Grrl Power #210 – Dental-Trauma-Fu -OR- Technically it’s non-lethal
So right away I should apologize as I’m sure many of you reflexively made a face or covered your mouth with your hand when you got to the bottom row of panels. I actually had meant to warn everyone in the comment on the last page that this one shows the worst possible injury. I mean, everyone can see a movie or game where someone gets their skin ripped off by a demon or gets chopped completely in half by a sword and not flinch sympathetically since that sensation is so completely out of our realm of experience, but we’ve all accidentally banged a fork against our tooth or stabbed ourselves in the gums with a dorito.
I had intended this to be another double page, but the previous double page took more work than I had anticipated so I had to break it up. I suppose it’s conceivable I could do two double pages in a week, but if I could manage that consistently I might as well update Monday through Thursday. That’s not likely though since I like each page to be more of a complete thought, and the double pages are really just single pages with bigger panels. This one works okay by itself but it’s low on content compared to most pages. I prefer putting enough on each page that there’s lots to talk about, but this one without the second half is really just continuing to establish that in a fight, the best fighter will probably do alright. It does beg the question that after Math clobbered a big brick (almost literally) why do these guys think they’re going to do much better? Ego certainly has a lot to do with that and why a lot of these guys are attacking the team in the first place, so figure it’s mostly that. Actually ego/pride and alcohol are the primary drivers of poor decision making in my opinion. And jealousy I suppose, but that really just boils back down to ego.
I’ll try streaming again today, mostly inking a page involving shinai girl. I link it here when it gets started and post on twitter and facebook. Update: Stream’s started! Spoilers obviously. https://www.justin.tv/davebarrack Update update: Stream’s over!
A few links for you. My next Gynostar Guest strip should be up today. The current arc starts here.
The Superbitch kickstarter is wrapping up and they’re so close!
Fred Perry is doing another kickstarter to fund a reprinting of the Gold Brick number 2. It’s already funded, but it’s a great price for 450 pages of color comic. Now if only I could draw as fast as Fred, who can apparently pencil, ink and color three pages on a good day.
<– Patreon is a great way to support stuff you like. Not just this comic. But mostly this comic.
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Just looking at the first panel again, and it’s like we the readers need to see it without the *CRACK* to make sure Math didn’t kick/chop that guys head off
he probably broke the guys cheek bone i got a hairline on my cheek once hurt like a bitch not even gonna try imagining what a full break feels like
i hate my keyboard always missing letters like in my name
We can see his head impacting a torso lenght from his legs in panel 2.
If it was no longer connected to the torso it would have flown way off panel.
Yeah, but it looks like the head is not connected to the neck in the first panel, either that or the neck got really stretchy
It’s possible the poor guy has a broken neck now, too.
Don’t worry! That guy’s power is actually just having a really stretchy neck. He’s fine.
Except for the concussion.
Furthermore, he’s going to a full mantra of silent “thank you, thank you, thank you”‘s that he got only a concussion if he ever gets a chance to see/hear what happened to eye-beam guy.
You know what you see something so painful you can feel a little bit of it? I’m getting that now
About five pages back, fifth panel.
It’s attitudes like those of these villains that I made one of the most feared Gods of my setting one who had little to no actual supernatural power.
“While the original purpose of the tier system was to rate the power a psychic was capable of, but it was of limited use in determining how dangerous a psychic was. Some extremely rare psychics with born talents can generate power into the 2nd tier without training or without trying to, but might not know how to control their power or even direct it reliably. The vast majority of psychics lack the personality and training to be effective combatants. On the other hand, there are soldiers with no real psychic training capable of tearing apart small armies under the right circumstances.
As a result, the more empirical system of measurement has been adopted as a rather subjective measurement of how dangerous a particular individual is. The common standards of judgment are that 3rd tiers are capable of effecting change on a local level, 2nd tiers are capable of effecting change on a regional or national level and 1st tiers are capable of change on a global level. This has troubles, not the least of which is because certain people just don’t fit easily into any logical system of rating. ***Such people often do such things like throw apples at wedding parties.***”
because of attitudes like these*
That big concealing reminds me of Batman games when he just stomps enemies with a knee when he finishes his interrogations. I always think it’s not the jaw that suffers but their neck. You know – paraplegic and all.
It looks rather like Math is going easy on these guys… That I can tell he’s only used one foot in the fight.
And they are still alive.
It’s easier to kill than to incapacitate.
And he is still showing off.
No, he used hands against concrete girl last page.
I was wondering, if Concretia works for the mob, and as a result of failing her mission they decide to bump her off, what would they put her feet into?
He he.
Shoes, obviously. Note that she’s been barefoot.
Or if they want to be particularly cruel, boots…
Origin story!
“Sends in The Hentai – Probeuatronic ASSassion bot”
DAMM WRONG THREAD!
A bucket of custard.
My second thought was jelly.
Her one weakness!
Well, besides “getting hit really hard by a guy with no super-powers.”
Wow, that was practically… a math-ssacre.
Thanks kids I’ll be here all week.
No! You matht not use bad puns here. In the past orbital cannons have been deployed to stop them!
You might say that issuing this warning is a calculated risk.
