unit has strict rules regarding inappropriate relationships, and he is a very senior officer, to her very junior recruit position).
f) Despite a) above, he did seem blissfully unaware of the effect that his shirtless state was having, the other evening, and likewise the possibility of his ‘debriefing’ mime being misinterpreted. So (for whatever reasons) Hiro might be totally surprised by this, and thereby not have done any of the logical thinking I have proposed above.
a) to e) would be best served by keeping a neutral expression. Whereas f) might mean that he simply has not had the chance for his expression to react yet.
The most important thing is to engage brain before engaging mouth. Of course she tends to be very stream of conscience driven. I don’t think she’ll ever get completely past it, but I think she can reach the point of not accidentally insulting everybody in earshot….
as a real person with real ADHD, I can say from experience that no, she’ll never get completely past it. For me, it’s like most of my brain is a bit above average IQ, but my verbal language centers are dumbasses. Have a stupid friend in the group you hang out with? yeah, like that.
There was a comic (https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1816) in the past in which Harem mentioned that “Supers don’t grow body hair”. I started a bit of a conversation by proclaiming that if this was true, and with Dave ‘undecided’ on if it would include facial hair, I was unsure if I’d want superpowers if it meant giving up my beard.
Naturally most people thought I would be crazy to give up a hypothetical chance at super powers just to keep my facial hair, but everyone’s got their own priorities. I’m sure if presented with a real life situation then yes, I’d take God Like psychokinesis at the expense of my beard. But hypothetically, I’d cut my dick off before I’d go down to the skin clean shaven.
But that’s all resolved now. Hiro’s got scruff. We have seen our first male super in Grrl Power (unless you want to count furry wearwolfs as ‘super’)
Beards are an essential option for macho super heroes.
*rubs chin thoughtfully*
We have seen several male supers by the way. Have you forgotten Vance? OK he isboth male and female spiders, but the ‘Vance suit’ the colony chose is definitely male in appearance. Likewise Ren (fellow recruit), Iron Cloth (the super-tailor, with ninja sidekicks) and Barbarian (the hairdresser and Dabbler snack).
I will let you off Math, as he is technically not a super. But Achilles, Stalwart and Mr Amorphous all have the requisite body parts and super status. Plus we have seen them in action, rather than just hanging around in the HQ.
Likewise there was a car-park full of male supers (Vehemence, For-Whom-the-Bell-Tolls, Shadow Boxer and Mach the Knife to name but a few).
*head explodes, from name-hunting*
I thought that Vance might not be a colony of spiders and is just messing with Sydney. Harem even mentions that maybe he shouldn.t mess with Sydney
True. But even Dave does not know (per one of his comments, way back when).
Psst, I think he is too scared to see what is underneath the Vance-suit!
I read that as Vance messing with Sydney. This world is weird, but probably not in that specific way.
That is very much the intents of the scene. But if the guy next to you is 99% likely to be a human and 1% likely to be a colony of super spiders (I mean really likely not ‘fantasy-likely’) would you be totally relaxed in his presence?
Or might you consider how you would handle things if he gets a rip in his skin and all his eight-legged component parts come spilling out?
Personally I consider him to be spider colony until proven to be human by multiple infallible means!
*Ahem*
For-Whom-The-Death-Tolls.
Meh, his own fault, for having such a stupid name. Or ‘Googly Eyes Butsniffer,’ as I think I might try out.
I did NOT realize Hiro was Asian.
I just assumed all characters were unspecified American, since that’s where the comic takes place.
Hiro is a work in progress, as Dave says. With practice he will convey that intent better.
Any ladies, and gents, who would like to see more of Hiro, please be sure to speak up! You need to make your voice heard, over those of us who always pester Dave to give our favourite girls more comic time, after all.
*swishes tail encouragingly*
It seems like Dave likes to show more of Hiro considering how often he ends up shirtless. Wanna bet how long it takes for him to lose that shirt?
