Grrl Power #105 – Superfluous semantics
Boy that center panel is a mess. The problem I’ve created for myself is that I have a scene with 7 people in it (8 as of next page really) and they’re on opposite sides of the room from each other and most of the conversations cross the room. So now in order to draw a conversation, I have to either have a dozen back and forth headshots of each person speaking their side of the conversation, or I have to draw multiple side-on long shots of the room with everyone in it and fill the space between with word balloons.
I’m almost tempted to try and sell my one big panel with the clockwise progression of the conversation as actually being a clever solution to the problem. On top of all that, this is the heavily edited version of what I had originally written, but I realized that if I hadn’t edited it, it would have been at least another page before I got back to our overcoated interloper, and that would probably be worse storytelling than making you guys slog through one messy panel. All the jokes I had to edit out get to ferment in the margins for a bit, I’ll find somewhere to stick them back in.
It’s not a bad page – Sydney acts nutty, we see a little back and forth between her and Dabbler / Dabbler and Max. It’s just a lot crammed into the available space. Sequential storytelling is an artform unto itself, and I’m still learning. Well the good news is I think this scene is going to wrap up soon. It’s gone on longer than the bank I think.
Oh and I guess Arianna fixed the drape. Also, assume Sydney is pacing around while she’s trying to remember stuff. Otherwise the blocking makes no sense. Gah. Still learning.
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Sorry to bring this up *again* but you pulled vanishing chair backs again.
Looking back it also seems like the chairs got fancier during the meeting. On #82 they’re basic wood, but recently they have a pattern on them and might have a cloth covering, like on #99
These last few comics have been making me crack up, love the ninja senses tingling panels. Was kind of hoping for her to end it with “HENSHIN” based on the hand movements, but now that I think of it she might not have seen Kamen Rider.
I have too many stripes, earrings and lanyards to remember. :(
its part of the trueseeing effect, the chairs are illusioned to look more comfortable then they actually are!
There are people with gold colored skin, succubus-cyborg-alien creatures, magical floating orbs, and you are asking about some chairs? Seems a little off base to me.
I notice small things alot, can’t help it.
Actually to me… it looks like no one is sitting on chairs, nothing behind their backs (as seen between arms and sides usually). They are all sitting on stools. Even Max. Who has her arms crossed. And is leaning back. SHE”S POWERFUL GOSH DARN-IT!
I’ve Been Spotted!!!
For the record, my initial reaction to the Big Panel was, “Wow, that’s really good. There’s clearly a lot going on in this room full of confused people, and this panel really conveys everyone’s state of mind without being too cluttered, while still conveying the overall sense of chaos resulting from unexpected developments!”
Actually, I didn’t think all those words, I just read the panel and knew what was up and was not taken out of the story by trying to decipher the artwork. Good job.
“Succubus Glamour is designed to be impenetrable”
Ah, but you are only part succubus Dabbler, (1/2 succubus, 1/3 doppelgänger, 1/6 some aliens species) could it be that hybrids don’t get all of the strengths?
Good point, but she’s mostly succubus. Maybe not biologically but she was raised by her succubus mother, such as succubus mothers will do such a thing. I’ll have to go in to her heritage and backstory at some point.
For the record I had no problems understanding any of the panels they made sense and the comprehension flowed smoothly for me. And …”tingles!”
Which raises another point…
…will we ever meet any of Dabbler’s family – mom/dad/grandparents/aunts/uncles/siblings…?
…
…& if so, will they be Friend, Foe, or “Just Visiting to Check-Up On Our Little Girl”…?
:P
They might bring “home movies” to share, full of embarrassing moments from her childhood.
;)
:)
Is this where this person replies, “About time!”
Somehow I doubt this is a bad guy/lass since they had plenty of time to react to whats going on but still if they are this will be interesting to find out why they aren’t scared yet… of Sydney since they certainly aren’t afraid of everybody else…
Ok in the ‘messy’ panel. Dabbler Is that supposed to be dabbler’s upper right hand index finger pointing (left of left Shoulder) at Sydney?
