Grrl Power #209 – Dramatic speed lines ensue!
As I said under the previous page, I wasn’t happy with the action on it, so I went and flipped through a few pages of artists I consider the gold standard for such things, namely Masahiko Nakahira, responsible for several Street Fighter related manga and Yūsuke Murata who draws One Punch Man. This page is the result and I have to say I’m pleased with it. It’s not on their level, but I’m not going to improve that much in one page. Math’s back spin summer-assault kick in the second panel is partially an homage to Nakihara’s depiction of Guile’s Flash Kick from the Cammy Manga, which you can see here. I saw no way to improve on that, so I flipped Math around for his move. I guess his boots are steel heeled as well as steel toed.
I still see many ways the action on this page could be better, especially panel six, the one with Concretia getting knocked out of building. There’s a lot going on in that one, and part of drawing good action is making it clear what’s happening. We’ve all seen manga full of speed lines, bursts, explosions and what have you, and while a single panel may look dramatic, if there’s no flow then it’s leaving money on the table. Panel six really should have been broken down to make clear what’s happening, one of her exploding from the building, and another of her flying toward the guy with the cowl before he smacks her aside, but then this update would have been three pages tall. I’m not necessarily opposed to doing that, but there are time constraints to consider.
Here’s a conundrum for you. If you throw a punch, what do you do with a kick? Kick a kick? Swing a kick? Jump, slide, toss, shimmy? English is weird.
In case you missed it, I’m doing a series of guest strips over at GynoStar. The first one is still up, the next one should be up on Thursday, which I’ll link when the next page goes up.
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I love this comic so much! Especially Achillies human javelin impression.
Yay for Torpedoe Achille ^^
That’s beginning to look like Achilles’ role on this team, when not being a human shield. “Speedball special!”
Achilles. Great to aggravate your bullies, tease your coworkers,(occasionally rob a bank) and use as projectile against unsuspecting enemies. Get it to your corner store for 39.99$ guaranteed to last until it breaks ^_^
(Warranty does not cover influence it may have on kids or teasing done to buyer)
:…guaranteed to last until it breaks”
?
I think this is the first case when the guarantee will break far sooner than the product itself…
Well they might aswel have forever guarantee, because it’s not going to break anyway
I think you mean ‘bored torpedo Achillies’
It’s small, but the look on his face was hilarious.
Cap Achilles with a sturdy but pointy hat & he might well *could* bore through a target…He wouldn’t be a “bored torpedo,” but a “boring torpedo.”
I don’t know why everyone is saying Achilles looks bored. If you zoom in enough, you’ll notice his mouth isn’t a flat line, it’s curved at one end into a smirk. Besides, as people said before, this is probably the kind of thing Achilles loves doing.
That said, I imagine he ‘really’ doesn’t mind it in this case, given where his head is impacting.
If going by Marvel terminology (also used in the HERO/Champions RPG), that was a “Fastball Special”.
He fly through the air with the greatest of ease. That aggravating guy known as Achilles…
Technically, Achilles can’t fly…It’s just that *landing* is no problem for him.
Everyone can fly. Some longer than others, and some have an easier time surviving the landing
Maxim 11: Everything is air-droppable at least once.
I like Math already…even if he needs to work a little bit on the rape face
also, dunno what made me chuckle more, Maxima using Achillies as a thrown weapon, or Achillie’s pose whilst being used as such
I would consider it less of a rape face and more of a “The woman has no idea what’s about to happen to her, and I’m going to enjoy it”
Wait, nevermind…
Nah, he always looks like that :P
Well yeah…She certainly got screwed in that encounter with Math.
HAHAHAHAHA!
It may be me but I’m also having a vegeta flash on the back thingamaji kick panel. That was awesome! ( also the whole strip was amazing! Good job!
Hey, where’re Math’s eyebrows!? Ya know, the only thing other than his pupils and lack of aura that stop him looking like a SSJ Vegeta?
Come to think of it, when Goku and Gohan did their “perma-super” thing before fighting Cell, did their pupils come back, or was it just the aura vanishing?
Math lost his eyebrows at an early age in a tragic encounter with an automatic rice-picker.
lol awesome comment
Wait – wouldn’t that make him Chinese, and with pointed ears?
Nice Trek reference.
Math’s comments have burned his opponents so many times he has singed off his own eyebrows.
Maxim 35: “That which does not kill you has made a tactical error.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlock_Mercenary#The_Seventy_Maxims_of_Maximally_Effective_Mercenaries)
She didn’t even try to kill him. An even worse tactical error.
And Sydney points out Math’s only issue.
Banter.
Meh, I bet Arianna’s cameras caught the footage, and his throat-mic caught the audio for post-production
Also, one would hope that Math has read the Evil Overlord List.
“6. I will not gloat over my enemies’ predicament before killing them.”
In other words, act first, THEN banter. If you’re so good that you’ve defeated your opponent before you can finish your banter, that’s not a bad problem to have.
Frankly, Math just earned his awesome badge with this one.
on this one? personnally i thingk he earned his badge ages ago
Banter WHILE defeating your enemy is fine though. Which is what he’s doing here
DaveB: Keep this joke on tap for later.
“Focus, Halo! Ari will fix the banter in post!” -Maxima
You just call it kicking. Or you kicked them.
True enough that there is no common term. Although, given that you can launch an attack, you can also launch a kick. But plenty that can be created, if looking to make the description more colourful, or to emphasise some particular aspect of kicking. Such as the control or the force behind it. A few examples would be to: Drive a kick, to power a kick, spin a kick or tap a kick.
This. Delivered is the word I would have used.
I would go with “Launch”. No, no I said “Lunch”, not “Launch”!