He is Asian, he just may not be from Asia, third or fourth generation American
You thought ‘Hiro’ was just a callsign? o_O
There’s nothing like hearing a Chinese girl speak with a Texas drawl… :-)
I hear it all the time. I live in Houston, which has one of the largest Asian demographics in the US.
A pharmacist we used to see regularly following my wife’s medical appointments was a Chinese American born and raised in Alabama. I got to know him slightly while waiting for my wife, and was aware of his history, but my wife (immigrated from China as an adult) went crazy trying to determine his native Chinese dialect based on his accent. I had to explain that the odd way he sounded was southern US, not some weird minority dialect from China. “When ah was a boy, mah Daddy told me that . . .”
Years ago, I got introduced to a Mauri estate agent in Varna.* Within a few minutes, I asked her, “what is that about your accent, I can’t quite figure it out?”
“I am a Mauri”
“No, no, that is obvious. What else?”
“Oh I was married to a Cockney for about twenty years?”
“That will be it!”
She was using a few turns of phrase that were totally incongruous to her accent.
* About as common as a grain of sand named Marvin, who knows how to tap dance, and can recite Hamlet verbatim.
Have been chased out of more than a few chats (and permanently removed from one game) for ‘talking’ like that
Just never thought of it. Like I said, I figured they were all unspecified American.
I see you gave Hiro some stubble finally. I’m glad that supers can at least grow beards. Now if only a benevolent god would give Stalwart some body hair….
“That was totally wicked!”
Is Sidney channeling the kid on the tricycle from The Incredibles?
I was hearing it in that voice when I read it.
I brought that to my brother’s attention, now he hears it that way, too… i’m glad I’m not the only one who thought of that
i hope im not the only one that hears “that was totally wicked.” in the voice of the kid from the incredibles.
Even for Sydney, that recovery was pretty good. She’s showing some progress! I’m so proud. Also, Hiro, you sir, are hot. Nuff said.
Psst, Dave!
https://hidetadayamagishi.com/gallery/
Masahiro Takashima 1989 looked a bit like what you seem to be going for. (need to add the advanced stubble beard mentally unless you go with an older shot)
Hard to find a great photo of him with the same hair but these give you an idea.
https://www.millionmonkeytheater.com/moviepics/tedstriker1.jpg
https://i.mdldb.net/cache/ntz/28295784932854940_986470e5_c.jpg
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RVsvXG0_1zM/hqdefault.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOlCi3-pX9s
Hm. On the one hand, Achilles is the only team member who it’s completely safe to throw at this guy.
On the other and gripping hands, he may not have clearance and he probably doesn’t have enough oomph to be anything but a distraction.
A superstrong super could use Achilles as a weapon or shield. That would look both silly, badass and funny at the same time. Eventualy sexy too considering that Achilles power doesn’t include his clothes.
and confusing. It would definitely look confusing to the enemy they’re fighting – one of the good guys using another’s body as a shield? a really clever bad guy would pause to figure out why; a not-so-clever bad guy might conclude that at least one of Archon’s super heroes is a super coward, and another is a super idiot.
Then you’d end up with that creepy subset of repeat offenders who just came to get beaten with a naked Achilles. And if Achilles started getting into it…
Dabbler would insist on joining those missions.
Hopefully the super “wielding” Achilles has good aim or someone’s coming out with a few more holes than they came in with.
You have forgotten Math. He is capable of beating Dabbler in a ‘fair fight’ (no cheating using magic)! Do not forget that Dabbler is herself capable of besting Maxima, the most powerful known super on the planet!
Yet Math is not a super. The construct cannot gain anything by replicating his ‘super powers’. He has none.
Yet he has (almost) the same reflex/speed rating as Maxima! You remember, the gal who can grab a bullet in mid-air, disarm a grenade before it reaches its target or give a teleporter a wedgie, before she can escape!
