Grrl Power #141 – Soapy bosoms and shirtless heroes
And if anime has taught us anything, it’s that Leon is trapped in that locker with a girl. And they’re both naked. Well you know, certain kinds of anime. BTW I know the word is “bosom,” I just think it’s funnier sounding with the extra “s” on the end.
Speaking of anime, I’ll be doing a panel at A-kon this year, panel “Humor-Based Webcomics 1 – Humor in Story” where hopefully I’ll have something more poignant to say than “Think of funny stuff and write it down.” Here’s a link to the page with the webcomic panels. I won’t have a table in artist’s alley or anything since I have nothing to sell yet, but if there’s enough readers there and interest, maybe we can organize a group lunch or dinner.
This page wasn’t planned originally, but one or two people mentioned that they’d like a little fair play since we got to see into the ladies locker room. However with the addition of the imagined shower scene the girls remain ahead by one. Still, I think the page came out pretty good. That Hiro guy can’t seem to keep his shirt on can he? After I drew him I thought that guys are probably required to wear undershirts when decking out in their military finery, but that would interfere with the point of this page, so I guess Hiro will get his shirt tucked in and his belt buckled before realizing he forgot it.
Thanks for all the superhero book recommendations. (In the comments for the previous page in case you missed it.) There seems to be quite a bit of material out there but Amazon does a poor job of categorizing superhero novels together. I’ll have to come up with another post and review them after I’ve gotten through some of the suggestions.
Also, there’s a new webcomic app out, currently only for iOS, called Comic Chameleon. It lets you read panel by panel which is a good solution for tiny phone screens, and it’s the first app to my knowledge that works with artists and pays them some portion of their ad revenue. Due to the added effort of setting up the comics for panel by panel reading, they’ve launched it with only 25 comics, but are working continually to add more, so I encourage you to pester them to add Grrl Power on their twitter or facebook accounts, as well as any of your other favorite comics they don’t already have.
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.
This is what we call the haves and haves not ladies and gentlemen
damn, missed the request for recommendations…
did Whatley Academy universe get listed? https://www.crystalhall.org/
Whately is a webfiction focused on a bunch of kids that were transgendered by their powers
Also note that I write stuff that could be called superhero fiction, Bystander: https://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/97450/Bystander
And Divine Blood: https://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?cPath=8666
note on DB that the novel is $3 as an ebook but the short stories are all free. For Bystander, so far only one novel exists, and it is $3 as an ebook.
DB and Bystander are both modern settings, DB has heavy doses of alternate history and Bystander is about 20 minutes into the future (2035). DB is mostly an ensemble cast (which is why each short story focuses on a different person) and Bystander is built around a main character.
Been inspired by “Highschool DxD” the lightnovel? There is a scene very similar to this one where the MC is in a divided bath and he literally tries to drill a hole in the wall with his finger so he can peep. Do note, that the girls he wants to peep on are in his harem and he has already seen each and every one of them naked at least once.
The scene under the desk got me thinking. I can see giving Sydney a black uniform for things like covert night operations, but how effective is it going to be when the person wearing it has a ring of big glowing lights circling over her head?
Guard One: Hey, did you just hear something?
Guard Two: No, but I think the circus is in town. I see what looks like a merry-go-round over there in the woods.
What do you think the tube is for?
Sydney + Covert = Madness.
Even without the glowing balls, Sydney doesn’t seem to be the ideal candidate for covert operations….
Sydney: So, have [insert villain #1] and [insert villain #2] come out yet?
Maxima: Shhhhhh! Do you not know what “surveillance” means?
[Five minutes later]
Sydney: How about now?
Maxima: No. Shhhhhh!
[Five minutes later]
Sydney [in narrator voice]: Here’s world famous superheroine slash superspy Halo….
Maxima: What did I tell you about shushing?
Sydney: But I….
Maxima Shhhhhh! *Thwappppp!*
[Five minutes later]
Sydney: Howzabout….
Maxima: Grrrrrrrrr! *Thwappppp! Thwappppp! Thwappppp!*
Sydney: …na-ouch! What was th-…
Maxima: *Thwappppp! Thwappppp!* When I tell you to shhhhh, you shhhhh and you stay shushed until I tell you different!
[Meanwhile, back in the not-so-secret hidout]
Villain #1 [looking through spyglasses with Villain #2]: I know we’re supposed to be beating them up, but it might be just as fun watching them do it themselves.
that scenario seems kind of unrealistic, when maxima thwaps somebody, they STAY thwapped.
