Grrl Power #179 – Terrified the world today? It’s Miller time!
I’m kind of bad about getting right to the reveal, aren’t I? I decided to write the sequence this way because I’ve been thinking about the possibility of breaking down what I’ve done so far into smaller chapters and making e-books/PDFs, and maybe even full color print books instead of just the single 200+ page volume I had been planning on. This chapter (starting after Sydney arrives at Archon) would end on the reveal, and I wanted to make it so that book would tease the next scene as well.
The good news is that the proper reveal will be next Monday, and I think you guys will dig it. The more good news is that I’m back to doing 2 pages a week for at least the next two weeks, probably longer since I’m quite bad at job hunting. Speaking of which…
I finally got around to setting up an account over at Patreon. I invite you to check it out and leave feedback. I tried to set up some basic rewards that wouldn’t take time away from actually producing the comic while simultaneously not being super lame. That’s a fine line to walk. Again I have to say I really appreciate the donations I have received so far, and while I know that many of them were a once a year thing or even just one time, there were quite a few people who tried to set up recurring payments through PayPal, which PayPal then failed to process for whatever reason. Patreon offers a recurring payment alternative, and hey if it goes well, maybe I’ll be able to deliver two pages a week for the forseeable future. I’m not expecting Patreon donations to ever match my old salary, but if it helps slow down the rate of erosion to my savings, it will still be immensely helpful.
Oh and one more thing, slightly less important than all that but worth mentioning. I updated the Archon seal, which you can see on Maxima’s shirt. Since Archon is the 6th branch of the military, I thought it made sense that they would have a 6 sided star as part of their logo. (Plus it fits better with the hexagons I put all over their base.) I didn’t initially go with that because 6 sided stars are usually Stars of David which might send some confusing messages, but I thought this double caltrop design or whatever that is might look ok. Sheriff badges are usually anything from 5 to 7 pointed stars, and since Archon, or at least ARC-SWAT are cops, I thought the star motif worked well. The words around the seal in case you can’t read them are “VELOCITAS, INCURSIO, VIS” which is Latin for “Speed, Surprise, Violence of Action” which very much describes Maxima’s attitude toward combat, but isn’t a very friendly slogan compared to something like the police, who have a more “To serve and protect” attitude. I think maybe the shirt she’s wearing is something that was proposed early on but probably got dropped the moment Arianna got involved. In any case, I think I’ll go back through the comic when I get around to doing little art corrections and replace the old 5 sided star with this new one.
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Ha ha ha! Dabbler is already used to Sydney!
Dabbler might see a younger version herself in Sydney.
syd as a succubus, sounds like Giselle.
It’s like Dabbler has know Sydney for years (or at least since July 23rd, 2012).
Maybe Syd is worried this is what happened to their previous owner?
So funny I started laughing at Sydney’s reaction to the overcharged orbs. need to breathe from laughing so hard
Ah, Sydney moments. Nothing can beat them yet.
In only one afternoon, they already know what a “Sydney moment” is. Basic training is going to be so much fun! (and so required)
I hope that Dave doesn’t skip the whole basic training and just reference it in flash backs. I think it would be fun to see how they would bring Sydney to heel.
Curse you Dave: Isn’t a week long enough to spend hanging from a cliff?
This. THIS.
Oh well, at least it turns out Arianna’s chosen codename for Syd fits even more.
I agree with this person. Cliffhangers are mean. Double cliffhangers are pretty much just totally unfair.
But the Double Cliff-hanger will keep us coming back on Thursday in hopes of a proper reveal though :P
But he said Monday :(
He also said twice a week updates.
Maby not on the storyline, or in chibli form so he can make a longer story in less time, but twice a week.
Dave said an occasional Thursday update, when he can. I’m wanting one too but I’d rather wait if it lets him keep the quality this high. =)
You are an evil man Dave. I waited a week and then saw this page and immediately was like “this isn’t a reveal!” Not cool man. You say Monday for the reveal, so I’m betting we won’t see it Thursday if you do manage to get an update in. Though perhaps we could all beg and plead a little for the actual reveal on Thursday?
I love how Dabbler looks here!
And I just noticed the skull mounted on the wall, with the tie and hat. A little random? :P
Agreed – the asymetric side-part really adds something – best Dabbler’s looked thus far, in my book
Since Dabbler’s appearance is a glamor it’s pretty easy for her to change clothes or restyle her hair.
When I was drawing the restaurant interior for the first time I was planning on making it one of those places with crazy crap on the walls, but as I was googling around for restaurant interiors, it started becoming more and more upscale, so I guess there’s just the one skull on the wall for now.