NEVER TELL ME THE ODDS
Dame wins. Break out the Champagne.
*loads the OAPC (after tieing the resident DubDubSee Mech to the outside struts) with cheap American ‘Champagne’
Ready when you are!
FIRE!!!
Again. and again and again
Just make sure your name isn’t “Will”. People are always firing at him.
*Semi-sized banana-creme pie lands on your car*
lol I once had a Star Trek character who was half Klingon half Vulcan and a HUGH fan of The Three Stooges fire a “Cream Pie” torpedo at a dress parade for an Admiral. His career in Starfleet kinda ended there.
“Sends in The Hentai – Probeuatronic ASSassion bot”
A weapon of Math destruction?
I just love his face in the second panel
“we’ve all accidentally banged a fork against our tooth or stabbed ourselves in the gums with a dorito.”
I don’t recall ever having done either of these.
Bite down on a mouthful of dry Capt. Crunch.
The Paaaain!
memory enhancers might help, or at least stop ingesting brain cell destroyers :-)
Then you have that to look forward to. That or I suck at eating.
I do that all the time with Tostitos.
Dave.
Three. Steps. Ahead.
Master this, and you will have begun to learn…how to eat without hurting yourself.
Oh my lord that has to be the WORST pain
Seeing this & thinking about it… I cannot avoid wondering whether Math has some spiderman-and-daredevil-like-senses at work. Because – when he kicked the knife, it went off whirling, so that the blade would hit the upper teeth from below, not frontal. But the EyeGuy becomes faceless when firing his eye-push… So how would Math know that he would have his mouth open at the time the knife would arrive? And the knife hitting between 2 teeth instead of one full – just luck or goes Math’s martial-art-fu that far that he can predict an opponent’s motions that precisely and hit a target that is less than a millimeter (less then 1/20″) wide by kicking up a table knife? Whoah O_O That I’d call spiderman-and-daredevil-like-senses.
Check him for midichlorians, maybe?
There are no midichlorians, midichlorians are a LIE.
I can guess at the sequence Math was predicting there. Eye Boy sees knife coming, flinches into position, opens mouth to yell, impact. If he kept his mouth closed, he would have gotten a slashed lip as well as his current dilemma. Still non-lethal, just messier.
Math may have been just as happy to knock out a tooth or just hit the palate with enough force to pierce it without going for brain surgery depths. In those cases he would have followed up with further attacks. He’ll always claim the hit was deliberate, and truthfully we’ll never know unless he repeats it sometime.
There is no doubt that his capabilities exceed that of a normal real-life martial artist. But even his Who’s who entry indicates that he is ‘preternaturally skilled’. It is just that he got there through training and access to secret martial arts skills*. Rather than ascribing super-human senses, personally, I think of him as being permanently ‘in the zone’.
In terms of throwing things, I would describe myself as ‘totally inept’. But put me in a crisis, and I have been able to throw with unerring accuracy. An example being when my pet was attacked by another dog. At too great a distance for me to intervene personally. So I picked up a stone and threw it. But, in a split second, decided that I should put it just in front of the attacking dog’s nose. Because it had not quite reached my pet, even though it’s intentions were clear.
I figured if I could get it close enough for it to unmistakably notice it, then I could scare it off. Without harming it. As it was the pet of someone I knew. This was at such a considerable range that there is no way that I could repeat it under normal circumstances. Not only needing to go to a very precise spot, but also with absolute timing. But, being in the zone, I felt confident of it. And my confidence was well founded. I put it exactly where I wanted to. And had a witness, who was absolutely flabbergasted that I had pulled it off, with perfect results.
Of course a professional bowler or pitcher could do it easily. It is not a complex task for someone well practised in it. But it would be a total fluke for me. But there is a difference between that, and those very rare occasions where you can feel that you are in the zone. Professional sportsmen train hard to try and get there on demand. And even then may not be able to.
Whereas Math is supremely capable to start with. Coupling that with the possibility that he lives in the zone, and he can pull off stuff that we would otherwise, rightly, find implausible in the extreme.**
* A perfectly valid option in a world where there are supernatural forces at work which can provide such, even to normal humans.
** Plus he may have Lady Luck smiling down on him, to ensure that if he can, reasonably, succeed he will. But, that is true of most heroes. If not, the bleak reality is that bad guys would win as often as the good guys.
If you postulate that there is a Supernatural “Zone” that people can sometimes access, it follows that anyone able to controllably access it, or maintain themselves indefinitely in that Zone are is a Supernatural Creature, and no longer could be considered Human.
Bad use of terminology on my part. If you have consistent or at will access to supernatural abilities, you are a “super” not a “normal” human. I don’t consider Math to be a normal, no matter what he might say. He can do things impossible to normal human beings.
Only ‘impossible’ to those who don’t train
I don’t have too much trouble with the action on this page, but no amount of training would allow a normal human being in the real world to do the stunt Math pulled with Concretia.
He kicked her with one foot, with his hands in his pockets, so hard that she went up in the air. She had enough hang time to flip completely over before landing. He then did a double palm strike that sent her flying over 20 feet. She was still on an upward trajectory when she ran into the guy who swatted her aside. Had she not run into him, she’d have made 40 feet or more.
