Grrl Power #220 – Bondage to go
Oh noes, is this the end for Silent Shadow/Mach the Knife? Let’s face it that what Archon is going to wind up calling him since he never declared his name. We’ll see if that keeps him down.
Dabbler’s grasp of technobabble is pretty good considering the holes in her vocabulary. I’ll just say once she had a baseline in English down, she boned up on her science and math terms.
I have to be careful with Dabbler’s gadgets. She’s been adventuring around for a while and she has a lot of toys, but I don’t want to give her a gadget for every situation, a sort of Deus ex Gadgeta situation. Really, those little bondage pods would be quite effective against many of the villains at the battle now. The easiest excuse is to say she gets really focused on building the gadget itself, but bored when it comes to making the ammo, so she usually only has 2-3 shots for anything.
Here’s an entirely NSFW thing for you guys (though the page defaults to a SFW mode at first). Someone has made a kickstarter for adult stuff, and Fred Perry is using it to try and fund a naughty tactics game. Basically if you like Final Fantasy Tactics but wish it had naughty interstitials, then this is probably worth checking out. The site is called Offbeatr, make what you will of that, but their set up is a little different. Projects posted there have to be voted on before they can enter the funding stage, I assume as a way to gauge interest and elevate the cream so to speak. So here’s the link, like I said, NSFW. Tactics Elemental.
I’m at A-kon starting today. The con isn’t open till Friday but I volunteer and help transport guests and stuff, so I’m not sure how much internet access I’ll have before Sunday. I have a Friday panel at 2:30, Humor-Based Webcomics 1: Humor in Story. In case you can’t make it, I’ll be wearing a Grrl Power shirt, (at least on Friday) and I’ll probably be hanging around for some of the other webcomic panels, and I’ll wander by the Antarctic Press table quite a few times. It would be cool to have a meetup for lunch or dinner one night with people. I’m not sure how to organize that. Best I can figure is to post updates to Twitter, and here on the page during the con.
The Gynostar saga continues, but Rebecca’s taking the reigns back. We discussed how the story would resolve after my contribution was over but I’m still eager to see her take on it.
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I may have laughed a little too hard at the Mach the Night joke…
The knife…* Good lord, my first post ever and I typo it. -_- Should not be writing at the end of the work day, it seems…
It is best to try and come out of the shadows in the day, rather than at night, true enough. But you timed it well enough to be noticed. Welcome to the community. :-)
I always thought my handwriting was incoherent. Then I started typing comments. I not only mistype letters, I’ve dropped words and even phrases. Most sites, I can bury my mistakes. Here they are immortalized.
I alway blame my keyboard. Nothing wrong with my typing skills, but my keyboard is dyslectic.
Ah, what’s a few typos among friends? It happens, evn to the best ov us.
I never missspell anything.
Well, if you’re a guy, you would have to misterspell them.
Yes, you can spell ‘anything’, but what about ‘everything else’?
∞
I blame and execute a clone
Just don’t make it a Dabblerganger.
Dabblegangers are NOT for executing
i think that ideal about ammo would work well plus cost of materials
The cost-of-ammo bit was one of the things I enjoyed about Outlaw Star. When the series ends dude’s spending all his cash AND calling in favors, just to afford the bullets for the boss fights.
A tractor beam
Now that’s brilliant for a bullet
You can lose any form of sensor tracking with the right counter measure. But this ups the ante. And making sure it stays just out of weapon range when it goes off is brilliant.
So, is Dabbler telling SS about the projectile that’s following him?
First rule of superheroing – never explain your powers to the bad guys!
Except if it is part of a trick. Dabbler is showing that she can be… flexible… in how much truth she embeds into a statement.
And in pretty much any other situation, hm?
and also how much you give of it at a time
I would explain my partners to the supervillains. Mind you, I’d give the WRONG explanation, but I’d still give it.
Let the super-brains among them go nuts trying to figure out why they can’t make my explanation work. Because, of course, super-heroes would NEVER lie….
If they have super-brains among them they would throw yours out as junk. Otherwise they are as gullible as the next person.
Just because they are ‘Super-Brains’ does not mean they are smart, just look at Shelly Cooper
Yup and psyched him right into doing what he ought not have done. Turn and attack the projectile. That’s one for Dabbler. And she knocked HS on her pert butt.
Look like Math and Jabbs are gonna dance all night.
And in the last panel, she has a second round addressed to HS.
First Rule of Running Away – Never turn and fight what is chasing you. Keep putting things in its way, and if possible try to destroy it while still running away by either shooting it, throwing things at it, or getting it to go after something else.
That is why you keep a kid sidekick around. Easy to throw and wearing a brightly colored costume to distract pursuers.
In his case he could have thrown one of his knifes.
They are also easier to carry than a sidekick.
Ha had a chance to and didn’t in panels five and six. Maybe he is not a knife thrower. It is not always part of a knife user’s skill set.
But, he did throw a knife at poor Brooke’s toes
that was a case of “leaving it in the body” after he slashed.
Considering how high she was, he can also jump real high
Speedsters can typically jump quite well as part of the standard speedster set, just put a bit of that momentum into a leap.
Or consider where the knife ended up, if it was thrown. Subpar ranged skill.
AKA Rincewind’s law (or a variation thereof).
Lao Tzu talked about destroying your enemy without fighting them directly. Only if you like to risk your neck in a direct confrontation do you do so.
Oh and to a previous question on what kind of super powers I would want if I could choose? Ghost powers of course. “Danny Phantom” kind. I would like to be a halfling. Living ghost. I have at least one occult/soldier who had been made that way. Experiments in Republic of Brittany, at the Priory of Royston Vasey.
See, my question is, why did HS try to block the strike from somebody who is obviously so much stronger than she is? Why not just dodge, deflect, or parry? Just a straight block matches strength and mass versus strength and mass, and Dabbler obviously has the edge in strength, and probably at least a slight advantage in mass (because she has extra arms).
there’s usually a point where you might not have a chance to angle the blade for a proper parry (and a BAD parry can be almost as bad as standing there with your thumb up your tukkus) and have no choice but to take the shot and hope something doesn’t give.
My guess is she didn’t expect Dabbler to strike out like that.
To late to parry, just in time to block it
I think we are seeing the last move in an all-out attack. One of the Dabbles turned out to be real and caught HS by surprise.
I wonder what sort of parties she goes to.
And where i can get an invite from.
What kind of parties do you expect a Succubus to get invitations for?
I’d expect the sort of party she was invited to matters less than you’d think with regards to what sort of party it ends up being once she’s arrived.
DocSavage
June 5, 2014 at 7:43 am | Reply
What kind of parties do you expect a Succubus to get invitations for?
Succubi and Incubi go where ever they want. Invitations are not needed for them to feed. And I wonder how ARC feeds Dabbler?
I have a rather good idea of what kinds of parties she uses that gun form.
Invite? We don’t need no stinking invite. Those are the sort of parties you simply crash if you want to go badly enough.
Gentle being, I am a person with maners and tact, so I do not go to partoes uninvifed.
Unless I am positive thaat no questions will be asked.
“Ka-Boomo”.
Damn clones.
The kind of parties where things that automatically bind and gag people (even people who are running away at super-human speeds) are welcome.
Well, tensile strength and resistance to being cut (for which I do not know a fance name) are two different things, so, in theory, a thing that can be used to tow asteroids could still be cut quite easily (I stress – in theory!), but the way he seems to be bound, he would have to move first. And that’s where the tensile strength comes in, I’d guess.
The term you’re looking for is shear strength.
Panel seven. He has a knife edge-outward against a couple of the strands. No sign of being able to cut them. He’s stuck for a while.
Cutting resistance is a combination of shear strength, elasticity, and hardness. High shear strength is harder to cut, high elasticity is harder to cut, and high hardness is harder to cut. Paper has mediocre shear strength, almost no elasticity and very low hardness, thus easy to cut. Steel not so much. Diamonds can be cut because they have no elasticity and at certain locations on the atomic structure they have little shear strength.
Lasers and plasma cutters work entirely differently though and for those the only thing that matters is how much heat it can take.
There is another stat called toughness. Some metals and alloys are extremely tough and stand up to cutting, drilling or working. K-Monel is one such alloy.
Isn’t toughness a combination of elasticity, shear strength, and hardness when you get down to it though?
k-monel isn’t particularly hard but it is hard to work. Steel can be very hard but can be worked fairly easily given modern methods. While hardness is a factor in toughness it doesn’t define it nor do the others.
