Grrl Power #1064 – Bar-Be-Can’t
So, quick review of Varia’s powers. She has contact gestalt, and each person she touches gives her different powers. The person she’s touching doesn’t get any powers per se, but the do gain immunity to the powers that Varia gets, so if she starts emitting clouds of carbon monoxide, her gestalt partner doesn’t have to worry about suffocating. Well, at least not right away. If they’re in a small space and the room fills up with the stuff and then Varia lets go, it would be a problem. So far there’s no known CO gestalt.
For those of you who have read the Wearing the Cape anthology with Astra meeting the Arc-SWAT team, you know that the Arianna/Varia gestalt gives Varia fire powers. At least a fiery aura and fire blast. Which makes Arianna immune to fire and heat attacks.
So no, Arianna doesn’t have any superpowers. THAT WE KNOW OF? No, seriously, she doesn’t have any powers. OR DOES SHE?
BTW, it’s likely her powers would have worked through something think like stockings, but when a wall of fire is racing at the person who helps manage your public appearances and possible friend, it’s not a chance you want to take.
Unrelated, but that Guardians of the Galaxy game is really good. Yes, the fact that they don’t look like the movie versions is slightly off-putting at first, but you get used to it real quick. Also, it’s weird, because it’s not like they didn’t have licences to use them, because you can unlock MCU skins as you play through the game. Anyway, Rocket and Groot sound basically the same, and all the other voices are perfectly fine after the first 20 minutes. Also it doesn’t follow MCU canon exactly… I think it’s best if you think of MCU as Universe 138C and this game as Universe 135B or something. Also, I like the version of Mantis in the game better than the one in the movies. The movie one is fine, but not exactly well developed. Anyway, the Steam Sale is still going on until today at 10am Pacific, so you can get it for half-price – at least on Steam.
If you do get it, my one piece of advice is to use your teammate’s special attacks a lot. They do a lot of damage and recharge really fast. The “Rocket’s Gravity Grenade” plus “Star Lord’s Eye of the Storm” AOE combo was my go to for clearing out the riff-raff.
Oh, and also, that one lootbox with an alternate outfit for one of the team members that’s under the stairs in a flooded part of a Novacore ship early on that you can’t get to? Yeah, you actually can’t get to it, and it’s super frustrating. You come back to that level later and can get it then, but I spent like 20 minutes trying to figure it out before looking it up online, so you’re welcome. The game isn’t really metroidvania except for that one box, so it threw me.
The June Vote Incentive is still up. I got overambitious with the new one and it’s not finished yet, but I’m working on a stopgap pic that will be up with the Monday comic. In the meantime, there’s still a nude version of Sydney (and guest) over at the Patreon version.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
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Very fortunate that the Varia/Arianna gestalt combo is fireproof.
I’m pretty confused by Varia’s power, so I might be wrong here … But, I don’t think Arianna gave Varia a power, or, at least not a fire-based power that provided the protection we see here. I think Varia’s power works (sort of) both ways, according to Dave’s post for today’s comic.
Varia already has picked up a fire-based superpower by touching someone else. It may have been when she was out clubbing and burst into flame on the dance floor or she touched Heatwave off-panel at some point. And/or, I think Varia can also gain gestalt power(s) from touching a normal human (and I’d guess aliens?) who doesn’t even have a superpower. Once she touches someone, she has it permanently (or for a long-duration persistence? Maybe she needs to invoke it occasionally to keep it?).
Anyway, once she gains that power, she also has the associated immunities that power requires.
When she touched Arianna, she and Arianna effectively became ‘one entity’ whether or not Arianna provided a gestalt to Varia. Since Varia already had a fire-based superpower (or several at this point), her fire-based immunities are extended to Arianna while they are in contact. If I get this right, anyone Varia touches would also gain (for the duration of contact) any immunities that Varia has & requires to survive the situation she is currently in.
So, have at it, folks, Dave. Correct me if/where it’s needed here. Because I feel a bit lost on exactly how Varia’s power works and would welcome clarification.
Any body can give her powers, without touching them Varia has no way of knowing what those powers will be. They seem to be pretty much random.
She already has knowledge of what power touching Arianna would give her.
If Arianna has any power it is super luck because not only was the power granted to Varia by her exactly what would cancel out the attack against her, Varia was there to apply such powers and there was a small opening in her clothes to allow her to do so. That much luck, it is more likely to win the lottery than that all to happening.
