Grrl Power #1000 – Graduation!
Let’s celebrate arbitrary round numbers! Human nature! Woo!
Okay, seriously though, I’m kind of amazed we’re here. It’s not something I’d really given a lot of thought when I started this comic. Though I will say I thought it was at least possible, because I name my files “GP” followed by four digits, which means I’ll have to wrap up the comic before page 9,999, or else the computer will sort them weird and my OCD won’t put up with that.
I know this is almost definitely not how most military graduations go. I wasn’t sure where everyone would stand and, look, I did pull up a few on youtube, but they’re incredibly boring to watch. There was only so much marching up and down the square I was prepared to subject myself to. It only took me about 5 minutes of research to decide to skip 99% of that stuff in the comic, as it’s all very definition of stiff and formal, and there’s no room for anything humorous to happen without it coming across as disrespectful.
The other major factor here is Archon’s domestic presence and media spotlight. The fact they’re a new branch means they can streamline the pageantry and put as much emphasis as they want on the graduates themselves.
Sydney fell behind the other recruits due to her space adventures, but it was important from the public relations/perception angle that she graduate alongside everyone else, especially because she’s basically the most famous member of the team with the possible exception of Maxima. So Sydney’s been doing a little extra work here and there, getting some tutoring, etc., and has passed all her qualifications, even if some were by the skin of her teeth. (coughPTcough) Some of her written tests, like street level application of the law as it relates to supers is slightly more pending, but it’s not like she’s going to be unsupervised in the field anyway. Barring any additional encounters with wormholes.
I didn’t draw Ren and Vance, (who is still on the team even though I haven’t drawn him in like 700 pages) in the lineup, cause I was thinking like that panel cut to them as the general is reading along the list of graduates, but it just kind of looks like just the 4 girls are graduating. Oh well.
Unrelated, has anyone done a mashup of Snap’s “The Power” with Stan Bush’s “The Touch?” Cause it seems like that should exist.
Happy Thanksgiving if you’re into that stuff.
Here’s to 1,000 more pages!
Tamer: Enhancer 2 – Progress Update:
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Congratulations on One Thousand pages of epic story telling! Thank you Dave B for sharing your labor of love with all of us.
Why am I not surprised Sydney’s middle name is trouble.
Sydney’s parents were/are highly prophetic. I think her father might have been a pepper farmer & her mother was a carnival fortune-teller…
Her grandparents were highly prophetic. She’s a Jr., so her father’s middle name is also “Trouble”.
What’s really gonna bake your noodle is that it wasn’t always that way until her mom time traveled back and changed it.
You should be surprised, because her parent’s middle names are “Spanish” and “Inquisition” respectively.
I wasn’t expecting that.
So will we finally meet Sydney Scoville Sr. and the Missus? This seems like the sort of event that relatives would be invited to.
I’ve been waiting for this for years as well.
her dad is AllMight, her mom is a sailor…
And this is to swear beyond… oh god make it stop!
Congrats on a thousand! Here is to another thousand!
Hi !
Can someone explain to me why Sydney and Jasmine are wearing ties opposed to Xochitl and Azarin ?
Military uniform standards do have some official “room for variation” but even that is strictly defined to a limited number of options. Heck, for that matter, military protocol for even civilian attire is subject to some regulation too. It’s not really surprising that Archon (as a new military Branch) would be much different.
Because they’re wearing the slacks option instead of skirts?
Different dress code, I assume… not sure what the regs are these days, or if ARC is even following protocol. Dress blues were posh in my day, now I’m given to understand they’re standard
It is a department that has several members that can fly.
ARC is following protocol, theirs and not the militaries, even if they are related.
Besides, these supers tend to have modern sensibilities and if they want their uniform to have pants instead of a skirt, I don’t think there’s a single officer that can find a valid reason to complain.
After all, their either normals, or supers themselves, such as Maxima, and she approves of ladies in pants, especially if they fly.
.
Just a side note that’s been mentioned several times, ARC isn’t as strict on most things as the military is.
