Grrl Power #52 – Meet the Press. Sort of.
Max has been trying to get over to that ambulance for 2 pages now, which is why her patience (like everyone reading this, I’m sure) is getting short. Don’t worry though, this isn’t superfluous, there are relevant things being setup for later. Though clearly her impatience with the public is continuing to show through. Being a member of the press isn’t doing Suzie any favors, being a woman at least probably saved her from receiving even more of a brush off.
I just realized that the guy getting loaded on to the ambulance was wearing a turtle neck under his jacket in previous pages, and now we can see he’s got short sleeves. So the dude was apparently wearing a turtle neck… short sleeved shirt. And that’s why I’m not a fashion designer.
Also, drawing people squinting is hard.
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Hi first time posting, and first one posting now. I think your comic is awsome and i cant wait to get to know what will happen :)
And the award for ‘lamest opening sentence’ goes to… Who cares.
And the award for the rudest response goes to, ah, who cares.
Eh, I could be worse.
Also, you mean “most rude”
Actually, he meant “biggest a-hole”, but he was trying to be polite by saying “rudest”.
Seeing as the superlative form for “rude” IS “rudest”, I’m pretty sure that no, that’s not what he meant.
+1 Gold Medal of Approval for you. =3
Given Sydney’s meta-strip freak-out at the bottom of the last page (“OH NO!! I’M BEING PHASED OUT!!”), I’d hate to be on the receiving end after this page.
(Incidentally, I assume you mean “neck injury” instead of “kneck injury” in panel 4. Typos happen to us all.)
That a… um… accent, yeah. Crap, well that’s on my to do list when I get home from work.
I must be really tired… I read it as “neck injury” and ignored the k.
I didn’t notice it until it was pointed out either. I bet you learned reading phonetically and read via “sound” instead of word recognition.
It was a kneck injury. The kneck is were the shoulders k’neck to the head.
You, sir, have won the accent prize of the week. *two thumbs up*
Um… the prize … uh… a noogie from Max!
Is it bad when I first read it I saw KNEE injury and thought “Why are they worried about jostleing him with a knee injury..WADKM..Who got their leg hurt?!?!” Then re-read it >_<
If your tired and sleepy and want to read some good comic books ans look at cool gear, I recommend this place https://www.policesupplyonline.com/
Poor Sydney another page that doesn’t contains her and this time completely
Love the expressions in the middle-panel (a.k.a. 5th panel, or the panel that is split by a (slightly) diagonal line), both the reporter and Maxima.
Can’t wait to get to Maxima questioning Syd about the thermos.
Can this be a two-comic week? Pretty please? :-p
I’m working up to it. Quakecon and STRIP con both on this weekend meant I didn’t have any time to draw but I should have a bunch of weekends to myself for a while, so hopefully I’ll be able to slip in a second comic every once in a while.
As a suggestion, you should keep it once per week until you’re ready to commit to regular twice a week postings. It’s best for your fans to have predictability. Putting up two a week here and there runs a risk of readers missing pages, which can be irritating even though there just one back click away, especially if its a page that just looks like a simple scene transition and it isn’t obvious a page was skipped.
Although some of us read it every day hoping for a new strip ‘Cause it is that awesome so far.
Agree!
Too true.
Hmmm I wonder if your the Az that I know….
Probably not unless you live in Rapid City SD. Unless you know me in one of the few other places I go online.
Hmm… I get the feeling it’s not Sydney she’s after right now.
Max is kinda cranky isn’t she?
Is Sydney trying to pull a runner? Kinda hard when the person you’re running from has you by the invisible tethered bits.
Hmmm… Given that the guy on the gurney took the equivalent of a Mike Tyson knockout punch to the side of the head (champion boxer hits you full force it just might knock you out of your shoes) he’s looking pretty good right now. I half expected to see the outline of the back of Maxima’s hand as a forming bruise.
Yeah that is suspicious isn’t it?
A little. I didn’t want to nitpick on account of A) injuries like that might be very hard to draw, and B) deep bruising takes a bit longer to show up than a hard slap to the face.
Look at the faces of those guys in MMA and boxing matches at the end of the fight when the camera zooms in. They might be bleeding, they certainly look puffed up from the swelling, but the actual color change from the bruising takes time to show up. Being as the guy on the stretcher does look sorta puffed up and concussed I just assumed I was reading too much into it.
The more interesting question is whether the guy cracking his eye open right at that moment is on account of concussed bleariness or trained paranoia checking to see where the super is. If the latter, combined with his apparent lack of major damage, suddenly a whole world of complicated opens up…
Well if the guy on the stretcher looks puffy it’s cause that angle is tough to draw. I’m actually fairly pleased with how it came out maybe except for his far nostril. Once I have 10K followers on twitter, I’ll be able to put out a call for fans to take pictures of themselves at weird angles for me to use as reference, since googling “squinting laying down low 3/4 angle” doesn’t yield anything useful.
Suddenly imaging that day when you get so popular that you have people showing up at your booth during some Con cosplaying as Sydney. And her… unique command of invective.
/shudder
Sydney’d be pretty easy actually. I actually though of a gag where she goes to a convention cosplaying as herself so that she can enjoy the con without being hassled about being a superhero. And at STRIP this weekend, I had some… I’m not sure what they were… professional cosplayers come up… maybe they were models that a costume maker was using to show off their stuff, but the said that they could probably do Maxima pretty well. There’s no way they’d be shiny, but it’d be interesting to see someone try.
Maxima probably wouldn’t be that hard, if they have the build for it. Gold bodypaint is available, and nothing else in her wardrobe so far would be outside the range of a moderately well-stocked costume shop. It’s just a uniform jacket over a v-neck shirt. Even the purple eyes are within the standard coloured contact lens colours.
Ahreed, now Anvil or Dabbler on the other hand….
Well, Anvil while difficult can be done relatively simply. There are plenty of beautiful female body builders out there.
Anvil – depending on how you look at it – would either be really difficult or really easy. Basically, it would come down to ‘do you have her bodyshape?’ and that’s it. If you do, the rest might well already be in your closet. (Or at least, would be in any clothing store.) If you don’t, nothing short of major surgery (and maybe not even that) will help. If we don’t count her height, it’d be a bit easier, but that’s about it.