No, she’s not likely to win the lotto.
THAT much luck knows that winning the lotto is big and showy and dangerous.
She just keeps finding that exactly the right amount of money is in her purse.
Nope, each person gives Vahriah a different power, and they are not always related to the ‘hosts’ power (if they have one) but it’s only while she is touching them (there is probably a little time-delay to avoid… issues with whatever power she gestalted) but it’s not permanent like with X-Men’s Rogue
“but it’s not permanent like with X-Men’s Rogue”
Rogue’s touch isn’t permanent unless she holds on to them for a good minute. ( 15-20 ) because she absorbs the power and when it is all gone she sucks their being out of them, making the transfer permanent.
Vahriah doesn’t absorb she “mimics” in a manner of speaking. her power doesn’t take from the other person it mirrors it.
Doesn’t matter how long Vahriah touches someone, she’s not gaining that gestalt permanently, as luis wu thought
And was mostly referring to how Rogue gained her flight and invulnerability from Carol Danvers without killing Carol, not that Rogue’s touch was always permanent
Other than Halo, the orbs orbited, both when Varia touched her!
When Varia touches Heatwave, she gets ice powers.
Technically, Heatwave HAS ice powers already. But for her, absorbing heat feels “ooky”.
Varia is introduced on page #322 and after a quick demonstration explains her powers in more details on page #324.
Per her own words, her power works on both regular humans and supers. Page #816 shows her power also works on vampires meaning it also works on paranormal entities (at least those who were human before). That page and the scene on the dance floor before it on page #797 show the activation is near instant and then tapers off in a matter of seconds after contact is over.
Varia is not shown to be able to retain powers without being in contact with another person. Sydney suggested carrying hair or blood samples, but it hasn’t been shown if this would actually works.
She also explains that the person she touches becomes immune to her activated power, with the current page (and the comment by Dave below it) showing it is not just the power used/caused by Varia herself they become immune to but also similar powers from others.
So Arianne did give Varia a fire based power, Varia didn’t pick up a fire based power somewhere else to activate and use now because that is not how her power works, but you are right that Varia and the one she touches are treated as one regarding sharing immunities of the activated power.
Some or most of this is based on Varia’s own words, so she might’ve made some wrong assumptions in things, but it is to be expected that this is what her power is and how it works.
*”but you are right that Varia and the one she touches are treated as one regarding sharing immunities of the activated power.”*
Remember when she touched Sydney and the orbs starting orbiting both of them?
Yeah. Which means the orbs literally changed whatever power Varia woukd have gotten from Sydney pre-orb.
Also it is funny how no one in universe, including Sydney or Varia, noticed that the orbs started revolving around both of them.
I ^also^ remember no-one noticing^ said orbs orbiting both of them
Yup, I love that her power with Sidney is being treated AS SIDNEY by the orbs.
That’s such a longshot, and so strange of a result that it kind of gives away the game.
If varia had touched her before the orbs linked to sid, would it have been a completely different power?
Is sids genetics being changed by the orbs in such a way as to make varia’s power trigger in a particular way?
Is Varias power being edited by the orbs to make her compatable with her power?
If somebody else had gotten the orbs, would Varia’s power have the same effect?
I think we’re looking at the orbs overwriting the normal powerup that Varia would get. We’re talking an alteration in the “superion field” generated by the orbs to edit varia into what it wants her to be.
Does that make the orbs superion field powered?
Varia and Sid in a full body hug, skin to skin in as many places as possible, four hands, four orbs… either the most desperate fight sequeance in the entire comic, or a backer picture with very … odd… investigations going on.
Just have Sydney riding on Varia’s shoulders, with both of them in bikinis. Plenty of skin on skin contact there, and they will both have their hands free.
What if Varia had been the one to find the orbs? Could she use them and her natural powers, possibly simultaneously? How would that even work?
Short version: Varia’s superpower is to gain superpowers while touching someone else, with everyone giving her a different power. As a required secondary power, the people she’s touching functionally gain any resistances they need to not be hurt by that power while touching her. Eg, as seen here, if she gets fire powers from touching them, they become immune to fire.
For ease of illustration, think of it like a Stargate from the Stargate franchise. It can link to any number of different worlds so long as you have the right dialing sequence, but a given dialing sequence will only link to one world. The sequence for Abydos will only link to Abydos, and the code for Atlantis will only link to Atlantis. And the wormhole connecting the two only exists so long as the Stargate maintains it.