Kind of like techies, they have an independent streak, and know they aren’t the average mundane. You see someone in a corporate sea of suits that’s wearing tiedye, or maybe a comics or anime tshirt, sneakers, and possibly has a pony tail, you’ve just found one of their techies. Maybe IT, dev, or Support, but definitely a techie.
.
Ok, I knew one techie in a company with around a thousand techies at that site, and he always wore a suit and tie.
He was literally one in a thousand. Nice guy, and he had no problem with our dress code (you must be dressed), he just strangely likes wearing a suit & tie. Well, everybody has their own oddities, and that was his.
If he was the only techie in a suit, that makes him more independent, because he’s defying the techie dress code of “the opposite of what management wears.”
Retired techie (IT). I wore Hawaiian shirts and brown cargo pants my entire career.
Because Sydney and Jasmine are also wearing trousers, while Xochitl and Azarin are wearing skirts.
Beyond that…
I have no idea and just wonder what neckwear a guy would have if he wore a kilt as part of his dress uniform.
Probably because the girls wearing trousers can fly.
Jabber can not fly. She seems to just have chosen to wear pants.
Jabber can’t fly but her combat style (martial arts) makes heavy usage of kicks that a skirt may be…
…inconvenient…
for.
Whatever he feckin’ wants. Och aye ye ken?
Onny scunner wints tae argey gits a face full o’ heid…
If they’re taking their cues from the present-day Royal Regiment of Scotland, then it would be a high collar with no tie – not dissimilar to Max’s Mess Dress that she wore to dinner with Deus, but fully buttoned rather than caped over a waistcoat. The tie is then replaced by a broad sash of the kilt tartan, brooched at the left shoulder and crossing under the right arm.
Personal preference would be my guess.
Ties are worn when pants are worn, the tie-less blouse is worn with the skirt. What seems unusual to me is that both styles of uniform are on the stage at the same time. When I was in the military the brass would always specify exactly which uniform was the dress of the day. No wearing Khaki when Greens are specified.
I’m guessing Maxima insisted the option be available, in the strongest possible terms
But the ‘annoying objector’ shaped hole in the plaster is filled in now and will take only another coat of paint, two tops, and you will never be able to tell it was ever there.
The hole? Or the objector? :P
Yes.
I’m guessing the option was made available in deference to the fact that some of their members fly. Or do flying splits kicks.
Oh? There’s a military where it’s sometimes required that the men wear blouses and skirts alongside the women?
Um , yeah.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ef/f7/7f/eff77f191821a096665d720c59bf6d38.jpg
The only part of that uniform that doesn’t make sense to me is the white gaiters and red/white socks. Other than that you’ve got a decent camo look going.
Up to me, I’d let the kilts be an inch or so longer too, for practical reasons of protecting the knees a bit more. Past that though, and it would start looking strange and nontraditional.
I wear kilts all the time. They are not fitted to me, they are off the rack and have different falls and fit higher/lower on the waist depending on how ‘traditional’ they are supposed to be. If I am at all active in a kilt, my knees are often pretty much unprotected.
IME few more inches won’t help you. They will interfere with running and sitting.
Traditionally, the kilt should hang to the middle of the knee cap, and in order to take this measurement the man must kneel on the floor and a second person will measure from the belly button (where the kilt will be worn) to the floor.
Bear in mind that a lot of kilt-related ‘traditions’ were effectively made up by Lowland eccentrics in the early 1820s, and only gained wider exposure through the author Sir Walter Scott’s stage-management of a visit by King George IV to Edinburgh. Older than many traditions, but certainly not as ancient or authentic as is claimed!
Thanks for all your answer.
I think it is indeed linked to pants vs skirts and the probabilities for bystanders to see under said-skirts. (Or perhaps, the option was available thanks to Maxima and Sidney and Jasmine prefer trousers.)
Maxima has a problem with mandatory “skirts cause vagina lol” policies, so she allows slack + tie combo for anyone, and skirts + that weird ^ shaped tie on the women. Thus far no one has approached her about a guy wearing a skirt.
Since I hate ties I would be one of those bearded skirt-wearers if I were to sign up.
