Grrl Power #214 – Better than a lightsaber
The fights are starting to get tough. Math and Jabber are fighting just off camera, and Dabbler it seems got a tough seeds for her first fight. I wish I had drawn that first panel the other way around, even though it’d mean I’d have to cross the word bubble tails, which is generally a big no-no, but that way I could show that the crescent patterns on Dabbler’s arm is draining as she uses up her shield. Why her glamor would include that particular feature I couldn’t guess. It’d be like running around with a hologram over your head showing everyone how much ammo you have left. Glamor or no, her corset must be literally magic cause even with double sided tape she probably would have popped out of it already. It’s weird that women sometimes have to resort to double sided tape to prevent spontaneous indecency with certain outfits. I think a guy’s solution would be to wear a bigger shirt.
“Silver Age Rules” as Sydney defines them is not something that really happened a lot. Sure, villains used to be better about announcing themselves when they showed up back in the day, but I don’t think that usually included a rundown of their powers. I thought I’d have Sydney try it on Heavenly Sword though as a way of introducing her name into the comic without it sounding like slightly awkward dialog. (“Let’s see how you fare against Jabberwokky!” etc.) Announcing yourself in third person really only sounds natural if your name is King Snooty the Seventh, and you also tend to say “we” instead of “I.”
As always I will be at A-kon this year (June 6-8 in Dallas) and as I did last year, I’ll be doing a panel on Friday. Humor-Based Webcomics 1: Humor in Story. Be sure to stop by!
My fourth Gynostar Guest strip is up today. The current arc starts here.
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First! Anyway can’t wait to see how the fights go
my question is does sid know leon that well or did he put it in after she said that in a moment of thats good
I like both options equally
Third option, she read it on her pip-boy. But just using a bit of basic psychology in her choice of phraseology, in order to maximise the chance of getting a name.
Sydney goads opponent into revealing name & powers: Super Effective!
second third option :P Sid is also a nerd so he sares similar naming sense as Leon.
Ooh, she got on the sidepanel. I guess she’s gonna be a recurring character?
H.S. nailed the punch line before Halo. Not good.
This was supposed to be a witty reply to nikolai60’s comment.
Dead, imprisoned or escaped the name will be entered into the ARC Hive records. Appearing on the Who’s Who is no guarantee of longevity.
Yup, alls that’s required to be on the “Whos who” is to speak ‘on camera’ and have a name
This could be bad…
Aaw, I liked stick girl
She is a bit curvy for that.
Sid’s villain name most likely would have been ‘Short Straw’.
‘Heavenly Body’ :-P
Pepper Bee with the battlecry, “Sting your eyes!”
More like “Scrappy-dappy Fangirl”
Tomboy Nerd Ranger?
So I guess “Twiggy” wouldn’t work either?
If you’ve ever tried writing your own story, you’ll probably also know that really long names sound weird or are just hard to shout out in the middle of a fight scene. Nicknames and shortened versions frequently get used when a name is to awkward to call out every time, so you need to consider what the most logical sounding abbreviation would be, too.
Picking a good super-identity is tough!
I find it ironic that “Heavenly” sword is one of the villains, and the demon is on the side of the heroes.
Indeed. Though you have to admit, so far she’s been pretty honorable for a villain.
Not blatantly antagonizing or backstabbing, but efficient, and from this page alone she doesn’t brag more than she can actually pull off. I really like her character so far.
(Also, I can’t believe it took me two looks to notice the Kingdom Hearts references. Shame on me.)
Honorable, yes. But she is not pulling any punches. If Dabbler hadn’t dodged she might have been bisected by that strike.
If she were truly pulling no punches, she’d have opted for a horizontal slash. She wouldn’t have waited to use her powers, either.
The energy blade might have time or power limits on it. H.S. isn’t gonna tell Sydney every little detail.
In some respects, her power resembles Silver Samurai in Marvel comics. His power is to focus energy…but it works much better if he has a weapon to act AS a focus for the energy. He could use a dime-store katana or even a shinai like Heavenly Sword there, but he could cut through steel-plated armor with it.
Was actually thinking of the actual game (one of the, if not the, first for the PS3), “Heavenly Sword”, apart from the keyboob window, don’t see anything “Kingdom Heart-y” at all
It’s not just the keyhole. It’s the combination of keyhole and the x’d heart on her forehead.
And the fact that she’s secretly an untold-story Disney Princess *headcanon!*
Thinking of Kingdom Hearts, it kinda reminds me of this:
https://www.khwiki.com/Bladecharge
She now strikes me as more of a blood knight type of villain. Probably joined this mob to make an opportunity for herself to demonstrate her skills to ArcSWAT *while* getting a chance to use her kenjutsu, or whatnot, against a cream of the crop super, which proves plenty. Once arrested and charged, she can use her potential as ArcSWAT muscle as a plea bargain to pay her debt to society in place of jail time ala Suicide Squad……Looking like she had a plan the others didn’t from the start. Wonder if Halo would compare her to Taskmaster or any of this is the case.
Considering that’s how The Heat, Les and Morph ‘joined’ ARCHON, don’t see why not
That’s slightly different. They were Vigilantes who “went legit”.
As history will show, just because you say you are on the side of the angels, doesn’t necessarily mean it is so, and vice versa.
Yup. Some of the most evil and depraved characters in history thought of themselves as being on the side of good. Even to the extent where some chose to be associated with positive symbology. And many would declare, with apparent sincerity, that ‘god was on their side’.*
* God has made no statement on the issue. Spokesmen have attempted to distance her from the controversy.
Not to mention “Angels” in the Bible were the ones who did all the heavy damage, laying waste to cities and kicking us out of Eden. They weren’t the winged cherubic nice guys modern legends portray they were God’s attack dogs with the equivalent power of an H-Bomb.