I’m not totally positive, but is Leon slowly bleeding to death from a nose bleed? and since some of Dabbler’s heritage involves races with a patent knowledge of and ability to smell blood she should actually realize their beign watched if anyone in the room would…
Dabbler would probably think that’s too funny to spoil. Anyway, I agree, that sign is evil
Mind you, that is only in the over-fertile imagination of Sydney, so several reality checks might have been missing in her logic. As evidenced by being contained in a thought bubble of hers.
Whereas there is no thought bubble for the last three panels, so that is what is actually going on in the guys’ changing room.
Not to mention, dabler would have noticed Leon with her “Porno Sense”
Mind you Osk is right, Dabler would have sensed Leon, THEN added the soap….
I know some Feminists who would put that sign up just to punish the Pervs or just to put one up guys in general.
Yeah…but to be realistic, any Power Perv or Mr. Super-Wrong who that sign “gets to” is all too likely to take out his frustrations on some women or children…hardly a goal of any real feminist.
OTOH, referring to a man-hater as a “feminist” is an easy & obvious way to discourage her from targeting you.
didn’t say she was a man hater just a feminist with a sense of humor, in fact she likes men a lot, just most of us have trouble living up to her high standards, and those who don’t end up providing her with amusement.
I understand her amusement. A large portion of the human race (both men and women) seems bound and determined to make me laugh at their 3 Stooges-like behavior. If I didn’t laugh I’d have to cry at the profound stupidity people present on a day to day basis.
Who’s to say that there isn’t a similar sign on the wall opposite inside the ladies locker room?
So the ladies get 2 posters?
There isn’t from what we can tell. Considering Harem was allowed to half-strip all the men and all the women joined in ogling, I imagine it’s quite alright for passive objectification to go one way and just not towards women.
The measure is whether the recipients of the oggling mind or not. The guys were all happy to show off, so it was not a problem. Had even one of them felt aggrieved though, then Harem would have been in serious trouble!
A random person, in the showers, should be assumed to want their privacy, which is legally the way it is handled.
Both Dabbler and Harem love to flaunt their stuff, and be the centre of attention. So if they get stared at there certainly is no issue. Whereas Sydney is on the other end of the scale, in being embarrassed to be looked at nude or even scantily clad. Be that by males or females.
The comic applies a constant standard throughout. What it does do though is confront these issues head-on, rather than trying to avoid them. You just need to focus on the core morality, rather than leaping to an assumption that a gender bias is used. It is not.
It was Sandy. She’s salty over feeling insecure (even though I think she’s hot, I tend to think every woman is beautiful), and she’s taking it out on the men in the most sarcastic way. Give that sign a sardonic note and see what I mean.
Here is a photograph of Girl Power. If I do not find a way of transporting myself to the Grrl Power universe, to serve in Arc, signing up with one of those units depicted will be my fall-back plan. Assuming I can get to grips with the Chinese language.
You may, if you have the observation skills required of a Grrl Power reader, notice the artist appears in the photograph himself. You can also look up his video, containing lots of other photos with a similar concept. It is the latest daily upload on Ted.Com. Under the title “Liu Bolin: The invisible man”.
Yeah, noticed the artist (thought at first it was the lady in white who was real posing against a life-sized mural)
Something like that takes an extreme amount of skill, not just in making the big painting and the camoflague suit, but lining yourself up nearly flawlessly
You’ve never heard of the Pageant of the Masters, have you? If that kind of art impresses you, you would LOVE the Pageant.
Every year they pick a theme, and then several pieces of art they feel fit within said theme. Then they recreate the art with models who stay perfectly still for the duration of the presentation of whatever piece is being displayed. From far away it looks totally real. Its really incredible (although the child models do get squirmy on occasion; I’m fairly sure all the performers are volunteers. Tickets to the show sell out SO FAST, though.) If you can put up with a little corniness from the narration, its an awesome way to spend a summer evening. In fact, I often like to celebrate my birthday by going to the pageant and the surrounding art festival. <3
Sounds great. I used to like watching street performers doing something similar in Brighton. Would love to see it. Trouble is my usual treat walking distance is about 10km maximum. The 10,774km to Laguna Beach would take quite some time. Especially the wet bit mid-Atlantic.
Psh, you can do it! I believe in you! :D
Heh, well, if you ever find yourself across the pond, I’d highly recommend going. ^^ Or maybe there’s something similar being done closer to you? I wouldn’t know. Laguna’s actually still a hell of a drive even for me, but it’s worth it. Especially since last year before we went to the Pageant we found this little gelateria there that makes their waffle cones fresh…. Oh my god, so good. And the restaurant/bar right across from it has this red wine butter and fresh ricotta they serve with their house bread…..
