Grrl Power #100 – A suitably low key entrance
Well, lots to say about this page. First off, page 100, yay! I alternately want to pat myself on the back for hitting 100 and shrug it off as the human need to recognize round numbers as milestones. If I was doing a proper comic this would barely be 4 issues worth of material, but I know a lot of projects, webcomics especially that died on the vine long before this, so… yay!
I’d like to have done a wallpaper or something to celebrate, but I’m a little crunched as I have to get an extra page done before Quakecon and Stripcon, both of which I’ll be attending, and both inconveniently on the same weekend. I have an idea for a wallpaper or two though. I think I’ll try and make those the vote incentives as long as I can crank them out.
I know the woefully out of date cast page says that Dabbler can’t shapeshift, and that’s still true, but she obviously has the ability to disguise herself. We’ll learn a fair amount about her on the next few pages. Also, 1 Moxana point to scantrontb. We’ll see if he’s right about any of that other stuff.
Dabbler’s introduction here is marred slightly by the fact that I wound up redrawing her at least 3 times for panel 7, trying to design her outfit and make her look especially hot, the end result is that her head’s kinda big I think. We can just pretend I drew her a bit foreshortened from the top. I rather like her boots though.
And just to be clear, Sydney’s not into girls at all, but gender preference doesn’t mean a lot to Dabbler, especially when she’s doing her succubus thing. I see a lot of succubus characters out there, but they usually seem to be succubi in name only. They rarely if ever deploy succubussy powers. That won’t be the case with Dabbler. As we see her entering on this page, she’s deploying a simple “I’m the sexiest thing you can imagine” spell.
Edit: Wow, looking at this page 9 months later… I really draw heads too big and necks too long. I really want to redraw panel 7 there. :P
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.
and i’ll bet that all of you are thinking that Dabbler is talking about Sydney’s orbs with her “well those are interesting” comment… i think she’s talking about Max’s lack of Jacket portraying HER “assets” as it were…
Actually it would be funnier if she’s intrigued by Syd’s “Assets”. She might have a secret “thing” about smaller builds.
sounds like the slash fiction of Naga / Lina Inverse. the Bustiar than though wears too tight of clothing (her mother’s Battle Bikini) is really following the short flat chested (although she is never drawn actually flat, just flatter than all the other women on her world apparently) Lina Inverse around not because she wants to be her rival, but because she has a thing for Lina. Something that feels almost legitimate given some of Naga’s teasings in some of the movies, especially (Slayes the Motion Picture) and (Slayers Return).
But alas we of the Naga / Lina division are in the minority against the Lina/Gourry division.
I’m impressed at Max’ lack of blushing… Is she used to Dabbler being aggravvatingly sexual or she can’t blush at all because she’s made of… whatever that is?
Or do you simply not like women blushing all the time? Because I’d understand that.
Check out the last pannel again, she’s blushing and blustering to hide the fact that one she’s blushing and expecialy two, she’s atracted to Dabbler and trying to hide it.
@pickle3719… huh?. i also see NO color differences between the three panels that Max is in… how can you tell she’s blushing? the YELLING about it, i can understand, but i see no evidence that Max is BLUSHING… how do YOU see it?
You can see the blush right around her eyes
I don’t think that is a blush, it is may be a reflection of her hair. you can still see it in panels 3 and 4
NON ARTISTS PAY ATTENTION , Maxima is indeed blushing there is a slight reddish tinge below her eyes, REDDISH not purple, then there is the more prominent yet still subtle red tinge in the hollow of her cheek, are very difficult effect to do without it being painfully obvious especially with Maxie’s color pallet
The only color difference I can see with Maxima is the reddish coloration above her eye and below the brow line also manifests just below th eyes. But that could be from anger not sexual turn on, also a bit of embarrassment. Very subtle in the ninth panel. She is just a slight bit away from totally losing control there. A normal person could turn all red if they are pale like me and Sydney.
i dont think it would be possible for Max to blush. from what i understand, blushing is blood going to your cheeks, and since skin is translucent, you can see the extra red ( pretty sure red lipstick works by causing this in the lips), and since Max’s skin is colored, the blood dosn’t show. Dosn’t mean she’s not embarassed.
You are correct, except about red lipstick, naturally red lips are like that and some treatments / products claim it, but red lipstick is litterally painting the color red on your lips.