Yorp suggested this inhuman strength came from him being in a supernatural “zone”. My comment is that if he can access such a zone consistently, or is always in it, then he’s a “super”, not a “normal” human.
My comment was principally aimed at the above comic, rather that the previous one. Personally I think everyone is reading way to much into how supernatural his attack was against Concretia. Between several threads there and your comment here, he is alleged to have knocked her through a solid brick wall, high up into the air, and probably going back 40 feet.
Whereas what we actually see is her standing right in front of a window. One that has already been smashed open, for that matter, so would not even slow her down. He only has to get her through the window, so could have just pushed her, if he wanted to. Anybody could have. But he does it in a showy sequence. She then falls down into friendly fire. Between the momentum of her fall and the blast of friendly fire she is then propelled into the path of the hooded villain, who swats her away.
Seriously that is not super. I have sent opponents further than that minimal requirement myself. The only impressive factor is that she is likely heavier than an average opponent. But he is a strong martial artist and I was not even a black belt, so I see nothing implausible. Just showy.
Note that “the zone” most certainly is not supernatural. Look it up. It is a well described mental state, that top sportsmen are very much aware of. It is not some loony fringe magic. I have never once heard any sports commentator or scientist cast any doubt as to it’s existence. Mind you, I do not follow much sports. But it shows how commonly the concept is referenced, that even a non-sports fan like myself knows about it.
Great sportsmen might be able to stay ‘in the zone’ for an entire match. Which would give them the edge over any competitor who would not. So we can expect world-champions to attain the state more frequently and remain there for longer than others. Math would simply represent the pinnacle of that achievement. The best of the best. But that would not make him superhuman. Although, it would allow him to compete with them.
Impossible, like a simple mother lifting a car that’s trapping her child?
Humans are capable of some VERY impressive, seemingly impossible things
As a martial artist, I can tell you that yes, we do enter such a zone. You stop hearing, or seeing, the crowd, or what happends at the other fight, or anything not relavent.
Your full attention goes to your opponent, and as a result you can react much faster.
Or that’s my ADD. Tha’ts possible to
Human beings can indeed sometimes do remarkable things. Not -consistently- though. Things like when a mother lifts a car off her child happen once in a blue moon and there is no record of anyone doing that kind of thing more than once.
If Math can do such things consistently, he’s a “super” not a “normal” human being. He’s beyond the limits of what normal people can do.
Do not forget the key point here. Math was born as a normal person. He then trained, for years. Eventually mastering skills, that allow him to do what we see here. And the underlying theme, in many martial arts stories, is that anybody, who has basic capability, coupled with total determination and dedication, can do the same.
Whereas a superhuman is born with their powers. And can pick up and throw a tank, without practice. No human can do that. Ever. It is something reserved for superhumans only.
Neither I, nor Math’s cast details/who’s who entry, pretend that his capabilities are real world realistic. But they are not inherent super powers. They are learnt skills and (possibly) mystical techniques. It is just the same, in this setting, when talking about spell casting. If anybody can learn how to cast spells, then, by definition they are not superhuman powers. They are just specific skills, that others do not have common access to.
Sydney wasn’t born with her powers either. She’s a super.
I believe what they said was that Math was such a good martial artist that they couldn’t tell if he was a super or not. My opinion is that since he can do things which are obviously not possible for normal humans, he’s a super.
I looked, and it turns out I misread your footnotes. You didn’t say the Zone was supernatural, you suggested that some martial arts techniques could be. If you want to say that Math knows techniques that are supernatural, I’ll buy that. Once again, that’s “super” not “normal” human.
There are two ways to being a Super: be born a Super, or obtain it through outside means (and without the Orbs, Sydney is just as ‘normal’ as Peggy or Ari {not counting her super-human tolerance for all things spicy})
No matter how ‘super’ Math is, he is still not a Super (there is a reason why it is spelt with a capital ‘S’)
What is a “normal” human?
Sydney is not a super, she has no super powers.
She has items that have super powers.
If I use a tool that lets me lift a car, that doesn’t mean I’m super strong. It means I have acces to a tool that is super strong.
2 different things
Guesticus and RobK‘s replies cover pretty much what I would say. Whilst I remain firm that he is right to claim that he is not a superhuman, I do see the merit in your argument. In as much as, for most intents and purposes * he is like a super. And, from today, everybody who is sensible will treat him as one. But, given that he rates as 7 out of 10 on the super scale, I do not think anybody, who knows that fact, would argue the point.
* There are some exceptions, where this goes beyond mere terminology. For instance if scientists discover that born supers have genetic markers, then they can develop means of testing for supers. Perhaps using a Star Trek style tricorder. But Math would register as normal human. Likewise for any super that has a power which allows them to detect other supers. Sydney too would be immune to both of those means of detection.
However if someone could detect super powers (as opposed to beings that are supers) or objects that convey super powers, then Halo would light up. Math still would not. Not unless the means of detection also included a series of precise measures, rated against ‘average’ humans. For instance being stronger than x, faster than y or cleverer than z. Which is an extremely subjective and complex test. Which may miss many people with actual super powers, simply because they do things which are not on the list.
