Grrl Power #321 – Naming rights
I have more multi tipped screwdrivers than I have any reasonable need for. Every time I go into a home improvement store, I feel a compulsion to buy one. Or a LED flashlight. It’s the same compulsion I get when I go into a comic shop. It’s nearly impossible for me to leave without a new set of dice.
Ren’s powers aren’t really just super speed and strength. It’s really more reflexes than speed. He can move very fast, but it’s not the sort of super speed that lets him outrun a race car. “Super adrenaline” is really more of his elevator pitch for his powers. There’s more to them than that, but I should get out of the habit of trying to explain everything on one or two pages right as it’s introduced. It’s ok to throw an idea out there then revisit it later when that person is doing something with their power in a more show don’t tell fashion, or more realistically for me, show and also tell. It’s something I’d like to try and transition the comic to. More explain as it happens rather than people standing around talking about stuff.
#MakeComics: I hear people ask artists if they use a lot of references when they draw. It depends on what you already know how to draw and what you’re drawing. I’m generally pretty good with anatomy, but my webcam folder is full of shots of my own hands, and I always need pictures of expressions and heads in different angles. And expressions in different angles. In addition to those usual references, here are some other things I searched for to use as references:
Hallway: for lighting reference in panel 6. The “corner” behind Ren is supposed to be a wall that ends at the lightswitch, then the blueish wall is a perpendicular hallway leading to another room, but I couldn’t figure out how to make the lighting look right. Still need to work on that. The problem with googling “hallways” is that almost every shot I could find was just a photo taken straight down a hallway, no hallways connecting to a room. I googled “kitchens” after that looking for rooms with connecting hallways and didn’t have much luck. My human bodies/faces/hands reference folders (and pre-existing knowledge) are pretty flush. Obviously my architectural knowledge, and the lighting thereof need some supplementing.
On the previous page I searched for “firing range” “shooting range” “military firing range” in order to find some common signage you’d find in such places to populate some of the background with, but 99% of the stuff I found was shots looking downrange or across the shooting… area. You know, all the people doing the shooting. I searched for “firing range signage” and still got really sucky results, but eventually found one sign about “Always treat your gun as if it was loaded” yadda yadda.
Then I came to the thing I needed a reference for that I though would be super easy to find on the interwebs: “Woman smushing boobs together” It’s not that I needed reference for the boobs, it was the hand position I was having trouble with. I had surprisingly poor results, so I tried variants; “Woman squeezing boobs” “smushed boobs” “squeezing boobs” Really poor results. I think the problem is people don’t name photos “woman squeezing boobs” they name the picture “Angela_showing_off_the_girls.jpg” and google has no idea what’s in the picture other than Angela and girls.
So I turned to crowdsourcing my search on Twitter, figuring someone had a folder on their computer of this exact thing. I wound up getting a few people who thought I was asking for selfies, and I’m not going to say no to that (after making it clear I wasn’t looking for anything explicit) So thanks very much those who contributed. You can see the results on this page. I’m not sure why Harem is hefting herself other than that’s what I pictured her doing when I wrote her dialog.
It must be an oversight that I haven’t included The Hero Biz on my list of recommended webcomics. I think I’ve linked to it before, but it should live over there. It’s basically a superhero comic strip from Arianna’s point of view. The Director of PR character actually looks rather a lot like her. Anyway, they’re running a kickstarter, so check out the comic and then the kickstarter if’n you like what you see.
Here’s the link to the new comments highlighter for chrome, and the GitHub link which you can use to install on FireFox via Greasemonkey.
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.
My name suggestion would be Rush as a shortened version of “Adrenaline Rush”.
“Rush”. I agree. That’s a good and appropriate moniker.
