Grrl Power #133 – Tibiassault
And so Sydney finally meets Anvil. Hopefully people aren’t too disappointed in how this turned out. After posting the previous page I saw a lot of speculation and some good ideas. Part of me wanted to incorporate a few but I had already drawn the page (yay one page buffer!) I decided it was best to stick with my initial idea – I’m sure a lot of people wanted to see Sydney wipe the floor with Math but if she can crush the best fighter on the team when he’s actually trying, it doesn’t leave a lot of room for her to grow. At least one suggestion from the comments made it on the page after next though. :)
Sydney didn’t get hit in the shin all that hard. It was more her overreaction that made her kick her leg over her head. Tomorrow she’ll be feeling those splits a lot more than the bruise on her leg.
This page does answer the question as to whether or not the orbs would ever hit Sydney. If’ they’re floating above her, trailing behind her of being called to her hand, the answer is no, but in this case she was making them fly wildly around her.
And for the ComicMix tournament… we came in 6 votes short of Order of the Stick which is seriously impressive, so seriously, thanks for all the votes. I’ll have to wait till they post the next bracket to see if we made it though. I know of at least two people that donated to the Hero Initiative and put their votes to Grrl Power, so it’s down to if anyone did the same for OotS.
We’re in! Down to the final 16, so please vote! We’re up against a comic called Ava’s Demon, which I had never heard of before this tournament, but they’ve done really well in the tourney so far, and the comic has gorgeous art. So check them out if you like and vote!
Oh, and the regular vote incentive is updated.
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.
Oh that was epic.
Sydney is a lot more flexible than I would have thought.
Those orbs were going fast to make her do that.
More swearing is always awesome as well.
Wookiee shearing is always a bad idea. Is biting one’s thumb still considered a rude gesture? I know it was the Renaissance equivalent of the finger, but can anyone tell us if it’s still an insult?
Next time get some Dolomite insults in there, like “rat soup eatin’ motherfucker.” There is no one more cultured to emulate in one’s cursing than Rudy Ray Moore.
DEFINITELY still an insult – if you’re a Montague!
Incidentally, I cracked my shin this weekend on the metal end of a rotted soaker hose I was yanking out of the garden – it really does hurt like a son of a gun. Just glad I don’t bruise easily (slightly raised lump, however, is totally evident).
I don’t think I’ve ever met a girl who doesn’t bruise easily. I had a girlfriend who didn’t even know where she got half of them most of the time. She did not usually appreciate my suggestions, that perhaps it was a particularly large raindrop, or that she put something in her pocket too hard.
you got to watch out for those large rain drops
I guess this would be the first time I have seen or heard any reference to it.
It’s obscure in that it’s referencing one line from a single play of Shakespeare’s, but then it’s not obscure because it’s Shakespeare.
Romeo & Juliet, if i remember right, but the only biting of thumbs is a scene between Gregory and Sampson in act 1.
if you want an insult try Henry IV part 1 act 4 line 227-229 ‘Sblood, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried neat’s tongue, you bull’s pizzle, you stock-fish! O for breath to utter what is like thee! you tailor’s-yard, you sheath, you bowcase; you vile standing-tuck!
I get the impression that Falstaff is not to impressed by prince Henry
And of course, for dirty repartée between two snarky people in love, there’s always Taming of the Shrew, Act II, Scene 1. Basically from Katharine’s entrance to the reentrance of Baptista, Tranio, and Gremio. It’s way too long to put here, but highlights include:
KATHARINA: If I be waspish, best beware my sting.
PETRUCHIO: My remedy is then, to pluck it out.
KATHARINA: Ay, if the fool could find it where it lies,
PETRUCHIO: Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting? In his tail.
KATHARINA: In his tongue.
PETRUCHIO: Whose tongue?
KATHARINA: Yours, if you talk of tails: and so farewell.
PETRUCHIO: What, with my tongue in your tail? nay, come again, good Kate; I am a gentleman.
