Grrl Power #221 – Ballisticus interruptus
The second to last panel is supposed to be Harem’s view through the spotter scope, not Peggy’s view through the proper rifle scope. I only mention it because that’s not what typical crosshairs look like and otherwise I’m sure it would cause a few raised eyebrows. That said, for all my googling I couldn’t find a definitive picture of what spotter crosshairs look like. I assume they’re different from scope crosshairs, so I used one with more marks which I’d think would be useful for measuring things visually.
I had fun at A-kon, but forgot about trying to update on Twitter since the hotel seemed to have some sort of coating that blocked Sprint. I did my panel, attended a few others, watched Fred pencil and ink a page nearly to completion in under an hour, got a commission from him which I’ll share later today, talked shop with other comic creators (Spinnerette and The Devil’s Panties), and had a fun dinner with a reader, hopefully without spoiling too much stuff. It’s clear the spontaneous meetup doesn’t engender a large attendance. The next time do one I’ll schedule a time and location in advance.
#MakeComics: This was supposed to be a double page, but so was the next one, and I’m not quite up to the point where I can do two double pages in a week, especially with A-kon looming. I had to cut the first panel from the next page to make this page end on more of a period instead of a comma, which is why the last two panels are a little cramped.
You guys have helped Fred Perry’s NSFW Tactics Elemental game get voted into a real project. I assume there’s some switch that has to be hit behind the scenes before it can start accruing pledges. I’ll link it again once it’s at that point.
Make sure you catch the classic Escher Girl pose in the most recent Gynostar.
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Well someone called HS splitting the capsule in twain…
That seems to be the down side to those projectiles. A slow launch speed. HS caught it before it activated. I was wrong, Dabbler is still goofing around.
My comment was:
Last panel, the implication of what she is saying is that she’s going to use the Net Gun on Heavenly Sword next. The position of her ear and the way her eyes are shifted suggests that she’s figuring out exactly where Sword is by sound so she can whip around and fire her net gun without having to take any time to aim.
My guess is that she wants to use the Net Gun at point blank range on Heavenly Sword so that Sword doesn’t have time to block or destroy the little missile.
I guess I gave Dabbler more credit for intelligence than I should have.
Having actually used spotter scopes a few times now and then on a shooting range I’d like to say that most, not all, are actually set up like a rifle scope in order to give you distancing precision. This allows you to see as the shooter would be looking at the target. I thought that would be a handy bit of information for later that you didn’t have. Now if your using a fancy spotter scope with a distance to target tracker, those add on the distance to target using a laser which will change the distance readings at the bottom center or top center of the screen. These also however show the target diagram as a shooter would be seeing it in the center.
Peggy got a critical hit,
Peggy has Weapon Expertise: Rifles, Weapon Specialist: Rifles, Master of the Sniper Rifle (P), Sniper, Far Shot, and probably enough Fate Points on hand to make fairly reliable critical shots on demand.
God, I’d hate to feel what kind of shock wave went through that bamboo when hit by a 50. like that. It either broke it so fast that it felt like nothing, or the force of it caused the pure force of the bullet to travel through the bamboo and to the hands.
Might explain why Heaven fell (down)
I think Peggy is using a variation of the Indiana Jones rules of combat. When a guy with a big sword comes at you (or a teammate), just shoot him. (Or if your P.R. worried boss is watching, shoot the sword.)
“You know what they say, don’t bring a super energy blade sword to a gun fight.”
Really? Seems to work well enough for Jedi…
Well, if the Jedi didn’t expect the bullet and the bullet hit the sword’s handle, it would probably end the same way.
With the sword, that is. For Dabbler’s sake, I hope Heavenly Sword can’t project blades around her own hands.
We may find out next time. Unless someone tags HS before she can fully recover,
Same Halo time, same Halo channel?
DUN DUN DUN DUN,
DUN DUN DUN DUN,
HA-LO, HA-LO, HA-LO
What makes Jedi Lightsabers so effective against ranged opponents is the Jedi’s use of the Force to predict the path of incoming shots. A Jedi would have had a premonition a moment before Peggy pulled the trigger, and shifted out of the way or moved the blade to intercept the bullet. Without the Force, even a Jedi isn’t fast enough to deflect lasers or bullets on the fly.
That’s difficult to prove: a Jedi without The
MidichlorionsForce is just a normal individualAlso, in the expanded lore, Jedi try to dodge slug-throwers since they only melt when meeting a lightsaber. There’re a couple of books with traditional firearms in them (mainly used by more primitive species) that show that flying metal+plasma blade=superheated metal in your face.
Ha ha! Scienced.
Blaster beam vs energy blade. I wonder what would happen if you shot a Jedi with a bullet designed to explode if hit?
The webcomic Mystic Revolution delved into the thematic, with a “joke weapon” lightsaber wich can be used as limited shield:
https://mysticrevolution.wikia.com/wiki/Lasersword
https://mysticrevolution.wikia.com/wiki/L33t_ninj4#Ninja_Jedi_Technique
An even more effective “joke weapon” would be what looks like a standard lightsaber, but the blade is merely a hologram…Try blocking incoming fire with that.