Not all angels were like that. Angels are literally the messengers of God. If they happen to carry a message of death/dismemberment/massacre well that’s the recipients problem not the problem of other angels.
I can’t help it, to me she rather comes across as a hero type than a villain type. Also, I can imagine her doing hero stuff rather well, be it bodyguarding or demolition… maybe other stuff as soon we see her defense abilities.
While I don’t see how that might be possible, I feel the hope that she would get join Archon at some time later. I belive she would be better in a team than fighting alone, like all the villains seem to do.
Damn, I CANNOT let it be! I tried, but the missing “as” between “soon” and “we” bothers me too much :(
So, as you know, there must be an “as” between “soon” and “we” and I forgot to put it there.
It could be she’s a vigilante that disagrees with Archon’s heavy-handed approach to snuffing out super activities. She doesn’t want to join because, let’s face it… Max came off as a scowling, hyper-violent discipline problem that all but confessed to murdering a foreign cape. If all you had seen of the Archon CO was the TV spot, you might have grave misgivings about what working under her might be like.
She may have been a vigilante previously. But as soon as she took up arms and joined in a deadly assault on the police, she became either a common criminal or a terrorist. * Not by any stretch of the imagination could she hope to be classed as a vigilante after that.
Of course vigilantes are criminals anyhow. But they operate with a veneer of moral authority, by virtue of claiming to uphold justice, but simply operating outside the law. Assaulting police officers and attempting murder looses even that self-justification.
Note that under international law a soldier killing an enemy soldier, during wartime, is not classed as murder. So Maxima acted within the normal parameters that society expects of a soldier.
Of course, despite that, you could be perfectly correct in suggesting that as Heavenly Sword’s viewpoint. But it would be as part of a self-deluding psychosis, rather than anything she could use to gain public acceptance. **
* A.k.a. rebel, depending on how others perceive her actions.
** Of course there is always the “Americans have some really weird viewpoints” get out clause, that could negate all logical arguments. And the US has been known to ignore international law, if it suits them. So if Heavenly Sword is representative of a popular uprising, against a tyrannical government, then they are likely to interpret the law in whatever fashion they choose. And the winner gets to write history.
What a lot of people don’t know is that, in American Law, there’s actually a third option that the Jury can choose aside from Guilty and Not Guilty. It’s quite literally, “Guilty, but for whatever reason we’ve decided to let them off scott-free”. Abstention, I think, is the technical term? And I imagine in a lot of Superhero cases that’s what happens- if a Villain/Vigilante is caught and brought to court, but that V in question never killed anyone or maimed/hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it, did “good” deeds, went out of their way to make sure civilians were never in danger, etc. etc, I could very well see them being released despite being completely and utterly guilty of, say, robbing a bank or instigating a Superpowers Showdown in a Steakhouse. Kind of a “Good publicity trumps everything” clause.
That’s usually a Mistrail because of a “hung” Jury, where they cannot come to a unanimous virdict. Coupled with the presumption of innocence.
I think the term you are looking for is acquittal, although there are elements of a directed verdict which may overlap, but coming from the judge, rather than the jury.
It is not “abstention”, as that is to do with politics and other areas of voting, where an individual, group or country choose not to vote on a particular issue. Jurors do not have that option. They must, individually, declare a verdict of some sort (for instance ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’). If all agree, one way or the other, then it is considered a unanimous verdict.
If sufficient agree, to pass the minimum criteria set by the jurisdiction or court, then a majority verdict can be made. Some cases will not allow a majority verdict, but must have a unanimous one. Failure to reach a unanimous or majority verdict results in a hung jury and a possible mistrial.
The United Kingdom equivalent of what you are describing is no case to answer. Again this is something that a judge will decide upon. In fact the practice is for the judgement to be made in the absence of the jury, as it could prejudice their verdict, should the case come to trial.
Mind you, if I were sitting on a jury, and found that the evidence presented was so weak that the case should not have been brought before a jury, I would argue to return a verdict of “no case to answer”.
Simply because a verdict of “not guilty” does not mean that a person is innocent. It just means that their guilt could not be proven. “No case to answer” is one step closer to “innocent”. And it would also give the accused greater options for remedy, should they wish to prosecute for wrongful arrest.
“So if Heavenly Sword is representative of a popular uprising, against a tyrannical government, then they are likely to interpret the law in whatever fashion they choose.”
Maxima’s performance could very well be interpreted as tyrannical if nothing else was known. As readers we “know better” because we are on Sydney’s side and know some more about Max. Therefore it might not be an obvious idea for us – thank you for pointing ot out. That said, it might not be a good idea to join an hastily summoned team that at least party consists of real evil-doers even for a greater good. Then again, gathering information first and planning moves might have cost valuable time…Thenagain, once you start a fight against a government, you cannot stop until it is ultimately destroyed…
“And the winner gets to write history.” As always. Or the survivor if that is not the winner.
Well, anybody who listened to her whole speech, in context, would be able to follow her intent. It was not ambiguous. She was threatening the villains.
But folks can always chose to ignore her words and warp what she was saying to match their own preconceptions. Which, admittedly, does happen. And we do not live in a world where everybody will check the facts.
Likewise politicians and biased media will cherry-pick whatever sound-byte suits their agenda. So, yea, it certainly can be twisted to come across like that.
It’s not like her words couldn’t possibly mean “You don’t have to sign up with us, but if you don’t, we will be keeping an eye on you and will come for you if you so much as get a parking ticket!”
That seems to be a case of common sense. I mean Just because you can toss a car, why would they send a living Nuke because you jaywalked, well unless you decide to throw the cop over the Daily Planet, anyway?
