Grrl Power #820 – Action overreaction
Hopefully I drew Sydney’s grip and stance right. There seems to be a few different ways to hold a revolver, depending on how the back end of it is shaped I think. Anyway, that’s not really the point of the page. Also it looks like Sydney’s right arm is locked, but it could be bent slightly at the elbow, just bent away from the camera so you can’t really tell. Pretend it’s whichever you think is best. Let’s assume that Seneca actually instructed Sydney on how to shoot the thing without maiming herself, because Sydney in a wrist brace would severely limit her utility in any super action.
No matter how well educated Sydney is about shooting a big bang, she’s still going to throw herself back like a crash test dummy, because she’s Sydney. If I wanted to shock you all, I would have had her fire the gun, then calmly hand it to Seneca and say “Hmm, yes, I see what you mean about the kick.” Actually, I would have done that if I wanted to hint to you guys that Sydney got replaced by a doppleganger at some point, because there’s basically zero chance she would act all cool and collected after firing a big honking gun like that.
Yes, I remembered to draw hearing protection on everyone this page. I was planning on saying they’re all wearing those foam earplugs, but, eh. I would forget to draw those too.
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To be honest, why arent sidney practicing with her orbs instead? Light tentacle melee combat, and pew pew with and without shield, and especially flying with shield alternating between fly/shield/pewpew orb in combat?
I mean, its already been done, so chances are good she will have to use it again?
Small arms should come very low down on training I think.
They’ve already explained that the point of a super having a gun is to intimidate people who don’t know that they should be scared spitless by a pointed finger or glowing ball in somebody’s hand.
I expect she is getting training, or at least practice, in on orb management.
I would also point out that this is probably amazing training in self control for Sydney too-they did mention they were worried about her slamming some dude at the end of the first super fight. More control means less likelyhood a lack of meds would interfere with her “not maiming someone”
Because the comment section loves guns (or loves to discuss about guns, at least). I’ve served, but I still think that guns are boring.
In all fairness, I’m sure you have interests that other people think are boring. The gun discussion over the past couple comics is the tiniest portion of ‘geeking out’ over whatever the subject matter of the day is, and I appreciate DaveB trying to depict it as accurately as possible. If the subject matter switched over to muscle cars or the finer points of crocheting, I wouldn’t mind a bit, because even though the subjects don’t interest me, it’s always fun to learn new things. :)
You’re proving my point: Most of the readers here are interested in guns, therefore we see Sydney practising with guns.
The main driver of the comic is the comedy, and this page is funny!
Importantly though the story is very much character driven. This whole scene clearly stems from Sydney’s motivations, and it begged to be shown. Remember that she is a tom boy and interested in role playing games. Which do heavily feature weapons.
Any gamer worth their salt likes to explore their own capabilities, when exposed to the opportunity. Recall Sydney wanting a set of lock picks (which she had already investigated how to use)? The same goes for weapons, where she obviously would want to find out her limitations (and overestimates her potential, as we have grown to expect).
As for reader demographics, it does tend to attract and retain people interested in the topics it features. Obviously it is super hero fan heavy. But we do have a high proportion of law enforcement and military (serving or otherwise). Likewise a LOT of ADHD readers and others with a variety of cognitive issues (myself included), due to such being portrayed sympathetically and even heroically.
We even have a number of bronies, due to Halo being a bit of a My Little Pony fan, and there being various mentions scattered throughout the comic. Such as the general envisaging Sydney unleashing them from Tubey, and the guest DJ at the night club. Each appearance gets mentioned in MLP fan sites, and draws in more readers. Likewise I imagine we probably got quite a few from people saying ‘Hah, have you ever seen a chain gun with bayonets fitted? Check this out!’
So I think you have the cause and effect the wrong way round.
No, Sydney has just joined a newly-formed PLEA (Paramilitary Law Enforcement Agency), and part of that involves training in the correct use and maintenance of firearms, even if the individual has access to far more powerful abilities (even Maxi has a mini-canon she calls a ‘handgun’)
MLEA, if you want to be correct in your invented acronyms. ‘Paramilitary’ indicating a pseudo military or unofficial force. Whereas Archon are a legitimate military arm, formed under appropriate legislation.