Dab yells …
What was that for you little brat!?
“What was that for …” Dab uses upper left hand to point to ‘boo boo’ with band aids on it
” … you little brat!?” Dab uses lower right hand to point to Sydney
Also looks like Dab might be thinkning of grabbing Sydney with lower left hand … and hit her with upper right hand …(???)
Just my guess.
Oh … Oh …
So Sorry …
Wrong panel.
Zep ask why Dab dropped the spell …
Dab is saying that she (Sydney) had seen through her spell …
When Dab says ‘she saw through it’ Dab is also pointing at Sydney with her whole hand (upper left) … palm up. We just see it at this angle where only 2 fingers of the hand are visible. (and with another look at the panel (maybe the 9th or 10th time) … I think I see a little of a third finger.)
AND … with a few more looks at the THIRD Panel … I do see the fingers you speak of …
I see them as forward of Dab’s left upper sholder … these have to be from Dab’s upper right arm/hand.
Dang! This page is full of stuff. I kept missing the parts in question…
I believe I have a new favourite image of Dabbler, from panel #4. Thank you, especially for that expression.
I like her expression in panel #1. Makes me think of Gismo.
I think the metal man is actually an agent who has been allowed to covertly observe them. for whatever reason. I can think of a number of fairly good reasons to have covert over site of an organization like this one. but it does not need to be a rival agency. it could be a cooperative gesture. or he could be part of their organization a unseen presence to both observe their personality and provide support if they become hostile. plus if they meet a super who can control minds it might be nice to have someone they don’t know to control on hand to take them out.
In response to this scene taking longer than the bank, that just makes sense, since A) the bank scene was simpler so far as actual interactions go, and B) it would have simply been considerably shorter in time.
I presumed that the ninja was covert security for the General, since he is not meta.
You should know better than to Ass-U-Me anything here. We don’t know who or what the trench coat is. For all we know it could be a new type of stealth armor being used by this person person, if it is a person, could be from the CIA or NSA or from a foreign power. (Doesn’t have to be an enemy power to want to spy on us, everyone does it including the USA on our allies too.)
Wait… I don’t remember True Sight being one of the ones already covered. Does this mean we now know what one of the two remaining orbs do?
The “Projection” orb it turns out, has the ability to pierce illusions when held as well. It’s the yellow one with the little ball inside that she grabbed in the last panel.
no we just found out the orbs have sub sets of powers besides their main use that sydney already knew about. this is the same orb she used to make the copy of herself a few pages ago, the true sight is just part of that ability sydney couldn’t test before.
alright, my analysis daveB:
Hum… Sydney is proven to be a good girl. Her reaction is late, but she didn’t seem to be enjoying causing pain to others.
In my opinion the central panel is very good. You did master the space and the dialogues between the characters without making it too chaotic.
Wow i need a second pair of glasses, i JUST remark that Dabbler has eyes of two different colors. Tss, and i called myself observant, lol.
I can safely say that the ninja/mask/batman/watchmen cloaked character is a member of Arkon. He should have moved as soon as Sydney showed her interest in him if he was a spy or bad guy.
It’s curious, but i’m almost sure i saw this masked spy somewhere. Is he an original or is something inspired you?
He’s original but obviously influenced by other stuff I’ve seen. He wasn’t designed as an homage to anything. He definitely does remind me of future Cobra Commander or The Question.
He certainly has the blue overcoat and the fedora, but does he have the orange socks?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opNQ0lJv7tQ
Scenes like that were my favorite ones from Justice League. I guess hence my comic being comprised mostly of that with less emphasis on the action. (So far anyway)
I am so alone on being reminded of Q
https://www.streetfightercorporation.com/Q%2528Street_Fighter%2529.jpg
*Street Fighter III character, a mysterious man, no one knows if he is man or machine or why he is lurking about the tournament.
I still say he looks like Lenore from Marvel’s failed New universe title D.P7
true (but why are we all thinking about cobra commander whenever we see a full metal mask?)
It’s like the love child of Carmen Sandiego and Doctor Doom!
