Grrl Power #103 – I think Dabbler’s about to detect the People’s Elbow
A few people predicted something like this would happen, I’m sure there will be plenty of predictions as to what comes next, though at this point given what we know about the players involved, there are a diminishing set of possibilities. Hopefully I’ll have a few surprises for you though. The weakness of the once a week format. I was hoping this page would take a little less time to draw since there’s fewer panels but the larger I draw the more time I spend on it generally.
So now that Dabbler’s met Sydney for real (or is about to), I’ll point out that you can see more of her in the webcomic Wereworld (NSFW). I’ve mentioned it before in the comments but most people probably haven’t seen the link yet. It’s drawn by Rann, another old Fred Perry Fan Club alumni. (The FPFC is a defunct IRC chat room that a few dozen fans used to frequent over a decade ago). Wereworld is sort of on hiatus at the moment, and even when it’s not it updates slower than mine, but it’s been running since 2002 so its got a decent sized archive. Bookmark it for a lazy Saturday morning. Dabbler appears in it simply because Rann liked her design and asked to borrow her, and I was all for it.
BTW given some of the discussions about breast… buoyancy, I considered drawing Dabbler’s second set of arms doing a cup and lift action, but I thought that might distract from the main point of the page.
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Demonstrating the clarisense orb, Sydney had her eyes closed when she shouted “the Spocker”. Maybe it works like a short-ranged omniscience, where she senses rather than sees everything as it is. She can probably ‘see’ both of them and we just see the visual representation.
My bet is that the masked guy is like building security and was silently summoned by General Faulk when he realized Sydney was a bigger unknown and a bigger threat than first thought.
All that power in someone apparently that unstable? I’d be worried.
“the masked guy”
I didn’t even notice him until you pointed him out.
now how long has he been there?
We are being shown just how powerful the orb really is. Even showing a stealth spy (?) hidden in their midst gaining intelligence on them. We have to wait till next week to find out the IFF of the masked intruder. We are only shown a split second overlap here so we don’t see that much each time.
First thought was , Why is Lenore from DP7 there. Second thought, Is that Lenore from DP7? Finally I think Sydney will basically do a Geek-out and trade Magic cards with her.
DaveB, should we be able to see the join where Dabbler’s cyber-arm is attatched or did they make it so that even the stripes matched her flesh arm?
It’s the finest in 142nd generation Cyberware! So lifelike it’ll even foll x-ray, sonar, and magnetic scans!
Dabbler has a butt-cape!
It’s from the Perfect 10 illusion.
I’m for thinking that the remnant of the cape is hiding her tail.
… Can’t decide if I like Sydney’s reaction or the creepy guy in the background better.
Whoa, didnt notice creepy guy by curtains. but anyways… I dont think this is a “new power” for that orb. That would be annoying and inconsistent.
Consider that it previously was shown to have the ability to project a phantom sydney, and let her see through its eyes.
So, it basically gives her an extra set of senses. Senses that are not affected by dazzler’s charm.
Or perhaps they would be affected, IF dazzler knew/thought about it. Or the projection was outside of the protection of its orb.
Probably its an “inside the orb’s protection” thing
We are being shown just how powerful the orb really is. Even showing a stealth spy (?) hidden in their midst gaining intelligence on them. We have to wait till next week to find out the IFF of the masked intruder.
Curiouser and curiouser said Alice….
So the Telepresence orb also allows syds to see through illusions revealing Dabblers true self (Sydney’s reaction could be comedic gold) as well as a mystery guest lurking behind Zephram. (friend or foe?)
It’s nice to finally get a good look at Dabbler. Awesome work Dave!
I was thinking old school “Gem of True Seeing”. Sydney can see what’s really around her without breaking the illusion. Considering that Dabbler is a “tinker-er”/ inventor, that robot, if it is a robot, might belong to her.
I was hoping it was possibly one of the two as yet unidentified orbs. A lot of what the orbs do seem science based. Having the other orbs fall under the umbrella of magic or spiritual would cover all the bases.
And now to break up the speculation about El-Masko.
I love Max’s remark about Dabbler’s trouble considering the earlier exchange. Perfect fit.
and damn! Just noticed that Max has her jacket back on. :P
There was no one in the room previously who would shamelessly ogle her before Dabbler showed up.
Shamelessly, no. But I’d still try to keep her in my FOV. She IS a strikingly attractive woman.
Speaking of shameless ogling, looks like Zeph is staring right at Dabblers butt.
Well he is a demonologist. He’s wondering where her tail is.
shouldn’t he know it’s removeable?
Heh, gotta be one of the best excuses ever.
hmm… nice try Dave, but isn’t Syd the only one seeing her true form while he’s still seeing Dab’s blonde illusion?
D’oh! Actually he’d just be looking at her coat in that case.
SPY! MASK MAN IS SPY!
silly question, but how does Dabbler wash her upper armpits?, her lower shoulders are in the way
Same way she washes under her tail … with assistance. ;D
The same way we do…
…the left hands wash the right pits, & vice-versa.
