Grrl Power #127 – A cautionary clause
This page is a little light on content… well, panels anyway, not dialog. It was some stuff I thought that needed to be said, but I was trying to lay it out in a way that would leave me time to get a head start on the next page. Only it turns out I needed all that time for the vote incentive for February. It’s Harem doing a Playboy shoot (she’s in lingerie but it’s a little PG-13) It’s a piece I’m doing for the Valentine’s Day Sex Drive, which is basically just an excuse to draw one or more of your characters in the buff. That version will probably wind up on the DeviantArt page so you don’t have to worry about accidental boobies here.
If this page gets you excited about Superhero public relations, there’s a comic out there just for you called The Hero Business, which is basically if someone made a comic about Arianna. Or someone with her job in a slightly more tongue in cheek superhero world. Actually the PR person in The Hero Business looks a bit like her coincidentally enough.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
Fame is not all it is cracked up to be! *shudders and crawls back into anonymity*
(But can’t wait to find out what the condition is!)
Agreed! I would never, ever want to be famous. I’m the kind of person that gets excited when I can *cancel* my plans.
But I’m placing my bets on her condition is for a cool superhero codename/nickname :P
She gets to make a comic about them and sell it in her store, only?
Foreshadowing and triple word score?
Now I hope Sydney will say something really smart and serious. Something that shows it isn’t all fun and games for her but that she really is thinking about it. Even if it is only cause I want to see Arrianna’s and Maxima’s faces…
Was wondering if the ominous lighting was on purpose or a natural reflex. Seems like the latter.
I’d say it’s more likely to be the former. That thing with the orbs doesn’t seem to be any kind of nervous reaction or habit. She does seem to mimic things like Sagit’s tiger uppercut when she first got the eye patch, the “Predatob” gear when joking about hunting humans for a living (at least I hope it was a joke), and that panel looks like she’s trying to imitate the look a villain has when plotting or otherwise being devious what with the grinning with her hands together and (I imagine) using the orbs in place of a flash light under her face for dramatic lighting (think campfire ghost stories, or Leon in Page # 72).
Mmm, and, importantly, do I add “provides mood lighting” under “Advantages” or “Disadvantages” on the Halo Orbs list? I guess, like the immovability it can be either, depending on the circumstances. Although, if it is under conscious control, then it is clearly an advantage, as Halo can turn it off when not required.
That said though, they do glow when activated (if not at this level of brightness), so there might be a limitation to Halo’s stealth capability if she wants her orbs available. But the ability to provide illumination in the dark, even at low intensity, can be handy. Perhaps we will get to “hear” mood music from them sometime too?
One of the magical items I most enjoyed creating, for a player, was an intelligent sword, which played theme music! Although it was considerate enough not to spook the natives by playing music at inappropriate times, when it came down to combat, it simply could not resist playing O Fortuna from Carmina Burana at full orchestra and chorus sound levels.
The sword provided modest combat bonuses as well, but the player refused to even consider upgrading to a stronger weapon, when the opportunity arose. Coolness trumps power, it seems!
Would rather hae the opening music to “Conan The Barbarian“, when young Conan goes fishing and encounters the Pict (that is, if the music is different)
Ahh, Camina Burana – O Fortuna, by Carl Orff! I love this piece.
A couple really good renditions of it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOqOcr6jRH4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD3VsesSBsw
Any idea which DVD the 2nd one is from? Mum is a huge André Rieu fan and she already has 2 DVDs
If she’s asking for conditionals does that mean she actually read that whole thing or just the ‘conditions to close’ section?
“your condition can be that you have unlimited conditions” that sounds familiar, the number of faeries, genies, etc who have been slaves to the “I wish I had an unlimited number of wishes” wish
the djinn always refuse to allow infinite wishes, so instead, I wish for infinite djinn!!
Problem with that, plenty of Djinni like to twist your words and make whatever you wish for not exactly what you had in mind. Like the “I wish you would make me a sammich” wish, for a cliche. Shazaaam! You are a sammich.
Djinn (and all wish-givers) give you exactely what you ask for, rarely if ever what you meant (they know what you meant, but considering they have been cursed to be slaves they ge a bit grouchy over time)
I once thought of a good answer to the ‘wish question’. Early on I dismissed ‘whatever I wish for’. The safest I could think of was to always have a unique local unit of money in my pocket valued at the equivalent of a 1990 US denomination of $20. (That was the year I thought it up.)
You would need to hire some kind of protection from being a serial mugging victim. But nothing would stop you from putting $20 a day into a bank account, and at that rate the amount would be a nice boost if you only made $7 an hour.
I later realized that djinn are lazy and your $20 would be stolen from some other location which made it less awesome because that person may not be able to afford it.