But if the person is a child of Carmen Sandiego, that means he, or she, could never be caught. Or would break out within ten minutes of getting into jail. Presuming he, or she, has taken after his, or her, mother, of course.
Or the daughter of Carmen Sandiego and Waldo from tailsteak.com. Aurora Giselle SanDiego, or as her friends call her, Already Gone.
Last seen in Hershey, PA after making off with all the Kiss-shaped streetlights. ;)
She stole the spotlight! I just hope she doesn’t steal anything else from the story :P
Well, Carmen and Waldo are both looking for her, apparently she stole Carmen’s coat and Waldo’s hat.
Looks more like Cobra Commander’s younger brother.
Is his name Cobra Lieutenant Commander? =P
you are so not getting selected to re-make The Last Supper.
(it would be too hilarious)
He could create the Last Super Supper. Where all the super heroes are replacing the disciples (This might be just a bit sacrilegious). I think that would be an awesome pinup/background or vote incentive.
Justice League
https://barefootpreachr.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/justice-league-last-supper.jpg
https://www.2dorks.com/gallery/2009/0521-lastsupper/lastsupper32.jpg
Smashbros
https://myhaven.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/last-supper-nintendo.jpg?w=600
Team Fortress 2!
https://evgen1us.deviantart.com/art/The-Last-Sandwich-207151710
ok shoot me for this, but you guys are talking about it.
https://www.sisterclaire.com/index.php?id=127
OK, is she related to Matter-Eater Lad?
Let’s not forget the version from the 2000’s Battlestar Galactica.
In a nutshell its been done a “few” times LoL.
Not really sacriligeous when you consider that it is just a painting that was commissioned to Leonardo DaVinci; who wasn’t exactly a fan of the church which is why so many think he may have hidden meanings in the painting.
As a person with the unholy combination of ADD and OCD (yes, and no it doesn’t work that’s why it’s unholy) I can sympathize with Sydney. Once the attention has been drawn elsewhere it is a holy mother to bring it back on the original subject).
Can relate brother. ADD, Depression, PTSD , child abuse victim and a touch of AS just for fun. Take it day by day.
Personally, textbook Aspberger’s, with ADHD triggered/made worse by certain foods. Sometimes my train of thought does not just get derailed, but ends up on the highway in the next county! My thinking sometimes seems like a WikiWalk and it can be a bit of work to get back to what I really needed to be doing.
Dave plays Sydney”s ADD/ADHD smartly for comedic effect, as opposed to guys that just don’t get it and make it seem silly. I usually don’t have the mind to sit through silly.
The pacing of the story on this page is fantastic!
hmm i have another theory regarding the “masked guy”. with zephan being a wizard/demonologist and the “masked guy” standing pretty close behind him he may be some sort of demon/golem/construct that zephan controls.
hey, i’d just like to mention this, as a comic fan myself, with a bit of experience in the industry, that concerning your problems with fitting the characters all into one scene, i find that “raising the cieling,” and looking at the entire picture from one ceilng corner of the room, allowing you to both show all of the characters who are speaking, as well as hiding a couple in the corner beneath the “camera view” if you choose to do so.
Yeah that works for fitting everyone in one panel. It this case it’d be an alternate to the camera behind on line of people. Of course, drawing people from that isometric angle is a bit harder to someone who doesn’t have quite as much experience under his belt. :P
indeed, experience is a hard thing to come by. of course, practice is key though! i can tell you how many times it took me drawing Beast before i got it right! and that was before he had fur!!!
So I’m guessing Sydney’s ‘truesight’ made Mr. Android appear? Interesting. :3
Only to herself though. The only reason everyone could see Dabbler’s true form was because she turned it off after Sydney saw her.
Not so sure about that, it seemed to me that Sydney’s True sight negated Dabbler’s glamour for everyone so now that Sydney is actually looking at the machine guy his invisibility would be gone also
I wonder how many DC and Marvel comics would like to have every page scrutinized like this with the writer and/or illustrator right there seeing it? I wonder how fast they would close it down as a ‘failed experiment?’