If I remember right, Maxima”s lips are naturally red, it was mentioned by Heatwave and is likely the only reason she eventually figured out it was Harem who kissed Mr. Amorphous. So apparently her skin can show blood flow and if she blushed, hypothetically, one should be able to it, though the tone of her skin would likely make it difficult. Er, although, shouldn’t we be asking the guy who writes and draws this comic?
Well, I WAS asking Dave :) didn’t expect so much forum banter on Maxima’s blushing abilities, lol.
She is supposed to be blushing/flushed a little. I tried something a little different with her due to her coloring but it didn’t work out so I went with a more traditional reddish blush. I’ll have to play with it for future appearances.
Congratz on the 100! Love the strip, looking forwards to the next 100 :-)
Wow, this many posts in only two days. At this rate we might break 500 by the end of the week.
Just realised that Panel 9 is her ass O.o
I belive thats her foot in a weird heel.
Remember, in “reality” she has hooves.
Those are eyes. Learn to count.
I was just going by what might be interpited as an ass.
thats her tits, look at the braid of hair. at least, i really hope she dosnt have braided hair growing out of her back.
I was talking about the shoe in the picture next to her boobs.
you thought the shoe was an ass?
It’s her boobs, not her butt…but now I can’t unsee the butt.
(I guess I’m okay with that…)
Dabbler oh something new might be a guy or a cool lady hmmm drop the sex bomb on them. Any considered that Sydney may not be reconsidering her sexuality and just be bi?
I don’t know why but for some reason when Dabbler enters the room I imagine the sax riff from “Careless Whisper” by George Michael playing in the background. before you ask I am under 30 yet it was in my parents record collection. That’s right the vinyl things.
Truth? I was hearing Barry White and Isaac Hayes.
Black Magic Woman
What about “OH YEAH”, by Yello… …anyone…?
Anyone remember that song from the movie-soundtrack “Ferris Beuler’s Day Off”?
Damn, I was going to say “Dreamweaver”, but now I got both playing in my head. Thanks! X3
Skiball may sound like a great idea until the ball return door closes and you find out you’re out of tokens.
I’m curious, will Sydney freak out less….or MORE once she sees Dabbler in all her purple glory? I mean, looking like a 80’s bit of Rule 34 awesomeness is one thing, but full on purple succubus-y mode? That might hit the geek switch even more! While I admit if I saw someone who looked like Jessica Rabbit walking by I’d go DAMN, if I saw Demona from Gargoyles…..DAAAMMMMMMNNNNN!
I’m guessing that the reaction to Dabbler’s “real” look might run along the lines you describe.
But Sydney will probably first spend aome time studying Dabbler – to see if she is the real deal or just clever costuming / make-up (fool me once, after all). Then she will probably be going “Woot! I GOTTA get you entered in the costume contest at the next sf convention!”
I’m also thinking that this might be an idealized image of what a perfect Sydney might look like. I mean, still blonde, definite bangs… This could be the perfect “her” in Sydney’s own eyes.
Also, Deamona is a 10…
As a comic book store owner, she would go to several comics conventions each year. Yeah, there are costume contests there too.
Random guy: “Hey, you look great! What are you supposed to be?”
Dabbler: [ Pink voice balloon ] “What do you want me to be?”
Sydney’s into Sci-Fi and Fantasy so she’d go nuts over a cybered succubus like a 12 yr old girl for that Bieber guy.
Just remember that Demona isn’t human so she has that weird too small “wasp” waist. The same thing happened when Det. Maza was turned into a gargoyle. Loved that Puck. Voiced well by Brent Spiner.
Nya Kitty !!!
Frogot the name, but the rainbow poptard kittie is in the background :D
You were close. It’s Nyan Cat
I notice that in Sydney’s fantasy about cheating at Skee-ball, she’s already getting caught. Much like her fantasy about marrying Wolverine, where he seemed less than thrilled about the prospect.
goes to show, she’d be a really BAD criminal… and she knows it…
Dabbler is like a box of chocolate… you never know what you will get next, but it’s all so sweet and addictive! Muahaha.
Maxima’s weakness? Temper. Being surrounded by people who taunt her for it. Temper. Men unaware of her rabid foaming at the mouth feminism. Temper.
Dabbler in that form looks hot….. very very hot…. like I’d get a nosebleed seeing her in a bikini hot…. put that form in a bikini please and thank you. ^//^
The shine on the boobs killed the mood… if you’re going to disguise yourself Dabbler, try not to look like silicone!
I actualy knew somebody who looked like that once and they wern’t fake.
