Grrl Power #162 – Serious press is serious
Is the press supposed to applaud? I asked around on twitter and the consensus was “depends.” I don’t mean sycophant press, like game journalists at E3 or tech press at an Apple unveiling. I mean proper, serious press. It’s hard to remember because news is mostly just entertainment these days, but it seems like the White House Press corps for example is there to report, not embolden. On the other hand, while these journalists obviously take their jobs seriously, someone did just take a chunk out of a tank with a haser. I’m trying to imagine if Ed Bradley, Tom Brokaw, Howard Cosell, and Walter Cronkite would applaud, or just nod seriously and ask an insightful follow up question. Not that this particular group of reporters ranks in that echelon.
That radio show I mentioned last week, Otaku Attack didn’t happen unfortunately. I had guests over and just plain forgot. I would feel worse about that, but apparently the show got bumped anyway for some sports thing. Tentatively we’re planning on doing it this Saturday (11pm-1am CST) but I need to confirm that. Keep an eye out here and on twitter for updates.
I hope to have the Anvil pinup colored by tomorrow. It’s mostly done, I just have to finish the background. In the meantime, I uploaded the highres inks here in case anyone would like to try their hand at coloring it.
Edit: For anyone checking up last minute on the radio show, it’s no go this week. Probably next week but I’ll update as I learn more.
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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.
Go on Susie! If you’re impressed, of course you clap, press or not, IMHO.
And I like the image of Heatwave in panel 4.
Agreed, on both counts
To sublimate in this case is to turn from a solid directly into a gas without a liquid phase. Methane hydrates frozen will turn to gas immediately and bubble out of the water upon melting. A great danger to boosting GHG effects like nitro in the carburetor.
What does an inquisitive clap sound like?
I think he was going more towards “hesitant” than “inquisitive.”
I have to agree with Suzie, when you see something like that, clapping is definitely appropriate.
…. AND very polite.
You don’t want someone with that kind of power thinking you are being deliberately rude.
I second the “Go Suzie News.”
Although while I agree applause is both polite and appropriate I disagree with the “So you’ld better do it” idea.
If your supers feel so entitled, and above the law, that they might use their powers just because you failed to applaud them using their powers it’s time to start building Sentinals. Or poisoning their cupcakes which would be both cheaper and more effective.
I was being tongue-n-cheek there.
It’s okay, 7th…I got it on the first try… :)
You’d only need to poison the frosting
as the Major showed that doesn’t always work
Hey. If I see a beautiful girl able to heat up a tank until it melts, you bet I would clap. I’d also put under my list of someone never to piss off.
I think every woman on this team would go on that list. Sydney at the top, directly followed by Maxima
By the way, I think you skipped a number, since the last page was 161. Great page though.
You are correct…about everything
It’s been awhile since Dave’s given us an Easter Egg.
Did you check the last page? He changed the position of a text box and added an aura around Heatwave so nobody was mistaking here for Maxima or a flying Harem. Hmm, shouldn’t Heatwave still have her flight aura now, since she is still flying? Or are super-jumps part of her power set?
Ahhh! There’s the aura/cloud people were talking about (had to do a Ctrl-refresh to get the corrected page)
Aura / cloud around Heatwave? I can refresh all I want I don’t see one on this page. Is “latest page” referring to a different page than this one?
The last page, not latest
The aura probably only becomes visible at higher energies. She’s just gently hovering here, like she did earlier in the lounge.
Whoops. That’s what I get for posting a page at 1am.
I bet it’s great to have such attentive readers/ editors for when the printed versions go out.
Yeah definitely better to catch that stuff now.
So my 12 pm is your 1 am? Wow, you’re really something else, Dave, sacrificing sleep so the page can go up the same time every Monday.
He is 6 hours behind me (currently 6:21am Tuesday, October 1st)
I’m in Central time, I meant I wrote and scheduled the post for 6 am at one in the morning. I’m usually up that late anyway. Well, awake. Not usually up.
Okay the frosting joke means the cast has to hurt you now. . .
Why? o_O
Please to be explaining now?
Because she is de-frosting it. That was an awfull pun, I’m proud.
Wouldn’t it be “defrostinging”?
yes, if adding frosting is frostinging
Love the questionmark after that last clap in panel 5. A fun, simple and yet very effective way to help the reader imagine how that applause went down.
+1
“Proper serious press”? Where??
That happens when Max or Hiro are laying down under the front end of a Peterbuilt and lifting up with their arms. Most people would call this a benchpress, but that without the bench (I am not sure you can find a bench strong enough). I am sure that their forms would be entirely proper while doing the press. Their concentration would generally have to be serious as well during the act.
Isn’t the armor on M1 Abrams made of depleted uranium? Heatwave is pretty powerful to get through it just like that.
More to the point: Is the US Army so flush with cash they can waste a M1 Abrams on a demo?
Apparently congress keeps building tanks to fulfill porkbarrel projects for their states, and the army keeps telling them to stop making tanks cause they don’t need them.
Also all the other 3d models I could find that were compatible with Manga Studio 5ex were either Russian tanks, fantasy spider tanks with legs, or were such old models that they’d be in a museum or a private collection. Since I’m bad at drawing stuff like that I needed something I could manipulate and reference.
