Grrl Power #588 – Ablution disillusion
Yes, Sydney is taking another shower. The reason for this will be at least hinted at on the next page. Don’t worry about it too much for now. It would be fair to think it’s mostly because I wanted to draw another scene with superheroines taking showers. I mean, come on, sometimes the simplest explanations for gratuitous shower scenes are correct. I think that’s Occam’s Slightly Naughty Razor. Also I feel I’ve improved my wet skin technique, and learning is always good!
You would think that with Jabberwokky’s power set, she would know a lot more about animals. I guess she’s never really paid attention to squid before. Besides, it’s not like her powers work of what animals can actually do, they work off her perception of what they can do. That has as much to do with watching Kung Fu Theater growing up as it does going to the zoo. I mean, it’s common in Kung Fu movies that Toad Style involves super tough skin. Ok, maybe toads have tough skin compared to frogs, but there are like a dozen other animals I’d rank in front of toads when coming up with that list. Ancient China probably didn’t know about armadillos, but pangolins are all over China and India. What about rhinos, hippos, or ankylosauruses? I don’t know when China learned of dinosaurs, but they have a shitload of fossils over there. Anyway, Toad Style is tough skin, not jump kicks or something like that. (Except Kung Fu Hustle had a guy doing jump attacks using toad style. I know, shut up.)
So yeah, Trent sitting in the lounge was obviously a big breach of Veil protocols. He actually should have been protected by the Veil itself, but in its weakened state, a giant mass of writhing tentacles was proving to be challenging for the global glamor. Fortunately, in a world of supers, the supernatural is fairly easy to explain away.
Important update on the Patreon changes. There won’t be any, at least for the foreseeable future. There was considerable backlash about the new fee structure, so they’ve backed off. Here’s a post about it if you’re interested.
Still, this recent kerfuffle highlights the whole eggs in one basket strategy I’ve been employing, and there’s less excuse for it now that there are other companies competing in Patreon’s space. I will still look into getting set up on some alternative services at some point, probably after the holidays. I’m behind schedule already and I haven’t done any Xmas shopping yet. D:
Speaking of which, here’s a gentle reminder I have an Amazon link. Three of them now actually. Canada and the UK as well. No idea if I set them up right, so help me test em. :)
In celebration of Patreon coming to their senses, I’ll post the double res version of this page for everyone! Enjoy the shiny skin! (Normally $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like for future hi-res goodies!)
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.
Thinking back, isn’t there an invisible guy that follows Dabs everywhere?
Yep! The first ‘victim’ of the Truesight orb. That assignment has it’s uh, perks.
X wouldn’t be able to hide in a shower
“Not at ANY time. Only when it was funny.”
Heh, nice Roger Rabbit reference.
She seemed unphased at having to adjust her stealth to cater for sound occlusion, so X’s versatility is likely top notch. Steamy air is probably no more challenging than that. And doing something similar to stop a body-shaped outline in shower water is not that great a step.
Whether she has figured out a way to block porno sense, is another matter though, so you could very well be right, on that score. Their current antics should make X stand out like a beacon, otherwise.
X may have had the time to train with a tantric guru (of the non-succubus variety) and learn the necessary meditation (et al) techniques to keep the libido flatlined. So not blocking the sense, but just making sure that there is nothing to pick up with it.
Standing in a cold shower should help.
…She?
You think X is a guy?
o-O
I do not automatically default to assuming male, when gender is unknown. In this case though X is a gender-concealed character in a comic which is called “Grrl Power” and which predominantly features strong female leads.
I think the odds are in my favour.
Could have sworn X’s gender was confirmed male but it seems not. Only real info we have to go on is a (probable) attraction to women. That would imply a greater chance of being male but I’d argue that picking a straight man to tail a succubus is a bad idea. Lesbian woman is more likely to get overlooked by higher ups.