Same principle with Varia’s power. Each person is a valid dialing sequence which will only ever link to one power, and that power will only be active so long as that person and Varia are touching. She goes into more detail on page 324 (in the 2015 section of the archives)
Nicely explained.
Do you think it’s possible that Varia has synched up with pretty much everyone on base, just to get a catalogue of available abilities?
I have this mental image of Varia going “Oh shit, oh shit, i hear fire by Arianna’s office , oh shit, oh shit!” while she’s running through the hallways.
Are we sure that Varia will *always* get the same power linking up to any given person (i.e. She will always gain fire powers by synching up with Arianna, no matter the situation)? Or can it somehow be random? I prefer the constant version, but as far as plot twists go… :D
That would actually be fun to see play out.
At least, I think so.
It seems fairly constant, #324 hints that it’s a genetic based thing(similar powers from related people).
My guess for her power with Sydney, I would just call Crew Member. Sydney is the Captain/ship, the orbs are her systems. They require hands to use, like in the saying “all hands on deck”, meaning all crew members to the deck. A captain could move a ship by themselves, but it would be extremely cumbersome, like how Sydney can’t refresh air while flying and shielding. But if Sydney wore shorts and Varia a crop top and Sydney hopped on her back, they would now have 4 hands to operate orbs(unless Varia needs a hand touch to work, #406 shows it doesn’t need her hands to work, but Jiggawatt does have her hand on her), but would be at least a 3rd hand. Would be interesting to see if Sydney and Varia were touching and a third person made contact, would the orbs orbit them as well.
There’s also the question of would Varia’s fingernails count as contact? Could she have dug her nails in to rip through the nylon and gotten powers if there wasn’t already a run?
Varia answered those questions already. She could be wrong, but I think it’s probable that she’s not.
The Stargate also allowed objects through without allowing an atmospheric pressure differential to pass through. Imagine the Colonel opening the Stargate only to have the gate room filled with a sandstorm or a swarm of alien mosquitos with space malaria.
Thanks for all he feedback, folks. This helped out a lot.
Going to have to bookmark this page or something as a reference sheet on Varia.
Saved by fashion faux-pas (which technically saved both of them)
Lucky for Ari, she didn’t get her stockings from the Fashion Ninjas. Their stockings would likely be a nigh indestructible blend of aramid fiber and spider silk or some such.
Arianna shops at the same lingerie store as Monica Villareal? Is Ashley in a partnership with Lydia and Sabah, with Taylor as a supplier?
This comment wins the internet today. :)
The jaguar Girl is perhaps known to the Twilight Council
Monica!?
A character from Wapsi Square. Both comics have a parallel society of supernaturals coexisting on some level with mundane society. In my head cannon the comics could exist in the same universe. The primary story of Wapsi Square happens about 20 years before Sydney finds the orbs.
Umm, no it didn’t, it happened around the same time because they were concerned about the Mayan Calendar nonsense
I always took it that the Wapsi girls were preventing the Mayan Calendar recycling. But as I said, my head canon.: ) I was just into the idea that both story lines could exist in the same universe. Sydney could cross paths with Monica Villarreal and humorous awkwardness could ensue.
Wait, did Vahriah already know what Ari’s gestalt was?
And… why is she on the floor?
She has gone through the whole building to catalogue everyone, she she did know.
As for why she’s on the floor, probably because she jumped to grab Arianna in a deathsprint to get to her fast enough
Varia has gone through the Archon building cataloguing all the gestalts she gets with people, and based on the commentary, her combination with Arianna has been explored in an anthology (which I have not read, so I’m as surprised as some others).
I guess Varia is on the floor as she dove for Arianna instead of running up, as a short-range jump can be faster than a run. Plus, rule of dramatic effect that you can’t see Varia unless the view pans down.
Also, Varia is not normally immune to fire. By dropping to the floor, she looks to be under the flames, at least. If that didn’t work, then she didn’t just save Arianna by touching her, she also saved herself.
Arianna and Varia were both in the breakroom (after Varia tried giving Arianna a hug in the hallway a few strips back) The alarm went off, Arianna ran out and Varia dived for Arianna’s ankle, because she ALSO doesn’t have powers unless she grabs someone, she knew what the alarm meant, and she reacted correctly to it.