:O
Then realise the tactical advantage that could be made with that. Provided you could overcome that pesky danger sense the Jedi have. You swing your weapon at them, in joke mode. They are alarmed because their danger sense is not working. If they figure it is a prank, and ignore it, fine. Just turn on the lightsabre once you have the weapon bisecting them.
Whereas, if they try to block, their weapon will just pass harmlessly through. They will feel embarrassed at having been pranked. And being a good guy, will not try to kill an unarmed person for playing a prank. Then you chop them in half.
Two problems with that. For one, in addition to that Pesky Danger Sense they get from The Force, they also have a Pesky Empathy Power that lets them read your emotions. Sometimes it lets them read your thoughts. Try and run a con on a Jedi and see where it gets you.
The other problem is that you underestimate that Pesky Danger Sense. It doesn’t matter if you fool someone with a phony attack. If a real attack is coming, they sense the danger and respond.
Well, the emotions they would be getting are “enjoyment” “wicked amusement” and “eager anticipation.” All appropriate for playing a prank. As for them detecting with sense danger, if they are doing that, then you have failed to overcome it, so should not be attempting the tactic. Infallible divination is almost impossible to beat, so the best course of action is to negate it, if possible.
The plus side of overcoming the precognition is that Jedi use it so habitually, that it would be like anybody else suddenly loosing their sight. They would probably be less capable than a normal person being attacked with that ploy.
Imagine this
-Jedi blocks bullet
-bullet reduced to molten metal
-momentum is still a thing
-Jedi hit in face/chest by a blob of molten metal traveling at 3000+ feet per second
-Jedi has bad day.
Force deflection would serve them much better in that regard
which is why I hunt jedi with a flamethrower :)
I will use 2 uzi’s
Just grab a rocket launcher
Rockets would be easily dealt with with a minor use of force push, bad choice
Nuke the site from oribit…it’s the only way to be sure.
“If nuking them from orbit were enough to be sure, Private, the Army wouldn’t need us!”
Besides that, sometimes the orders include getting a “confirmed kill,” which means there would have to be enough intact remains to identify…
Unless they hide in a lead-lined fridge.
A big-ass shotgun would be one of my choices.
I just put an old surplus ship on autopilot pointed at whatever city or ship they are in and hit the hyperdrive. It works well for Sith Lords too.
Unless its Starkiller… he already proved that moving starships is Not a problem for him
Of course not. As we already know: Size matters not.
An assertion that only ever seems to be made by the undersized.
I made it, just last week, and I am more than adequately proportioned. :-P
So first there was rock smashing scissors, scissors cutting paper, and paper covering rock. That wasn’t enough, so someone added rock crushes lizard, lizard poisons Spock, Spock smashes scissors, scissors decapitate lizard, lizard eats paper, paper disproves Spock, and Spock vaporizes rock. Now there’s Jedis blocking bullets and flamethrowers hunting Jedis? When is this all going to end?
* The heat death of the universe negates the Big Bang.
* The Dreamtime replaces the heat death of the universe.
* The Big Bang ends the Dreamtime.
The Big Bang is represented, in it’s smallest state, by a clenched fist.
The heat death of the universe is signified by a flattened hand.
The Dreamtime is expressed through an animal. So is shown by raising the first and last fingers like ears. But touching the extended middle two fingers and thumb together, at their tips, and holding them, at right angles to the ears, to form the animal’s muzzle.
The blade of Jedi light-sabers consists of intense light contained by a surrounding force-field. While it is the light doing the cutting, it is the force-field causing energetic blasts to ricochet. Also, it only is at the blades edge you see any heating effect, because the blade contains so much energy that matter usually evaporates upon the it’s touch. This is part of the reason why attempting to re-attached light-saber severred limbs is a mood attempt, because aside of being cauterized, a blade wide peace of it has just gone missing.
This means that while you would feel some of the bullets impact on your sabers force-field, for it to pass through the field and stay solid whilst shooting through the beam of light, is highly unlikely. The bullets probably would glance off left and right or just be evaporated as well.
Sooo, basically a lightsabre would be a highly contained version of that disintegration field Dave was talking about a few pages ago. And yes, I can see the magnetic field containing it being able to deflect bullets.
So you have quantities of molten metal flying in random directions.
yea, this is a better choice against bullets. would work against the Twin Uzi plan too, depending on how long the Jedi could sustain it
https://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Force_deflection
Shotgun. All I gotta say.
I belive Spoony once talked about this and he went with this thing.
https://d6holocron.com/wiki/index.php?title=Deck-Clearing_Blaster
Blaster or shotgun? Why not both? >:D
Shotguns fire a large quantity of (relative to a bullet) low-energy projectiles. Sounds like a great thing to deflect with Force Push.
This. so many people only every think about the lightsabers when talking about Jedi projectile deflection. force powers are so much better for that stuff
I didn’t forget. You assume that all Jedi are Mace Windu or Obi-Wan Kenobi, but I doubt that. It’s mostly hype, otherwise there’d be no reason to play anything other than a Jedi in a Star Wars game.