X’s gender was never revealed, and when Dabbles cranked up her Porno-Aura to 11, even a celibate straight woman would have reacted the same way
X’s attitude is typical comic book infiltrator/deep secret agent for males. So could be female, but based on what we’ve seen without making meta-assumptions, going to personally say male until I see chest bumps.
Meta assumptions can be useful, when dealing with metahumans.
*meta tail wag*
Actually given the presense of so many female leads it makes a certain sense that X would indeed be male just to balance things out a bit.
But not from an internal investigations personnel recruitment point of view. Given that more female personnel, in Archon, means a greater likelihood of needing to investigate a female member than a male.
It would be most inappropriate for an invisible male spy to follow females into the shower!
I would like to point out that X probably gets days off and there is likely some other invisible person whose job is to follow dabbler around when X isn’t there. This person may also be able to fill in gaps that X cannot. There may be more than one person too.
Then, of course, there will be the people who have to watch the watchers, because of Dabbler’s corrupting influence.
Shame that super powers are rare enough that there are unlikely to be that many with invisibility.
Clearly ninja schools must be working round the clock to keep up with the demand.
I never once questioned that X was male 0.o
Lets see, broad shoulders, flat chest, flustered (but without denial) at hornyness accusation. Im 99% its male.
Yeah there is, though I’m fairly certain there’d be either a non-disclosure agreement & steps in place for ARCHON to be able to say they don’t have a stealth oversight agent monitoring their charges when they’re in various states of undress without the means of keeping things quiet about whatever & whenever they witness something they’re not meant to see. Meaning he could be close by yet not where he’d be seeing the women naked however if he does accidentally see one or more of them nude then there’s legal paperwork keeping him from mentioning it to anyone and making it known in any form that he has seen them naked and wishes to abuse that knowledge.
All of which is unneeded with Dabbler.
I think you underestimate the way intelligence agencies work. They do not seek permission for the things they do. Anytime they get caught, their actions are simply covered up. One way or another.
This is the first I’ve heard of this.
Sydney saw X using her truesight orb.
For info note that X remained invisible, until she decided that the gig was up and chose to uncloak, so that she could interact with the other people in the room.
I hate to see Archon’s version of “Don’t Ask,Don’t Tell”…..!
It’s pretty much: “Don’t end up in the news, and don’t piss off Max”
depending on how Max is getting on with Arianna, a Venn diagram of those two may or may not have overlaps.
Oh my Ethereal Mother =O, I just pictured a succubus Venn diagram. That’ll be something that will be with me until my time on Earth is done because I just experienced ultra porn from a moment of pure clarity.
Now meditate on the Yin and Yang of all things leggy and sensuous, coming together in bouncyful harmony. Breath in. Breathe out. You are one with the pervuverse.
‘Annoy’, ‘Irritate’ and ‘Aggravate’ are not quite the same thing as “Piss off”
Overlaps? The ‘not in the news’ circle is INSIDE the ‘don’t annoy Max’ circle. :)
The amazon link just sends me to the main page of amazon. What is it supposed to do?
If you do any shopping there (for instance your Christmas shopping), having gone into Amazon by that route, DaveB will get a small commission for that.
The link should have something like “/tag=grrlpow-20” after it, which gets appended to all of your amazon browsing if you do it in the same session, that’s how they know who to credit with the referral. It won’t alter your actual browsing experience in any way.
Oh, right on. Its a “tell em Dave sent ya” kind of thing. I got it :)
DaveB – HUGE thumbs up on that 4th panel. Lovely.
Damn it. 3rd panel. So good it made me lose my ability to count. :-D
I have to say, this is getting pretty quickly somewhere, I’m not comfortable. I can understand need to use ANY means necessary to solve a crisis, but seduction powers are really questionable from the moral standpoint. And I get the comedy value in such antics. But this is no longer a crisis.
And it is starting to have some serious implications about Dabbler’s disregard to human integrity and freedom of choise. Jabberwokky does seem more and more like someone who lost abilty to control her impulses, instead of someone who is “just” being forced to be honest with herself.