It hadn’t ever clicked for me that Varia is powerless unless she’s touching someone. o_0
Yep, as of the novel “Wearing The Cape”.
read the artists note. Dummy. It’s there for a reason.
Yes. It’s there for people who haven’t read the comic.
If I ever archive binge a new comic and find I can’t understand it because reading comments is required, I consider it a failure and stop reading.
Or, you know, for people who might not know that there is story relevant to the current situation that happened outside of the main comic. That being said: we do know, without the notes, that Varia has been cataloguing what gestalt powers the various members of Archon give. So it makes sense for *her* to know what her interaction with Arianna is, even if we haven’t seen it before. And this is a dramatically appropriate reveal.
sacrifice dive
Author blub says it was shown in an anthology. In any case, it would make sense for Varia to test her power interaction with as many people as possible.
She probably went for a dive to reach Arianna in time.
She’s on the floor because she threw herself to reach Ariana in time to protect her.
Yeah, they figured it out in one of the tie-in properties. As for the pose, I think she had to do a sprinting dive to reach her in time.
Should definitely get a bonus for making sure a boss didn’t have a painful firey death
Shouldn’t that still burn her clothes?
I imagine Var’s power is providing a fire immunity shield around Aria entirely which prevented her clothes from burning away. That or whatever her outfit is made from is very fireproof and I should look into that brand.
ArcSmoke™, for when you need a professional business suit that can survive the apocalypse.
Seems to be situational; When she touched Crimson and turned into a spikey bat monster, the spikes put hole through her clothes.
Oh, well, you see, that is pretty easy to explain. It is just like… HEY! LOOK OVER THERE! AN OBVIOUS DISTRACTION!!
Maybe clothing protection force field, like Maxima.
Comics Modesty Protection Program. Vehemence failed to pay his dues and lost his pants as a result.
Math and Dabbler are currently running a covert operation in an attempt to undermine and destroy the CMPP, as they believe that it is the root of all evil in this world. More news as the situation develops.
With help from the Super Union. The union rules say that all supervillains and dito heroes must fill their quota of clothes destruction fanservice.
there was a rulling. ‘to protect the children’ clothing protection for the ‘naughty bits’ is still in. bearing arms is constitutionally protected. other non naughty bits can be exposed as appropriate.
Deus is opposing their efforts since he considers their views on nudity as direct competitor to his greed-based religion.
They’re still frustrated that Achilles is openly defying paying their dues.
Achilles is a lifetime member. he’s on the promotional posters and everything.
Probably protection aura from the gestalt or possibly the outfit was made by Ashley? (The fabrokinetic who makes their uniforms.)
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-318-now-she-looks-human/
Varia, doing good work there.
So, is this what Varia was doing in that unexplained panel a few days ago? Seems out of sequence, if so…. I was rather expecting Arianna to have her clothes blown off for comedic effect, it happens to Max from time to time…
So is this what Varia was doing in that unexplained panel a few days ago? Seems out of sequence somehow.
I love this result. Because it’s so unexpected yet not a Deus Ex Machina, since Varia’s powers were already explained previously. Touching Ariana gives Varia fire powers, which is why Ariana is not dead now. I honestly thought Heatwave was going to be the reason Ariana did not die, and this was a total surprise to me, but a very cool one (and no I did not make a pun there, brichins, Ro, and palmvos)
you do gotta admit it is kinda hot, too
Accidental puns are the best kind, specially when done by someone so fired up about them :P
Accidental puns do not have the legal mens rea for the crime of puns!
How convenient. My puns are all accidental. What seems like dad jokes is in fact ordinary stupidity and you can’t prove otherwise.
Pander, you can take the heat for a little actus reus, it’s not the first time you’ve been coaled out. Better to ‘fess up than be charged with involuntary mans-laughter.
I’m sending a double order of ninjas your way for that one.
ooh! do they come in thin mint?
sadly no. only when they are poodles are they wafer thin.
Don’t try to set up a legal smokescreen, you’re just further emberrassing yourself.
Ok I’m not sending a ninja squad to your home only because ’emberrassing’ was a very original and non-obvious pun, as was smokescreen.
Puns, are the highest form, of intellectual humor.
True. If anything, it’s a punderstatement.
Pander getting on her soapbox about our wordplay is just a miss punder standing.