In other words, YES.We have a “Tank Graveyard” full of the bloody things and the Army’s been screaming for a the past couple years that they didn’t need anymore.
IIRC the US doesn’t build new tanks ATM (because they have too many of them), they instead spend the “New Build” price to remanufacturer and upgrade existing tanks, ATM the M1 Plant modifies surplus M1’s for sale to foreign buyers. the next remanafactuere level round of upgrades for the US Military is due in 2017 but may be pushed back to ’19-’20.
the pork-barreling is in component manufacturer, not tank building.
The Australian Army has 59 M1s (upgraded to M1A1), which they are quite happy with from all accounts.
That’s because they know no-one would even want to invade them :P
Nope, it’s because the M1s mean they can now take on Australia’s wildlife on equal terms. ;)
It has reactive armor which means it has a layer of explosives sandwiched between two armor plates. Something hits it with sufficient force, the armor explodes outwards, thereby intercepting some of the damage. For demonstration purposes, the tank has been stripped of the reactive armor. As well as the engine, any fuel, electronics inside, etc.
The M1 rarely bothers with reactive armour, since it has advanced composite Chobham armour, and reactive armour can cause more problems than benefits in some situations. The few rare pictures I’ve seen of an M1 with reactive armour has it on the side hull only.
…sorry,I took so long writing my comment you beat me to the punch…
You mean like this one has? *Points to the treads in Panel 1*
Yup, the tank here has reactive armour on the sides only, not the area that was hit by heatwave’s attack.
Reactive armor is used when the weight of real armor would cause problems. You see reactive armor on the side skirts here because the side skirts have to be able to be moved out of the way during tread/suspension/wheel repair. Russian tanks use it a lot because their engines were not as powerful as western ones and they needed their tanks to be lighter to keep the speed up.
When I saw a demo video of this reactive armor thing, I thought it was created – especially including the demo video “leaked” or just openly viewable in any country – not to really protect the tank but to make the enemy waste ammo on an already dead tank, by making everybody believe that when the reactive “armor” goes off (which looks like a really serious explosion) then the tank is not really damaged so one should fire at least one more shot at it.
If the tank has been stripped of the engine it would be interesting to see how it GOT to the test range. The M1 weighs about 65 tons (or 60 ‘tonnes’ since we are apparently speaking British this week). I think the press probably had a good time watching the designated team members either carry or push it into place.
What? Tow it behind another tank? That’s just crazy talk.
The tank breakdown vehicle would carry it, of course. If America does not have something like that then they will loose the next time there are a series of big tank v tank battles. The Germans got their main advantage in the desert tank warfare in that they had the ability to salvage their broken down and damaged tanks quickly off the battlefield. Friend and foe’s alike.
So even when the initially inferior British tanks were replaced by American models that levelled the playing field, the Germans were still having much better tank survival rates. Simply because most losses were due to vehicle break downs, lost tracks and other things which made a tank immobile. As opposed to simple destruction. So he who can recover his tanks has all the more for the next big battle.
“So even when the initially inferior British tanks were replaced by American models that levelled the playing field, “.
Do you really believe that?. Cause I think you will find that the British tanks were not inferior, nor were the better American tanks present in large numbers until after Second El Alamein. You know, that was the battle where the BRITISH won in the desert months before the (almost too) late American entry into the war?. The 1942 Sherman couldn’t even penetrate the German frontal armour with its very weak and low velocity gun. The Best allied tanks in the desert were Crusader III and Churchill IIIs, far better armoured and gunned than any American tank that even existed before 1944. The only way the American ones were better was they were faster (especially in reverse) than a British tank. :tongue:
I was referring to the fact that at the start of the North Africa Campaign the primary weapon of the most common British tank was incapable of penetrating the frontal armour of their German* counterpart. If you listen to interviews with veterans you will find that the technique they had to use to overcome this was to attempt to fire their shell through the viewing slot in the German tank. Fortunately they could get a ricochet off the sloping structure at the base of the gun, which increased the target area to slightly bigger than the letter box on a front door. Which, you will admit, I am sure, gives the German tanks a considerable advantage. One that was countered by incredible skill shown by British tank crews.
I admit however that I was being lax in not specifying that weaker tanks were replaced by stronger British ones, my hazy memory is to blame for that. I could have gone into the numbers of American tanks involved, the lateness of their deployment or their effectiveness. But that would have come off as more at a dig at American armour, which I was trying to avoid. And would have detracted from my main point. Namely that bigger tanks alone do not win battles, and that tank recovery played a significant part in that campaign.
* At the point when German armour got involved, at least, I cannot recall this being a problem with Italian armour.
I think we can agree that the German tanks were better than either of the Allies’ tanks, especially in things like where their front armour was designed and obviously in their guns, etc. Oh, and their motors. And their tracks. And crew compartment survivability. And radios, mustn’t forget that they all had one and many of our squadrons used forking flag signals from the command car to the other members . . . crikey.
Just a good thing that our cause was right and our hearts pure, and all that. Hard to see how we won otherwise. We wouldn’t have, if it wasn’t for the fact that they brought a hitler to the fight, and we, a Churchill.
Ye Olde Tanke Shoppe delivers. Or delivours, if you prefer.