I think there are a few lovely ladies I need to introduce to this comic…Oh Girls!
Just remember to keep EMTs nearby if using gold body paint. Watch Mythbusters to see why.
Warning: Useless trivia, not relevant to anything really. (So if thats not of interest, just skip this post)
Concerning knocking out of ones shoes, it might be possible. What, however, have been empirically tested as a bit less than ‘might’ be possible is knocking someone out of ones socks. Or rather, not possible to knock a living person out of his socks and have him remain alive afterwards, The force required is more than sufficient to shatter the ribs, and continue through the lungs and other squishy stuff and then breaking the spine. But … in a comics world, on the other hand, it is part of the paradigm, so noone really questions it.
you’re refering to mythbusters? actually knocked out of shoes would be far easier, if you consider the opssibility of someone wearing shoes one size too big, then it’s only a question of properly directed force, socks however are fitted and thus FAR less likely to come off.
i use to be a volunteer firefighter and all i can say is that no matter how tight a shoe or boot fits or how tight it is tied on they WILL be blown off with the right amount of force ( i dont care what the mythbuster guys say, i have seen it in real life), socks not so much but a sock that has had a shoe or boot blown off of it will be a tattered rag afterwards
umh that’s what i said shoes are easy to knock someone out of. mythbusters didn’t test shoes but socks they did and said that the force required was enough to rip a normal human in half FOR SOCKS. shoes it’s not as tough, i’ve litterally kicked someone out of their shoes, it’s just a matter of force directionand proper lift as well as friction and grip of the shoe. shoes with no grip to the ground are alot harder to knock someone out of cause they slide with the person, where as a brand new pair would be far easier as their grip is stronger, and a new pair of cleets, easiest ever.
Thinking about maxima, I suddenly wonder about her armor reflective skin, and if that protection extends to her clothing.
Like if some laser using villian goes for the giant death beam shot, maxima runs infront and block/redirects the beam with her body, would there then be a somewhat innaproprete hole in her clothing, or would the armor effect extend, or military issue superclothing made by dabbler?
I would guess it would be the latter, though it is a valid question….
Though one must admit, her getting mad because she’s suddenly (Tactfully of course) exposed might be fun to see.
Eh, she’d probably block the shot with her abs. If you’re talking about a ray or beam weapon, it’s a lot easier to predict the bounce angle from a relatively flat surface (her stomach) than from something as curved as her chest.
Doesn’t protection–and similar effects, such as teleportation–extend out from the body a short distance, especially in visual art like this, for the sake of ratings? Unless, of course, the author doesn’t mind being R or X rated. That is to say, it happens that way for the sake of the plot. But, assuming that people in RL could teleport, or be invulnerable, it’s hard to say why, exactly, the effect should go approximately 4 or 5 cm beyond the person’s skin.
At one point Superman was explained as emiting an energy field for about 1 inch all around him. Of course they’ve changed him so much there’s no telling now. If Maxima’s protection is of the “Armor” type,such as Rogue then no, her clothing would not be protected.
it’s called a mock-turtle https://www.shopnational.com/p/Short-Sleeve-Mock-Turtleneck-Sweater/103801?mr:trackingCode=56FF6D92-4CC7-DF11-92F8-0019B9C04BE4&mr:referralID=NA&mr:adType=pla&gclid=CPjz1L3ev6oCFcpM4Aod6UHy7Q although that one is a women’s so ….
wouldn’t they cut the turtleneck off? so they can properly examine his neck?
IIRC their main priority is to stabilize the spine and get him into a trauma unit. Cutting the shirt’s turtleneck might cause more damage.
Yes, stabilizing the spine is a priority, but it’s a lower priority than breathing. They need to expose the guy’s throat so they can check to see if the trachea’s deviated to one side, a sign of pneumothorax. So, they’d cut down the front of the collar of the turtleneck to expose his throat.
Also, both he and the guy Sydney flipped are wearing the wrong collars. They’re wearing collars suitable for after discharge. They should be wearing something like Stiffneck collar, or a Philly collar. Both designs are rigid so as to keep the neck from shifting and have openings in front for access to potential tracheotomies or neck injuries, and so EMS personnel can check for tracheal deviation. The company I used to run with carried both styles, but we generally used the stiffneck design which is also available in an adjustable version.
I have more nitpicks about the EMS stuff, but that’ll go in a separate comment.
Too late to change now but maybe one day when I stream me drawing the comic there’s a chance that people in the know will be able to catch stuff like that.
I don’t think the paramedic inaccuracies are a problem. Those aren’t real paramedics. Someone wanted to find out what Maxima could do.
This is a comic. not a treatese on how to treat a patient. The Guy is in a collar. stop trying to be exactly point critical on elements that are not really a big deal. If you want to pick nits, that guy should be on a backboard with head blocks, but this is a comic and the people out here need to see who is being put into the ambulance. I also know that this is why DaveB has the ambulance techs lifting the way they are.
In the real world you keep the patient level since it is the least stressful position. The way it goes is Take the stretcher out, Extend it. Wheel to the patient, Lower, put the patient on it. raise it walk to the ambulance, lower it. put it back in. Raising and lowering is done from the side, as is putting it in and taking it out.
So is he faking?
It’s a possibility – given that Maxima caught the fact that he peeked at her. (Very sneaky, David)
Which begs the question: Was this a setup? And if so, from where did it originate and who is behind it?
And even if it was not a set-up, who is this guy who seems suspiciously non-injured considering the blow he took? Perhaps the comic’s first super-*villain*? Or maybe someone’s henchman?
Note fellow in background in the bottom panel of
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/60
Might not be the same guy. But also might.
And since Maxima takes note of him taking note…
So seems like some sort of setup, but of what?
I’d suspect “let’s see if Maxima is safe to go out
among mortals without causing too much mayhem”,
and Sydney just walked into it. If I were guessing.
“Can get up after Maxima backhands me” is a good superpower to have…
Possible. They really don’t look like the same guy, but that could be the change in DaveB’s drawing style since then.