But wouldn’t anything with a high tensile strength have SOME degree of resistance to cutting? I mean, there wouldn’t be much point to it otherwise, right?
Bamboo is a good example of what you are referring to.
Spider webs…
The way I see it, anything that could theoretically be used as a tow cable in space needs to have a resistance to tearing/cutting/etc that can stand up to mico-meteors or other space debris that are often undetectable and move incredibly fast. If not, you could suddenly find yourself towing a severed strap, being chased down by an object moving with whatever momentum you already imparted on it.
Correct me if I’m wrong (i probably am. -high-school physics only) Since most asteroids are in a zero g environment they should be tow-able by shoestring or spider webs. As long as your only pulling VERY gently.
Mass and Weight are two VERY different things (which use the same measurements) in a Zero-G environment. While your right that it would “Weigh” nothing it can still have a MASS in the millions of tons.
It would still be possible, you would just have to accelerate EXTREMELY slowly. It would be a long time before you were perceptibly moving.
Correct. Since there is no air/gravity/friction in space (well, there IS, but it is so minimal as to be irrelevant), you don’t need to overcome THOSE forces, but you still need to overcome that pesky law of physics that states “objects at rest are lazy and won’t move unless you make them” (paraphrased slightly). So while you could, theoretically, move a gigantic chuck of space rock by throwing skittles at it for a few decades, it is much more efficient to exert a larger force on it (like a tow-strap and spaceship), which would require that the tow-strap in question can ALSO survive being caught between a spaceship that wants to accelerate and an asteroid that does not. At least this is my understanding, please correct me if I have made an error here. :)
+1 (for the paraphrasing in particular)
In hypothesis at least. Unless Dabbler has proven it a theory supported by numerous tests. Probably a monomolecuelar edged blade could cut it, but then it could cut nearly any material. Carrying one would be a job but it could be done as well. Thousands of cilia could hold such a blade in place in a specially made scabbard. Manufacturing one is probable now.
Oh yea, that’s my kind of super girl. A controller. Not so much fun irl, I guess, but nice to have one of them on your side in a fight.
Do I detect a hint of City of Heroes in your background there? Controllers were my favorite type of cape to play, especially the gravity based ones. I switched to DDO for the root dungeon crawl feel and less macro-chaining-emote-people but I still go heavy into crowd control.
Nicely picked up on. :-D They were my absolute favourite archetype. Although I had a fairly even mix of genders for my characters, the controllers invariably ended up as girls. I just loved all the different ways they had of fighting. Be it force fields, entangling vines, summoning up storms, illusions and so many other powers. Plus I really loved my pets.
I considered master minds to just be pet-heavy controllers. And corruptors to be pet-poor ones, offset by good direct damage capability. And dominators were the control purists. There may have been other villain types, but who cares? :-D
I did play D&DO for quite a long time. But found the broken epic game to be… disappointing. Mind you the pen & paper version was no better, so I did rather expect that. Kind of lost interest once I saw that the end game was too flawed for my taste.*
* I phrase that carefully, because it is not my intent to pass judgement on it. I found the game to be very in depth and enjoyable. Loving the complexity of dungeons and some of the special events, like the pirate kobolds. And am sure it will still have long-term appeal for others.
It is just that the 20+ environment did not tickle my fancy. Plus it had some very entrenched attitudes, amongst the player community, because of the foibles forced on to them by the game mechanics, at that level. If I stick my head back in any time it will be to play some of the low and mid level content. Which I very much did enjoy.
I think Dabbler and Bad Penny (from the novel Don’t Tell My Parents I’m a Supervillain) would get along very well. Dabbler might be a better fighter than Penny, but they seem to be equally interesting in the ‘toys’ they create.
We’d just have to work on having Dabbler tone it down to PG levels since Penny is only 13.
In what world are teenage girls PG? Having experienced both my sisters going through that age I have to say that is when they are the LEAST PG.
Apparently you had some very….interesting sisters. I won’t say that they are strictly PG at that age normally, but I have personally met a couple of them that took a couple of years longer. Also, the book is written either as a Very Late Kids/Very Young Adults book, so Penny is admittedly a bitter more PG than most girls her age (she does have a best friend who from the sounds of it might almost have been able to teach your sisters a few things though, or at least the best friends mother most certainly could’ve and that mother wasn’t against a relatively ‘early’ education in certain respects). What I was getting at is that Dabbler would have to make a concious effort not to overload the poor girls mind.
Well most girls seem to go through a phase where they want to prove how “grown up” they are (boys do this to in other ways) so they adopt “adult” language and actions. This usually happens in the teen years. Sex is one of the various means to do this. It’s a common theme that many people have noticed. Some call it “acting out” or “rebelling against authority” but it is generally part of growing up. My sister weren’t unique but their language would make Sydney take notes.
From my understanding it typically starts a year or two later, instead of at 13, but there are instances of it starting sooner.
Bloody hell, dude, I hate you SO much right now. I checked out that book, and a whole weekend of critical odd jobs just got shot right out of the water.
In that case I won’t mention a great Omnibus by another author that just ruined most of the past week for me. Also, you’re welcome, for when you decide that it wasn’t that horrid of a thing to do to you after all.
I liked that book too. Very nice if you just want to fantasise about being a supervillain, and who doesn’t. Nothing truly evil, just a bit of harmless property damage and petty vengeance, nothing too serious.
But they’re some crazy steampunk candy themed tech. Yes, that is now a thing.
Was looking into that book. Worth the read for someone who enjoys stuff like “The Horns of Ruin” and “Leviathan”? Just how “Kid” leveled is it?
Well, apparently it’s a lot more PG than Gamesman’s sisters, but it has a solid story and good storytelling, which to me is more important than target audience (which is the 10 to 13 crowd). Also, the main char is the daughter of two very famous superheroes, and dreams of being a superhero herself, but thanks to trying to save a friend from a bad decision ends up getting labeled a supervillain instead. In many respects it has a lot of meta stuff that’s almost more adult level awareness than kid, but then again I remember from my own teen years that half of the problem was trying to confront such stuff without any decent ‘help’ from others.
The bondage pod for certain parties. So far, so good, so dead from laughter.
I wonder with whom she made out before though, if those ribbon bonds needed to be strong enough to tow asteroids. This oversized demon, the firepit dude, she faught in the past ?
I love Dabbler’s ear twitch in the last panel. Listening to HS charging her from behind. I think Dabbler is finally getting focused on the fight. She has pocketed her ego for now and ready to start the action. The current events show she could have defeated Heavenly Sword a lot sooner if she had taken things seriously.
Yeah, she’s had her fun (well, tried it Heaven’s way, and lost), now she is getting down to serious business and ending Heaven’s fun for the night
She has not quite lost her ego yet. Dabbler is clearly counting her chickens before they have hatched. I suspect that Heavenly will not go down as easily as she is anticipating.
Yeah that energy blade might be able to cut the strands. Or a fast extension of the blade length cut down the projectile before it pops. Of course is Dabbs designed it as an anti-speedster weapon, it might beat HS’ reflexes and wrap up the fight.
The energy cut through brick with no apparent resistance, so I would agree it is quite possible for it to cut the strands. Or it could shape-change and “eat” them
Cutting the strands with something that shreds a wall might also leave SS in multiple pieces too.
Oh, I was referring to Heavenly Sword defending herself from getting wrapped up. Rescuing Shadow might be a moot point considering the chaotic actions of his “allies”. He’s on his own to get out of those wrappings.
On the other hand transforming the blade into a hook shape with a flat base could safely shear through the strands. Assuming it can cut them at all.
I still think that Sydney had a more… definitive solution to the problem, a non zero point shrinking semi-permeable force field. Notice how Syd’s force field won’t overload even to Max’s well… max? Try applying that to a person. Just shrink the force field slowly, and not even a speedster can get free. If that force field can stand Max’s… max punch, then it can exert enough force to turn a metahuman into a blob of meat and crushed bones. Or, if you want to be more humane, stop just after breaking every single mayor bone in their bodies.
Heatwave also could have dealt with the speedster quite easilly. Just pump enough heat to liquify the floor. Any speedster is bound to slow down a LOT with their feet covered in barely liquid cement. This application could also be used, at the same time, to repair the pavement.
Harem, also, could have managed SS. I mean, you keep 1 harem as watchout, and have the other 4 teleport with wire, and a high power battery. Teleportation is still faster than any speed, technically, and that level of coordination means the speedster in question wouldn’t be able to react fast enough. Harem’s electro cage would take 0 seconds, as it could be set up in just a sigle quadruple teleportation.