A shop that removes liver? Must be a really butchered tank then.
Crazy Talk? We have a superhero with oxen yokes flying through the air with a bus strung underneath?
Boss, it looks like that tank DOES have it’s reactive armor attached. Or did they just remove the explosive packs and leave the cases?
Yes. Since I didn’t know any better when drawing it.
Depleted uranium is used for projectiles, mainly because of its high density (considerably more than lead) which makes for lots of energy on impact. Don’t think it is used in armor.
…the M1A2 heavy armor version has DU plates in the turret face(right where Brook is melting a hole btw,)and only the TUSK-Tank Urban Supplement Kit-modded M1’s have reactive armor blocks covering the side of the hull to protect the tracks. That said,this would have been one of the early M1 test tanks-so no worries…
If it was just a matter of density, they’d use Tungsten which has a density of 19.25g/cm², compared to depleted Uranium’s 19.1g/cm²
Depleted Uranium, DU, actually has a bunch of other advantages over Tungten.
DU is cheaper than Tungsten.
DU is self sharpening, which is a little complicated, but basically when a Tungsten AP round hits a target, the forces involved cause the front to flatten and mushroom a bit making the nose wider, meaning it has to punch a bigger hole, meaning it can pierce less armour. With DU, this mushrooming breaks off leaving the nose sharp, so it can make a narrower hole and pierce deeper into armour.
And finally DU is pyrophoric, which means it bursts into flames with contact with air, which is great for destroying a target once you’ve penetrated it. A Tungsten round hitting a lightly armoured vehicle would often make a small hole in one side and leave by a small hole in the other side. DU would do a lot more than that.
Anyway, besides all that, it is also used as armour in the later versions of the M1, due to its high density and low price I assume.
Tungsten is brittle… In my search a while ago for a dense, hard substance, I wound up choosing between chrome steel and lead.
Tungsten just failed to meet my durability needs. Look in youtube for break tungsten ring and you can see why. I’d be nervous about any armor that can be defeated with a mild application of force.
Iron is brittle too, yet steel armour is very common.
Pure Tungsten armour would probably be pretty terrible, but that doesn’t mean every alloy containing mostly Tungsten would be terrible.
The depleted Uranium is in the bullets the A-10 Warthog fires at other tanks at hypersonic speeds. The GAU-8A fires 4200 rounds per minute at a muzzle velocity of 3,250 fps or slightly slower then an SR-71. The recoil of firing the nearly one pound bullets at a rate of 70 per second is greater than the full-throttle thrust from both jet engines, fortunately there isn’t enough ammunition on board to cause the aircraft to crash in the rare case of a stuck firing mechanism. In case you couldn’t tell I freaking love that aircraft, it was the only thing that allowed my MOS to operate during the Cold War.
I thought the gun had enough force to match the thrust from one of the engines, not both, so in the case where one engine is shot up (which a warthog would just shrug off pretty much) extended fire could have an adverse effect on flight characteristics.
Nope, watch a video of them firing the gun in flight, you can actually see the plane slow down during a long burst.
Which is not a problem unless the gun gets stuck on long enough to drop you below stall speed while too close to the ground for recovery from stall.
And the A-10 has a really low stall speed. She is a sweet bird.
I have heard that if the Warthog fires its gun long enough for it to potentially stall, the barrel of the gun will have also heated up enough to deform…
Oh yeah, melting tanks are “cool.” Unless of course you happen to be in it at the time.
“Licks the frosting off”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zXDo4dL7SU That seems appropriate
Explosive plasma? You gotta be extra careful about the who it explodes, because the foot soldiers on the ground (whichever side they’re on) aren’t gonna like it… Not to mention unprotected civilians! :)
Sorry, typo: I meant “careful about how and where it explodes” ;)
Those shouldn’t be standing near an enemy tank.
Besides, heatwave could just as easely disable a tank without focussing all the heat in 1 point. Just melt the barrel to deform it so it can’t shoot, and than the tracks so it can’t move.
Ofcourse don’t forget the machineguns to
The heat that would be conducted or radiated from the effected part would render the occupants into well done people roasts or crispy critters depending.
The occupants are a fair target, presumably being legitimate enemies, and an acceptable loss if the aim is to also protect nearby allied infantry. If the latter are too close, the rapidly increasing heat will encourage them to move their butts fast.
I assume he meant something like melting a few links in the treads so it either fuses or comes apart. Either way it ain’t moving.
Ugh need coffee I didn’t see he said Treads. so I’ll go with fusing the engine’s pistons or something similar.
It’s a turbine. No pistons. :-P
fine, fuse the bloody turbines! =P
not that easy a task one is better off just heating the fuel tank instead
trying to stop, not blow up.
Fuse the turbine shaft. Better yet, melt the fuel lines. That would do it.
except that most M1 series tanks use Jet Fuel…
Jet fuel has a higher ignition temp than car fuel. Higher density too, but that’s not the point. Fuel lines in M1’s have lock-outs in case of fire. Same goes for the hydraulics that train the gun (the backup is hand cranks). Take out the lines and the tank is effectively cripped.