And yes, every single one of those lines is a penis joke. Except the last one of course; that’s a cunnilingus joke to rival Hamlet’s country matters.
For Sustained Insulting you would be hard pressed to best act III scene II of “A Comedy of Errors”
ANTIPHOLUS What is she?
DROMIO A very reverent body; ay, such a one as a man may not speak of without he say ‘Sir-reverence.’ I have but lean luck in the match, and yet is she a wondrous fat marriage.
ANTIPHOLUS How dost thou mean a fat marriage?
DROMIO Marry, sir, she’s the kitchen wench and all grease; and I know not what use to put her to but to make a lamp of her and run from her by her own light. I warrant, her rags and the tallow in them will burn a Poland winter: if she lives till doomsday, she’ll burn a week longer than the whole world.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE What complexion is she of?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE Swart, like my shoe, but her face nothing half so
clean kept: for why, she sweats; a man may go over
shoes in the grime of it.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE That’s a fault that water will mend.
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE
No, sir, ’tis in grain; Noah’s flood could not do it.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE What’s her name?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE Nell, sir; but her name and three quarters, that’s
an ell and three quarters, will not measure her from hip to hip.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Then she bears some breadth?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE No longer from head to foot than from hip to hip:
she is spherical, like a globe; I could find out
countries in her.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE In what part of her body stands Ireland?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE Marry, in her buttocks: I found it out by the bogs.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Where Scotland?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE I found it by the barrenness; hard in the palm of the hand.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Where France?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE In her forehead; armed and reverted, making war
against her heir.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Where England?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE I looked for the chalky cliffs, but I could find no
whiteness in them; but I guess it stood in her chin,
by the salt rheum that ran between France and it.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Where Spain?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE Faith, I saw it not; but I felt it hot in her breath.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Where America, the Indies?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE Oh, sir, upon her nose all o’er embellished with
rubies, carbuncles, sapphires, declining their rich aspect to the hot breath of Spain; who sent whole
armadoes of caracks to be ballast at her nose.
ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE Where stood Belgia, the Netherlands?
DROMIO OF SYRACUSE Oh, sir, I did not look so low.
Jenka “the Quotable” Tamar
he had a way with words
what we got today? ho mama’s so fat…
damn typo’s yo mama’s so fat…
You could have quoted it in the original Klingon. I have been having a dreadful time finding a translation, and Google Translate does not even do Klingon!
Needs more cliche spy movie music as he moves straight through the shield like it’s nothing.
I like the glasses in Anvil’s hair at the end. Nice touch.
Ha, didn’t even notice that at first!
I have shins, but after a decade of Tae Kwon Do, I don’t feel much in them anymore.
The vital difference being that you’ve been doing Tae Kwon Do for years. I’m betting Sydney hasn’t.
More to the point: Sydney just got her powers recently, used them only to test them out, and has since been hiding them even from people she’s close to (Joel). Even her incredible temper and natural ability to take down criminals have their limits (remember when she froze and broke down after nearly getting shot?). Math is, AFA we (and the cast) K, the best martial artist on the planet. At the same time, she was ego-tripping on accidentally knocking out Math. It’s only natural for Syd to lose to Math, especially since he was more serious about this fight than when he fought Anvil.
The vital difference being that you’ve been doing Tae Kwon Do for years. I’m betting Sydney hasn’t.
More to the point: Sydney just got her powers recently, used them only to test them out, and has since been hiding them even from people she’s close to (Joel). Even her incredible temper and natural ability to take down criminals have their limits (remember when she froze and broke down after nearly getting shot?). Math is, AFA we (and the cast) K, the best martial artist on the planet. At the same time, Syd was ego-tripping on accidentally knocking out Math. It’s only natural for Syd to lose to Math, especially since he was more serious about this fight than when he fought Anvil.