You forgot Dabblers Nose piercing in Panel 3
Were you thinking more like Shenanigans at first, then toned it down to Claim Jumper?
I was thinking a cross between Outback & the Roadhouse
o_O The Outhouse?
My family owns a bunch of bars/restaurants with various amounts of stuff on the walls and ceilings. One of them used to be a Texas Rhoadhouse and still sorta looks like one as far as construction and layout goes, but the staff all wear T-shirts. Another has things like a small boat that sat in our barn for many many years and a badly dented Lamborghini Gallardo door hanging from the ceiling. Most of the tables are made from interesting materials like beer bottle caps or pennies. Other interesting decorations include murals and “The Leaking Tree” (We put a pipe attached to a water pump set to trickle in the fork of a tree a long time ago, and the tree grew around it. It now leaks water and looks bizarre.)
A little bit Angus Young
No, his outfit is a schoolboy’s, including the cap, but not a propeller cap
“I thought I my Diva-like departure…” shouldn’t have the second I right?
Do I get a cookie?
We really should start a hi-score table.
Or bring back the old “no-prize” from the Marvel Comics days…
The No-Prize was reserved for noticing an “error” and then explaining a plausible reason why it wasn’t really an error.
Call it the No-Win then?
The cookie is in the mail. I’ll get that fixed.
fix what? the lack of an ornament to small to be seen in that frame. can we share the no-prize draka?
I think “exodus” is spelled wrong as well. “Exodeus” could work as a clever word joke (exodus deus, the departure of a god), but “exodous” just has my brain grinding in agony >_<
It might be worth adding a shortcut button to Patreon somewhere obvious near the top of the page. It never hurts to make it easier for people to give you money.
Yeah I’m going to add it under the donate button link.
Looks like the orbs turned her into a lightcycle
With them spinning she can’t grab any of them.
I guess that’s the joke/problem.
Maybe they just have to cool off.
she can (usually) also mentally bring them to her hand, but right now they are either ignoring the commands or in a safety lockout.
I think if she tried using the flight orb now she would achieve low Earth orbit.
FYI Syd: do not try the PPO for a while unless you want the US to have a second Grand Canyon.
On the plus side we did learn that since the orbs can absorb external energy, it makes the shield nigh invulnerable. The harder you hit it, the stronger it gets.
Unless it has an overload point where the energy store can’t hold anymore, breaks down and releases all the stored energy in one quick burst as it disintegrates.
which could be disastrous for whatever overloaded the shield (and anything else within 100meters)
That kind of shield isn’t new, it’s in Macross/Robotech (the total defense barrier).
This is exactly what I was thinking. She’s used so much power in such a short amount of time, and now the orbs are in “cool down.”
Wait, that’s ‘cool down’? o_O
FYI, “dramatic exodous” should be “dramatic exodus”, an extra “o” climbed in there somehow.
Love the comic. Still one of my top 3 webcomics out of the dozens that I read.
Orb sawblade power go!
I think that would be more like an orb hammer-mill.
Ooooo you are EVIL
This page is great though. Nice to see them relax a little.
Though I’m a little confused about Dabbler. Her ‘clothes’ are part of the illusion. So she just altered the illusion into different clothes?
I’d say she can alter the glamor in whatever way she wants as a part of her disguise.
I’d say the clothes and hairstyle are the easy parts to change; she drew the form itself from Sydney’s crazy mind and is sticking with it now.
The blond waiter with the beard looks a bit like Simon Peg to me.
What blond waiter with beard? Only guy I see with a beard is ginger
And that would suit Pegg as well (but it looks closer to ‘blonde’ than ‘ginger’, to me anyway)
Just call it “blinger”. :P
I believe the current phrase is “strawberry blonde.”
Strawberrys are red
Why would they be associeted with blonde?
as a mix of the two? i don’t come up with these things, certainly would be interesting if I did though.
Current phrase? Strawberry blond is pretty dated. My father liked this song when I was a kid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23oePEVM1nE
That vinyl disk with the grooves in it? Why, that’s called a record, children. It came before music CDs, which came before iTunes.
A strawberry blond is a blond girl with some hints of red in her hair. It isn’t used (to my knowledge) to refer to a males hair color.
“current” as in if we want to change it, we can, at least for here. But I do admit, I never have heard it used as a male hair color, just female.
Love the guys back there discussing bustlines. “Hope we get a waitress with *really* big…”
Steakhouse waitress and Fusion waitress are sisters? Leon could be the brother.