He may not have, technically, Super Powers, but he still has Super-like abilities, that could be replicated… do you still want to risk a Grandmaster Level KillBot on the loose? o_O
So far we have only seen the construct copy super powers. And we do have the example that Pixel was obviously skilled at evasion, as she did manage to avoid a number of the constructs attacks initially. Yet it has not attempted to use such itself. Either it cannot copy skills, or it can but chose not to (perhaps due to limitations on how many things it can copy at once) or it has copied that but just did not use it.
Without it demonstrating such though we have nothing to support that it is able to copy skills. Thus making it a better choice to deploy Math, as opposed to someone who is guaranteed to be a power copying risk.
And there is another reason why he is a great choice. Because Pixel did prove that evasion is a successful tactic. She simply was not good enough to keep it up. Math is much much better though, being a five star martial artist.
Quite clearly the construct needs to sample blood, to do the copying. But it cannot do that if it is unable to injure him!
We have only seen NotBot scan a single blood sample, that just happened to previously reside in a Super
We have seen Math get hit at least twice, and both times he went down for the count, he is extremely susceptible to distraction (and arrogance)
Maybe NotBot didn’t use Evade, because both times they were caught unawareness: first time, he was peering down at Bubble Girl, second time, Sydney was engaging him in conversation, third time may be to the detriment of whomever is attempting a hat trick
Ahh but Math’s weakness is distraction by beautiful women. Which he has been studying hard to correct.
Plus that construct does not look very sexy to me. I think Math will not find himself being distracted by that.
Sydney just needs to avoid cranking up her cuteness dial as high has she has done above.
He has huuuuuge potential but so far has just wasted it as a distraction.
He could pilot an experimental suit which normally would be quite deadly to its wearer. Or just wield weapons that would normally be as dangerous to the wielder as the target. (small explosives slide down special automated sleeves along his arms and click into place in front of his fists! LOL His whole body coated in sleeping poison. Or simply coat himself in something burning and become Heatwave-lite.)
He could be a sniper cause he doesn’t have to sweat bullets if someone tracks his attacks back to him.
He could develop his martial arts to Math’s degree (if that doesn’t turn out to be a partially hereditary clan champion sort of thing… Clan blessed by minor god or something else).
He could train polar bears from small cubs to fight for him (animal rights activists wouldn’t allow it but you know, just an example.)
If he insists on not developing offensively (and if it involves preventing knockback I suppose defensively) he should probably find some role in scouting, communications, or something supportive like that. Most of the heavy hitters don’t need a shield and there are enough tough or shielded types to place one in every squad of ARCSWAT.
He could do anything that batman could do and suffer no risk.
Somehow he’s still working out and becoming strong despite never changing or suffering damage?(magic based powers are so awesome like that!) I think that’s been discussed to death somewhere else though so I’ll just have to google the site later.
Re. your last, he only has normal human strength, so no working out required. But what he can do is exert himself beyond the limits at which a human would get hernias, rip their tendons or otherwise cause lasting damage to their own body. Which, being invulnerable does not happen to him.
So he has an ‘effective super strength’ equal to 50% more than a normal fit human male.
Basically he can equal a normal human during an “adrenal dump” and not end up in the hospital afterwards.
So you’re saying that he’s lucky he must have worked out before the change cause he can never get any stronger?
Yes. Although the nature of super heroism in the Grrl Power universe may not actually require the ‘working out’ part. I seem to recall Maxima looked fairly average as a youth (athletic but not as muscular as we see her today) so the transformation (assuming an analogous event to Max’s) may have granted him the ‘fit’ part for free (which we know to be a feature of this setting).
So Achilles may have been fit, then got zapped and stayed like that. Or he may have been weedy, or a couch potato, and got a free upgrade. Or he may have been like this since a precious big bang, and he chose to hang around with apes who were evolving in a familiar way. Then took a magic potion to reset his memory, and let him spend some time like a normal person. Well a normal absolutely indestructible person.