Yeah, had a similar ‘request’: always have enough cash on hand (in pocket) to cover whatever purchases just made (was brought up to have very few wants {if can’t afford to pay with cash/full amount, it is something that can wait} so it would be mostly spent on things like groceries and the occasional meal out)
The usual granting of wishing for infinite wishes is a never-ending time loop through the wishing of that wish.
Huh, never thought of that. Pretty clever good Sir, remind me never to trust any wish granting powers you might have.
“Use the phrase ‘I wish’ with the same caution as you would when saying ‘Please castrate me’!” – Lenny Henry playing a friendly Djinni.
(Severus Snape voice) Mister Potter, of all the exclaimations of surprise one could make upon the accidental summoning of a Djinn, I would have to say that “Well bugger me with a broomstick!” is the most unfortunate I have heard of.
Dude, don’t DO that!
You almost gave me an asthma attack!
Sometimes the comments are even funnier than the comics. I nearly had an asthma attack as well.
In a game of dnd, a wish was given after a time when the party had lost all of their equipment. Every one at the table tried to help him on how to phrase his wish. He ignored them all and said, “and I quote”
I wish for all my shit back
This was followed by a round of face palms
Image of said idiot stomach swelling up until he explodes.
or, a huge greenish-brown cloud forms over his head and a torrential downpour of diarhetical proportions starts to fall, lasting 40 days and 40 nights
Ahh yes the DnD wish spell, the only literal spell in the game, every other spell can be modified if you know what they mean, the wish spell isn’t.
it’s the coarse of more arguments then anything else as players disagree on what to ask for, and stops the adventure dead as players spend hours, days, weeks, etc thinking about and writing their wish exactly to avoid loopholes and misinterpretations, almost like writing a legal contract
I thought they changed it a bit, so that you could use to to simulate any other spell with no “Interpretation” needed, but only if you wanted to get creative did it require the wish lawyers to be called in?
I was a Forgotten Realms DM way back in 2nd Edition, had a group find a true “Wishing Well” at the end of a fairly long quest. The well gave three wishes for a donation (thrown in) of roughly 20 platinum. Since the loot had been short on cash everyone (three survivors, ha ha) contributed so naturally a fight ensued over how to use the wishes.
Two argued for carefully arranging the wordings and so forth to obtain various resources for the betterment of the group, while the third wanted everyone to take a wish just get it over with, after arguing for nearly an hour, in and out of character, the dissenting member said “screw you guys I wish for a million gold pieces”, and since I was now angry at him I enforced it as an actual wish, but the money did not appear, he got mad and asked the well where the money was and got a response of “you wished for gold, you did not say where to put it”.
The other two then forgot completely about “building the party” and wished in quick order “I wish every time someone kicks you in your ass gold comes out your mouth (directed towards the dissenting character)”, which I found funny enough to grant, and “(following the previous wish) I wish when you get kicked in the balls you spit up platinum”, which I also granted, so whenever the character was kicked in either location, he would spit out 3D6 coins of the appropriate type. Thorough testing revealed no link between the force of the kick and the amount of money generated. Surprisingly, the player in question volunteered to let the other two kick him enough times to pay for an upgrade to all of their equipment, though he (tried to) stipulate that only kicks to the butt were ok.
Sadly he died not too long after facing a Red Dragon, who was chagrined enough to attempt to resurrect him after learning that physically abusing him would add to the dragon’s hoard, however the player insisted that the character refused to return. (it was a fun game, for everyone really, though characters often died, there were usually enough profits to allow for resurrecting fallen teammates, though the fee naturally came out of their cut)
She wants support for her business. Whether it’s publicity or just keeping them afloat.
Publicity? Business support? Heck no… SHE WANTS HER OWN COMIC BOOK.
Called Grrl Power
Something that drums up business in a major way for her comic store, but is (presumably) not TOO much of a stretch for ARC, is my guess.
Might even be as simple as being allowed to wear or carry something that advertises her business, at any and all press conferences.
….. OR being given space for her business in the mall downstairs. That’d definitely work.
That would be my thought.
Ultimate Tourist Attraction
A comic book store inside a mall that has a superhero headquarters run by a superhero.
I don’t see Ariana saying no to that, in fact I can see her finding it a PR goldmine.
I am hoping for that too. She is a partner in a small business, which, just this morning, she was told would go under unless something changed. That would be a good solution.
Mind you, with the level of fame she is about to get, that would probably ensure the future of the shop on its own. People would go out of their way to shop at it. Whereas the risk of stock damage/destruction in supervillain fights at the Arc HQ might be prohibitive.
So she might be wise just going for a quality of life issue “I want to have every Thursday evening off for my role-playing games.”
But Joel, as her business partner, would be a potential target for kidnapping and revenge attacks, so might be safer in the HQ…
Or perhaps she just wants a poney?