So, paramedics are pseudo medics? o_O
And paratroopers were pseudo soldiers? O_o
In this case, could we just go with them dealing with the ‘paranormal’ elements?
Plus, PLEA sounds better (and easier pronounceable) than MLEA :P
So, paramedics are pseudo medics? When they’re immobilising your broken leg in the field, yes ;)
And paratroopers were pseudo soldiers? No, “Splat Cats”…
Yes, PLEA, as in PLEAse play nice, or do we have to PLEAd you guilty?
“Para” actually means beyond, rather than less than. And paratroopers was a neologism to shorten “parachute-equipped troopers” into less of a mouthful.
Just so.
Sorry that I don’t get to reply, or even comment, very often nowadays. 12.5 hour shifts and 3 hours commuting doesn’t leave much time for other things. Mind you I do get to have lazy days off, but have some pretty time consuming hobbies/activities even then. I be able to secure affordable studio space.
“Most of the readers here are interested in guns” – Mithos
Not necessarily: we only see the subset who are interested enough to post comments. Which will tend to skew towards whatever the topic of the page is, be that guns or hot food or astronomical objects, with no guarantee of overlap between those different subsets. Of course, there is also the subset of regular commenters who’ll take an interest in just about anything on-page for at least as long as it’s the current discussion.
This is why:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-327-ask-a-self-evident-question/
I loved that one!!!
Others have already mentioned the fear factor, though if that was the only reason, it’d be enough just to know how to hold it.
Personally, I think it’s for those situations where someone manages to disable your powers, or you have to pretend not to have any.
Halo is a badass superhero, but remove the orbs, and she’s just a hyperactive girl with a superhuman tollerance to spicy food.
Once her agent training is complete though, she’ll be a badass without her orbs, and an even bigger badass with her orbs, than she was before.
the thing is, that guns also go “bang” which is more attention getting and provokes a visceral reaction that the unfamiliar “wyooom” of a superpower’s pre-fire state, and a magazine of blanks won’t destroy anything in a showy fashion
“.454 Casull? Pah! Only GIRLS use .454 Casull! REAL Men use .577 Trantor! Due to American Vs British caliber measuring it fire a .600 caliber soft lead bullet*….On a misty morning on the range you can actually watch the bullet in flight…”
“Err…I AM a girl!”
“Well then, jolly good, carry on!”
(* Admitidly at a very leasurely velocity)
Yeah, I can totally see that happening :D
I own a ruger redhawk in 454casull and that’s not a fun gun to shoot all that often. Did you copy Taurus raging pull series?
Looks like weaver or modified weaver stance. Both legitimate!
When she saw the bayonet mounted chain gun, Halo wanted to use the Ripley stance.
I wonder if holding the PPO would have any kind of useful effect if she held it while firing the gun.
Not unless one of the features which has yet to be unlocked/discovered aids in targeting. Especially as the PPO has a safety feature, for its normal use, which requires intense concentration before it will activate. On top of which would be the requirement to hold the gun one handed, which is a less stable stance (of particular importance due to her slight frame, as per above).
the PPO seems to follow the green lantern ring rule of firing where she thinks about firing. The only time we have seen her miss with the PPO is when the target moved out of the way while the pew was en-route.
It’s cool that Seneca has the reflexes to catch the gun as Sydney flails and falls to the ground. But, she catches it by the muzzle… Wouldn’t it be really hot on bare skin after being fired a second earlier?
Eh, maybe? There isn’t actually that much energy in a single shot, even .454 casull, and not all of it is actually dumped into the barrel. As little as possible, actually.
Assuming the gun was cold (not actually a safe assumption on a range-day but whatevs.) and she only fired a single round as depicted, it might be slightly warm to the touch, there, but probably not really enough to notice.
Gun barrels only tend to get really hot during sustained fire. Plus if she was being extra careful she’d grab just the stiffening ribs at the top and bottom of the barrel assembly, putting even more thermal mass between her and the exhaust.