So you can find girls who look like that in real life that come by it naturaly.
It’s not size the shows fakeness, it’s shape and lack of movement. I once knew an entire family of women who, while not overweight, had F and G cups. But those F and G cups didn’t begin in the middle of their chest and defy gravity in order to press themselves into the direct centre of their chests. There’s a bizarreness to the way women’s chests are drawn in this otherwise wonderfully drawn comic. I’ve long wondered about the incongruousness of it; it’s like if The Mona Lisa was painted with a Sailor Moon nose (the straight line down the centre with a small shadow on one side of the line).
I shall endeavor to pay more attention to boobs in the future. I will also accept any and all photographic reference anyone would like to send me. (grrlpowercomic(at)gmail.com)
And I shall eneavor to do the same, although to be honest I don’t really have a good excuse other than “I’m a guy”. Seriously, how often does a guy get to say that and not have it taken as being a perv, let alone having it mean that he’s being productive?! Truly Sir, your’s is a most worthy endeavor!
It’s not perfect, but here’s one good reference: Don’t take this super seriously, but here’s some tips on boobs and ladies.
I’d also recommend finding more real life references of how corsets work; I’m reasonably certain that it would be hard (if not impossible) to get a corset shaped like the one you drew to have the support needed to push the breasts up like that (and keep them there). Not to mention that it looks pretty painful to have them both lifted above where they normally rest and squashed into a melon shape simultaneously.
That was fairly instructive on how to draw the female body. Thank you.
I’d say that’s a good guide, generally speaking.
Certainly, this is common issue with male artists; it’s hard to know how a particular bit of anatomy behaves if you don’t have it, I guess (I certainly wouldn’t be any better drawing a male appendage, ahem, without a reference!). There’s also a tendency to make them too round, I think because we tend to like roundness as a shape… but, well, that’s not how women’s bodies work ;)
One bit of advice is to keep something in mind about female biology: breasts… are bags of fat, with an organ/nipple attached. Yes I know not the nicest way to put it, but they are! They’re skin, so they flex, and they’re filled with fatty tissue, so they’re above all usually SOFT and gravity will tend to pull down on them; this is why you would get a not-perfectly-round shape, no matter what position she’s in, if they are natural, and this is also why, yes, they will separate when she lies down. You wouldn’t want any part of your anatomy to bulge like it’s going to pop, and breasts should be no exception.
Basically, those round lines at the “top” of her breasts that indicates they’re super-round? Soften or eliminate them, because no corset in the world would do that while they are that low on her chest, and if it did, then the bottoms of her breasts would be flattened all to heck, or they’d be trying to spill over the edge in some weird escape. Her breasts wouldn’t be perfect renderings without considerable redrawing… but just removing those lines alone would be an improvement since it would remove the unnatural bulge at least.
I almost want to point out the shine on them too because it’s over the top, but seeing as that could be mimicked with oil in real life (and often is!), that’s a silly point especially when the character is SUPPOSED to be distracting. :P Just keep in mind for characters who aren’t metallic or trying to be distracting, that human skin doesn’t often naturally shine like that; we’re made of soft leather, not plastic, as it were. ;) Even sweat doesn’t oil us up that consistently that you would have a super-shiny smooth gloss.
Some further details on breasts: They do change size depending on time of the month – many women go up and down about a cup size American – but they will still have that “teardrop”ish shape, and they will still always slope, especially without a bra. In a corset or bustier, it’s true there’s sometimes less of a slope since the breasts are being pushed up out of their normal placement… but if the top of the breast is rounded, you’re still going to tell it’s “rounded” because of stuff being pushed from elsewhere, meaning, you have to show where it’s being pushed from, maybe even flatten out the area underneath (either flatten in general on the bottom – if the corset has a “shelf” of sorts that supports it – or against the chest, which is more common design). Even when they’re being pushed into a more-rounded shape, the lines aren’t going to be that round and clean, because of course, that’s not what happens to pockets of fatty tissue when they’re shoved around. ;) You get tiny wrinkles, usually!
The closest any woman’s breasts will get to the comic book water balloon appearance so many men attempt to draw, is right around the time of her period, when she is retaining water… and they will HURT then, because of course, there is pressure under the skin from excess fluid in the tissue. Look amazing, but be sore as hell; I believe in fact the word is “swollen”. And even then… gravity. Even fake boobs will eventually “sag” into a more teardrop shape.
