Grrl Power #848 – AgentConFest
Lorlara is 100% channeling Drax there in panel 2. I actually can’t read that word bubble without hearing it in Dave Bautista’s voice.
“Primitive fire stick” is such a douchey “my world has higher tech than your world” thing to say. Okay, maybe they’ve been using vape pens for 700 years, or they have some kind of “caseless” cigarette that chemically burns itself down without any actual fire or even heat, but it’d be a bit like driving Luke’s landspeeder up to an internal combustion car and saying “Your primitive beast-of-burdenless carriage is quaint!” Dude. Your shit hovers 18″ off the ground, which is cool, but both vehicles get you where you want to go.
Max is enjoying a little me time while all the other agencies bumble all over each other. I guess Archon wasn’t the only one watching TV earlier tonight.
I kind of agree with Max. The cloaks might kind of work for field uniforms, especially if they add a practical layer of protection. Yeah, they could hamper dexterity in certain situations, but they’d also allow people to ready a gun or click on their radio without being observed doing it. And since they’re a heavier material than a flappy cape, they’d have less chance of getting hung up on pokey out bits or whipped over their faces or anything like that. Plus, they’d be designed to break away with a pop of a button or two. Hmm.
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So he is like Mr. Burns and diseases then: indestructible?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0aumnhWsAANlZ3.jpg
Dang dude: even the Blockbuster guys showed up. Late fees are brutal kids.
I would like to second the motion for cloaks as part of the uniform.
On another subject, I think there’s something wonky going on with the coding on your cast page. All the sections are open with weird brackets and some of the coding visible as text. Using chrome on a windows 10 desktop. (I was trying to see if Deus was his first or last name, since people are “Mr. Deus”ing him.)
(Really enjoy your comic, btw, but mostly just lurk commentless.)
It’s WordPress/ComicPress. WordPress is nearly as good as M$ Word, just more difficult to use. I note all the exposed code is a closing for a div element, possible that WordPress is doing a COBOL by exposing faulty code.
My guess is Deus is familiar with Mr. T.’s work, and is paying tribute: he really is Mr. Deus!
The cast page is wildly overdue for an update and overhaul, but it always seems to be about #9 on my list of things to do.
NO CAPES! *said in Edna Mode’s voice*
Can we please shoot Edna Troll in the face and let that mole-meme finally fucking die!!
No. you will suffer the endless repetition of a well foreshadowed end (writers take note- this is How Its Done) that has become a meme because the payoff was so well done.
If anyone ends up dead due to a freaking revolving door, then they shouldn’t be allowed out of the house, let alone fight super-powered criminals!!
payoff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX20ocN5I3M
He wasn’t the only one though
A meme will never die as long as enough people are annoyed by it.
Well played Ro Jaws. Well played.
http://www.dumpaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Well-Played-funny-pictures-dumpaday-22.jpg
I thought the third agent in Panel #6 was Agent K from MIB …
Agent Johnson from Die Hard. I wonder where Agent Johnson (no relation) is.
“No sir, there’s no such agency, you must have misheard. Now if you wouldn’t mind looking at this light…”
All Deus needs now is for the Postal Inspection Service and the NOAA Corp to show up.
The Post Office seems boring, until the right person is pushed into Going Postal.
Ideally, while Deus has been in the USofA, Lord Vetinari has assumed the title of Tyrant in Galytn.
Is that a sort-of Mulder and Scully I see there?
Honestly… I am surprised it took the agencies THIS long to get to him.
NO CAPES! https://imgur.com/gallery/9Ybgz
The Bat and Soup Clans would both like a word with you
I just imagined Sidney in a big cloak, doing her best out-of-place Batman impression — not that her best is any good.
“And since they’re a heavier material than a flappy cape…”
Yeah, go with that. “It’s not a cape!” Uh huh. Sure. Yep. Totally believe you. Uh huh. Yeah.
The Marines have a love/hate relationship with boat cloaks. They look great, but cost several pay checks and there’s only really one opportunity to wear them a year.
https://terminallance.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Strip_562_Evening_Dress.jpg
Conversely, wubby is life. (only a crayon-snarfing jarhead will understand that)
All hail the woobie!