Wow, super good eye, they do look similar don’t they? It’s actually not the same guy though, the resemblance is actually just a result of me not really being able to draw distinctive looking faces yet – and them having basically the same haircut. And, as with any homogenized illustrative style (anime, mainstream American comics, etc) the more reductive a style is, the harder it is to make individuals look distinct. The artists have to rely on hair and clothes to differentiate their characters in a lot of cases. I saw an old X-Men cover once that had a split image of Rogue and Storm, and their jaw lines, noses, eyes, matched exactly. That was pretty inexcusable, I’d love to make my characters have distinct facial features. Takeshi Obata, the artist for Death Note and Bakuman is really good at making his characters distinct looking. I want to strive for that. It’ll be important when I introduce Harem, cause she’s going to have the same face but 5 different hairstyles and fashion sets, and I really want to make it so that people can tell it’s her without me having to put namebadges on everyone. Although since they’re cops, they actually will have name badges when in uniform, hah hah.
Actually, Dave, they look quite different to me. The guy on that early page has a tall oval-shaped head, while the robber Max smacked around has a more squat circle-shaped head.
Methinks that one is in for a rude awakening, faked sleep or otherwise.
Must say, I’ve got a no-sleeved turtleneck. Looks very nice. Short-sleeved might work better than you’d think ;)
The entire situation stinks!
1) Maxima goes to the bank. What? She came for her free toaster?
Problems with her checking account could be handled on the phone or on-line.
Is this the branch nearest her home? Work?
2) A pre-noon bank robbery? They wanted the place to be busy?
I’m no expert, but shouldn’t robberies occur at opening or closing time?
3) If I were to call Sydney a ‘Super’, a person literally one-in-a-million,
what are the odds of her meeting Maxima? Meeting Maxima at a crimescene?
4) “Eddie… no matter what happens, just continue the robbery. We’re not
leaving empty handed.” No… If the job goes sour, you leave.
Set up.
the trick is to time robberies so the bank is empty, mid morning or early afternoon, just before rush hour. This way you can avoid the odd armed vigilante or random super….Kinda bungled that one….
“Set up.” – jayessell
Or, equally plausible, Comic.
Not saying I don’t agree it’s likely a setup, but convoluted, unlikely scenarios are kind of the things comics exist to deal with. We’re not dealing with the laws of probability, we’re dealing with one person’s imagination. Never leave your homepage without your suspension of disbelief. :)
Another hint a a setup is that they caught the wheel on the bumper,that shouldn’t happen to experience rescue personnel.
It shouldn’t but you’re assuming that everyone is competent at all times. Using Sydney as a prime example, that’s obviously not the case with all people in my little universe.
Actually, it happens more than you might think, even to experienced crews. Plus, everybody is the new guy at some point. One person might be the new guy who is just off probation but hasn’t picked up all the little tricks that make the job run more smoothly. If the experienced guy is good, he’ll point those out to his new partner as they come up.
But from an EMS perspective (and not criticizing, since I know the artist has admitted to having no EMS knowledge) they’re totally loading the stretcher the wrong way. There are 2 wheels under the head of the stretcher that are pushed into the ambulance, and a safety catch so it doesn’t roll back out. The guy at the foot then lifts up his end and the other EMT lifts the wheels, then the one at the feet pushes the stretcher into the ambulance. Here’s another good video of how it works, to supplement the one Inquisitive Raven linked to. This one shows the same brand and model I use on the squad here.
Heh, remember I was a volly. All I had to do before I started riding the ambulance was get my CPR cert and pass a test on the ambulance layout. I was expected to get my EMT cert within six months of joining the company, but I was actually going out on runs before I started the class. So I definitely had a phase as a clueless noob.T
There used to be a couple of Cops style reality shows about EMS responders which sometimes seemed to be object lessons in what not to do. At the very least, I’ve seen patients with the wrong size collars on (usually too big). And then there’s an infamous scene in a firefighter training video where a fire chief attempts to identify a possibly toxic substance by tasting it while the narration says basically, “Don’t do that.” From what I understand, that was an actual incident and not staged for the training video. So yeah, emergency responders definitely make mistakes, especially at the end of a twelve hour shift that just ran over quitting time.
Also, nice video. I’d like to point out the EMT kicking the folding step section of the bumper I discussed in my earlier comment upward at 1:04, presumably to get it out of the way of the wheels dropping.
Of course, if you are going to get your training–in any field of study–from watching television shows, movies, or the like, you are going to learn very little of value, and much utter bullcrap.
Remember that scene from “The Full Monty” where the boys are watching “Flashdance” and critiquing her welding technique?
And speaking of that latter movie, even the whole dance setup is not very realistic. Including having an industrial warehouse as an apartment with all that empty space, and so on.
Of course, to remember a scene from a movie, first one has to have seen the movie. I have seen neither The Full Monty nor Flashdance. And yeah, Hollywood inevitably portrays just about any task unrealistically.
However, I was talking about shows like 911 Emergency where camera crews follow actual EMS personnel on calls which means the screw ups you see on screen are committed by real life EMTs and paramedics.
See? Now I didn’t know there were any shows out there that faithful to RL.
Someday I may have to revise my low opinion of the Entertainment Media wasteland.
I’ll agree on it being suspicious, especially the timing, but your first point is bizarre. Lots of people physically go into their banks for their business, it doesn’t matter whether or not their are other options, only that people do it. Maybe Maxima likes to talk to people in person so she can physically intimidate them into fixing her problems faster.
Of course, some of these suspicious things could just be stupid criminals. I’ve read stories about bank robbers writing their “This is a stick up” notice on their own check slips with their names on it, so there’s no guarantee that anyone who robs a bank will be experienced or competent.
Point three stands, but is still possibly a coincidence.
And then the robber shoots a suspicious glance under his eyelids instead of being knocked out and it’s probably a conspiracy anyway.
Ironicaly I’ve had to go to a bank 3 times this month. I tend to be a bit hands on when it comes to dealing with client Issues.
Well if it is a client who looks like Maxima I can understand that.
Some robbers hit at opening or closing time. Others use armored cars to get money. Better to get bearer bonds or Euros these days.