I would hate to ever HAVE to wear a tie. It’s worse than wearing a choker because ties are often mandatory for guys in many office environments and in court (I’ve seen a judge get very pissy when they’d see an attorney come into court without a tie, as it’s disrespecting the decorum of the court).
How would that pissy judge feel about having to with a wig?
No idea. I’ve made it a point to never antagonize a judge though.
I have always referred to ties as ‘ceremonial nooses’.
Chokers at least don’t have something people could grab and use to tighten it around your neck. I can’t understand why something that makes you so vulnerable would be required dress in any circumstances.
Unless that’s the point, to make people feel vulnerable. Or perhaps to build trust, by being vulnerable?
Ties evolved from cravats, which wear originally used to secure the collar of one’s shirt (blouse), until the emergence of the Shirtwaist. It was after the shirtwaist went out that the long tie emerged, to both neaten a man’s appearance by hiding the buttons, and denote social class, as laborers couldn’t really wear them, for fear of their getting caught in machinery.
They also have seen service in helping to hide food stains, hence the wider cuts & wild, paisley prints that have, at times, emerged.
This is incredibly interesting info, and I still am happy that I never have to wear a tie to court or to the office. :)
Yeah, a shirt was considered underwear and buttons even more so. Between collar, cuffs, tie, waistcoat, and jacket, pretty much the entire shirt would be covered.
Things then relaxed enough for narrower ties/wider waistcoats to show a hint of the shirt over the chest, and eventually even to remove your jacket and show sleeves – I suspect that this came about from higher quality shirts, or more changes of shirt to keep it looking more pristine. Some rich bloke showing off that “my underwear is as expensive/posh/fasionable as your outerwear”
I despise ties.
I hate the look, I really hate the feel, and I can’t stand the fact that “if you don’t wear a tie, you can’t work here.”
I once worked at a family business that sold out and became corporate. The new managers wanted to make ties mandatory for all male employees.
I was sad. Not because I’d have to wear a tie: because I’d have to quit. I was not going to wear a tie, nohow.
Fortunately, the management took notice of the overwhelming negative response, and shitcanned the idea. Seriously, my immediate boss was a really dapper guy, and always wore a suit and tie to work. When this new rule was promulgated, he stopped wearing a tie, just to say that he really hated the idea. It worked.
From what we have learned of Maxima, she would be all for it, but General Faulk may be a bit less understanding.
Didn’t Hiro ask about wearing a kilt?
Not in-comic. AFAIK the pictures and text underneath are not always canon
Headcannon: He did ask, just off-panel. Both figuratively AND literally.
Kilts must be a uniform option, and Max needs to act on her impulse to instate boat cloaks.
Also, berets, with polished brass flash.
And (working) dress swords, yes training is mandatory, you never know when you’ll be isekai’d, or stuck in a situation where you are forced to fight with swords because plot reasons.
Anyone else see that last name and think there was something wrong with their eyes for a moment?
I had completely forgotten how unpronounceable it was when she was telling us about her incredibly versatile but mostly useless power. Or at least the series has made it sound so far like she loses the ability as soon as she lets go of the person.
I agree. I’ve seen it many times and I’m still not completely certain how I should be pronouncing it. /æŋ/? /oŋ/? /ŋg/? /oi/?
http://www.native-languages.org/nahuatl_guide.htm
I grew up playing D&D, and my original DM actually knew how to pronounce Nahuatl words and told all of us. He was USAF, the rest of us, who were mainly junior high and high school kids .
I think it’s pronounced pretty much how it looks. “ing” minus the “i”
It’s actually pronounced ‘Eng’
Sort of like ‘English.’ But without the -lish.
You sure? Have always pronounced it like DaveB: ‘ih’ not ‘eh’
I’m sure, at least as far as Chinese and Korean are concerned.
I’m not sure “English” was a good choice of example words, since I think it’s pronounced differently by different regions.
Er, which name are we talking about here? Xocihiquetzal? Or Ng?
I had a problem with the latter in university. I was in the refectory, eating lunch, when some guy sat down opposite me. Trying to be polite, I said “Hi, I’m Chaise.”