So, while speedsters ARE powerful, we have a team in which every single member is able to take them out. (Dabbler’s way already shown, and max can just max her speed, so yeah)
Have to remember: it has not been stated yet whether or not Sydney can form her Bubble without her inside of it
Actually it has, Dave B confirmed that she needs to be in the force field when forming it.
Though with all of those upgrades available on the tree?
Believe it or not, actually irrelevant, thanks to the fact that Sydney is very small. And can fly. She could just fly upwards inside her bubble, and make it thin enough to barely contain her, and that’d be more than enough to crush 90% of her enemies.
Constrict? Yup, but actually crush?
Maybe.
We know it can be resized and reshaped, but not the full extents of the reshaping (proportions etc)
I think we’ll have to wait for confirmation.
‘Crushing’ suggests a physical force from the forcefield, and there is no indication that the field can do anything more than be up and act as a barrier. It seems to have no physical force of it’s own (as you’d expect from a barrier).
This all refers to the very few strips and Sydney lawyering that RPG. You know, since it’s transparent, it let’s light attack pass, and so on.That suggests that “traditional” conventions of powers don’t exactly apply in this universe. In the marvelverse a forcefield will stop lasers, regardless of them being transparent, So obviously this is an universe where powers aren’t “magical” but follow a set of physical principles. So, if it stops matter, it follows that it exerts at least, the same exact force that’s being applied to it. Same principle. So if you make it tight enough, the body is exerting force outside, and the shield is sending that force back to the body.
Now, since Sydney is thiner than SS, that means that the shield would be crushing SS before it was an annoyance to Sydney, at least enough to break SS’s ribcage. And since she can fly, she could be 20 feet over him, with her forcefield being almost a cilinder at that point.
My initial post wasn’t about if they WOULD do it. For instance, I don’t think Sydney would do that. She’s not that cold blooded, at least at this point. And I doubt heatwave would think about melting the floor, considering she’s “slow in the uptake”. My point is that they COULD do it.
1) We have yet to see that her rules-lawyering actually applies to her. There are many cases where the rules of a game allow things to work differently than in real life.
2) We have never seen her shield create anything but an ovoid. Crushing someone in an ovoid would require crushing it to the center, and if she has to be in it that would mean crushing herself.
3) Crushing something and resisting outside force are different things, and require different forms of strength. The ability to do one doesn’t imply the ability to do the other.
4) All of this disregards the hardest part of dealing with a speedster: Catching him in the first place. Yes, if Sydney can get him to stand still long enough to get close and target him she can deal with him using one of her orbs – but at that point she’s got lots of choices, and has already done the hard part.
5) Super speed stabber inside Sydney’s shield = skewered Sydney.
Her sparring match against Math highlighted that Halo is totally vulnerable, to a capable attacker, if she cannot interpose her shield. Even if he is a fairly indifferent shot with his knives, he will be able to impart plenty enough velocity, to reach up high enough to hit her flying. Plus could just keep throwing until one struck home. Picking up any that missed and fell down. So fast that she would not be able to counter him.
I hope that Sydney obeys orders, if he does get out of being entangled.
I see your rapid fire knives and raise you a lighthook wall that systematically moves from syd’s side of the shield to SS’s side, allowing the crunch effect others often suggest be performed with a second shield bubble, this blocks attempts to throw things at syd and forces SS to a limited area of motion where darting end of the molestorb can do a tribute to naruto
Clever suggestion. And it could work. If Halo can be sure to raise the lightwall with no gaps. Because all it would take is one big enough for a knife to be thrown through, and she would be skewered. Likewise, unless she has practised this, she would be gambling her life in the hope that it retained its strength throughout, if spread out long enough to make such a wall.
We can assume that she has tested whether the lighthook would survive attack, by something as basic as as a knife. And it seems very likely that it could. Likewise it can hold three people and still be quite long. But does that strength reduce the longer the tentacle is stretched out? If it does, and forming the wall makes it too weak, the tentacle can simply be pulled out of the way, allowing an attack to be made.
And Sydney would lack the speed to be able to counter any attack. Without super speed herself, she could not even start to react, before he could kill her. Math showed just how easily that can be done, versus a someone lacking super-reactions.
Whilst Halo can stay safely behind the shield and pass the lighthook through it, I feel she is far wiser attempting your wall tactic that way, and trapping him in some pre-existing corner, than inviting him inside her invulnerable fortress. No point risking death, whilst she has other alternatives, that will give her a second chance, if she misjudges.
Unless you mean as a cylinder, all it will do is force Sydney and the villain to get way closer than Sydney possibly ever imagined (and we all have seen snippets of what goes on in her noggin)
Whereupon Sydney unleashes the deadly might of – Tongue Fu!
Has been stated, by DaveB, that Sydneys shield always forms with her as its center point. Always! So NO shrinking prison bubbles unless Syd wants to suicide, and I doubt the orbs safety cutouts will let her use them in that way.
I don’t think Sydney’s force field can damage objects. It can trap stuff inside. We know that from when she blasted the tank and trapped a bunch of dirt and debris inside the shield with herself. On the other hand, it extends down through the floor without doing any damage to it, and when she moves the force field doesn’t carve chunks out of it.
Maxima told Sydney that she’s never hit that shield with her full power. We don’t know yet if Maxima can pop that shield if she -really- wants to.
Why would Sydney use her only defense to grab someone at range and squeeze when she can do that with her Lighthook?
Actually, we do. at the press conference, Max and Syd went away before, because Max was stree testing Syd’s shield, in preparation for her demonstration. Sydney’s alive, so it’s quite obvious that it resisted that level of explosion Max set in motion at said press conference.
We do not know if Maxima can break Sydney’s shield. It has not been tested against Maxima’s full power.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1043
(This is right after they have finished testing Sydney’s shield.)
Sydney: There there Maxima, I’m sure you tried your best.
Maxima: Don’t be smug Sydney, that’s a short path to overconfidence.
Sydney: Sorry.
Maxima: Besides that wasn’t my best.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1157
(This is right after the explosion and Maxima’s “Terrify The World” speech)
Pink Haired Reporter: You couldn’t have figured a way to do that without going full power? How are we supposed to write about anything but this?
Maxima: Full power? Hah hah hah hah.
We… haven’t actually seen Sydney move the Bubble once she has set it in place (expand yes, move no)
She’s moved around a little inside the steakhouse.
We have. When flying to the range she was using the shield orb as a bubble against the wind.
That, wasn’t set in place, as in, partway through the ground/floor
We haen’t seen her move the bubble in the steakhouse, just that she was used the Molestorb through it
I say flying to the range. Not flying at the range.
Sydney was holding 2 orbs, flight and forcefield, going 400 without even noticing it due to the forcefield being up.
Need to engage my brain and should have done this earlier:
The Joy of Flight page #158
Yup. However, that may be a property of using the fly ball in conjunction with the shield, as opposed to being something that can be done intrinsically. Say by walking. The fly ball actually creates an area of anti-gravity, so we cannot assume that things are the same with and without it in hand.
So Guesticus is just saying that if the shield is raised whilst Halo is standing on the ground, different rules might apply. Part of it seems to go underground. If that ground is loose sand, then she may be able to simply fly off with it.
However, if it is passing through bedrock, concrete or other less flexible things, I doubt that the shield will be movable. But, that is not to say that Sydney cannot find a way around the problem, even without the Fly Ball. For instance, she could create the shield small enough so that it passes between her feet and the ground. And she can then have fun impersonating a hamster.
The point remains that you can never tell for sure what will happen when you try using a power in a new way. You can’t generalize because powers can work in completely different ways for different people. You can’t even use logic or base your guesses on the laws of physics, because super powers don’t always follow logical rules and most definitely violate the laws of physics all the time. All you can do is make educated guesses based on observing the way the power has worked in the past.
Sydney’s shield can pass through the ground without harming it. At least it can when she is flying. I don’t think she has remained in the exact same spot in the steakhouse since when she first raised her shield, but it is hard to tell for sure. My guess would be that she can walk around without tearing up the ground.
Based on how the shield interacts with the ground, I see no reason to believe that it could be used to crush things by shrinking while the things are inside it. I would bet that it works the same as how the shield interacts with the ground, and when the shield becomes too small to contain the item, the item simply passes through unharmed.
Until she actually tries it, only DaveB knows, and even he might not know until he decides to have her try it.
Sydney’s shield can pass through the ground without harming it. At least it can when she is flying.
Those are 2 seperate actions, we have not seen Sydney land with the Bubble up: does it sink into the ground forming a ‘dome’ like we usually see? or does it sit on the ground like hamster ball?
Fairly sure Sydney is still in the same spot next to the tables she had had been sitting at when the attack started
Indeed there are lots of options, so the shield may well be able to phase through solid objects. Until Sydney tries and fails, we will not know for certain. But we are getting to see enough clues to be able to make informed speculation. For instance sand not passing through the shield, implies that she will not be able to walk with the shield intersecting the ground.”Based on how the shield interacts with the ground, I see no reason to believe that it could be used to crush things by shrinking while the things are inside it.”I agree. But mainly on the grounds that it would be impractical, as she has to remain inside, and that we have no indication that the shield can apply any force,* or even actively change it’s shape at all. Every instance of it being a different size or shape can be accountable for that being the state it was erected in, as opposed to it being malleable once raised.
In fact we still do not know if the shield even does extend into the ground, forming a full sphere. As opposed to stopping at the surface, and thereby forming a hemisphere. Did Shadow Boxer hide, in the ground just below Halo, so was within the sphere, when it formed? Or would any phasing attacker always be able to attack Sydney, if she is standing on a flat surface?
It it does turn out that it can expand and contract whilst raised, there are a couple of points to consider. What happens with the air? If it is contracting, is the atmospheric pressure (or water pressure, if underwater), increasing dangerously? Conversely, would expanding the force field rapidly rapidly lower the air pressure. With respective risks of suffering the bends, or altitude sickness.**
The other point being that offensive use of the shield would be much more practical with opponents on the outside of the shield. That way Halo does not expose herself needlessly to any counter-attack. So bowling them over, by rapid expansion, or smashing out of some imprisoning power, would be much safer (and less icky) uses of that power, than crushing enemies.
* When the shield ‘expanded’ at the press demo, it was simply being activated in a larger size, rather than starting small and then growing bigger. We know that much, otherwise the press corps would have remained outside the shield.
** Or is air permeable, through the shield? Sydney suffered no symptoms of asphyxia on her flight, so that may be the case.
I like to think that such shields do not change size at all, they simply generate a new field of the selected size, simultaneously removing the old one.
If the shield has near 0 thickness then changing pressures wouldn’t be an issue.
way back in what ever issue it was I did ask if she could expand and contract her shield and how fast. If she can expand it she can use it to block doorways, corridors, etc, if she can expand it fast enough, then she can knock people out of the way, pin then against the walls, the floor or the ceiling, etc
When she stored all her orbs in her poster tube it proved to be immovable when taken beyond the length of her tether, it could also apply to her shield, turning her shield into an immovable object
Anything is possible, but there is no reason to believe it works that way.
The orbs and Sydney are linked. There is a limit to how far apart Sydney and the orbs can get. The Immobile Effect is only triggered, so far as we have seen, when an attempt is made to move the orbs away from Sydney past the range limit. Maxima tried to do this, and for all her considerable strength was unable to do so.
How then could she make her shield immobile? That effect happens when something tries to drag the orbs away from her. The range limit is much further away than her arm’s reach, and the orb’s powers only work when they are in her hands.
Don’t forget Peggy. With her mad shooting skills, she could probably clip his calf or something, even at speed.
Ammunition limitation is the proximity sensor. Move an object between you and it will activate on another target. If fast enough, perhaps even the shooter. Even if she keeps this gun it will probably be obsolete now since the surprise for it is gone.
No, don’t believe that to be the case, seeing how the cartridge locks on and tracks the target, anything that gets in between will just be ignore and it will either go around or through the obstacle
The proximity sensor will only deploy when it gets close enough to its intended target, not just something that gets too close
The cartridge follows him because its tied to him with a tractor beam,not because of any sensors.
Zack Tilly! The sensor is a proximity one: once it gets close enough it deploys
Except that again if the tractor beam is broken by another object between them the round fails. And we seem to be coming up with new ways for the ‘proximity sensor’ to never be fooled. If it can only hit one bio sign, can plow through or go around anything, and is infallible in its detonation. Then Arc-light will steal this just to replace the payload. Also seems to be an ultimate targeting system. I think the phrasing Dabbler uses show it to be simpler and thus eventually foiled. It also fits with her style. Come up with something then get bored or it gets old.
If Arc-Light even attempted to steal it, Dabbles would leave (a large smoking hole where ArchonHQ used to stand, and then return to the stars)
Consider the trigger mechanism as locked onto Shadow’s biosignature. Any number of unique characteristics that distinguish him for others and the background clutter. Pops the package only if he is in range. Since it is merely kinky, any hostage just gets wrapped up with him. Once the tractor beam is attached, it reels itself into range. No matter how fast he runs it will continue to close the distance. The only possible down side is energy supply for the tractor beam. If he’s fast enough, the round might run out of fuel trying to get close.
It really depends on what the tractor beam locks onto. If it is their specific tantric energy level, then that is going to be quite hard to fool.
Tractor beams, in most fiction, lock onto the physical mass of an object. As for the proximity sensor, it could be as simple as the tractor beam length. When the beam is short enough, pop.
sooo many bondage jokes to make right now
I can see how it would have appealed to a Succubus. And how it goes down well at her parties.
second servnig of ribbons please
yep knew she better change weapon for that fight. but wasn’t expecting the doubles to be fighting that strongly hehe
What is Dabs firing at HS in panel 4? Some sort of lightning?
Something to keep HS busy chopping at something besides Dabbler. While she takes out Shadow. So she was briefly fighting two opponents at once. At range, with a mix of magic and tech. Sorta like she is supposed to.
Possibly. Although it appears to be coming off her shield. So it could be another of Heavenly’s attacks, which has been blocked by Dabber, and bounced back.
A-kon! Whee! And this year I can attend the panel. Last year I didn’t head up and get my badge until after the panel. I’d love to scratch another web-comic artist I read off the list. :)
Bad kitty! No scratching Dave!
What action movie had a similar weapon? (Minus the tractor beam)
Some kind of bazooka launched net?
Running Man?
There was one in Alien vs Predator. And there are real net guns out there as well.
Can’t recall the name off hand, but it starred Tom Sellack (and his Moustache) and Gene Simmons, the bullets tracked its victims via their DNA
Yuck, I hope it is not the same movie, but you just reminded me of one that had cringe-worthy special effects. They were really awful. A guy with a steadycam ‘ran’ after the victim, so that you saw the shot from the bullet’s point of view. Except that the victims were kind of stumbling a lot, and turning around to look back. You were meant to feel their fear at being chased by homing bullets.
Except it all went so slowly, it made you wonder just how the bullets were staying in the air. Did they have little helicopter blades on top of the bullets, so that they could hover?
Versus a super-speeder, great idea. Especially with the twists Dave has added, via proximity sensors and entangling. But homing bullets filmed with lousy direction, relying on trip and fall scares, and a slow moving steadycam…. really really bad.
“Runaway” Although in that case the “Bullet” was actually a bullet-sized missile that locked on to a person’s unique heat signature.
Ah the memories …
Though “Runaway” was a “bad” movie (didn’t help Tom’s or Gene’s acting careers) … the idea that we would have robots in or everyday lives was tatalizing. Though looking back the robots in that movie were quite “primitve” when compared to some of the prototypes that are around now (and one featured in some later sci-fi movies)
Though Gene did have my favorite death scene ever in a movie … “Wanted dead or alive .. ” starting Rutger Hauer (1987 film) giving the one of the best one liners ever … “F..k the bounus …”
my fav line is from another Haur movie “Split Second”
“We Need BIGGER FU@%ING DUNS”
DOH! meant “GUNS”
Dakata dakata dakata
stupid clones
I love that line too. It plays so well at that moment.
It is a good line, but is just a rip off of “W-we need a bigger boat!” from Jaws, circa ’76
I never felt that was the case. But, even if it was inspired by that, the circumstances and implementation are very different. If you banned every scene, which had vague similarity to some earlier movie, you would get a vast amount of blank space on screen, any time you went to see a film.
That same kind of line appears in many different ways in many films. Either just before the hero upgrades his armament, or just after the big bad has made an appearance. It is how well it is done, in the context of the particular story, that matters. Not whether it is unique.
Besides which even outright homages and re-makes can often be more enjoyable than the original.
+1
Speaking of Great Lines inspired by a Great Line…
There is a line in the movie “The Matrix” that so much reminded me of the “We need BIGGER GUNS!” line.
Tank: What do you guys need, besides a miracle?
Neo: Guns. -Lots- of guns.
Yup. The scene at the airport where they capture the hero features a gizmo that launches a weighted net.
Those are real, by the way. Want to buy one? https://www.netgunforsale.com/net-gun-info.html
“I don’t want to give her a gadget for every situation, a sort of Deus ex Gadgeta situation. Really, those little bondage pods would be quite effective against many of the villains at the battle now. The easiest excuse is to say she gets really focused on building the gadget itself, but bored when it comes to making the ammo, so she usually only has 2-3 shots for anything.”
Another option is simply cost effectiveness, I’m sure Arianna or whomever the team’s resident beancounter is could have a thing or two to say about using ammunition that costs a few hundred thousand dollars per shot to manufacture.
Or availability, the materials needed to craft some of the gadgets are extremely rare,or hard to get.
Lastly, it could require a lengthy process to create, requiring several weeks in a lab to create the material for the ‘myolinear ribbons’ – this goes along with your reasoning as I can easily see Dabbler getting bored with making ammunition if it was a long process.
Or a combination of all the reasons.
There is always Dabbler’s own limitations as well. While she is listed as ADHD, that doesn’t have to be the extent of her differences with humans.
For example her nature might make her intensely competitive and extremely narrowly focused. Thus why she was focused on beating Heavenly at her own game, even when she had better tactical options, until an outside influence intervened and brought her out of that state.
She is intelligent, but as an alien/demon/whatever hybrid she isn’t necessarily mentally superior to humans in all aspects of thought.
I totally agree with the sentiment. Aliens have a different mind-set to humans. So whilst we can try to compare her to human behaviour, she need not match up to our expectations, in any fashion.
One minor note, is it is Sydney who is ADHD, not Dabbler. Dabbler is just intrinsically hyper as a bag full of kittens.
The “who’s who” entry for Dabbler reads “A succubus and ADHD genius…”
Technicality :-P
But if she uses the “bondage bullets” as party favors, stands to reason she would have more than a couple of them at any one time.
Now if I can just get ahold of one and reprogram the mummification sequencer…I mean, what good is it if all the fun bits are wrapped up too…Oh Dabbsyyyyy….got a present for youuuuu
think on this she is noted to have tech from alien cultures and this may be a common buyable mining equipment off world that she moded for fun/ combat so while on earth she used many for enjoyment before realizing she needs to conserve stock and be in similar such low stock situation with many of the best toys so uses what she can produce herself more freely.
I really don’t understand all the fear of Dabbler being a “potentially broken” character is about. The Blonde Lunatic has a huge suite of powers and most important SHE’S A GAMER.
As a thought experiment in an RPG scenario, some friends of mine and myself decided to play ourselves with a very modest set of superpowers and only the skills we actually had and could demonstrate. Our opposition was based on actual military tactics and reported force numbers.
It took us a week to take over everything from Texas to Oregon.
“Role Playing Gamer” should be a max point advantage in any actual R.P.G.
It is not an advantage but a sub set of skills.
Rpg games.
War games.
Comic book knowledge.
Movie triva (by genre).
Contempary lit (by genre).
Ect.
Your rating in said skills woud help in various cercumstances.
Been there, done that.
Almost forgot the most imprtant skill.
Male bovine defacating.
Facial expressions win all over the page!!
It’s not just the artwork becoming better and better… :D
Looks like Jabberwocky and Math are still having fun.
Using a jumping attack in a superhero fight? Math is just showing off now.
Trying to impress his new crush? I expect those two will still be going strong after the fight is over, the bad guys hauled away and the restaurant remains are shored up. Too much fun.
Jabberwocky will “Somehow” manage to avoid capture, a couple weeks later Math will go to a no-tell motel for a secret meeting with a white-haired woman, couple weeks after that:
Max: “Ok team, I want to introduce you to our newest recruit. This is “Tricia Meyers” who some of us remember as Jabberwocky.
You seriously think their fight will have ended in just a couple of weeks?
eventually they’ll have to eat to replenish their energy, or at least use the bathroom.
I am waiting for the next Maxima transmission to Math to be “Quit Kung-fooling around and finish her off already!”.
HAH! I saw what you did there…
“Mach the Knife”/ you know, every religion has a special hell for people who make puns like that. Every. Single. Religion.
1) Bondage Pod + Hentorb
2) “…she boned up…” I’ll say!
Good reference in line with Futurama…”Yep, we’re boned now.”
Dabbler’s face in the last panel is somewhat frightening, somewhat Intriguing…
Somewhat arrogant, somewhat smug.
I prefer her cute. Pretty though she is there.
Why do I have the feeling not to relly get “Mach the Knife” ?
1. “Mach” as a unit relative to the speed of sound – a pun for moving fast
2. “Mach” as in “streams of air / liquid” – a pun for streaming past
3. “Mach” as the german word for “do” -> “Do the Knife”
4. “Mach” as possible versions of “Mac” / “Mack”
5. … ?
But now I read it supposedly is a homonym stretch or even potentially offensive ? What am I missing ?
You’re aware of this song, yes?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEllHMWkXEU
Woha. No, indeed I didn’t . Quite a text to sing with such a pleasant voice and tone. :-/
I know, right? It’s such a upbeat, snappy song about a mob hit man :)
This:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEllHMWkXEU
Just don’t mock the knife. They have really sensitive feelings.
Knives are also vindictive; They’re quite capable of making cutting replies to criticism.
It would have been hilarious to have seen that tractor bullet following Mach the Knife a week later with his tonque hanging out from exhaustion trying to get away.
I think it would have reeled itself into firing range before that. Picture it hooked to his coat by a grapnel and line with a winch rolling up the line gradually pulling the projectile closer until it is in range to hit. Him stopping to fight it shortened the time to right now.
I’ve been trying to think how to bollix up tractor beam to shake the projectile. Sharp tight turns might do it. Getting something solid to block your path like running close to a wall then doing a 180 through an opening. Needs more thinking on.
Warhammered it enough to crack the lightblade.
Does that gun have a name? ‘Mummy Shot’ would wrap things up nicely if it does not.
She…really shoulda led with that….
Dabbler was treating the fight as entertainment until HS nearly bisected her. Now she is on the clock.
Dabbler only has two or three of each type of special ammo. She really cannot afford to squander it, until she knows that she does not have a simpler solution to a problem.
The stereotype used to be that American’s did not understand irony. But now the Secret Service are doing their best to spread the rumour that American’s don’t get sarcasm.
Mmm, that worked in test, but lets try again:
American’s don’t get sarcasm
Like all big bureaucracies, the Secret Service possess no sense of humor or irony. They are seriously trying to replace a lack of personality with software.
American’s what doesn’t get sarcasm?
With the apostrophe, “American’s” is possessive, meaning “Belonging to an American”
“Americans” is the plural.
Yea, that is just the legacy of doing some serious editing. I needed to ensure that it would not come across as being offensive. I forgot to snip the possessive apostrophes afterwards.
We do too!
… or were you just being sarcastic?
You could run it through your detector.
Well, the reason they need a “Sarcasm Detector” is that text doesn’t convey sarcasm, and they’re using software to try to find “terrorist chatter” and it can be hard to tell the difference between someone typing
“Oh yeah, I’m totally going to blow up some buildings.” sarcastically and someone typing it seriously.
It’s not like Homer Simpson writing “In case you can’t tell I’m being sarcastic!” in his letter to Mr. Burns is standard practice.
The biggest problem I can see is the analysis software would have to have enough background on the subject to tell whether a remark like that is a real threat or a bad joke.Like someone’s entire life history and all correspondence. And even then a subject labeled “mostly harmless” might just snap and go off without a warning message. To which the computer says, “He was so quiet and polite to everyone. I can’t understand why he do that to the Senator with a weed whacker.”
It certainly may be beyond our programming capability to get a high enough success rate for this to be fit for purpose. This is one of the harder areas even for humans to pick out the conversational nuances. For instance Elfguy did not appear to pick up on the use of irony, in my last reply. Although he may have just been playing it straight, despite having noticed it. Which is a fair enough response. And a sarcastic tone is much harder to pick up,than an ironic one. Especially without any verbal, facial or body language cues.
But, all that said, it is not impossible. And can be done without extensive background knowledge. Although the more knowledge you have about an individual, their past history and motivations that you have, the better your chances of making a correct call. Needless to say.
However, quite often, all that is necessary is to place the comments in context.
