Grrl Power #1074 – Open door policy
Ah, the rare no-dialog page. I almost added a “N’yah!” or something on the sword dodge, but, eh. No-dialog page instead. I usually have pretty dense dialog for a comic, and don’t have a lot of space for characters flourishing. I might have to revisit that. A good flourishing panel is kind of fun, and I can definitely see Sydney doing it. Now if only Maxima would introduce those boat cloaks to the field uniforms.
For those of you not familiar with him, Zephan’s backstory is basically Wang Chi from Big Trouble in Little China (the Chinese “sidekick” to Jack Burton – only BTiLC was really a movie that framed the actual sidekick, the bumbling comic relief, i.e. Jack Burton, as the Main Guy, and relegated the story of the actual Main Guy to the sidekick role. Sure, Hollywood probably insisted they couldn’t sell a film with an asian lead, but we can at least pretend it’s clever screenwriting.)
Anyway. So Wang Chi follows in Egg Shen‘s footsteps and becomes an Eastern… whatever Egg Shen was. Wizard? Mystic? Wu? Eventually he expands into occidental mysticism and yadda yadda yadda, became the head of ArcLIGHT. Only of course it isn’t Wang Chi, but some guy named Zephan who went through his own set of unusual and supernatural circumstances that put him on the path.
Just thought I’d clarify his backstory in case the Chinese Imperial Guard phantom projecting from the magenta crystal wasn’t enough of a dead giveaway. >cough<
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Okay, Uncle.
That. Is one awesome door. Pity it had to die in such a way…
You never could beat me…
it’s like they are attacking the place expecting to find some manner of super tech or something and not a bunch of military-trained supers and gov staffers. that are now a bit pissed their nice workplace is getting all ripped up
You know the invader is going to lose already “No capes!”
I am a proponent of “Tactical Capes”.
Make them flame resistant and now you have a defense against basic flame attacks. Heck, works also for basic cold/ice attacks. Rescuing children from a burning orphanage? Wrap them in the cape! Someone is a bit cold? CAPE!
The cape should obviously be EASILY removable (like with a simple break-away clasp) so that it does not become a danger, just like most lanyards. Also, it makes dramatic “remove and toss away the cape” scenes all the cooler.
(Also, no one should be flying anywhere near a plane. That is just reckless with or without a cape.)
That door had some stuff in the walls holding it from being completely torn out until the strike that bisected it, also it would be funny if Arianna was related to the Jack Burton like character he knew. I always loved Big Trouble in Little China and yes Wang always seemed like the MC over Jack Burton, who seemed to be the secondary protagonist who lucked into being the enemy of the Main Big Bad.
It would be like a James Bond movie where Moneypenny or Q ended up killing the Criminal Mastermind, because the mastermind underestimated them.
It was like a Wuxia novel where the unlucky ex-mercenary traveling merchant friend lucked into killing the main bad guy with a lucky strike while the Hero was dealing with the guys greatly powerful generals in mortal combat. Only for both to be shocked to see sad big bad dead, sending the last two of the guys loyal henchmen on a suicide run to kill them for this great disgrace.
It will come no more!!
Seconding anyone who has suggested that the characters and events of Big Trouble In Little China be canon to the Grrlverse. Including someone’s suggestion that Arianna be related to Jack Burton.
Arianna isn’t nearly incompetent enough to be related to Jack Burton.
That’s easy, Jack is the uncle she never talks about.
I couldn’t help but notice that Zephan, is a Quincy… I know this will be explained later as a spell but I honestly think it should be a power he has rather then some magic trick. It would make since as his bow is a focus of spiritual energy so it would be invisible to most people and the arrow would be the physical incarnation of that energy.
FYI Quincy are from the anime Bleach they focus their Chi into a bow and shoot arrows at hollows (undead).
Don’t get me wrong I get the BTILC reference but this would be another great way to go as well. Also Egg Shen has already been referenced in this universe, during Sidney’s initial interview.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-94-the-step-mother-of-all-origins/
Okay I read this page on my phone and it was all mini and it looked like he had an arrow, and in the next panel it looked like he had the summon and was covering it with the same arrow. Now that I’m on my computer I see the gem, and that it is creating the summon.
I wish I could get a cameo for one of my original characters, but $50 a month is too expensive for me.
That is a fantastically misguided analysis of Big Trouble in Little China. I mean, you came close to an insight, but your desire to shame the past kinda knocked you off course. You know BTILC came out just before The Last Emperor, right?
So show us your fantastic insight, Film Knower.
… What has that got to do with anything?
It’s not particularly clear what you’re referring to. Was your comment intended as a reply to some other comment, or to something the author of the comic wrote?
I think he might be responding to Bear. Not sure but the ‘your desire to shame the past’ part seemed like it was in response to Bear.
What did Bear do this time?
Wait it might gave been a response to the person arguing about the type of armor instead. But that post didnt seem mean spirited.
I’m confused about this whole thread argument. I think it’s pretty obvious Zephan is ‘Chinese-American’ in the same way someone could say I’m Korean-American despite my personally being born in the US, not being a member of the DPRK or something, or being ‘Hawaiian-American’ despite Hawaii no longer being it’s own independent nation (and hasnt been in the entire length of my lifetime). If someone references me as either of those, I’m pretty sure they’re just referring to my ethnicity anyway – not that I’m actually from Korea or Hawaii (even if I was born in Hawaii). I’m still American nationality-wise.