But, your latter point? Totally. Not going to get stronger, ever. He may learn to use what he has better, but without magic or super science intervention he will always look like a weed next to Anvil!
Five of those things would be bad. One of those things that is five times stronger in every way than the original might be worse. Either way, Harem needs an evac immediately.
IIRC Harem’s like 16x stronger than a normal human if she has only one body out (equal to an ‘Uncharged” Anvil)
Man, it is seriously time to push Sydney into the background, along with her tiresome cute act. This is really an idiot character who pads out way too much of a story that has some potential with her asinine reactions and one-liners to everything.
Every time anything starts to develop, it’s:
“Quick! cut to Sydney! Because, Sydney! Isn’t Sydney’s hyperass personality so lovable?!!
Not really. Sydney isn’t really funny, and as for the rest of her personality, it’s only been done in like about 1,000 different scenes already in this comic. I’m sure everyone gets it by now. Give the rest of the comic more room and she might be easier to stand. And, please, not by turning over the spotlight to these other little mascot characters you’ve been introducing.
Yeah! That’s like in Scooby-Doo where every time the mystery starts getting interesting they cut to that stupid cowardly dog and his stoner master hijinks sucking up, like, all the time to flesh out the plot until there’s only enough left for a chase and a quick demasking and exposition at the end.
We’ve soooo seen everything that dog can do hundreds of times. Its like they think the show is about him or something…
Heads up, lunch box shill:
The name of that show *is* after that particular character.
YW.
Actually, it’s more similar to how Scooby Doo focused way too much on the most obnoxious character (Scrappy), and how everyone hated that character.
Or Borderlands’ obsession with Claptrap.
Or any webcomic’s obsession with its talking animal / object character.
Really, just take your pick of any terrible work of fiction to compare it to, because they all share the same awful design choices.
To rephrase what Observer just said.
Sydney is the main character. This comic is about HER (mostly). We are still on day 3 or 4 of a three-month flashback. So, Buuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrp, you have two choices: Either try to enjoy it, or stop reading and go away. I don’t care which.
yeah, scooby doo did the the same thing, and it was also terrible. well done.
Actually, Scooby Doo was *not* nearly as overplayed as he described it. He was just simply desperate for something to hurl back, because he knew I was right on the money about his stick figure girl and his secret sexual fantasies about her.
alternatively, he can continue to read and criticize it, and you’re free to continue imagining that you have authority over anyone.
Sydney is the main character?
Gee, Where did you get that amazing revelation?
According to every title that I see, this comic is called “Grrl Power”. It appears to be dedicated to female superheros in general.
If it were dedicated to Halo, then, I wouldn’t have posted my 100% accurate comment, as stated. But, I still might have posted what an iconic retard she (obviously) is, in an effort to save the comic from a case of slow death due to one stupid character dragging it down.
Even Maxima would be a better choice. Apparently you suffer from some fervent wish that the *one* that you can relate to should be the star. Maybe the artist agrees with you and simply didn’t make the point clearly enough. Either way, some moderation with this slapstick character would be good for the comic, because she is being overplayed. Sorry if my insight hurt your feelings.
So, it appears that *you* have two choices, Mspears: 1) Go away, or, 2) Go away. I don’t care which…
Sydney is the primary character because she is the newbie to the team. She is the one who does not know how things work, so can entertain us whilst the layers of the setting are unpeeled. Until that is done though, other characters are not a good substitute for that role. Especially not Maxima as she will be privy to every secret.
So, if Max were to remain in character, she would never be asking the questions that Dave wants asked, in order that the audience can be organically told the interesting parts of the story. This comes with a price though, in that Dave keeps the characters true to their personality. Sydney is wacky and has a bunch of idiosyncrasies. But those exist because it allows Dave to do present the comical elements a lot easier than with a straight character like Maxima.
This is a comedy, and Sydney is the character best suited to deliver that.