My guess would be that the robot is some sort of Stealth Assasin, and that Sidney saves the day.
Or atleast that would be awesome
You beat me to it. I’m guessing Syd’s going to be the only one that can see him, which means she’ll have to save the day by default. I’m looking forward to this. Hooray action!
i think she will point it out to the others and have them save the day.
Disagreed. Methinks Syd will be able to see him while the others won’t be able to. Syd’s going to get a quick start to her career, as well as cinch the interview.
more likly in a freaked out panick she saves the day thes is sid you know
Dabbler has an off-the-chart-high IQ and Max is no slouch. If they see Syd interacting with something they can’t see, they will be able to find it and take it down once they are convinced it’s not just syd being neurotic.
Well looks like she found out another power. Who’s that guy in the metal mask, that eerily similar to Cobra Commanders, in the background? I don’t remember him/her/it.
This may be the finest pair of breasts ever drawn in any medium, ever.
While I must agree that they were drawn exceedingly well with regards to shape, and it may just be me,I think the right one (with regards to anatomic position, so the one on the left) is smaller than the other.
That happens a lot in Real Life@, too.
Crap! Slenderman has robots!!!
I laughed so hard.
Cobra Comander! What are you doing here?
That was my thought as well.
Please, don’t tell me the general is going to go “YO JOE!”
Hum… interesting crossover there: The general is a former GIJOE.
CREEPY MASK GUY, CREEEEEEPY MASK GUY!!!!!! I’m wondering if it’s ol’ steel face in the background that Sydney’s reacting too.
Hmm.. is Sydney dual wielding orbs again? The orbiting orbs are in a pentagram formation, and I think I’m missing one of the mystery orbs. Perhaps it’s an inverter? Instead of producing an illusion with the Psy Orb, it cancels out other illusions? That would be interesting indeed. Flight + Cancel to stop bullets, Shield + Cancel to break other forcefields, etc.
Dabbler is revealed, and I didn’t get here early enough to point out the love child of Cobra Commander and Q from SFIII hanging out and appears to be half-phased into the wall back there first.
I used to think that the white flapply things connected to Dabbler were her ears, but now I can see that they are not connected at all to the sides of her head (given that her hair and her horns both run under them). So are they her ears, and just happen to be attached to her eyebrows? Or does she have a “normal” set of ears under all that hair somewhere?
Acording to DaveB they are ears, or at least searve the same function as ears. Just not like ears from Earthly origin.
I mentioned them before when they first showed her on the couch. I asked if they were her ears or something like a Moth’s antennae. His response was, and I quote:
“Ears plus. You’ll see eventually. But yeah, basically ears.”
I don’t know whether it’s ‘officially’ canon, but it seems from Dabbler’s Science Corner that they house mind-reading tendrils as well as working as audio receptors.
beat me to it, and by a long shot it seems. Kudos!
The telepathic ear tentacles are canon. Which is really weird sounding out of context.
I have no idea what you are talking about Dave. *pulls back ear-tendrils* :p
That’s a statement of caliber there DaveB! (runs for shadows)
Did I miss something? Who’s the guy in the back with the mask? *goes through archive to find*
My guess is the guy by the curtains was there all along, and goes by the name Black Ops. Same guy who put illusions on Achilles and Mr Amorphous.
That could have been Dabbler just as easily.
It was said Dabbler can only illusion herself, and Maxima guessed that the one who did the illusion was an unmet character Black Ops. REF: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/323
Er, I could be wrong, but Black Ops is usualy a highly secretive section in a government or agency, like Spec (Special) Ops, Intellegence, etc.
Black ops is they guys who gets the missions where the cover brief includes the words “if your captured, we don’t know you, you’re on your own.”
I think of it as the “Real World”-term for any group which (in TV-Land) would start out each mission with:
“Good Morning, Mr. Phelps…”
Oh dear, who is that guy in the background?
I think I found Dave’s Easter egg.
In the second panel Dabbler has only one braid hanging down in front. She had two before (three if you count the pink one tied around the back of her head).
I notice the one on the side of her head is roughly in the same place as her lower horns. Possibly her illusion covering it with a human analogue?
If I were there, and suddenly saw Dablbler change liek that, I’d have to pull a quote from Duke Nukem.
“Hell, I’d still hit it!”
About when Mask guy entered:
He could have entered anytime since Sidney threw up the force field (well back here: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/526). So either with Dabbler, or earlier when maxima forced Harem to use the door. So the only thing he has heared about would be the mitten-weakness.
I also noticed something, third panel of the last comic there is a “flop”:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/620
Could be him in a shock reaction to the Maximas strike.
About the Orb-Vision:
Back then when she first demonstraded the Telepresence, Sydney and HoloSydney had thier eyes closed. So it is not “seeing through eyes of the illusion”. Seems to be something more around Daredevils “Radar Sense”. So it makes sense that this sense can overcome illusions (pun intended).
The ‘flop’ looks like it’s a sound effect for the curtain-holdy-bit falling off its hook.
If Mask-Guy is part of “BLOPS”, then he was probably in the room before any of the guests. Nobody in the room would be startled by his presence, only by Sydney’s discovery of him.