So to take the most controversial example (from memory), of the guy who had been suffering long delays at an airport complaining about that, and then carrying on to say “if the airline does not get it’s act together, I am going to blow them up”. Clearly he is not being serious. With a 99% chance of that being the case. The 1% chance that he is mentally deranged and intending to do just that, being the correct justification in investigating him.
Whether that should have led to charges being filed is down to a matter of opinion. Personally I dislike political correctness gone mad. But I also appreciate that people should not make death threats in situations where it could be misinterpreted. If you are on-stage, in a comedy show it cannot.* If you are at an airport, and stating you are angry, then the line becomes more blurred.
But what very sophisticated programming could potentially do is highlight the more obvious examples. ‘From the immature grammar, spelling, and topics, these appear to be kids being stupid.’ ‘These appear in a conversation containing many jokes.** ‘ Versus: ‘These comments follow heated anti-Western sentiments.’ ‘This conversation contained numerous hate elements.’
It would take quite some time to pick up each type of indicator. But they could gradually be combined into a more cohesive whole. Especially with AI emulation, that allowed the disparate elements to be analysed as a cohesive whole.
The most promising technique being to teach programs by giving them genuine examples of terrorists public, and private, communications prior to committing acts of violence. Just like YouTube’s algorithms are focussed on encouraging people to click, by optimising recommendations, based on what those individuals have done in the past, and compared to the choices made by other people, who have had similar history.
Quite often we do not know why the links are there. But program analysis can pick them out.
Those which have no strong indicators, either way, may need to be referred to human operators. But if the ‘obviously’ harmless ones can be discarded, or the apparently malign ones can be prioritised, then it can speed up the process of intelligence analysis.
It still makes me laugh though. :-D
* And even then some people attempt to deliberately subvert even this, to use comedy as a means of incitement to hate crimes. So nothing is absolutely clear-cut.
** If given an extensive, and constantly updated, database of topical jokes, and suitable means of picking out variants on the theme, these can be picked up out of a transcript. Even by a computer, that has no sense of humour.
The real silly thing is they want it to work with IE8.
THAT’S my girl!
She is a wilily demon/succubus/alien. Ye GODS but I do love her!
So basically he only head to throw something behind him, like his jacket, and he would escaped the projectile?
I think that would make a great Stripteases Joke ^^
First the Jacket than his shirt and last his underwear.
*had to
what if it was locked onto the knife in his hand?
That would be too easy. The projectile was locked on him. It would ignore anything else. Dabbler designed it to burst just out of reach of say a sword or a handful of claws. Shooting it down might be possible, but Dabbler would have chosen another gadget in that case.
Now we will never know if he was fast enough to try:
– run up a building
– open door
– enter building
– close door
– missile goes splat.
Looking back at the first panel. Did Dabbler just cut a chunk out of an ENERGY CONSTRUCT?
More like she pounded a massive dent into it. A full-strength strike that knocked HS flat. Either Dabbler is more focused or HS is getting cocky.
Yes…it looks like it. If I am not mistaken it is spiritual energy, therefore, magic weapons can effect (or is it affect, I usually get those confused) an energy construct as long at it is made of spiritual energy. Wow talk about circular thinking…
A way to remember the difference that I’ve been using a while is that Affect is an action word (they both start with A.) So if you affect something, you have an effect on it.
It looks like that, indeed. Maybe said energy construct gave way a bit so its holder did not receive the full kinetic energy of the hit.
Engineering, a god profession by any other name is not a true profession.
I wouldn’t want to be the one trying to write stories with Dabbler in them. She’s a plot-wrecker. By all rights she -should- have something handy to solve almost any problem or deal with any situation. She has too many powers to list, derived from a whole mess of different sources, and she’s a genius so smart her intelligence cannot be measured on a human scale. Not only should she have the solution to any problem handy, she ought to have multiple different options for it.
Even worse than that, she’s a Tinkerer. If she really doesn’t have anything handy to solve the current problem, she can build it given a little time. Dabbler is like a huge cargo ship filled with cases of Deus Ex Machina In A Can.
Technically many if not most of her “Powers” are a result of her Tinkering, Her IQ is so high that she’s even more easily distracted that Sydney because her mind is difficult to provide stimulation for. And while she might have all this gear for many situations, she might have so MANY options that she gets distracted deciding what to use or uses a Suboptimal (using Reaver against Heavenly) one for shites and giggles.
Dabbler was a problem right from the start, at least in the current Story. Making jills of all trades and then sizing them down by saying that they are not always that good because of not being focused never works. Add to that that all tinkers end up equivalents of the anti shark bat-spray and there is just no one there that could be a problem to her, even with all the other stuff like magic, cyborg, etc.
However, her being in the Story. And the question of who and what she is as well as that little bit of back story on her so far is a very good way to hint on big future events. You know. Like why is she on earth? What could be of any interest to her here? Are there other demons? Other Aliens? What are there intentions? How strong are those in regards to her? And so on.
I don’t think Dabbler is overpowered enough to qualify as “plot wrecker”.
I mean, she doesn’t have a cybernetic eye and arm from winning every battle. She apparently also is limited in regards of her magical strength, because she switched to demon “mode” when her shielding / camouflage gave way. She took by far the longest to best an opponent, and DaveB already is hinting that he may not stay down, all the while she still has to do in her first assailant Heavenly Sword.
I can’t tell if her ADHD messes up her attention span too much to see a fight through ( she apparently isn’t satisfied with just one opponent at a time after all and still spends time on playing Bingo ), if it is a case of hubris simply underestimating her opponents so that the toys she pulls out are to small, or maybe simply the time she needs to select and “teleport” a new gadget ( she didn’t manage in time to spare Heatwave her toe incident after all ).
She may be impressive, but has to impress as in follow through as of yet.
Look at the cast page and you will see “Powers: Too many to list”.
Dabbler is a genius with greater than human intelligence. Who is also a Tinkerer. Who is also a Sorceress. That makes her like a combination of Reed Richards and Doctor Strange, only she is also a Martial Artist, with super strength, and four arms. Oh, and she has other powers on top of that. And a magic sword.
Her power set effectively means that Dabbler can do -anything-. Her only limitations are psychological, and are not the kind to cause her problems in serious situations. She’s merely overconfident, easily distracted, and scatterbrained.
I do not envy the job DaveB will have in trying to write around her. Each and every time the heroes have a problem, he’s got to figure out why Dabbler can’t solve it with a snap of her fingers. So far, the only reason shown has been that Dabbler likes to carry around the idiot ball. That excuse will get old in a hurry.
Another problem he’s going to have is that having her around is an excuse to get lazy. He writes himself into a corner? Can’t figure out how the heroes will save the day? Dabbler Ex Machina to the rescue.
Except Dabs herself was just saved exactly in that same manner and yet I didn’t see anyone complain about it.
I agree that very powerful protagonists can be hard to handle. And have pointed out the potential for problems with the principle characters here myself. But it only becomes a problem if the writer is unable to handle the power. We have no indications, at all, that DaveB will not be able to do so.
We have all been burnt by stories, where writers have ruined the plot because they did not think through the consequences. However we should not allow those previous bad experiences to prejudice us against powerful characters. To the contrary, the very fact that it is hard to write for that means that we should encourage Dave to try his hand in this area.
He has given every indication of having very carefully thought through these issues. The villains too have got powerful individuals, mixed in amongst their ranks. Seeing how such powers play against each other is an integral part of the fascination of the genre. And if we have a writer who can keep the story entertaining, whilst exploring the upper end of such struggles, we should relish it.
One essential aspect is for the two sides not to be sucked into a life-or-death struggle. So long as they can foster an atmosphere of rivalry and honourable battle, rather than hatred and desperation, then super battles can keep a high degree of posturing and posing, banter and bluster. Whereas if they cannot, then it is akin to the Cuban missile crisis. Every top end super fight will be balanced on the edge of causing world-wide devastation.
Which means that the personalities and attitudes of the heroes, and villains, becomes every bit as important as their powers. Dabbler’s ego and reluctance to go for the kill are setting a good example, to allies and enemies alike. She has a century’s experience more than any of them, with this kind of power. If she is relaxed and having fun, then the attitude will be contagious.
This, probably more than anything, is a reason why Maxima wanted Sydney to keep her head down, under the force field. So she could watch and learn by example. With the PPO, Halo has the capability to kill indiscriminately. A very easy tactic to slip into, and it is readily available.