I can think of a few conditions that Syd would want:
1) Help in dealing with “The List”
2) Help in with the Comic Book Store. Either moving it to HQ, help keeping it going, or a member of the team at the shop 24 7 for auto graphs and making sure that no bad guy’s show up.
3) Free hot food like the stuff at the restaurant that Peg took her to
I’m going to guess “I want to pimp my Comic Store at the news conference. Buy your comic books from a real life superhero kids!”
“Free hot food like the stuff at the restaurant that Peg took her to” and the restaurant has to name the dish after her.
I think they might already do that.
Probably the thing they gave her in the first place (it’s ganna need a name, you KNOW she’ll ask for it again)
I would not be surprised if they just called the dish, “IT” i.e. “Sock IT to me.”
Considering the “Shop” in the first few pages had two stories and seemed alot bigger then the one showed “a couple months ago” I’d say either she got shop space, or her fame as a member of ARC-SWAT brought in alot more buisness.
Residuals (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residual_%28entertainment_industry%29) or a cut of “the action”. If they are going to be Superheros then there will be comics, dolls (Action Figures), tv shows, movies, etc…
At the bare minimum, her shop could be the “exclusive” provider of all ARC-Swat memorabilia.
i figure she asks for the right to sell all the merch one month before it hits normal stores. plus she gets it all for free.
my money is on something along the lines “I get to choose my callsign”
Sydney will be mentioned on the press conference, huh? Wonder how they’ll handle that.
It will seem that much more likely to people that the whole bank thing was a set-up if the memetic sensation swearing tounge-fu girl JUST SO HAPPENS to have superpowers too.
I can see her at the press conference now –
Reporter: Miss Scoville? What’s with the eye patch, were you injured in the bank?
Sydney: There was a . . . “noodle incident.”
“I used to be a super hero, until I took a noodle to the eye”
OH MY GOSH, THE INFAMOUS CALVIN AND HOBBES NOODLE INCIDENT!!!!!
Point! To the rest of the world, Sydney’s a psychotic, reporter-feared, hyperactive, faux-swearing regular employee of a business. At this point, there’s no reason for her to be forced onto a super team, and introducing her as a super should cause a negative public reaction. Maxima is reputable and has shown awareness of repercussions; Sydney, not so.
Yet I bet they love Sydney already! ;-) Swearing on TV gets obsessive amounts of coverage. Let alone when it is combined with a major story!
ING FERRET BALLS!
HOLY EFFING SPACE POPE!
I’m betting on “No skimpy superheroine outfit, I would look ridiculous in that.”
now i am getting worried
i just hope it’s a way to help her shop and not something “even crazier than usual” for her
The mood lighting in panel 3 makes me laugh each time
They don’t do secret identities?
So what’s “X’s” real name?
Well, the police portion of the team doesn’t do secret identities, i.e. ArcSWAT.
“So what’s “X’s” real name?”
Malcolm, (Or possibly Green, who along with his ninja-pig sidekick make up the crime-fighting team
“Green X and Ham!”)
Tingles!
Oh my sides, that was funny. seriously funny. Alter-ego Cat I.(Inda) Hat?
Holy crap, I don’t know where you came up with that but it was one of the funniest comments I’ve read in a long time. And not just here on Grrl Power! Seriously Sir, you have my respect.
Well, Thanks. In that case I think he needs a back-story.
Nemesis: Sammy Yam, master of vegetable villainy.
Catchphrase greeting when they meet: “I do not like you Sammy Yam”.
Professional rivalry: “That bald guy in a wheelchair who stole my trademark”.
Oriental Girlfriend: Cindy Liu Hu.
Vehicle: a De-lorax-ean.
Character specialty: Fights crime while talking in rhyme.
Sole weakness: is (of course) the color orange.
HA HA HA HAAA! Crap, that tops anything I could have come up with. I’ll admit I didn’t get the orange part at first, brain went “What? Wait, the opposite of green is red. Why would orange. . .Oh rhyming, duh. Guess he would have something in common with werewolves then. I imagine he would have particular disdain for criminals with a history of hopping on fathers who are referred to as “Pop”. Does he have any pets, such as a large, bipedal feline wearing a tall top hat similar in color to a shirt worn by a Mr. “Where’s” Waldo? Does this Green X character posses any anatomical abnormalities, such as green fur and a heart that is three standard measurements smaller than normal? If so then I would instead presume his pet would be a medium-sized canine with the misleading name “Max”.
Claire
I am also thinking that her condition has to do with her original day job.
“I need to have time to help run my comic book store. Also, could Maxima come do an appearance next Saturday at the store? It would be soooooo cool!”
Either that, or “I need to get trained so I can, like, really fight, and win.”
Was that Maxi who said “Really famous.” in the middle of Ari’s long speach in the 2nd panel?