Ahh, but the very best way to deal with errant swordsmen is to win over their boss. Instead of a shotgun, you need a shogun.
with Dragonfire rounds
Excuse me meant to say Dragon’s Breath rounds
After Dabbler gets done “improving” them Dragonbreath might be the right name.
dragonfire! I’ve got ten thumbs and I can only twiddle seven of them at once.
I think shotgun might be better after watching
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP4FjODPDFA
Force-Premonition warns of scattered blast, Force-push to weapon to change the area blasted.
Force prmonition is a general “danger this way” not ” he is going to shoot at you with lots of projectiles” warning.
Also as 90% + of all jedi have never encountered a chemical projectil wepon, the firs few rounds would startle them with the loud bang and gout of fire coming from the wepon.
I recomend reading David Weber’s Apocalyps Troll for a nice scene involving these scenerio.
2 smg’s full auto = dead jedi
or just 2 good high capacity pistols.
when you put enough rounds in the air going different places jedi can’t block em all
No, then he just sustains a rolling wave of force energy to a deflection barrier
Thats when you bring out the sqirt gun with a scoville load out in it.
Why the hell is there a forcefield, if the blade annihilates anything it hits?
Because the script outline said “and reflecting shots back to kill the stormtroopers”. Without giving thought to how an energy sword would do that. Adding a force field into the mix allows things to bounce off it.
Presumably the lightsaber has a clever device built into it,* to tell when to bounce and when to disintegrate.
* The most reliable method being that it reads the script.
Honestly, all this force field crap reminds me of that kid on the playground who uses his “anti-everything” shield. Makes you wanna either beat him up, or quit playing with him because it’s just stupid.
I’ve never seen a Jedi stop a bullet or any shotgun slugs in any of the movies. I’ve also never seen them face a Jawa with one of those electric gun things. Wouldn’t that be the most amusing thing? Some badass Jedi just blocks an army of Separatists and their blasters, “Yeah! I’m awesome! Nothing can take me down!” Then a little Jawa walks up and as the Jedi attempts to block his “blaster.”
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZRRRRRRRRRRRRRTT!
Then all the separatists gang up and shove the non-functioning lightsaber up his bum. Serves him right the uppity dick.
Hm, actually, I’ve only ever seen a force field used once in the comics, but it wasn’t actually being powered by the Force. It was generated by a device that an assassin had surgically implanted into himself in order to get close enough to murder Vader. He almost pulled it off, too. Vader had to read the guy’s mind to find out where in his body it was hidden, then he had to disable it before he could properly attack. It was actually pretty epic.
It’s partly like “Yorp” just put it, but the main point is that a lightsaber just wouldn’t work without a force-field around it’s blade.
For reference: Lightsaber cutaway
Without a “cycling energy field” keeping the intense beam of light created by the weapon’s emitter contained, you would essentially get but a blaster continuously firing away, torching anything in it’s path for probably a few hundred yards. The field probably also feeds back the lightbeam, so that what would be an energetic nightmare uses little energy until it actually has to cut something.
This means that for a lightsaber to be able to ricochet energetic beams, or to be able to block another lightsaber to begin with, is more of an sideeffect of the principle deployed than actual purpose.
There also is a reason it cuts matter while deflecting energy: Force-fields in the star-wars universe ( much like in others as well ) are based on overlaying ( magnetic ) fields vibrating at certain different frequencies in order to provide full coverage ( and define the actual fields localized stable manifestation ). The theorie in behind this is that there essentially are different types of potential penetration, such as corpuscles ( at different wavelength ), feromagnetic matter, non magnetic but conducting matter, mineral like matter, electric discharges etc., all of which require a differend band of frequencies to be blocked. Hence the need for multiple broad band coverage. If you apply this theory to a lightsaber, it simply only uses frequencies blocking light related penetration, which means that if it comes in contact with actual matter, it would not or just barely be blocked and therefore cut.
Also, I am not talking about “the force” here, because it only is required to construct a lightsaber, but not to run it. The talk about a Lightsaber being part of the jedi, for them to be atuned and such, only relates to the owner being able to sense and use it as though it was a real physical appendage, giving it a natural feeling and therefore making it easier to precisely swing and place. This link to the owner originates from crystal used and spreads with the light it emits, which is why the crystal used should either have been created, retrieved or retuned by its (new) owner.
Masterfully explained.
+1 force point.
It really should be noted that when George Lucas put the things in his story, he had no idea of the “science” behind them. Mostly they follow the Rule of Cool, which is true for 99.44% of all things in Star Wars.
He knew that only Jedi could use Lightsabers. He knew that they were difficult to control and that you needed to use both hands. He knew they could cut through pretty much anything, and could be used to block incoming blaster fire as well as other Lightsabers.
Darth Vader is seen using a Lightsaber with one hand. It was supposed to be an illustration of how much of a bad-ass Vader was.
I have seen more than one “Official” explanation of how Lightsabers work. My favorite goes like this.
The blade of a Lightsaber is made up of high energy plasma contained in a tube-shaped force field that is projected by the hilt. It’s effectively like using a tiny piece of a star or a lightning bolt as a sword blade. The Force Field, like most Force Fields in science fiction, works according to principles of physics that have not been discovered yet in the Real World. Energy cannot pass in or out, but matter can.