Coordination, folks: it’s about more than suits and sunglasses!
(Spitz and Swallows? Really? Lecter would eat your brains for that one.)
I missed that. Oh lord, it’s so bad, lol
Imagine Lorlara was sm8king a joint and with those FBI agents present,won’t be good for Deus!
They can suck it. An Alari has the best diplomatic immunity ever: Guest of Galytn and actual alien. She could be blowing pot smoke rings at them and they couldn’t touch her.
And if they tried to get handsy for some career ending idiot reason, well, she can fly and they can’t.
Dimplomatic immunity only goes so far. Some guy named Arjen Rudd learned that the hard way.
Just as soon as Lorlara shoots a cop and then claims diplomatic immunity, she can be shot in the face.
Diplomatic immunity has to be granted. Deus would’ve needed to have his government get her approved–and I’m not sure that Deus himself has that immunity–flouting the UN and the US diplomatic corps can have consequences. Given that no one knew about the situation in Galytn, that means the US likely has no diplomatic presence there, and may not even have officially recognized Deus’ claim to legitimate governance–especially if they’re viewing him as a belligerent force. Galytn may not have yet ratified the various treaties that allow such relations.
So if either he OR his entourage violate US (or even local) law, they could easily end up being a guest of the state in a much more official capacity–the kind that comes with orange jumpsuits. Hell, there’s probably a few f
olks explicitly watching for that sort of error. Note: All this is hypothetical, since she isn’t smoking wacky tobaccy–Deus is unlikely to make that kind of error while his situation is still tenuous.
It’s fun how they all bypassed his Lawyers .. going to make for good sause when the roasting begins.
Protective cloaks are already a big thing in magic settings, and since this is one of those then yes. They also have one other advantage which is that you can make multiple varieties and enchant or enhance them in various ways, the most obvious being the DnD staple, already LotR ripoff cloak of Elvenkind, for stealth operations.
I hate to burst the bubble but as far as combat is concerned cloaks would be a major disadvantage. First their are too many ways to get tangled up in it as you move about and do maneuvers. Also Edna Mode made a great case as to why. Combat troops are not trying to sneak a gun out they carry it out front and don’t care if you notice.
Now for spy’s they might like them but I think they use trench coats to cover most of what you think they can do. As for Dnd and other stuff they needed one more place to have a magic item… I have a ring on each hand, a necklace, gloves, boots and a belt where else can I add a magic item…. I know Ill use a cloak.
No, Edna was a idiot! Not as much as those who like to repeat that tired (and stupid) meme
Cloaks are fine if you are someone like Superflan or Blatman, someone who was killed by a revolving door should never have been allowed outside in the first place, let alone fight crime
Partially right for the frontline troop bit but…
https://www.quora.com/How-could-someone-use-a-cloak-or-cape-in-a-fight-Was-it-ever-done-historically
Cloaks have actually seen historical use in fighting for a reason and as far as this setting is concerned carrying a buckler downtown (the preferred off-hand tool) around is simply not feasible. So in this particular setting magical cloaks are somewhat plausible for any arc-whatever operation that requires some level of inconspicuous-ity (its a word now, just go with it :p )
The use of a cape is a combat maneuver in at least one role playing game. I’m pretty sure it’s in whichever GURPS book handles things like swashbuckling and fighting with light one-handed blades.
Anima Beyond Fantasy specifically has a section dedicated to using capes as weapons, but it’s an “Anime Bullshit” type of weird combo game.
Thank you. Cloaks and to a lesser extent capes do have terrific combat value. From simply obscuring the body you can feint easily to actually using it as improvised armor. Or net. Rain protection. Better heat regulation than some jackets.
However the cloak did dissipate in use when heavier machinery and became more prevalent. Sure it can get snagged in all manner of ways but so can a scarf or coat. Difficulty is a cloak or cape is also far easier to pop put of than a full length buttoned up coat. And in this case. Maxima can be fed to a mountain tunneling drill and not so much as scuff her shiny skon. Cloaks also make the wearer look bigger.
If you are swordfighting; if you are shooting laser beams from the eyes while flying at mach 3 It’s a whole different matter…
Weighted cpaes — lead, a fair amount — are a weapon, used by several police forces in the Western world. They loo innocent, but are effective in combat.
One of the Orc Princesses in “YAFGC” used a cloak against some Gi-Ants, very effectively as well
Can’t remember if it was weighted or a normal cloak though
Nearly every super durable super fighter that can’t fly should wear weighted capes, so they don’t get punched to the moon.
Super strong supers(combat or not) need super heavy armor to your choice for easing force precision(so you don’t destroy everything) or/and for the extra durability.
That’s actually something I respect about this comic at least they tried giving supers contemplating gadgets.
Yes, there’s always the possibility to improve(Achilles could wear less aerodynamic clothing to avoid getting punched into the sun, Anvil, Stallward and Hiro could invest in counteracting things that aren’t blunt force like by putting on reflective clothing and putting on face masks to protect from airborne threads such as diseases, Maxima should always carry a bunch of massive balls around to Max out, Math could use something to enhance his attacks like brass nuckles, stones, cuffs or mace to take on more powerful supers or supers with very opposite powers(example: flying super)), but it does very well.
and another thing one can do with the boat cloak . go piccolo ” oh this was just slowing me down” drops the cloak and hits the floor like rock Lee training weights XD
I like how the first two agents are spits and swallows. Now are those code names or did the higher ups place them together just for the joke?
It’s freaking SpitzER!!!
I thought the Spits or Swallows joke was a tie-in to sucking an Ash Lord. As in, would you spit or swallow at the end.
HELLO!
It’s not Fire-Resistant, it’s Fire ‘Retardant’.
Also, NO CAPES.
Cloaks are fine if they’re worn properly, BUT NO CAPES.
Agree, also cloaks with hoods are even better because you can maintain an air of anonymity. Also another handy thing would be a flame retardant shemagh, for when you want to be stylish and practical while in the Middle East
They are also practical when it rains.
Okay, you tell Maxi she can’t wear a cape, and why
It is hard on jet engines when her cape gets snagged in one and she gets sucked through the forward fan disc. It is even more damaging when she physically interacts with the compressor blades and the turbine blades at the end. It won’t do her outfit any good either.
When is she going to be slow enough, and cross paths with, a jetliner? o_O
Archon fliers have the same sort of indicator that planes have so they don’t become an unknown hazard in the air
That would be a transponder – even civilians can see what commercial and private planes are in the air and where they’re headed.
Obviously military craft have some of their own rules – I know a few people who worked air control near the edges of Air Force testing grounds in the western US who picked up some interesting radar tracks during their careers, and later had that day’s info erased and told “you never saw that, and might not have even been at work today.” Their best guesses later were the SR-71 and the B2, although a few of the younger ones tied to the nearby AF base say they’ve seen traces in the last 5 years (or been ordered to shut down scanners at specific hours) that can’t be tied to any publicly acknowledged craft.
A lot of people with speaking parts aren’t credited in the who’s who. A minor oversight but your loyal readership is happy to point these things out to you.
They have to be recurring characters with speaking parts
And just in time, here come the Feds looking for their piece of the action, just like clockwork.
I adore Max’s internal monologue here.
It IS a bitchin’ cloak, I gotta say.
We don’t need the help of Iron Cloth to make a cloak fire resistant or flame retardant*, we can just use the same materials that we do for existing uniforms. Adding bullet and/or cut resistance is trickier, especially if we want to avoid making it too stiff or heavy. And I would be very cautious about relying on more than one of those protections in the same mission: the best materials for cut resistance are significantly weakened by exposure to high temperatures, for instance.
*Yes, those are both valid terms. Most fibres can take a flame-retardant treatment: the fabric might catch fire and/or melt locally around the point of attempted ignition, but the fire will die out quickly rather than spreading further and potentially setting something else alight. Some fibres are inherently fire-resistant and don’t burn in the first place, but that same chemical inertness makes them a bit less receptive to other useful finishes such as water/oil repellents (and they’re significantly more expensive). Take your pick, we can sell you both.