Okay, and now I have to send a ninja hit squad to your home anyway. And another one to Brichins of course.
just don’t kick ’em, it’d be a pun’t
I’m letting that slide.(have a cookie) I think after this Ariana is going to always have a run in her stockings. would there be a way to get the benefit of a stocking and still leave the ankle bare? I have no experience with wearing stockings.
Meh. I was still hoping for Terminator 2 dream sequence skin blasting off her skeleton
Agreed, this result works great – has in-story precedent and all the characters were shown to be present a couple days ago. Surprising yet inevitable, without telegraphing it on the previous page and ruining the suspense.
Ahh, finally. Been refreshing all morning to find out if we were actually killing a character, or if we were going to find out Arianna actually had powers. I forgot about Aria ‘:).
i was actually expecting krona to perform an emergency reset. this makes way more sense, though, albeit a little less narratively satisfying considering that it wasn’t already established that varia gets fire powers from arianna.
There’s more than one intruder. There are more chances for an Arianna reset, still
I guess we can now also safely conclude that mr Firehead arrived with the intent to kill (and that safeties go off Archon superpowers).
And that if Ariana still has an undiscovered superpower it has to be luck.
My fat@$$ would’ve been roasted because I know my reflexes would’ve had me moving futility be damned. So also yay for Arianna’s fight or flight response.
Cue, not queue.
:P
there is usually a queue for a good barbecue, though
At least it isn’t quite as bad a misspelling as que.
… Que?
barbeque is as correct spelling as barbecue, actually (which is why it gets shortened to BBQ)
Blissfully binging Burgers with Bacon and Brisket at Barbados Barbosa’s Bohemian Barbacoa, Barbeque, and Barber Shop.
With Rocky Balboa, B.A. Barraccus, and a bevy of barbarian bimbos.
hm, varia’s face/build isn’t distinct enough that i recognized her without reading the notes. i was very confused before i did that. maybe give her a choker, or replace “are” with “ah”? (it doesn’t help that these aren’t usages of “hose” and “run” i think about often. i’d probably also say “hose” here, or maybe “hoses”, but i’d say “tear”, not “run”. i dunno what a bostoner would say, though.)
She… does have a choker, it’s just not visible due to the angle of her chin, and she retains her haircut no matter what she turns into
What do you normally refer to ‘panty-hose’ as? And they tend to develop runs in them, even if they get torn (on someone’s fingernail…)
well, duh, of course she has a choker. i mean a visible one, where you can tell it’s varia. you can see her hair, but it’s not enough to identify her. the unique things about her haircut (the hairline and the feathers) aren’t clear when she’s on fire like this.
i do call this “pantyhose”, but “hose” or “hoses” are also acceptable. it was just hard to put two and two together, especially since i’m notsure i’ve ever heard “run” in the context of fabric. (this might just be because i’ve rarely ever had a chance to talk about fabric in english, though.)
Yeah, ‘run’ is usually reserved for stockings or similar, same with ‘laddering’ (because certain tears look like ladders)
I thought DaveB will cut back to Max’s fight.
dave B has only basic author cruelty. other unnamed authors would make us wait years or even decades to find out if she survived and how.
That reminds me of how the author of Goblins has the readers wait typically years between the 3-4 different groups in the comic to see any resolution of a set up cliffhanger.
adding another comic to the list of ‘do not start’
You would be missing out on a good webic though
Perhaps not a superpower, but I still think there is something special about Arianna’s Hair
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-177-one-step-forward-two-steps-back/
Honestly, Arianna leaving the room shouting was such a stupid move that she would’ve deserved to die from that mistake. A civilian without any military and/or Super experience could’ve been excused, but not Arianna.
Also, if anyone in the group of attackers has a gun, Arianna could still die.
Ari is not military, and the only Super experience she has had is via all the little children she has to put up with every day
And… every member of the attackers (minus the two Supers) have guns
Doing PR for the military is still military and anyone who works for the military needs to know military 101. But even if you’re not military, if there is an alarm you absolutely do not run towards the danger unless you’re competent at deadly combat. Arianna should know that much. Look at the previous page, she specifically said “alarm”.
If there is an invasion alarm you don’t approach danger unless you’re competent in deadly combat. Math should still avoid punching burning buildings and I would still like it if a doctor showed up if someone suddenly suffered a dangerous stroke.