Well, Concretia’s really in trouble now…He first kick’s her ass & THEN pulls his hands out of his pockets to open a can of full-throttle WhoopAss. Heck, Math got out of Anvil’s grasp without using his hands, but Concretia’s just forced him to actually USE his hands.
That’s some serious trouble.
He probably could have gotten the same general result with only his legs. She was powerless right after the first kick, he could have followed up with a flurry of kicks, all accuratly to weakpoints (I would asume he can kick very accuratly) and knocked her out just the same.
He just deceided to do it this way
I wonder which hurt more, the beatdown or the lecture?
I think the knowledge that she got knocked out by ‘just a human’ that comes once she wakes up
The beatdown by a mere human.
After all she didn’t stay for the whole lesson.
Can we call Math a mere human? I mean just look at the distance she covered after being hit: I’d think it would take super human strength to throw something of her size/mass that far IRL so what does that say about Math’s strength level?
No, he’s an way more skilled than any mere human can ever hope to.
In reality though, that hit to her neck would not have knocked her out of the room. It’d just have broken her neck and made her collapse on the floor even more like a sack of potatos than she’d already be
Important is that she perceives him as just a human.
I would guess his kick had two effects:
1. Rattle her brain.
2. Position her for his two-hand-push.
After she realises that a normal human knocked her out with one kick and then punched her through a wall (to the point where some other super hat to deflect her away). And after they regulary show here that footage during her prision time …
It’s a save bet to say she will join a “we hate Math” club. Math with capital M.
You forget Math punched her while she was still in mid-air from the kick.
No such thing? More like everyone underestimates them. It was just humans who moved a mountain. With nothing but shovels. Ordinary humans are scary.
And ‘just humans’ who invented atomic weaponry.
“Just humans” wiped out the Mammoth with stone tools and weapons.
And are showing every sign of bringing them back. Using slightly more advanced tools and techniques. Test tubes and stuff.
you’ve got to figure that as one of the (relatively) normal humans on the team, he got that ‘just a human’ attitude a lot at first, and got to teach a (hopefully) less destructive lesson then as well.
Rule one of Earth: Do not fuck with the bald apes. They hold grudges, and will hunt you down so they can wear your pelt as a trophey.
And the Elephants never forget. Never hurt the circus elephants, they are the smartest out there.
What gets me is that scientific testing has proven that they really do have have better memories than us. Humanity is going to face some severe sanctions, from the galactic courts, once found and the genocide, of such intelligent species, is uncovered!
And, if any of them survive, to tell the tale, they will be able to stand up in open court, point their trunks, and say “He was one of them!”
Sooo . . . you’re suggesting we finish off the rest before they can testify? ;-)
Generally though, good memory does not necessarily imply sapience. I’ll not argue that elephants are pretty bright, but I don’t think that they are at human levels of “intelligent” any more than migratory birds or London taxi drivers are.
Over the years I have come to think that “sapience” (and sentience, for that matter) is just a term we use to justify our exploitation of the animal world. Much like eugenics scientists tried to justify that white men were superior to the various aboriginal races, using bogus arguments to support it. Gradually every test that we use to define humans as being ‘sapient’ and animals as being ‘non-sapient’ fails, for one species or another.
Just the other day footage of some kind of monkey was aired, showing it grieving and comforting it’s dying mate. Previously only witnessed in great apes (amongst the hairy bipeds, I have seen elephants doing the same). Likewise loads (including the various octopi type critters) pass the mirror self-awareness test. Many species are numerate. We can establish basic communication with some. And the list goes on.
Eventually we will have to either drop our pretence that there is something special about humans, or define it as ‘must be able to build aeroplanes’. Which probably excludes the majority of humans as well.
And tool-using is a trait many animals have not to mention tool-making. One such is a finch in the Galapagos that selects and modifies a twig or cactus spine to use to fish out grubs inside trees.
You want to talk about smart animals? Check out how smart crows are;
https://www.cracked.com/article_19042_6-terrifying-ways-crows-are-way-smarter-than-you-think.html
Thanks for posting that. Very funnily written article, but built around solid data. Not that I knew each study referenced. But each had enough similarity, to ones that I know to be genuine, that the article retained it’s credibility.
Not that it should be surprising. Birds are just the flying descendants of the dinosaurs. Anybody who thinks that T Rex was dumb, because it had a small brain, should read that article then compare the size of the brains. Dinosaur’s and birds brains are probably more evolved and efficient than ours, if compared by weight. Making use of quantum techniques, or some such trick, that we barely even suspect exist. Especially if most of the big dinosaur’s body control was de-centralised, rather than wholly dependant on the brain.
Then stop laughing at velociraptors* opening doors. The only reason that crows don’t is because they are too small and lack hands. In the Jurasic Park movie, T-Rex would probably have whipped the door open, on that upside down car, and ate the kids. Then checked the glove compartment and trunk, to see if there was a crowbar, that it could use as a toothpick.
* We really need to swap the names around, so the man-sized carnivore is the V Raptor, and the turkey sized one is Turkeyraptor.
cracked has quite a habit of writing articles like that. the best ones (in my opinion) are those about biology or history.
No, we really are special. The great distinction between us and the “lesser beasts” is, as Rene Descarte pointed out, language. It allows us to build on past accomplishments in a way unique on earth. It allows us to have conversations with geniuses who have been dead for centuries. It allows us to coordinate activity across thousands of miles and for someone to describe and transmit a new idea more complex than what can be demonstrated with hands.
Many animals can understand human speech to a greater or lesser degree, and one or two have even learned some facility with language like Alex the Parrot or KoKo the Gorilla, but those are rare geniuses with special training and little luck with passing it on.
I can make some compelling arguments that chimps are actually smarter than us in some ways, but they don’t get to employ distributed cognition the way we do, so even a few average humans are much smarter then even a genius chimp. Which also mean three average humans are smarter than three genius chimps because the chimps can’t communicate or coordinate in anything like as sophisticated a fashion.
Believe you mean written language, which is distinct from spoken
I mean both. No animal matches our vocabulary. But animals can be trained to understand both verbal and visually presented symbol sets.
If you’re trying to say that wild animals have speech, then no. They have distinct calls which bear meaning, which are partly instinctive and partly learned (ie dialects) but they are nothing like are flexible or as rich as human speech. A monkey troop might well have a call which means, distinctively, “snake”. They many even have words for “dangerous snake” vs “harmless snake”. But they will never be able to communicate an idea as nuanced as “I found a water source but there were fresh lion tracks, has anyone seen Simba recently?”
Just what percentage of whale songs have we definitively translated into English? Without understanding the meaning of their songs, just how can anybody claim to know their vocabulary? Stating the fact that we understand our language, is not a good argument as to why we should be considered superior to them intellectually, because we do not understand theirs.
For all we know their oral histories could pre-date the ice age. Their poetry might be more moving than Shakespeare. And they certainly are kick-arse singers.
Humans bring a deadly combination to the table: 1) Big brains, good memories, creativity and language. Many of our mental abilities appear to be matched or surpassed (at least for some individuals) by various whales, including dolphins; some human expert on a particular animal can tell you what every call and every motion means for the animal they have studied; not so with the cetaceans. 2) Ability to manipulate our environment. Primate hands give us a huge advantage over non-primates when it comes to grabbing and moving things. Fine precision of movement that may have given our ancestors a graceful and secure way to move amoung tree branches, lets us manipulate our environment in ways none of our mental contemporaries can match.
Seeing as how Achilles can beat up almost everyone on the team in a fair fight (Max said that she’s the only one who ever beat him in a straight fight), I doubt he gets alot of crap from his teammates
You mean math…?
huh.
Yes, I did. Weird
Rule two of Earth: Do not fuck with the bald apes. If you do, they may try to literally eat you. If they discover you taste GOOD, and are NUTRITIOUS, your entire race is doomed!
hmm… I guess that depends on your definition of “doomed” – If you mean like the buffalo and sea bass that are considered very tasty and hunted to near-extinction, then yes. But what about chickens and cows, which taste… if not “good” then at least “not bad.” Instead, we breed them – as a result there are FAR more chickens and cows today, world-wide, than there would be if left to their own devices. I suppose that kind of slavery, and being raised as future food could qualify as “doomed.”
As Cori McLean stated at BAHFest 2013, “Chicken flavor is mutualism. Tasty, tasty mutualism”
Just check out this QI clip on the Giant tortoise. You will see that being too tasty for humans is actually a recipe for extinction.
You may think it is only dumb people who would eat them, before setting up a farm and establishing a stable breeding program,. But watch on, to find out that, even on Charles Darwin’s expedition, they munched every last one, that they loaded for the return journey, before even reaching England.
Well put. There was a collection of sci-fi short stories, I think it was called “Danger Human” IIRC, One pointed out that the alien would receive sympathy from the shades of the Mammoth, etc. Never underestimate a naked human with a rock.
nicely put. I remember a collection of short stories titled (assuming my memory is not failing me) “Danger Human” IIRC in one the departed spirit of an advanced alien received some sympathy from the shades of the Mammoth, Mastadon, etc. “Never underestimate a naked human with a rock.”
There is this man in Afghanistan who by himself over the course of twenty years dug a path through a moutain so people in his village could get to a town that has a doctor.
His wife died over twenty years ago of something that could of been treated easily if they could of gotten her to medical help in time. After that he started digging.
Now that is what I call doing something great.
Awesome, it is amazing what we can do when motivated.
Achilles: Geronimoooo!
You go Math! I like that he got to take on the rock lady :P. And her “associate” just casually waving her aside instead of catching her, I doubt he’ll be loved by her.
Math’s last pose almost makes it look like he used a kamehameha strike
Launch a kick? Let fly with a kick? Hmmm… good question…
Poor Achilles. At least he seems to be enjoying his near object status as much as it is possible to do so. I sort of remember some girl who could become very hard and statue like and some caveman (?) used her as a weapon? Think that was from that Teen Titan cartoon maybe. She seemed more than okay with it too.
Kole, who turns into a diamond statue.
Yeah, she was superior to Achilles as far as freezing in position as a proper weapon but inferior in her ability to act on her own.
Dave hasn’t said that Achilles can’t lock his position. If he’s so invincible that nothing can move his joints without his consent (which is possible given his pose here), then he’s the ultimate weapon. He’d be harder than diamond if nothing can indent his skin. Put one hand behind his back for a handle to function as a one-handed shield, and put the other above his head open-handed for a spearpoint, and Maxima could use him to puncture adamantium blocks.
As someone pointed out somehwere else, ‘Les is invulnerable, not invincible
If so he has kept it carefully off the cast page for future shock value but I kind of doubt it. He seems to be trying to say something with having “only” invulnerability as a power so I’m thinking that is all he has. And the only strength he has comes from hard work so he probably bends and folds a bit out of his control right up to the point where a normal human would tear or break and then just… doesn’t. An odd but fun power!
Still at least we know that whole thing where either Kirk or Spock have to die in the reactor core won’t happen to this team. They can just send in Achilles! :)
The real question is, after seeing what Math can do, will Achilles get off his arse and start training with him in near magical level martial arts if he hasn’t all ready? (assuming its not a family secret training routine… ) Since he can’t tear or break he can train harder and faster than most. I mean this would be good for all the supers with near normal bodies and strength to get extra defense but Achilles + Math’s abilities would put Achilles in the 7 star power rating category easy!
There are some fates worse than death.
He may not be too keen on being so radioactive that, for the next 10,000 years he cannot remain in the same room as anyone else, without them catching a severe dose of radiation poisoning!
Mind you, there are ways around that, such as protective gear, to minimise the dose that would be retained by his body. So your point is valid. But there are still complications to be kept in mind, even for the invulnerable.
Perhaps there is some radiation neutralization method that would normally be fatal but would be survivable for Achilles? Course that might process in and of itself might be quite unpleasant.
Now I’m wondering if radioactive Achilles could power his own super suit to gain some additional powers while protecting his friends.
Drop him into the sun. Or a black hole.
Yes, the whole “completely invulnerable” thing does lend itself to some things far, FAR worse than death.
Turns out Achilles is the only being in the universe who can actually use those black holes as gateways and suns as time portals like Sci-Fi suggest?
there was a minor character in Marvel comics who was so invulnerable that training did nothing for him, he remained at the same slightly over-weight kid level he was when he got his powers. Granted, it was early and there was no indication that his normal growth was halted.
But he couldn’t lose weight, because he couldn’t stress his body well enough to convince it to convert fat to muscle…or something like that.
Funny you should mention that trick, was just going through the Classic Marvel Figurine Collection, and The Swordsman was used in a similar fashion (thrown, possibly by CapAm, with his sword held out front, at a dinosaur or some monster)
Throw a kick works too. I know not very original but hey! The point is to “throw” an attack no matter what it is
Mind you, to run with the ‘English is weird’ angle, you also ‘throw a pot’. Which could result in smashed crockery, if misunderstood. But should be used to refer to making it on a potters wheel. Deriving from the way that you throw the clay onto the wheel, before you start to shape it into a pot.
You can also “throw out your back” which is quite debilitating and painful.
Throw the match.
Throw up.
Throw, throw, throw. Semantic satiation achieved.
*chases after match, catches it, and returns*
Mmm, not much of a stick this, but here you go.
*wags tail*
Reminds me of the joke about a dog retrieving a lit stick of dynamite that was thrown.
ever here about the one that caught a grenade in iraq? his owner was insurgent trying to attack coalition troops but the dog brought him what it took as a ball back and boom.
Sounds like an urban (desert?) myth
That ‘joke’ was actually used to kill off the Old Laird on “Monarch of the Glen” (the dogs name happened to be called ‘Useless’ :P)
I gave this some thought.
You throw a ball, and throw a punch. You also hold a ball, sew a ball, clean a ball, etc,etc,etc.
You kick a ball, and that’s about it. Feet are as a general rule, unable to hold or manipulate things in the complex ways hands can typically do, (especially in shoes) so specifying what you did to an object or person with your feet tends to be limited to simply kicking. There is no need to amplify or explain the action further because the choices are very limited.
You can do it other ways, but because our default manipulators of choice are our hands, we often add “with a foot” or some such. For instance you could “tap the ball”, “deflect the ball”, “drive the ball”, “hammer the ball” or “fire the ball.” The latter being rather colourful, but valid, as drawing on the imagery of firing a cannon ball. But worthy of adding clarification of some sort, say”by foot”.
And yet all of those are pretty much “kicking” it.
Anybody out there doing something other than moving it with your foot?
One should never, ever block a kick with their balls.
All together now *waving paws like conductor’s batons*: “Sydney can.”
Shadowninja dude needs to learn not to block her balls with his balls.
and they’ll all come togather down by the old bloody stream. yes singing is fun
nyuck nyuck nyuck!
Well, besides kicking, your feet can be used to stomp, trample, grind under heel, toe the line…
Between English & French, these two languages are considered to be the languages of international diplomacy. By necessity, such languages must be capable of twisting around context in multiple forms. Any language that lacks ambiguity in useless for politics.
hence is why UN switched the official language form french to english after WW2
Since Math’s still got his hands in his pockets, he’s even serious yet.
That was an impressive combo.
Is Max using Achilles as a superhuman missile? Wouldn’t that have the same basic problem as “why you do not throw a car?”
Though onto Math, at least in this day in age of cameras being everywhere, the Internet will love that line.
Well, if you throw a car, you destroy the car.
Achilles is invulnerable, so no worrys about damaging the weapon
Ach is way better than a car due to the fact that a car IS made to crush to absorbe as much impact as possible, thus making it a poor weapon
My concern is not property damage, but the loss of momentum and extra energy required to throw him. Admittedly, throwing Achilles does put him into good melee range. But I think he could have achieved similar results by charging in.
Though, I guess, I really do not know how fast Achilles is traveling (comics make it difficult to judge speed). It is quite possible that Max’s natural power is sending him at a higher speed. Combined with him being invincible, he could be going at a significant speed. Thus, placing him into a better tactical position, much faster.
If I was a superhero, I want my power to be super tactical reasoning and intelligence. I do love analyzing the tactics and strategy of any given situation.
1). Achilles is agreeing to it. The owner of the car usually isn’t available to give consent.
2). The idea is to limit property damage. Throwing someone’s car actively increases said property damage. Achilles can’t be damaged.
3). If you throw someone’s car, you’re ruining their life, denying them the ability to get to work, pick up their kids, etc. Achilles is clearly enjoying himself, thus the grin on his face, and the occasional scream of joy.
There is also the extremely simple advantage that being thrown like this puts Achilles into the action very very quickly.
No hunting around looking for targets then trying to get to them. Just get chucked by a teammate – and then beat down on whatever is left afterwards. Simple.
I agree. Throwing Achilles just puts him in melee range of anyone who didn’t get knocked flat.
There is that. It is one of the reasons I am less keen on playing melee types in games. Having to run around after your victims… err opponents. But if you can get speed boosted into the action. Sweet.
Aye, this was one of my favorite tactics when playing Star Wars D20. I was running a Mando with a penchant for large axes (and a general lack of sanity), who was used as a Force thrown projectile once or twice. Of course, the Jedi stopped doing that when they decided to throw the overpowered tank with a broken mind towards a Dark Force user, who promptly mind tricked me into attacking them.
I wonder if Achilles grabs someone, can his grip be broken?
If not that can be another benefit of throwing him at someone. If you tell him ahead of time, they can be put out of commision until later.
His grip can easily be broken if you’re strong enough, but trying to bend one of his fingers back to make him let go doesn’t work.
You know if Achillies really can’t feel pain, it’s actually fairly remarkable that he ended up as a good guy. Not having experienced pain would make it hard to empathize with the pain of others. Which combined with a general lack of consequence for anything he does would lead him quickly down a dark road.
One suspects either his empathy was established before he got his powers or he learned empathy from emotional pain, possibly from some horrible spider-man like backstory event.
In the cast details it says that “Achilles doesn’t know exactly how or when he got his powers”. Likewise it seems that his looks, such as his hairstyle, got permanently fixed when he did. So it is pretty safe to assume that he had a normal childhood, as kids suffer so many bumps and bruises that it would quickly stand out if he was immune. Therefore Achilles should have had plenty of opportunity to develop a full emotional range.
Maybe he got his empathy from Morph and Heatwave
I thought his back-story was along the lines that. Achilles, Heatwave, and Mr. Amorphous were all vigilantes who were “convinced” by Archon to join (in exchange for immunity). source is Heatwave’s bio on the cast page.
So if he had a friend or two, who were ‘unique’ like him, they might have had a positive influence on his life keeping him from a life of crime.
Yes, but technically, vigilantes are criminals as well (unless they are targetting a white cop, then they are simply a “righteous lynch mob out for vengeance”)
That actually depends on the situation, as “self defense” can actually cover the defense of another in some situations (stopping a mugging or a rape, for instance). Also, at least some states used to have a “citizen arrest” function, the basic idea being that you could do what was necessary to stop a crime and immediately call the police to come take the person into official custody.
So while the “vigilante roaming the streets beating up bad guys just for being bad” is indeed criminal, many of the deeds that would typically get you called a “vigilante” can indeed be legal, as long as you cease the violence when the law says you have to (when the other person is no longer a threat).
Of course, many of the things Batman does go far beyond that stuff (he racks of double-digit “breaking and entering” counts nightly, for instance) and are indeed criminal, though some of them are the type of “criminal” that would basically require the property owner to press charges.
Achilles certainly comes of as a smart-mouthed delinquent. This kind of distancing behavior is quite common amongst extreme empaths, as a defensive technique. I’d be willing to bet he’s actually quite emotionally sensitive, and is easily outraged by inequity and criminal behavior.
Also, consider that Achilles has much less mass than a car, so to cause the same amount of damage to walls and “mushy humans” she’d need to throw him much harder than it looks like she did here. In other words, at the velocity she seems to have thrown him at here, Achilles wouldn’t have gone through a brick wall, but probably would through plasterboard.
I think it’s very deceptive how fast he looks to be going.
Max threw him. Max is REALLY strong. I think it’s safe to asume she throw him really really fast.
He speared 2 villains before the 3rd realized she had to jump out of the way (and she’s probably also to late)
How did Cree know that Math was a Martial Artist?
Totally love how he defeated her with his hands in his pocket (that is the only part that she will remember/be aware of, seriously doubt she would have any knowledge of the Kamehameha/whateverthehellmoveRyuuses)
The press conference got a nice rundown of everyone’s basic powerset
Don’t recall Math being at the Conference
Pretty sure Dave just cut people we already saw powers to save time cuz he wanted to get a move on with his story and also… You know… We already saw what they could do in earlier strips
Yea, there was a definite feeling of ‘time passes’. Especially with Sydney nodding off. But, over and above that, Arianna handed out handy fact sheets. You can bet they were plastered over every media outlet even before the team got back from the firing range.
The comic skipped over a lot of redundant information was skipped over, or we’d still be reading about the conference.
They just had a press conference introducing the Arc-SWAT to the world.
What is a little odd is the way that they call him “the Martial Artist”. I’d guess that everyone on the team barring Sydney is a martial artist. He may be a better martial artist than the rest of them, but the way that they are using it as a label seems a bit strange.
Well his entire thing is ‘martial artist’
Sure Anvil knows some martial arts, but her power is being strong. So you don’t call her a martial artist
You could also say.
Math does martial art, all others do just martial.
Hey, at least they are not calling him “The Marital Aid” :P
What exactly is that guy in the red cape doing?
Deflect concretia so she doesn’t hit him?
Yup. Classic supervillain teamwork in action.
And you KNOW he’s the guy they need to watch out for.
He’s just standing there. Analyzing. Not moving. Waiting.
OR
that one douchebag who brought his larp cape is and tries to all wise,mysterious and calculating
Consider that in about 0.5 seconds he is about to be the only un-phased one in the panel besides Maxima… Considering that 6 lazer girl (Don’t remember the Dark Cameo name) is about to be pin #3 in the Achilles Mid-Air Bowling contest.
Megan is the patron. Her character is Hex (a.k.a. Dark Megan).
Waiting for Dabbler to exit the powder room, I’d wager.
Queue Web Wilder’s “Human Cannonball”.
I think Achilles lost his neck band thingy (and his glasses but those make sense)
I LOVE Achilles
I personally imagine him whistling while being used as a projectile
Did that hooded man just swat Cree away as though she was nothing? o_O
He is going to be trouble!
He does seem to have his gaze fixed firmly on Maxima. Without any indication of wanting to hide. I am betting he feels he is up to swatting her too. And… hood. His is just oozing boding.
Gives off a good Dr. Doom or Magneto feel.
I’m a bit confused at the sequence of actions for that kick. I see three separate “swooshes” in that panel: the big one arcing up from Concretia’s feet to where Math’s foot is now; a second one along the ground, connecting those same two points again; and a third one going from Concretia’s chest to her head. So which one came first, second, and third? What exactly happened here — did Math spin on his heels and then somersault into a kick? Did he twist around in midair? And what’s with that third swoosh going to Concretia’s head?
pivot, flip kick, land is my take on the swquence
He kicked straight up, and twisted around during the kick.
Her neck: He hit her VERY hard exactly in her neck. Probably broke it, if she’s not protected against that by her powers
Concrete.
Her head was still attached when she left the building, anyhoo.
If you break your neck, your head will still be attetched
You are both right. If she was made of regular (non-reinforced) concrete, or stone, breaking her neck would likely result in her head falling off. But, the HUD indicated that she may just be covered in the substance. In which case, a broken neck alone would not cause decapitation.
I don’t think that’s it. If he twisted around in midair, then what’s the second swoosh along the ground for?
It would appear, by the actions lines, that he hit her in the forehead. If I hit you in the neck, from the front, your head would come forward, not backward.
The medium sized arc from Math’s foot to Concretia’s feet represent Math closing the distance between them so he can launch his kick. The large arc from Concretia’s feet to Math’s foot tracks the path of the kick, and lands him back where he started. The small arc from Concretia’s chest to her forehead tracks the path of her head as it snaps back from the force of the kick.
Ah, yes, that does seem to make the most sense.
I see it as Math twisting around (afterimage along the ground) then kicking her in the head (the ‘up-and-over’ trail), landing back where he started, more-or-less. The third trail is her head flying backwards from the impact of his kick.
Sweep left foot forward to just in front of Concretia, right foot kick arcing up to the face and back over to land facing the opposite direction. With his hands in his pockets, no less.
Boot to the head.
regarding Maths gear, maybe he is some sort of Ki/Chi user and he automatically infused his boots with it in order to both strike harder (hence he being able to gong-strike Concretia through the wall with hands) and protect them; ki/chi being what martial art masters are suppose to have control over it would still fit in his portfolio
or maybe the boots are made of some sort of unobtainium (yes I read Tv-Tropes) forged by Dabbler
but I personnaly like the first option better
DaveB said he has steel inserted into his heels, and toes of his boots.
Ahh, steel toe-caps. the sneaky kind of dirty advantage
It would be even better if he had dog-collar spikes screwed into the plates.
No they might snag or get stuck in something.
Simplicity is always to be preferred in armaments. ARC probably has “liker-but-as-strong-as” steel for his boots. he probably got a real ….”kick” out it the day there were presented to him :D
*hears the crickets, slumps off in shame*
Three moves ahead Math, three moves ahead.
Way to steal the scene Sydney. And a great one it is too. Really had me laughing.
I do think Connie understood the message. Math can start singing “Hard Woman” now.
I gotta say, I love Math on this page. I love the way he doesn’t take his hands out of his pockets for that kick, it just shows how not seriously he’s taking her. Then he has a very Vegeta-esque look on his face in that last panel, which is perfect. Overall, I’m digging it.
He already does look like a surfer-bum version of Vegetable-head :P
Which isn’t really all that different from Vegeta’s style in DBGT…
Is that the one where Goku’s granddaughter breastfed that alien deer?
I have a suspicion that Math is a fan of the ‘Billy Jack’ movies. https://vimeo.com/72146111
Well, the action just went from ‘meh’ to ‘holy smoking badass’.
Is the beam girl flyer or does she jump out off way to not be piled with the rest by Achilles?
Yeah, it does look like she is flying, but probably just diving out of the way (and not noticing there is no roof where she is headed…)
I think she is actually flying being supported by her beams, IMO they are “firing” directly downward.
I took it as flying myself. Her pose is a fairly classic flying super one. But, zooming in on it, it could be a leap, if caught at quite a stiffly posed moment. Contrary to that, however, if it was a leap the legs would probably not be held together. So I think I will stick with my first impressions this time.
Maby she is a floater. Someone wh can’t really fly, but can float in place and maby move slowly around.
Just a theory.
In City of Heroes, I had a couple of land-travel power supers who supplemented their ability with hovering. And, now you come to mention it, both would end up at that kind of angle, when trying to move horizontally with it.
Look at her face. That’s the face of someone who reflexingly jumps away from something
anyone that was on the roof instead of the ground probably has flying, levitating abilities, or supierior leg muscles. Just because of how it would be best to get up there.
Regarding panel 6: presonally don’t see a problem with it, sometimes fight scenes get confusing (at least for the participants, so why not the viewers as well?)
Looks like Hex is flying.
I think she’s jumping, trying to get away from the throw
I think she was flying and just noticed the pileup headed for her. If you look close her eyes are OMG big.
Yea, I had a similar impression, when I looked earlier. Trouble is the comic kept freezing up when I tried going back far enough to check something. But it is going smoothly now, so I managed to confirm that Megan/Hex has glasses. If you zoom right in on her above, and remember that, then you can make out that they are her glasses, rather than startled eyes.
Although, she may be startled as well, as the glasses will be obscuring her eyes.
I think she is flying with her beams.
Going along those lines, and assuming that others are right about her jumping, rather than flying. Hex could be using the ‘equal and opposite reaction,’ of firing the beams, as a way of controlling her jump, so that she does not fall down too fast?
Maybe but if they are lasers or the like they should not have any measurable “reaction”.
I am guessing that this “fly” is one of her “orbs-based” powers. I also think that the power depends on the “orbs” arrange, here they are on a wing-like formation, different from before.
This is why Math is one of my favorites. Taking out a super who just a page ago knocked two other supers out of the way, and he did it in a way that makes it look as if he barely considers it a warm up.
He probably didn’t.
Considering the number of times he has probably been beaten down, or ALMOST beaten down, by super-powered females, this is undoubtedly familiar ground for him.
…. Though, given the blend of overconfidence and lechery previously displayed, I’m a little surprised that Math didn’t reflexively try to grope or proposition Concretia.
His “I like my women statuesque” comment isn’t a proposition?
By Math standards, that is pretty much a nonstarter.
Maybe concrete boobs aren’t squishy enough for his liking.
Clearly, that was an improved version of the Flash Kick. Math added turning motion to allow himself to land with his back facing Concretia for the combo set-up.
*nods with self-satisfaction*
Just stay away from my Sonic Boom.
I like that when Math does his Guile-style back-flip kick to Concretia’s jaw, the stone/skin on her arm cracks. I guess she is only covered in rock (not made of it) and she needs to concentrate to actually keep it on her. It starts flaking off her when she loses consciousness.
With the small criticism that the cracks are gone on subsequent panels.
Well you still see the flakes of rock floating near her head
She obviously replaces it using fast-setting concrete.
The guy with the cloak looks like he might be trouble if he just casually deflected her out of reflex like that.
The only person who would be trouble for the good guys in this situation is Skitter.
Skitter would be a problem for Galactus^^. Skitter is/was an S-Class threat. And when an s-class threat appears, the heroes and villains team up and there’s a general amnesty.
Think I would rather face Bitch^^.
Anyway, I know Skitter was cool and that it became our little meme, but meh, Contessa and Simurg could take her, even right before the end. Although that was about it.
The thing is, she wouldn’t be dumb enough to get involved in this.
This conversation won’t really make sense to anyone who hasn’t read Wildbow’s Worm, so go and read it. A little light read. ;)
Worm “a little light read” need some sarcasm tags for that one, but seconding the motion…if you like supers and a great story, go read it NOW. Expect to lose just a small amount of time while you do (there another of those ones that needs the tag)
Worm “a little light read” need some sarcasm tags for that one, but seconding the motion…if you like supers and a great story, go read it NOW. Expect to lose just a small amount of time while you do (there another of those ones that needs the tag)
Wildbow’s new story has just started as well and is shaping up to be very good, called “Pact”.
Hope you don’t mind me suggesting that on here I’d just like to share what I consider to be one of the best web serial authors around.
DaveB is fine with recommendations. We all put in a plug for something, that catches our eye, every now and then. Knowing what inspires other people in the community can be interesting.
Check out the side section of the page “What I am reading,” to keep up with Dave’s own interests. And if it tempts you, be sure to order it through his link there. That way he gets a bit of commission, for passing Amazon the business.
The funny thing about webcomics is that they don’t actually compete with eachother.
If I find a good one, I’ll just add it to my list. Not like it takes away any time I’d need to read the other ones
A buddy recommended WORM to me, but I have yet to get into it. It sounds like it goes into the dark areas in ways I am not sure I really want to explore. Kind of like the Mentalist said friend played some years ago. Gave me the serious HEEBIE JEEBIES,
As any types of precognitive abilities interfered with each other, once Skitter had a precog under her control she could easily have beaten Contessa and likely even the Simurg at the height of her power, although the Simurg was probably at least partly responsible for her having that level of power in the first place. Skitter still needed help to defeat Scion, but he was the only being who could outmatch her by the end.
This entire fight seems to be serving the purpose of eliminating the chaff of the supervillain community.
The thing is, there’ll probably be a few villains left at the end that will take more effort to bring down than the rest of them combined. The laws of drama demand it. Plus, it’s only logical that only the best would be left at the end.
He looks like he should give off a Master of the Darkness vibe. Just standing out in the open like an idiot he gives off a Targetman, Master of the Glass Jaw vibe. If he’s saving himself for the Big Push, he is too late.
Ha, I hope for Arianna she caught that line from Math. “There’s no such thing as just human” – she can build her entire PR-campaign on that.
It would certainly help fend off humans vs super resentment, so good call.
Well, considering that those chokers that the team wear have built in mics; it’s entirely probable that they’re recording whenever the team is on the clock. Like the cameras some police forces wear.
Probably she already has it, according to the cast page it is one of Math’s usual quotes.
Hadn’t seen that yet, thanks for pointing it out!
I think you lash a kick… I could be wrong, though, I often am.
You can snap a quick kick. Lashing out with a kick is acceptable as well.
Also, you can swing a kick.
Drive a kick!
“She drove a kick into his stomach, doubling him over.”
Snap, thrust, pop, power, etc. Most of those also apply to punches as well. “Throw a punch,” is only one of several possibilities available for punches.
“She snapped a punch at his throat.”
Some of this page was really hard to follow, on the third panel the curved movement line on the ground is confusing because Math was facing stone-bitch so I’m not sure what his feet were up to.
There’s some fun stuff going on in panel six, but it’s also really busy and again there’s some movement lines that are confusing me. The line stops on Redhood’s hand but I don’t think he’s part of the action.