Another possibility just hit me…
…Gwen was very disappointed to be sent from the room [see: Page#82] – perhaps she borrowed some “BLOPS” stealth-equipment & used it to sneak back in…?
One explanation could be that the orbs use the magic that is around them to power their abilities. As such, the orb Sydney is using could be draining Dabbler’s illusion of juice to power itself.
However, that does not explain why mask-man is see-able, or why the others are not reacting to Dabbler’s illusion breaking.
However the orbs work, I’m sensing impending violence.
But this calls into question the very nature of the world, at least in whatever place she’s been using for testing previously.
If the Orbs can work perfectly well when they’re not near a scavengable magic source, why build them with that capability in the first place? Or if they do need to be near a source of some kind, who was doing what in the woods to power the tests? (And what got disrupted because of Sydney stealing its magic?)
If the world is not uniformly magical, what were the chances of Sydney picking a hot spot to go testing in? Or if it is, wouldn’t there be enough magic to keep them charged without siphoning from Dabbler?
Sydney: HOLY Ferret balls! What the hell is that? [ Pointing past Dabbler to the NINJA by the window ]
Max: What are you talking about?
Sydney: That guy with the Cobra Commander mask and Carman Sandiago hat behind the general. [ Still pointing at the window ]
General: Gack! [ Can’t breathe because somebody nobody but Halo can see is strangling the guy ]
Halo: [ Grabs tentacle orb with other hand and sends a tentacle fast ball at the guy ] Take that!
Followed by Scooby-style unmasking.
Sydney has probably been to enough comics conventions to not be that surprised by big purple 4-armed thing where a probable magic-user was before. But a ninja appearing out of nowhere?! Always expect ninjas! Remember, Syndey’s ADHD negates surprise bonuses.
Z: And when we take off the mask: [ Pulls the full-face mask off the barely conscious invisible man ]
Everybody: Who the hell is that? :P
Faulk: “Mrs. Morgan, my high school science teacher?!” :P
‘Mrs. Morgan’: And I would have gotten away with giving everyone superpowers, if it wasn’t for you meddling kids! [Pulls off second mask to reveal DaveB.]
Applause to both of you.
I half expect her to bust out the ‘pew-pew orb.’
Well, I did predict that the conference/ball room would be in shambles, just using a slightly different mechanism. Sydney did earlier show restraint of not demonstrating the PPO inside. An artillery range with water bombers on stand-by might be a better place to test that orb.
In panel 2, shouldn’t there be a comma? As in “No, there are ways…”.
I think we’ll see a freak-out about Dabbler, but when that’s been sorted she’ll ask if they’re going to introduce the guy in the mask. However, if the guy in the mask is good or bad remains to be seen. He’s wearing purple (albeit a different shade), so he may be a member of Archon.
I should probably stop speculating. I’m developing too many ideas…
remember dave like purple hehe so we should see it a lot
whos the preditor lookin dude iinthe back behind the general ?
What you don’t remember him from alllll his apperances in the comic so far?
for shame.
That is of course Mr. Fritz, the lovable comedic relief character for Archon, he loves getting drunk every sunday and shaking his wang at traffic.
that Mr. Fritz always getting into so many shannanigans that require poor old man Faulk to cover up for him with tons of paper work.
That guy in mask could be Dabblers watch dog. Demonic alien girl wouldn’t get free reign around goverment buildings that easily. Any intelligent agency would put “shadow” following her.
HA!
(See comment of previous comic)
PhilB is right though, shouldn’t that be the green of the red one? The yellow with the inner orb was tele-presence I thought. >.>
is that one of the orbs she didnt think had a power? and does any one else in the room know there being watched by a guy in a mask
My quistion is “why was the thread I was comenting in removed?”
I haven’t removed any, it’s probably on the previous page of comments?
It’s Cobra Commander! Wearing a fedora!
Run for your lives (and sense of fashion)!
Oh, and…
It looks like Maxima has put her jacket back on.
Someone said this earlier, but most likely Sydney will recognize Dabbler from a comic/anime convention and is probably just freaking out over the sudden hot chick to hot alien/demon chick change. as for the masked guy… A: there to attack the headquarters then thwarted by sydney. B: Secret security, C: Dabblers own personal robot guy that she made that follows her everywhere cloaked. As for the next panel… My adhd reaction would be something like…. “are all those arms real? and robot dude I love your outfit.” but then my adhd isn’t as bad as it used to be.
Masked guy seems to be coming through the hole in the glass that would explain how why he looks like he is phasing in/going through the wall without affecting the general area/causing any noticeable noise.
actualy,, if you look at whole panel,, you see that part of dabbler’s disguise is still there,, so my guess is the orb give a kind of tunnel true sight,, and the fuzzy part of the masked man is just that its outsidenthat tunnel
So who is masked guy? An interloper? A guard? A perv that follows Dabbler around?
Anyone who tried to be “the perv who follows Dabbler around” would probably find himself outdone many times over in very short order!
(Innuendo not intentional.)