I don’t know why so many people miss this point. Maxima’s message during the press conference was specifically directed towards those “who think [their] power gives [them] primacy to hurt or rule over others“. I don’t see how anyone could reasonably interpret* that to mean that they’re gonna slap down a super just for jaywalking. Now if a super hurts an officer trying to arrest them for jaywalking or even just uses his or her power to try to intimidate them for doing what they’re supposed to, that might be different….
*Yes, I understand that not everyone interprets statements reasonably. However, the fault then lies with the person who misinterprets the statement, not the one who made it.
Oh, trust me, I am on your side on this one. But, it is vital to understand other points of view fully, if you need to know how different people might react. And knowing how populaces might behave in situations which could lead to war, or civil war, can affect an awful lot of people, directly or indirectly. Politicians, anybody working in an industry dependant on tourism, news correspondents, fiction writers, games masters (if they want realistic, balanced, reactions), any employee or manager of a company that trades with the affected region etc.
Allow me to draw an analogy, to see how easy it is to understand both sides here:
Country::……………..United States………………………..Ukraine
Activity:………….:……Maxima firing range demo…….Russia manoeuvres near Ukraine
Declaration:………….”Villains beware”…………………..”These are normal exercises.”
Interpretation:………..”Supers must join or die”………”Join us or be invaded”
Let’s talk numbers specifically states that “it is not illegal to have powers”. Supers are free to use their powers however they like as long as they don’t use them for illegal purposes (including vigilantism). What exactly is so “heavy-handed” about that?
Argh, the dreaded tag error. Strike that last reply,
Let’s talk numbers specifically states that “it is not illegal to have powers”. Supers are free to use their powers however they like as long as they don’t use them for illegal purposes (including vigilantism).
So, at her parole hearing after 1/3 of her sentence (and each year thereafter, as applicable):
Parole Board member: Tina Masters, AKA Heavenly Sword, according to the prison officials, you have model prisoner for the last few years, even helping to quell the prison riot a few months ago. Thank you, by the way. At your trial, you plead guilty to a plea agreement. This board is inclined to offer you parole at this time, provided you have a legitimate means of employment after you leave these walls.
Heavenly Sword: I have not arranged that yet, but I do not expect it will be that difficult to find work as I am still uniquely qualified in some area.
PB member: I have a letter here, which indicates that on your release, you are going to be offered an opportunity to join Archon as a recruit. The woman on the end of the table is a representative of Arc-Swat. You would be released into her custody if you accept this offer.
Sgt. Scoville (Halo): [ Waving madly ] So, what do you think? You want to come with me?
Heavenly Sword: Is that golden maniac still in charge?
Halo: Golden, yes. Maniac, not so much. And yeah, Maxima is still in charge. She’s a full-bird colonel now. What do you think?
Heavenly Sword: [ Thinks for a few seconds ] Yeah, let do it.
PB member: Then we release you, Tina Masters, into the custody of Archon. You are still required to check in with a Parole Officer at a schedule to be determined by the Department of Corrections.
Halo: Any mail for her can be sent to this address.
It could happen. Three of the team members are reformed vigilantes, after all. So, unlike most police forces, Archon rules clearly do not prohibit the recruitment of criminals into their ranks. But she will need to be very persuasive, to convince everybody that she no longer wants to murder police. Because, if she became a member of Archon, she would be able to up her score considerably, by betraying them at a critical time.
Would the feel good factor of ‘we have managed to convert her to being a good guy’ outweigh the possible destruction of America’s last line of defence, against the tyranny of super villains?
Making a lot of assumptions in this notion of Heavenly Sword having a vigilante past or even having ethical motives behind her actions.
All I’ve seen so far is that she isn’t pretending to be a Master Swordswoman any more than Math is pretending to be a Master Martial Artist, and she tried to offer the mob she is working with some easy tactics suggestions that they didn’t even listen to. She’s stuck up and haughty, which goes with the ‘Swordmaster’ archetype much like being a hulking brute goes with archetype of battle axe/ huge hammer specialists, but she can back it all up, yes, not unlike how Math can back up his cockiness.
Still, I can’t help but wonder if Dabbler is baiting her into a false sense of security in order to lay as many of her cards on the table as possible while Arclight is recording. I’m getting the impression a lot of Dabbler’s rank in the top 3 of ArcSWAT’s fighters has to do with being clever with her huge skill set rather than the skill set itself, and Heavenly Sword seems to prefer might at arms to a more lateral approach on top of having a bit of an ego, sooooo…………….
Where do you get “stuck up and haughty” from? o_O
Not I. When I look at her, I see ‘cop-killer’. But it is necessary to consider others’ viewpoints and opinions, plus the possibility that their arguments have merit. Which is what I was doing in that comment. Hence it should be classed more as ‘concession to a possibility’ rather than an ‘assumption’.”
If you check out my other replies on her, you will see that I have brought up comparisons to Magnito and Satan, regarding her. Taking that into consideration, I think you will agree that I am sceptical of her morals. Just not blindly so, given that I also brought up Nelson Mandela.
Again I am in agreement with you here. This despite playing devil’s advocate and arguing the opposite case, elsewhere. I think it is very much the intention that she is an expert swordswoman. The fact that some of the details of her stance and grip are inconsistent with that, just being a reflection that the artist does not have an encyclopaedic knowledge of everything in the world.
As regards Dabbler, she does have an extremely broad, and therefore powerful set of capabilities, crossing many boundaries – alien high technology, magical, cybernetic implants and innate demonic abilities. Not to mention her actual skills too. But balanced, going by her cast list information, by not using most of them in great depth. She only dabbles in them.
Corroborated by the fact that, whilst she has swordfighting skills, she lost an arm and an eye to someone in a swordfight. Who was therefore better than her, in their area of speciality.* Which is probably factoring into her caution here too.
But, that said, I agree with your assessment of her.
** Although, the fact that she is still alive indicates that she was adaptable enough, to survive even that loss. And, I imagine, overcome that enemy in the process. At the very least, she escaped, in one way or another. So supporting your contention that her wits helped her. Although she does have a variety of other assets to draw upon too.
this is one of the powers i would like to have but i would not limit myself to swords i prefer hamers
Big 2 hammers, or regular small hammers you’d find in a tool set?
Big block style for me. Channel my inner Thor!
any kind of hammer though not limited to hammers
Nun-chucks made of pork thighs?
Isn’t that going to be a somewhat ham-fisted way of attacking?
Foul pun! First warning
Not at all. If it had been a Fowl pun he would have needed to use rotted chicken.
Lame word joke!
Second warning
So, you’re telling us that you don’t like puns? You’re saying that we should stop punning & “take it on the lame?”
We’ve been SO lame-basted. Warnings with no opportunity for retribution!
*Alarm sound and a gigantic lamp chop lands on your call*
Just stop using rotten animal legs for your weapons, and you’ll be able to walk away with just a slap on the ankle.
What if they were sugar-cured hams?
How about rattan animal legs instead?
Anyone claiming to use those would be telling porky pies.
And they would probably hog all the kills.
That one is boaring…
peirs anthony is requesting we leave xanith now
We’ve reached ‘egregious’ level puns now?
*Giant Caladonian Boars land on the Punsters*
That would be a traveSTY.
Dis I ever tell you guys that I know Kevin Bacon?
I can cure that delusion.
i did not even catch my mistake till it became a glorious pun chain
Yer Welcome.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I would like it if people tried to use me as a pun chain bag.
So…what’s your beef with a pun chain?
No, not beef, pork! Sorry, I’m not trying to bust your chops, these are just some ad-hock comments. I’ll spare ribbing you any further. I wonder if they pick a wiener for the comment with the wurst puns?
Uh oh, you better watch out. Some folks might have a bone to pick about those puns. They might deploy the orbital crayons.
*Side of beef lands on your car with a note that reads “CANNON not CRAYONS”*
I can see you’ve never talked to an angry blogger before. If their comments were handwritten notes, they would be poorly composed and inscribed with crayon.
Yeah, some bloggers are always crayon over one thing or another.
It’s from the comment section of Spinnerette. Pad puns are “rewarded” by strange and weird objects being launched from an orbital cannon. REALLY bad puns get missile spammed. =P
Be warned though: the OAPC is infested with DubDubSees, at least one of whom (possibly more) claim to be Official OAPC Technicians/Maintainence Crew (and no matter how hard people try to clear them out and fumigate the OAPC, the DubDubSees always return) and things fired from it are rarely what the one firing expected (think of it like what happened every time at the start of The Muppet Show when Gonzo attempted to blow his horn :P)
yeah, that’s why no WWC are allowed in my moon base.
I absolutely love that Heavenly Sword’s keyhole bodice is shaped like a keyhole.
Seconded!
A worthy garment for the Grrl Power store?
If she is the keeper of the gate, who would not wish to be the holder of the key?
Well, if it were Sigourney Weaver
, we would expect her to be trying to kill an alien…
….wait a second!
So Dabbler has Mana reserves? Interesting
Didn’t say that, only that the shield’s being used up.
Well she has something parallel to mana reserves, if only specificly for the shied
Given that DaveB has mentioned Path of Exile as one of his inspirations for parts of this (Halo’s upgrade tree), it may be more like the energy shield in the game (and in Halo, and Mass Effect, and…): you have a certain maximum which gets depleted instead of health as you take hits, then once you aren’t being hit anymore, it recharges over several seconds (PoE has four status monitors: health, mana, energy shield and exp. progress to next level).
Wow. She’s like Kunieda only forming the energy around the blade instead of herself when you see it. Awesome!
And her zanbato looked like Kubikiribocho too! Nice!
I believe you mean ‘Zanpaktou’, but not really, no.
(Please, correct me if I’m wrong, as you referenced Beelzebub, then, I thought, Bleach)
Huh. Why is Dabbler having trouble with her? Is Slovenly Heart another BadassNormal on Marth’s level? Or is Dab holding back for fear of demolishing the restaurant entirely?
Probably the latter, considering panel 1. And why didn’t Dab take her out while Sydney distracted her?
Oh, and look, it’s Jack Slash’s sister ;)
Let’s hope she only got the blade stretching thing from him, and not not all the other shit he pulls.
Up until she started using her power, I figured her to be a bit more “timid” when it came to fights…She wasn’t trying to “cause havoc,” per se, just a bit of “raising cane.”
Dabbler mentioned she is good with swords but she is not the best swords-woman. That’s why she has one cyber arm. She is going to have to get room to deal with H.S. from a distance. Although that last strike cut a chunk out of the restaurant without contact.
Looks like Jabber wasn’t the first serious competition into the room after all. Math just caught her at a bad moment.
That’s why, what? Is her cyber arm a replacement for one lost in a sword fight?
Yup. See panel one in this comic for details.
Ah, thanks for that. But it also revealed that it’s just a hand, not an entire arm. And also that Dabbler is also fulfilling the Wolverine cliche, sort of. As opposed to being the single member of the team with a super-healing factor, so he gets building I beams rammed through his guts all the time while Cyclops and Jean Grey do not, Dabbler appears to be the sole member of Arc who has suffered critical body damage. And, of course, she is also the sole member who can replace lost body parts with cybernetic prosthetics.
I think you are forgetting Peggy in that argument.
Except for the word ‘cybernetic’ before prosthesis, you are very correct.
Yeah, I wasn’t forgetting Peggy. And Dabs has said that she has a hard block against supplying her tech to mere humans, so Peggy isn’t getting a cybernetic upgrade any time soon. Unless ARC conscripts one of those genius inventor hero types. But those are usually pretty opposed to providing their tech to others also, if Reed Richards and Tony Stark are any indication.
In which case it then just falls to logical elimination. If a potential candidate to join the team has suffered a critical injury that they can overcome, then they could pass scrutiny. Peggy managed to do so, through sheer determination to carry on a normal life, despite her handicap. Whereas Dabbler was able to use her technomagic to eliminate her disadvantages. Going further than that even, to provide enhancements making her stronger than she was prior to the loss.
But, on the other paw, out there will also be a another top soldier, who lost her sight. And no amount of determination will allow a blind (non-super) sniper to carry on in that role. And another alien who lost some limbs, but did not have access to advanced technomagic, to replace them. So was unable to survive the rigours required to reach Earth, and got killed off on-route by some able-bodied enemy.
Likewise the firestarting super who lacked fire resistance, who got burnt to a crisp in a fire she started herself. And the teleporter who figured that he could safely teleport to the other side of that wall, because he guessed that there would be an open spot to arrive in. There was not.
The characters on the team are those who were able to survive life long enough to reach Archon. And then were good enough to pass all of the basic requirements of being a super cop. Such as being of sound mind and body. Or having enough compensating capabilities to offset any deficiencies they might otherwise suffer from. Such as an erratic personality.
dabblers power level comes more from her sheer array of abilities, rather than one singular amazing power. as such, she’s the kind to struggle against folks who are excelent at one thing. pluss, all her shown big guns are a bit too big for a group fight. nothing more embarasing that blasting your own team to pieces
plus, for all we know HS is a heavy hitter at paragon level
To support that, she was acting as a leader. In an organised force, you have a defined hierarchy, which is respected due to discipline and training. This lot clearly are not operating in that way. In a disorganised force, typically the strongest will lead. And none of the villains were openly ridiculing or mocking her orders. So we can infer that she is powerful enough to have earnt that respect.
So I’m going to guess that Dabbler isn’t giving it her best in this fight.
Or wasn’t, up until now.
She hasn’t used any gadgets yet, and presumably, Stick Girl isn’t awere she has 2 extra arms.
So my guess is the public is going to get their first look at Dabbler’s “Battle form”
Dabbler is trying to follow Max’s order to keep it non-lethal. Which means she may whip out a stunner of some sort. Possibly in the sense you people are thinking too. (sheesh. get my mind out the gutter again)
Flashing her…assets…might provide a momentary stunning delay for the male members of the opposition (Presence attack: Secondary sexual characteristic), but probably not for HS. Not unless that’s the way she swings her sword, that is.
But a succubus’ boobs are literally hypnotic, right?
They affected Sydney when Dabbler wasn’t even trying to use her succubi powers.
My point exactly.
I think both points will prove to be very persuasive.
…& perky!
(…sorry… couldn’t resist the compulsion to complete the pun you’d set up)
And even affected ALL of the women in the conference room where Sydney was first interviewed…
Dabbler had it ramped up when she walked in. Mostly to irritate Max, who seems immune to her charms. Probably from repeated exposure.
No, I’m pritty sure it effected her
She was probably just pushing through the effect with sheer willpower, refusing to give in
Yea, I have always read it that way myself. Although she may benefit from some reduced effect, due to familiarity, even then.
Yes, we need to explore that ‘familiarity’ a lot more, in full glorious Sucu-Vision :D
Dabbler need to Hammer space up her sword from then of course use the 2 other arms that are not seen atm, just to slap heaven…
Or just turn it up(the glamour) to 15 and make everyone one in the room a drooling mess….
She could pull up 3-4 weapons and go all Kali on her.
With a name live “heavenly sword” am i the only one who is suspecting a paladin type here? “Supers are evil by their very nature & must be purged with holy smiting” kind of thing?
Or shes just a fan of an obscure Xbox 360 game
I thought it was a PS3 exclusive…
Definitely a PS3 exclusive with really schizophrenic game play, and enemy AI that is either Artificial Stupidity, or The Computer is a Cheating Bastard.
my mistake then :)
It’s been my experience in a LOT of different games, that it’s lazy programmers are the “Cheating Bastards” because they’re too obvious with the cheats they give the boss instead of any actual tactical programming.
Cleavage attack! Soon fans will speculate that Dabbler can pop out a boob or prevent it as she wants.
…meaning it IS intentionally getting them horny if it does pop out. What more can a guy want?
Say what Heavenly Sword? YOU are the one with the cleavage attack? Sure.
And that …cleaving sword attack is nice too. Can’t wait to see the molestorb grab her, tho.
Looks like she doesn’t cares much for her fallen ‘teammates’
She didn’t actually hit them though
Dabbler better count her limbs. She is going to get a reputation for being careless if she looses any more!
When Halo said she was “I’m sick of this”, I was half expecting her to go on the rampage. Especially as Dabbler was predicting getting a ten kill head-start imminently.
Same here
I like how Halo helped Dabs by getting her to show her power.
Dabbler’s reply to Halo might be “Please stop helping.”
On the contrary, provoking her to revealing her power in an open display, beats being killed in a surprise attack.
I agree. Superpowers and special techniques are most dangerous when they’re unknown and surprising. It’s the attack you don’t know is coming that is most likely to get you.
For intelligence and tactical purposes, even if it wasn’t what Halo intended, she just did Archon a huge favor here by asking the villains to declare themselves.
Like thinking you know where your opponents limbs are, and suddenly getting grabed by invisible arms?
Yeah I thought that too, seems Halo has a flair for tactics over and above what you might expect of a newbie… looking forward to seeing where this goes. :-)
Maybe it’s all the tabletop gaming she does?