Which is the cleverest aspect by far. Often the most important decision that a hero has to make is is not ‘can I beat my opponent with this power’, or ‘how can I adapt my power to win’, instead it is “it right to use my power.” Just because you have power, over others, does not mean that you should choose to exercise it.
I was pondering DaveB’s comment about not wanting “Deus Ex Gadgeta” situations. I was thinking that he seems to be underestimating the extent of the problem that Dabbler presents a writer.
It is too early to tell if there will be a problem. I remain hopeful that DaveB will prove to be a good enough writer to handle the challenges he has set before himself. I do not envy him his task.
Dabbler is a perfect illustration of the “Reed Richards Is Useless” trope. There are so many things she should be able to do, and even things she has already done, that are going to be hard on future plots.
You are correct about having been burned before, and sadly, I smell smoke. I’m hoping that’s just the neighbors getting ready for a barbecue.
Dabbler is supposed to have fought Maxima to a standstill. Ok. Now explain to me how it is that in the time it took for Anvil to beat three opponents, Math to beat four, and Sydney to beat two, Dabbler was unable to defeat one opponent who wasn’t even using her powers. How long should it take someone who can fight Maxima to a standstill to beat a girl armed with a stick?
Dabbler beat Math by using “Sticky Air”. Apparently it was an invisible web spell. Ok. Why didn’t she use that on Heavenly Sword before Sword started using her powers? Why didn’t she use that on Mach the Knife? Are we going to be told that the spell requires ammo and Dabbler doesn’t like to reload her spells?
Every single thing that Dabbler ever does in the comic is going to be remembered, and people are going to want to know what the excuse is every time for why she doesn’t use it to solve a given problem that it should work on.
It might be fun to see a few times where Dabbler -does- keep trying her old tricks, one after the other, and having them not work for one reason or the other. “Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Aha! That worked!”
One thing that I consider a colossal mistake is to say that Dabbler is not just a Genius, but to a level that is beyond human. As a reader, that means to me that anything I can think up, Dabbler should have already thought up, or even thought up something better. She’s supposed to be smarter than I am after all. She has to be smarter than every single person reading the comic, and I have never seen a writer pull that trick off to my satisfaction.
Now, to a different point you were making.
The sort of understanding between superheroes and supervillains that you see in most comics is a very artificial thing. A convention of the genre that lets the writers keep using the same characters and having recurring villains.
In order for there to be honor between sides of a conflict, there has to be an authority that both sides respect who sits in judgment of the sides based on their reputations. For example, in the medieval period, the Church sat in judgment and would decide if one side or the other was fighting with honor. When both sides of the fight cared what the Church had to say, they were careful about being honorable.
In the real world, there is a faint remnant of the concept of honor between nations. The United Nations sits in judgment, but their authority isn’t much respected. There isn’t much left of the idea of honor in battle given how brutal modern warfare and weapons are.
In Grrl Power, what authority is there that is respected by both superheroes and supervillains?
There is a concept called “Enlightened Self Interest”. It requires the ability to take a long view of things and to be able to recognize the consequences of your own actions and accept personal responsibility for them. People capable of this kind of thinking are able to recognize ideas like “If I don’t kill people, the other side is less likely to kill me.”
The problem is that people capable of Enlightened Self Interest are also unlikely to become supervillains. Criminal behavior and acts of violence will tend to have negative consequences down the road, and are almost never the best way to achieve a goal. That’s where the saying “crime does not pay” comes from. In the end, hard work is almost certainly a better choice.
We will not know for sure until we find out what it was that motivated the bad guys to pull the Supervillain Blitzkrieg here, but I am going to bet none of them are smart enough to understand enlightened self interest. These are people who just picked a fight with a group of off-duty police officers, one of whom has a good chance of being the most powerful super in the world.
We do not know how much of what Dabbler does is down to her capabilities, and how much of it is due to being off the shelf alien high technology. She may simply be a tinkerer, who knows how to use the built in capabilities of high tech to adapt to different needs. That would not allow her the ability to solve any problem she put her mind to. She would only be able to deal with things where she had something fairly suitable for the task in hand, which she could then adapt to the specific need.
But that aside, why should she even care? You are assuming that she will want to use her high technology to solve all of humanities problems. She has already stated that she has no such intent. Ergo there is no comparison to the Reed Richards situation.
Dabbler is here on Earth to have fun. If she can help out with some problem, and the challenge is interesting, she will do so. Either you accept her on those terms, or you can complain about her selective morality. But it has no reflection on her capability. Nor on her role in the story. She is there (in this aspect), to provide the role of a high-tech gadgeteer. Which she does.
I was not talking about Dabbler solving Humanity’s problems, I was talking about a different part of the trope, the one where she can’t solve -ArcSwat’s- problems when it is glaringly obvious that she should be able to.
It’s what DaveB was talking about, with the problem her gadgets present. She could have wreaked havoc on the supervillains we have seen so far with her Bondage Gun. It ought to work perfectly on Jabber. Just that one item is a plot hazard all by itself, and Dabbler has an indeterminate number more gadgets she could try.
Only it’s worse than that, because gadgets are only -part- of Dabbler’s power set. She’s also got magic. And psi powers. And mutant powers. And the list goes on.
Reed Richards is often useless because if he did make full use of his abilities, or even just make use of inventions he’s created in the past, he would remove all drama from the story by solving the problem too easily.
Because she is having fun! Against Maxima she will have had to exert herself to the absolute limit, in order to be able to fight to a standstill. Whereas, because Dabbler has contingency options that she can call on, Heavenly Sword is an opponent she can toy with.
The fact that her opponent has some unique powers, and may be able to win, is just giving Dabbler even more of a thrill. Why move on to another enemy, when this one is so enjoyable? You can see her irritation, at being hassled, by Maxima, to take down the speeder.
-Ponders- So Dabbler and the blonde girl with the long wooden shaft were off somewhere having fun…
Oh! -blushes- I keep forgetting. Succubus. Right.
Moving right along.
Life and death fights going on, the order is “Non lethal if possible” and Dabbler is just toying with her opponent. That doesn’t make any sense, but come to think of it, the problem here isn’t specific to Dabbler, it’s part and parcel of the entire Supervillain Blitzkrieg. Neither side has been taking it seriously, and I don’t have a clue why.
[Just for the sake of nit-picking, wouldn’t Dabbler get bored toying with someone for a long period? I’d expect the ADHD genius to have a serious commitment to short fights.]
That spell was only ever mentioned in a mini-comic, which is not canon. As such Dave is perfectly at liberty to ignore that.
Personally, I like to view them as all being cannon. But many are in there to explore blatantly absurd situations. So it is very wise to keep it out of canon, as it allows Dave the opportunity to make a gag, without causing the problems you are talking about.
But, even taking it as being an actual in-setting comment, that could have simply been the way that Math chooses to refer to this attack with the entangling bullet. Ie it was not a spell, and is subject to limited availability.
And, if Dave does want to use the limited uses option, to give her variety, but without the repetition complaint problems you are listing, he can do exactly the same with magic. Just because computer games like to present spells as being infinitely repeatable, there is no reason to suppose that, if magic did work, that they would follow the rules made for computer games.
The stars might have been aligned in the right cosmic pattern to allow the use of sticky powers, and the air pressure might have been favourable for its application to the air itself. A unique circumstance.
We will just have to wait and see.
One thing that I consider a colossal mistake is to say that Dabbler is not just a Genius, but to a level that is beyond human. As a reader, that means to me that anything I can think up, Dabbler should have already thought up, or even thought up something better. She’s supposed to be smarter than I am after all. She has to be smarter than every single person reading the comic, and I have never seen a writer pull that trick off to my satisfaction.Degree of intelligence is not linear. If you are having the problem that she might be smart in some areas, and not in others, is a reflection of your limited thinking,* not her capability. Probably a reflection of our society choosing to assign arbitrary numbers to a person’s intellectual quotient. Which leads to all sorts of sloppy thinking about peoples’ potential capabilities.
One of my friends in the village is extremely versatile, capable of turning his hand to any task. From plumbing, through electrical work, being a chef or musician, through to website design. Had he grown up with access to ultra technology and magic, he could almost certainly do the same sort of things, as Dabbler, to impress a primitive society like ours. And, to the bald apes living within it, he would seem like a genius.
If one of them had to describe him to another, that would be the simplest way to do it. He can perform apparent miracles. But would he be better than everyone at everything? No. Dabbler is like a smarter version of him. She has access to a lot of things that humanity does not. And is clever with it. Does that mean that she should know the answer to everything? No. Does it necessarily even mean that she would be smarter than me? I find that very unlikely. Even for a genius alien.