Her ADD is way worse than mine.
As of right now, there are several things we can tell about our mysterious newcomer:
-He (at least I presume it’s a he) is wearing ARCHON purple, so he’s a friendly.
-His invisibility could be magical or technological, since there’s nothing that says the “comm ball” can’t see through cloaking fields, too.
-He’s standing at the General’s shoulder (notice the epaulet in the lower-right corner of the panel.) A bodyguard, perhaps?
-He is completely unflappable. A superpowered civilian who hasn’t even signed any non-disclosure agreements (I think) just blew his cover sky-high, and he’s just giving her a bored look. Also possibly a bit of incredulity due to the way she pointed him out – his body language is basically saying “are you done yet?” If he shows up much, it’ll be as a straight man.
-Note the downward-curving ridge on his trenchcoat. It could just be a wrinkle, but it could also mean the body underneath isn’t quite human…
Actually I figure that’s just the ridge of his breastplate on the armour he’s wearing underneath the trenchcoat.
Her armour, now that I think about it. That’s probably a “her”. Which helps explain why her armour has a breastplate that sticks out.
I assume by “bored look” you are going only by body language as its kind of hard to show any expression behind a featureless mask. We could also be in that margin of a second where he has been pointed out but hasn’t had time to react.
Panel 1: More work on Dabblers rageface. She’s a demon with fangs and her face looks decidedly too tame. Also, if you point at your own head your hand is turned with the thumb downwards.
Good job on coloring her.
That’s her comical “I have an owie on my head” rage face. She can do a proper rage face but she doesn’t break it out much. You can point to your own head in a number of ways, I can do it the way she is with just a hint of a twinge in my wrist, but she has a very fluid, dance-y way of moving and is used to having her hands in weird positions from spell casting, so it seemed to fit her like that.
Also when you have 4 arms instead of 2 keeping them from getting in each others way means different gestures. Got to be difficult at first. Ever tripped over your on feet? and you only have 2.
Good point Gamesman also as a nonhuman the likely hood of differently shaped bones and joints would almost certainly cause different body positions
Great job as always dave but i have one question why is syd not in ninja stanse.
She was busy busting out the Power Ranger moves.
hahah
The mystery visitor seems able to pull off fedora and overcoat plus hoodie better than most people would.
It’s his super-power.
Every Monday, I wish this comic updated more than once a week.
tingles appears already a few strips ago
Not sure if this qualifies as an “Easter Egg”, but in the last panel, the skin-tone of Sydney’s hand is almost exactly the same as the Orb it holds. It took several looks before I realized that Syd’s hand-motions are concealing the act of using the Orb as follows…
1)__3rd-to-last panel: as she yells “NINJA”, she swats the Truesight-Orb, & the contact is just long to confirm the SPY’s location.
2)__2nd-to-last panel: she continues her pseudo-ninja “kata”, as a pretense to position the Orb where it needs to be, then…
3)__Last panel: her pointing gesture downplays the act of grabbing the Orb. To the SPY, it’s not yet obvious that the jig is up, because she’s made it appear as though she’s accusing shadows. Hence the relaxed attitude. However, Sydney is now poised-&-ready to pounce with the Tentacle-Orb, if need be.
Or this being Sydney, go straight for the P.P.O. =P
Actually, even Sydney will hesistate and choose to pick other orbs before going for the PPO as even she admits it’s a tad too overpowered for normal use- if she was to use it here, she’d kill several people and destroy most of the room.
Hey, Mister Ninja Robot? Shade called. He’d like his back-up mask back.
All will be made clear in time.
Dun dun DUNNN! INTRUDER ALERT!
Just a question, but do you use the same drawing for the drapes each time?
It’s just a tiny thing-but I was just wondering.
Yeah I drew one and have been reusing it. Seemed more efficient. I should go in and fix the fallen drape though.
“Are you being catty? That’s so adorable!” – This has to come from a demon.
Working from the premise that the Masked And Cloaked One (MACO) is a hostile and nobody but Syd can see them, Max should ask (order) Sydney to project her illusion-self on top of the MACO so that everyone else can attack… Should be pretty quick after that.