Once the story has moved beyond the ‘introducing the setting and the hidden world’ phase you may well get to have your wish, despite that though. As other characters can fulfil such roles. But it would be harder to do so in Dave’s style, without them too becoming less serious.
But, if you read the writer’s blog, he is quite clearly intending to feature Anvil more, at the moment, in accordance with his original vision. So where there are scenes that do not require the newbie viewpoint, which is the reader’s window on the setting, we may well get to see more of other characters.
Sadly, from your perspective, it is very unlikely that Sydney will be completely sidelined (or even significantly so) for quite some time. Aside from the above factors she has built up a considerable core readership who love her the way she is. Because tastes are varied, and Sydney is very much a Marmite/Vegemite character (who folks either love or hate) many of the people who fall in the latter category will have long since lost interest.
So it would be quite foolish of Dave to alienate the other side of the readership by abandoning the primary draw for those folks remaining. That and the fact that Dave writes this as a passion, and Sydney is his chosen main protagonist.
Therefore no matter if you and others abandon the comic, he will still have the enthusiasm to write it, and there will always be a fanatical audience here ready to read it. Plus there are enough clever aspects to the story, the setting, the art, the ethics and the morality that there is a huge potential for it to leap into the big time. Should it get to catch the public eye, by some break, I think the ‘rabid fan’ base will become a global phenomenon, in its own niche.
So I would recommend you to stick around, if you can put up with her. As you will get to see more of the other characters, I am sure. But holding your breath for her to be dropped, as you want, is only likely to see you going blue in the face and feeling giddy.
In other words, sydney is the typical exposition character every lazy hack author uses when they need to worldbuild but aren’t competent enough to do so in a way that is organic and not ham-fisted.
If you don’t like the way the comic has been done for the last 518 pages, then why the fuck are you still here?
Don’t feed the trolls, we haven’t got enough troll chow to go around….
sure we do. it’s just more trolls
There was one? Oh, I got too caught up in admiring how very cute Sydney is above.
i would think this was satire if it wasn’t for this jerkoff’s post history
What post history, you nerdy, insecure little virgin? That was my first time posting here.
That’s so sad……
Personally, I have my claws crossed that such an abusive reply be deleted. Which is a shame, as, in between your abrasive points, you are clearly trying to get your point of view across. But DaveB is quite tolerant though, so he may put up with that, if it does not get worse.
As someone new here though, I suggest you have a look through the comments history. You will find the vast majority to be very civil.
There is a reason for that, in that the author does actually listen to comments, often responds, where he feels a need, and sometimes acts on the points raised.
But if you think about it, and really want to have your feedback acted upon, it would be far far better to do so in a constructive way, that is not so rude. It would also give your views the opportunity to be listened to in a more open manner, by the rest of the community. Rather than getting their backs up.
Incidentally we do have a number of the members of our community who were active trolls, and some of whom would still characterise themselves as that. But they have found that this is a much more interesting community to participate in when arguing over the points that they wish to make, rather than wasting time in trading insults.
We can get the latter anywhere on the internet. But if you really are drawn to the comic enough to care about whether the readership dwindles, then you do have a route to potentially influence the path it takes. If you want to.
And those reformed trolls? They include some of the most entertaining debaters. I think you might enjoy it here.
We are cool and smart enough to have fun without trolling on these forums.
*WILD APPLAUSE!!!!!* Touche!! Touche!!! I agree with everything you’ve said, but please ignore the intellectual poser who is looking the other way and threatening you with censorship. Your IQ is probably mountains higher than his. We’ve got a hacker/bully gang taking up residence here and I’m sure you must realize Dork is the same as asdf. :)
You do realise that the admin can see who we are from our IP addresses etc? So changing names is not something that the regulars need to stoop to, just to try and pat ourselves on the back?
And certainly not if trying to win the author over. Given that he is the admin. It is far better to earn the respect of the community. They are very generous with petting privileges!
*wags tail enticingly*
Although I like changing names, at times, for comedic effect. But I keep my avatar the same, so that folks can appreciate the gag. However we have no rules about such, so folks can feel free to do that, if they wish.