He replied, “Hello, I’m [murmurm.]”
Um. “Sorry, I didn’t get that.”
“I said [incomprehensible mumble.]”
Augh. I still didn’t have a clue what he was saying. At this point I had two options: (1) nod and smile and never actually know what his name was, or (2) ask again and risk pissing him off, and just maybe discover what he was called.
I went with (2): “Um, sorry, I still didn’t get that…”
It did indeed piss him off, but at least I learnt his name: “Ng! My name is Ng!”
And, just so you know, it’s pronounced like “sing” without the “si”. It’s not a sound that English speakers are used to. I live in New Zealand, and I’m used to names like Ngaire and tribes (I’m going to get in trouble for this…) called like Ngati Hungarau, but just “ng” on its own sounds weird. It looks like a consonant. But, if you pronounce it, it’s a continuous sound: i.e. it works as a vowel.
So, yeah. It’s not actually all that hard to pronounce. But, if you’re not used to it, it’s like “What?” In New Zealand, where I live, a popular food writer changed her surname from “Ng” to “Sing”, because she was sick of people mispronouncing it.
It could have been even harder – it could have been Nguyen. Then you’d have people arguing whether it’s pronounced noy-en’ or ‘noy-een’ or ‘nw-ehn’ or ‘gwen’ :)
Aaaanddd, as well as the ties, who is wearing what salad for which action?
Ooops. No chokers tonight?
The ties appear to be random choice, which is the opposite of what “uniform” means. But hey, they’re Archon.
The fruit salad is generic. Everybody gets it for showing up and finishing training. That part is accurate, at least.
The US should be on a disc for the enlisted, but Archon can choose to be different.
The ties aren’t random: neckties with slacks, crossover ties with skirts
Sydney: Oh, these awards? Let’s see. That one is for graduating basic training, with honours! That one is for … actually, I can’t talk about that one. The next one, well, I can’t say that either. This one is for helping stop a whole bunch of bad guys the day I enlisted. And that one says I can fall out of an airplane in flight without getting killed; not sure why I had to learn how to use the parachute, though.
I believe the first is National Defense Service Medal, then Army Service Ribbon, then… I’m not sure? I think it’s a Basic Training Honors Graduate? It’s “below” the ASR, so I *think* it’s nothing major
They’re also displaying paratrooper certs, and I think the broach at the right shoulder is the ARC unit broach
I always wonder what the barcodes say.
Agree with Silent on the National Defense Service Medal, but the middle most closely resembles the ‘Global War on Terrorism Service Medal which makes sense. The last ribbon on the right is hard to identify although note that Sydney’s is different from the others. Her ribbon looks very much like the “Air and Space Campaign Medal” which again considering Sydney’s adventures makes sense.
So which one is the “I stopped an alien invasion!” medal?
The one Sydney did not earn, because she wasn’t there!
She was with Peggy at the outdoor range and didn’t get back until it was time for clean-up
That is a lot of ribbons for freshly graduated recruits. I know the U.S. gives out medals for pretty much everything, down to tying your shoes correctly it seems, but damn. I was in the Canadian Army (reserve) for 24 years and I only have two medals, and one of those is a C.D., which is just for time served.
No, it’s about right. You get one for graduating basic, one for enlisting post-9/11 (“war on terror” ribbon), and I forget what the third one I had at Basic graduation was, but I think it was for our dorm being cleaner than the other dorm. Plus, you know, they helped stop a bunch of sorta-mind-controlled super-criminals, an alien invasion, and some alien-criminals-and-not-mind-controlled-super-criminals. So, ya know, whatever.
Now if you really wanted it to be a realistic graduation, you should have had most of the names pronounced wrong by the person reading them off.
At least, that is my experience with university graduations. There is a guy I knew who was friends with the man who read off the names at his graduation and STILL got the name wrong. (It was a relatively common European name).
I’ve been to two military graduations for people I knew (and they were in a second language so I didn’t really pay attention). Most of what remember of the first one was them parading to make acronyms, it was for tank commanders, and it was at a tank museum.