If it was Sydney you need to add a long tail to it to make it clear (would be cooler if it was Maxi though)
Wait wait wait! She’s going to be one of the first superheroes, ever!?!? O_o
Ummm, can you maybe elaborate that further, like how long have Arc been around, and does that mean the rest of the team are not Superheroes?
That the public is aware of. She’ll be among the first group of people recognized by the government and branded as a superhero.
Arianna said it. I forgot to erase the lines on the word bubble. I should be fixed now.
When you say “I should be fixed now”, I’m assuming you mean “It” as in the word bubble. Otherwise, I’d be forced to conclude that you’ve had one too many “incidents” involving humping furnture and chewing up shoes and your wife has finaly gotten tired of it. 8D
i’m thinking that he (DaveB) wishes to have a good edit on some comments
My reading of it was that it is Arianna who said it, and that the bubble arrangement is just to break up what would be a wall of text otherwise. Although your interpretations are equally plausible.
We know that Arc has only just been formed, albeit that they may have been training in secret for some while, given that this press conference is all about announcing its formation to the world. Without trawling through the archives, I assume that Maxima’s mosque destroying was done on Airforce time. If not, then I guess it was a covert operation, with Arc not being ready for the light of day.
Tonight the Arc light can be turned on!
Presumably though, the statement means that there have been no officially sanctioned superheroes previously, and that anyone who may have approximated the role would be classed as a vigilante instead?
Heh. Dave beat me to it. Not noticing a change to the word bubble, but I guess it may take a while to show?
If she is smart, she’ll go with merchandising rights. The comic book store can write its own ticket if it’s the main supply of a world famous line of comics and toys.
Gaaaah! No! What is Sydney thinking! She’s not the military type. You don’t go into it willing to accept the taking of orders like that.
Better taking orders from Max, who clearly knows WTH she is doing in the ‘real’ world, than Arianna.
Just saying.
Also: Max has already discovered using comic references can get through to Sydney. So long as she can find a comic-book parallel to what she wants her to do, I’d say there won’t be any issues.
…..reading back over that, I can’t help but think I made an unintentional pun there somewhere…
meh – I never understood people’s objections to the military based on the necessity to take orders. If you have a boss (and everybody does), then you have to take orders. Even business owners (if they’re saavy) pay attention to their customers’ needs and desires. While most civilian orders don’t involve entering a line of fire, that’s kind of part-and-parcel with the whole hero gig – you risk your life for others.
Some people end up being entrepeneurs simply because they really do hate taking orders.
Most people believe they hate taking orders, but actually function well that way – generally with a decent boss they can be pretty happy.
Some few of us know that we do pretty well given direction. :)
People are pack animals; hierarchies are just the way we are wired.
Yeah, but in normal jobs the worts they can do to you is fire you. If you are military you can go to jail for no taking orders…
Exactly! Yes, at a job you have to take orders. But Syndey is currently her own boss/co boss with someone, and military, not following orders can get you put in jail. Not to mention mouthing off can get you in the same place, if not into a lot of trouble. And Syndey seems like the type to mouth off. :p
New to the secret level of ArcSwat, a sound proof booth with pay per listen abilities for sailors who need help in learning how to command.
Whilst it is true that the military demands a lot of the people in it, I can think of other professions where someone who does not follow orders / requirements will likely face dire consequences – eg. doctors, airline pilots, firemen, police and so on.
Working at any level in any organization means having to do what some other people say and, shockingly, some of that will probably involve doing stuff you don’t much feel like doing. That much is true even of the dude at the top – who still has to deal with government types and stockholders.
At a guess, I’d say given the special circumstances of this particular unit, quite a lot of leeway will be given. That’s actually already been demonstrated a few times.
Besides, how exactly do you jail someone with powers?
Good question, and I’m pretty sure this is being seriously worked on. Certainly, they want to avoid that whiole tired thing of ‘Put-the-villain-in-jail-then-watch-him-breakout-two-issues-later’ .
For the lower-end supers, jail is probably not hugely different from the norm. For more powerful supers, it probably gets more than a little scary – I’m thinking nassively-fortified bunkers at the bottom of VERY deep holes out in the desert. The supervillain/superhero book ‘Soon I Will Be Invincible’ tosses out a few ideas in this line.
Curse you, I already have enough books I need to read as is! If your going to post about awesome and interesting books, at least do the spoiler thing. That way at least it’s my fault when my curiousity inevitably leads me to check it and another book gets added to my list.
:D Heheheheh.
In case you have problems finding it, ‘Soon I Will Be Invincible’ was written by Austin Grossman.
For members of an elite military unit, who fall from grace, it may be as simple as asking them to co-operate. A sense of honour alone might prevail.