If she had grabbed the muzzle or the gap between the cylinder and the barrel, that would be a different story as those are where the majority of the hot combustion gases escape a revolver.
Also consider, maybe the heat isn’t enough to hurt her….
Seneca isn’t a Super though
Nor are Peggy or Math. But both are tough enough that they could hold a hot bit of metal for a moment. Just so long as it is not hot enough to actually burn or char flesh.
Was just getting in before the posts about what sort of power Neca had
A single round through the barrel would make the barrel warm. What really causes barrels to heat up is to send multiple rounds through the barrel in rapid succession.
@zooLover I had this same thought. I think @Azreal Rose did a good job of giving a reason it wouldn’t. I know how hot brass is after being fired, but I have never tested the heat of a barrel after firing. All that to say my experience can neither prove nor disprove Azreal, so we’ll have to take his/her word for it.
I’ve started re-reading again, just for the lolz while waiting for the next page…
We know, she has the 20 point Disadvantage “Terrible Liar”, which causes a -5 in Lying. We also know, she has a +3 in Deflection. What else does she have? I would like to see her character sheet one day. Maybe create a GrrlPower RPG? I’d buy that.
+10 to resist spicy foods (a 3 point advantage, as it can cause a reaction bonus, from individuals who are impressed by such). The potential for her to use it as an offensive weapon is offset by the reaction penalty from that, and the fear / disgust caused in other individuals. This is my assessment, rather than figures which have appeared in comic.
I will have to go through again and write down every mention of her stats.
@Yorp You would think she would also get a circumstance bonus to intimidate checks while and after eating spicy foods. Clearly in some circles it gives her a Charisma bonus. https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-686-interstellarnet-famous/
Yup.
And her ADHD is proven to give her a huge Initiative bonus and in most cases nullify any surprise advantage attackers might have against her.
I couldn’t find anyone else mentioning this but I do see an art issue; Syd’s left thumb in the fist panel is either really tiny all of a sudden or wrapping around the grip in a weird and non-obvious way.
True. Also, with the hammer cocked, (as shown) shouldn’t the trigger be moved much further back, to the single action position? I’m not familiar with that firearm, but that’s how most revolvers work.
“You could have caught me, Mr. Reflexes!”
“Technically yes, but I would have had to knock over one of these two ladies standing in front of me to do it. Saving one girl from falling but directly causing another girl to fall is like a net-zero value for chivalry. Actually more of a negative, because knocking her down would be my fault, and you falling down is your own fault.”
“…Do men normally think things through this much?”
“Of course, all the time… uh… I mean… Hurr hurr boobies sports explosions yay!”
More importantly it would have ruined their judging. Clearly all three were hiding the voting cards behind their backs, and he would not want to spoil the moment!
He probably has the time to actually consider all of those things consciously and act…
Sydney in a wrist brace would hardly limit her utility at all. She doesn’t need to move her hands to use her orbs.
Custom brace would include orb pocket to hold one against the palm.
Eh, that depends. She seems to need to physically aim the Pew Pew Orb.
Maybe not. Considering what she did with Lightfoot.
It’s prob more instinctive to look, but I bet she doesn’t need too
Also, aren’t barrels of guns hot after they have been fired?
I wonder if she could use the Lighthook / molest orb to hold the weapon?
Hold it, yes, fire with it, no. Not unless it can become a lot thinner than we have seen it in previous uses. It simply would not fit through the trigger guard.
So Halo would need to fire with one hand and hold/brace the weapon with the other. Pointless with her normal firearm, but if she does have to fire a bigger weapon for some reason, that is a valid technique, despite how weird it would look holding an orb and firearm together.
In fact Sydney would be able to deploy weapons designed to be vehicle mounted or fired from a tripod or by a tough super. Simply because the tentacle has 16 tons of lifting force, so could easily control the recoil and manage the weight of some hefty weapons.
Although most of the time it would probably be more efficient just to use the PPO, there are some circumstances where Halo may not have the option (for instance if she loans it out to Varia) or may not want to (such as if wanting to avoid starting a fire).
I was thinking about 1-handing a howitzer with the lighthook myself.