It might be helpful to think of them not as “round”, so much as “rounded”. The reason at least one person saw one of the “boob” panels as a butt is because a well-toned butt is pure muscle, and thus will round out tightly, pushing against the skin; there is no such thing as “well-toned” breasts, as they are make of fat, and fat is half as dense and a lot less fibrous than muscle. The skin doesn’t pull taut against fat; it moves to make room for it ;)
The big giveaway though is always if there is no visual evidence of gravitational pull on the bottom. Looking at Dabbler’s breasts here, the #1 reason they look “fake” is that they are completely spheroid, the same size and shape all the way around, which even in a corset, just does not happen. The bottom will be larger, or at least wider, because that’s where gravity is trying to pull everything; if it’s in something like a bra or bustier that is fighting gravity, then you should be able to tell, such as visible cleavage forming between the two or the bottoms flattening.
In fact! Maxima’s breasts in panel three are a LOT closer to what we’re all talking about… assuming she is wearing a normal bra, which would round them slightly. But the slope, the appropriate slope is THERE. That is a well done female chest.
Unfortunately, her proportions are quite off in the next one, not least because on of her boobs is higher than the other – like it’s trying to float away in the opposing direction, in fact! Though honestly, I’m less distracted by that than I am the fact that her arm is far too short, like it’s missing part of the forearm… bit of an error with foreshortening, I’m guessing? I think maybe it looks like her elbow is not far enough down for the effect to work is probably it.
Man, I am picking on you so hard – I do tend to love your art though, as well as other aspects of the comic (dialogue, humor, story)! You definitely draw better than I do; it’s just that for some horrific reason probably having to do with past-life misdeeds or some such, I am blessed with an eye for instinctively seeing when something is visibly out of whack anatomically… and cursed with the kind of hand-eye coordination that makes drawing borderline impossible because I always know I’m “off” AND CAN NEVER FIX IT. Like, I almost always just make it worse when trying to fix it. It’s like being a gymnast whose every floor exercise turns into a slapstick routine. It’s incredibly frustrating, and it’s why I decided to stick to forms of art that don’t require drawing human figures :P
But hopefully I have helped?
PS: if you are wondering which way Maxima’s boobs SHOULD move, the answer is that since her left arm has apparently moved up/outward, that the connective tissue will pull it to the side… not up in comparison to the other breast, but laterally, in other words, same basic HEIGHT… but slightly further apart. VERY slightly; I just ran the experiment on myself, and I’m relatively large and saw only a small move when attempting the same position… in fact, I think this is because they don’t so much MOVE move, as they just roll to the side a little… meaning they should “point” a little more to either side, if that makes any sense?
Also, just noticed on Dabbler’s breasts: since someone brought up the way a bustier shaped like that should behave, it’s worth noting that her cleavage shouldn’t be round in the center of her chest, as it’s obviously shoving the breasts together… they would resist each other, so they’d flatten a little in the middle. I don’t know how else to explain it really other than that…?
And for cartoonish reference, that Dynagirl promo image off on the right hand side of the page has an okay breast shape to it!
Maxima’s pose was really hard on this page. She’s supposed to be doing a little Liz Lemon shrug with her chin tucked slightly and her shoulders pinched a little, and her hands aren’t in the right place for it since I had to have them on the panel and not covered up by Sydney’s hair. I spent a lot of time on the pose and expression (and it still could be so much better) so her boobs didn’t get the attention they deserve.
Not at all I cheerfully accept any constructive criticism. After faces, boobs are the most challenging thing there are to draw IMO. The droop, the fact that they reside on a curved torso, the fact that they move depending on the angle of said torso, they have inertia so when that torso is moving they’re trying to keep up, and then they’re all different sizes and on top of that, they’re shaped differently depending on their packaging.
I will defend Dabbler’s boobs by saying that they’re in a corset and I have seen corsets shape boobs like they’re hanging upside down, but that’s usually only on large girls at a Ren Faire. Also, and possibly more importantly, Dabbler’s current appearance is a direct result of Sydney’s comic book addled brain so of course she should look a little off. But I take your point, all the boobs on the page could be drawn better. Really there’s nothing that couldn’t use improvement.
The hot points on the skin? That’s just a stylistic thing really.
It occures to me that someone is missing from the “who’s who.”
In the first panel someone asks Syd a question but we see from the next two panels that she’s not facing Max when she answers it (Max is behind her) so there’s no reason to think the Colonel asked that question. [And if you remember from the last page Max had her back to Syd when Syd called the shield orb down and wouldn’t have seen Syd do it so again there’s no reason to think Max would be asking the question at that time (yes, I know she’s seen her do it at others times but not this time).]
And in the fourth panel someone asks “What?!” but the tail of that word balloon goes behind Max & off panel so there’s no reason to think Max was asking the question either.
I would suggest to Dave that the unattributed voice is Arianna’s because she seems to be just excitable enough to be shouting “What?!” while the general comes off as more good humoured and Zephen more thoughtfull.
or Harem she is still in the room.
Maybe, but I don’t see her asking that first question in such a formal way.
The Who’s Who is mostly designed so that new or occasional readers will be up to speed on any given page. It doesn’t particularly matter who is saying either of those non connected word bubbles, so I didn’t add anyone not actually on the page to it.
Nice. I’ve found me a new favorite comic to check. Thank you for the magnificent storyline so far. I enjoyed binging on it all.
Thanks!
Feh…..that form is OKAY. But I like original/purple Dabbler better.
Huh… I wonder if one of Sid’s “Unknown” orbs could let her pierce illusions?
I had the same thought.
It’s been sugested several times eariler in this forum.
Part of Sydney’s reaction could also be the fact that… well, Maxima’s rather statuesque proportions aside, and the other females she met aren’t bad looking (Harem, Gwen, even Arianna), nobody so far has really touched the ‘supers are OMG super-hot’ thing (alright, ‘fantastically photogenic’) from page 9.
Dabbler just shattered THAT glass ceiling.
And I wouldn’t blame Syd for being self conscious right now… and a little turned on.
I know it’s been said, but congratulations on 100 pages Dave! Grrl Power is one of my favorite web comics!
Thanks! Tis a good feeling.
I love this comic and the art is great but it is incredibly irritating that every woman has implant-shaped breasts that suddenly sprout from the fourth rib region. While I can appreciate that most comics have women’s breasts unproportionately large in comparison to their bodies, the shape is absolutely ridiculous. Only the worst boob job in history would create breasts that were two huge, round lumps pressing together in the center of on otherwise flat chest. I love the art otherwise, but for the love of anatomy, Barrack, look at a rack or two for some reality! Even the fake ones don’t just sprout from the middle of the chest like two bowls! Also, the overly prominent clavicles are really gross looking, but secondary.
When the woman in the following video isn’t flexing, her chest looks a lot like the ones in this strip:
https://tosh.comedycentral.com/video-clips/20-seconds—six-pack-tits
PS – My perturbance is not because I’m some half-crazed member of the itty bitty titty committee; I have an acceptable, albeit not incredibly perky set of C’s
Since I grew up drawing superheros, I bought a lot of bodybuilding magazines for reference, and I’ve developed quite an appreciation for fit women. Most people would say too fit, but for me there’s almost no such thing as too much (almost). I get why most people are put of by women that appear physically strong so I can both appreciate the jokes in that clip but I still thought that woman quite attractive actually. I understand that’s way outside of the bell curve of what most people find attractive, so I limit my muscular woman drawing to just Anvil (though Max is pretty buff too)
Also Dabbler is wearing a corset with wondercups in it. Granted her boobs could have been drawn better, no argument there, but at the moment they literally are magic boobs.
I happen to like pronounced clavicles myself. It’s all part of the shoulder and neckline to me. It’s been speculated but I’ll just say it here since I don’t know when I’ll get to it in the comic, but Dabbler’s appearance on this page is almost entirely informed by Sydney subconscious image of “hot woman.” Syd is a little sexually immature and she spends all her time with her nose in comics and anime, so Dabbler looking like some anime/superheroine amalgam is totally on purpose.
The reason that video is so repulsive to most is the fact that she has the world’s worst boob job, not that she’s incredibly built. I think I speak for most when I say that no one has a problem with a nicely enhanced rack, but when it’s done really badly, it’s no longer nice to look at.
PS – Everyone looks good in the chest department in the vote incentive; you did a good an awesome poster there =)
Actually, you don’t speak for most. There are a lot of us guys out there that think boob jobs look (and feel) freakish and unnatural, and can spot them quicker than a health inspector can spot a rat turd in a pile of raisins.
Dave, I understand the women that you seek to draw – Oxygen models! They’re fit, muscular, and a large majority have implants because having next to no body fat wreaks havoc on the rack. You should check out that magazine for chest references.
Example 1) I’m 95% certain that the following covergirl’s breasts are fake, but they work with the rest of her (and I picked her because she reminds me of Anvil):
https://www.fitnessatlantic.com/images/Oxygen-FA4.jpg
Example 2) The following chick has all her own parts and definitely isn’t wearing a supportive top but as you can see from the rest of her, she could probably bench a mack truck…lol
https://www.girlfriendfitnessgetaways.com/images/OxygenMagazineCoverJuly2009_001.jpg
Most Oxygen models are sporting fakes but as with the real things, some just look way better than others. If there’s not separation between them and no major push-up bra/top involved, I wouldn’t choose them for a model. =)
That’s about my ideal body type honestly. If Dabbler did her Beholder spell on me she’d look considerably more fit.
You should start subscribing to Oxygen then and subtly dispersing them amongst your female friends…lol
The first woman that I linked to is a regular and every time I see her, I think of Anvil and wonder how tall she is in reality
I hear women really enjoy subtle hints from their friends that they think they’re fat. :)
They may just think that you’re suggesting upgrades? lol
Ahaha! nope! Dave is right on this one; passing out a fitness mag would definitely make most women feel they were being accused of being less than fit and in need of weight loss… we’re an insecure lot, I guess, but you have to admit, repeated “gifts” of magazines all about losing weight and exercising? Yeah, that would seem like a hint to almost anybody ;)
Oh tits juggs Dabbler, erm it’s just Dabbler the Boob Mag- BLACK MAGE!
Sorry, I just got pretty funbags, erm flustered.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the lines where shamelessly stolen from Spoony but it fit so well. ^^
I just had a great thought for the power of one those 2 orbs she can’t figure out. It allows her to see through magical illusions *and* copy them. Now with the other orb that casts illusions Syd can now cast an illusion of Dabblers “Hot babe that makes Syd question her sexual alignment” like she cast the illusion of herself earlier. That makes 1 real “hot babe” dabbler walking around and a 2nd “Hot babe” Dabbler moving like Syd.
PS will Syd make a saving throw or not? ;)
Does Max realize Dabbler’s copied Max’s body in every detail, except kept her own mouth, a My Little Pony-inspired hairdo, and the costume of a Vegas showgirl drenched in Viagra-scented perfume and what appear to be Keith Richards’ pants?
And will Sydney point it out at an inappropriate moment?
Is that nyan cat in the background of panel 5??
Yes
What? No one’s mentioned the poor guard in the lobby outside the meeting room. I assume Dabbler had to come by him to get to this room. Poor guy needs a bunk break or won’t be able to stand at attention when everyone leaves and the general walks by. (that is if he’s military (likely AF in a facility like this- he’s sitting at a desk neh? (grin))) That being he’s probably at attention already.
Something that the Harems are likely to port in to check out and tease the poor guy about, because they knew she (dabbler) was heading up and one of them still in meeting room saw the final cover image/illusion/effects of the spell.
Poor desk guard suffered Sydney watch and then Dabbler walking by in full glory. His having a nosebleed in chibi form might be a great border cartoon… Everyone walking out of meeting room in a line (w/smart comments/jokes) heading to cafeteria, dabbler or harem checking out damage to guard (grinning or hi-fiving one another), ARianna makes mention of how lax the military seems to be getting, shouldn’t the guard be at attention saluting the general? Gen has a face palm going on holding glasses in other hand at side. Harem or dabbler say, “He’s at attention…really!” the other says, “Half assed salute though.” Max pulls sydney from looking behind desk which hide the lower body of passed out guard w/nosebleed. She says- Food think on food… That’s it. (grin) maybe it’d make a better incentive poster than a border comic… -shrug-
OK, I know this is way off-topic and probably well after somebody else said it, but I was thinking about Brook’s mysterious body-altering aspect. Maybe the phrase “She gets hotter” applies in both senses of the phrase? Since she gets taller, stronger, fuller etc.
Well, heat does make things expand…
Seriously, you need to dial back on the transgender innuendo. What is this, Grrrl Power or the Lez-tastic Six?
Transgender? Um, that means turning from a man into a woman or vice versa, I don’t think we’ve seen any of that at all so far.
To really super-clarify, transsexual means making the actual physical transition (hormones, etc.), whereas transgender is the permanent psychological state of feeling you are a different gender than your physical sex (sex is physical traits, gender is mental/psychological). There’s also people who identify as “genderqueer” which means they don’t particularly identify with either gender, or identify with both in mixture.
IIRC, the opposite of all this is called cisgender (identifies as same “gender” as their physical sex, likely most of us).
As a complete but interesting sidebar: There’s also “intersex” which is a person that has physical traits of both sexes, what we used to refer to as “hermaphrodites” in some cases; intersex individuals will vary greatly in gender identity and orientation.
Gender and even sex have little to nothing to do with orientation (as evidenced by people like Poppy Z. Brite who identifies as a GAY male in a female body!). Orientation descriptors and definitions I have heard include:
Heterosexual: attracted to the opposite sex/gender from your own. Given the results of an awful lot of studies, this does NOT mean there has never been any same-sex sexual activity, as self-identified heterosexuals often will “experiment” during their lifetime, no matter which sex or gender they are, or engage in situational sexual activity that doesn’t fit with their normal self-conception of orientation. This is what most people mean when they talk about “straight” orientation, and the cisgendered heterosexual is the opposite of what is sometimes broadly categorized as “queer” (which in terms of broadness, literally can mean anybody not straight and cisgender). There are some who identify as exclusively hetero with no interest in the same sex; these are actually pretty rare, though less so amongst men (women are more likely to be bisexual, bicurious or of ambiguous or flexible orientation). Most people fall somewhere BETWEEN this and the next category.
Homosexual: Exclusively attracted to those of the same sex. Statistically very rare (about 5%, at most, of any given population). Again, does not exclude the possibility of having had sexual encounters with those of the opposite sex, but simply refers to sexual attraction. Homosexuals of either gender/sex are often referred to as “gay”, though this term is slightly more likely to be appended to males; female homosexuals are often referred to as “lesbians”, a term which derives from the name of the island of Lesbos, which was the home of the ancient Greek poet Sappho, a woman known for her scandalously non-gendered romantic poetry (her ancient Greek language allowed for pronouns without male or female gender, meaning she could easily have been singing to a woman – I do say “singing” because poetry was generally set to music back then). Sappho was also known for her group of female followers on Lesbos who… well, let’s just say I’m not sure it was ever proven, but it was somewhat assumed they were partnering up in much the same way that Greek men did with their teachers and fellow scholars, and with Greek men, that included sex, so, yeah, scandalous for the time (women weren’t expected to have or exercise the same rights as men in much of ancient Greece, and were often assumed to have the kind of non-virginal, lustful libidos we now associate with men in our own culture. So, like I said… scandal!). Because of all this, the term “Sapphic” or “friend of Sappho” is sometimes also used for homosexual or otherwise non-hetero women.
Bisexual: This one gets a little murky, as everybody seems to have a slightly different idea of what it means to be “bisexual”, in the sense that some definitions are pickier than others. The simplest explanation would be it is someone who is attracted to either of the two major recognized sexes/genders. Some include other orientations as “subsets” or variants of bisexuality. These include:
Bicurious: interested in experimenting with the opposite sex, but unsure of complete orientation yet (this is how I usually hear it defined, anyway).
Heteroflexible: Mostly self-identified as heterosexual, but open to same-sex interaction if it’s “the right person”.
Homoflexible: Mostly self-identified as homosexual, but open to opposite-sex interaction if it’s “the right person”.
Pansexual: I’ve heard conflicting definitions of this one. Most agree that it refers to someone who has no preference based on sex/gender and is simply attracted to people based on their personality traits; some seem to describe it almost as a subtle variant of asexuality, wherein love and companionship is the highest priority and sexual interest is so secondary as to be trivial to anything like gender or physical sex.
Which means I should define “asexual” here as well: in terms of human sexuality, asexual refers to those who simply do not feel sexual attraction to others; they may feel OTHER forms of attraction, such as intellectual attraction or even emotional connections, they may even enjoy physical snuggling, but sex is just not something they are interested in or care for. You will hear differing views on whether someone can be asexual for only part of their life, but many people do identify as such for part of their life and not other portions. It’s kind of interesting.
I’ve also heard one other term that is allegedly archaic-even-by-the-80s slang, that I almost have trouble believing is a real slang term but does describe a real orientation believe it or not that is perhaps exactly common enough to have a slang term for it: “Bambisexual”. That one refers to a woman who is otherwise “hetero” or non-lesbian, but interested in relationships with women, including some physicality… but not outright sexual activity. It stops at snuggling. This is actually more common than you would think, so I’m surprised it took me 25+ years to hear a name for it. :P
I would say that in this case, if we are being completely technical, Sydney briefly became bicurious, which may or may not indicate she is bisexual or heteroflexible (IIRC, she’s expressed interest in men, so, not homosexual).
Of course, Dabbler, being a succubus and therefore an example of Even The Girls Want Her, is bound to skew results :P
The More You Know…. *staaaaaar*
Not everyone on the team is straight. Most of them are but Dabbler isn’t. She’s whatever to total opposite of straight it. A circle I guess.
I think that is pansexual.
Though that only relates to humans… perhaps omnisexual…
Personally I think these words are invented by people who like to invent new words.
She’s the team’s Capt. Jack Harkness?
She’s Cpt. Jack and the Doctor without the TARDIS rolled up and turned into a alien/ succumbis pinnup.
Dabbler could be called a “pansexual” and even “multi-sexual” but since she also isn’t human it could also be called “xenosexual” too.
Oh, don’t mind Ol’ RH, aka Ben Bruin (of “Burned Furs” (in)fame), aka “Reality Check.”
As a christian fundamentalist, he’s ideologically opposed to anything that’s not straight, cisgendered, conservative, christian with subservient, “unsexualized” women for the purpose of breeding more christians.
QED: it doesn’t even *matter* if there was any actual transsexuals on the page: there was something that *he* interpreted as such, therefore it must be purged.
I was re-reading the comic, and I just happened to notice him on page 16 from the other places I have encountered him (funny how he has the same tastes as a pansexual liberal atheist): so I’ve been ctrl+f’ing for him to see when he’d finally snap: was betting on Maxima being feminist being what set him off, and you don’t really have any environmentalist tones, and the comic hasn’t gotten ‘woke’ (his interpretation thereof) enough by this point to trigger him–and you don’t seem to have any actual trans people, at least not in named characters. So, *that* setting him off: I would have lost the bet.
All you need to know about him that separates him from all the other hypocritical (he depends on food stamps and SSI, despite hating “socialism,” and branding anything he doesn’t like as such. Also, he’s been paying more of his bills lately drawing furry cheesecake pinups– despite being one of Thee Guys who *made* “Burned Furs,” who’s ‘charter’ was to desexualize the Furry Fandom) fundies is that he is capable of knowing of when to shut up when he knows he’d lose (as far as I know, he hasn’t gone full MAGA, but has said nothing of the 1/6 terrorist attack, and also refuses any criticism of any part or whole of the Republican party), and he’s actually spoken *against* racism, recognizing that there are people of mixed race, and was *pro* net neutrality. Also, he’s a furry and a brony as I am: the only reason of those marks is that when his calvinist/baptist “fire and brimstone” minister father was programming him on *what* to think, as opposed to *how* to think:
The internet was the only thing the senile old bastard had no concept of.
Oh well; ancient history, ancient post, and he’s aging fast himself.
That’s Dabbler for you. Part succubus, and champion of antagonising Maxima.
Nice, just nice ‘,:3 aaaaaaaaaand Nyan Cat in the arcade panel.
soo… is what dabbler looks like somehow what Syd wanted to see?
I’m guessing it’s Sydneys image of what a REALY Sexy woman would look like.
Just to mention something, a few people were talking about how Syd was the *target* of whatever spell Dabbler is using to base her appearance on. well, we know Dabbler likes to rattle Maxima’s chain. ^.^
Dave B, I just noticed that you are missing a “than” on Sydney’s profile. It reads “as she seems to be better at coming up with power stunts that the power’s own owner in many cases.” Just wanted to give you a heads up. Thanks
All the jokes and references are awesome. One question though: Was “Do not taunt Happy Fun Maxima” inspired by Play Dirty (John Wick?)
Super-human levels of Appearance! I can describe Dabbler with 1 word:
daaayyyyum!
I just noticed:
The panel where Dabbler says, “Fine, but I never go below a ten”: It just HAPPENS to be panel TEN. :D
…..
I’m pretty sure she just hit 11 there…
DAMNIT DAVE! YOU HAVE RUINED SUPERHERO COMICS FOR ME!
No heroine can match Dabbler!!!!
I am probably either stupid or slow, but I just got the joke about Dabbler’s dials all being hexadecimal anyway (she has 16 fingers.)
Dude. Volleyball boobs? Seriously?
Forget heads being too big… geez those boobs are ridiculous. If you shrunk her head any they’d be the same size!