If not, then the prospect of being hunted by super police (&/or bounty hunters) for the rest of their lives, might make them realise that it will be easier just to do the time and return to civilian life. Where they will probably get lucrative offers from the private sector, just as any other super can. Barring roles that require a clean record, of course.
If all else fails, they would at least get a job as a high-priced bouncer or boady guard, where their reputation and record may well be important parts of their resume.
‘Private Security’ covers a multitude of sins, and is known to employ ex-military personnel.
No clue, but Harem for one is afraid to find out (remember when she /vorped into the meeting room and Maxi reminded her what she said the last time she did that?)
Well this should prove interesting.
“Interesting” indeed. Much like the Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.”
Heh, not too mention “May you get what you wish for”. I’d say both apply to Sydney pretty strongley right about now.
there are 2 more
“May you come to the attention of those in authority” I’ve also heard it as “May the government be aware of you” or “May you come to the attention of powerful/important people”
and the other
“May you find what you are looking for.” or “May your wishes be granted.”
“May you get what you truly deserve” and “May you get what’s coming to you” are two I’ve heard often enough.
I think, as a Christian, this is probably the most subtle way to curse someone.
Disadvantage: Public Identity. -10 points.
nice reference to GURPS
or CHAMPIONS
Yep – Champions!
Or mutants and masterminds
would not be surprised if the condition is something silly like that she designs her neck collar
Geeks are known for “silliness” that turns out to be well-planned, like maybe owning the copyright to her superhero name/image; pretty silly/annoying, but she’d make a mint in her store.
That would be smart.
But I can’t believe Arianna wouldn’t have it explicitly spelled out in the contract.
I see Syd has got her left eyebrow back but now her forehead bruise is gone.
And BTW: Have we been given a reason why she no longer has her visitor pass? The last time we’ve seen it was; https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/672
Yea, I noticed those too. I figured that the red on her forehead before was just a temporary inflammation, rather than a bruise, which has now subsided.
Once the decision had been made that Sydney would be hired, she was no longer considered a “visitor” and she has been continuously accompanied, so there is no security problem anyhow.
How much can a bruise subside between “Pen me!” and “Before you do sign this…” ?
It might not have been a bruise but just a reddening of the skin like when you get slapped and a hand-print shows on your skin.
It’s still a reddening of the skin that went from being there to not there between panels when it’s been there for pages.
I just forgot to add it.:P
Yea! I found the easter egg.
Well you did say that the doctor had a healing super power, but didn’t define how it behaves. What if the effect works to boost the recipients healing factor. Since the minor redness from headbanging is gone, maybe it got better. In truth I had a friend who used to bang his head on a wall after doing something dumb. In a short time the redness fades. I was never able to convince him that the action was dumber than the original issue, but he stopped after damaging a wall and having to pay out of pocket for the fix.
Used to do the same thing when got angry: would punch a wall, until one day broke the wall (not enough to actually make a hole, but was the start of one), but now just too lazy to get up so just scream very loudly instead (not as satisfying or successful as punching the wall, something about the shock would calm be down)
I’ve been used as a wrecking ball by getting me mad enough.
I like the little touches in this one, like the light reflections off Sydney’s hair.
And I bet you she’s thinking this will make her comic shop famous and thus profitable.
“…but we have to get you outfitted and introduced to the team.”
Oh yeah, THAT is going to go well.
“Sydney, I’d like you to meet the two men who roughed you up at the bank while they were pretending to be bankrobbers.”
Don’t forget that they were in disguise. So it only need go that way if Maxima feels that it is appropriate to be transparent about Arianna’s scheme.
I didn’t forget, and Max being transparent about Arianna’s scheme WAS my thinking.
You might be right about that. Max does like to spike Ariana’s blood pressure, and an angry Sydney at a press conference would certainly do the trick.
And probably give ARC the most disastrous launch since the Titanic! In life, as with comedy, timing is everything.
I think Maxima has enough strength of character to ensure she will not want a member of her team kept in ignorance over such a deception. And common sense will tell her that as it is general knowledge in the unit, she will find out such information by an accidental slip, sooner or later.
However, she probably would not have worked her way up to Lieutenant Colonel, by her age, if she had not learnt the danger of seriously distracting subordinates immediately prior to an important operation. And she has had a few hints that Sydney may be… distractable.
Just remember how long it took Heatwave to find out it was Harem in the ecnalubmA with her boyfriend and not Maxi
LOL. It took me until now to kcarc ruoy rorrim edoc! Most of the laugh being at me being so slow to get your gyst!
What code? It’s what’s printed on the front of (nearly/possibly) all ambulances (first read it like that in a book many years before the interwebby: a girl appeared on earth and was taken to hospital and she kept talking about an Ecnalubma, took the other people awhile to figure out what she was saying as she was pronouncing it like it looks {eck-nuh-lub-ma})
Аз съм свикнал да се опитва да чете на странен език.Ако видите текста като това всеки ден, когато някои букви са подобни на латинската азбука, са склонни да гледат на на английски sentances малко по-различно.