With the comms down, she doesn’t know what the alarm is for, it could have been for a fire
And again, Ari has not had any military experience, as in combat (not even training in weapons or doing that obstacle course)
They have probably never done drills because they figured, who would be stupid enough to actually attack Archon HQ?
That’s like someone attacking the Watchtower (which doesn’t even have civilians or non-powered personnel) or Xavier’s school (and we saw how that worked out, both times)
Actually they’ve been expecting it since day one, they talked at the press conference and the restaurant (pre-battle) about attracting villainous attention. Max even declared herself invulnerable on national TV and challenged anyone feeling tough to bring it on. An attack on HQ was inevitable.
Yeah, they expected to be hit, not Archon HQ
…where they live and work – there’s no other official location we know of to attack. Executing one elsewhere would require attracting Archon to the location, in which case they’d be warned in advance, or responding to a last-minute alert about their presence a la the restaurant or Times Square battles.
Now somebody sucker-punch that fool hosing her down with fire until she falls down. He’s been going at it for what? 20-30 seconds, which is an eternity inside an enemy base…
I’d say 5-10 seconds, but yeah too long. Varia and Arianna need to get out of there asap before the invaders use another form of attack.
I was with the “suspects Arianna is a super” crowd, but I’m cool with this.
When I tried looking up her appearances- specifically for the appearance of the “ARCHON Professional Lady’s Snack Club” (or something like that), I noticed the distinct lack of a bust on Arianna the way the obvious and confirmed women supers have. And since this comic runs on the “Most Common Superhero” trope at its heart, I began to have doubts afterwards.
i thought arianas powers were SPIN and branding.
That explains the fire then. >>>>
I’m curious as to how these bad guys got all the way to the building without setting off any alarms. You’d think that Archon would have an alarmed parameter out to the edge of the base property. Then again, they do share space with a public shopping mall so that could be the weakness these baddies exploited.
An othala rune, seriously?
Or, we will find out after the battle and the sole survivor gets out of surgery
Well, this battle COULD be why there are many missing team members from the original comic reveal.
The network’s down. Even their cell signal is down. Which means all the sensors around the perimeter are currently screaming but nothing can hear them.
I am looking forward to the concerted leathal response to be encoutered when attacking a special forces base.
Also, I am sure whoever staged that was to busy to self-congratualte itself on the timing to actually take into account Archon’s logistiscs, among other factors.
(Such as “Okay, we have a deal. Release the Kevin!”)
I’m pretty certain they would store turbo super villains in some remote dusty prison and not in a military base.
I would agree, if it was not explicitly stated that the confinement facilities are run by Arc-Aegis, i.e. Archon itself and we do not know about any facilities other than Archon HQ.
(pssst… It’s ‘cue’, not ‘queue’. To cue something is to make it start – “the actor started his lines right on cue”. Queue is to line up or the line itself. “I have been waiting in this queue for an hour.”
CO doesn’t kill by suffocation. It’s a poison. CO2 kills by suffocation. So you’re saying immunity to CO2 is immunity to suffocation, so it would allow you to survive underwater without breathing, because that’s suffocation too.
CO poisons by locking up your hemoglobin so it can’t carry oxygen, so suffocation.
CO2, on the other hand, will poison you by messing with your blood ph long before it reaches the concentration necessary to suffocate you by just displacing all the oxygen. Really unpleasant way to go, because it’s CO2 levels in your blood that trigger the desperate urge to breath you get when you hold your breath, so no matter how hard you breath you’re going to be desperate.
“CO poisons by locking up your hemoglobin so it can’t carry oxygen, so (poison).” Fixed that for ya. Suffocation is a physical/mechanical process whereby oxygen cannot get into the lungs. Poisoning is a purely chemical process. Poisoning is not suffocation.
One way laboratory rats and mice are killed is by placing them in a container with dry ice in water. The CO2 is heavier than air, so the air is displaced up and out of the container, suffocating them. That’s how CO2 kills. The fact that elevated levels of CO2 is also a poison at high concentrations is irrelevant. CO2 suffocates. CO doesn’t, it poisons.
Nobody with any knowledge would call CO poisoning suffocation. They might say its kinda-sorta like suffocation because you’re not getting enough oxygen to your cells, but that’s what we call the dumbing down of science, done by those who don’t care enough to teach well. Suffocation is preventing oxygen getting into the lungs. With CO poisoning O2 levels in the lung don’t really matter. The same is true of CO2 poisoning, but so what? CO death is poisoning, not suffocation.