Likewise if there is someone (or a disease or natural effect) who has super-power suppressing capabilities then the entire team would loose their powers, including Sydney. But Math, Peggy and the space marines would all remain at their normal power levels. As would Zephan and Gwen, because they use magical artifacts and spells respectively. Dabbler has a bit of everything, so would have some reduction in her power, but will not loose all.
Whereas if it does turn out that some of Math’s capabilities are from magical type** mystical sources (as opposed to philosophically rooted ones), and there is some kind of anti-magic effect, then Math, Dabbler, Gwen and Zephan would all suffer, to varying degrees, but the other heroes would be fine.
** Here I am thinking about his 3 star ranged attack, if he can shoot lightning bolts or fireballs, like some arcade and manga martial artists. Like the Rayden in Mortal Combat or one of the villains in Big Trouble in Little China. Although the above page indicates that his ranged capability is more likely to be pointy things and chairs.
Having a reread of my own comment, I realised that there is, in fact, an exception, even here. Sydney would not be affected by a disease that suppressed super powers. Given that she is not the one who is creating the effect.
Of course if, as some people suspect, it turns out that the orbs are actually alive, in one way or another, then they could catch the disease, with the same result. If the orbs are technological though, they will not be affected. But a technological* or computer virus might do so.
* We have yet to see these, but they will come. As we tinker with nanobots, someone will develop viruses that attack the computer, physically, rather than being transmitted by code. ** And, if they can use the infected components to self-replicate, they will fully deserve the title.
** Source of prediction: ME. Although I doubt I am the first to think of it. I am sure the concept will crop up a lot in cyberpunk type stories.
It has come up in cyberpunk and other ‘future tech’ stories, usually called “black ICE”. The usual ICE is a pure code/software attack. Black ICE is the (in-story) illegal version, which attacks the hardware or cyborged user (especially Shadowrun deckers).
In the real world. In comic book-land people who officially don’t have superpowers routinely do things that are impossible in reality.
On the contrary, I think there are quite a number of people who can do remarkable things on a consistent basis, yet would still be considered “normal” rather than “super”.
+1
And at least a couple of good examples of Math-like capabilities in there. So very aptly chosen.
One other point to consider is that he may not have been aiming for the gap in between the teeth. But what he was doing was ensuring that the knife was rotating fast, rather than travelling straight. Straight line into the face gives high risk of death or crippling injury, such as to the eye. A blade spinning like that though can provide a painful distraction, wherever it hit, without quite such a high risk.
You would have been equally amazed if it had ended up sticking precisely out of his chin. And even more so if it ended up in his nose. Yet each were equally likely targets, given the variables you mentioned, such as target movement. So if you view it as being one of several implausible results, then the odds of him pulling off the attack successfully are actually not as staggering as you are implying.
“Rather than ascribing super-human senses, personally, I think of him as being permanently ‘in the zone’.”
There’s also a specific discipline that’s sometimes referred to as “the no-mind,” where the martial artist blanks his mind (which would also make it more difficult for a telepath to “read” what he intends to do next) but stays extremely aware of what’s going on around him. Another way of describing it is “blind fighting.” There are legends even in real life history of blind Masters who could defeat multiple opponents. Either way, it can probably be assumed that Math knows these disciplines well enough that he doesn’t have to directly *see* where he aims.
“But what he was doing was ensuring that the knife was rotating fast…”
The only way that I can see a spinning blade being fatal with Math’s aim is if the blade rotates upward along the target’s neck. The spinning combined with the knife edge might have cut open his trachea or sliced open a major blood vessel…But Math aimed just a *little* too high for that.
Believe that is also called “Alpha Mode”, or at least, have always known it as that, and as mentioned previously, has had it happen to me twice before (that can recall, there was another possible incident, but that’s probably just mind blocking out what happened, all have to go by that it happened is a ‘future-dream’ memory and the fact it happened in front of multiple witnesses)
Speaking of blind fighting, this is from Math’s cast page
He has been knocked to the losers’ bracket in several tournaments because of it, and has only come out on top due to his uncanny knack for blind fighting.
In Muay Thai, we call that jai yen, or “cool heart.” You clear your mind so that you don’t give away your intentions. Also, it prevents you from overthinking a situation, as well as going full on RAGE when someone punches you in the face.
It is extremely difficult to throw a knife straight with any real force; its extremities are too close to its center of gravity, and it will tumble. (This presumes you are throwing a knife through air, of course–and kicking counts as throwing, only with even less precision over the attitude of the knife as it goes flying.) You can throw a knife like a dart, but it will not hit with the same force as one which is thrown in a way allowing it to spin. (I know; I have tried.)
But that isn’t the point, really. The point here is that Math threw that knife with a KICK, and managed to stick the blade. Now that can be a fluke; amateur knife-throwers hurling blades for the first time will more often than not smack the handle butt into the target, or ptang the blade sideways, or at a funky angle where it just bounces off and clatters on the ground, etc., etc., but if you do not do so with enough FORCE, the blade will only bounce off…which is why you have to throw the blade with a rotation to get it to stick under most circumstances. (Also, a wooden target round, the usual choice for such things, is softer than a human head, so it has to be flung with even MORE force, i.e. more rotation being imparted, not less!)