And of course the waiters reaction is the other reason Max should be in serious hot water right now. The US military is NOT supposed to terrify the US Public. No one should be a bird Col and not have that down. Frankly Max ought to lose a rank over that stunt. Or two because Major Max is funnier than Col Maxima. :p
While it’s hard to recall in the post WW-II world we have a long-standing distrust of a standing military which you’re not supposed to stir up. Max probably just started another dozen militias to form up to fight the super-human takeover.
Actually along those same lines they should probably have a less terrifying motto. Something like “VELOCITAS, INCURSIO, VIGILO” perhaps. Scaring bad guys is one thing, feeding conspiracy theorists is another.
I thought she is a Lt. Col. Something about being too young to be a full bird. Even with battlefield promotions.
It that motto supposed to be: Strength, Speed, Vigilance? Better that than Vigilante-ism.
100% in agreement. She should be reprimanded for her behavior. It was completely uncalled for.
The government publicly acknowledging and confronting the existence of superhumans with a superhuman military police force is a new and unprecedented situation. What is and is not called for is up for debate, and Maxima, as one of Archon’s higher-ups, is on the short list of people who are authorized to make decisions regarding what is and isn’t called for.
Ooh, Speed, Surprise, Vigilance. Not bad.
Or maybe Cum Amplus Potentia Venit Amplus Onus? Hah hah, I may actually use that.
Veni, Vidi, Vomite: I came, I saw, I hurled. Okay, that is the limit of my Latin, except as a bunch of root words for various languages and for biological taxonomies.
Uncle Ben would approve. It’s a little humbler than “vigilia, rapiditas, vis.”
Cum magna potestate, magnum officium venit
With Sydney, it might be better as “Veni Vidi Igni” (I came, I saw, I set it on fire) – this is my DPS characters’ unofficial motto on various MMOs…
It looks like you did go with the Uncle Ben quote. ^_^
In all honesty, I’m not sure the military would feel safe reprimanding/demoting Maxima.
Maxima is capable of overcoming any portion of the military which could reasonably be expected to catch up to her. Surviving that blast utterly unscathed makes it clear that anything short of nukes will be useless. There’s no guarantee that nukes would work either. She is nothing the Joint Chiefs would feel comfortable engaging on friendly soil.
I mean, she calls herself by a military rank today, but its just nonsense. The military is an organization of humans. They get ranks and authorities, but they are, fundamentally, equal. Maxima is nothing like other Colonels.
What if they demoted her, and she resigned? They couldn’t stop her from heading to another country, and that would immediately make that country the new world superpower. Or, worse case, what if she decided that she was now Queen Maxima, and blew up the Pentagon? It would happen seconds after she decided to do so, and there’s no way to stop her.
Maxima seems like a reasonable jarhead who enjoys beer and hanging with her buds. She likes to give them wedgies and cheese off her pr flack. This is a very safe state. That’s “win the lottery” levels of lucky. A goddess is born and she’s…enrolled in your organization and willing to do your bidding? A sigh of relief is appropriate.
You don’t chance that. When you see her deviate from mission orders and scare a bunch of reporters you try and get things back to usual as fast as possible, hoping that whatever labs are working on it come up with a way to kill her before she decides to do something much more dangerous.
You can bet that line of thinking will be going through more than one senior member of the government and armed forces. At the end of the day they would need to follow the advice of her commanding officer (and/or handler, if she still has one) and the psychological profiles they have on her. If they do not, and her personality would lead to serious resentment over punishment, as you indicate, then everything you say is a real risk.
More than likely though they consider her stable, rational and able to follow orders, otherwise it is unlikely they would have appointed her to the position she is now in. Forming a new arm of the military is hardly something they would have entered into lightly or without more than the normal degree of deliberation and selection of key personnel.
Which is why I suspect that she is not acting as a loose cannon here. The general stance Archon, as an organisation, intends to take has probably been set well in advance and Maxima is merely following the agreed policy. In her own style. As a new organisation, neither police nor military nor strictly merely human, it needs to create a strong and clear identity.
Clearly they feel that fighting is necessary and unavoidable. And, like any contender for the title of world champion, they know that psyching out your opponent is a helpful part of the fight. As pointed out, this speech and demonstration is flawed if it is aimed solely at reassuring the public. In our world public opinion rules. In theirs, super powers trump political correctness. If the speech makes one major super abandon their half thought out plans for crime and empire building, then it has served its purpose well. Even if Arianna will have her work cut out smoothing ruffled feathers.
Frankly I believe the powers that be will have already indicated the public image they want for Archon, very likely with a lot of input from Maxima and General Faulk, and Maxima is just carrying out that agenda. The alternatives are either that the current administration is completely incompetent and failed to set policy on the matter. Or that policy has been set, and Maxima is going contrary to it. In which case she is disobeying orders and the military and country have a very very serious problem on their hands.
basically ari has to explain the message max gave was purely to criminal elements and hostile agencies while civilian should see it as a police man showing off a new shotgun idea
I bet the skull has the hat and tie from the Archons.