Ако беше огледален образ на думата си, тогава тя би била незабавно разпознаваем. Но само буквите в обратен ред е различен, следователно в размер на код. Макар което обикновено би било лесно да се разбере.
(Hint)
This should prove interesting, also curious if the voting incentive will be coloured? Looks hot.
Is hot enough even uncoloured. Vote!
Her condition should be to move her comic book store to the tourist side of the arc building and to get 50% of the revenue from the merchandise sales related to her. Would make a nice retirement plan.
She isn’t the type of person to forget her friends my money is on the comic shop after all it is her heart and soul and when they figure out her friends work there well she is a smart girl and read comics heroes keep their families and friends safe anyway they can.
Side benefit is the comic shop does better.
[(danger music starts) Arianna! This is your brain! Hold off on signing Sidney until AFTER your press conference. You already have plenty of SuperDramaHeros for your big roll-out, and you already know what this crazy girl’s mouth and sense of humor are like. Save Sidney for a another press conference LATER, when the timing suits your needs, and you’ve got her better medicated!]
To all of you saying that it will be moving the comic book store to the arc center thing please look over the first few comics, you will notice they are in a storage room at the back of a building. And when she is actually leaving she is waving to a person who look suspiciously like Joel (gah, I keep thinking Joel form weregeek) running the counter. My money is on the pr help with the comic shop won’t be required since she will work there part of the time anyway which will attract a lot of attention and she had to drive from the new comic shop (please note the second floor) so it can’t be in the arc center.
It could still b a nearby building, even an annex that has several stores and may even be the official Arcon oversized gift shop, with the area used for roleplay no neccesarrily being a part of the comic shop. As for having to drive, can you really see Sydney going any distance greater than 100 feet without the protection of manmade shade unless she has to? I’ll admit though, the only reason I could come up with this feeble argument is that I was thinking the same thing.
You could be right. One thing strikes me about the 2nd floor comment though. We have not seen all of the mall area. Part of it could have enough clearance for a 2 storey unit. Likewise the floor above the mall could also be allocated for civilian use. In which case, good enough negotiations might get stairs installed and space allocated from that level. Allowing an upper story for an uber comic shop.
But it is all just speculation. The other suggestions, like exclusive rights to selected merchandising and so on are all interesting sounding possibilities. I enjoy stories with clever leading characters. Money does not rule all, so haggling for business concessions is not that important. But it would be nice if Sydney managed to negotiate something worthwhile to improve her quality of life, one way or another.
I might be the first one to wonder. But what if Arianna DOES in fact have some sort of power/ability but its contract based? Like contracts she writes, witnesses, etc have real physical binding qualities too them.
I mean there is the inherently metaphysical nature of social contracts that societies tend to adhere to, sometimes. But still.
This is gonna be the thing now isn’t it? Does someone have a ‘power’ or not. I’m so ashamed, but also because I just had the idea of John Delancy being the narrator for this.
There’s always a catch or condition. It should be interesting to find out what Sydney wants next week. LOL
She’s going to say she wants to be able to attend to problems with her business as they crop up. Arianna said “the team will take up all of your time” I don’t see her giving up the store completely. Some accommodation will be needed. It is a big part of her life.
Sydney is going to request a costume that does NOT make it instantly obvious that she lacks the “most common female super power”. Something like a breastplate armor with extra shielding over her heart ;)
And some kind of way to keep her hands warm under any conditions. So she can avoid her nemesis The Mitten…
Can I fly my “pen geek” flag and say I think it’s really cool that Arianna uses a Sheaffer fountain pen?
Angelina Jolie? Jennifer Anniston? Neil Armstrong? Overselling it a bit, is she?
Honestly, nope. Angelina Jolie? Big lips, shapely body, famous for being in several movies… So is many others. Well, perhaps less lippy, but still. Jennifer Anniston? See Angelina Jolie with less lips and more tv-series. Neil Armstrong? First man on the moon, yes. 50 years ago, and others followed in his footsteps, untill, alas, people choose to ignore the moon as anything but an object of romantic ballads, or to blame half of humankinds bad moods on (in most cases incorrectly, probably). Compared to a person who can fly, destroy main battletanks at will, and who is certifiably unique in a way that no training or surgery could achieve in anyone else. (At least in the public point of view) She’ll be a part of thoose that noone could ever hope to equal but for the grace of random cosmic accidents or whatnots. So, yes, being more famous than any actor or astronaut, at least for quite a while, does not seem at all like overselling it, at least not in my opinion.
YMMV, of course.