Math being Math…if he truly is a zengrandmasterubermensch martial artist, we have to assume he has PRACTICED kicking knives, and with all of that practice, knows how to flip it hard enough and fast enough to get enough force to get it to stick in a skull.
…There is no way a boot-covered foot can pick up a knife, heft it like a javelin, and attempt to throw it with the high-level of control needed to make a knife fly point-first as straight as an arrow.
However, it IS possible to fling a knife with a kick (which is nothing more than a simple mechanical lever imparting force to the knife-object) so hard that it will pierce bone. This can be done (and kinda has to be done because of abovesaid mechanics) at sufficient speed and force despite the rotating of the knife. I’ve seen natural masters of throwing weapons (dated one of ’em for a few years, in fact) who could stick a knife at various different distances at various different speeds at various different depths. One of them stuck so hard, in the process of pilling it out of the wooden target round (a section of tree trunk from a douglas fir; that wood clamps in about half as bad as balsawood does on a blade when it’s fresh) that he actually broke the hinges of the tripod frame holding up the round, sending everything to the ground in a broken heap. (Thank goodness for steel-toed boots, or his foot would’ve been broken, too.) And it still took him another minute or so of working the knife like a lever to pry it out of the wood.
Then again, even if the knife had struck the baddie sideways, it would’ve hit with enough force to definitely startle the guy and most likely ruin his concentration. The same ex-bf I mentioned was able to stick the back end (1/8th thick, square-edged, completely blunt) throwing knife handle into a target round so that it stayed, and had to wiggle it free of the round. A blow like that on an open tooth would definitely crack it, if not knock it out entirely.
Interesting.
I never knew it was possible to get that kind of accuracy. Must be impressive to watch
Fascinating. Thanks for the insight.
Well for all you know he was aiming for his eye. Math will tell you he was aiming for exactly where the knife hit, but he had a fraction of a second to actually execute the attack. “Anywhere in the face” would have bought him enough time to close with the guy while he was recoiling from the projectile.
Guh, thanks for no warning! I will now for the rest of the day have flashbacks to seeing Oculus two weeks ago where the girl bites into a lightbulb thinking it’s an apple… (Weird movie)
Suddenly imagining Math vs Magneto. And Math gets owned.
Because he used a metal object once that just happened to be laying around in a convenient place? I’m a little confused by the statement.
If anything I’d say Magneto would get his butt handed to him. If he didn’t have that whole flying thing anyway… Darn cheaters.
Then math would have used one of the broken ceramic plates… or the glass if he wasn’t feeling like playing 1/2 Frisbee.
He has metal in several places on him. Boots, belt etc and all the dinnerware would be turned against him. Math is good maybe even super but Magneto would own him. He has far more experience and his power is far stronger and more adaptable. Even if math used non-metallic objects all the metal objects are his shield and weapons which move as fast as he can think. No Math would be out-classed and he would know it.
Presuming of course that Math:
A) Was surprised by Magneto
B) Was unaware of Magneto’s powers
Otherwise he would likely just ditch the metal gear, or not use it in the first place, or use gear that has non-magnetic alternatives (which yes, does include some metals)
This particular fight, being a sneak attack on the heroes by the villains would give Magneto, if he were here, the edge VS Math… presuming he wasn’t busy with one of the other heroes who might be a more pressing or opportunistic target, of course.
are we talking movie magneto or comic magneto?
because if it’s the latter, odds are the whole team would get owned.
even without using his powers (they require concentration) ol bucket head once beat up colossus in hand to hand combat, and has survived direct hits from cyke’s blasts, once he fell from space and survived.
(the man spent decades pulling power into his body and improving it ; the more power he pulls in the larger and stronger he becomes, which is why his height varies from it’s normal 6’2″ to around 8′ at maximum)
https://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQDSVocV6gdkKzHXO32uynudT6n8ln0VPxUbbYCJ87-Un9d6V_L
And that’s just a warning, you poorman’s Cyclops.
He squats to fire.
Does he really need to push the beams out?
When he goes into battle, he is Big Boy Pull-ups Man!
The action is getting closer to Sydney. Pretty soon bodies are going to start bouncing off her shield, or people are going to try hiding behind it. We know it can move through the air, but has it been determined if Syd can move the shield when it is intersecting something like the ground? Maybe if she waits for a lull in the action to drop the shield, lift up into the air, activate the shield, then drop back down she can roll it around like a giant hamster ball.
Katamari Damacy – Halo Style
Project the lighthook right outside the force field so that anyone it comes in contact with is ‘suckered’. She then proceeds to keep running, using simple thud thud thud with objects to disable them.
“They’re out cold.”
“huh?”
“The eight supers stuck to your shield.”
“I was wondering what that thump thump was.”
I see this as more of that one part in the Incredibles.
Dash is running while his sister provides an invincible hamster ball… Then they run over their parents.
Aside from Anvil, Math has absolutely got to be my favorite. And it has nothing to do with the fact that he strongly resembles Vegeta SSJ.
I love the delayed reaction. like at first he’s like “aahhh what the hell!?!” then he actually feels it…….
Vote Incentive: Wow…if each of those weight discs is 800 LBs, that’s 16,000 lbs total…8 tons…go Anvil!