The second one I remember was scheduled right after they did an all night hike. In the desert. In summer. The guy I was there for got hypothermia in the hike.
++ on the announcer mispronouncing all the names. It’s tradition.
Sure, the desert gets cold at night. But how do you get hypothermia while marching? That usually keeps you pretty warm, as long as you don’t keep stopping to let the sweat evaporate. No, wait, let me guess…
Not the ones I’ve seen.
On the other hand, one of the guys reading the names was something like 70 and had to read like 50 non Westernized Chinese names in a row. He gave up trying halfway through.
So, is Sydney’s middle name actually Trouble, or did someone lose a bet?
Given that her father named her “Junior”, I’m guessing he was all-in for the interesting naming schema
Dunno ’bout naming conventions in the USA, but I sorta thought that to be a “numbered” descendant, ALL the names had to be the same. So Dad was also Trouble…
I concur. I was spared the Jr. designation by having a different middle name than my dad. I believe it was my mom’s doing.
Also why the second President Bush isn’t a junior
Well I suspect Grandpa and Dad lost a bet to the time traveling mom and got hhem both renamed to trouble.
Because the elder Bush is George Herbert Walker Bush and the younger Bush is just George Walker Bush, no Herbert. Now as to why people refer to the younger as “W” even though they are both “W” I have no idea.
I thought the elder was referred to as “H. W.” to distinguish between the two, leaving the younger as “W”.
I’d thought it dated from when he was young: everyone already knew the father as George without reference to middle initials, and then the middle W was used when they needed something different to call the son.
Zack Tilly: Dubya isn’t a junior because his name is not identical
I am a 4rth, and my son is a 5th, sadly, the tradition is likely to end with him, two daughters so far.
totally wanna meet your granddaughter, Roborat the 6th
Both my sister and I are Juniors. Nothing interesting about it, my parents couldn’t agree on a name for either of us. Which is borderline child cruelty in my sister’s case, because what asshole name a girl Martha Lorine in the 1970s?
It could have been worse. They might have named the boy Martha and the girl Richard. ;)
My suspicion is Sydney being Sydney.
Humorless army clerk: “Name?”
Sydney: “Sydney T Scoville, Junior.”
Clerk: “What does the T stand for?”
Sydney (being Sydney): “Trouble.”
Clerk: “Thank you. NEXT!”
The US Armed Forces and the like have been known to inadvertently change the names of recruits from things such as this – turning, say, an initial that is only an initial into “Jonely” (after it being explained as “J Only”)
That actually happened with one of my uncles when he discharged from the Coast Guard at the end of WWII. J.B. went through J.(only), B.(only) to Jonly Bonly. He was probably going to be named after my great grandfather Joseph Bailey Mgnostic but he was child number eight and Grandma probably just didn’t have the energy.
My Grandfather ran into that in WW2, his parents had emigrated here from Eastern Europe and he didn’t have a middle name.
They let him choose the middle initial when he enlisted and he picked J. whereupon the clerk had a bit of a humour flash.
Since his given name had been ‘Anglicized’ to Peter, the clerk filled in ‘Jackson’ as the middle name, Peter Jackson being a very popular brand of cigarette up here.
I have also seen people use their mother’s maiden name in lieu of having no middle name.
It is also a fairly common pick as an official middle name. Not to mention countries such as Spain where the default is to have two surnames, one from each parent. (There almost certainly is a convention for which grandparents’ surnames the parents pass on to the child, and for which order the child uses them in, but I don’t know either one.)
They actually pass on ALL ancestors surnames. This is why you have Spanish Royalty with 15 or 20 names as they are the only ones that still adhere to the tradition.
And afterwards he immediately directed The Lord of the Rings.
I didn’t expect Jabberwokky to be there, since she joined after Sydney. But I guess it’s only been a few days difference in comic time. Also she probably didn’t have a problem with PT :)
I think Jabberwokky has actually been a member for more actual hours than Sydney due to the time escapades she went through when she was left behind on the alien planet full of kaiju.
I have entirely forgotten how to pronounce Varia’s civilian name.