I’d be interested in seeing how much heat Maxima can take on that metallic looking skin of her’s. If she is working for the gov’t they probably have studied such things and more to have an idea of what she can do and what she can take in the way of punishment. She already has reflexes and strength far beyond those of mortal men, and women. If she ever hit someone too hard they would shatter into hamburger.
Armed robberies yeild chump change.
Usually less than $5000.
The REAL hauls are through fraud.
A real life example of the expression:
“The pen is mightier than the sword”.
Not only that, but money that’s been stolen from a bank tends to be easy to track and banks have extremely good security systems compared to most other businesses.
Yes, but if you’re going to do a comic about that, you do it like this.
Hah hah, that’s pretty good.
Euros are usualy not redeemable in the general in the US. And even here you see conversion fees that are insain.
Bearer bonds need a broker, most here in Houston who do redeem bearer bonds will time stamp the video recordings of anyone who comes in to redeem them, and at best will issue a print check ..after e-verifying your ID.
I’ve had turtlenecks with short sleeves. ANd I still have a couple of mock-turtlenecks with short sleeves. So you’re good.
Wow I’ve seriously never seen that. I mean, I wouldn’t put anything past the fashion industry though. This guy was wearing a turtleneck with a fold over collar, just like Suzie here. (Is that even called a turtleneck when when it’s a poofy fold over like that?) If anything it’s an indication that I need to hit up google image search when I draw people for the first time. Apparently I’m only aware of about a dozen different fashions.
So…you’re saying he should have been arrested by the “Fashion Police” before he ever reached the bank? ;)
I have the same problem DaveB, I was never a fashion maven.
I keep reading it and don’t understand who is speaking with whom in the round bubbles. *sob sob*
Are they using mind speech?
That’s the two EMT’s talking in the background. David is using the faded text to suggest that.
OH MY GOD WHAT!?! Yeah been there done that not too proud to admit it. And similar response too. Felt like a pit bull biting a kitten.
The Short sleeve could be a undershirt, why they would remove the turtle neck who knows, but you could totally claim that you drew it deliberately as an undershirt.
NEVER ADMIT YOU MISTAKES!!!!
Or you yours? *arches brow, grinning*
Hmm…this has me wondering about the girl at the comic-book store. We know Sydney is a less-then-stellar liar, and that her tendency to forget the tube means that probably lots of people have noticed extremely weird things about her. So I’m thinking the whole “bank heist” was a test by Maxim’s team to see if she would make with the superpower.
I’m sure they’re super impressed by now.
I sense foreshadowing…something smells a little fishy about the ambulance. The conversation between the two “MT’s” is kinda disconcerting. It’s like they don’t really know what they’re doing, which would be really unprofessional…hell, I myself have been put in an ambulance and all they had to do was pick me up, tuck the wheels in and slide me into it. These guys are worse than amateurs…hmmm…(wolf senses tingling here).
Y’know, y’gotta point there. I used to be a volunteer EMT, and a volly crew can get away with one clueless noob as long as someone experienced is available to take charge, but a paid crew really can’t, Note, one clueless noob. Two is unacceptable for a two person crew. Also, the more I look at the set up here, the less convincing it looks. I dealt with the collar in a previous comment, but anybody with a potential spinal injury should be on a long spine board and have what we called cervical immobilization devices on both sides of the head to keep it from shifting.
The board can then be strapped to the stretcher, but if both patients went in the same ambulance and it’s no bigger than the one I used to ride, then one of them would have to be loaded on the long board only, and secured to the bench seat because there’s only room for one stretcher. I’ve done this at the occasional motor vehicle accident. I suppose it’s possible to load a long board on the stretcher and then move it to the bench seat once the patient’s inside, but neither of these guys is on a long board.
Stretchers, BTW, are surprisingly complicated affairs. Here’s a video demoing the features of a stretcher very similar to the one the company I ran with used. The two main differences that I see are that ours didn’t have a hydraulic lift for the upper body section, and did have an IV pole, which we never used. Yes, we could raise the upper body, but it took a bit more work. Anyway, the stretchers in the comic don’t look like anything I’ve ever seen in use, e.g. it lacks side rails, and the frame is too small. In the video, you might notice that the EMTs never handle the stretcher by the mattress. Everything is done handling the frame which is a) much easier to get a grip on, and b) sturdier. BTW, the stretcher in the video is a lightweight one. I’ve never seen anything lighter in use, but I have seen heavier ones.
Okay, now look at the back of the ambulance in the video while the guy is pulling the stretcher out. Notice how the section of the rear bumper below the ambulance door is much thinner than the rest of the bumper and there’s gaps between the ends of the thin section and thick sections? That thin section functions as a step and can be folded up specifically to avoid the wheels of the stretcher getting caught on the bumper. I’m not sure a van type ambulance would have this feature, but the box type shown in the comic should.
I’m also wondering what the heck is wrapped around the guy’s wrist. He shouldn’t need a dressing and it’s too small for a splint, although I don’t think he needs one of those either.
I’m torn between letting you guys go back and forth about conspiracy theories and thinking I have something amazing planned with the EMTs or letting on that I don’t know anything about ambulances or EMTs. I mean, I drew one of the guys in those teal nurse outfits. :P
The problem with this stuff is that it’s really hard to get that kind of detail about stuff like this by googling it or hitting up wikipedia, and I don’t have the time or resources to go hang out at the local fire station and run this stuff by the guys there after I draw it.
Yeah, I didn’t figure you were able to do any in-depth research. Reality is a little more demanding than Google searching the proper methods and correct equipment for loading a patient into an ambulance. But at least we know it’s going SOMEwhere, regardless on whether or not the ambulance personnel are trained for their job. I’m just eager to find out what you’ve got planned next either way.
Well, to be honest, I can’t expect you to know all the details if you aren’t in EMS, but the most egregious items were the lack of a long board and the size of the stretcher frame relative to the mattress pad. The former, because if I learned about the dang things at summer camp when I was middle school or high school age, they can’t be that obscure a piece of equipment, and the latter because that’s an easy piece of equipment to find pictures of. If all else fails, the old TV show “Emergency!” is available on Netflix. It may be dated as hell, but stretchers haven’t changed that much. At least, not the parts that matter for illustration purposes.