A little disappointed my guess that his fire was an illusion was incorrect. But I’m also glad the whole “ShE’s A sUpEr” thing didn’t pan out. Also also glad that she didn’t become fried long pig.
OK, having NOT read WTC I did not see this coming. Makes it much more believable this way.
CO kills by taking the place of O₂ in binding to hemoglobin in red blood cells.
It is by definition poisoning but is also suffocation. Both are correct. However a certain critical chemical is prevented from binding where it needs to in the body, or a certain receptor is activated too much, it still can cause harm or death, which, considering the method of delivery (inhalation) makes them poisons. CO is just “more” poisonous
Wrong. Just wrong. Poisoning is a purely chemical process. Suffocation is depriving the lungs of oxygen. Drowning is suffocation. CO poisoning is poisoning. CO2 displacing air is suffocation. High CO2 changing the blood chemistry in the presence of oxygen is poisoning. A pillow on the face is suffocation. Cyanide, which also prevents oxygen to the cells, is poisoning.
Well, I rerere- (counts on fingers) -reread the story “Astra Gets Grrl Power” from the “Teamups and Crossovers” anthology, and this is what it said about Varia and Arianna:
“The thing was as thick as Hope’s forearm but longer, and Sydney used it to prod Varia up next to Arianna, who’d segued into attempting to dismiss websites devoted to “what Varia’s power gestalt says about your personality.” Seeing Varia being herded toward her, she gave the crowd an “Ok I guess I will” eye roll, sparking more applause, and held out her hand. Varia took it and—Holy crap on a cracker. Hope blinked as the big Bostonian burst into pure white light, an aura of yellow flames enveloping her silhouette. She shielded her eyes—darned super-duper vision—but still saw Arianna waving her hand through the flames licking around Varia without harm.”
So it was already canon, though the crossover is somewhere in the future of the comic (and will probably will always remain so, as depicting it in the comic would literally take years). I’ve been trying to find someone who does custom “My Little Pony” figures; I’ve designed one based on Sydney…
I was expecting Heatwave but Varia makes more sense and while Arianna is a looker I doubt she’s as hot as any of the supers LOL (more of a Milf than than a pervert “pant pant drool”). Besides Heatwave says absorbing heat is “ookie”.
Maybe I’m forgetting how Varia’s powers work… but wouldn’t Arianna’s clothes still be burnt right off? Arianna isn’t wearing any sort of adaptive material costume like the ‘supes would be right?
Given the usual style of this comic, missing the opportunity for both nudity (off frame of course) and an embarrassing/frustrating moment for Arianna just seems like a big oversight. :D
Yes Dave is quite good at destroying clothes as all superhero artists should be.
Lucky the protection apparently runs to her clothes as well. Imagine her jewelery being super hot when let go….
Some might say it’s unlucky.
I suspect her jewelry (and other clothes) aren’t becoming heat-resistant, they’re just not absorbing any heat due to a protective aura like Max’s.
Or a super Taylor. With better than military grade materials to work with.
Someone should help her up, lying face-down on the stone floor probably hurts.
Wondering if Arianna’s hose actually had a run, given her attention to detail, or if Varia is just a little panicked still and instinctually not wanting to be blamed for ruining them.
Yeah, because if you look closely (stop paying too much attention to that shapely ankle!) you can see another tear where Vahriah’s thumb is (so it’s likely the nail sliced the hose enough for her to make physical contact… to ensure the gestalt worked, this would not be the time to make an error in assumptioning)
And the subnote should read CUE, not Queue. A “Cue” is a theatrical notification to start up a particular scene or action, while a QUEUE is a line (Like a line of people waiting to use the bathroom)
Of course. As anyone who has played Metroid knows… Varia suit provides fire immunity.
Both Varia and Krona have possibly the most interesting powers for figuring out the mysteries behind the supers and/or the Superion field. While Varia’s powers aren’t always a direct match to a super’s powers, they still seem to relate. Pixel’s powers changing between her “shifts” might also be an interesting one for Varia to check as the laser claws then invisibility feel like they don’t relate.
Wait, Varia’s power connection has to be LITERALLY Skin-to-Skin? even intact pantyhose constitutes a valid barrier?