Xochitl is, to my best knowledge, pronounced ZO-chee.
okay, now explain her middle and last.
I won’t and you can’t make me. Cause I’ve no idea.
She pronounces it “Smith.”
Middle name wasn’t given for her introduction, but first and last are shown in panel five. :) https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-322-accent-grave-mistake/
This is the only webcomic I read today. It’s impressive that Dave have managed to keep my easily distracted mind entertained with jokes and art all these years. Thank you Dave for making my mondays and thursdays a bit more fun.
I only read this and Girl Genius for my webcomics.
So I have both on monday, nothing on tuesday, and then alternate the two on wednesday,thursday, and friday.
There’s a couple others I follow, The Order of The Stick (which I need to catch up on) and Thunderstruck, which only updates monthly now but is incredibly good and worth the wait.
Oots hasn’t updated regularly since he injured his hand either, it averages about once a month now.
I regularly read about 50, and have over 300 in my favourites list. Takes me around 2 hours each day to read.
Wait, so Sydney’s middle name is literally trouble? interesting choice from her parents (who, btw, were only mentioned but never showed)
I really want to see Sydney’s parents at some point.
2:1 odds dad is just Sydney with a dad-stache.
I really think that one diving instructor is Sydney’s dad. He seemed all to used to her shenanigans and didn’t immediately kick her out.
Trust me on this one. An idiot reaching for sharp objects isn’t remotely the dumbest or worst thing I’ve seen in a diving class. I was an assistant instructor for two summers and I’ve seen everything from what Sydney did to someone lighting a lighter so they could read the small print on an oxygen tank… I wish I was kidding.
At least Sydney stopped, and wouldn’t have been kicked out of the course I was helping with. But I’ve had to call security more than you would expect with a twice weekly class.
Contrary, to popular opinion, a LOX tank cannot explode, unless heated to ultra high temps!!!
What about if it’s leaking?
So “oxygen” by itself is a non combustible gas. What it does is oxidizes just about everything. When water comes in contact with iron/steel the oxygen component separates from hydrogen and combines with the metal producing rust. Burning wood is rapid oxidization. Exposing a lighter flame to an oxygen rich atmosphere would cause it to burn a bit brighter but that’s all. It was the almost pure oxygen content in Apollo 1 that allowed materials to burn which under normal Earth atmospheric conditions would not and resulted in a disaster and the horrible deaths of three astronauts. Still, it’s a bonehead move, if there is a leak and you’re leaning in to read the fine print and flick your Bic, the flare up will likely singe your face.
Oxygen makes practically everything else more combustible, like your face, hair, clothes, walls, floor, ceiling, furniture, food, etc.
The oxygen leak will push the flame away, so not only is the flame bigger than expected it also isn’t where you expected it. you thought you had a small flame in front of you? Nope, instead the flame hits you in the chest, your polyester shirt catches fire, and all the polyester fibres melt into your skin becoming a permanent part of you.
I have seen the label firmly glued on the side of an oxygen tank burst into flame and be utterly destroyed in less than a second. Thankfully nothing else caught.
“That damn thing’s leaking! Close the valve and step away carefully!”
“How carefully?”
“You don’t know whether and which of your clothes are just as oxy-enriched as that label carefully.”
“right…”
“November’s vote incentive is updated, ”
Well, that info was nice the first half of november, but @dave now you can really update the text that there is a november vote icentive, because you stopped updating it weeks ago.
That’s fair.
Congratulations! As for the novel, I offer my experience, which is that whatever time you need to do it right is time well spent.
Congratulations on reaching 1000 pages!
This comic is my favorite.
I guess Jazza took the program pretty seriously. I wasn’t expecting her to actually sign up for the military, but to be more of a civilian consultant like Math and Xuriel.
I feel like I should know who Azarin Sherif Nazari is… But I don’t. Maybe it’s just because I’m familiar with all those names. I mean, there’s literally no google results for it.
Ok, more digging and I realize it’s Jiggawatt. She just really doesn’t look consistent throughout the comic, even less than most of the other characters.
The lightning girl.