I am fighting a strong urge to call you a dittohead, but will not stoop to such tactics. (I am actually sitting down at the moment)
And I will suggest “Reactor”. His power is directly related to how he reacts to something, and it takes power to react quickly. The “hulk” suggestions in the comic are in-essence tied to the power needed to react quickly. (In that vein, though not closely related, the power it takes a car to overcome air resistance goes up as the cube of the speed: If a car takes 20 HP to go 60mph, then to go twice as fast, 120mph, it takes 8 times as much power, 160 HP.) Anyway, the name “Reactor” certainly implies the power is available, to react quickly!
And reactors are considered powerful, so it covers the strength too.
Y’know, I came in thinking something like ‘stillframe’ or ‘snapshot’… but I think Reactor is a better fit, and it works on more levels.
Better than mine. My kind immediately went to Adrenaren. Just squeeze his name in there.
Those are almost as nice as Chessex’s Translucent Dark Purple D6’s, and much nicer than the bizarrely lighter-colored TDP non-D6 polyhedral set Chessex thinks complements its D6 set. I will have them now.
that dice set is the same set we bought for my fiancee’s first dice set…. goot choice. ifyou hold them up to light they are a lovely magenta shade
His powers aren’t strong enough to want to draw tons of attention to him. They are the kind of powers that are devastating to those who ignore his potential threat.
If he was a part of a group that would only let his code name be known to other team members then I would probably call him something along the lines of “Agile” or some derivative there of as its dictionary meanings fit both the mental and physical capabilities I am guessing he has. Since his name will be broadcast far and wide maybe something just the letter “A” which everyone on the team knows can stand for either Adrian or Agile but will keep outsiders guessing. If they like me associate him loosely with young Will Smith then maybe they will think he’s trying to tap into the Men In Black agent naming scheme for popularity. Unofficially if they want to prevent confusion (is sort of sounds like just saying “hey” or something) they could jokingly call him Agent A or A-man.
Leave the flashing attention drawing names to Maxima types.
Hey A, Nice day on the bay eh? Jay’s a long way away. I got laid today, but They aren’t happy it’s may eh?
I’m reminded of Gavin Free because his superhero equivalent, Vav, can also see things in slow-motion. The downside is that his reaction time isn’t heightened.
Anyway, his hero name should be Slow-Mo
Grrl Power is responding really slowly on my system, so I can’t realistically check the other comments pages. But I came up with a single-word call-sign which could cover his ability to greatly increase his reactions, strength and perception speed (and thereby also his cognitive capability).
Intense.
The camp superhero?
So like InTENse?
Thought you were going to call him Ren Ten for a second cause of his 10x adrenaline thing.
You know what? I don’t care. He needs to be called Blulk. Yeah – I’m calling it. He’s Blulk :)
Regardless of what DaveB calls him, I’m calling him Blulk. Unless whatever DaveB calls him is more awesome than Blulk.
“The Reflex”
Pros: it is highly accurate, since he isn’ta speedster.
Cons: Achilles will totally annoy Ren by humming the Duran Duran song. A lot.
I like it. Let’s roll with it.
Also, it avoids the stereotype of referring to his skin color as if “omg he’s black!!1!11!!!” is more important than his value as a superhero. It annoys me that calling an hero of African descent a “Black(whatever)” gets used so often; it makes them sound like a copycat, a knockoff, a “we couldn’t come up with anything better because if it isn’t white, we have no clue how to treat it with respect on non-racial merits.”
So, yeah, I really, really do not like “blulk” or “black hulk”…especially as HE DOES NOT HULK OUT. Adrianna would be the first to point out that’s 1. False advertising. 2. Copyright infringing. 3. Racially insensitive. 4. Stupid sounding; heroes should have better names.
*Arianna…it is hard to type on a Nook. Been traveling around 4 countries in Europe, so couldn’t take a laptop…
Its not allowed?
My laptop is 17.5″ across. It is heavy, and took me hours of searching online to find a bag it would fit into (an expensive bag at that, but it’s convertible from a shoulder to a wheel-rolled style). The laptop functions as my backup computer; the width of the screen is absolutely essential to my work requirements. (It’s also high-end gaming quality.) If my monitor or my mainframe go down, I pull out the laptop and keep going as best I can.
