Grrl Power #202 – Nose boop. OF DOOM!
This outcome is a little predictable, but only if you know what Anvil’s powers are, which haven’t actually been stated in the comic yet. Her ability to absorb kinetic energy combined with her grappling skills makes her incredibly well suited to fight other strong arms and bricks. As some people suggested on the prior page of comments, it would have been funny if this guy wasn’t actually a brick, but had some other powers and just happened to be a roided out bodybuilder, but Anvil needed a moment to shine I thought.
This page is a double because small action doesn’t look good, but I don’t want to “split the clause” and spread out a big paneled page into two posts if I can avoid it. I may have to a few times just because of the complexity of some of the scenes, but I’d like to avoid that as much as possible.
You guys are awesome, Grrl Power is on to the final 4! We’re up against MonsterKind, which is quite a nicely drawn comic. If we make it past them, we’ll be at the finals, I assume up against Ava’s Demon, which swept the tournament last year, though the readers over at Paranatural could rally. I definitely need to find some time to read those. Remember, you vote using the checkboxes under the brackets, not any of the links within the brackets.
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It could be possible Grrl Power made it to the Tournament’s semifinals, if so, you could give it the winner vote. Check the comic on friday.
Who gives a toss about tournaments?
Seriously…
Me. But not in the least in their own right. However, as a marketing tool, in order to encourage more readers to the comic, that is a different matter. The greater the pool of readers, the more potential patrons there are for the comic.
So, ultimately it is for selfish reasons. I want the comic to remain financially viable, so that I can carry on reading it indefinitely. But I lack the wherewithal to directly sponsor it. However I can help out by voting in such competitions, should one be run.
Not that is is particularly onerous to participate in the voting, despite it carrying on over several rounds. And is fun when our comic does well! Plus sometimes you also see an interesting comic making headway through the rounds. So it can have the useful side effect of finding another good comic to read.
More like “Broke your nose!”. He better hope the ER has a good reconstructive surgeon on call or he’s gonna look like a deer that stepped in front of a Mack truck for the whole time he spends in prison. Not much Plastic surgery available where he’s going.
His nose looks pretty much as it was in the bottom panel. Not flattened out or majorly distorted – and it IS still attached, which counts for a lot.
I think his biggest problem will be finding someone who is able (and willing) to fix his teeth. Dentistry for supervillains doesn’t strike me as being a popular career choice.
On the other hand, if you were a regular dentist, would you turn him away?
Nope. I would very politely get him comfortable in The Chair – and then RUN LIKE HELL when he isn’t looking.
Besides the glaringly obvious reasons, I also suspect he is a *lousy* credit risk.
Another reason being, how does one even TRY to anesthetize him before doing any dental surgery? And what is going to happen if you don’t or can’t?
lol. Did you capitalize “The Chair” on purpose? Is the chair special?
Dentist’s chair. Thought further explanation was unnecessary.
Oh, please let the woman in the 10th frame be the same one from here https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/147 xD
Revenge for Yorp!
Mistress! I must protect you!
*leaps to the rescue*
So her motivation to become a super-villain is revenge against somebody that yelled at her? That is lame.
Only if she is one of the super-villains. And why was she at the shop in the first place? Perhaps she is the villain who can detect super-powers and was scoping out the competition? In which case she was just seeing if Halo was a criminal who could be recruited into the conspiracy. And left in a hurry, because of getting unwelcomed attention before even stepping into the shop!
Or, if you look at the above scene, she could just be an unfortunate bystander walking by on the pavement outside. Poor mistress!
except Sydney’s powers are undetectable
Omg, does this mean that Joel might be concealing super-powers? He… doesn’t look the type.
It might explain how he can associate with Sydney for so long without losing all his marbles.
I’d say it’s pretty obvious Sidney’s the one with the marbles.
Very true. Although she might have been in the area checking out another possible incognito hero.
So the comic shop is next to the doggy day spa and the Running Room in the mall. She had no intention of bothering with any comic books.
Only if she is one of the super-villains. And why was she at the shop in the first place?
Err, taking the dog for a walk? surely even super-villains are allowed to take a dog for a walk.
beside who says she’s a super-villain, she might just be a low ranking villain/minion/lackey which is why she’s on dog walking duty
*has a read, chuckles and walks off*
Thinking: Still they do not suspect that she is my minion!
not smae hair color,, nor same eye color,, so i guess not
We know the light there is playing strange trick with hair colour. Until I get a good sniff of her, I am not ruling out the possibility!