Yea, I meant the non leathal version of disabling a tank :P
No need to completly destroy it if you can simply turn it into a big steel box. Leave the hatch intact and whoever is in will come out eventually with his arms up. Turning it into a (still survivable) sauna would probably help speed that part
Take out the treads, or if necessary, the engine. Then with a tiny bit of fixing later:
FREE TANK!!!
What can beat a price tag like that?
I’m sure Sydney would definitely love that ^^
Except most of the electronics would be toast. In a modern tank that would make useless.
That’s why the modern Vipers got toasted by the flying toasters
They used to say, when the M1 prototypes were being tested, that one man could disable the tank by throwing a can of baby powder into the turbine intake – the dust filters were not very good to start out. They got better before desert deployment, thankfully.
Disable it – and make it smell better!
You have to admit that on this page Susie got something right, not like when she first introduced herself “This is Susie News here” or something like that. Nice job with that.
Hey Dave. Minor oops. Does heatwave just like to change outfits, because I thought she was wearing a flight suit like Halo and Peggy? At least that was what she was wearing #142. (Though I saw you changed its color).
Oh my god I’m so dumb. This is even after I changed her orange outfit on page #142 to the black flightsuit. Oh well, I’ll get it fixed when I can.
If you do change it, do not forget to change the final panel from last week too. As that is the same outfit as the above.
Personally it did not bother me at all, as Maxima changed from her parade-best to something more appropriate for a live fire event. Likewise Heatwave might have had her turn talking in front of the press, or simply have been in best in case she was unexpectedly called for. Then gotten changed for this display.
Arrg why is my brain so dumb!
Honestly, the orange flightsuit didn’t really work IMO, so changing her to either the black flightsuit or having her match Maxima works better, that’s just my two cents. The orange just made her look too much like some of technician or engineer for some reason. And yeah, you could always just say “she had an off-panel outfit change. I didn’t forget a thing!” and it’s all cool. It’s a minor point, don’t beat yourself up on it. The panel is great work as usual and pretty funny.
I remember you talking about giving them more “superhero” type costumes that match their powers, totally cool idea I think. Yeah, I know you’re going for the whole “gov’t sponsored” thing here but having them all dressed the same is a little dull, haha. Well, however you hash it out, keep up the good work.
Oh, one last note, thought about maybe giving each superhero some kind of badge/emblem? That way they could all have the same and/or similar uniforms but have some kind of patch/badge/emblem which would be representative of their powers? Heatwave would have some kind of fire and/or explosion, Sydney would have her halo of amaze-balls (they will be amaze-balls in my mind forever), etc.
Essentially the choker/torque is the badge you are talking about. Which is fine for face-to face logo identification. Albeit not distinguishable from a distance, so you do have a valid suggestion. Of course unique uniforms, or things like banding, big lightning bolts, or fireballs, would stand out even further. Such as at the distance the characters, by the buses, were at in the final panel last week.
Dave, I would not hit my head into the desk if I were you. I occasionally find myself at the top of the stairs forgetting what I had walked up for. And I do not have a deadline to create and post an impressive full colour page in one day of my spare time!
I do have one tip though. Next time you draw Sydney, she should not have her eyepatch on. ;-)
Unique uniforms?
Why do they need unique lycra bodysuits? They are not the Brotherhood of Avenging Legionnaires
The thing is Dave hasn’t told us if Brooke’s Aura damages her clothing or not while in flight. Most Nomex clothing (race and fire-suits) tend to be brightly colored.
That is so rescuers can see the person standing in the middle of a fire.
For Racing outfits, I’d say the guy running around yelling “HELP!!! hELP!! I’M OF FIRE!!!” would be a good indicator where he is.
I thought that Heatwave’s “flight suit” looked a lot like one of those orange Nomex cover-alls. Of the shelf stuff. I thought at the time that she was wearing that because her Nomex uniform wasn’t in yet. Clearly I was wrong.
As we are continuity checking Heatwave, is she supposed to be in the background of panel 2 #143 (as they are all in the green uniforms)?
Yes, I need to fix that. :/
You can always make it a color changing outfit that changes when she’s using her powers.It would show that her powers are active.
Oh, you mean a more formal version of that colour changing material or mood rings ….. Remember those? … You do? …. Now don’t you feel ancient? =P
While I agree that this is cool there are some supers there that can easily top it.
I fear their hands are going to hurt.
Go Suzie.
Arianna: * underlines the recent addition to her notes: “Keep Suzie Wen on the permanent invite list” *
Yea, Suzie is awesome. Exclusive interviews with the entire team anyone?
With a ‘private’ ‘off-the-record’ ‘interview’ with HALO and her ‘orbs’?
Perhaps you should have a coloring contest Dave B.?
That reporter works for Arianna, or is she trying to grab the best superhero interviews later by being nice to the cause?
…or just being slightly unaware of how scary a not-so-bright person with tank destroying powers is as it opens up the question — what are the superheroes in the army NOT telling us?
This is her first big story. She’s like a Jimmy Olsen who was at the bank doing her thing when the “Robbery” went down and got thrown headfirst into “Super-News” because of it.