It is an excellent backup computer. It is not, however, comfortably portable when one has a lot of traveling to do, with changes in location and no guarantee of steady wifi. (We kept losing the wifi where we were, and we had satellite wifi included in the tour package for most of the trip.) I’ve found that if I’m going to be doing a lot of moving around/location changing while traveling, work (and thus the laptop) stays at home. Besides, if I’d brought it, I wouldn’t have been paying attention to all the stuff we were in Europe to see!
Well said! There was a very similar exchange in the comic “Spinnerette” around the character whose name is “Tiger” (not Black Tiger!).
Or, y’know, just “Reflex”… it’s easy to say, easy to remember. Who’s with me?
Alternatively, “Adrenaline,” which you can use “Ren” for the nickname, too.
Different topic.
During the Battle of the Parking Lot (#253), Anvil has the thought, “figures all the guys who are taller than me are also d***s.”
So, is Ren not taller than her, or does she not know/not like him, or what? It’s very hard to use Syndey as a reference.
I thik that it has been allready stablished that Anvil is the tallest in all Arch
He is a recruit, she is a senior officer. The military have rules and regulations against officers fraternising with the ranks. Whilst it is possible that Archon is more relaxed about that, until he is assigned to a position in Arc-SWAT, she does not know if she will end up as his boss. Which would make any relationship inappropriate.
Plus, who knows, he may have said something that rubbed her up the wrong way? Check out panel 3 for an example, of his capabilities. Perhaps he is going self-depreciating male, to make up for the faux pas he made with Anvil?
Or, as you suggested, they simply may not have crossed paths yet. He is new, and in training. And Anvil is not on the hero vetting board. So, whilst she may know about him, and possibly be on nodding terms, they probably have not have socialised yet. Even last night, when all the active duty officers were partying, both of the black-collared recruits were still in basic.
*crosses arms*
All are naming suggestions are only half the battle of course. But coming up with a good name is less than half the battle. Then you have to cope with registered trademarks!
But, even more important than that, it looks like Maxima is planning on moonlighting!
Given his opening here, I suggest… Dudebro.
Hey Dave, just wanna point out, in the little flashback of him looking at the falling cup, the bone that sticks out of his wrist there, in the front, is actually the same one as the pointy bit of the elbow, and the way you drew it they arent connected at all.
You can see it here in this picture, the one on the right is the back side, the side you see in this picture,
https://ittcs.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/img_0308.jpg\
You can see its the same bone, from elbow to wrist, so it should be sort of a straight line, if that makes sense?
Hope i made sense, im sure 100 other people have already commented on this lol
Well you could have Arianna play up a tie in product that he has to drink to activate his powers –and he would be the “Caffiend”
Totally though this is the Whiteboard with Doc OD on Red Bull.
https://www.the-whiteboard.com/autotwb1069.html
And more at https://www.the-whiteboard.com/autotwb1082.html
From the way he phrased his explanation, it sounds like his body can overclock itself.
So, how about Overclock?
That is a whole lot of FREAKY HUMAN POWERS!
We should all be envious.
I once bought 40, 2 pound bags of random dice from Chessex (70% off!) and spent weeks slowly sorting them into various containers. My favourite was a clear plastic dice with a single kernel of corn.
When you need to perform structural analysis, on the gaming table, before putting your dice bag on it, you know it is time to call Diceaholics Anonymous!
Question that might have already been answered: Since Ren gets his ‘powers’ from adrenaline, and at a level that is clearly superhuman, does that also mean that that his body can withstand the extra stress put on in from the rush? Cause even though it would give him a temporary boost and everything, a person’s body can only go through so much before giving out. Only asking because I’ve absolutely torn leg and back muscles all to hell doing crazy (read:stupid) stunts only to realize it later, after the adrenaline rush wore off. Of course, with the advanced medical abilities of Archon, it shouldn’t be much of a problem provided Ren gets checked out asap after using his powers even if his body couldn’t withstand them for very long.
In the Grrl Power universe there is not a guarantee that a super has immunity to the effects of their own power, given that many are known to have fairly useless powers. Some of which may be considered that because the individual lacks a ‘required secondary ability’ needed to make it useful.
But the odds of someone with such a weak capability finding their way into Arc-SWAT are remote. Of necessity they choose the combat-capable supers. So Ren is probably able to make good use of his abilities. Even if there is a limit which stops him getting to his maximum potential.
The exceptions, to the above, being non-supers who are so extraordinarily good, that they can survive in a super fight.
Those however represent a vanishingly small proportion of the population. Probably being fewer in number than natural-born supers. And we know that because, if there were more, we would see them winning Olympic gold medals by a huge margin above their rivals. And probably in multiple disciplines too.
So it would be unlikely that somebody would be both a very rare talented individual and be very rare because they had a super power. Unless of course the power helped them with their talents. But then it is not a useless power.
The one loophole, to that logic, would be mad scientists, delvers into the unknown, and others who gain super powers due to their extraordinary talents. But he does not have a mad scientist look, or attitude, about him.
When you have such vast talents, that you are able to create super powers, it is hard to pretend to be a mere mortal.
He should be called “Clockblocker”.
Bonus points for anyone who knows where that comes from.
Best superhero name, period. Love Worm.
“Bulletime”
“Reflex”
Not bad. And handy, as it keeps his monogram the same.
Wait, so does *everything* seem to move that slowly to him, all the time? If so, I’d think that would be terrible! And how would you even realize you were experiencing the world differently without any other frame of reference?
I think it would have driven him mad if he did. Quite literally. Even a walk between two buildings would be like being put into solitary confinement, for an interminable period. And a short conversation, for someone else, would be a dull eternity of waiting for the next word to form on their lips.
However he describes it as ” some sort of super adrenalin”. Which clearly indicates that most of the time he is normal, but under the same kinds of circumstances that our adrenalin will kick in, his time-sense goes into overdrive.
I have experienced the non-super version in several life or death situations, and totally get how time perception changes. The world moves in slow motion, allowing plenty of time for analysis and decision making.
But really glad that I do not live life like that all the time. That would be an unpleasant curse.
I’m not going to read through 400+ comments to see if anyone’s suggested this, so apologies in advance: Adroit.
That is a first. As a tip you can just search for the key word, which only takes a moment on each page.
Fair suggestion too. Very positive word. The skilled aspect to it would cover Ren’s fast reflexes. Effectively making him more skillful at physical tasks. And the enhanced time sense would likewise give him extended thinking time for any mental skills.
It could even extend to the controlled application of force. Thus incorporating the strength side of his power.
*gets out the ink pad, and stamps the Yorp Seal of Approval*
Good suggestion, thanks. The reason I didn’t think of it is that usually you wouldn’t be looking for a single, clear cut word, but an idea that could be expressed any number of ways. And thanks for the seal of approval.
Very interesting. Liquid armor eh? Nice. Also, what do you mean by AP rifles?
The standard, minimum, for NIJ Level IV is the 30.06 M2 AP bullet. This is about equivalent to a 7.62x54mmR AP round. Your experience may vary depending on the bullet, as different AP rounds can pull different effects.
Also, wouldn’t it be good to back the Kevlar with some flexible super metal mesh or something to resist cutting? Since the armor is already protected by a psuedo gambeson underneath, it’s not going to drive into the flesh. As well, for combat operations, maybe you can obtain some LIBA plates. Who wants to get shot in the chest by 20 shots out of a SCAR-H and live?
Other things: UHMWPE is a horrible choice for this team. Don’t use it. At all. Steel’s BFD/BFS is really big. It doesn’t absorb impacts very well, but it’s immune to gunfire that doesn’t penetrate. It’s weakness is speed. Fast light rounds can run right through steel. Ceramic can be dropped, hit, etc, it’s a myth that they can’t, a soldier has to go flat every so often quickly, yeah?