I love the smirk on Math’s face.
I prefer halos look of shock.
Ditto. Doubly so as it will help prevent future hubris, on her part.
Or you could take it to the extreme other end:
Meh. Super. Whatever. I’ll deal with him.
Wait… They are not super-human?! RUN!!!!!
Humans are scary.
Hello I am Dr. Hannible Lector.
And I would like to invite you to my house for dinner.
And I am known as Dr. Josef Mengele. If you’d care to step into my examination room, we can begin.
Will you give me a lollipop afterwards?
Sure…If you still have your tongue left to taste it with…
If not, then you might be generous enough to offer the lollipop to ‘ol Laser Brain. At least he still *has* his tongue.
Give him the loli anyway and send him my way, please.
Are the orbs able to interact -can the PPO or light hook pass through her shield when it is up?
We do not know yet. Some folks believe it likely. Personally, I do not think they will be able to, until Halo upgrades them with a skill choice. Every orb has a skill line connected to the shield orb, which could be used for that purpose.
Every possible pairing of orbs has a connection, although currently the only one with a filled in dot joins the Flight Orb to the P.P.O. …
Yup.
What do you reckon for PPO & Truesight orb? Great flaming badgers?
I’d say the ability to hit intangible or invisible foes, or some kind of “sniper” mode. Peggy could help her then.
How about enabling sight that uses variable frequency active energy emissions? So, for instance her eyes would become sensitive to the infra-red frequencies, and the orb could act as an infra-red source. Allowing her to use it like a lantern or a torch. Perhaps being able to control the intensity by use of one of the sigils (like the embiggener). In an emergency she could even turn it up high to serve as a heat source.
Or she could twiddle the frequency sigil, until she found the x-ray setting. And hope that it also provides immunity to harmful effects due to long-term exposure. Quite good for spotting hidden weapons. Even if not very good for looking through shower walls. Unless into skeleton porn.
Considering Sidney is pure human and the PPO cut clean through a tank, I’m thinking experimenting by firing it at the inside of an enclosed forcefield falls under the category of “a poor idea.” The molestorb would probably be fine though.
Flossing with table knives … not a good move. That point’s probably lodged in the tip of Lazer Pony Jr.’s spine. I bet that smarts.
You do realise the spine doesn’t even connect to the skull, don’t you? o_O
My chiropractor would like to have a word with you. Likewise my anatomy teacher from massage school…
Technically, the atlas and axis are C1 and C2, the first two parts or the spine.
The whole spine and skull are held together by ligaments, tendons and muscle.
The skull doesn’t free float like the shoulder.
Didn’t say it was ‘free-floating’, just not directly connected to each other
Somebody give me the address of Math’s boot maker. I want a pair of those extremely durable footwear.
Or maybe they don’t make them in 9 EEEEEE.
These look pretty close, but they’re lace up not Velcro straps.
https://uspatriottactical.com/reebok-rb8990-stealth-comp-toe-side-zip-sage-green-boots/
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/583
show they are probably Velcro or buckle secured
Not to mention the metal parts that allow such strong kicks.
Those have composite guards for the heel and toe. Non-conductive but about as tough as steel. Also lighter, which Math might prefer. For Maxima, her force field protects her clothes. She could kick that tank wearing fuzzy bunny slippers without bending the ears… maybe I should rephrase that. Naah.
Just got an image of Max with bed-head, robe and bunny slippers opening her door to a aggravatingly perky Sydney and growling “What the **** do you want at THIS hour?”.
Ok, if she does have fluffy bunny slippers, she is getting taken off the ‘too scary to date’ list and put on the ‘aww, cute’ list.
They look like fancy gumboots to me
https://www.cryoflesh.com/shop/demonia-cyber-neptune-310uv-boots-p-1946.html
These would need some reinforcement, but think the black-and-white versions are pretty close.
That KISS style sole would have to be replaced. But they do look closer.
Was looking at the “Customers who bought this product also purchased” and thought ‘hmmm, those boots look like New Rock’ and then saw the ‘New Rock’ tab :D
Have 3 pairs of New Rock, but have never seem them anywhere, not even on the offical New Rock website (going to have to take a photo of them one day)
Seriously want these glasses :(
the link as you put it in was broken, but if you put in just this: https://www.cryoflesh.com/shop/hyper-intel-tank-female-p-2386.html it will work fine.
meh, they’re ok… but they’re too flat, they don’t curve around the temples enough to be like Cyclops or even Jordi from STNG though…
Worked fine for me. Maybe the site was down momentarily. Or you had a browser-specific glitch from that link?
Maybe it’s because the link goes to the Enlarged image that caused the glitch
Anyone who knows how to do image search? Could they see if they can find those glasses, they do not appear to be available (at this time anyway) at Cryoflesh, have been looking for a pair similar to those for years!
Dave, considering I just went to the dentist and had four fillings replaced…right now, I hate you in so many funny ways I want to buy you a beverage of your choice, laugh our mutual asses off at the hilarity, and sometime during the fun, give you an atomic wedgie. >.> But Oh My GAWD is that funny. >.>
That’s a very special kind of hate
Yea, I had one of my teeth shatter, the night before this issue was posted. And have been pulling shards of broken tooth out of the gums since then. Without the aid of anaesthetic, at any point. Even now my tongue is insisting on poking at a sharp point that is just sticking it’s tip through the flesh.