DaveB changed her hair when her powers started making her look Just a Little Too Close to a certain Marvel character.
Personally, I prefer the old look, but I understand the preference not to taunt the mouse. Or the fox.
It’s not just her hair. People change their hair all the time. It’s her skin tone, her nose, her lips, even the basic shape of her face. Looking through her tag of the archives, I guess she stayed pretty consistent for a long time, up until about 766, and then she looks like a totally different person in each page. I realize Dave’s style and skill have been developing over the years, but some characters have been recognizable despite different styles, like Sydney.
Gotta agree with that one, I remember thinking “what?” when 766 came out and I saw Jiggawatt. This new version looks somewhere in between the original and that one, and I also had a hard time recognizing her at first.
I wonder how many times Sydney watched Stripes in preparation for this? And how many times Max caught her.
I think the general answer is: Yes.
In Private it was of course
Oh, shit! She gradjimacated! I was kinda surprised at the size of her graduating class, but then, this isn’t a normal basic training platoon, it’s super heroes, which are not exactly as plentiful. I hope they told those former recruits not to lock their knees!!!
Funny coincidence, used to use “The Touch” during the running portion of my workout. Extra fun when you’re on an amphib carrier during heavy rolling seas. No need for hill mode! XD
A lot of medals for a class that’s just graduating.
Some of this is believable given that they’ve been on duty with the unit all the time.
But I’d bet there would be some cynical sneers from members of more conventional units. (Which of course leads to Sydney saying: “This one? I got that for saving the whole of the world from an alien invasion. That one I got for just saving the Eastern US from an ecological disaster. That one is for getting shot which is a dumb thing to give a person a medal for if you ask me.” )
just qualifying with all the small arms would account for that.
I believe the first one is the National Defense Service Medal, which is pretty major for a graduate, but not un-earned. Then the Army Service Ribbon, which everyone gets, and then… I don’t know. I *think* it’s a Basic Training Honors Graduate ribbon, which is not major, but also not unearned.
They’re also displaying paratrooper certs… and I think gold wings means combat drop? No qualification badges, though, so I assume the ARC branch doesn’t display those
You are an astronaut too? What are these medals for?
… Um… Can’t tell ya.
Combat Drop? When have they had to drop into combat? And remember: Sydney was NOT part of the Fel-repel
Sydney is the drop ship.
She’s the bomber and the others are the bombshells?
Again: when did they have to drop into combat?
I think someone mentioned “Air and Space Campaign Medal” for the last one.
So seems like DaveB is making a concerted effort to keep the ribbons all correct… which is going to be hell.
Yeah, surprising amount of ribbons and certs for graduating cadets, but a good many of these cadets have had the front lines come to them and because they have abilities that aren’t simply covered by more senior members, the higher members have been more willing to bring them in as those specific abilities have been required or necessary.
All part of a new unit that isn’t able to draw much from existing units for it’s startup and has the situation of each member contributing with different skills that aren’t already catered for by graduates. I suspect as it gets more active members in rank to cover the situations, it’ll draw on the cadets less and less.
Back in the game!
If it comes down to it, there are a few ways to do a batch rename of files so we could add in an extra digit to satisfy your OCD.
Could just extend the most significant digit to use the alphabet as well. Sopage #10,000 would have the filename number of A000.
I doubt it’ll be ever needed :) at the current 2 pages per week,
we’ll need around 86 years to get to page 10000 ;)
They’re working on immortality. Maybe some day soon.
I’m proven immortal (to a certain degree of death, trucks but not decapitation or immolation). So I’m reading page 10K.
Everyone is immortal until proven otherwise.
If we’re talking about Windows, it shouldn’t be necessary. The latest versions seem to recognize numbers in file names, and will sort GP10, GP11, etc. after GP2, i.e. by numerical order, even without the leading 0’s.
Ah but you forget, Dave’s OCD is the main issue.
Well, you could always have the 10,000 comic in a separate folder. Or maybe each 1,000 comic ranges gets a separate folder as well.
A 1000
A 2000
…
A 9000
B 10000
That’s what I’ve done.