She is an intern who does not stick to stodgy press-corps protocol, because she is fresh and new to the business. Besides which, they were probably only hesitating because they were not sure of the protocol themselves, this being a unique event. So each was waiting for someone else to stick their social neck out first and start the applause. However, they did not feel that the ‘new girl’ clapping set enough of a precedent. Until she stood her ground. She will go far. Especially as her clearly visible niceness is winning her powerful friends. Very, very powerful friends.
Yep, she will likely become Channel 6’s (Why is it almost always Channel 6?) “Super-News Woman”
Didn’t the original April O’Neil work at Channel 4 news?
Max Headroom, okay Edison Carter, worked for Network 23.
Loved that show as a kid :(
That bloody First-Gen CGI was EVERYWHERE!… I miss him too.
Also, don’t forget: she’s the only member of the press corps that is not a super in secret disguise.
The rest didn’t clap because they were all “I can do better.”
Also very hyperactive friends
By all means, clap for the nice lady who can melt a tank!
(or else)
Geez its like some of those reporters never clapped before in their lives. For this firing exercise is there an upper limit to what they can legally show? If not watch out if Dabbler does anything.
They are gonna show how Dabbler can distract a platoon of enemy Infantry, by “Lusting” the entire Press Corp?
She already did that at her introduction. I wonder if Arianna got a new clicker for when Dabbler’s little show and tell comes
nah that was mostly *thinly* veiled Innuendo, I don’t think she was seriously ‘Pushing” that time.
Arianna might want to ditch the clicker idea in favour of something with more OOMPH – like maybe a taser gun.
Who knows how her physiology will react to an injection of 5000 volts? She could just claim it tickles, with no restrictions on mobility, or it could lock up her muscles like everybody else. “Wow, that is the first time I shook like that and did not have an orgasm.”
Hey, at least it would be getting her attention. ;)
Was about to say ‘for all we know pumping a few hundred thousand volts into her body is masturbation”
According to the cast page, Heatwave can fire 3/5 heat beams.
A beam attack that is 3/5 can cut through the thickest armour on an M1 tank in a matter of seconds. The M1 have chobham armour which is specifically designed to stop HEAT rounds.
To me that says even a 1/5 power attack would be something you wouldn’t want to be hit with, unless behind a tough object.
Though if 3/5 can cut through two feet of advanced anti-heat armour in seconds, wouldn’t Maxima’s 5/5 beam attack have gone through that 5ft thick steel block from the previous comic, in a fraction of a second?
Depends on how focused the beam is: an old-fashioned acetylene can both cut a hole (if the flame is narrow enough) or melt a bigger area. Cutting a small hole takes less time, and more accurate, than the melting
The star rating is not linear, so a one star super blast is not one fifth as powerful as a five star one. One just indicates either that they have a power that is unavailable to normal humans (without equipment) or, for things that everyone can do, they are significantly better than typical. Five indicates that they are the best on the planet (as far as I can figure out anyhow). So this is subjective, given that somebody better might crop up, and the fact that the categories cover vastly different capabilities.
As regards the steel block though, it was never under attack. It was safely protected by Halo’s shield. Its sole purpose was to provide momentary defence in the event that the shield failed under the stress test. Given Maxima’s high reaction speed she could shut her attack off incredibly fast, so the block only needed to offer potential protection for a very short period. And Maxima will have been limiting her beam power to remain within such safety tolerance. Doubtless having tested her beam against such blocks in the past and knowing exactly how much of her attack it can withstand for a given time.
Oh I agree. But it’s nice to start being able to piece together how powerful everybody is, and put things in perspective.
Maxima already said in the previous comic that she wasn’t giving it 100%, so what you say makes sense.
But it’s also possible Heatwave wasn’t giving it 100% too.
So maybe what we’ve seen so far are 3/5 for Maxima, which DaveB said is the best she can do without statdumping, and 2/5 for heatwave. It’s impossible to say for sure.
But if 3/5 can go through a couple of feet of high tech armour in seconds, then surely 2/5 can go through a few inches of steel in the same time? And scaling down even further to 1/5 still leaves a pretty powerful beam I wouldn’t want to get in front of, even if we assume non linear ramping.
My own thought was that the rating would cover more than just basic destructiveness.
A super may have a really really awesome destructo-beam, but its overall effectiveness (and rating) could be lessened for various reasons – inherently poor accuracy, limited number of shots, reduced effects in various circumstances, etc..
Remember that heatwave has a very specific power. Being able to instantly heat something is extremely powerfull in some situations, and slightly less so in other.
So it’s not as much the star, as the specific aplication of a specific power, that enables a specific effect.
That specific enough?
Don’t forget that the numbers on that page are all relative. Heatwave can do a lot of damage in a single attack, but it’s ranked a little lower because it’s not a very flexible attack. It’s just a beam she has to focus. She could probably do a conical attack as well. Maxima’s ultimately has more raw power, but can also be concentrated into a bolt or weaker rapid fire blasts.
Someone who could make a very tough forcefield just in a 3′ circle in front of them might be ranked the same or lower than someone who can make a weaker forcefield that can envelop them entirely.
Hence one reason Dabbler’s shield was rated lower than Sydney’s, even if Dabbler’s shield could take the same or even more damage, it’s size would be a weakness.
*Points at old movie trick of shooting the feet of guys behind riot shields*
Note that HEAT, in the context of tanks and artillery, doesn’t mean things that are hot. HEAT stands for High Explosive Anti-Tank; it’s a particular type of explosive charge designed to get through solid armour plating. It does get very hot in the process, but the heat isn’t the main mode of effect.
Licks the frosting off what? The steak or the cupcake? lol
What? You don’t frost your steaks? Culinary heathen!!
BURN HIM! *Chases Lurchibald with something that looks suspiciously like a Chomp-Chomp*
*Goes chasing after Adamas and Lurchibald* HEY! GIMME BACK MY CHOMP-CHOMP!
Just with a herb butter or garlic butter.
*clap clap clap*
Hmm” My lights just went off, back on and then off again.
My Clapper must be going bad.
You have the Clap? ;(
well press are supposed to (after what evidence i can see) ask the dumbest questions that matter the littleste and angers the most people to keep the news cycle going for longer
Well, the press is stoopid and never met Suzie before (here’s hoping she shakes up the whole stodgy ‘Old Boys Club’ and reinvigerates news reporting, but in a good way)
Would people please stop getting all technically sciency concerning a world with functional Supers?
Just because the tank looks like a ThisEarth A1 Tank, doesn’t mean it is a GP-World A1 Tank
Please just ignore this outburst everybody. He’s twitchy because we can’t sacrifice goats when Science gets involved. XD
No, it’s people trying to apply ‘Real World’ science/physics to a ‘World-that-is-not-our-Own’ (was mostly talking about technology, but yeah, did throw in that bit about ‘technique-y science-y’ as well)
The world is analogous to that of our own though. Same countrys, systems, money, comic books, ect
Plus, DaveB said it was
The only difference is the existence of people with powers, and that has been nothing but a myth for the general public up until now
What makes you think this world doesn’t have any people with powers? They might just be shy or better at doing things without getting caught.
Fair enough
I AM NOT HIDING!!!!
For many people these comment boards are the only place where they can make “sciency” comments and not be looked at as if they are speaking martian. They aren’t being disrespectful just showing off some of the knowledge they’ve gained over their lifetime.
Yeay for college. I can talk siencey with everyone
That was one of the things I loved about college, no need to dumb down conversation.
No, I will not!
I’m a nerd, and that’s what nerds do for fun! :)
Then Maixma will have to get bunting timbers to stand on when she does heavy lifting or else her feet will sink into the ground. Pounds Per Square Inch doncha know.
Maxima can fly. Anvil might have that problem, but if I remember my Dabbler’s Science Corner, Anvil is only a few dozen times stronger than a normal person – sinking into the ground probably isn’t a major concern for her, unless she’s standing in mud or wearing high heels.
And an earlier comic says she has zero range telekinesis too.
And that’s why the ambulance didn’t rip when she lifted it :P
Do that, and you kill off close to 90% of all the comments here.
Have no problems (contrary to appearances) about technical flibberty-jibber (can learn quite a bit, when head doesn’t feel like it’s stuff with cotton-wool packed styrofoam-balls), it’s just when they try and apply it to someone elses world
For example: people getting upset about the model of tank DaveB used (because he couldn’t draw anything from scratch and it was the best example he could find to copy) is a bad thing (imo), but all that stuff about A1 is interesting and informative
Noone’s upset about anything. We just like discussing everything that’s remotely relevant. To extreme detail
“Would people please stop getting all technically sciency concerning a world with functional Supers? Just because the tank looks like a ThisEarth A1 Tank, doesn’t mean it is a GP-World A1 Tank”
I think I agree with your sentiment here, but I also feel a bit defensive, so I want to make a distinction between the sciency people. Some seem devoted to finding fault and explaining why this or that would never work. Others take what we see and try to find reasons why this or that might work. Both groups are indisputably nerds, but the first group snickers where the second group ponders. To me, that’s the important difference.
Hoping that Ari is either protected by a shield/screen we can’t see, or the tank is further away than it looks
Better. She is protected by Maxima.
Hmmm, isn’t Maxi bigger/bulkier than Ari?
Based on the terrain texture, I’d say there is atleast 20 meters between arianna and the tank
Only 20 meters? That’s still too close
Is it? Stand 20 meters from a HUGE fire, and you are pritty comfortable. Tempratures would probably be somewhat similar
If you look at the spray of plasma, it only reaches about 2 heatwaves. So that’s 4 meter or so.
And there is no real blastwave, only heat radiating, which will dissipate pritty quickly, and plasma, which doesn’t reach very far
Not talking about the heat
Ha! Ever fry bacon in the nude? Frying a tank could make spatters that cause more than blisters, I’m sure. But Yorp is probably right about Max being able to deal with any ejecta coming toward Ari. She could zip over and slap it away so fast that the audience wouldn’t even notice. Probably. She seems pretty confidant.
CLAP, CLAP,…clap?
I hope Suzie Wen makes it far in this career (and also doesn’t become as jaded as those other reporters)
still, it do not explain how she can fly….
It’s one of her powers
Bollocks! Attempt #2
but is flying part of the heat power set or another unrelated power,
Judging from the fact it is in between ‘focused heat beams’ and ‘sheath herself in a heat aura’, looks like it would be part of the ‘heat’ power
Check the cast page.