Lightsabers can only be used by Jedi because the plasma that makes up the blade is in constant and chaotic motion. When someone who is unable to sense the Force swings a Lightsaber they feel it wriggling around in their hands, pulling in unexpected directions. It’s a bit like fighting with a fire hose. Through the Force, Jedi are able to anticipate the motions of the plasma, and even use it to speed up their sword swings.
Originally, everyone had the ‘sabres
You are correct. Over the years a lot of the details changed. I was speaking of what he’d decided when filming began for the first Star Wars movie.
Except that causes a metal vapor (or more likely plasma) to form and that is about 1000X worse than just melted lead. The DU or tungsten arrows of tank guns work by using the heat generated in piercing the armor to vaporize the round inside the tank, frying everything inside. You block a bullet with a lightsaber you get lead plasma moving in your direction. The energy imparted by passing through the blade would be retained on leaving it and would be diffused into the atmosphere, causing combustion. So in other words it becomes a tiny fuel-air bomb in your face. At the very least you now have a sunburn and are probably on fire. Oh, and lead is rather toxic, particularly as a vapor, so bonus there.
On the flip side, Jedi are supposed to be able to see a bit into the future, so they would only have to force-push the bullets to deflect them away rather than blocking them and turning into a poisoned torch.
This!
Lol, excellent explanation!
Jedi are able to bring an energy sword to a gun fight because they use the Force. The Force lets them sense attacks before they are made so the Jedi can avoid them. In fact, Jedi are so insanely good at that trick that they play games with incoming fire, like deflecting blaster bolts back at their enemies.
What has been shown is that Jedi usually -dodge- attacks unless they are getting fancy, and an incoming solid object would be one of those things to dodge rather than stand in front of and block.
In comic book terms, all Jedi have “Danger Sense”.
The last Jedi of the Old Republic were wimps against the ancient Jedi even 1k years before.
Hence why they could be easily nuked with Order 66.
Ancient Jedi by 4k before Yavin would’ve sniffed out Palpatine/Sidious before he’d ever set foot in the Senate.
Were it not for that whole imbalance in the force concealing the guy.
That, and the whole arrogance in believing the Sith were extinct
Thankfully, momentum is not still a thing. I mean, momentum was just so annoying, you know?
Geordi La Forge: It’s like the laws of physics just went right out the window!
Q (appearing): And why shouldn’t they? They’re so inconvenient.
They are inconvenient aren’t they.
Light Sabre vs bundle of OLD dynamite ( the kind that has crystals all over the outside.) = Blown up Jedi.
There was a reason why the ‘slug-throwers’ were outlawed :P
Not outlawed, just made rather redundant. Blasters (in star wars) are cheaper to make, better range, more stopping power and mostly accept universal ammo (any kind of power source in a pinch), so for military’s at least they are better
And can be easier stopped/deflected by a Jedi’s tricks
I’ll believe that when I see a blaster hit something at more than 100 feet. And actually do damage (little scorch marks aren’t damage). Their rate of fire is so bad they make terrible suppression and AA guns as well. Seriously, if the Death Star had had a bunch of gatts instead of fighter sized turbolaser turrets in that trench it would still be there! Shot, scratch that, if the Empire gave the storm troopers a bunch of machine guns they might at least be able to hit the broad side of an AT-AT. Not putting any money on that you understand, but it is worth a shot (or 30)!
Blasters are also the exact opposite of sneaky and instantly tell everyone in the area exactly where you are. And the shots travel slower than bullets. Yeah. Then again, sci-fi like that is about flash and fun, not actual military equipment with that kind of tech (gravity based weapons in particular would be nasty and completely silent and invisible).
I never said it was a good explanation, but its the one star wars gives :P
Actually Dahak (And no blowing up Sun’s please) one of the reasons the Stormtroopers were such lousy marksmen compared to the Republic’s clones was that by New Hope they had gone to the philosophy of “Quantity has a Quality of it’s own” AKA they were basically either using conscripts or clones that were not as … well programmed and simply putting MORE boots on the ground.
The Empire’s TIE series.
TIE-fighter pilots were said to be suicidal.
TIE-bomber pilots were said to be homicidal.
TIE-interceptor pilots were said to be both.
Seriously. No shields, no hyperdrive and they were just about gonna be one-shotted every time they were out. Technically a good wing of Alliance fighter-pilots could mop up entire Empire squadrons of those buggers.If you had 4 good X-wing pilots they could mop up a stardestroyer by themselves.
See WW2 Japanese Zero. Superb fighter that could beat anything else in the air (until the US got tired of losing planes). It had no pilot armor, no compartmental gas tanks, and a very light structure in general. Once the Marines and Navy began fielding modern fighters like the Corsair, Zeros went down hard and fast. The X-Wing I suspect is the TIE’s Corsair.
Product placement!
1) So red ties only go with blue and/or gray suits? Weird.
2) I want to know how many people have tried to wear it by putting the large end through the tag.
Quanity is it”s own quality
the Death Star’s static defenses were set up to repel an attack from capital ships, not fighters.
Now if Tarkin had launched a wing or two of ties well then the rebellion would have been over.