As regards the censoring point, please do note a distinction. We have been invited into Dave’s house. He keeps an open door, for any of us to wander in. But that does not mean that he, or the community, has to put up with offensive behaviour. Fortunately there have only ever been one or two people censored in all the years since the comic started (ignoring any SPAM advertising of course). Whilst the behaviour does not degenerate there is no threat.
The community is good enough though that people choose to moderate their own behaviour, without the need for intervention. As the regulars all know (and hence my hint about going back and having a look through some of the past pages of comments).
Thanks.
I blew off most of his screed. Self appointed spokespeople for “de community” are usually just bags of air. Obviously, some people identify a little too closely with Sydney … which is sad when you think about it.
*gives Buuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrp a friendly lick on the face*
Oh, and he’s a roleplayer. That’s a surprise.
Yorp isn’t a ‘self appointed’ spokesdog, he has been here for nearly as long as the comic has been going and has earnt his position (DaveB actually gave him the avatar personally)
so are we supposed to be impressed by the author giving somebody an avatar now, like it’s an induction to some kind of cult? christ what a bunch of spineless fucking bootlickers
No.
Although you may have noticed me standing up to defend you against abusive language apparently addressed your way (albeit that I was mistaken about the target). Despite the sensible received wisdom of “don’t feed the troll”.
I always hope that people might become more civilised if treated kindly and with civility. Sadly that does not always work out. And such a shame that it is lessening folk’s enjoyment of Easter.
Please accept my apologies all, for my failings contributing to such a toxic thread I shall not aggravate it with any further replies.
was referring to yorp, jackass.
Oh, well then, I apologize.
Sorry about the double post too.
I was bored. Most of our trolls are fun, intelligent, and informative.(Grrl Power attracts some of the finest of the species!) Even when you hate them you often learn something. This one just seems abusive. My bad.
Tee hee, the stuff I consume attracts better people than stuff other people consume! Please approve of me!
Ironic, given that the premise of this entire chain of excreta is essentially “stop liking what I don’t like” that devolved into name calling. Nothing in this pile of masturbatory trolling deserves any head-space, and yes that includes this reply.
Grow up. Move on.
Wow, you have the perfect username for the sort of post you just made. That is, both amount to no more than big old ugly belch. I’m sorry that Dave’s sense of humour is so annoying to you. This webcomic may not be for you.
also saluting uncovered. although that varies some by branch, i think.
Yup, we have had that debated before, by those with first hand experience, and there is a lot of variability.
Thanks to all those involved, for the recommendation to go and watch ‘Ghost in the Shell’! I am very glad that I caught it on IMAX. Plus it is good enough that I have flagged it to be bought for my permanent collection (‘someday, when my boat comes in’, as usual).
Not least because I want to be able to properly appreciate Major’s boss’s role. Seeing it in Bulgaria, it was obviously subtitled in Bulgarian, rather than English. Which I am poor enough at reading that I was unable to follow the Japanese parts. Fortunately though it was cleverly enough filmed that I could deduce the intent, but his performance was both pivotal and compelling enough that I want the full experience. In the fullness of time.
I had gotten worries about IMAX though, when watching the Pirates of the Caribbean trailer mind. It looked like a pop-up book (or like a school play with sliding scenery going across the screen, in layers)! And it was not the only trailer rather overselling the ‘this is available in IMAX’ point. Fortunately the ‘Wonder Woman’ trailer allowed me to see that some chose to go down the entertaining movie route instead. And so did ‘Ghost in the Shell’.
I did get a few odd artifices though (I think that being the term they used in the movie itself), where some things glitched. Quickly learnt not to tilt my head, to avoid one sort. But the other was unavoidable, where they had ‘hologram’ effects layered and giving me a result I am pretty sure was unintended. I suspect it is because of wearing glasses.