I think we’re operating on the premise that it’s an either/or situation. She can Either project an image Or pierce one, but not both.
If the truesight goes with the projection, it could be that she’d see through illusions from what was perceived from the point-of-view of the projection ‘clone’ while seeing the illusion(s) from her own viewpoint. Since the inner ball has not been launched, she gets the truesight direct.
Just my take on the matter…
Or she could wrap him/her/it up in the pseudopod tentacle as IIRC it is also visible to the rest of the party. I’m not picky.
I am more then betting that Guy in dread coat is the first super villein
Apropos of nothing…gestures, like many other mannerisms, are different in different cultures. The Japanese, for instance, point to their faces rather than their torsos when indicating themselves. Dabbler seems to hold her hands palm up when pointing to people and things. Is that a cultural thing? ‘Cause that would be interesting.
Sorry if this seems a stupid question but… ¿What was A.D.D?
Attention Deficit Disorder. Basically, she is constantly distracted and unable to focus on anything for long, having a very short memory and attention span. She seems more like ADHD, but she has displayed ability to control herself and keep calm, so the ‘hyperactive’ part may merely be part of her personality rather than the disorder.
I think it was mentioned earlier in the comic that she takes meds for the hyper part.
As someone with ADD I can tell you the focus thing is weird, its not just not focusing on one thing for long, I can focus on a single video game for hours, but If I do that I will lose interest for days, maybe weeks or months before picking it up again. I actually arrange all my games in a stack, and play each one when I have the chance only to a certain point *designated task, level, ect…* and then put it on the bottom of the stack. Short term memory is horrible, long term is amazing though, but task memory is bothersome. I have to write things down as I think of them or they will be forgotten.
and the really weird part is, often I don’t even have to check what I wrote, just the act of writing it down somehow put it in more permanent memory *not always a given though*. But if I am in a converstaion and something distracting happens chances are pretty good I forgot what I was talking about or why I was talking about it.
This is not meant to be funny.
You just described ME! That is the way my entire life is. The only problem is, when I was young they just “Knocked Some Senses” into me every once in a while.
i.e. Negative reinforcement DOES work.
On the up side, having an unstoppable NEED to finish what ever I agree to do, is a good thing to have when at work.
Except when they give you busy work. Drives me nuts not to be able to finish what I started, so on this one job as I wasn’t trained yet on some of the tasks during the clean up at the end of the night they just had me sweeping the floor. There is no way one person could sweep this whole shipping floor in fifteen minutes; so I mentally gave myself an amendment to the task; divided the floor up into zones with the direction to clean (this zone), then determine by the time left which other zone to move to and so on.
You got two laughs out of me today.
First, Max’s impenetrable line.
Second, the ADD line at the bottom. I’m going to use that one myself from now on.
When the video is watched later he will gain the nickname “Tingles”. Buyt maybe not to his face. :D
Easter egg? Ninja guy apparently hasn’t arrived in the room yet in this episode: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/494
the “first time we see him” is at here
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/621
So far, we’ve only seen this “spy” in-between Zephan & the General, so perhaps the TrueSight-Orb’s “Cone of View” simply wasn’t pointed in the right direction, back when Sydney was focused on Adrianna (who sits on the General’s other side).
Maybe the masked guy is part of security, that person is there in case things go wrong and will respond asap to a bad situation. Its what I am assuming anyway cause I do not think the masked person is a villain, I mean would be pretty lame for a villain to be found out like that then captured and sent to prison.
If we assume a “bad guy”, then the most likely possibilities are:
1)__MINION – reports back to the “big bads”, most likely through remote broadcasting.
2)__MAJOR_PLAYER – easily smashes out of any capture attempt, & probably resentful that it won’t be as easy as before to spy on ARCSWAT (=”may hold a grudge against Sydney”). Our heroes may need to scramble to figure out:
2A)__Who this was,
2B)__How long have they been spying,
2C)__How much have they learned, &
2D)__What do they plan to do with this intel?