This, of course, is exactly what you would say if you were planning a conspiracy and didn’t want us to get too close to the truth ahead of time… (What’s the shifty-eyes emoticon again? ;) )
Isn’t a colonel’s bird silver?
Perhaps it’s reflecting her skin color?
Normally it is, but when I first started looking at how to set up the ranks for my team, it didn’t make sense to me that a Major had a gold leaf, a Lt. Colonel had a silver leaf, and a full Colonel had a silver bird? My immediate thought was that 1) all majors should have the same symbol and all colonels should have the same symbol, etc, and the progression should be silver to gold, not the other way around, so even though this probably makes no sense in the real world to change rank insignias like this, a Lt. Col has a silver bird and a full bore Colonel has a gold.
I realize now that setting it up that way would only confuse the other branches, but don’t you think it’s weird the way it’s set up now?
It’s one of those historical tradition things. It doesn’t have to make sense, it just has to work.
And yeah, that would really screw up rank recognition by everyone else. In fact, I think insignias are designated under the UCMJ for that reason, I don’t think you can screw with them on the basis of a single unit. If you were going to change them, it would make more sense to use completely new insignias than to try reworking the old ones.
Bluh, I guess I’ll have to go fix that at some point.
Nah, it’s your world, do what you want. It’s completely arbitrary anyway.
point of order… UCMJ stands for the Uniform Code of Military Justice… it has NOTHING to do with the design of Rank Insignia. it’s basically the “laws” that the military police are going to charge you with when they catch you doing something wrong… a very wordy but accurate site is here:
https://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ucmj.htm
the section that deals with what most people would be most concerned with is the “Punitive Articles” section. they cover most of the “usual” crimes: murder, rape, drunkenness on duty, AWOL, etc… and Article 134 is of particular note: if the other ones can’t get you specifically, and the guys in charge REALLY want to slam you, then that is the one they’ll use…
as for the rank insignia itself, i think that this site:
https://usmilitary.about.com/od/theservices/a/rankchart.htm?rd=1
will probably answer most, if not all, your questions about the way they came about. and you’ll see, for example: why does a Colonel have a SILVER BIRD, but a Lt. Colonel has a GOLD OAK LEAF… once you read thru it, i think a lot of your problems like “rank” vs “specialist”, and who-can-order-who-around, will be a bit easier to clear up, too.
personally, i’d just use the current insignia as they are, because even if you make it a multi-service unit all the branches of the U.S. Military use the same things, they may CALL them different NAMES of course, but a Captain in the Navy has exactly the same power/authority over the personnel assigned to his unit as a Colonel in the Air Force does over her people. and it’d be easier in the long run for the comic to just go with the flow, rather than trying to re-invent the wheel, ya’ know what i mean?
HOWEVER…
please note that even though the Insignias and the associated Ranks should be left as-is… that says nothing about how to set up the chain-of-command for your new super-hero unit, you can have Max be a “full-bird” Colonel, and everybody else is a Seaman-Recruit… OR, for that matter, think Star Trek here, there are the “Officers” and everybody else is a generic “Enlisted”, oh yeah or a “Civilian”. Or you can go with a bit more realistic plan, with the Commanding Officer (CO) as an O-6 with second-in-command, the Executive Officer (XO) usually being an O-5, the Department Heads as O-3 or 4’s with the various lower level Division Officers (in said department) as O-1,s and O-2’s. the Div-O’s have an NCO under them that deals with the day-to-day running of that division and for getting the lower ranked enlisted personnel out on the various tasks assigned them. The Admirals and Generals are usually just a name on a piece of paper who is “the guy we get our orders from” and are RARELY actually SEEN… and if THEY call you into the Office, you are at the extremes of doing something either really good, or usually, really bad… YMMV
i guess the hardest part for YOU, is to decide what way to go, but no matter which you choose, keep notes and draw a chart that shows just exactly who is in charge of who and then STICK TO IT!
kind of dumb to have to reply to my own post, but i thought of a few things after posting…
the CO doesn’t HAVE to be an O-6. some of the smaller ships such as a Viet-Nam era PT Boat have like an Lieutenant (an O-2) in charge and maybe one or two other officers usually Ensigns, with the rest as enlisted. i just went with Max as a Captain/Colonel because it was already established as her rank earlier.
and yes, i know the Air Force doesn’t have Warrant Officers itself, but they ARE Officers (and DO have to be saluted by ANY enlisted person), and if it’s a Multi-Service unit as you say, then anybody in the AF WILL have to learn those ranks pretty quick, especially if somebody from the Army, or Navy/ Marine Corp transfers in who happens to BE a Warrant.
and a bit of clarification as to what a “department head” and “division officer”(div-o) are:
I’ll go with the Navy as that’s where i’m from…
a Department head deals with all the “stuff” that is more or less the same kind of “stuff” in the same major category. for example, the Chief Engineer (CHENG) deals with all the personnel and machinery that makes the ship “go”, provides the power to run it, and the maintenance/repair thereof. the Supply Officer deals with all the people and machinery that deals with feeding people, the store, the parts storerooms, etc. The Admin Officer deals with things like the pay records, awards, they’re in charge of the MAA’s (the cops in the Navy). the Medical Dept head is kinda obvious, the Operations Officer (OPS or OPSO) deals with the Radios, and Radars and tactical/strategic type of planning, and has the Weapons Officer under them, who’s in charge of all the weapons on board, be it small arms or the torpedoes, and artillery, etc…. then there is Deck Department, The Bosun deals with the painting of the exterior, and they’re the ones that tie the ship up, and run the small boats, things like that.
Now, lets break down the Engineering Department, there is typically the following: A-Gang, E-div, R-div, M-Div, and GS-div (or Boilers Division if its a steam ship)
A-gang is in charge of things like the Air conditioners, and Refrigeration units, and the mechanical side of things like the small boat engines and forklifts. E-div deals with the electric power grid from generators right down to the individual light bulbs and vent fans. typically if it goes roundy-roundy or heats and cools, then its E-div, but things like Radio and Radars and have IC chips they are usually part of the Operations Department… R-div deals with keeping the damage-control equipment through-out the ship running, though they have people from all the other divisions to do most of the normal cleaning and repairs for the small stuff, the actual R-div guys take care of the big stuff, they are also the guys that do the repairs on the structural components of the ship itself if damaged, and are the “professional” firefighters on board with everyone else sorta acting as helpers. M-div mostly deals with the Main Engines, reduction gears and propeller shafts with their associated machinery on a steam driven ship. GS division deals with the Main engines and the AC generators if it is a Gas-Turbine ship, though M-div will still deal with the reduction gear and propeller shafts. Boilers Div deals with the boilers and pumps that make up the steam turbine systems that drive the ships generators and main engines on a Steam powered ship.
each of the various divisions is sometimes broken down by work-centers as well, ie. E-Div (in my experience) usually has 3 work-centers; EE01, EE02, and EE05 (? i think, it’s been a while). EE01 deals with all the “low” voltage stuff, 120 Vac, the room lighting, vent fans, and the battery driven stuff like forklifts and small boats. EE02 deals with the 450Vac equipment like generators, the switchboards, and the electrical side of the various fuel pumps and hydraulic machinery, elevators, etc… and EE05 deals with all the various internal communications (internal to the ship, that is) and the TV station on board. there are other work-centers but i no longer remember what those others do, sorry. but typically they are only found on larger vessels, or at a shore station.
each one of the divisions is headed up by a separate officer that reports to the CHENG, who in turn submits his reports up to the XO, who in turn hands them to the CO, etc…
under normal circumstances or unless it’s a safety issue, or something like that, most of the time you’ll follow orders from just those in your direct chain of command, meaning if i’m in E-div as a Petty Officer 3rd class (E-4) and a A-gang First class (E-6) comes up and tells me to go with him and do something for A-gang and not E-div, then you can usually tell him (respectfully, of course) to get lost. but if your own first class from E-div tells you to do the same thing, then you have to do it.
when it comes to things like cleaning the ship, each division has their own areas they are responsible for, and that somebody from A-gang can’t just tell an E-div guy to clean up A-gang’s space for them, but if there is a chief from A-gang, he’ll go to the E-div chief to ask if he can borrow somebody for a while, then it becomes a matter of the E-div chief telling the hapless E-div “volunteer” that he’s helping A-gang out for a while (because Obviously they can’t do it on their OWN, heh, heh, heh…)
for another example: unusual things like a fire on-board kinda throw that delicate chain-of-command balance out the window… there may be times that an E-6 from Deck Department is gladly taking orders from a lowly E-3 in R-div because that E-3 has been thru a fire-fighting school as part of his training. In that SPECIFIC INSTANCE, that E-3 now has what is called “Positional Authority” over mostly everybody else, within reason. it’s works that way because he (or she) is the recognized “expert” in that field of endeavor and their training gives them the reason that you, the one that HASN’T had that training, need to follow their orders even though you out-rank them in pay-grade. then, when the fire is out and everything is back to normal, that same E-3 is no longer able to order the same E-6 around because the situation no longer applies and it is back to the normal chain of command structure.
Whew, good information. Eventually I’ll have a cast of tertiary characters built out and I’ll have to develop a structure for them, ultimately I probably won’t have enough of a cast to fully populate a Destroyer though. I’ll need to come back to these posts when I’m filling out the supporting cast though. One complication with my personnel structure is that my team has a PR division. They’re not uniformed or anything but some of them do have access to classified info. Civilian specialists or something like that.
Print or copy/paste to a file where you can refer to them when you need to do so for the story. (I would do both, just in case.)
Every military unit has a public relations representative of some sort. Usually it’s a uniformed officer, but it would make sense for a special ops unit with such (potentially) high public exposure to have that person be a highly skilled lawyer. The other members of the unit should have canned responses for most questions to prevent security leaks or legal repercussions. Max’s interview *should* go something like :
reporter – “so what kind of powers do you have?”
Maxima – “while the unit employs members with a wide variety of skills and powers it is against operational guidelines to discuss the abilities of individual members. Please direct further questions to our PR representative.”
reporter – “well, at the least you displayed super speed during the robbery…”
Maxima – “while the unit employs members with a wide variety of skills and powers it is against operational guidelines to discuss the abilities of individual members. Please direct further questions to our PR representative.”
reporter – “okaaayyy… so were you worried about injuring the robbers…”
Maxima – “unit members are expected to use their best judgment to minimize civilian casualties in the field. Please direct further questions to our PR representative.”
at which point Arianna shows up with a press release that doesn’t cause Maxima or the unit legal trouble. Given Max’s personality (usually such a senior officer would have a bit more leeway in interviews, but she’s already shown that subtle communication is not one of her powers) I don’t expect it to go that way, and I expect Arianna to be really annoyed that Maxima is speaking to the press at all.
Yeah that’s… basically how it should go down. How it actually goes down might vary from that formula slightly.
*snerk*
I have this sudden image of the unit’s legal team having their own ‘ready room’ for emergency deployment, quite possibly with their own teleporter system on standby. Multiple newsfeeds running on every wall, big display screen in the background with team member locations/ status/ liability risks, chalkboard over there with various notes and diagrams taped to it as they work though the last major incident…
And coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.
Why do I think that Sydney would need her own team?
I’ll be on Syd’s PR team…Mainly extractions, she’ll probably need someone to pull her away befroe she unleashes Inventive Invective on the poor newsies. :)
Ahah, hmmm … It’s the old “I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of Super-powered individuals in the Armed Forces…” shtick, always a good standby as well.