Where does that madness stop? Can Varia be blocked by really thick sunscreen? a sufficiently thick coat of grease on your hands? What if the outermost layer of your skin is dead and slowly flaking off? does THAT prevent Varia from getting a valid connection?
Does touching hair count? What about bodily fluids?
“Does touching hair count? What about bodily fluids?”
Urine dangerous territory here.
“BTW, it’s likely her powers would have worked through something think like stockings, but when a wall of fire is racing at the person who helps manage your public appearances and possible friend, it’s not a chance you want to take.”
We know for (relatively) certain Maximas Shield blocks the powers.
And there was no visible effect with Halo, except for the Orbs Orbit including her.
Oh, I missed that. Thanks.
Still, you’d think they’d have tested that by now…. Maybe thin barriers just dampen powers slightly?
Sydney asked her several of those questions shortly after learning about her power, and presumably she’s attempted to find out the answers in the interim ,but we haven’t been shown in the comic.
I don’t get what happened here.
I read the commentary and I don’t understand and I read a couple of comments and I still don’t understand. I’m hoping that the next comic makes it clearer because this page absolutely derailed what understanding I had of Varia’s power(s).
Varia gains a different power whenever she touches a different person.
Varia always gains the same power when she touches the same person.
Varia always gains fire powers when she touches Ariana.
The Person Varia touches always gains immunity to the powers Varia just recieved by touching them.
Varia KNOWS that she will gain fire powers by touching Ariana, because she’s done routine checks on all the staff.
Varia heard a major intruder alarm, and (probably) saw an intruder with fire-based powers
So, Varia dived for Ariana, since Fire-based powers sounded useful right now, and Ariana was close.
Fire-Villain torched Ariana at the same time that Varia got her finger through Ariana’s Stocking.
Therefore, Ariana became immune to (Varia’s) Fire powers, and was attacked by (villians) fire-powers simultanously.
Turns out, Immunity to Varia’s Fire Powers also equals immunity to all other Fire Powers which are not Varia’s.
Therefore, Ariana was not harmed from being attacked by Villian’s fire-powers.
Ah! Thank you. I didn’t get that at all from what was going on. I thought Varia’s powers only worked in conjunction with other people who had some kind of special ability (not necessarily super powers, but like how Sydney is ‘normal’ but has the orbs and can affect their orbit) and it just so happened that she mutualized with someone who gave her fire powers moments before and that anyone she touches is granted immunity to whatever powers she has. (Like if she touched two people with diametrically opposed abilities, they’d be immune to one another.)
We need a copy of your explanation for Varia’s powers, because I was legitimately thinking that this was supposed to be a reveal that Ariana has some sort of secret ability that was kept classified until now.
A good idea could have been to use a show and tell approach to how her abilities work with one of the examples being her gaining fire powers from Ariana so this ‘reveal’ isn’t as jarring.
Also, did we see the intruder using fire powers before now?
I’ve had a weird thought about Varia’s power gestalt with Harem. We know that Varia is the one person that Harem can bring along on a teleport. Would this mean that if Varia wanted to teleport herself without bringing Harem with her it would work? Obviously if it did it would be a one way trip without a Harem to bring her back. Could she touch one Harem and teleport to another Harem’s location? While gestalted with Harem could Varia spawn additional bodies herself? Lots of bizarre possibilities there.
Interesting, I can see arguments both ways. Varia being able to teleport probably relies on whether Harem’s powers are true point-to-point, or if she passes ‘out’ from spacetime to the aethersphere (or superionsphere or wherever) and back in a different location. Given that she typically gets immunity to power side effects, and that this universe has pretty uniformly had protection from secondary effects, I think it’s safe to assume that either way Varia could make the trip without Harem.
If Varia gets replication, and independent teleportation, then I’d assume that her duplicate(s) would continue to exist on their own – as long as one of them is touching one of Harem. The duplication appears to be dependent on Harem’s teleportation though, and might take months or years of pair practice to manifest. And days to weeks of adjusting to before she could function… I’m not sure the time invested would be worth it.
I just thought about what Deus said about the shape of DNA being relevant for superpowers and how that relates to Varias powers.
We know Varias powers have a genetic component. Who she touches matters. As does their genetic background.
“Normal” Supers have a Superion Decryption Key made from their own DNA.
So maybe her power involves forming a Superion Decryption Key from her DNA + the touched persons DNA?
That would account for the powers being sometimes similar (the key has the same start), but not always (the total key is different).