* I am, as ever, simply playing devil’s advocate here. You are fighting your corner well, and making solid points, so I have to put the counter-argument just as strongly. Despite any jibe to the contrary, you are obviously a shrewd thinker and solid debater.
Codes of conduct do not have to be arbitrated by an external, higher, moral authority. Either a desire for the respect, trust or assistance of the rest of society (be it individuals within a community or nations within the world) or a fear of mutually assured destruction can have the same result.
All sorts of societies develop enlightened self-interest. Even within prisons, codes of conduct will appear. Those who violate them will find themselves being punished. Not just by the higher authority of the guards and courts. But by their own peers too.
If you think you can threaten others into obeying you, that only lasts until the first time you turn your back or fall asleep. Unless you can convince others that you will honour some sort of code, you will never have anyone watch your back.
Maxima has already made it clear that she is the top of the pecking order. Even those individuals, who lack the moral sense to figure out the advantage of honourable conduct, will be facing the threat of imminent punishment by her.
You will note that the only extreme violence, and attempted murder, has occurred at a time and place when Maxima has not been in sight. Whilst they fear her power, the villains are being pushed into operating within a code, whether they realise it or not. And, where the bad guys are behaving in an honourable fashion, the heroes are responding in kind.
We can look to other historical situations for comparisons. Take the aviators in both world wars. They were individuals who had powers that society had not faced before. Even with a bitter war to the death going on around them, with many examples of brutality and uncivilised behaviour,* they still managed to operate within a code of conduct.
And it was quite stylised in many respects. Such as entertaining a captured airman at their enemy’s mess. Here the participants do actually have a precedent to fall back on, and that is the behaviour of heroes and villains in comics. That may seem strange, if trying to apply real world logic to the situation. But that does actually happen in the real world.
Look at Mafia behaviour. Every time a cool new movie or TV series comes out, studies of their real-life counterparts have shown that they tend to mimic the styles and behaviour. If it looks cool on TV, why not use it to be cool going about the day-to-day job? Especially if it gets the punters to play along more readily and/or show respect where it is due. They have seen the same shows, and know what happens if they do not!
And it also serves to reinforce positive traits, even in such environments. Violence against spouses being portrayed as being intolerable, reinforces such attitudes present in real life. Making those who do not subscribe to that code more likely to be punished, by their own fellows.
* For example, the use of poison gas in the trenches and even the fire-bombing and other attacking of civilian targets, by the respective air forces.
You’re right. I concede the point.
The lot of you do remember that she partly is succubus and identified as such ?
She also is a poster example for ADHD.
So far, most of what she did is toying with those around her, especially with Maxime.
And she did just for the pleasure of it, because she considers her somewhat of a prude snob.
She doesn’t just like fun, she thrives in it !
She is lust, pleasure on legs, a tantric psionoclast, queen of delicious arousal, … . You name it !
Of course she would try to savor each fight to the fullest instead of going for a quick kill !
and if by drawing out the fight she can get someone who is just waving a stick to reveal important information on their powers so much better
“Bondage to go”
Yup, that’s our Dabbler.
What most readers are not aware of: panel 1 features a Dabble-ganger (probably the last one), Dabbles is in panel 2
I’ve see that tape before in another comic you drew…..
I am at a loss to figure out what is the boomerang shaped object in panel three at the waist of Mr. McSpeedypants.
Also, based on the time it took Dabbler to explain the munition vs the length of his speed line while avoiding it, I don’t think he is even getting up to 100 mph (though he may need to slow considerably below top speed while doing sharp corners / evasive maneuvers)
That are the flaps of the jacket he’s wearing, seems he needed to brake when he used Math & Jabber as a shield.
He didn’t brake, he slid under them (why he didn’t attempt to put a knife into Math is an idiot move)
Math may not have been born a super, but his speed/reflexes are rated at being four star. It does not look like the villain is a five star speeder. He saw that Math is a severe danger to him, and wisely left that problem to Jabberwokky.
Even Math can be caught unawares, specially if he is focusing on an almost equal match (no way yet of knowing if she is equal, greater or lesser, but so far seems on par)
leaving an inflamed and aggressive jabber without a target other than himself …… lets keep the equation balanced and not subtract either martial arts maniac from the fight
Easter egg! Math’s choker is missing.
Or is it hidden by his chin?
Naa, don’t worry about the deus ex cadged. It’s a stable of the superhero genre. You hitting on that dead horse is not going to make a ounce of difference.
Otherwise, great comic as always.
Got a little carried away with the speedlines there. And you have started to try to shove more and more story into a single panel, therefore drawing more and smaller into the background which is starting to clutter up your art. Just my opinion.
Considering they are dealing with a speedfreak, a lack of speedlines would be a huge problem
Which panel are you referring to about the starting to ‘shove more and more story into a single panel, therefore drawing more and more smaller into the background’? You mean panel 4? The one that shows Dabbles firing her bondage-cartridge at Mach and fending off Heaven in the background? They are supposed to be smaller being in the background (and some distance away from Mach). If DaveB hadn’t put them all in the same panel, it would have either meant extra panels or cutting that entire part out
There are two sides to this. Both of which are valid. One is the aesthetic issue. Modern standards for composition require that subjects be well framed and arranged, in a balanced composition. Small figures, in the distance, do not set well against larger, dominating, figures in the foreground.
Personally though, I have always liked art that has intricate detail within in it, that you can explore. In the above comic, the prominent figures are dynamically drawn and carry they eye, and the action, from panel to panel. Giving the reader the option to follow through the main action in one pass, or to linger and explore each frame, before moving on to the next. Either way, it gives plenty of re-readability, for those who like looking for the less obvious aspects.
Clearly whether one enjoys that, or not, is a matter of individual taste. So it is fair enough for folks to point it out when they feel it is diverging too far from their preferences. However Dave has built up quite a big fan base, like me, who love details. I will be perfectly happy if he keeps squeezing them in.
Speed lines are not the Problem, the quantity is, but that is only nippicking on my part.
Also the cluttering is not a problem now since anyone can still clearly follow the story. It’s just that the best part about this Comic (apart from everything really) is Dave’s art which he is deluting brutaly whenever he miniaturizes anything.
Add to that problems like in Panel two where Heavenly’s speachbubble demands nearly as much attention as Dabbler’s Action even though it’s suppose to be in the Background. Also Panel three, what’s Happening there? Dabbler tracking after the speedster and in the Moment he is forced to slow down because of Matt and his-soon-to-be, realeases the capsule.
So right, I understand what is going on, but how Long those it take to understand that, reading a Comic Panel is supposed to be instandly, or at least as fast as the action is happening. To play this better this panel would either have to be removed completely or otherwhise split into two with one only Dabbler’s gun and finger following the speedster and a second one with him stopping short.
As I said, nothing is a problem now, and most that can probably be credited to this being a royal rumble with lots of things going on at the same time. It’s just a obvious trent showing that Dave is starting to loose Focus in his storytelling because he wants to show us all and everything that is going on, all at once if he could.
At least that is how I see it.
That’s thing: this is a comic, with static images, which means you can take the time to properly view every panel and take in all the detail/action before moving on to the next panel/page, not a movie where things happen in ‘real-time’ and the only way to see everything in the ‘shot’ is by rewinding and/or pausing
*Checks his patreon messages to see if he told DaveB about Silent Shadow’s powers than smirks strangely and waits for to see how a surprised succubus/alien/deoppleganger etc looks like*
Ofcourse I left final judging to DaveB on powers matters but my fun-senses are tingling
If he’s anything like the speedster one of my players in GURPS 3 made then the problem is that he can still move his legs. That one used weapons to reduce and target the damage he could inflict
A number of speedsters (The Flash, for instance) have demonstrated the ability to “Vibrate their molecules” to pass through solid objects.
Which can result in charges of indecent exposure.
Professor Zoom used this method to kill Iris Allan (He vibrated his hand through her skull)
In the Wild Card series Mackie Messer could vibrate his arms so fast they could cut through anything. He was a nasty little hunchback.
Don’t you have to actually be able to move to vibrate? What is he going to do, bat his eyelashes at super-speeds? o_O
Shiver. Really really fast.
He can just use a series of rapid hip thrusts to flop his way off the battle field.
Peggy might shoot him for that just to avoid future nightmares.
+1
Molecules are always vibrating
Except at 0 kelvin
Of course, down at O’Reilly’s, it just feels like your molecules have been vibrating. After a few pints of Guinness.