Windows hates displaying huge folders, splitting them up by 1k is the way.
If Dave wants them all to have the same name format, renaming them all to have 5 digits is a very short script.
Something like this in powershell:
ls | Rename-Item -NewName {$_.name -replace “(\d{4})”,”0{1}”}
Or if Dave hates the command line, there’s things like PowerRename (in PowerToys) or Bulk Rename Utility.
Did the military change the uniform code on the letters? When I was in enlisted were in a circle and only officer uniforms were just U.S.
I really thought they would go with the Airforce ranking for pilots where each super was an automatic officer. But any who Congratz to the first archon’s graduating class
Plenty of characters already had enlisted ranks.
Now that you mention it, should Private Scoville have something that indicates she’s a flyer?
Also…
Congrats Dave!
I would say she does. They are called pants ;)
Yes, the dress slacks :P
If they have a class they standardized for all self propelled fliers then they would have flight wings worn over the ribbons.
That was already settled in like issue three hundred and whatever, which is a shame because I do think that would make sense and also be more appropriate to the story Dave seems to want to tell
Congrats on the 1000 mark. Anticipating the next 1000.
I wonder if Sydney uses that song because she first heard it during the big Dark Moon fight scene in Sailor Moon? That’s why I love the song.
I don’t recall Stan Bush doing anything for Sailor Moon.
Was in the English dub, second season.
https://youtu.be/bCbh1WPkKBg?t=227
Seems I was thinking of a different song with similar lyrics…
Seems I was thinking of a different song with similar lyrics…
Wait, wait, wait.
WAIT.
Sidney’s middle name is TROUBLE?
THAT EXPLAINS SO MUCH.
Congratulations to reaching an arbitrary round number!
With a quick look around, you can find some graduations of the class at Navy OCS in Newport, RI. It’s more of what you might imagine, with much smaller classes that the graduations at Basic or Boot Camp. And with a little more flare.
Shit man! A thousand pages. Who’da thunk it?!?
From the big Down Under (if not already done), Congratulations!
Now give us more. ;)
After page 9,999 you can always start a new comic with a name addition. “Grrl Power: Everyone is Dabbler’s Eskimo Sister Eventually” or something.
Conga-Rats for your 1k.
Does anybody else remember a sailor moon movie when you hear, “got the powah”? Still sad that soundtrack isn’t in the DVD releases.
Sure you aren’t getting confuzzled with the movie that song was actually in – Transformers: The Movie?
American VHS release only of sailor moon S
Never has there been a more unqualified Private than Sydney lol(Barring meatgrinder wars anyway)
Nice, arbitrary numbers are indeed numbers.
At last,we learn Jiggawatt’s real name…!
Okay, we know the six in the back, who are the four on the side? Maxi and Hiro for certains, but who are the other two
And had to count to feet to make sure of the numbers
I think at least one of them might be Peggy as the one between the tallest two is noticably shorter than all the other three (the faceblob is below shoulder height of the tallest two), and I seem to remember she isn’t all that tall.
Okay, that makes sense, remember her being a lieutenant and Anvil isn’t there because she was a sergeant
As I am in the middle of another periodic reread, I hiccuped over this page thinking I was on the reread tab and wait I do not remember this… oh, nice. Congrats on 1k.
Congratulations on 1000!
The sum of the square roots of the integers 1 to 1000 inclusive is 21,097.4558.
I don’t see the relevance of that sum of square roots, but it’s plausibly close to ∫√(x+1/2) = (2/3)*(1000.5^1.5-0.5^1.5) ≃ 21097.4287
Sydney’s middle name reminds me of a quote from the movie “Hard TARGET”
“Why is your name Chance?”
“‘Cause my mama took one.”
There are studies (I can’t seach for them atm, but I know they’re out there) that suggest that choosing a tune/noise you dislike is more effective as a wake up alarm, than one that you’d prefer to stay led in bed listening to.
Thought that that was a ringtone…
Doubtless it can apply to ringtones and other similar situations as well, but in panel 1, Sydney is obviously using it as her 4:30am wake up alarm.
Thought maybe it was Anvil calling her