I was kind of surprised Sydney didn’t use the shield, I mean, knowing someone’s gonna attack, you’d think a shield/protective measure would be your ‘go-to’…but I like how this turned out. so far, it’s been a great comic, and i really hope to see more of it soon
When she can use an actual orb to ‘block’, she didn’t think to use the Shield (guess she will learn next time to be more random with the orbits)
I kinda figured Sydney didn’t want to just go with the cheap victory using her powers, so she nerfed herself by only using the ability that first took down math, that being her flailing balls of fury.
I think it was the opposite. I’m guessing she thought the orbs’ hardness was enough to knock out Math again. The ol’ “If it worked once, it’ll work again” tactical fallacy.
This was seriously amazing. And, as good and hyperactive as Sydney is, my money was on Math. He already felt those orbs with his face, so it’s no wonder he figured how to deal with them. Also, now I am sure that he is my favorite character in this comic.
Getting face-smacked by something he didn’t know about isn’t what saved him this time, it was taking the time to study the not-random-pattern Sydney had them flying in (he knew where the Yellow was going to go, so touched the Brown to distract Sydney so he could nudge her leg into the Yellow path)
I can´t help it.
I like that guy.
As much as it sucks that Math ‘won’, Sydney doing a forward leg split like that is an acceptible consolation (as long as she eventually gets to “smack Math” {wonder if anyone not from the Southern World will get that reference?})
I realy do hate to dissappoint you sir, but I’m from the South and I am unfortunately ignorant of that reference. Don’t suppose I could at least get a hint, could I?
How far South are you? Talking ‘South of the Equatar, nothing between us and the Antarctic’, the ‘Great Southern Land’ and it’s ruling nation to the east
Well, I was born in South Africa, which qualifies for the first half of the list, certainly is a ‘Great Southern Land’, but is not ruled by any other nation. Nowadays anyhow.
I don’t get it either.
Was referring to this ‘Great Southern Land’
Which “Orb of Power” was the touched one and the shin one?
Can’t remember the colour-coding, but the brown was the one poked, and the yellow did the shin-ing
the brown orb that was poked is one of the unknowns, the comm-ball was the shinner
Thought Green was the comm-ball (or is that different than the ‘badger-ball’?)
Math took a huge risk poking one of the Unknowns
the green one is the other unknown, although i do agree that math took one hell of a risk
well he already knew they couldn’t activate unless Sydney was grabbing them, since she just finished explaining that, so touching them when they weren’t in her hand wasn’t really a risk at all.
Maybe that’s why Sydney never got a response from them: they require someone else to be touching them to go into UberMegaAnnihilateDefense mode
To quote Beowulf Shaeffer (in Flatlander, IIRC): “If you don’t understand it, it’s dangerous.”
Should have put money on Math last update.
A moment of observation. A slight adjustment of positions. Math acted just like a bored dance instructor, and made it look easy. Watching Syd’s face change from panel 3 through panel 5 was very entertaining. Judging by the looks on the faces in the last panel, I think some of the gals were rooting for Syd. Oh, well. Syd had it coming. She’s lucky Math didn’t set her up for multiple collisions.
Looks like Dabbles is taking notes, Maxi is, umm, stunned? shocked? But Anvil looks pissed at Math
I think she looks concerned, myself. Other than being responsible for Sydney’s safety, she will also be in charge of her training. And this has pointed out just how much she has to learn, before she is no longer a hazard to herself, let alone others.
Math has given her the first lesson. The obvious one being about the perils of hubris (false pride). Sydney brought on her own downfall there. Which leads to the deeper point she aught to also take on, when she has time to reflect. He turned his opponents power against herself, with the minimum of effort.
She needs to learn how to do the same in future. Identify the weakness in an opponent’s strategy and, if possible, direct their energy to harming themselves or their allies. But, even more vital, given the abundant power she has herself, she must learn how to keep her power always under her own control.
There was something else in there I could not put my finger on, as well. On reflection, I think it is plain weariness. It has been a long day, and she is going to have Sydney under her wing from now on.