Ummm…If it weren’t for your species, I’d have something really rude to say about that, Yorp…
I’m going with the theory that she is Arianna’s evil twin sister Mary Anna. Arianna is a lawyer, so we know that there is a tendency for evil in the family.
And her lipstick is the wrong shade as well ;)
women switch lipstick colors very easily
Magic nose beep? …Yeah not quite the same thing. :)
you whoudent happen to read egs by chance?
I would in fact. :)
To be fair, it’s kinda the same.
In EGS, it knocked 18 years into Ellen, while here it knocked ten bells of shit OUT of the guy.
Agree. If the beep gives him any magic memories, it will be the unending embarrassment from being knocked out so soundly.
im still not shour which one i would rather experience
on one hand exploding face pain
on the outer having to go through high school again
Tsk, tsk, you missed the perfect opportunity to say that Anvil hit him so hard she knocked him into next next year.
He he. This will be the last time we see him. Until April the 1st next year. When, regardless of what scene is going on, he will land in front of them, in a heap!
With as long as this “day” has lasted, that idea might just come up by the end of this fight.
ahh the Brick Joke Meme. That would be funny.
Anvil needs to make sure his nose goblins did not attack her.
How about “Groin Boop”? I think that would make it pretty high on the list of things you wouldn’t want happening to you.
Can you imagine how a date would go?
Dude “AUGH! You ripped my * off with your * !”
self edited.
Because nose shows, groins do not unless naked.
That would be the Nutcracker Maneuver…
Did he just lose some side teeth from that nose boop? She’s some toouugh sand.
He’s definitely lost at least a couple – definitely had a full set BEFORE the nose boop.
I see two gaps and I suspect several more are loose.
He will need several sittings with the prison dentist. And something for the bleeding nose.
Speaking of dentistry for Supers, I’m reminded of a Spider-Man story when he fought the Ringer. I don’t remember the exact issue number (without going through my entire collection to find it), but the Ringer kept complaining about how long he’d be spending in the dentist’s chair.
“Sorry to rattle your bicuspids, Ring-a-Ding, but I gotta cut this short.”
One of them is just there flying out :)
Not side teeth: going by left to right, he has lost numbers 2 and 4 of the front 4 teeth
… Making me think that being this guy’s dentist would not be the safest or most stress-free jov in the world.
I thought there wouldn’t be any “calling your attacks”.
Not much of a call: She already had her finger on his nose.
Sooo…
I’m guessing that you shouldn’t tell him to ‘go pound sand’?
Apparently, the sand “boops” back.
Has the woman on the roof got orbs like Halo?
Could be angelic wings. We’ll find out soon enough.
Definitely in a wing pattern, whatever it is or they are. If they are orbs, then they are not matching Halo’s default flight path for hers, and there are six of them, rather than seven. One ominous figure to watch, amongst many.
Interestingly, “7” is supposedly holy, while “6” is devilish (Satan’s number is 666, apparently the Lords is 777 or something)
Halo (angelic- good guy) has 7 orbs arranged in a halo. Random bad guy may have 6 arranged in, what, bat wings? Or are they horns?
Study the Kabbalah. 666 is the Number of Man and of the final Anti-Christ. Also anyone not of the faith is also an generic “Anti-Christ.” 7 is a very good and important number. 777 is the number of the deity supposedly perfect in all ways. 666 is not.
I’m going to say that she is the Anti-Halo, codename: Angel. But wait, what if Halo’s two mystery orbs belong with Angel’s set, and so only Angel can use them but she has orbs that belong with Halo’s set and neither of them wants to trade their useless orbs because they are actually super powerful and don’t wont to give that to their nemeses because that would make them super powerful but they secretly love each other and want to be friends and MORE CONSPIRACY THINGS!!
Well, if you want to say that those are “orbs” & call her “Angel,” that’s okay. After all has been said & done, even a Fallen Angel is still an Angel…
For her sake, I hope not, though from silhouette we can’t tell the size, so I don’t know why you’re commenting on them.
Oh, you meant THOSE orbs – sorry! :-)
One punch didn’t even tickle her, so he tries three more identical punches? This guy puts the “dumb” in “dumb muscle”. What are they going to try next, shooting Maxima and watching the bullets bounce off?
… I exaggerate. It’s not too unreasonable to assume that she’s bluffing and it did actually hurt her a little, and certainly there’s no way he could have known she’d get stronger with every hit. That being said, immediately after discovering that the enemy way outclasses you is not the time to take your eyes off her. Idiot.
I wonder if any of the villains are going to start running after just that?
I doubt it. We know from his comment that they have seen the press-conference. If they were not scared off by it, then they must be pretty powerful, to attempt a full-on assault. Although, if any were being coerced or tricked, now is the time that they might realise how deeply in the doo-doo they are. So running would be their best choice.
Deep DEEP DooDoo …..
If they start running, Maxima is going to chance down atleast half of them though.
Halo could probably stop some to
I think we had pretty much narrowed him down to either being the dumb guy sent in, to take one for the team, or someone with hidden power(s). We now know he is just as dumb as he looks.
Or a seriously dedicated actor.
Buying trope name for “That super tough teammate who always goes down with the first punch to show the audience how unbelievably tough this new enemy is” please.
Nice villain though to attack the standard gut and nose and skip Anvil’s chest. If he didn’t look away, he’d be a gentlemanly standard we could all aspire to!
That’d be “The Worf”
Actually with her kinetic absorption ability it probably felt like a very light impact with out even a hint of owieness.
By demonstrating the Nose Boop maneuver, Anvil demonstrates her ability to go toe-to-toe…
I’m pretty sure he was sent in first to draw them into a fight, and because he can take a hit the best of them. Not for his brains. And someone like him probably couldn’t stand to see a woman shrug off the punch, backed by all, the muscle he is so obviously proud of, that he had to try, again. Obvious misogynist from the way he leers and talks to the women. Good tactic for the bad guys. Send the tough idiot in first to test the waters and see what the supes will respond with.
For something completely different, I love the dress on Anvil. Hadn’t seen the full outfit yet.
(Yes, I’m a gay guy, we notice these things :P)
Also the almost dismissive “I’m taking another bite” pose of Max in the first panel made me laugh. Just screams “Grrl Power is on our side, idiot.” to me.
I’m not gay and I still love her outfit.
Also love the fact that she doesn’t even blink at getting ‘bap’ed in the face twice. Even with her powers, the not-blinking is a nice touch.
About the only thing that would have made the “Max eating a pretzel” part better would have been if she’s yelled to the kitchen for an order of popcorn. :-) Yes, I know, tough to fit into an already double-sized page.
Is that a pretzel? I couldn’t tell what it was, and it was weirding me out. Why would she have a pretzel if the entrees were out already? Did she finish her beer already? Slow down, Max!
Maybe an Onion straw / String …..thing….?
https://www.google.com/search?q=Onion+straw&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=-lw9U_fJEYjhyQHu1oCoCg&ved=0CE0QsAQ&biw=1231&bih=588
Even so, I like Maxima’s expression in the first panel. “Dinner & a show” sort of attitude, like sitting down to a movie with popcorn.
i am a gay girl,, and i positivly adore her outfit,, her looks,, heck all of her so far!,, if i was a part of the team i would be pursuing her endlessly with my flirting,, even if she rejected it,, that just make it more fun :),, since i do beleive a good 90% of woman are actualy interested just not letting themselves because of social pressure and cultural taboo.
not that they are all into it in the long run or that it is what they want most,,but i know alot of the most anti gay poeple are poeple who turn to that patern to fight theyr own attraction!
Ah, you’re squarely in the “[They] doth protest too much, methinks” camp.
Most places (businesses, municipalities, etc) have a term for continued flirting after an outright rejection/refusal. They call it “sexual harassment”.
There is a distinction between that and flirtation. I have always erred on the side of political correctness and gentlemanly conduct. But, looking back, I see that there were a few occasions where I should have been more persistent. Situations where it may have just been coyness, and I was just too slow on the uptake to realise.
Obviously if there is any suggestion that offence has been taken, in the first place, then persisting would be sexual harassment. Likewise if there was a strong rejection. I would hate to think that I had already met my soulmate and failed to hook up through not being assertive enough.
Of course, if literally in the workplace, you do still need to err somewhat more on the cautious side, as people are wary of behaving in a strongly negative way, so will tend to be more polite to colleagues than to people in another environment, where they will not risk offending someone they have to work with. So carefully considered judgement is needed in such situations.
Other than that though, my motto is, “if you do not try, you do not succeed”. So go for it. Unless you have your eye on a girl I fancy. In which case, no, don’t try to cure her of her heterosexual inhibitions!
Unless I fancy you instead, in which case, it would only be sporting to see if I could win you over before you convinced her. And I do have an edge. You fancy girls, I fancy girls. We already have something in common! ;-)
Thanks! It’s weird how being a comic artist suddenly makes you have to wear so many hats, like fashion designer. Sure I can google pictures of dresses, but I’m still usually compositing ideas from various outfits. I’m pleased with how her outfit came out, conservative but with a little cleavage, classy without looking like something she’d necessarily wear to church. (or maybe she could, just button it up a little higher. The only thing I think might be off about the outfit is having that length hemline with those boots. Seems like they might get tangled up with each other a bit.
Whoops, I just realized her corset thing is missing from the gut punch panel.
No, the boots are tight enough not to catch on the dress/skirt
Not gay here either and I think it is an awesome dress. Shame it is getting dirty.
Hey now, it’s not just gay men who notice how well an outfit pulls together.
Then again, my female roomies come and ask for my “fake gay opinion” when they’re having trouble deciding on what shade of lipstick to wear, which accessory to use, which shoes/boots etc etc etc …
I know, I was just poking fun at myself, hence the :P.
The kicker? Normally I’m really bad at combining colours and styles, I just grab whatever is to hand and hope for the best.
Indeed. My wife had 4 bridesmaids and a maid of honor. She showed me a picture of the dresses they had picked, and asked me which gal had selected which dress. I was able to do a snap ID, matching each dress to the woman correctly. She was astonished, but to me it just seemed natural given the body types of the women.
Hard wired straight (but not narrow), fashion isn’t as much of a “gay” thing as might be imagined due to the stereotypes associated with the label.
so we have someone with ganutlets and someone with interesting wings in the villian group and fro some reason this scene reminded me This
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpbVztGO6EM
I like the reasonable length skirt on Anvil
I like the sound effect you picked for the punches.
BAP is sortof what you get when you try to punch sand
He needs to be more like water…
…at least that way the sand will stick together.
assuming that the two girls in panel 10 (one in coler one in shadow) as the two in shadow in panal 8 did you forget to add the glowy orb / weird wing things. or are they not the the same people?
One is on the ground outside the restaurant, the other is just one of the women who was on the roof. I only had so much room to draw people flying off the roof.
Ten dollars says he was the weakest of the villains.
Also is that an anti-halo because those lights look like orbs.
He was the first to enter himself in the midst of a group of supers gathered for the purpose of taking out other supers. Might be he is not the weakest, but they probably thought of him as expendable.
Or, like I mentioned earlier, he’s the tank…the one who can take the most punishment, and who they hope can “Keep the agro” off the weaker members of their group.
If he’s the most durable one, the others are probably reconsidering their decision to attack Infront Steakhouse!
“Attack? Wot, us? We’re just here as… um… an astronomy group. Yea, that is it! We are just on this roof looking at the stars. All innocent like. I can see you looking kinda suspicious. Wot with us havin’ super-powers ‘n all. But supers are allowed hobbies too!”
He may not be out of the fight just yet. It could be his power is regeneration, and that before he lands he’s back at full health. Or maybe he’s a Saiyan type martial artist and gets stronger when he has his rear handed to him.
All this and more on the next episode of…
The problem with that tactic, “drawing off the immediate aggro,” is a lot less effective when super powers are involved. Anvil aptly demonstrates that problem by using him as a projectile aimed at the other villains…
Is it me or did the guy’s hair change colors again this strip compared to the previous two?
It is fairly compatible with the previous page, taking into account variable lighting, as they move around. But his entrance shot does have the colours inverted, which was picked up by several commentators as being noticeably different to the subsequent page.
Maybe variable (or simply weird) hair colour is part of his superpower package. Hey, if someone with magnetic powers can also have GREEN hair (Marvel’s Polaris), then why not?
It would explain his anti-social behaviour. Kids (and some adults) can be real d##ks about that sort of thing, after all.