Yeah, I shouldn’t write comments before I’ve eaten. Now I’m really hungry and want to go shmie around Laguna. ;-;
Ooo, just spotted an error with the mural: you can see the Lady in White’s shadow hand!!
You know, if Leon really was the super tech genius…RC cars and wifi cameras.
;) Like this, I presume you mean:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=PqFSRwgqgYk&feature=endscreen
What, nobody noticed that she’s touching one of the orbs that she doesn’t know the use/effect of, and a sign containing verbiage suspiciously close to her imaginings shows up in the men’s changing room? Coincidence, or foreshadowing?
That’s not an unknown – that’s the Badgers! / truesight orb
I don’t think so, but it’s tough to tell apart the 2 different shades of yellow/green when hey aren’t side by side. Still, it seems from Math’s reaction that the sign is a new addition, so…
*they* Stupid Jack Daniels messing up my typing…
I think it is just that it is in a shadowy environment that it may be appearing closer to green for you. Comparing shades directly on other scenes, it is pretty much the same (perhaps a hint darker, as I say hard to be certain if just a visual illusion or not).
The clincher however is that both of the unknown orbs have glowing sigils* surrounding them. Whereas the comm-ball has none, but does have an inner orb. Which is as shown in panel 3 above.
For your convenience, links to pages depicting the various orbs can be found here.
One other item of interest is that the comm-ball changes appearance when in use. The inner orb would no longer be in it. As depicted in panel 7 of page #89. It actually physically travels to the location to be viewed. So unless it can phase through walls, it would have to go by a route which had a gap for it to fit through. Assuming the latter, let us hope that Halo can see through it, without her image being up, otherwise she will have no way to navigate it through holes!
* It can be important to pay attention to symbols.
Hello,
Has someone compiled a list of what the little power icons mean on the cast page? There are some I cannot decode. If Dave could provide a key/legend I would really appreciate it.
Thanks Guys,
PWBritt
Hi,
If they have, it pre-dates me getting actively involved with the comments, as I can’t remember such. In case DaveB wants to keep some of them cryptic, to avoid spoilers, here are my takes on them:
Wing: Flight
Flexed arm: Super strength
Shield: Damage resistance (tough skin or other broad-spectrum defence, including invulnerability, but excluding force field)
Shiny sun: Ranged attack (sun implying energy attack, although Math might use shurikens with unnatural precision – possibly applying martial arts movie physics)
Winged boot: Super speed
Bubble: Force field
Two people with zip line between them: Translocation (The ability to project one’s self to remote locations, in case your dictionary does not have the definition. Covering both teleportation and the weaker telepresence, which only sends a virtual image)
Weight: Telekinisis
Fist: Martial arts
Magnifying glass/light bulb/jacob’s ladder: Magic (as a best guess, given it only appears on Dabblers list. Maybe ‘mad’ scientist. Possibly detection capabilities. However, if that is the case, then it is missing from Halo’s list, as she does have true sight via the comm-ball. Or, final speculation, “weird stuff” to cover anything too strange or flexible to be categorised)
Sniper sight: expert (or possibly literally sniper skill)
Brain: psionics (or maybe generic mind-powers covering both magic and psionics)
Four arrows converging: energy absorption
Three people: multiple bodies
Eclipsed sun: radiant energy
Stretched arms: stretchy body
Sledge hammer: resistance to blunt attacks
All just my guesses, of course. Feel free to pitch in with your own.
This is long overdue, now that it’s been pointed out. Kudos for public service. :)
As I mentioned eclipsed suns and Dabbler in that post, do you think that someday Earth might be an alien tourist destination? Assuming, as seems likely, they are not here already under a crop-circle, abduction and cow mutilation package deal. Thinking on the symbol, it made me wonder how rare it is to have a moon that pretty much precisely covers the star when in eclipse, yet still leaves the corona.
A smaller moon would have to be much closer to achieve the same effect. Otherwise likely being so small that it would be just a dot in front of the sun. Whereas a significantly larger (or closer) moon would just make it go black, loosing the glowing edge we get in our eclipses. Unless it was both larger and further away.
Would planetary formation tend to put bodies pretty much the right distance for that visual effect fairly often? Or might visitors enjoy visiting the only inhabited planet with a true eclipse?