If this was a real fight, Math would have tried to set it up so that as she was knocked forward from the shin hit, her head would be hit by another one, and on down the chain, but he wouldn’t have been able to predict her wild overreaction probably.
That’s an oft missed subtlety in fights is exactly why Anvil is right to look down her nose at Math.
Why is Math so piss weak as to be threatened, so insecure as to have to take on the little nerdette.
He would have been far better off using his skills to effortlessly dodge the balls and score a cheesy perv point with a snarky smile.
Math is definitely the loser here and Anvil is right to see him as weak because he is.
What do we think of Math? ……. Piiiisss weak!
Actually I consider this behaviour a job well done by Dave. We know by now where he got some of the inspiration for Math and what kind of personality our Martial Artist is, so this is spot on. To employ TV Tropes, he’s pretty much a smug super.
Also I think this outcome was a good choice from a stroytelling perspective and I wholeheartedly agree with the resoning here.
You do realize that he didn’t hit her right? And that if she was a good as she was bragging about she wouldn’t have wanged her own shin? She needed to be taken down a peg and he just danced her through the steps with a one finger poke (blocked) and a nudge witha foot. She did all the damage herself.
While Math could have certainly dodged Syndey’s attacks for a while, all that would likely do is frustrate her until she reached for one of the orbs that could damage the interior of the base or get him or others killed. He knows that when fighting against someone with that much power, especially someone untrained, it’s best to take them down quickly, preferably in the middle of their monologue.
He didn’t get to be such a good fighter by walking away from fights, though he could certainly learn a thing or two from Enter the Dragon Bruce Lee. And despite having beaten nearly all of them in fights, being in a room full of people that can take apart a tank probably makes him a little insecure.
Agreed, some of the most dangerous people to fight are the novices as far as sparring goes. The better trained can take you down or otherwise neutralize you as a threat without causing you any injury, much like dabbler did a while back when Sydney tried to whack her with a chair (which also showed the extreme amount of coordination Dabbler has with all her arms). The novices don’t know how to soften their attakcs as well and are liable to get too riled up and go overboard, which is why any decent martial arts instructor teaches control and restraint above all else. Also, I’m getting the sense that Anvil isn’t too tolerant of teasing, seen earlier when Harem shoulder-boobed Leon and (I assume) is also being seen here. If I had to venture a guess as to why, Anvil’s profile says her size made her highshcool years rather awkward, and she may feel sympathy towards those getting messed with. Am I close, or just shooting rods through the roof?
Also I don’t realy know why, but I find the idea of Math being insecure to be oddly amussing. I guess it’s because I think of him like Achiles, but instead of being indestructable, it’s the fact that you plain just can’t hit the bastard when you’re mad at him that would make him intolerabley arrogant. That’s not to say I don’t like those characters, quite the opposite. I tend to crack up a little when I think of Achilles’ powers being described as “proper, aggravating invincibility”. I suppose knowing Math’s ego gets taken down a peg or two every now and then does make him slightly even more likable, and I can understand his pride getting hurt so easily by Sydney’s taunts rather than just laughing and shrugging it off.
Hey, I can take apart a tank! It’s just that Max and Anvil don’t need all the tools and heavy equipment I do.
As I thought last week, a quick victory for Math. I hadn’t expected him to do it like this and make it look so easy though. He just went up some slots in my favorite character ranking list for this comic, which is kinda hard because he was already near the top.
Ahh the power of physics and math. He managed to turn a long drawn out battle into a ten secound battle.
Curse you, Newton’s third law!!
The power of Math, indeed.