Else… steakhouse.
As a geek/nerd that calls up one of the old SG-1 episodes.
Luckily, they took precautions here and are doing a private party to start with.
Else?
Hope Syd makes an appearance there… with her choice of getting fed.
I do remember O’Malley’s, with the huge food orders (circa 6000 calories each) for the three main characters and the fight and Hammond reaming them out back at base.
Imagine the repair bill… if that steakhouse actually survived.
I’m bad at job hunting too.
I’m guessing the energy absorbed by the shield is released by friction generated by the spinning. Maybe she’ll strap them into a generetor later?
Hehe, they are already using her as a sinonim, just wait untill they use her as a scale system.
“On a scale from one to Sydney, how bad was it?”
My bad, it should be “…scale of one to Sidney…”
Also chibi Sidney is so cute! I wish for a phone walpaper of her “being herself”.
Also i had my birthday yesterday.
*sings happy birthday in an alien language*
They could use Sydney as a gauge for how active something. Like the Flash would represent 10 Sydneys
Look out, the reactor has gone full Sydney, I repeat fall back!
Isn’t that spelled “Synonym?” – though I guess Dabbler might use Sinonim, being a succubus.
Cocaine? Looks like meth to me.
I though they weren’t going to up her ADHD Meds yet! if at all?
So Dave, the new star design is purely for aesthetic reasons? No ulterior motives?
It wouldn’t happen to be because you’re a big ‘ole Twilight Sparkle fan?
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present exhibit A.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/268
Also, is the Dabbler nasal piercing new, or is this just the first time we have had a closeup clear enough to see it?
Looks like the piercing is new. It wasn’t there on page 176, anyway. She must have added it when she changed her hair and clothes.
As Dave has said, when he finds the time, he intends to go back and update the art to reflect his new knowledge / designs. This is just one of the pages to be done.
I thought we might be seeing a new orb activating itself or something.
I was also gonna say this is what happens to the orbs when Syd gets horny, but we know that’s not the case.
Foo.
*pictures the orbs spinning*
“Hey Joel..how about we go have some…fun?”
Not a peep from the orbs when Sydney was literally drooling over the hunky male members of ARC in the gym. So, no “horny” reaction from them, sad to say.
There’s a difference between “lustful admiration” and “DEATH BY SNU-SNU!!!!!”
Heh I was right they overloaded when they took too much power.
Sydney “stamina” Schoville. Even at the end of a long day, she is still hyper. And that is without finding if she has an invite to the Today show.
Oh Lordes! They have turned Sonic!
get her (from mystic revolution) involved and syd will become worlds end with the hedgehog going double time to find a safe place.
Does Leon sometimes dress up in drag and play restaurateur? Because I think the steak house employee on the right looks like him.
That’s his sister Leona. ARC staff frequent the place because she gets them the friends-and-family discount.
Ha, that deserves to be true :)
It might sounds a tiny bit rude and I apologize for that, but all that comes to my mind right now is “fuck you”.
Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to cry under my blanket while cuddling my cat, waiting for the next issue and hoping it will not be another cliffhanger.
Don’t look at it as another cliffhanger, but as a partial reveal. Last week people were speculating on what was happening with the orbs and why such a thing was happening. Today, what was answered and next week (hopefully) we’ll find out why. Until then, let’s enjoy the thoughts and theories of the masses.
You should still cuddle your cat… I hear that it’s good for calming the nerves.
I love the cartoon-y versions contrasted with your regular art. Plus, dude…keep us hanging much?
lets add this under dangerous things that sydney has access to (as the orbs spinning at a rate that they make a seemingly little less then solid white halo would chew through anything in their way almost like the teeth of a chainsaw)
I still think this is like a high-speed hammer-mill.
Maybe split the difference and say it acts as a pneumatic drill (also called ‘jack-hammer’).
Maybe its just me, but Maxima looks really hot in that T-shirt. I know she wouldn’t appreciate me staring but it seems pretty unfair for her to stick an eyecatching badge on front of her shirt and then get mad when my eyes are inevitably drawn there.
I know, right? I can’t figure out why. Normally, it’s just ok it’s Maxima, but something about that shot just makes her look hot.
Actually the E books could be a massive seller, let’s face it, I’m an E book fanatic myself, you could make HUGE cash with this series as a set of E books especially with a comic tie in like this.
question about the Patreon, what does it mean by “per month of comics”?
Basicly if the recurring income from it equals so much a month.