Her powers are flight (1star), beam (3star), aura (4star)
Or atleast I’m guessing the third icon is the aura.
Damn, if she has a 4star heat aura around her, would that also mean she’s heatproof herself? Or is the aura simply only pointed outward? Eitherway it’d make her basicly invincible in a melee fight. Than again, if she’s fighting with powers she can already simply burn someone’s hands off
I don’t know if it has been determined if Brook is herself resistant to heat effects. It would be a bummer to melt the lock off a door, then burn your hand on the knob when trying to open it. This may be part of the ‘aura’ effect mentioned in the bio. It would also be nice it it gave her some defense against other attacks. Max can get away with hovering in battle because she is, well, Max. Flight mode in combat for anyone else is just asking for an enemy sniper to pick you off as an easy target.
And in case anyone is keeping count, we have just added another female cast-member to the ‘I can write my name in the snow’ club.
She melted aluminium in her hand with no ill effect a while ago. I guess she’s pretty much heat proof.
“no ill effect”? You mean, other than having the melted aluminium cooling around her fist, trapping said fist until she could re-melt said aluminium? :D
And thank you for spelling it (aluminium) correctly :P
No ill effect from the heat, I’m guessing.
And I also agree that the European spelling of aluminium looks better.
Hell, we can add her to the list of ‘can write theyr name in everything solid’
She licks the frosting off?
I do not like her anymore, no-sir-ee.
What is wrong with licking the frosting off before you eat it? It’s no worse than twisting apart an oreo and licking the filling first
At least she doesn’t suck the chocoloate off a scorched almond and then keep a bowl of almonds for visitors to innocently snack on
no, she melts the chocolate off, catches it on a cookie sheet, and eats the resulting chocolate chips.
*remember she makes perfectly popped Microwave popcorn in her hands, she’s got CONTROL, Baby!
What is this heresy!? The best way to eat an Oreo is to take it apart, and put the two bits with all the frosting together!
You mean, double-stuffing?
Not sure if have had an actual Oreo personally (there had been a couple empty boxes around the house at one stage, so probably did, just can’t remember) but much prefer Cameo Cremes
Or Vienna fingers.
Chicken Sandwich
Having been to a couple Million Dollar Light Shows myself. It really depends on the speaker and how he/she has managed to spin the event. Military big wigs love ’em. They love seeing their stuff in action blowing the crap out of old Soviet armor and other static targets along with a jaunty fanfare for sound track.
The press on the other hand……for something like an ArcSwat demo? Show casing the powers of their agents is understandably going to met with a tepid response.
Atleast there’s 1 reporter not already thinking of conspiracy theorys
Once this demo is made public I am sure some member of the tinfoil hat brigade is going to claim that Heatwave is the actual cause behind global warming. “See! It’s right there in her name and everything!”
Once it hits the net, they’ll no doubt come out in droves, like lemmings racing towards a cliff.
True, though everyone is no doubt thinking it as they watch the demo and figure out how to spin their stories in the most sensationalistic way to grab ratings.
Is the presentation being filmed? Since there are no cameras visible
The cameras are there, just can’t see them from this angle
Hey Dave?
What the heack is a haser? And how does Heatwave fire it? Or is it just your special name for her beams?
(check your comments) :P
Hey no hazing the artist!
When I saw that my first guess was ‘heat-laser’ and refers to her ability to confine the effect into a narrow beam. And since heat is basically molecular vibration, she probably emits some sort of fluctuating electromagnetic beam that induces corresponding resonance effects in the target material.
Sorry if I got all ‘technically sciency’ there. :P
Laser was originally an acronym that became such common usage that we stopped writing it in all caps and it graduated to actual word: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
Haser is just Heat Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. I don’t know if that’s a real thing or just something I saw on an episode of G.I. Joe or whatever back in the day. I suspect it’s not a real thing since heat isn’t a kind of radiation, it’s the result of molecules being stimulated by radiation.
Maser- Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
you can make one with a couple old Microwave ovens.
Infra red radiation is radiation though.
It’s a wave in the exact same way as visilbe light is a wave. The wavelenghts are just different
And I think it’s an actual word. Atleast I seem to remember hearing it before
they tried to make specific terms for all forms of “asers” Laser,Maser,Graser,UVaser,IRaser, and so forth. Most I think were too unwieldy to use and simply became like for example UV-Laser.
You know MASERS came first, so when they call Masers “Microwave Lasers” is just downright wrong, Lasers are in fact Light Masers.
looks like Brooke can crate IR Band Lasers or is a Thermo Kenetic of the Pryo variety.
All her bio says is “Focused Heat” which could be either IR or Microwaves since with enough power both could do exactly what she’s doing here.
Or it could be a directly applied kinetic speedup at the area targeted – no physical intermediary cause. Given that we have several characters breaking known physical laws, we have to allow for that possibility until otherwise specified.
I wouldn’t call it breaking the laws. Bending a little at best.
Ofcourse there’s also magic, but the laws don’t apply to that in the first place
Can’t keep up with comments at all people are too nerdy/geeky in this comic :P Jokes aside I have an important question.
ehm ehm……………………………….. Where is the DONATE BUTTON????????????????
That’s actually a really good question.
Only ‘donating’ I know you could try is turning off addblocker to get Dave some add income.