Really, it would be hard to expect anything less from Math, considering his skill & experience. All he did was use the simplest tactic that it would take to use Sydney’s own weapons against her. Math had only little more to do than raise a finger (& a foot)…Gently, even.
the profanity just keeps getting better, I really shouldn’t have been drinking coke while reading this. I just finished cleaning my laptop
yeah, grrl power has made me tell my girlfriend I need a wipe-clean laptop on more than one occasion. She kinda missed the point being made :p
In reply to others, I reckon thumb biting is still an insult. Having toothache and no painkillers to hand, i was biting my thumb in public only today and got some real “do you bite your thumb at me?” looks
those refresher towels from KFC work wonders
Years ago, during a lunchbreak, I needed to work out how to change all my standing orders to pay my bills. Having no other paper to hand, I wrote on a KFC napkin. It took some time, so when I got to the bank, I told them I was in a bit of a rush, to get back to work. To which they replied “Your notes on the napkin are perfectly clear, just sign it and we can file that”.
Which I did. Ever since, I always chuckle when I see a KFC napkin, and remember that.
Now I want to know who you bank with – that anecdote may be the best referral I ever heard for a bank.
It was a U.K. bank, National Westminster. I have since moved on to banking with another company, but they gave good service for many years, so deserve the mention. They are certainly worthy in terms of having staff who know that official forms are just trimming to make life easier. They are not intrinsically necessary. Which many bureaucratic jobsworths do not get.
For instance (if banks do not phase them out completely or introduce electronic identification techniques) it is perfectly legal to write a cheque on any paper, if you do not have a cheque book to hand. Provided you include all the necessary information on it, the bank should honour it.
Ouch! Guess that makes Sydney and Math about even on points.
Overall, not a major surprise since, as I said before, Sydney was getting rather full of herself.
Loved the Shakespearean reference in Sydney’s cussing.
So, I wonder if Sydney implies herself to be a Capulet? She’s already proclaimed that Math wouldn’t be her Gwen Stacy, so there’s already a veiled hint of some kind of romance on her mind.
Given that she is a tomboy, plus taking into account her actions last week and above, I think she is probably associating more with the fighting culture, than the romance in Romeo and Juliet.
Yeah, I noticed the Shakspeare-reference being in line with the fighting culture, but Sydney seems to be developing a “love to hate him” attitude towards Math; I do understand that “biting the thumb” is an insult (“Them’s fightin’ words!”). Math’s own arrogance is evident, but he’s already earned some justification for it. Everybody there already knows much of what Math is capable of, but Sydney still has to learn (the hard way, it appears). Sydney STARTED with a Gwen Stacy reference, but so quickly switched to “fightin’ words.” Sydney may have some “geek respect” for Leon, but I think Math has just earned the #1 spot on Sydney’s “The List.”
romance? i dunno about that.
i think its more like since she wants to be a super hero in the purest perfect sense. she’s affraid of becoming one of those tortured mind that marvel loves to show us. and she’s saying math won’t be the trigger to her becoming that kind of hero.
I like the subtle detail that Syd’s glasses got stuck in Anvil’s hair…
Lemurbator? like someone who masturbates lemurs?
Or masturbates with lemurs O_o
I leave it to your interpretation.
Or… is it someone who masturbates lemurs… WITH lemurs, while masturbating with masturbating lemurs?… my head hurts…
ok,,, so sidney’s head met anvil,,, but i wanna see her reaction when she formaly meet her,, or rather when she straighten out and look for her glasses,,, onloy to realise where they are,,, and then the both get up,,, wich leave sidney to realise just how tall kenya is
Sydney: Sorry about falling on you. [ Both women stand up from the sofa ] I can I get my … glass … es? [ Becoming more and more sheepish as Kenya stands up further and further ].
I am six feet tall. I tutored a retiring jockey last year. When we were sitting, he looked only a little shorter than me, as our backs are about the same length. Almost always, I was sitting when he was standing or he was sitting while I was standing. It was only at the last session we has that we were both standing and I realized how much taller I am than he is. I figure this will be similar, but in reverse and more extreme.
*Looks at Anvil’s chracter tab *Looks at collison Is she POed due to the amount of energy she just absorbed or cause she lost the bet?