Actually, as the moon is slowly moving closer to Earth, it’s a “coincidence” that at this point in time the moon exactly covers the sun. 100M years ago it was “larger” than the sun, and 100M years from now it’ll be smaller.
And give it a lot more time and eventually the moon’ll plow right into Earth… that is if they’re not crisp-fried first by the Sun when it becomes a red giant (or some other, less predictable, cataclysmic scenario). I’m sure you can find someplace where it gives time estimates for each ;)
SETTI better start doing tourist adds fast then!
“Limited time offer *, come see the only true eclipse on an inhabited planet.
Find 10% discount voucher on all crop circle package-offers in your Hitch-hiker’s Guide (TM). *
* Terms and conditions apply, see below for details.
* Offer ends in 100,000,000 Earth years. Planetary destruction invalidates special offer. Ice cream consumption my be prohibited in certain towns. The use of doomsday weaponry is prohibited in this system. Inserting probes in abductees may invalidate your xenophysician license.“
Um, no. The Moon is actually slowly moving away from the Earth. The gravitational effects of the tides is slowing down the rotation of the Earth and pushing the Moon into a higher orbit. The Earth is doing the same thing with the sun (moving further away), along with the sun having less mass now than in the past.
Yea, it does not reverse course until humans start doing weird stuff on the moon. As witnessed by H.G.Wells and mentioned in his memoirs about his time-travelling experiences.
Was just going to say: “you can deduce what they mean by reading their info”, but thank you for make a chart/list for easy convenience :D
Yes the cast page needs a bit of an update, and if I can make it really small, maybe a guide on Sydney’s orbs for the Who’s Who.
You could do a “Who’s Who” for each individual Orb, they only seemed to be used one per page (except for when she was demonstrating/explaining them)
Hiro isn’t in the cast list, should he be?
There are a few who are not on the Cast page, yet
Pretty interesting goofy comic, I’ve archive binged it.
You will find that most of us here have done that; some of us, multiple times.
One of my wild thoughts: An ad to be produced after the ARC press conference, by one of the restaurants downstairs. Print ad: 8.5″ X 11″ full colour.
FUSION (centred, 1/5 of the page from the top, 24 point font)
Halo (centred on page, big sappy smile, no eye patch, tears running down her cheeks from her bespectacled eyes)
Caption: It’s so F&!&@$^ hot! I love it! You will too. (centred, about 2/3 from the top, 18 point font)
I guess it could run as a television spot as well.
Sydney could become their spokeperson (if Ari allows that sort of thing), and they could have a competition thing: anyone who can outeat/last Sydney has their meal for free (and the restaurant will even pay their medical bill, as long as it is directly resultant of the meal eaten at the restaurant), the publicity would offset any possible loss’* (if they could find anyone who could out eat/survive Sydney of course)
*open only to natives of their Earth, and with no powers
So Maxima and Achilles are not elegible (being powered)? Yeah, Dabbler’s nervous and digestive systems are probably different enough to negate the effect of capsaicin and other chemicals found in their food. I don’t think Jenny Everywhere goes for that kind of food anyway (depends on the writer).
Radio spot (or TV voiceover): Can you outlast the “Demolisher?” Eat the entire serving faster than our current champion, Halo of ArcSwat, and win your meal for free. Please call the restraunt to arrange a time to perform the challenge; we will have to ask Halo and the appropriate medical staff to be present. See personal injury waiver for conditions of the challenge.
Yup, Maxi and Achilles would be inelegible. Remember, Sydney has no inate Powers, they all come from the Orbs, which have to be held (and concentrated on) to be activated, so even if one of them is a healer she still has to be holding the correct one and concentrate to heal
Wait a minute. ADHD vs concentrate. I see a problem here (at least with my version of ADHD concentrating on a single thing for any length of time is difficult.
Some (not all) ADHD sufferers can go into a state of intense concentration where the rest of the world just fades away. This can happen to me when I read a good book or play certain games. It is a more intense version of the “Where did the time go?” effect most people have experienced.
The point was, they are not, as far as we have been made aware, automatic abilities: they have to be both in her fleshy palms and she has to actually activate them (unless they just have to be in her fleshy palms)
No money paid out in case of bleeding out of one’s eyeballs. You’d think that wouldn’t get any customers, but they would be mobbed by hordes of Frat Boys that take such warnings as challenges.
leon really should do better scheduling maintenance on the arc-wash in Sidney’s head
(at least I held off mentioning math’s developing arc-tick)
I just noticed that Math looks a lot like Vegeta in that last panal XD
Totaly! XDD
If he really wanted to get in there and didn’t care about anything, he could just claim to be a woman trapped in a male body and then they would have to let him in there. But I kind of think that he’s too macho to do that, I mean, to emasculate oneself mentally just in order to overcome a simple challenge….
Hiro told Vegetable-head he won’t burn a hole in that wall, so maybe he should try another, maybe the one outside Ari’s office? Or better yet, Faulk’s :D
Does any one else come back every day, just to read the comments? Or is it just me?
Just once a day? ;-) My problem is years worth of habit ensuring that my in-box is cleared. So whenever I see emails sitting unread, I have to deal with them. Fortunately using the browser’s search function allows me to just look at the comments for the relevant day. Of course, even if there are none, I do the daily vote regardless.
..no
I come every day to vote. If I have time, I read the newest comments.
Man, to tell you how much Dave’s comedy still stands up. I used his “Always Expect Ninja’s” comic as a reference on the Facepunch gaming forums, and it still makes me laugh as hard as the day I first read it. Back when things were sepia toned and every man wore a hat.
Okay if Math is that good at martial arts he could spot the one brick in that wall that would fall out if hit just right. He could knock a hole in that wall if he really wanted to so he must have some rules he fallows.
…. Such as being obligated to fix any walls that he breaks, or at least pay for repairs.
Made to clean out the toilets the day after Spicy Foods From Around The World Night
The first time that you punch a hole through the wall into the girl’s changing room you find out that society frowns on such acts. Usually involving the courts. Possibly involving some time wearing distinctive outfits and/or manacles. Maybe a straight-jacket. Depending on aggravating or mitigating circumstances.
They could have just put lead plating between the walls, building codes be damned!
In a building for Supers, the building code demands it
I thought it said adamantium. Where’s my damn code book at?
So Math is at super sayian 3?
No, he is just at super silly 3.
He just happens to use Vegetable-head’s ‘hair stylist’ :P
I was referring to the absence of eyebrows.
I wonder how many of Sydney’s bright ideas end up becoming warning signs? If so, I wonder what the sign in front of the guy’s locker room would say?
I wonder how people have talked about everything on the page but missed that one guy that seems to be heading to the shower with a hat on his head
He also has a bag over his shoulder. So, unless he has a particularly odd showering routine, probably picked up the bag after the shower. Seems like he is a dress from the top down guy. Presumably having a button-up shirt, if he does not expect to take the cap off mid-dressing.
:x I’m not usually one to be interested in guys like Hiro… But dang it! That profile… <3
Now all we need is a combination of the illusion ball and one of the other balls so that she can make a video like screen on both ends of the wall that reflect the opposite rooms to each other!
Burn a hole in the wall with your stare they’re talking about the founder of the Buddhist school of thought known as Zen.
I’d imagine someone who fights as much as Math does would have a nose angled to the right.
To be fair…. that seems rather in character for Dabbler.
X-ray vision might not be useful…but CT-scan vision could create an image of a naked woman across the wall. And don’t even get me started on the clairvoyants…
Math is my favorite guy on the team, hands down.
Just started reading Grrl Power due to the Wearing the Cape crossover. I, of course, recommend my SUPERVILLAINY SAGA books (especially THE RULES OF SUPERVILLAINY) but I also recommend Jim Bernheimer’s Confessions of a D-List Supervillain and Don’t Tell My Parents I’m a Supervillain.
I can’t help but notice that no one in the comic has heat vision or any other energy-blasting gaze attack. There are a few death-gaze or hypno-stare users, but no Cyclopes or Supermen. There’s no reason in-universe why such a power would be impossible, is there?
Well it can be a bit hard to see, when doing that. ;-)
Math throws a knife in the mouth of somebody with that ability in the vehemence fight
It pains me to admit that I only got the implication of the Com orb that she’s holding in #4 on the 3rd read through (I only started reading last week). Would Lt Kessler know/realize what the implications of it are at this point? Looking back they were having an interesting conversation about the Com orb and what is did in #111.
Ayy.
You’re right I didn’t think of that. Now I’m sad.
I just realized all “peeking powers” are in the hands of a heterosexually active female except for “X”.
Sydney has the comm orb with telepresence and true sight.
Harem can teleport.
Dabbler has porno sense.
Opal has portals
Jiggawat can go through walls
X can become invisible
are,,, are you *certain* Sydney’s not into women? that. that’s not a “straight girl” daydream