I had to Google your ETLA.
*sigh* no bites. But Peggy knows human nature. You don’t, need to ask. Sooner or later, like Sydney, they can’t resist telling you!
E.T.L.A. = Extended T.L.A.
Heh, ETLA was actually a bit too obvious to *need* any explanation – Extended TLA didn’t take long to come up with, and fits well enough in context that it was unlikely to be something else. But then, that’s just me – I already knew YMMV as well (I’ve spent more than long enough on IRC to know many TLAs, even though it’s been a while) – so I suppose YMMV in what nLAs are obvious. :)
Some readers were discussing whether one of the orbs has regeneration power. That now appears to be verified, since Sydney’s left eyebrow has COMPLETELY regrown since the last comic.
That’s happened before (if less obviously), then the eyebrow has vanished again.
The eyebrow just keeps getting hidden and revealed by the eye patch as it moves around.
The whole concept of an eyepatch is negated if it moves around. That means light is getting in. My guess is that the eye is already better and Syd didn’t want to give it up. It could have been as much as 1.5 hours since the ‘Noodle Incident.’ As for one of the mystery balls…hmm maybe orbs sounds better, how about dammage proportional healing?
I can’t help but imagine Night on Bald Mountain on the 3rd panel.. could be Sydney’s theme?
Lo an behold! Chaos girl to the .. uhh.. help? Now who’s the baddie here *evil grin*
This… does not make sense. As in, plenty of police forces don’t “do” real names, especially not the “special” ones that rather wear balaclavas instead. In fact, I recall a row in Berlin where even a proposal to tag a visible number on regular street officers so the public had *something* to point to in case of misbehaviour (as is usual in some other forces) was met with resistance. And that’s just ordinary people, not people deliberately put in the public eye with a big large “special” tag.
So I don’t think this’d fly, honestly. Sydney agreeing, well, she’s dangerously reckless. But one supposes that some people have thought about it and at the very least would have prescribed stage names, however real-sounding.
you wouldn’t happen to be related to the bloke this journalist is looking for?
https://superredundant.com/?p=666
The whole point of a secret identity is to protect your family and friends. So will her family be guarded 24/7 the rest of her life?
I’m one of those who loathes the idea of fame. Anonymity is fine with me.
Myself likewise. Sadly, certain professions preclude anonymity. High court judges, heads of state and others. And, yes, they do require ongoing security protection. Perhaps including their families too, depending on their prominence.
Besides which, it is a moot point, given Sydney’s personality, the fact that her orbs are tethered to her (limiting her ability to remain incognito) and, not forgetting, that she has already been outed, in front of the cameras, by displaying immovability despite superheroic attempts to the contrary.
As an aside, the linked comic is one that will need changing, (in due course) to reflect Maxima’s rank being amended to Lt. Colonel. The retroactive change creates a lot more work than is initially apparent. That page alone requires the rank badge to be changed in two panels and text in one or two as well (Harem might well still say “colonel” rather than re-phrasing, as it is a casual conversation, whereas Maxima’s is explicitly stating her rank, so would have to change).
I have to say, I want Arianna’s pen. I googled fountain pen images and drew a composite of some of the nicer looking ones I found and it came out really nice looking. I don’t know what I’d do with a fountain pen, but that’s a god damned nice looking pen. That’s the sort of thing you get when you pass the BAR and is probably $400.
Clearly isn’t vintage (this pen has cap and body the same color, with an oddball section, as opposed to section and body the same with a metal cap), but the cap design is wrong for the modern ones. It looks as wrong as Wolverine would wearing Magneto’s helmet. Also, looks like a continuity error with the clip being on the underside of the pen in panel four, but on the top in panel five, while the nib remains in the same position.
You ought to know better than to tempt the wrath of the geeks, and a made-up pen can do that to fountain pen geeks.
Keep in mind that supers exist in this world – it is not our universe. Therefore, things can be as different as our esteemed author desires. Extra planets and unique pens come with the territory.
Oh, clearly. There might be somewhat different Sheaffers in Grrl Wrrld. But it’s also a reference to a real-world thing – namely Sheaffer pens with the classic Pen For Men nib design. Same basic thing as a Green Lantern logo on the wall in the comic shop, and a weird-looking GL logo is still gonna look weird.
Also, in a comic where comic/pop culture nerd rage features as heavily as it does (I mean, it’s an essential character trait for Sydney), a little pen rage just seems appropriate.
Now we see the hidden dark side of the fountain pen community!
*At the international headquarters of Fountain Pen HQ International ( and apparently the Joint Redundant Coalition for Redundancy)*:
“Hey, remember that guy who commited the CODE: 401 this morning?”
“You mean ‘besmirching the almighty fountain pen through incorrect portrayal in a webcomic’? That’s a CODE: 407, but go on.”