Zephan is either from the US and his family was originally from China, or he immigrated to the US (and we have no idea how long ago since Zephan is no spring chicken, so it could have obviously been before October 1971, rendering the entire argument moot anyway). Nothing in his FAQ sheet really gets more elaborate than that so far, but it’s pretty unlikely that a high ranking, until-recently secret, military organization in the US would knowingly have an active member of the PRC in it.
Small reference pools.
Wha?
Also this post was in reference to the Bear/Bharda thread. But for some reason it went here instead.
Yeah, the comment system is really breaking down. I had that happen recently, where the reply link instead attempts to make a new post instead of a reply. I knew which thread you were referring to anyway.
I think I got the term “small reference pools” from TVTropes, but their page with that title no longer describes what I’m thinking of, if it ever did. What I meant by it is that people tend to assume that their own experiences are universal, and that anything they recognize is a reference to something they are familiar with, rather than an independent creation.
Or, in this particular instance, the assumption that because some Chinese-Americans would prefer not to be called Chinese, therefore all of them must have the same preference, and that it would thus be offensive, or at least appear ignorant, to call them such.
Ahhhhhhhh. :) (about the comment system breaking down thing)
Like I said in my post, I have never met any Chinese Americans who got offended about that. Calling someone chinese is just an aspect of ethnicity. Not sure why Bear was even trying to say that it implied that Zephan was from the People’s Republic of China. People in Taiwan are Chinese as well. Their ethnicity is Chinese. Their nationality is Taiwanese (technically speaking, Taiwan is the original government of China and what we know as China is sort of ‘New China’ after the communists took over and the original government and part of the population fled to some of the islands off shore mainland China).
Or with me. I’m Korean-Hawaiian. Or Korean-Hawaiian-American. Or just American. But my ethnicity would be Korean/Hawaiian. Despite the fact that I’ve only been to even South Korea once, and never to North Korea for obvious reasons. And while I was born in Hawaii, and visit frequently because I have family there, I only actually lived there for the first four months of my life…. not to mention Hawaii is now, and has for my entire life, been a state of the United States of America, rather than its own independent kingdom/nation. So if someone asks if i’m native hawaiian, there’s no reason to be offended. And if someone was to refer to me as Korean (never happens because I look a lot more hawaiian than korean), I don’t see how that would be offensive either. They’re obviously not saying I an a subject of Queen Liliuokalani, nor are they saying I’m part of the ‘Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’ or the ‘Republic of Korea.’ I’m obviously American.
And if I have a friend who’s Italian-American I’m not going to think they’re assuming they’re from Italy when they might have lived in Brooklyn all their life, as well as their parents and possibly grandparents. Not sure why saying Chinese would be any different, or a reason to call someone ignorant. If you’re a greek American, and I ask if you’re greek, I’m almost obviously asking about your ethnicity, especially if we’ve known each other casually for a while.
Feeling compelled to drop a link to this sketch about an Italian-American trying to act like they’re still from Italy.
Yeah, well, you’re a bit of a pushover in that regard. I’ve wanted to ask: Do you speak Korean or Hawaiian?
I’m from Europe so if someone claims to be “Italian” then I’d expect them to at least speak Italian too. OTOH, much like how Japanese consider foreigners hopelessly inept at proper etiquette anyway so anything they get right is a bonus, so do I consider Americans hopelessly culturally insensitive anyway. Lots of noise, lots of claiming, it’s all fluff and you’ll be lucky if they get English right. (This (also) makes the “cultural appropriation!!1!” bunch rather grating, especially when their claims turn out to have no basis in history. Or, you know, get trumped by prior art.)
I wouldn’t call the Taiwan government the “original” Chinese government; they took over from the Qing by revolution too. Though personally I would prefer them rather than the communists be in power. But, you know, I don’t make history. Well, not their history.
Looks like there are some Hawaiian royal claimants left. How about one of them runs for governor, then renegotiates the annexation treaty?
There are not enough spoons at the Restaurant Supply Store for me to break down & dismantle this block of industrial grade bullshite.
Thank you for your Bharda’s Seal Of Disapproval, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt its high quality truthfulness and solid reasoning.
Otherwise, you’re just going to have to start your own spoon factory. Land of opportunities, amirite?
I saw a making of for BTILC. And that’s actually pretty much what they did. If I recall, they wanted to do a role reversal. They wanted the movie to be from the point of view of the bumbling side kick. They had trouble selling the concept to the producers. But the movie did get made, but with a little (lot) of producer interference of course.
Reminds me of Big Trouble in Little China town an such.
Excellent classic cinema reference. :)
Sydney should definitely flourish at some point. Though I’ll admit I have no clue whats happened in panels 3 and 4. DId the big guy smash in the door? If so whats happening in the next panel, we see a hole in the wall and noises. So did the big guy go in and get attacked? Unfortunately the storytelling isnt evident here.
He’s telekinetically ripping the door out of the wall. Before he can toss it aside, Zephan slices through it with his phantom guardian, hoping to catch the attacker off-guard.