And even if this is a result of an accident, not an intent, Dabbler seems to be enjoying the situation, instead of taking it seriously.
To sum it up, this is the first time I’m not happy about an update. I could go without this page.
That’s… kinda the point
Dabbles has done this many many times before, this is the first time it has ‘stuck’, Dabbles and probably the rest of Arc-Light (the magic division) are working on what went wrong, butt Jabbers keeps going into ‘heat’ around Dabbles which makes things difficult
Remember, Dabbles isn’t human, she literally feeds off humans, butt unlike Vamps the humans have to be in a particular state before feeding can begin, and right now, this would be the equivalent of Ingie being in a slaughter house with all that delicious blood flowing, or Kevin at a Stanley Cup final :P
Recall also that it’s not ongoing abuse, but the ‘trauma’ from a properly delivered (by Dabbler) non-lethal blow against an enemy (jabbers) who was trying to kill at the time the blow was delivered. I really have a hard time feelinhg sorry for Jabberwokky, who has been treated so gently in return for her murderous intent. Even though she was likely under the influence of other mind controls, too.
That too
And like said (somewhere), as long as they are not in the same room, Jabbers is (relatively) fine, not sure how they are supposed to study what went wrong if they can’t be in the same room…
All of you are making good points. If we work under the assumption that this scene is subsequent to Jabberwokky being cured (off screen) then this is a much lesser issue, and the tone is more appropriate. If not cured though I agree with Cakemaster.
Note though that this is using contemporary human morality, in prevailing western society. An important point given that morality is subjective. Cultures which permit slavery for instance would not find this to be objectionable.
Dave is clever though in having a hero (and an entire race) who require sexual activity to live. As this requires us to envisage a society where using powers to heighten sexual desirability is an evolutionary necessity, as opposed to a moral choice.
Likewise when we have to decide where the dividing line between ‘influencing behaviour in favour of sexual activity’ (e.g. wearing perfume or providing aphrodisiac laden food and drink or alcohol) and total control over the individual lies.
Is Jabberwokky in a state where she has no control (like someone dead drunk)? We cannot say for sure. But, to be safe, we are obliged to assume that she is not acting under her own volition. Until proved otherwise.
Consider that in Succubus society they may have a divide similar to the one between normal people and… *pauses uncomfortably* … vegetarians. Most humans consider eating meat to be a standard part of their diet. Likewise succubi for using their sexual powers.*
Fine when looked at from the predator’s point of view. Harder to justify from the prey’s though. Hence why humans would not be so happy with this.
An uncomfortable page to view, yes, but a thought provoking one.
* They will (eventually) die without such sustenance. But there are other ways of obtaining it (i.e. without using special powers). Although vegetarians do have the luxury of just being able to survive off non-meat products, so the analogy is not quite precise.
Dabbles hasn’t taken advantage of Jabbers’ altered state though: teasing and baiting Jabbers into arousal (simply by being in the same room) butt holding off from ‘feasting’
There is a factor which has not been mentioned yet. Which is protecting the policy decision to maintain the secret of alien life on Earth. So Dabbler’s initial actions (towards those ends) are justified on such grounds. She faced an emergency and found an effective solution (her cover story).
This also gives credibility to her excuse of having forgotten about the embargo on her being in the same room as Jabberwokky. Which is the only justification for her saying “Oh, hi. You’r being refreshingly forward”. Otherwise that is clearly leading Jabberwokky on, so would be a very clear case of exploiting somebody who is not of sound mind.*
In that panel Jabberwokky is being intimate and Dabbler is responding in kind. If Jabberwokky is subsequently cured, and additionally turns out to actually be straight, that experience will expose her to unnecessary extra trauma. Or even if she turns out not to be gay but just does not like Dabbler.
In the final panel, even though Jabberwokky is taking Dabbler’s turning her around and pushing her away as having sexual motives, this is reminiscent of Dabbler realising that Sydney had become entrapped by her hypnoboobs, and averting Sydney’s gaze from her.