Love the comic but this was a bit weird.
The arc on the ground is supposed to indicate he spun just before he kicked. Like I said I still have plenty to learn about drawing really good action.
So Math stars off facing her. Then turns his back on her. And then does a front flip with a back kick? That just seems awkward.
Math does start off facing her, does a half-spin pivot into a front somersaulting back heel kick which launches Cree into the the air, then, after landing performs a spinning double palm thrust to the upper back/neck area on her way down, launching her through the wall towards the poor mans Doc Doom.
Well I thought you did a damn good job for still figuring out how to draw action scenes, technically I guess no one ever stops ‘figuring’ it out but still :)
This is the first time I have commented but I have read through your entire archives in a couple of days and have went back to read sections again because I love your comic. I can’t wait to see where you go with the story and I love the art work
Thank you for posting this for all of us to read!
Jim
Thanks! I’m excited to see where it all goes too! I mean, I know more or less, but I’m excited to see all the details. :)
Math suddenly reminds me a lot of Vegeta
Masked guy is impressive for tossing Concretia aside like that as noted before.
There is 1 more interesting thing about him. If super Megan did not redirect he left 3 beams he just absorbed them seeing that there is no impact mark as with the right 3.
He’s showing signs of being at least partially competent. Means he’s probably going the be the team’s first real challenge.
Possibly in evading Maxima’s fastball special with Achilles, she has overshot her mark and there is friendly fire going on, like you say. Otherwise it does not make sense that she would be attacking an ally. Whilst your assumption may well be right, I had gone with her shooting at some target the far side of the Hooded Man. It is just that he, and the smoke, is blocking our view of whatever is happening beyond him.
Bear in mind that the explosions, we can see her causing, are in between the far wall and him. Thus supporting that the rest may be similarly far from him.
Everything’s happening at once!
Sydney, talking is a free action. That means that if you’re standing with arms folded while delivering witty banter, you’re wasting time that you could have used tossing bad guys through walls.
Unless the hentorb can’t be used from inside the shield, in which case, carry on.
She is an untrained civilian. It will take her longer to asses the battle field than a trained fighter. Until she levels up again, she only has limited actions.
Maxima told her to put up her force field and stay out of the fight. Shadow Boxer got to her before she could do so. And paid a horrible price for gross overconfidence. For now Sydney is a non-combatant.
The only instruction was ‘put up your shield, and keep it up’
Noone ever told her to stay out of the fight. Anvil even told her to move on to the next guy (instead of kicking the unconcoius guy)
Thought Anvil just told her to ‘move on’ (as in, ‘get over it’), doubt Anvil would countermand an order from her CO
Besides which, she was hungry. She has only just finished eating Shadow Boxer.
Is shadow made out of vegetables? That’s new to me :p
Err… ugly. Yea… she used the ‘he is not cute’ exclusion. Think of him as a fish with legs!
Either that or she did something else with his body. Which would have required lowering the shield, unless she can make a door in it, somehow. But, common sense would allow her to drop the shield, and pass him over to someone equipped with handcuffs. Rather than leaving him in with her, until he regained consciousness.
So, I guess you could be right. :-)
This page is amazing.
It’s fun to watch the heroes kick butt; also the art and humor are there, but this fight is really one sided. Great heroes need great villains.
Yep.
How do you like your villains? Grated.
The original intro page/story arc of Mind Mistress gives the proper “flow” for action scenes of superhumans (https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Mindmistress_at_Drunk_Duck/5387893/):
First a fight against normal humans to show of thier ability (in this case the faked bank robbery).
Then a curb stomp battle against other superhumans (this fight, so far).
After that there is time for actuall challenges…
Their hasting towards point two (Worf is beyond normal human combat ability) in Star Trek TNG is what gave the “Worf Effect” it’s name (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWorfEffect).
We’ll see a few more significant challenges showing up in a few pages. It’s weird to think we’re only 9 pages into this fight. It feels like it’s been going on a lot longer. :)
Let’s see…9 pages of fight so far, but only 1 page per week?
Yep, I can see why this fight seems to be taking a long time.
:P
Incorrect. Updates Twice Weekly.
You’re missing out on half the fun. Updates twice a week, Mon/Thu.
We get to see Achilles’ feet in this one. I noticed that he has the checkered sneakers and acid washed jeans to go along with his mullet.
Those aren’t sneakers – they’re soft-sided combat boots; probably with reinforced steel (or more likely, ceramic) toebox & heel cup. This link isn’t an exact match, but gives you a pretty decent feel for it (https://www.uscav.com/productinfo.aspx?productid=23210&tabid=1&catid=348)
Dave has said on the cast page that Achilles is basically ‘stuck in the 80s’ so I stand by my claim.
https://sneakerpedia.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/fast-times-vans-soundtrack.jpg
https://www.polyvore.com/vans_black_white_checkered_lace-up/thing?id=17283846
I feel foolish now – I saw you wrote Achilles, and mentally swapped it with Math…
It seems I’m not the only one making that mistake this week, too – I wonder what’s causing that
Me. I started the ball rolling on that name mix up, recently, too. Obviously my problem with names is contagious. I must be unconsciously warping reality, so that others are suffering from it too.
Sorry about that.
calm down haruhi. don’t need a wold crash.
There is no reason for Achilles to wear shoes that protect his toes. Might aswel wear lose fitting stuf that grants freedom of movement
If he kicks he will destroy normal footwear. He does have a small amount of super strength.
Archon footwear isn’t to protect feet, it’s to keep the team fully dressed to keep up appearances.
He’s about 50% stronger than a regular human.
So he’s probably no stronger than a really strong, regular human.
That’s not enough to destroy shoes