Thinking outside the box opens up new, interesting, and rewarding outcomes in gaming sessions, she could be applying a little bit of “RPing” to help out friends who just seem interested in combat (dice rolling)…
Sometimes you have to use ‘Bugs Bunny’ logic on an opponent. One time in a DnD type campaign the party found an interesting Arabian-style bottle and someone said ‘see what’s inside!’ Out popped a huge genie who immediately declared he was going to wipe out the fools who dared disturb him. The conversation basically went:
– Wait, you’re saying you came out of that bottle?
– Yes I did. I am an all-powerful genie!
– There is no way you could fit in there. You must have jumped out out hiding during that puff of smoke.
– You dare doubt my word!
– You are way too big for that. Prove you can fit in there.
– (Genie turns to smoke and swirls into the bottle)
– (party member slams stopper back into the top)
That’s classic logic, all right. I believe it’s one of the earliest jinn solutions, and it comes up again and again.
I loved the variant they came up with for the cartoon movie Aladdin, starring Robin Williams as the djinni. It incorporated the ‘wishing for unlimited wishes’ abuse, with the classic solution, but in a simple, clever trick. Ending up with the djinni’s awesome line (paraphrasing):
“Great cosmic powers… itty bitty living space.”
I love the comic,
For people that are curious as to the martial arts information I thought I’d post this information up.
To hold a shinai in Kenjutsu or Kendo left hand at the end of the hilt and right hand at the top of the hilt
Also the only time you’ bring your sword that far back is to block a blade not to swing the sword unless your doing the Korean sword (Haidong Gumdo) martial art (not very practical)
Could be Heavenly sword needs to bring the blade that far backwards to activate their power? No idea.
She’s showing off. Dabbler thought she was out of range and got a big surprise.
She MAY know a little Katori-Ryu. A typical motion in their kata brings the blade that far back. But then again maybe not, in panel four she took her hand off the shinai. Big no no.
Also, her hands are too close together in panel one…and…I’ll see myself out, I’m nitpicking blue curtains…
or she’s mixing sword styles with a little improve from her own special powers forcing her to do what is normally no nos
It’s a deception move. Because the blade is behind her back when the energy sword forms, Dabbler can’t see how much longer it becomes until the forward strike is in motion.
So while the basic sword-form may not call for such an absurd back-swing, HS has modified her style to include the use of her powers, which means she found a better patch of woods to train in than Sydney did.
She claims to be a top tier swordswoman. Its likely that she hasn’t restricted herself to just Kendo, despite her choice of weapon. Although some of the western forms might give issues when using her power: half-swording or mordhau would not be recommended. :-)
Unless the weapon itself is the source of her powers or the only focus that she can use, it might imply that she does have some form of moral code. It gives her a non-lethal option rather than using a weapon that is deadly even when she isn’t using her power.
Meh, not just when using her power. Half-swording was done with blades which were not sharpened all the way to the hilt (ricasso). Which made sense for more than one reason. First, no issues grabbing the blade even if you’re not wearing protective gloves. Second, you aren’t doing a lot of cutting with the first foot (from the hilt) of just about any sword, and arguably even less the longer the blade gets. Third, the technique relies on thrusts, which don’t care if the blade is sharp along the entire length.
Is that a load bearing beam in the ceiling that she just sliced?
Mmm, interesting. Dabbler could end up with “nul points”. And Halo might need to do a bit of rescue digging with her tentacle.
Given the way she started that swing she cut the room (or the whole restaurant) in half.
It is rather likely she hit something weight bearing.
Hm, never thought of that. This could be a big problem seeing as how ARCLight is on the roof. I would be very disappointed to find Leon ending up as accidental collateral damage.
DaveB mentioned, in a comment reply, that they are not on the roof immediately above here. * One of the flyers on the team gave them a short lift to a section of roof further down the complex. Close, but not in the thick of the action.
If we get any external views shortly, I imagine there will be a clarifying shot. But, from the last thing we saw, they are in a quiet spot, and being magically concealed and physically guarded.
* Which is consistent with what we did see. You will recall that there were villains standing there previously. Who were not present in the area that Arc Light were operating.
She must be popular with her team. It looks like her act could really bring down the house!
Well, Now!
Another possible strong One. Be ready, Dabbler!
The glowing power sword thing was also done by Silver Samurai. One of those pathos heroes.
I know it’s not canon, but Dabbler could effectively end this fight using the Sticky Air spell.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/846
It might be cannon, you can never be sure with those ministrips
However, we DO know that Dabbler beat Math using magic. So she has something LIKE sticky air
Heavenly Sword is definetly NOT a ‘stick girl’. Kind of a wierd name for a villain tho.
It’s because she is fighting with a stick.
Took me a few reads to get it, too.
She’s a stick with bewbs
Mmm. Ok there are what appear to be a couple of continuity errors, but I think it may just be down to the fight moving around the room a lot. Although none of the panels really imply mobility (swordwork yes, but not footwork), so it can lead to confused interpretation, one way or the other.
Panel 1 the door is to the right of the wooden beam. Final panel it is to the left.
Panel 1 Dabbler and Heavenly Sword are in close proximity. Final panel, they are on opposite sides of the room.
In fact, looking at the reverse angle shot, pointing at Heavenly Sword, in panel 3, she looks to be standing where Dabbler was a moment before.
Actually, one thing that does imply rapid rotation, is the blurring of the pillar in panel 4. But, if Heavenly Sword was spinning, she would also have to be sliding backwards, whilst Dabbler was running around the room?
I think that meant that she was facing Sydney, but quickly turned around to strike at Dabbler with her power
Damit, I have mis-typed, by mixing up my tenses. My final paragraph should have read as follows:
Sorry about confusing things even more.
There’s enough intervening scenes for either/both fighters to have broken away for more room. Possibly Dabbler taking that option when HS brought her shinai up to her shoulder to chat.
I admit my architectural skills leave a little to be desired, but there are 3 separate doors in the room. One is the staff entrance from the kitchen, where the staff was hanging out when this scene started. That was off to Maxima’s left from where she was sitting. To her right is the bathroom hallway, that’s the red one, and on the wall opposite Max, on the right side is the entrance to that room that leads to the rest of the restaurant, which is where Sydney dragged Peggy, Goth Harem and Peggy earlier.
Of course the problem with that layout is that everyone has to go tromping through the private room to get to the restroom… Though I guess the bathroom hallway could connect to the rest of the restaurant via the door in the back. Still that makes for an awkward layout, but whatever, this place is due for a remodel.
Ahh, thanks for that. I had not considered that there might be three doors involved. I guess that two of them are on the same wall, nearest to Dabbler. So, if I am following it right now, she just dived, from near to the first door,* remaining parallel to that wall, to her final location, past the next door.
Meanwhile Heavenly Sword simply backed up, whilst speaking. A fairly normal tactic for sword fighters to do, if not wanting to risk an attack from an opponent, whilst distracted by conversation. One which would seem foolish in a swordswoman versus a possible ranged attacker. But, of course, we now can see that range is not a problem for her, and may even have been necessary to give her the room to invoke the effect.
Of course, I should have spotted that the corridor, beyond the door behind Heavenly, is completely different. I imagine one of the two other doors probably has a “Staff only” or “Private sign” on it. But both doorways are open, and therefore we would not be able to see that, to distinguish one from the other.
* Which, in the final panel, would be just out of sight, to the left of Halo, but on the wall facing us.
So is Sydney’s statement underneath the comic an assertion or a dismissal? As in, she fell for it “like she reads comics from the ’60s.” or as a dismissive, “Like she reads comics from the ’60s.”, indicating that Heavenly Sword would never read 1960s comics.
I took it as being the latter. Corroborated, I feel, by DaveB‘s comment
Sydney knows she was stretching the truth, but figured she would get away with it.
Read it as dismissive. Because she has only HEARD about the “silver age” she could be conned into giving more information than even comic book villains did in the 60’s.
I wonder how Vale (https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/797) would do against Heavenly Sword. HS’s Energy Blade is serious stuff, but I figure a fighter skilled in evasion and with equal attack ability could take her.
I’m detecting a heavy dose of the CoH veteran in HS’s costume.
Next page,
KeyholeHeavenly Sword doubles over, grabbing her gut, after she gets punched by one of Dabbler’s invisible arms. Also, way to go, throwing away all that energy on a mere demo. She didn’t even hit anything other than the wall and ceiling. Oh, well. More for the insurance adjuster to say “And what exactly happened here? Is that covered? Oh boy!”If she can cause the building to fall on Dabbles, then that means she can move on to Bubble Girl and whack the Pinata
I think we have officially reached the ‘bulldoze and start over’ level of damage. Anyone know how that would adjust the claim?
Provided the proximate cause is covered*, it should not make much difference, other than to the size of the cheque that gets written out. Business insurance can get very complicated though, depending on what options the company chose, and any restrictions placed on it. Certain versions can leave the owners out of pocket, in such circumstances. But if they chose to have less than full cover, then it is a risk that the owners took knowingly, in order to reduce their premiums.
Plus weird shit happens if the buildings are either under or over insured. Counter-intuitively the customer gets paid proportionately less in either situation. Always make sure that your property is insured as accurately as you possibly can get it. And adjust it periodically, if the value changes. The insurance company will not care if you guess it wrong. It is you who will suffer, not them.
* If this attack is deemed to be an act of terrorism, or even an act of war, then it may well be excluded from the insurance. And, of course, the business may simply not be insured.
Actually, I could see a situation where a smart insurance company would cover them regardless.
Think about it here- there’s an opportunity for a brand new type of insurance alltogether! Super Insurance! Or at least a new clause. This, being the first building demolished by a major Super fight (aside from Mosques in War) could easily be a “See! That happened to them, it could happen to you! Buy ACME Super Insurance today!” opportunity.
You are right that the company may settle even if it is not covered by the contract, simply for publicity purposes. But if they wanted to encourage the purchase of a new class of insurance, then it would go the opposite way to what you are suggesting. The company would want to create a climate of fear, not complacency.
Your course would result in the public thinking “it does not matter if our house gets smashed by supers, the insurance companies pay out anyhow”. People only tend to read the headlines, which would be “insurance company pays out.” So many would not pay attention to the small-print went on to say “But they deny liability and encourage the public to buy a new type of insurance”.
Whereas if there had been a lot of publicity about how the claim was denied perfectly legally because attack by super powers was excluded * then it would avoid the very significant costs of a public awareness advertising campaign. There would be huge controversy over the perceived injustice and it would get acres more coverage. than the simple ‘insurance company does a good deed’ piece at the bottom of page 14.
Worse, it could also be considered to set precedent, if they settled. Courts may insist that subsequent claims elsewhere follow the principles established in this case. And, trust me, insurance companies are very very averse to establishing such precedent.
* One other clause that springs to mind would be the one originally intended to stop insurance in the event of nuclear war. Which subsequently got expanded to include a deliberately vague catch-all phrase to cover all weapons of mass destruction. Worded ambiguously enough that it would almost certainly include Maxima level explosions or other catastrophically destructive super powers.
The other interesting thing about it is that, because it had its origins in the cold war, it is an extremely harsh clause. If there is any hostile detonation/use of such a device anywhere in the world, then the insurance is instantly cancelled. Ie not only would the property here not be covered, nor would someone’s house in France or a business in Australia. In fact, it is even worse than that, their insurance would not cover anything. Because it is not an exclusion, the entire policy becomes null and void.
That was sensible, if you were expecting world war III (or presumably some kind of limited scenario), in that there would be a lot of unpredictable side-effects that had nothing to do directly with the force of the explosion. Drifting radioactivity, climate change due to dust in the upper atmosphere, disease spread through all the dead bodies, the breakdown of society, etc etc.
But in this case, insurance companies world wide would probably invoke the clause. They would be afraid that super battles could cause catastrophic levels of loss anywhere in the world. So tomorrow morning, one of the headlines everywhere would be “Insurance cancelled world-wide, insurers refusing to re-instate cover, unless extra super insurance is bought”.
If you think that line of argument is implausible, check the exclusions on your own insurance. You may well have have just such a clause in it. If Pakistan or India deploy a single, small, tactical nuke against each other, your insurance instantly becomes invalid.
Even if the insurance company recognizes their legal liability for the claim, they do have a cut-off point to decide. It’s that point when repair would actually cost more than to replace. Massive structural damage & wrecking of the load-bearing structure has probably crossed that threshold already.
Nooooo, if you have a ranged ‘swiping’ combat ability you must always use it HORIZONTALLY (unless there is a very specific reason to deviate). Now you conveniently missed and failed to suprise and/or finish your opponent. Also preventing us from gauging your strength vs Sydneys or Dabblers shielding abilities.
Villians are SO disrespectful to their trade and audience these days.
Agreed.
One tactical counterpoint to consider though, as Heavenly Sword obviously thinks of herself a leader, is that there are a lot more villains beyond those walls. If her power is as strong as it looks, it could take out half her team that way. Plus would risk destabilising the entire ceiling above, rather than just the bit above Dabbler and Halo. Putting herself at risk too.
Point taken, horizontal attacks require either expert control of where the swipe starts and ends, or wide open spaces with targets all around (and lacking ‘don’t break this’-objects).
Still, failing to hit your opponent with the first strike of your super-suprise-destructive-ability is a cliche failure. Heavenly ‘missed-me!’ Sword. It could have hit Halo’s Uber-shield without giving anything away, and it would have added to her being considered a villain. Killing (attempting to kill) the intern-recruit-nerdy-girl who had the audacity to speak to Heavenly Sword Senpai, rudely interrupting a duel.
Heavenly Sword Sama*
I’m wondering if H.S. hit just what she wanted to hit. Dropping whatever is left of the roof on Dabbler will at least slow her down. Then she targets Halo.
She may go in for the kill on Dabbler while Dabbler’s defending against/distracted by falling roof-parts.
It looks like she is doing a diagonal slice, though, combining aspects of both vertical and horizontal, AND destabilising the building even more than a purely vertical slice would. Maybe she has a method to her madness?
It looks like her ability HAS to be vertical, adding the momentum of the “sword’s” weight to her strike. Besides, it looks like Dabbler’s shield is affected by SOMETHING from the strike, as it’s extended from floor to ceiling in response.
From what Dave’s said Dabbler’s shield doesn’t change size. It’s an actual shield, not a “force field” (It’s why Dabbler’s defense score is weaker that Sydney’s, even though her shield maybe almost as strong, it doesn’t cover anywhere near the area.
I’ve clearly spent too long in corporate environments – my first thought was “why is Dabbler shouting out ‘Europe, Africa and Latin America’?”
Sydney is getting slow. I suggested the “villains announce themselves and their powers” thing something like 2 pages ago.
And it really isn’t all that uncommon, no matter what the age of comics is under discussion.
What happened to Sidney’s injuries? Two pages ago she had a giant bruise and slight bleeding, and here she’s fine.
Easter egg!
Or else she listened and found out that one of her orbs has healing powers.
Hmph. I bet Sydney only likes Stick Girl’s name because they’re both named after video games.
Hmm, do I detect Xenoblade Chronicles inspiration for HS? More specifically the Monado?
Energy forms aren’t unique to Xenoblade Chronicles at all. The game gets seriously overrated in terms of originality. Even the idea of changing something’s shape with the mind/heart isn’t exactly original as Keyblades in Kingdom Hearts, and multi-weapons in .Hack Roots can be far more drastic in their changes or differences. The energy form itself resembles the Buster Blade from Final Fantasy VII, and the blast is reminiscent of Cloud’s in Advent Children.
I didn’t mean it that way, sorry. XC is just the only game I’ve played that has a sword like that.
I like the suggestion her attack continues on..note the dust cloud in the next room, visible through the open door. Nice detail.
And thus she was nicknamed “Heavenly Keyhole” and guys suddenly wanted to be locksmiths.
you’re reminding me of the time my brother and I introduced our younger sister to Record of Lodoss War TV…
Sister: So she’s the gate and they need the key to open her.
Me: Two keys.
Sister: Hmm, maybe she has two keyholes?
Me: Or they’re very small keys.
Brother: Would you two stop that!
Any sword-like object? Bait her with a chainsaw if she switches sides.
I just want to see if she can use one of those tiny plastic swords you find in drinks…
He he. I could just imagine her escaping from prison by slicing open the cell door, using nothing more than a plastic knife or a twig.
“Behold! The true power of this spork!”
It is fully armed and operational!
I am forcibly reminded of this comic now.
They take every thing sword like away from her so she waits till her socks gets so crusty it can stand up by itself and molds it into a vaguely sword like piece of dried sweat!
(I wanted to do a joke about her slicing up people by using her power to weaponize a tampon but chickened out… )
a panties and stockings reference (two angels cast to earth for “issues” that convert the clothing they are named for into weapons to defeat monsters) panty turns her underwear to a gun and stockings makes swords out of her socks.