From the Death Star tech manuel the D.S, is listed to have carried 120+ wings of TIE’s at 72 per wing.
Yet only Vader and co. went out to play.
Admiral Tarkin: Launch all fighters!
Flunky: Both fighters away sir.
Admiral Tarkin: BOTH? I want eight thousand launched. We must exterminate every last one of those rebels!
Flunky: Yea, about that. It is the super-star-bowl today. They’re all watching the match.
Admiral Tarkin: …
Flunky: Well, I’m off now too. You want me to put a bet on the Wookies, for you? I recon they’re gonna win this year!
Did destroying her weapon KO HS?
It is possible the backlash from the the blade shattering would stun her.
She may be somewhat tied to the sword when it’s all glowy. Maybe it’s a projection of her life force.
I think the transmitted impact knocked her down. She’ll be back in the fight as soon as she can grab another weapon.
i just love the last panel dabbler is waving her fist at peggy
“hey you stole my ‘kill'”
correction: second to last
Serves her right.
As Peggy said, Dabbler did indead screw around and therefore make it harder for the rest of her team.
I mean, she got help from Peggy, from Achilles, even from HS herself since she didn’t strike while Dabbler and Halo were talking. She took time toying with HS initually, talking every now and then, even playing Bingo. Because of that she wasn’t fast enough preventing Heatwaves toe incident, took down “Mach the Knife” only who might not stay down, and still hasn’t finished the fight with HS which might not be out for the count as of yet despite Peggys help.
For a multi-gadget super-IQ magic material-arts multi-talent like Dabbler, this is more than just a bad performance.
Hopefully losing the chance of proving herself against Heavenly Sword will fule her competitive spirit enough to teach her a lesson or two about when to go for fun and when to fight with and for your team.
That’s why they call her ‘Dabbler’ and not ‘Renaissance Woman.’ Against a resourceful enough opponent, this can be used against her on top of swordplay.
You left out Dabbsy’s most obvious trait: Show Off. That’s her problem, she doesn’t just want to win, she wants to win “flashy”.
*reminds me of a recent NFL draftee…
Honestly? Her biggest weakness seems to be that her team-mates can’t really trust her to hold up her end of the fight. And until they can, and until they know what she can do, and what she can’t do, Sydney’s going to be a bigger asset to the team than Dabbler is.
HOPEFULLY we’ll get to see some kind of detailed summary of her abilities, but…so far, we haven’t. All we really know is that she’s got semi-magical tech powers, that are less effective than she thinks.
I’m just hoping we get to see Max bawling her out for showing off. There’s a place for showing off, of course…but Dabbler does not currently seem able to do so effectively.
Magic-like technology, actual magic (like the beholder spell glamor), succubus lust aura, inventor, superhuman intelligence, and ability to summon swords. She can do a lot.
True, she can do a lot, but A: merely possessing superhuman intelligence doesn’t mean it will be used constantly, or even effectively, and B: While she can do a lot, we’ve yet to see how WELL she does them. The intelligence and gadgeteering imply skilled use, but don’t guarantee it.
Intelligence 25, Wisdom 8. Really smart, uses smarts to do stupid things “better.”
Jill of all trades, Mistress of none.
Dunno about the last part. I am sure she will have a queue of volunteers.
To be honest, i was surprised to see someone as powerful as dabbler struggling the way she was, but i can totally buy into Peggy’s implication that she was toying around with a single enemy rather than fighting with efficiency (though with heavenly it might well be a bit of both). She isn’t used to being a team player and she definitely doesn’t strike me as someone who likes her fights to end so quickly.
After the fight, I have no doubt Max is going to be on her case about grandstanding. And Math might be in for a bit of the same.
I think Math will be exempt because, to be fair, he’s still taking people down even ‘as’ he makes a spectacle of it.
Against Jabbs? Doubt Math is ‘playing’, Jabbs is “just that damn good”
Math may be 999th in a long line, maybe Jabbs is the 1000th? Just because she’s not related doesn’t rule that out
They’re both top tier martial artists, and Jabber is backed up by super powers
Zack Tilly! Math is not grandstanding against Jabbs, he is getting his dancecard well and truly punched (and kicked) by her
True enough. But he should be willing to call in backup to end the fight fast. A blast from Max toned down for safety, would take the starch out of Jabb PDQ.
I’m pretty sure Max is letting Math take all the time he wants with this fight. Keep in mind, from the background provided, the only reason Math is on the team at all was because Max convinced him that he would have challenging fights if he joined up.
If Max or someone else preempted a fight Math was having, ruining his ‘fun’, he very well might leave the team to pursue other challenges. Also keep in mind he’s already disabled several combatants.
So, unless the rest of the team gets into real trouble, which they haven’t yet, I’m pretty sure Max is going to let Math take as long as he wants to enjoy the fight in order to keep her word that he would have fights worth having.
+1
What Yorp said.
That.. is a pretty good shot.
pretty good shot?
a moving target no wider than 3 inches from what is a min 150 meters
taking in to account wind, bullet velocity and were HS sword will be when the bullet gets there
that shot is more than pretty good
Add in she used altitude to backstop her shot into the ground.
You know what they say. Don’t aim where it is but where it is going to be.