You might say that the comic struck the mark, for me too.
Uh…
I just noticed that Laser Eye Guy has no mouth in panels one and two. He generated a mouth just in time to take a blade between the teeth… Talk about bad timing.
+1 Most ironic.
Okay just wondering here… So Anvil’s power is kinda like Sebastion Shaw’s but different right? Ya I’m not even going to pretend I understand how its supposed to work I just have a question.
If smashing power does not work and she can just absorb it… would slowly applied pressure work better? Kinda like a python squeezing a little harder each time you exhale until you die?
It would work if you had four-star super strength AND a first class level of wrestling skill AND she wasn’t charged up from previous encounter. IF none of her teammates rescued her.
to put it in pseudo D&D terms, force damage from an attack will be absorbed and made capable of re-use, but only force, electrocution, flames or a flash freeze would still do damage. and a pressure based attack would probably do the trick as well I think. what I would like to know is 1 what is the name of the unit of measurement for kinetic force. and 2 at what rate can she absorb those units? like can something hit hard enough to go over that limit and do damage, if she resists 80 and something does 90 will she take 10? and will something like a spear break skin still or knife maybe, something sharp to slash with? … this got really wordy really fast. sorry.
Force is measured in Newton (aka kilogram metre per second squared). 1 N=1 kg.m/s^2
Pressure is measured in Pascal (aka kilogram per metre second squared), or Newton per metre squared). 1 Pa = 1 kg/m.s^2
(Kinetic) Energy is measured in Joule (aka kilogram metre squared per second squared, or Newton metre). 1 J = 1 kg.m^2/s^2
Yeah, crushing damage would work against her. She doesn’t have infinite strength, but if you dropped something on her, the moment it struck it would be robbed of all its momentum, giving her a split second to get out from under it or try and punch it into bits.
Hmm.. you do gotta watch that, relative motion really kills that working as expected.
Ignoring planetary motion, say some minion at the front of a plane moving at mach 2 shots a gun with a muzzle velocity of mach 1 toward Anvil at the back of the plane. That results it the bullet moving towards Anvil at mach 1, relatively (yep, the bullet is actually moving backwards at mach 1 at this point). Removing all the bullets kinetic energy stops in place, resulting in it moving faster relative to it’s target.
Taking planetary motion into account, you’d suddenly have the effected target moving very fast relative to the Earth and everything on it.
The only way it can really work is if she’s absorbing the energy directed into her in the impact, not the kinetic energy of the target,before it can cause damage.
Perhaps Anvil’s powers aren’t based on Einstein-ian (sp?) physics but Newtonian instead. That way you can define the point of reference as always being Anvil’s, and therefore kinetic energy is measured relative to her. That way, in your example, she is not moving at all, and the bullet has a directional force TOWARDS her. She removes the impetus/energy that moves the bullet towards her. In your example, that would be equivalent to removing the “backwards” force that provides the bullet’s speed, and it would appear to drop out of the air. Remember, if she was acting relatively in every case, nothing would be affected by gravity.
The problem with that, is that she gains energy from the act, where as in order to cancel the example impact and nullify it’s motion relative to herself, she’d have to expend energy into the projectile to bring it’s speed up to hers, so nope, that’s not it. Simple conservation of energy there. Pure and simple, absorbing kinetic energy from what you’re getting hit with is impractical, and actually often more dangerous than doing nothing.
Much simpler to deal with it as that she absorbs energy imparted by kinetic impact, rather than the kinetic energy itself. Shoots heat absorption out of the water, but allows the power to work when she’s the one in motion, so sky diving with Archilles is in, and played right punching things still works since it still allows the impacting object to take damage no matter which is moving, perhaps even by choice if she can ‘extend’ the absorption effect into the impacting object.
Reread your science. All motion is relative to something else, and the idea that you can stop a moving object by absorbing its kinetic energy is superhero physics anyway.
But to refute the example of adding mach one worth of kinetic energy to the bullet by stopping it deadstill in a plane moving at mach 2 is simple. The impenetrable wall in the plane (anvil) travels at mach 2, the bullet travels at mach 2. In the plane the kinetic energy of the bullet is zero. Now we fire the bullet, adding a paltry few kilojoule to it, bringing it to a speed of mach one travelling backwards in the plane. It hits the wall, and through near infinite force, a paltry few kilojoules are added back to the bullet bringing it to a dead stop. Now the plane itself, WITH everything it contains, moving at mach 2 has several megajoules or perhaps even gigajoules worth of kinetic energy which have not been affected one single bit by the firing of the gun, as the bullet have not left the plane.
You have to be careful with relativity based arguments. In this case, by ignoring the rest of the system in the chosen frame of reference, you are positing that firing a gun pointed towards the front of the plane adds energy to the bullet, but firing it towards the back of the plane subtracts energy from it. When not dealing with speeds that represent any meaningful fraction of light speed, most of relativity’s oddities cancel out when you include all of the factors. Leaving us with a Newtonian frame of reference, for practical purposes. If you want me to dig out my reference materials to give you the actual equations for your example, it may take a while. I’ve move since I last used them and would have to figure out which of the boxes I still haven’t unpacked they are in….