Will there be a popular watering hole for the Arc Super-Crew to meet on a regular basis? This is a rather common thing with military units. Usually the owner is a military retiree of some note that is highly loved and respected by those who are regulars. These places also become a center for an unofficial esprit decor (see what I did there?), as in items from various battles, pictures of those lost in battle, etc…
you forgot they also tend to look the other way if they get a little rowdy, as long as the damages are kept to a minimum.
A bar owner’s worst nightmare: a drunk person with super powers saying to his friends “Hey, watch this!”
Suddenly the thought of the meme “Never mess with the bartender” comes to mind. I mean in FF7, Tifa owned a bar (before it got flattened with an eighth of the slum city)
Imagine a bar owned by a retired super. I mean if ARC has existed as long as it has, there have to be some veteran heroes/heroines who are just sitting in the background going “Ah ha, look at them kids.”
Idk what you are talking about there, but ARC is NEW
This day we have seen in the comic, the press conference, is Arc presenting itself to the world for the first time
actually on this page of press conferance confirms that ARC was indeed founded by Lincoln it was turned into Archon recently so his point makes sense and will probably happen.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/984
Right, ARC was old
Archon is new
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/953
This is true – and it would explain the lack of decor, until sufficient visitors bestow the place with patches, challenge coins, photos, etc…
I thought the the name, “The Alter Ego” might be a nice name for such a joint.
Didn’t the Cook from Under Siege have his own restaurant as well?
Imagine somebody trying to f+#* up his place.
Now Syd comes up and challenges all of the present Archons to an eating contest.
Of course, concerning her style of food… as in the chemical-weapons division of spicyness.
Then we’d surely have the great burning Dabbler’s ex-boyfriend was calling out.
Some people use a mint spray to freshen their mouths. Sydney uses pepper spray (extra hot) for a similar purpose.
During Sydney’s basic training, Peggy is introducing the trainees to some weapons that they may have to use in the field.
Peggy: Because ARC-Swat is more of a police force than a regular military corps, we will be looking at less-lethal weapons today. [ Pointing to a rack of weapons ] These are Tasers. They shoot these barks into your opponent’s skin and deliver a high-voltage charge that immobilizes pretty much anybody, well except for Jiggawatt and Max. The barbs have to actually penetrate the skin in order to deliver the electricity.
Peggy: [Walks to the next rack of weapons] This is military-level pepper spray. This causes watering eyes, breathing problems and severe pain in pretty much anybody hit by it. If the breathing problems become too severe, a target can die, so only spray it on the person’s chest and never directly on the face.
Sydney: Mmm, tasty. I wonder if they have a version with a little more kick.
Peggy: Put that back! It is not breath spray!
I was thinking more like “And this is Sydney’s lunch, known to cause swelling and watering of the eyes, sinus drainage, uncontrolled coughing and possibly breathing problems in a 50 meter area.DO NOT use this in a confined space! DO NOT use this without MOPP-4 gear! and absolutely DO NOT come into physical contact with this substance!!!”
Ahem. You do realize that I was referring to less-lethal weapons. Sydney’s lunch does not qualify to anybody except Sydney.
Maybe more along the lines of this:
Sydney’s eating her usual spicyness and none of the Archons wants to get upstaged, so they all try to top her.
Matt, thinking he has complete body control, ends up writhing on the floor.
Achilles, thinking nothing can hurt him, has a face-fault unconsciousness mid-bite and ends up sitting there, not moving.
Dabber, believing she’s ‘all that’, drops her glamour and runs around flailing all arms and spitting fire literally.
Max? Savors the flavor and eats all her food. “Not bad, private. Not bad.”
Just as example.
We wouldn’t know how the other heroes could go about it, could we.
five minutes later max zips off to wheeze and cry at the pain in her mouth reaching the limit of her self control
I wanna see this, I HAVE to see this.
In addition:
Heatwave, thinks spicy hot food is actually hot, chums in her meal, then bursts into a full-body flame a la Human Torch and shoots dragon-like flames from her mouth.
you forgot “And hour later sobbing is heard from both restrooms”
So chibi Dabbler looks good, chibi Sydney looks appropriately crazy, but I think chibi Hiro got a little long in the face.
Actually, Hiro looks like long-faced normally (if you can’t remember, he is in the middle-ground of panel 3, if you can look past the 4 orbs in the front ;))
Stick that girl on a car, she’s going places. https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8424/7872922988_925f9dc8bb_z.jpg
Can i place a bet?
The shield orb is linked to the energy source.
I called the orbs making a halo!
Patreonized for $5/month. Also, I’d think Sydney’s moments are like Leggie moments, but with crazy added. ;-)