However my vision is bad enough that removing them, and just using the IMAX glasses, lost everything, so had no way to test that theory.
But that only happened in a couple of unimportant parts of transitional scenes (alleyways and the like) so it did not detract from my enjoyment. Looking at all of the holograms and effects being one of the interesting aspects of the movie in its own right. In addition to the compelling story, of course.
I have worked for decades avoiding seeing the odd inferior quality copy of the anime that popped up on YouTube (which has long been on my ‘to buy’ list). Plus had to dance around learning some aspects (because it was so influential in the sci fi culture, so wanted to learn them) whilst avoiding spoilers on others.
So was a bit surprised about one aspect. The fact that she is a cyborg, rather than a robot Which profoundly changes some spiritual aspects. But it remained a fascinating watch none the less. And very moving.
GitS is a great story concept – believe it or not, the 2017 movie is actually not quite as good as some other material with the same backstory. (It’s very good, don’t get me wrong.) I particularly liked the Stand-Alone Complex TV series, and its follow-on feature, Solid State Society. Yoko Kanno did some truly awesome music for that series. (The TV series came closest to incorporating some of the lighter humor of the original manga, but not all the way.)
if you like 3D movies, ask your optometrist about making a cross-polarized set of glasses for you in your prescription, in oder for you to be able to see at least some of the 3D effect
My budget requires buying premade off the shelf glasses. LV20 a pair for the ones I just bought ($10.85 / £8.67 / €10.22).
But I am launching my boat, at the moment. Hopefully I will get the wherewithal to put your cunning suggestion into practice, should it not sink.
about the only thing i could suggest in this case would be to get a pair of round-lensed polarized sunglasses that have the prescription you use, and take one lens out, turning it 90 degrees. this might not work very well, though, as I’m pretty sure that’s not the same type of polarizing.
Heh. My priorities are more of the level of ‘avoid freezing next winter’. So even going to the cinema is something I have to reserve for once a year or so.
Fortunately if I manage to keep the fires burning, it means that my cunning plan is working and I will be able to buy proper prescription ones. I am not very paws-on with practical stuff, so improvised solutions would be sure to fail.
Just make sure you get the first anime movie, the tv series and the other three movies first since they were done by the creators. This movie wasn’t and it shows. Oh and the translated manga too if you can swing that. I missed my chance in getting it for just $33. Then get that damaged beauty of a movie.
Oh, well then, I apologize.
That is perfectly OK, I forgive you!
*gives a friendly smile*
I do hope someone remembers that their current combatant is a mini-boss… and that the real boss is probably digging herself out of that rubble pile as we speak.
Actually Sciona is not even in that building. She was last seen under the Mars building (the one Pixel is currently recuperating in).
Thought:
I wonder when 30 minutes has gone by since Krona edited Sydney’s bladder.
Like said at the time, unless Sydney is a complete idiot, she would have taken some of the off-screen time to relieve herself, all Kronachrome did was pause the urgent cramps associated with needing to relieve oneself
You know, if you want a chiseled-looking asian guy to model Hiro from… that asian looking actor in the new Hawaii-5-O series would probably be good… can’t remember his name.
Hell, they have TWO.. Daniel Dae Kim and Ian Anthony Dale.
I really like how you (randomly?) change around the ladies’ pictures in the comic’s header!
It is random. But with cunning patterns, giving some consistent elements. Sydney is always in the first position, then Maxima, Dabbler and Anvil. The last two are shared out amongst the remaining heroes.
Which also gives us an interesting tie-in to Dave’s blog comments, on the previous comic pages, when Anvil made her entry. He originally envisaged her with a much bigger role, than has actually played out so far. Which would explain why Anvil has her permanent appearance in the roster.
I am glad that Dave intends to show us more of her now though. So far I have the impression that Anvil is the rock that provides stability to the team. As epitomised by her all but ignoring Math’s ‘attacks’ in the common room. Yet still managing to defeat him, one handed, when his distractibility left him off-guard!