Actually, i don’t think Ariana’s going to be mad at her for SUZIE… she’ll be more worried about the “You weren’t in any danger” guy, due to possible legal action by him. so far i don’t think Maxima has gone beyond the hypothetical (at this point in the comic) S.O.P in her talks with Suzie, we’ll see in “a few minutes” won’t we??… i mean she acknowledged that she will talk to her, “in a few minutes.. whoosh…” but she didn’t say whether or not that she would be ALONE with the press, as we remember that Max was literally “just” talking to Ariana (?) a few pages ago (#47) who will be there in a few minutes (or less by now). that could mean that Max will get asked a question, she’ll covertly look at Ariana who decides “yea or nay”, and gives a signal back to Max, who’ll then answer or not, depending on signal. either that, or it will be a straight out bait ‘n’ switch… meaning that right NOW Suzie is under the impression that MAXIMA will be the one talking, but as soon as Ariana shows up, poof! Max gets “called away on other federal business” and that ARIANA will “just have to do the interview now, sorry…” :-)
as for the PR personnel division, that’s no big deal, like EugeneF said, it’s usually just one uniformed officer, and possibly / maybe he’ll have a lower enlisted person to do the actual typing and filing of paperwork, etc.. but depending on the size / importance of the unit, they may have more than one person assigned to that division. in my exp. it was assigned as a collateral duty (extra to one’s “normal set of duties) to one of the Div-O’s in the Admin department as it dealt with paperwork (we weren’t a really big, nor important unit). and they did their own typing. as for them being civilians… so what!, who cares?!… do you think it’s ONLY the MILITARY that works at The Pentagon? there are a heck of a lot of civilians there as well. usually doing things like planning Press Releases, and finding uniform suppliers and doing building/ground maintenance, R & D, etc… those are usually handled by the civilian side and the strategic/tactical planning and/or things that can ONLY be done by the military are done by the military… i hope that makes sense to you? besides, those people will be in the office building not out in the field under combat conditions themselves, so it would make common sense to use civilians rather than wasting a military billet on these functions. though… now days you’ve got those “embedded” reporters and camera crews. Depending on the military establishments take on “Supers”, if they are cool with the public knowing about them (Maxima’s unit, that being known as a “white” project). it then it should be a relatively large division, and a straightforward setup. BUT, if her unit is still under cover and NOT to be made “too” public, ie, something like “The Men In Black” otherwise known as a “black” project, then it will be a smaller division and more suited to cover-ups, rather than “full disclosure” etc… now… that having been said, there will probably NEED to be an Officer In Charge (OIC) at the minimum, as the military LOVES to be IN CONTROL of ANYTHING to do with the MILITARY and it’s personnel… to the military mind, having no control over the “Civvie” (yes in this instance that’s an insult, but it’s not always one!) that is blithely handing out “military info” is anathema to the military establishment, and therefore it NEEDS an Officer to be the final “Yea or Nay” on a whether or not any given info is released to the public or not.
the fact that some of that data being handled is classified is a non-issue as those people chosen to staff those positions will have been cleared to use that level of info, and to know what they can and cannot release to the public. it becomes a bit more sticky with “Secret” and a whole lot more sticky when “Top Secret” data is involved, but there are proper channels for that kind of stuff also. For the routine, run-of-the-mill stuff that the military-doesn’t-want-out-in-the-general-public-but-it-isn’t-really-secret they have made the term “Confidential”… the WAY those terms get used (in reality vs movies) is mostly above my level of knowledge, but a vague idea is that if it involves “National Security” meaning that if it gets out to the wrong people the actual security of the NATION is at risk, then it TOP Secret, if it’s not so bad as that, but involves a significant asset (ships, bases, cities, spies cover identities vs real names, things like that: then its at least a plain Secret clearance, and if it’s things like how many rounds does a .45 Cal pistol have, that’s not even classified as it’s already common knowledge… BUT, if it’s things like the range of a NEW weapon system, it’s speed, etc… that’s a bit tricky, since during it’s development it’ll prolly be Secret, but after it gets deployed and it’s been “out there” for a while, then it “might” get downgraded to Confidential, as it’s not absolutely necessary to keep it under such close scrutiny anymore, but by the same token, the military doesn’t really want it to be public info either, that label will help keep it under wraps. in the movies you always get some low ranked schub finding a folder with the words “TOP SECRET” at the top and inside are “The Plans For Everything” right down to the smallest nuts n bolts… uh uh…. nope. it all gets compartmentalized into “need to know” areas, and even though you may have the proper clearances to see that kind of data (secret, top secret, etc..) but if it is in a need to know area other than what has been determined that you DO “need to know” then you won’t be able to see those files… the lower down the chain of command you are the less and less likely you’ll need to know, until it gets to the point of some private gets told by the Sergeant to erect that flagpole… when he asks “Why?” and get gets chewed out, he’s then told to do it “because that’s what we got told to do!” at that point the private doesn’t need to know that “if a flagpole is erected in a particular area, then conditions xyz have been met for operation ABC and that area is now under control of unit 123 and that some speech that the President is going to give to somebody else, etc… etc…ad-infinitum… the Private doesn’t care about the speech, he just cares about staying on the good side of the sergeant.
um… i’m having a tough time thinking straight anymore… i’m turning into a zombie… must sleep… see ya’ll laterz…
Another classic example of “positional authority” is when a brand new 2nd Lieutenant (O-1) is assigned to a platoon with an experienced Sergeant (E-4?). Especially when going into combat or such, the Company commander will likely tell the Lieutenant that for now the Sergeant is in charge, and that he should watch and learn from the Sergeant’s experience.
Even later, this sort of thing happens de facto, such as the old question concerning a lieutenant, a sergeant, 12 more junior enlisted men, and a flagpole that needs to be erected. How does the lieutenant get the pole vertical and working?
He says, “Sergeant, erect that flagpole!”
IIRC The CO usually tells Louie to “Shut up and listen to the sergeant.”
I agree — it is a little weird the way it’s set up now. Gold should outrank silver, and majors and lieutenant colonels should have different symbols, not the same one in different metals.
And yeah, it’s traditional, but traditions do change from time to time. Berets and all that. Heh — maybe NATO standardized the symbols across armies.
Where’s the tube full of ancient artifacts?