“*grumble* Stupid record keeper and his fancy ones-look-like-sevens penmenship *grumble grumble* Any way, poetic justice has been served! I ensured he got the closest possible view of a proprer fountain pen by inserting them forcefully into both of his eyes!”
“What?! That’s terrible, what were you thinking?!. . .I mean hows he supposed to see what a fountain pen is supposed to look like without eyes?”
“. . . Dammit, foiled again! I hope that clever bastard enjoys his victory while it lasts!”
“. . .Yeah, not likely.”
Seriously? The clip is on the cap. What type of person cares which way they put a removable cap on a pen? The clip is on the cap because with a cartridge you need to keep nib up to avoid the ink leaking into the cap. Quill pens don’t have quite the same issue since they use a separate ink source and the quill is cleaned & dried before storage.
In regards to the pen, and that somehow the cap is wrong. First lesson in regards to such a pen is that there is actually a decent probability that someone MADE that pen. Craft pen making goes from your typical Woodcraft or PSI kits where the craftsman shapes and finishes the barrel (what hacks like me use) to custom works of art where every piece is hand-crafted. In other words, the pen could be just about any shape Dave wants it to be, assuming that the character could afford it.
Would be cool to have a pen made from a shell/cartridge casing (of appropriate size of course)
A “bullet pen” isn’t that difficult; fairly common in fact, as just about every kit manufacturer has at least one version of it. I’ve made one already for family, and have two unfinished kits in my inventory.
we would REALLY like you to join project cadmus syd.
you have the power to be a superhero already, but we wont mention that, not when we can volunteer you and that power into a military organization, placing you under contract to obey us, before you realize it.
too cynical?
Too cynical? Not at all. They’ve even said as much when they discussed her file.
Though they can’t volunteer her yet. She gets to decide to sign or not on her own.
But once she signs, they can volunteer her for just about anything. As long as it’s legal, anyway.
This outfit is going public, so they won’t be able to ask her to do anything they don’t want going viral.
But Syd does get some benefits out of it.
1. She gets to be a superhero.
(yeah, she could have done that on her own, but notice how eager she was to keep the orbs under wraps ’til now.)
2. She gets to be on a superteam! Having teammates makes one less of a singular target, and means there is someone watching your back, at least in theory.
3. She will be on gvt payroll, and more importantly, have use of gvt resources. She gets a check to be a hero, plus all sorts of support, not limited to, but most especially medical. Nice to have an on-site clinic with a strong incentive to keep you healthy. As she’s already found, and she hasn’t even signed yet.
Various other benefits, like the HQ, tech support, etc. all follow from having gvt resources.
That reminds me, does the clinic take non-military insurance cards? If not, how much is her treatment before she signed up going to cost her or is it considered a tax-supported medical facility?
Given that she would not be in the ARC HQ at all if it had not been for Arianna’s hairbrained publicity stunt, I think they would be wisest to chalk up any expenses under that venture’s budget and not quibble.
Either that, or put it under the recruitment budget. Civilian companies will foot a lot more than that to land an uniquely qualified individual. As a military clinic, I am guessing the question would probably not even arise.
Actually Sydney is lacking one very important power to be a superhero…the ability to find something to be superheroic about. She ain’t got no spider-sense. She is not a brilliant detective. She can’t hear screams from all over the city. The orbs don’t talk to her and warn of about cosmic menaces. She can’t telepathically scan for endangered mutants. She has no arch-enemies who send agents into her neighbourhood to draw her out.
She needs organizational ties if she’s ever going to show up on time and ready for action.
I dunno. Seems to me that Sydney doesn’t need help finding trouble, because IT looks for HER.
Spider sense… who wants to detect arachnids? Sydney has Ninja Sense!
Plus she is genre savvy. If demons try to open a gateway to Earth, and the Chosen One is not around to stop them, you want to hope that there is a dungeon master around to spot them.
If aliens make first contact, and everyone from NASA is out playing golf, keep your fingers crossed that a science fiction writer is on hand.
But, if a megalomaniac mastermind hatches a diabolical plot, you seriously need a super hero comic shop owner to give you the inside track!
Would rather have Dabbles’ <a href="https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/641"Porno Sense, specially when it tingles
Ok, let’s try this again shall we (The List is getting full, again)
Would rather have Dabbles’ Porno Sense, specially when it tingles
Sydney: I want to see the personnel file on Leon, and tell me: Do you know if he owns a bow tie, basic black?
“No, only brown.”
Syd – “Even better.”
“And he has been known to wear red suspenders, why?”
Arianna: “We do not know. He has a rider in his contract that we do not ask him what he does on Thursday nights. But he has requested that if we bump into him socially, on such occasions, that we refer to him as ‘Leonora’!”
if it keeps him out of trouble