What exactly is Maxima doing in the first pannel?
Eating a snack. There is popcorn, in the guest gallery, if you feel like joining in.
Popping an onion string in her mouth.
*Walks by like a ballpark vendor* Popcorn! Getcha fresh popcorn here! Caramel! Cheddah! Buttah! Fresh popcorn over here!
“Butt scratcher! Get your butt scratcher here!”
“activates replicator and has a BLT made”
“with an extra for Yorp if he shows up”
*sniffs the distant yummy aroma, whimpers quietly, but remains on guard duty outside*
I guess they really DID get that side order of Gagh.
And here I thought we were having another noodle insident.
I sometimes toss noodles in my mought like that if I’m watching TV and having dinner. I thought Max might be doing the same.
*mouth* even.
Awww yes, finally a real super-fight! This is gonna be GOOOOD!
I’m really looking forward to seeing how Sydney handles herself in an actual battle. Awfully convenient that Max just happened to give her the combat rules cliff-notes just a few minutes before, eh? ;-)
Actually, this brings up an interesting point regarding Sydney’s offensive capabilities. Obviously the PPO would be her go-to orb when it comes to dealing damage, but Max doesn’t want her using it unless absolutely necessary — which it may well be this time, but we shall see. So if we take that out of the equation, her remaining options are actually fairly limited: she could use the Lighthook for grappling and floor-smashing and defenestration (I love that word), or she could combine the flight and shield orbs and ram her opponent (though that probably wouldn’t work in an enclosed space like this).
And then, of course, there’s her epic-level cursing ability, which should count as an offensive weapon itself.
Yes, convenient that she managed to finish it, before he came through the wall. But hardly illogical. Maxima knew that there would be a response, sooner or later, from taunting every super villain in the world. She rightly prioritised laying down some ground rules for the rookie.
So it is simply good management, rather than serendipity. If you do the most important things first, then you are well positioned. Especially if something unexpected happens. Which getting attacked by such a big group, so soon after the conference, sure is.
Don’t forget about her breath-weapon.
Halo: Quick, give me 6 scotch bonnet peppers and a Carolina reaper!
The fact that that combination even crossed your mind chills me on some level.
Makes me sweat…
My eyes are watering, furiously, at the mere thought…
(Panel #3 & the Insert Panel at https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/241)
so you want a breath mint? right not dragon don’t regularly have real flame in your mouth.
Might also be a case of Sydney’s geekish knowledge coming to the fore. Especially the role-playing component of that – which could make for interesting and possibly unexpected tactics.
I’m sure Max had intel about incoming objects in flight directly at the restaurant and got that in while they were still inbound.
Well, I wouldn’t call Sydney’s cursing to be “epic level.” After all, even Math only estimated that ability to be about 7th Dan Black Belt level.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/838
Based on the very vague description we have so far, that one in the background has the potential to be the Antihalo.
This does remind me of this old JL Cartoon scene. Superman vs Grodd:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOFrGqDMPd8
And I was kinda expecting to see the muskle guy fly away. But I did expect more of a “5 miles down the he impacts” scene.
Actually, that nose boop had me flashing back to one particular punch in RvB: Revelation, episode 4…
https://youtu.be/VmtXGZLbva8?t=31s
“I thought it was forehead flick” This isn’t naruto “forehead flick proves a point” What point “I said it proves a point, I don’t have to defend myself to you”
Does anyone else know the anime/manga called One Piece? I would say that Anvil’s powers are very much like an Impact Dial from that.
https://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Dials#Impact_Dial
Incidentally I LOVE these kind of Impact type powers.
Based on what we know of them so far, they are EXACTLY like Strong Guy’s powers (Marvel, X-Factor, early ’90s on)
Isn’t this also the power set of the classical Sebastian Shaw as well?
Yup.
If I remember correct Shaw could absorb more than just physical energy and it increased his strength (and size?). He would do a regular punch to use the energy.
Anvil stores and releases the energy. Her simple nose boop hit like four of his hits.
I guess the important thing for Anvil is how much and how long she can store the energy.
Evidence does not yet support the idea that Anvil will exhaust all absorbed energy with any single attack. He may have gotten hit with the equivalent of 2 of his strikes, and just been unsuspecting enough that he hadn’t braced to receive that level of force without going flying.
Remember, in addition to her kinetic absorption to boost her strength, she starts with “moderate super strength” according to the cast list.
It is specifically stated on the cast page that she can release all the energy at once. Seeing how Mr Bad Haircut went flying I’d say she did just that.
Doubt it.
If mr Super brick has been hitting a non super, that person would have flown through the roof just the same as he is now.
And if his only power is ‘strong’, than a single of his punches, asuming he doesn’t brace/block, would knock HIM through the roof just as much.
He may be a super, but he still weights the same as a regular person (a very big person, but still just a person)
Sound points. But never make too many assumptions about an unknown super. Clearly he must have been confident of his ability to soak up damage or he would not go toe to toe with someone who could toss tanks like toys. So increased density is one possible defence he might have. Or some kind of variant with a similar outcome.
Agreed. For the sake of completeness though, note that it says ‘can’ not ‘must’. A subtle distinction that becomes important when facing multiple opponents.
Maverick’s original powers were also the absorption of kinetic energy.
Shaw at one point could also absorb energy blasts ala Bishop to increase his strength.
One of the sidekicks in the webcomic Sidekick Girl has a variant as well–he goes by “Shield”, and his energy absorption power makes him bigger*, stronger, and smarter the more energy he gets hit with. (The actual hits still seem to be painful, but he shows no sign of being injured from them.) In one strip, he asks Val (Sidekick Girl) to hit him, hard, to make him smart enough to hack a containment unit holding his hero.
*In a non-canon strip, he intercepts a rocket aimed at another sidekick and grows to fill most of the corridor. Unfortunately, his uniform is apparently not made of unstable molecules….
So,it looks like the guy with the ridiculously sized arms was just resting his elbows on his knees.
Minor quibble. Maxima does like to play with inventive words. But the final line just comes across more like a grammatical error, rather than an inversion of grammatical norms. I think the wry irony of the line would play better with the conventional “… stuff is going to get broken” than “… get broke”.
It’s an intentional grammatical error for style.
Yea, I appreciate that. I dunno, it is probably just the grammar nazi in me coming out. I do stuff like that myself often enough. It just sits oddly coming from Maxima, in that circumstance, as a commanding officer to a recruit.
But, thinking about it, it is more like a cultural quote. I think it is because, in my mind, I do not have an accent for Maxima. If she had an American one (which clearly she should), then the line would seem a lot more natural.
So, objection withdrawn. :-)
Also, she’s possibly being flipant.
That’s fliPPant. (Spelling monitor)
Dialog in part reflects the speaker. So it doesn’t fit the norms for text book grammar at all. Or sometimes.
Yeah, I’ve known that type of person. In grade school, we had an English teacher that spoke perfect English, vocally stressing her T’s & D’s, perfect diction…It was very annoying.
Especially given the big bang attack joke on the last page, this has a distinct DBZ feel to it (ie first time goku SS4 vs bebi). was that intentional???
Sydney, sweetie. We can forget about the property damage FOR THE ROOM now. The bad guys became legally responsible for the damage the instant they smashed through the roof.
If one of our team does collateral damage to other buildings that weren’t broken by the bad guys first, we’d be liable for those.
…. Possibly including whichever other county Big’N’Ugly eventually lands in.
Nah, I’m pritty sure they can easely pin all the damage (within reasons) to the bad guys, since they started the fight
Actually this was not their first encounter. He lost most of his hair in their last fight as the result of her ‘Noogies of Doom’ attack.
I have frightening visions of the Atomic Wedgies and Squirrel Grips that Anvil could apply with that much force.
oh please LET THERE BE a wedgie hehe
With Harem wincing in sympathy.
Hey, remember when Maxima told Sydney not to through people through walls because of civilians? Yeah, looks like Anvil didn’t get the same talk.
But the wall was already damaged.
And she gets extra points for aiming her enemy at other enemies.
*sigh* If only Anvil were real and I knew her, I’d…
…be absolutely terrified of even approaching her because, y’know, she might notice me. v_v
OH MY GOD i am SO LOVING THIS hehe
hilarious hehe
Anvil looks great in the top panel. I didn’t realize she was wearing an underbust, but she is missing most of it in panel 5. I wonder how badly it would hurt a super to punch the bust (the front opening with the rivet looking bits) of a corset.