That does bring up another point. When an object bounces, it flexes and then rapidly returns to it’s original shape causing a rebound in energy (put in fairly short and sumple terms). By using her powers to absorb the kinetic energy, it can’t rebound into the object that hit it (in this case, Sydney’s skull) and therefore redused Sydney’s impact with her leg. So could Anil use this to not only keep herself from being injured by a kinetic impact (while getting an energy bonus in the process), but also to soften the impact on the object or person colliding with her? I know there are better ways to comprehensively test this, but for some reason I imagine Sydney playing the part of the human cannonball like in the circus, only aimed directly at Anvil instead of a net!
*scene with sydney dressed as human canon ball and anvil wearing a shirt with a bulls-eye*
Sydney-“Erm, are we realy, REALY sure this is safe?”
Everyone-“No. Nope, Not realy. Stupid question of the week!”
Sydney-“Oh weasle kicking, shitty titty biscuit licking, sonuva stigmata stiffeling fu(cannon goes of)uuwWA! (sailing and flailing through the air) BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGoof! (hits face first into Anvil’s chest). *muffled voice* I’m okay!”
Dabbler- “Hm…impressive, but not conclusive. How do we know her boobs weren’t what softened the impact?”
Math-“Ooh, DIBS ON NEXT!”
(By the by, I appologize for my barrage of typos in the last comment, one of the few times I decided NOT to double check my comment)
he he. Both lots made me chuckle.
Pity that Math the jerk won, but it was foreseeable. Experience will almost always trump enthusiasm. And he *has* suffered already the wrath of the orb (TM), so he will definitely treat those orbs as the threat they are.
Given that, his victory was very likely. Didn’t expect it to be via “subtly deflecting one of Sydney’s own orbs”, thought. But it is suitably impressive, nonetheless.
Okay, everyone seems to be lauding how great Math is, but he simply got lucky: there is no way he could have known the fight would end like this, more than likely he was just planning this as the first round (or maybe not even a full round), who else but Sydney would take themselves out in such a spectacular… wait a cotton licking minute!!! Sydney took a dive!!!!!! Next page will have her jump up and say something like “Fooled you all”
Trying to figure out how she managed to fall into Anvils lap: the couch with Anvil is behind her, so somehow she turned herself around and fell head first (instead of the leg continuing the fake momentum and flipping her onto her back on the floor)
The way it played out in my mind had far more detail than I could fit on the page. Orb hits shin and her leg is thrown back as you see, but it also sets her spinning on the ball of her foot until she’s facing the other way. Her hip hits the couch and she kicks herself upright to compensate, but that makes her straddle the back of the couch, and her momentum takes her over and into Anvil’s lap.
That makes sense (but still say Sydney took a dive ;))
Oh and Math definitely took some risks here, for one he didn’t know if the orbs would even hit Sydney, they might have had a built in safeguard. The next time they spar he’ll probably use a different tactic, but then so will Sydney.
OR! Math with some team work can help her develop her skills and make her stronger.
I must admit I’m a little confused at the amount of Math hate so far. I mean yea he’s a jerk, a lech, and a bit full of himself so he’s not very high on my list either, but I’ve seen worse characters who still some how qualified as ‘good guys’. Truth is, assuming Dave isn’t lying for his fictional characters, Math is in fact very skilled. As much as he likes the challenge and will put someone in their place, I think he does it for his own satisfaction(as in satisfying his need to excercise his skill and find challenges) rather than to prove anything to anyone else. In other words, I don’t see him beating up on random people simply because he can.
While he doesn’t currently rank very high on my list of characters that I like from this comic, he does rank fairly high on the list of characters that I am interested to see what he does. We’ll see what happens.
Also there is one quality his “jerkness” will most certainly have, that is blatantly overlooked by everyone here.
Since he is kind of Muten Roshi´s Grandson, it is reasonable to assume, he will NEVER willingly harm a woman (to much).
He could have taken Syd down. Hard.
But he used the least ammount of force possible. He hardly even touched her.