And with a bit of luck we should have a dedicated shop soon
Well I want to donate directly for various reasons. First one is mentioning Scollvile (not a fan of too much hot foods but I find the scale itself and humor about it in this comic really unique) second one being this is a really addictive comic (read all of it in 45 minutes and still waiting impatiently for next one) third being it reminds me City of Heroes which I played about 7 years despite playing it with lots of breaks it was one of two MMO that really got me hooked up.
I never have set one up. I’ll add it to my to do list just to have it for those that want it.
*Hugs Dave like how Sydney Hugged waitress in fusion* Thank you!!!! :P
*Makes the cook’s “IMPOSSIBRU!” Face*
What? if a scene is to be recreated, it must be done thoroughly!
Than we need a Peggy too to be like “OH MY GOD it burns through skin, eyes, and everything even if it is not touching” :P
*brings eyepatch*
It must be good for your ego to have people ask for a donate button :P
No offense to anyone, but I’d rather donate directly than buy stuff that pays a vanishingly small percentage. Too watered down, like a charity that takes more than it gives. The donate button is like a magnifier in that respect. The six-pack worth of cash I hope to donate every week won’t dwindle away to an open-but-not-empty can by the time it arrives. ;-)
If you are going to do the donate button route. You could do what https://jeaniebottle.com/ or https://sailorsun.org/ does. He has an incentive pic up. If you donate you get the pic electronicly. if you do not donate you can only see the thumbnail pic of it.
There is the ongoing debate about what kinds of attacks Sydney’s shield is open to. We did the particle beam test (which bounced). Up next after the press leave we need to move on to the heat beam test.
Step 1) Wrap up Syd in another Stay-Puft suit, this time covered with bags of microwave popcorn.
Step 2) Raise shields and fire away!
Huh? When/where did it ‘bounce’?
NNNOOOOOOOOO!!! those suits get hot naturally by themselves, you want a nasa eva suit with it’s strong insulation and cooling system.
Heatwave can probably heat things from the inside. So no suit is going to block that.
The shield might block it, there is some form of energy transfer between heatwave and whatever it is she’s heating. If the shield can block that, than her powers would be harmless on it. If not, than not
On second thought, I have a better idea of what to do with Brook’s special talents.
Think the following, except with ARCHON headquarters. (Daphne could ‘Vorp’ in the supplies)
https://movieclips.com/4Def-real-genius-movie-jerrys-house-of-popcorn/
She already pops her own popcorn
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/413
Didn’t Mythbusters bust this one? The popcorn can not exert enough pressure to damage the building.
Well, yes. But they have the handicap of not living in a fictional universe.
Popcorn is still popcorn…
while I find this comic interesting, I’m really wanting this scene to wrap up, it feels like its been going on for six months. Let’s advance the plot!
Relax, don’t rush what is awesome, only to make way for something that you hope is also awesome.
Take your time, and have both awesome things
Knew comments like this were going to show up: people complained about how long it took in the boardroom, people complained how short Sydney’s return fight with Math took, people complained about how long the the initial Press Conference took, people were starting to complain about how many pages would be ‘wasted’ with Maxi testing out Syd’s shield, and now we have people complaining about the return of the Press Conference/Live Fire Demonstrations
“Real” reporters would’ve ooh’ed a bit, rather than applaud (they’re human, after all, and a demo like that is going to take them off-guard). Then the really good ones would ask if superheating a gun wouldn’t cause it to explode in the shooter’s hand.
If they were not transported in buses that was actually carried by a flying hi(e)ro than they would be surprised but I think they are now expecting Silver Surfer level tricks to be impressed or rather they are not sure what to expect so they are just observing like the professionals they are before making any comment.
If you can make a tank explode like that, you can probably make a gun explode like that to :P
But since heatwave has exact control over her powers, she could also just make them to hot to handle, red hot glowing, melting slowly, sudden extreme explosion, and everything in between those
We’ve seen her pop popcorn in her hands, melt aluminum, and now make a tank’s turret explode. I think we’ve seen just how much power and control she has.
We have, the reporters have just seen her melt a hole in a modern tank
With comment that she has exact control over her powers and can make guns to hot to hold.
Making something to hot to hold and hot enough for a bullet to spantanously ignite are 2 different things
Human body senses “Burn”- aprox. 130 degrees F.
Gunpowder ignition point- aprox. 300-350 degrees F.
Ugh I hate it when they change measurement mid-answer! . Gunpowder burns at around 800-850 Celsius
*BLEEB-BLEEPLBLEEP!!!!* THREE HUNDRED DEGREES CELSIUS!!!
Why are you mixing clesius and farenheit?
I was distracted, while I was typing, my grandfather decided to hit the floor.
Hit the floor like faint, or hit the floor like “Everybody dance now! Bahmp! Bahmp! Buh Buh Bahmp! Bahmp!”
let the bodies hit the floor let the bodies hit the FLOOR!!!!
1 nothings wrong with me
2 nothings wrong with me
3 nothings wrong with me
4 nothings wrong with me
Hit the floor like ‘I’m 95 yrs old and my legs has a sustained use time of 1.3 minutes!”
I love Suzie, she better be the go to reporter.