As such her behaviour, in amending her memory lapse, is laudable. Her cheeky grin does rather undercut that noble intention mind. Much though I enjoy how she looks like that.
Plus I cannot say that I would be in complete control of my expressions if I found myself in such a tempting situation. So I can forgive her accordingly.
* Working on the assumption that Jabberwokky has not been cured.
Don’t believe this has anything to do with the “do not let the mundane’s know there are alien’s amongst them” embargo, but about how Jabbs acts when she sees Dabbles
Panels one and two were all about preserving the secret. Dabbler’s big ears picked up on this (the conversation had clearly been going on from before panel 1) so drawing her to them, to intervene.
To give her credit Dabbler may not have even intended to go to the shower, but needed an excuse to be present and offer her cover story in an unobtrusive organic way. Rather than risk Sydney having to come up with one!
Either way though Dabbler’s attention was on business initially. Panel 1 does not have any flirting or hint that Dabbler is there for purposes other than showering or preserving the secret.
Given how extreme a security lapse she has to cover up (Trent does not look like any super we have ever seen, even by comparison of extremes), and how easy it would be to arouse suspicions by having a flaw in the explanation or tell-tale wavering in the delivery, this will have demanded Dabbler’s whole attention.
Which would be distracting. Something that clearly did impact on her relationship with Jabberwokky, given that Dabbler is not meant to be in the same room as her. Whether that was down to deliberately following them in, having heard the discussion start, or just being there by co-incidence and forgetting the embargo for the above reasons, or using the former as an excuse to get close to Jabberwokky is up to debate.
But whichever you go with the work element is indisputably present. It forms half of the page.
I should have mentioned that even in panel 2 Dabbler’s positioning is consistent with someone walking past Jabberwokky’s stall, to get to the empty one, which we can see at the end of the room.
Albeit closer than most humans would get in a naked situation, but that would doubtless be normal for Dabbler, to the degree that she would have to concentrate to preserve humans sense of personal space. Something she is distracted from at the moment.
“Or even if she turns out not to be gay but just does not like Dabbler.” should read:
“Or even if she turns out to be gay but just does not like Dabbler.!
I think given the circumstances, Dabbler could enjoy the situation more than she does but Arianna was against that.
I always lov youyr cmic and shouldn;t hvde to be drunk as fuck to say say so, so yeah, I love ypur cmicv, it provides me with endless hours of enterytainmentmen, sorry for the dru8kness, peace put, keep doing what ya love, epec isally of what ya love is grrl power,.! :D
The juxtaposition of sensual in the third panel to comical in the last makes it extra wacky.
Agreed. A powerful ploy.
Here I was thinking sydney would respond to jabberwocky’s freaking you with “oh yeah, trent. There are some supers who don’t get to continue being pretty and human looking once their powers activate. His power is a pseudo hivemind type deal I think.”
Wait, where’s Dabbler’s other left arm?
Behind her behind
DaveB simple fix maybe for the spank/hands issue… change sound effect to “Fourth Wall Wall Spank!”
Which is funny on many levels including all the shipping that’s going on by your fans already.
err “Forth Wall Smack”
Or maybe a “THUD” to imply she’s hit the wall
Considering the reason for the first shower, I don’t see a need for a new reason to take a second. Or third. Or really a shower every hour for an entire week.
Yea swimming in blood and gore is pretty much the only one needed.
oddly curious what other tattoo she has.
Jabberwokky has a crouching tiger, on her back, so I am guessing that she has a dragon… somewhere hidden.
I wonder if Jabberwokky will get a sloth tattoo, so that she can develop ‘the Slow Eviscerator’ style?
If she got a tentacle tattoo, I’d hope it would be Drawn Together.
And they can even re-use this excuse for the NEXT time something weird shows up.
Considering where they work this should be rather usefull.
i love the crouching tiger on her back, i wonder if she has a hidden dragon?
It’s hidden, tattooed between her buttcheeks
But does she have eyes that flame and claws that catch?
and knobbly knees and turned-out toes and a poisonous wart at the end of his nose?
wait, wrong abomination
LAST!!!