Peggy gauged what she was going to do next, and blew the blade to splinters.
I’m going to post this link here for you to check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHvWaviIXsk
Enjoy ;-) I saw this when I was a kid, and it’s still just as impressive today. Peggy’s shot reminded me of this. Really good shooting.
(Yes, I just might share this with mulitple commenters here.)
I do love the fact that the first response from the perp is, “That was a great shot.”
Well, it wasn’t a moving target. Peggy waited till they where doing the Samurai faceoff, waiting for the other to make the first move. HS was still for at least a second before Peggy shot.
Heh, kinda thought so. Glad I read down before saying something similar :)
It was exactly the way I had interpreted the shot too. We are used to Hollywood trying to make things look as impressive as possible, and shooting the moving target. But, if you look at the scene, without that pre-conception in mind
I would have been very disappointed if Peggy was able to shoot into a a fast-moving melee, like Math and Jabberwokky’s fight. We have plenty of marksmen readers who can make up their own mind, but as far as I am concerned, pulling off that shot in a Samurai stand-off is plausible.
If the best (non-super) sniper/ marksman /trick shooter in the world can pull of the shot, then so can Peggy. Because that is her end, of her league.
Good on ya, Peggy! That’s a professional attitude when it comes to super fighting.
to be fair Peggy is the one who needs to keep a professional attitude the most she is after all the most squishy on the team. for her taking them down fast is not just the best option but the only one that dusent end in a peggy blood smear on the side of a building
But Peggy is working with a team. She has Harem for immediate backup and any of the flyers can reach her quickly or blast an attacker going after her. Plus Peggy is moving around after she fires making her hard to find. Dabbler and to an extent, Math, are more used to being soloists. And both are good enough to get away with it most of the time. But Dabbler is in over her head and refusing to admit it.
I think Peggy’s professional attitude comes from military combat training rather than fear. She’s been taught to work with a team and to take things seriously when lives are at risk.
if i gave the impression that peggy was i thought peggy was afraid i didn’t mean it. i just meant that she understands the full implications of a prolonged fight with a supper. as such she would keep her professional ‘take them down hard and fast’ attitude. even when others toy with their opponents
Oh, agreed. But I believe that’s not just her non-super nature, but her as a person anyway. Even if she worked in a completely non-super team, I still believe Peggy would have the most professional attitude of all, because that’s just her.
Though I’m sure she won’t hesitate to take the mick when it is warranted.
Peggy is good friends with Maxima.
Maxima can fly at over Mach 1.
Going after Peggy would reduce a villain’s lifespan to <1 second.
Or reduce their Health to 1 from where Max is hovering.
well THIS IS SURELY AN EPIC SHOT. hehe
i like how peggy really stay focused now will see if missy really need sto hold a blade or not at this point.
personally i wouldn’t make that bet.
to me it was more like a “crutch” or something to show in style to go with her name.
otherwise while using a kendo sword instead of a katana? …
well one resign to use a shinai or kendo sword is that no one is going to freak out seeing you carry it. were as a katana is illegal in many places and would attract attenchan
okay she isn’t the “regular kind’ of vilain but sincerely with her outfit and the fact that SHE IS a vilain, at least normally, do you really think she cares about what the law thinks of katana, claymore and such?
just her outfit is a DAMN attention getter if you ask me
to be fair yes if you were competent you what to appear to be keeping to the law. its hard to launch a surprise attack when you are fighting off off every do gooder cop in the county becose you oveas you were braking the law
Yea, Heavenly Sword shares a weakness with Sydney. Namely being riddled with bullets. It is always best to avoid provoking a confrontation prematurely. That way you get to choose the time and place of the fight.
Let’s not forget the obvious fact that a Shinai is a lot lighter than an actual metal sword. I.E. faster to manipulate in a fight. It also allows a much broader response capability in a fight. If they want non-lethal, they turn off the field. With a katana or other metal sword, you’d have to use it in a awkward manner to achieve the same effect. I.E. hitting with the back or side of the blade, slowing down the blade even further and compromising your grip.
It could be her Energy Blade does something to metal if she uses one. On the other hand, we will now see if she even needs a sword to make the blade.
you could be right on her powers VS metal yeah
and can’t wait to know if she isn’t knocked out hehe
Seriously, this really is an epic shot. I’ve only seen one other like it on TV when I was a kid…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHvWaviIXsk
There’s another clip on YouTube that explains that officers offered the man a really shook up can of soda. This caused him to hold the gun pointed down at such an angle to make the shot even possible.
But I can’t imagine anyone trying something like this anywhere else except America. You don’t normally see stuff like this except in fiction! But here it is, recorded and preserved for all to see! Simply astounding.
Dang. I had been talking hypothetically. I did not think there would be footage of comparable shot, in real life!
I’ve seen a few videos where they’ve shot the gun out of a person’s hand.
I’ve also seen a video on tv for the best shooters in the world where they shot a playing card in half using iron sights at something like 100 yards. I wasn’t able to find that, but I did find this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0sSdMBq1V4
It took him 9 tries, but since he was using a .22LR round on a windy day, it can be forgiven.