Let us hope that is an aspect of his character. One can always admire skill and the flair/style that goes with some of his actions. Plus he did show restraint here. But there is little else to redeem his personality so far.
Agreed: one can respect the skill while finding the person loathesome
So Math really IS an expy of Joukyuu, the protagonist of Aiki… well, sorta. Math doesn’t seem to be anywhere near as much of an asshole, or have limits imposed on his body. Nor does he seem to be anywhere near as creepy or lecherous… so a much more likeable, non-psychotic expy of Joukyuu…
Now that I think about it, that means the only real similarities between the characters are the hair, the preternatural martial arts skill, and the lecherousness. All in all, I like Math a hell of a lot more xD
Anyway, this pretty much turned out the way I was expecting it, which leaves me with a warm, pretentious feeling inside. And idly wondering about who would win in a fight, but eh.
Well one thing we know now is Sydney doesn’t have conscious control of the speed and direction of the orbs and/or has no awareness of their position other then normal senses. If she did the orb would not have hit her.
Sydney doesn’t telegraph, but the orbs do telegraph their orbits…well played. Also definetly a risk, you’d think the rule of immunity to your own powers would prevent them from hitting their own user, but the rule doesn’t always apply to tech and magic items.
He he love it. Absolutely perfect. And shows Math`s skill to be as stated in his profile. It would have been demeaning to a practitioner of his talent to expend any more effort than that to put a rookie in her place.
Finger feint and toe nudge combo. Subtlety raised to an art form.
but it is truely challenging to move quickly with such precision so its also a showing of great strength.
Sure Math’s a cocky jerk That much has been established. But we forget SO IS SYDNEY! it’w what we love about her. Math could of walked way, But knowing Sydney she would of pushed the issue or tried to sneak him one. He did the lesser of two evils. he took her out quickly and relatively softly. Syd’s Overreaction and surprise is what added to it. Anvil i probably upset at both the bet and Syd in her lap.
No, really don’t believe Sydney would have taking a ‘cheap shot’ if Math simply walked away, there probably would have been a room full of jeering (with or without Sydney joining in) but Sydney is not the type to hit someone from behind (on purpose)
Although she has been known to
hit someone from above. Ironically in an earlier failed attempt to beat an experienced combatant.
The girl sure is tenacious.
I would take a thousand shots to the shin if it meant that I could land with my head on sweet Anvil’s lap even once. I hate Sydney just a tiny bit right now. But I do still admire her knack for profanity.
Cut to next morning’s staff meeting:
Math: “What’s that clanking sound?
Sydney walks in wearing a full suit of plate armor: “OK. I’m ready for round 2!”
(for the nit pickers, yes she would need to leave off the gauntlets)
Oh and with her communication skills, Sydney definitely needs to be the spokesperson at the upcoming press conference.
In regards to that last part, damn i would pay SO many dollars to see that in real life!
Actually, the gauntlets tended to come in two parts: the underlying gloves and the overlying metal, she could just leave the gloves off allowing her to have tactile contact with the Orbs while leaving the backs of her hands protected
And now everyone will hate him for beating up a little girl.
Well, the beauty of his approach was, he didnt really hit her.. she hit herself.
In her defense, the eye patch is terrible for depth perception.
Actually, that’s not completely true (why do you think archers and snipers etc use just one eye?)
Archers look down an arrow with only one eye because the archers do not need depth perception at that point; they need a single point of view. Using both eyes is better to judge distance, but if you are trying to sight close-up objects, like the arrow and bow, with far-away objects, like the target, you would see a double image, one from each eye. By using just one eye, after you have already determined the distance with both eyes, then you have a single view port and can hit the target accurately.
Pretty soon some real bad guys will know about her powers. Something for Sidney to work on: modifying/concealing the colors of the balls, as well as creating random orbits.
I can’t say this surprises me even slightly.