Then again, the PPO already has that setting (but it seems weaker than an actual howitzer or even a gatling gun).
I don’t know if the orbs would let her 1-hand one of those huge sonic cannons they used against The Incredible Hulk though, since they level up primarily with mechanical damage.
HOLY CRAP SHE CAN ACTUALLY USE OL’ PAINLESS.
Maybe on some future date, Sydney will have a forearm-mounted weapon that fires when she flexes a fist- so she can hold an orb and aim and fire an actual wrist rocket at the same time.
My proposed equipment upgrade would be a harness built into her jacket with pockets for orbs, so that she can fly via her ability to mentally control their paths, while still having two free hands.
Towing equipment, for that purpose, have been suggested before. But yours sounds like the most elegant proposal, especially as it would be made by Iron Cloth and thereby be strong enough to be fit for purpose.
So…She would have been able to use that Gattlin with the Bayonettes if she had used Molestorb?
Her back arm would be wrong IF she wasn’t a novice with firearms. Generally you don’t want locked limbs with any firearm as it causes more muzzle sway do to the limbs being stressed. But since she is a novice and trying to compensate for the recoil she is afraid of then her locking her limbs and “pushing” into the gun makes sense.
A lot of people who get powers in comics tend to rely almost solely on those powers. I am glad to see your comic does not fall into that trap. There is A LOT of unknowns in Sydney’s powers. For example, what is their source of power? Is it somehow tied to her? Training to have a backup is a good idea. Also getting experience OUTSIDE of the power can give insight INTO the power. Like how they were talking about finger control and positioning may come up later with almost ANY of the orbs but most likely the PPO. I mean if she has a button she needs to push on it and needs to aim it more than she has, those lessons on the firearms will come in handy.
Firearms are not something I get super excited about but I served for 6 years and the discipline needed to be GOOD with a firearm, not just adequate, is pretty intense.
You have to be aware of your own breathing, heart beat, finger pull, eye dominance, and various other factors to retain a consistent accurate result. The longer the range you are firing over the more insane it gets because at one point the curvature and rotation of the earth comes into play as well as environmentals like wind and air pressure. Anything at about 800m is INSANE. 300m is the fartherst the Army trains and tests at in the Army for Basic Soldiers.
At that range a man target like shown in a previous comic looks like nothing more than a small black dot to most people. Its the farthest consistently reliable distance most people can shoot without the need for scopes. There are handfuls of people who can reliably use iron sights at greater distances but generally these people are not the norm.
Sidearms generally are rated for accuracy out to about 100m-150m depending on caliber and the firearm itself. They are generally used for the purposes stated in the comic, intimidation and control. Outside of the civilian sector sidearms are generally seen as extra weight more than useful accessories, with a few exceptions like fighter pilots and Special Forces.
Retired 21 year Army veteran here. Also former range instructor in same. In response to the question “I hope I drew her stance right”, pretty much what Umbral said.
One of the other things I’ve seen female soldier have issues with on the M9 Beretta 9mm pistol is steady hold. Females have a harder time, as a rule, holding the pistol steady against it’s weight, causing the point of impact to wobble around. This is even more prevalent when they have a laser sight, since they can see that they’re “wobbly” and not on target.
They then tend to “clamp down” with their hands trying to steady the wobble. They can start gripping so hard that they start to shiver from muscle strain (the whole thing would go away if they just relaxed their grip a bit).
As you said, they also have a much greater tendency to anticipate the recoil, pushing forward and down on the pistol just as they start to pull the trigger. This is not exclusive to women, of course, as I was actually hit by the ricochet of a guy who was a former marine corporal! He was anticipating the recoil so much he was putting the rounds into the floor from only 25 feet away! Oddly enough, in my entire 21 years of military service, that was the only time I ever got shot.
Seriously? I mean, i’ve seen girls get thrown around by their guns, but only because their grip and stance were horseshit. Shotguns have far more kick than any callibur of pistol and girls can fire those without being rag-dolled.
It’s not the recoil throwing Sydney back, it’s her own overdramatic overreaction.