Also, this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emJ0RToUYGE
shot a beer can at around 3/4th of a mile away. He mentions he actually had to account for the coriolis effect (i.e. the drift caused by the rotation of the earth) for that far of a shot. So Peggy’s shot is well within the range of a highly skilled sniper. Still a great shot tho…
That first shot was with ironsights! Pretty impressive! And the second one? If the distance is accurate to the portrayal, and it wasn’t just edited to make it look like a first try (which I doubt: it looks quite legit), then you betcha that was a hell of a shot!
“Make sure you catch the classic Escher Girl pose in the most recent Gynostar.”
I am disappointed to discover this is not a reference to .
Whenever I see a nose ring, especially one that that big, I get a mental image, which I find hard to ignore.
It works just as well with girls, and the leashes are a lot lighter :P
Your link doesn’t work, sir.
Oh, no idea why not. It works fine for me. Let’s see if an alternate image does the trick.
I wish I could get a Fred commission. I wish I could be at A-Kon running Divine Blood….sigh.
Is it wrong to root for Heavenly Sword? Then I don’t wanna be right.
Maybe she’ll pull an Emma Frost and join the good guys.
You rise an interesting point that pained me too:
DaveB’s characters are so vidid and likeable, that even among the villians there are a few I would hate so see go. I mean, it doesn’t even look as though they are crazier than the ARCHON supers. And even that somewhat unpleasant shadow knife homerun guy has too nice a powerset to be burried in some government high security “drop-and-forget” prison.
That said, I still wonder where they all came from and really really hope that they simply were recruited by ARCHON / the government as a combined test and publicity stunt. I mean, as Maxime already pointed out, showing the world that ARCHON can handle whatever the worlds sends after them, should be a lasting statement making a repeat of such incidents way less likely.
I hope because, if they were hired, we might see them yet again. :-)
Conditions of parole: You must hold gainful employment and report to your parole officer on the schedule he or she sets. Oh, Sgt. Scoville of ARCHON has a proposal for the employment part of your release.
Sydney is referred to as Sgt. Scoville here because this is a few years later.
If Grrl Power runs on comic book rules, then I imagine at least HS will be pulling a Heel Face Turn at some point. It tends to depend on popularity with readers.
That would be very boring writing, as that would duplicate the rationale for the bank heist. Been there, done that. As such, I can guarantee that will not be the cause here. DaveB is simply too good a writer for that.
Besides which the accusation has already been put, and firmly denied, in comic. You may have missed it though, as it was all done via body language and facial expressions (panels 3 to 8).
But, you are not the only one wondering what the alternative may be. Here are a few of my speculations.
You probably are right, and it certainly would not be a thrilling storyline. It also is way more likely a statement from an opposing group of yet unknown nature ( such as those your link suggested ) to either make a point, to test them, or to actually smash them ( in which case that group was delusional ).
The reason I hoped it was government involvement was that I wanted for at least some of those villian characters to either stay or return, because I simply can’t stand the though of parting with at least some of them. But if we are talking “proper storyline” again, then there already would be way to many supers on the roster to make the villians stay with Archon, so that we’ll probably have some of them around as guest characters due to “community work”, “prison outbreaks” or … incidents concerning Nunjas.
Yeah, I saw that one comming.
Also it would be preatty easy to trigger the proximity sensor by throwing something at it, causing a premature detonation.
Also it helps if you don’t call out the name of your attack.
Awesome sniping skills though, maybe she has luck-powers like bullseye?
You don’t need luck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHvWaviIXsk Just skill B-)
So what happens if Heavenly Sword thought ahead to bring a real sword?
A .50 cal round is going to screw up a normal sword too….and I don’t think HS is strong enough to retain it after a .50 cal strike near the pommel.
Personally, if a sniper hits the sword instead of my head….I just lay there quietly, with my hands over my head…saying, “Thank you for not shooting me in my head.”
Because carrying a Kendo stick is not illegal to carry in public :P
About the same thing. Swords are actually kind of brittle if you hit the flat side of them rather than the cutting edge.
.50 cals can go through engine blocks so a sword will end up broken or bent badly.
I’ve heard this statement a lot with both .50cal and other large caliber weapons.
After much research … .50cal can penetrate an engine block (thus disabling it) … but going through one … not so much.
https://youtu.be/EwnVF1UoNEE
Now … granted they were shooting a cast iron engine block … perhaps a cast aluminum engine block … but still you got steel connecting rods, steel crankshaft, pistons … etc … to deal with in any automotive engine … that’s a lot of metal to push through.
So penetrate. damage and disable, yeah … but certainly not though.
Using AP rounds I’ve seen a .50 punch through the door of a safe and out the back.
What part of ‘penetrate’ does not equate to ‘not through’ in your world?
I’m going to go with the part where it doesn’t bounce OFF the engine block, but doesn’t come out the other side, either.
The really real world, where “penetrate” means “go into -or- through”.
True enough. If it did not have both meanings, porn actors would get very alarmed at their ‘scripts’. “No I did not sign on to do a snuff movie!”
I quess I’m being overly literal … because the word Through for me has always meant going in from one side and out the other … as by the following Google defenition.
1.moving in one side and out of the other side of (an opening, channel, or location).