I’d like to see the reporter interview Sydney. That is a scenario ripe with possibilities. :)
Hah hah that hadn’t occurred to me, at least her being interviewed right there in the parking lot… I don’t want to stall the comic but maybe I could integrate another joke I was planning on doing in with that. Hmm…
but that’s where they would PREFER to do it, that way they can get the close-ups of the bank for that all-important “breaking news” headline, the ability to pick and choose what other victims to
annoyi mean: Interview. yeah, yeah, that’s it… “Interview”… also, that way they can drop one person that isn’t sufficiently photogenic enough, or is too calm, or too wigged out or whatever else is needed to give the best viewer response and to get somebody else that does have whatever they’re looking for, etc…And these days, don’t forget the alleged robbers who were brutally assaulted by two of the bank’s patrons. They gotta interview them…although one might find it hard to answer while the doc’s are trying to retract his tounge.
yeah, they don’t call it the “CRIMINAL Justice System” for nothing…
i heard one where some kids were out joy-riding on a farmers tractor that in order to get to in the first place, they had to jump a fence(trespassing), and steal his tractor (grand theft) that he had left out in the “back 40” of the farm while he went to the house for lunch, and when one of them fell off (i think it was reckless endangerment, or something like that) and got run over by the thing and ended up in the hospital (not sure if he lived or if it was his relatives, but…) the FARMER was sued for something on the order of a couple of MILLION…. AND LOST!…. yet nothing was done to the goobers that did it at all!
Not the worst. An armed robber once sued the store he robbed becaused he got injured during the robbery.
Or the guy that got stuck in the AC ductwork while breaking in, sued the owners of both the buisness AND the building (Strip mall thing IIRC) for injuries and “Mental and emotional distress” And won! Sometimes, I think that Humanity is doomed to stupidity.
Yes and don’t forget Mr Buthead he’ll probably interrupt with some whining. :)
Hmmm… Bunny-style random speculation time!
This wasn’t an actual robbery. It was a test scenario set up, possibly with, possibly without, Maxima’s foreknowledge. The higher ups are testing Maxima to make sure she can operate to their standards.
Sydney’s involvement was unexpected.
I actually had a shirt once that was a turtle-neck tank top. It was purple and rib knit. My mom always questioned why the hell I would want such an impractical thing. Here’s why: it was fascinatingly impractical :-P
Don’t feel like reading the comments right now so I’ll just say that it was the other guy that had a turtle neck that disappeared. #41 Turtleneck #43 No turtleneck # 44 Oh look it came back. It like a game. of where’s Waldo only we should call it “What’s going on here?” It is fun to exercise the mind and see who really is paying attention (Obviously I’m not one of them). To those already having posted what I’ve said. Good for you! I’m going to go back to …zzzzZZZZZZ!!
Whoops, crap, I need to fix the disappearing turtleneck. I mean… it doesn’t really affect the comic but now that you’ve pointed it out it’s bugging me.
I am like those freakishly huge Blue Bottle Fly that buzzes in your ears. I’m Annoying and I laugh at fly swatters.
Okay here in lies my mistake I just noticed that it was the second guy being loaded in not the first(color of shirts now are seen).
Totally and completely off topic here but I have a Question that as far as I know I’m the only one to ask. When do we meet Peg-leg-Peggy?
I haven’t plotted out the exact progression of events for the next few pages beyond the ones I’m penciling now, but soon-ish in relative terms, as well as a few more members of the team.
Hmmm… Just how rapidly can the team deploy quietly (i.e. without being noticed immediately on arrival)?
Every supers RPG I have ever played in where there are teleporters and/or gadgeteers they always get pressed into service as taxis. Given the military nature of the team in this comic, I figure it is a safe bet serious thought has been put into the issue.- can you tell us yet what you came up with or should we wait until it gets revealed ‘on screen’?
Like with Star Trek transporters, there’s a lot of issues with certain powers/technologies presenting themselves in a story. I want to actually abuse abusable powers, cause… why wouldn’t they, so I need to be careful of what I introduce. I’ve given it some thought though, definitely.
*ahem*
So I see the guy still has a “kneck” injury…
:)
Son of a… I fixed that but since the background dialog is on another layer, I neglected to actually replace the correct word bubble. :P Well it’s fixed now.
whats up with the new sydney images on top? :D
Those randomize each time you load the page, or they should but sometimes your browser will think it has them cached and not grab a new one, but eventually a random one will load (CTRL+SHIFT+DEL) will open up a dialog in FireFox and Chrome that lets you dump your cache if you want to see more. I just add them in as I draw new ones.
Sunday now – Is it time to start making WAGs (Wild-Arsed-Guesses) about upcoming plot elements for the bemusement of the author?
My WAG this week – Guy on the gurney turns out to be a super after all, fight ensues, TV truck pulls up just in time to see Sydney actually doing super-stuff, Sydney somehow ends up getting all the publicity and credit for stopping the robbery leaving Maxima torn between thanks for not having to deal with the press and irritation over being completely ignored by same.
Well that would explain Syd’s gaming friends seeming to know she’s a Super.
For all the info you can’t find via Google Images, you could easily have a section on a Forum for “References and Methodology”. You could ask for Reference and Proper knowledge of things that take place in the story. Like the EMT and Fashion issues… those could EASILY be solved; the comments above prove that point too. but in the end its up to you. I honestly love a good forum. and the Fans love a community to talk about the common interests. Its a Win Win for Both Sides if you ask me.
something else you should think about as far as the comic goes: If you want to make pages faster, you need a way to minimize the drawing done. The best bet is to Make Stock Images of things like Food, Cooking and Eating utensils , Signs, Plants (or Nature in general), even things like Dabbler’s Generic tools in her lab. ANYTHING that can be used more than once is worth making stock images for. then is just a matter of resizing and coloring.
Re: turtle neck short sleeve. The guy was pretty badly beaten, they had to cut the turtle neck off to set the cervical collar, leaving his dark t-shirt beneath, conflict resolved.
(Spoiler Alert)
So. Since you gave the guy a turtleneck short-sleeved shirt, couldn’t Sensei (Japanese honorific/title for authors, among other people) have Sidney recognize him by that shirt?
Poor Suzie when will you get your Who’s who entry? When oh when, poor Wen. After all, you had your formal introduction and your speaking part. Not to mention being so bashful and doe-like, that you deserve it.
Bashing does is wrong. Anybody who does that should be bashed.