I can just see Sydney grabbing her thighs in pain and take very small steps. That is if she doesn’t fall down in a split. Then she will be in agony and can’t talk. Anvil can lift her out of it. Lots of ice packs between her legs. She will be limping for awhile.
Ah how fickle an audience can be. I must admit that alongside enjoying the comic, I get a good amount of enjoyment out of reading the comments. Last week I’d say the number of bets on Sydney vs Math was somewhere in the near 80% in Syd’s favor, but this week there’s a bunch of “I’m not suprised Math won” comments.
What I’m not suprised by is the length of the fight. In truth, while Math might have taken a bit of a risk in his actions because of what he didn’t know, but it was a fairly calculated risk, no pun intended. I think the length of the fight is appropriate. Thus far no fight has taken more than a page. (If you take out all the talking from the other room, the fight between math and anvil was about 1 page). I think at this point it’d make sense from a pacing standpoint that the first fight to take up more than one full page should be a “serious” fight.
I really like your style Dave and while, as you mentioned, you might have abbreviated some of the action for the sake of the page length, I still got the idea of what happened. So I’m looking forward to see how you draw a fight with some length to it.
totally didn’t expect that. i am glad you didn’t use(ok you used one) the comments on the previous page. its important to stick to your own style.my fear was for you to do it and then make the fight a long a unneeded sequence of pages that, as a matter of fact, was over in 2 or 3 strips. i also agree that while being powerful, Sidney is no fighter (yet) so of course a lifelong( with 1000 generations of martial arts knowledge to back him up) would win with relative ease.
anyway as i was saying, sticking to your style is important otherwise you might lose your rythm and might not feel like this is YOUR comic anymore. there’s a reason why ppl stick to this comic. its because you stick to your own ideas and they are GOOD.
also. is it me or do i feel like people think of Math as an asshole?
i mean, of course he is a huge perv and with his skills and confidence i understand he would act on it. but never has he berated people or been malicious( he’s being a jerk at most).
i personally think he’s awesome.
finally,
…
…
…
sooooooooo.. anvil and sidney officially meet….. wonder how THIS is gonna go ^-^
There’s a friend of mine I regularly refer to as “the funniest asshole I know”. He considers it high praise, and let it be known that when I call math a jerk or an asshole, I mean it in the same capacity. To be honest, I don’t think there’s a single character so far that I don’t like.
fair enough, its true that most of the time, when we are not on the receiving end, assholes are actually funny to watch ^-^. i have a lot of friends who are assholes but are not doing it out of malicious intent, its just the way they are
Heh, did call this outcome last page, i am surprised that noone else could remember Dave telling how it would end if Math and Halo were to fight, in an earlier comment :)
But else, i must agree on that the Math hate around here comes as a bit of a surprise, he might be a bit of a pervert, but so what? that doesnt make him a bad person.
No one said he was bad person, but that doesn’t mean that everyone has to like him
AND she knows Shakespeare! xD
“I bite my thumb at you, sir!” xD
Math is wrong about Sydney’s Dan ranking in cussing. I am betting he did not hear the endless rant from the bank video yet.
If the Dan system he’s using is anything like the degree system was when I took Taekwondo classes, 7th shows pretty much a full mastery of curse words so he’d probably be about right.
…. Besides, it isn’t just the quantity of cussing – quality is also important.
Elements like pronunciation, projection, clarity and so forth would not translate into print very well. But they would be quite obvious (and important) to someone actually there.
Just as, to evaluate a martial arts expert, one wouldn’t necessarily have to first see ALL their moves. Observing just some moves might suffice.
I think most of us, at one time or another, have met people who can make the worst cusswords sound ordinary – and others who can use even mild words such that the rest of us feel unclean afterwards.
Sydney knows the difference between swearing (what most people nowadays use) and cursing (which she is most proficient in)
Good point. I’m one of the people who don’t use curse words, and yet somehow I can make sugar sound like the worst of fates. I usually prefer to use fudge for that purpose though. It has more bite. I’m also a master of double entendre, both intentional and otherwise.