Not quite….. update is bugged again.
on patreon as well then…
firs time for me…
Come on Jedi Duck – use the force! Get the comic online!
Awesome news for the Last Jedi…
It makes beards fashionable again.
See!
SUPER MEGA ULTIMATE LAST!!!!
And update still FUBARed
*cries*
I wanted to be last! Oh well, you called it.
*sigh*
*enters stalk mode, watching server for update, ready to pounce*
Is this the new ‘FIRST’? o_O
‘Firsts’ are penalized by being placed in a random position in the que.
So far as I know, anyone can claim LAST at any time.
So does that mean it is the new black?
LAST, LAST, LAST!
Nope, I’m last.
Is it wrong that I zoomed in on Sydney in that last panel?
Nope, just watch out for the guard Yorpie, he is very territorial and protective :P
Hah! Sydney is last!
And no, she is desirable and wanting to see more of her is perfectly normal for folks who find her attractive.
Whoops! Sorry guys, holidays are throwing me off. Forgot to schedule the page. Give me 10 minutes and it will be up.
Yay!
*wags tail contentedly*
I tried following the Amazon link (which does lead to Amazon), but couldn’t find any Grrl Power merch anywhere. Should I be searching for a specific title? Thanks!
Those links are not for Grrl Power merch, they are the so-called “Amazon Affiliate” links (essentially ads for Amazon). If you buy something (anything) through them, DaveB will get a tiny percentage of the money you spent. It doesn’t increase your bill, so don’t worry about that.
Ok, thanks
The amazon links are like an advert but, instead of paying for the space on the page, they will give the author a small commission on any purchases made by customers using that link.
So if you are planning to buy a bunch of stuff on Amazon, for Christmas, you can help support the comic by doing that via the links here. Although there is nothing Grrl Power specific on Amazon yet.
Separately there is some Grrl Power merchandise you can buy here.
I am hopeful that someday Dave might start up a clothing line. He has already had a couple of firms making enquiries to produce stuff from the comic. So it is in demand.
Got it, thank you
I think Dabbler is the only one who can really perceive whether the degree to which Jabberwocky is impaired or not, and has proven deserving of our trust until new information arises. In any type of withdrawal situation there are metabolic and psychological forces are at play. Dabbler is the only judge of how to wean Jab off of needing her Dabbler “fix”. An alcoholic going cold turkey is in great danger, Emergency Rooms stock a six pack of beer in the med fridge for that very reason. A brief taste of her presence is probably the best/only way for her to judge where Jabberwocky is in her recovery.
P.S. We need more fanservice of Sydney! As a fine purveyor of the cheesecake arts, you should know that you need to cater to a broad audience.
I never got the point of “shower stalls” that come up to just below shoulder height, have no front and are adjacent to each other. What’s that supposed to do allow you the fragile illusion of privacy….as along as no one cranes their neck or is even slightly taller than average?
Probably psychological, like how people tend to feel they are invisible in their car and do embarrassing things without thinking. I saw a woman change clothes to the skin in the middle of a parking lot in a car as if it had tinted windows then later act highly embarrassed about a minor wardrobe malfunction.
Or how models on outdoor shoot finds a blanket hung on wire is enough even though people are a few feet away and can see them clearly if they make the slightest effort or the there’s a slight breeze. former models have written that modesty is one of the first things to go because of situations like that.
I am way to nerdy. Sorry for rambling.
I can’t speak for actual real world shower stalls, but in this case, I literally designed them to be boob height so I could draw them just on the edge of being indecent. :)
LOL.
The shape of the eyes in the last panel remind me of how the eyes of characters in Ranma 1/2 or early chapters of the Dragon Ball manga (not DBZ’s manga) used to look when they were doing something they thought was funny. It makes sense since Dabbler and whats-her-name were being funny with eachother.
Occam’s Slightly Naughty Razor. That explains the clothing damage. But not why there isn’t more!