The gamer in me was kind of hoping there would be some visible indicator of how much energy Anvil has absorbed (eyes light up, glowing halo, body grows bigger, etc), but I do like how the “unknown power level” factor can be applied toward intimidation/bluffing.
Same here! :)
Anvils corset is missing in panel 5.
That said, lmao!
Okay, for my clarity what is the difference between a “strong arm” and a “brick”?
“Strong Arm” and “Brick” are comic/superhero RPG terms for a type of character that is mostly of the dealing and taking damage type. It’s a solid character type that has few disadvantages if the individual has half a brain. The terms themselves are almost interchangeable, but with the implication that a Strong Arm type can dish out more than they can take, where a Brick is either all around strong and tough or damn near unbreakable.
For those who say, “They’re useless at range!” I reply, “Stop signs make great fin stabilized javelins.”
To which I reply, “May I recommend Yield signs?” The fin is slightly more aerodynamic and the implications of a missing traffic sign are likely a little less catastrophic.
…. To say nothing of the ‘Yield’ being especially appropriate.
Manhole covers make great frisbees
An anime fanfic I like said: “I blocked a manhole cover moving at Mach 2. Turned out to be a bad idea.”
I noticed that the first punch rocked her back a little before she steadied. I’d guess that her “battery” was empty, and that there are limits to her absorption rate that rise as her kinetic charge increases. I love little nuances like that.
And BTW, as a straight, fully-adult (for some values of adult) male, I love her outfit too. Classy, elegant, and still very attractive. You’ve got to respect a woman who dresses that well.
I don’t think it knocked her back at all. Remember she was sitting just a second ago. Her chair is on the floor indicating how fast she just got up. She was probably still in the act of turning to face him when his punch landed. Speed is not her thing.
When you’re named after an iron block that can weigh upwards of 500lb…yeah you’re not outrunning bullet trains in your spare time. XD
You forgot Anvil’s other power in the description… the power to change the color of whatever fabric is on her stomach on a panel-to-panel basis. ;)
No, see, the punch was so strong that the molecules of the fabric momentarily hit light speed and vanished from view. Of course that is also the instant that we get to view in the panel.
Or its another “unintentional easter egg” for us. ;P (i.e. DaveB forgot to draw it, like he said farther up the comments)
But, hit CTRL-F5 and you can see her put her corset on.
Which gives me an inspiration for a vote incentive. It would work slightly differently though.
Excuse me, time for a cold shower.
That’s more Loth’s thing
Just a minor art criticism here, it feels like there are a couple panels missing between this strip and Monday’s comic. I was kind of expecting to see Anvil stand up, confront blue haired bonehead, and THEN getpunched. Jumping straight from Maxima’s line to post-first-punch Anvil is a bit jarring, IMO.
It is called cutting to the chase.
If a detective says to his partner, “let’s go speak to the suspect again”, and the next shot is them ringing the guy’s doorbell, you just fill in the pieces. They have exited the police station, opened up their car door, started the engine, driven though traffic, maybe filled up with petrol. Possibly stopped for lunch on the way. Then got parked outside the suspects house. Got out of the car, locked it and walked up to his house.
Given that all of that is irrelevant to the story, you can just cut to the next bit that does impact on it. In this case, quite literally, being Anvil taking a hit. The last page clearly had Maxima tagging Anvil, so we knew that this was coming up.
I did say it was minor. :P I think that in this case its a bit different though. They cut out the driving and such because its boring and nothing happens dring the car ride. Watching the first confrontation between a super hero and a supervillain in the whole comic is anything but boring. The anticipation right before the villain gets thrown down on is, in some ways, my favorite part.
Like I said, its minor, but I stand by the critique that actually SEEING Anvil stand up, square off, and get about halfway through “You’re under arrest. Get down on the ground and place your hands behind your head,” before getting punched, would totally have been worth the panels. Just my two cents.
then you’d be seeing bazillions of complaints that he’s showing needless details that don’t “do” anything for the scene and drawing out this first day arc even more…
nah, i agree with Yorp, Dave is “cutting to the chase” in order to cut comic length down to a reasonable… um, i think somebody calculated it out to be something like 120 YEARS I.R.L.? (at two strips a week real-time) to match up comic time with real time to the day that this whole comic started… which it’s only been a flashback so far… so, yeah… anything to cut down non-pertinent info/drawings is cool by me.