I’m sorry, It’s been a long day and I botched up what I meant to say.
What I meant was basically that firing the gun doesn’t remove energy from the system. For one thing, firing the gun back along the path of travel would cause the plane to accelerate, and if it hit something immovable that was attached to the plane then the plane would experience a roughly equal deceleration. If Anvil was in the place of the immovable object then the energy to stop the bullet could come from the plane, through one of several possible mechanisms depending on how exactly the author wanted her powers to work.
I never said that was the case, you’re right, the energy expelled by the burning powder does not remove energy from the system, it is expended opposing the forward motion of the bullet, slowing it down, resulting in heat, light, sound, and a recoil.
However that has nothing to do with the point. By the ‘match her frame of reference’ reasoning, Anvil could ride on the roof, hitting her face on whatever happens along, instantly accelerating it to match her current velocity without slowing herself or her ride down while still somehow absorbing energy from it.
A sharp and blunt object of the same mass with matching velocities have the same kinetic energy states, so why is one effective against her and not the other if it’s a matter of absorbing the kinetic energy? Easy, because it’s not, it’s the energy diverted into distorting her structure that gets absorbed, not the energy of the object itself.
I suppose it comes across like… a simulation of amplified inertia through extremely effective impact energy absorption. Would have to assume there was a lower limit to the absorption – allowing non-damaging motion. This would match well with the ‘punching through sand’ bit, as well as blades being effective.
One thing to bear in mind with Anvil is that she can do something that, on the face of it, appears to defy physics. Namely that when she did the Nose Boop of Doom, she was able to apply the force against her target, but suffer no equal and opposite reaction. So either her power disregards the laws of physics (this is allowed for super powers) or it complies with them, but in some way that we cannot observe.
For instance the equal and opposite reaction might be shunted off into another dimension. So something is being pushed back, but just not Anvil. And not in this world. However she does it, I think it is likely that she can do so similarly, when absorbing the energy too. Although, if you study the linked page, you will see that it seems to be at her option. Sometimes she gets moved when absorbing a blow. Other times she does not. Yet each time he is only feeling a minimal impact.
Quite how that might affect your arguments, I leave up to you to decide.
Oh, I’m not claiming the power would follow real physics, but the world it’s working in does, and every system has it’s rules, but this one doesn’t seem to follow it’s own. As far as the equal and opposite force, I write that off fairly easily. However the power works, it is clearly working with energy on a direct level, something we cannot. Rather than exerting a force on the target which would result in an opposite force, she’s somehow translating stored energy directly into a kinetic pulse.
That’s more believable than that outright absorbing the kinetic energy from an object stops it in the most convenient manner possible. Punches are not coming to a sudden and harmless halt, they are getting the impact soaked up without and damage. Like punching through sand all the energy expended into the target is diverted and absorbed, not his arm suddenly slowing down.
It’s not so much that I’m saying the power can’t work, It’s that the power as stated wouldn’t have the observed effects. How it works doesn’t match what it does. Kinda like saying you had the power to enlarge objects by expanding the matter that they are made of, but then having them get heavier as they expand. Even worse in the other case someone mentioned where a character’s kinetic energy absorption froze the item, since that would be true energy absorption and result in a spacial motion halt.
Bonus: if she can expend energy directly into a kinetic pulse like that, she could… in theory… ‘jump’ midair.
No, he doesn’t need to watch that. Let’s say Anvil is moving at Mach 1, and then a thug who is stationary to her fires a bullet moving at Mach 1 just as she passes him.
The bullet would be moving at zero velocity relative to Anvil, and force equals mass times velocity. So with velocity being zero, the force is also zero and Anvil cannot absorb any energy from it. Just as if a non-powered person was in the same situation they also would not be able to be hurt by that bullet.
hail to Veg…Math
Venus fly traps can count. Tap them once and they ignore you. Tap them twice, and they decide you are prey, then munch!
Oh man that must REALLY hurt.
There is pain that merely hurts. Pain that totally distracts you. Here we have pain that becomes the center of your existence. Sydney’s nutcracker sweetie was close, but this is worse.
But, even above that, what if Math started fighting with origami weapons?
Paper cuts violate the Geneva Convention. Or they should.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!
The man getting shot with the laser eye beams…..Is he holding two brass knuckles?
From the perspective, we see the left arm before he gets hit in the first panel.
When he gets hit. we see the left leg and…..the right arm? It looks like that should be his left arm for continuity?
That second panel looks like the target is twisting? Where’s his left arm?
Anyway….I’m probably wrong…..just caught me as strange.
nope still looks painful after a few days…
I am still finding Sydney’s thought bubble and expression funny. She looks like a startled deer caught in headlights. Who is realising that, what she previously thought was a sedately peddled bicycle headlight, is actually from a runaway freight train.
OUCH! God, that’s gotta hurt! This comic is using that line between PG-13 and R as a tightrope.
If you are a tooth, or have teeth, look away now.
Holy shit! That actually made me cringe! I wouldn’t wish that on *any* supervillain! I’d wish on them a hundred horrible deaths, but not that! Never that! D: