Grrl Power #1058 – Firehaboob
I wanted the sound effect on that explosion to be reminiscent of those concussion fireworks, the ones that just boom without any razzle dazzle. Honestly those are my favorite, but I’ve always enjoyed joint rattling bass. Generally when those go off, there’s the “sound getting to you” delay, then there’s the echo of the sound that went in every direction but toward you deflecting off all the buildings and whatnot nearby. Unfortunately I decided that “BOOM-waboo-boo-whoom” took up too much space and might not have been quite as evocative as I had hoped. So it’s just “BOOM,” so you’ll have to imagine the cool delayed echo yourself.
Incidentally, a little googling indicates that concussion fireworks are roughly as loud as flashbang grenades, coming in at 170-175 db, but there’s got to be some factor that differentiates a flahsbang from a massive air burst concussion that feels like someone opened a door in your face from half a mile away. It’s got to be frequency? It displaces far more air but at a slightly slower rate, so it’s lower but also thumpier. I can’t help but imagine if you set of a concussion firework in a house before your SWAT team ran in, I don’t think they’d have to actually run in, cause all the walls of the house would shatter and the contents of the house would be flung onto the lawn. I assume the prior occupants would have collapsed organs and be spitting up bone marrow.
If you have waist length hair, you’ve got some hair ties in your pocket or purse. Anvil left her clutch at home this trip I guess. That or the gale force winds already ripped all her sprungy band right out of her hair.
I guess Max decided “If [Darude] is aware of my presence…” wasn’t sufficient, so she announced herself.
Terre and Kito are under the impression that Super powers increase with experience and use, which is generally true, but some people start at a higher power level than others, and some people cap out at certain levels. Even Deus isn’t sure if these are hard limits or if like the very top end of athletic competitions, there are other genetic factors determining the absolute zenith. Like, anyone can be a bodybuilder, but even with equal access to nutrition and weights, only some people have the genes to really maximize and hold on to those gains. Likewise, anyone can run, I mean, barring a fucked up ankle that never healed right or like, if there’s something wrong with your spine… okay, most people can run, but only one guy is going to be the absolute fastest, and a different guy is going to be the most long distancy, and neither of those guys are going dominate at the hurdles. Some of it is genetic, and at some point, you need to make choices about specialization. Energy Blasteroid Man might be able to train up to match Maxima’s destructive power, but he’s probably going to be sacrificing range or beam versatility or the size of his energy tank or something. But superpowers are still too new to know for certain.
The June Vote Incentive is up! What’s that dripping down Sydney’s face? Uh… well, actually, clicking on the link won’t actually give it away necessarily, cause the thumbnail is from one of the, er, advanced pictures in the series, if you take my meaning. Yes, I mean there is a nude version of Sydney (and guest) over at the Patreon version.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv0tGx80yLk
at 6:00 is the .. boom .. you want…
it is call the “F.A.E.” fuel – air explosive.
oh yeah.. play on low volume first time….
also ,, at 10:23/24 the blue car was NOT part of the test oops… it shattered all the windows.
thank you for reminding me of my favorite Finnish (they are Finnish right?) youtubers
Honestly… You don’t need to have waist-long hair to need/carry spare hair ties. Shoulder length can be …inconveniencing… enough in the wrong circumstances..
Sydney probably has a few in her utility belt
Not since the time her Dress Purples got nicknamed “The Claymore”, she doesn’t. Hairpins EVERYWHERE. Including in the lights and plumbing.
I really, really like Parfait’s expressions here… Subtly, but well-done..
Her first encounter with supers “calmly” discussing Protocol while one of (for her) The Other Side sets off the equivalent of a small nuke as a … Unfriendly Warning Shot…
Max is already bringing out her tactical grade powers right off the bat.. I think we’re going to see exactly why she’s, in ways, on-par with Sydney..
The Other Side?
Deus and Tom are villians. Parafait works for Tom, who works with deus.
Sydny and maxima are in charge of maintaining the status quo, Deus wants to change it. (for what a super-intellect believes is for the better, but change is traditionally the villian role, until they succede.)
honestly I would call them antagonists. Villain is what we use for a evil person. but Antagonist just appose the protagonist. thus why the “hero antagonist” is a trope, sometimes the protagonist is on the opposing side of what is commonly called the good side, or the antagonists is a generally great person who happens to work for some shit people.
A detonation is an explosion that propagates faster than the speed of sound.
There are a number of ways to create such an explosion, fuel air mix being but one of them.
Black powder won’t do it. Some other firework chemicals will, but many are quite “touchy” when mixed that way. Most of the modern mixes use aluminum or magnesium powder.
They certainly will create a monster BBOOOOOOMMM though.
Yep.
I learned WAY too much about such when I was a kid and played with things that I wasn’t supposed to. It could have gone very badly wrong for me in any number of ways. It did for a couple of other people I knew. I have not mixed anything since 1992 and barring a nationwide war or apocalypse, I won’t. I know better now.
That said? ‘Boom’ can be very exciting as long as there is not an ‘Ouch!’ immediately after. But you BETTER pay a trained professional do it or things get messy fast. The blast/flash is not what generally kills you. The shockwave and/or fragments do. No one who has not done such professionally seems to get that. I did, for a bit, but I get too excited around such. Good or bad feelings, emotional people should NOT handle things that go boom. It rarely ends well.
Using a weight to tie the hair of a kinetic absorber sounds like a cheat tier power generator. As it swings around pulling her hair, banging against her, she gains power.
Judging by the time she got swung around by her hair by Vehemence I’d say her powers might not work like that. Cool thought though for sure.
Anvil could have been absorbing power while being swung around by her hair. Just because it inconvenienced her doesn’t mean it stopped her powers fro working.
I think the argument against a weighted hair tie is the same as for clapping her hands or jumping in place – absorbing energy she is generating is at best a net zero, even with perfect transmission and no losses. I can imagine an argument that it might recover some energy of movement (e.g. by making a weight act like a steadicam instead of swinging around while she walked), but that’s not really new energy and I’m not convinced it would even cancel out the extra energy of carrying it.
Clearly further testing is needed. I would love a couple pages of experiment montages with the various team powers, I think those would be a way more interesting monthly incentive for existing readers. But might not draw as many new ones, and eats up potential plot points really fast, so I can see why Dave hasn’t done it.
Something about Sydney’s face here looks VERY Howard Taylor-ish. I approve.
Something about Sydney’s attitude towards instructions by her superior, however, I do NOT approve at all. That’s a Letter of Counseling in a normal unit.
Which one? She’s been given conflicting instructions by two of her superiors.
That’s only a problem if they’re at the same rank, now, isn’t it?
Diplomatically, this is a nothing burger. Known S-class Evil Bad Guy comes to town with minions & looking for a fight, super on the scene takes charge. This is a case where authority is defined by firepower.
Whether this was set up by Deus or not, ARC is going to make it VERY that their personnel are going to act in defense of civilians & implicit support of the locals WHENEVER and WHEREEVER such a thing happens, be it every thousand pages or every 10. This is section 5A of the PR playbook. This is not a surprise of any kind.
saw the streak and mentally heard the last broadside from the USS Missouri…..
That most awesome of all fireworks that simply flash and “BOOM” are Titanium Shells… incidentally, you can’t buy one without a license, which is a real shame, ’cause I’d totally liquify my internal organs with one given half a chance!
I’m loving Parfait’s introduction to Ultimate Cosmic Power, Maxima style!
You CAN if you are in the great state of Pennsylvania my friend. In the state of PA, it is all over the counter and regularly available, year round. Me and a buddy used to make yearly trips for just that purpose. Though we didn’t buy the big stuff for our block parties we could have without more than a drivers license. In PA the license only applies to setting them off in public, not buying them. A crazy loophole you can drive a U-Haul Van through (I know because I have.)
The actress on the “Starfleet Command” commercial could play Sydney right down to the glasses and bangs.
Sonequa Martin-Green, or Michael Burnham from ST: Discovery?
I hadn’t noticed the resemblance.
It was on online add. I saw it watching YouTube. I didn’t recognize the actress. The add features game action, pulling away to show a petite blond gamer girl kicking back in satisfaction after she has completed her mission. I know Sydney is more of a table top player but I could see her getting her Trek on.
Next time make a note and a recording if possible.
Some years ago I had the same feeling when I saw somebody in the background on a photo with some politicians.
Did download the picture but forgot (didn’t think it necessary) to do the same with the article, note date and title, etc.
Still on the fence to just mail it to DaveB.
Ooops, suddenly DaveB is inundated with pictures and videos of real-life look-alikes of the Grrl Power cast.
Anvil’s hair is becoming such a constant problem for combat that she’s really should consider either cutting it (likely undesirable for personal reasons) or some seriously tight hairdo for combat situations
I knew several women when I was in the Army who had hair that was only slightly longer than shoulder length hair.
They always had it in a very tight bun when on duty.
Honestly, I would think that ARCHON would have hair regulations when their operatives were in the field for a (potential) combat assignment.
Hey Dave, hair buns are also easier to draw…….. hint, hint. Keep the long hair for when they are around the base or doing ‘civiliany’ stuff.
With this length she’d have a beehive. Maybe a brained pony tail.
Kenya can repurpose her hair to be a very (and unexpected) effective weapon. She has the ability to absorb insane levels of kinetic energy. If her hair id braided properly, a simple & subtle toss of her head could send those braids slicing through just about any material mankind has ever manufactured. Undoubtedly, bodies of all sorts of creatures that can’t resist … those who can could be whipped into the next country.
All she has to do is think of the concept, then practice it. Braiding things into her hair could make the tactic even more effective, while weighting it down to reduce problems similar to her current dilemma. There are probably all sorts of “things” with “interesting” properties (alien, arcane, &/or mundane) that could greatly enhance her natural abilities. But, literally, her hair could be braided into a dozen ropes just as long as she wants them to enhance her capabilities, with several braid types that can vary the tightness of the braids, thus their ‘hardness’ and length.
Regarding the sound effect, there is one thing you can do with a visual medium like a comic that you cannot do with simple written words.
The rumbling effect that you were aiming for can be written down as a single (too) long phrase of ‘boom’ repetitions,
but you can draw them as literally layered and partially overlapping sound effect words, where each word is a simple ‘boom’, but the spatial effect implies the successive shockwaves heading towards the heroines (and the audience on the wrong side of the picture framing ;))
It would take some experimenting to get the visual appearance create the sequential effect you are aiming for, but if you get it to work I think you will have created a new (or at least very rare) new visual riff for comics.
Oh, yes, the massively loud ones… mmmm, yum I’ll always love those. Your written description is very evocative. I remember those from way back in childhood: over the water, with hills on both sides and a big corrugated metal building on the shore (boatworks, i think it was). Heheheh!