Possible, but I haven’t really seen that many complaints about the slow pace of the comic, and certainly, I haven’t been one of them. The story takes as long as it takes. I just think in this case he sacrificed dramatic showmanship for expedience. Which is a legitimate choice, just the wrong one, IMO.
You haven’t read much of the commentary then. It has definitely come up several times.
Yea, it is a good way to make the most of a particular fight. Especially when first showing off a character’s capabilities. One that is often necessary in order to make the hero seem more capable. Show that they can handle the psychological side of the fight as well as the physical. Which is fine if you just have the one hero, or a small team. Here though, I think Dave is making a very sensible call. There are simply too many heroes involved to draw out each scene in that manner. And there are many heroes who will be showing their stuff for the first time too.
Maximising the impact of a scene is very important. In this case the page was clearly an action scene, rather than a pre-amble one. The conclusion needing to be the guy flying through the wall. I had a good look through the frames above. There is no padding. If you want to add two frames they have to come from somewhere. Dave has already pushed it to a double-page and that is the absolute limit. I cannot see that any of the other shots could be removed, without loosing something important.
To cut anything from above, you either lessen the magnitude of Anvil’s power, cut some comedy or loose character development. The best contender I could narrow it down to, is one of the ‘bap’ frames. But the 3 frame sequence is showing that she is effortlessly fending off a series of capable blows. That is showcasing her power, on it’s own. But also adding to both the comedy of the nose attack and the drama of him going flying. Which I think is more important than heightening the build up.
the fact he was already informed of the intent to arrest and continued to (in less blunt terms) say I plan to beat you down would make said panel even more of a waste. the way he was shifted from max’s right shoulder to next to anvil and focusing the attack on her may be a smoothing effect that would help but is not needed in comic.
Yeah,it’s already been established that the villain *initiated* property damage, been notified that he’s already “under arrest,” & he also threw the first punch. All of this firmly establishes all of the legal requirements to keep ARC in the clear. The only thing really left is to apprehend the perpetrators, while trying to minimize the injury to the public & damage incurred while doing so.
Sure, you couldn’t do it for the whole fight. But I think not doing it for the first blow was a mistake from a pacing perspective. Like I said, it was bit jarring to go from Anvil sitting down and Maxima asking her to deal with it to arriving with the first punch already having taken place. The first time I read this page I pressed the back button because I thought I missed something on the previous page. Maxima said he was under arrest, but gave him no further instructions.
As far as what Dave could have done differently, I think it could have worked better with a different perspective on the prior page, at least showing Anvil standing up in response to Maxima’s line. I personally think that there should have been a whole page between Monday and Thursday’s comics though. The showdown would also have given time for Dave to address some of the other things that have been pointed out, like the heroes making no apparent move to cover the civillians from the fight etc.
I can appreciate that the rest of you clearly disagree, of course. I seem to be in the distinct minority.
Man there is some serious strain going on lifting the weights, in the vote incentive. And Maxima’s look pretty heavy too.
Maxima?
*sigh* Anvil’s not Maxima’s.
Way for me to ruin the gag, by getting the name wrong. But the vote incentive does not have a handy who’s who to help remind my grey matter. Anvil and Maxima are the team’s ‘female tanks’. I predict that it is more than likely I will mix them up again someday. Especially when they are appearing on the same page.
It is just they way my defective brain works. It does not matter how familiar an individual is. In fact, the better I know them, the more likely I am to relax my guard. If it is someone I am unsure of, I look it up. If it is a name I use regularly, I may not double-check. Thanks for pointing it out though. Reminds me to pay attention better.
Just remember: Maxi has elf-ears, and she’s not quite as ‘stacked’ as Anvil
I probably didn’t do more than glance at the character in the foreground. Someone else caught my eye. That aside though, I do remember which character is which. :-P And it does not take more than a glance to tell them apart, even in sketch form.
My brain just has a gremlin in it that likes to randomise which name it gives me, when I want to refer to someone. :-(
Yeah, know what that is like :(
And he goes flying into the nose-bleed seats of the gallery. Watch out guys! *Looks around for Adamas, ready to duck*
*Voice from the “Nosebleeds* Too small, I’ll just have to throw him back!
But she wasn’t fishing and even then that was clearly not a catch & release!