“stepping boldly through the doorway”
into and out of, to the other side of, to the far side of, from one side to the other of
“we drove through the tunnel”
from one side to the other, from one end to another, in and out the other side
“as soon as we opened the gate they came streaming through”
I know that Penetrate can also mean to penetrate through a thing … but the two words are often used together to to indicate a complete penetration (ie through and through)
Again … I guess I am being overly literal on the word usage.
Okay my point was it is possible to put a round through a thick piece of metal and a sword would be less trouble.
Actually, IMHO, a sword would be a lot harder to break or damage severely with a .50 cal. since it is only held in place by human hands the impact would knock it forcefully to the side before imparting enough energy to break or bend it over much, whereas an engine block or other large piece of metal has the mass to remain stationary and allow the bullet to penetrate and cause structural damage.
If the bullet doesn’t get to transfer much of its energy to the sword blade, then it follows it will punch right through, leaving a half-inch in diameter hole in the sword.
That might not destroy the thing instantly, but you could never use it as a weapon again.
Given how brittle swords are against force coming in from the side, having the blade shatter like glass makes sense.
In “knocking the blade to the side” at ~3000 ft per second, it would break a few bones in HS’s hands. The blade shattering would pass the least amount of energy through to HS’s hands, the blade denting would pass the most energy through.
LMAO, Dabbler’s expression in the scope in the 2nd to last panel….
Well Peggy is painting a Bulls eye on herself rather fast…. I would have figured a hand shot would fit the “Non Leathal” approach, and stop HS rather permanently…..
Well, we’d have to break out the pixelization effect again. Fifty caliber bullet + hand = bloody stump. Which would be a shame, ’cause HS seems nice enough for a villain.
also remember that HS has yet to take a hit for all peggy knows a bullet might not effect her but the shinai is never going stand up to a .50 call
Two thoughts, first the Shinai is much larger than a hand and that shot was hard enough as is. Second, Peggy didn’t know if the energy blade would deflect the shot either. I’m betting she went for the Shinai as merely being an almost impossible target over being a “Hail Mary” target.
i got to dis agree there the hand wile haveing a smaller services aria is wider than the Shinai expressly considering the had is raped around the Shinai, that makes the hand an easier target
as for the enery blad blocking the bullet you can see the energy dusent come in contact with the shinai at any point so an attack coming from the side would never be stopped by the energy blade leaving the shinai exposed to peggy
also note that the hands being closer to the privet of the arc of a sword slash are moving slower than the blade.
in conclution the hands are an easier target so i stand by assumption that peggy is taking the possibility that heavenly sword is bulletproof in to consideration until she has info one way or anther
“I would have figured a hand shot would fit the “Non Leathal” approach”
Not with a 50 cal it doesn’t. As has been mentioned before, this is a gun made for killing trucks. While medicine does steadily march on, blowing a person’s hand off is not a reliable way of taking them alive.
WARNING: Studies have shown that performing combat maneuvers in high heels and other such stylish footwear, while making your ass, breasts, and legs look great, may be hazardous to your health or at least to your dignity and checkbook, especially when one of those spiky heel things breaks.
That’s why I drew her in 2″ boot heels and not 5″ stilettos. :)
Yeah, weren’t cavalry boot heels about 2″? You know, back when cavalry rode around on horses, and stuff, instead of on helicopters? Cause I seem to remember cavalry boots being depicted as having that kind of heel.
Surviving a fight wearing 5″ stilettos for more than 10 minutes probably would coun’t as a super power on its own. I mean, stepping on somebodys feet with these near-spikes on probably would count as a critical hit … .
Maybe Stilt-Man has a sister?
I do not know about their relationship, but American Maid ‘s primary attack is throwing her high heeled shoes at enemies.
A shot coming that close to my head? Yeah, I’d be out of the fight…or else shaking so bad that the sword would look like a sewing machine needle.
After realizing that a hidden sniper had just PURPOSELY shot my weapon out of my hand INSTEAD of taking the easy shot of .50 cal through the chest…….. I’d be very thankful…..and prone on the ground, with my hands covering my head saying, “please don’t shoot me.”
Heavenly doesn’t have a high opinion of Dabbler seeing that she thinks she can get away with using Jodan against Dabbler.
Personally I’d have gone for another daisy cutter strike.
Agreeing with Peggy here, revealing everything then expecting it to work a second time isn’t the best way to deal with a problem when time’s short. (admittedly when time /isn’t/ short it’s not much better)
It just occurred to me that Dabbler could probably finish this fight, or the whole battle in one move by simply amping up her lust aura.
Yeah, there may be some strong minds who can resist it, but we still don’t know how intense it, or any other mood or behaviour magic she has, is.
Except that if it was enough to bring the fight to a stop, Dabbler, Math, and others near the bottom of the resulting pile, would be crushed to death.
Might be a good solution for Anima, though. I ship it.
Snoipin’s a good job, mate!
Reach out and touch somebody.
I’ll be honest with you— my parents… do not care for it.
Not really related to the comic, but when I loaded the site this morning with IE I was met with a warning regarding malware from my anti-virus software. Perhaps one of the advertisers does not have out best interest at heart?
The majority of folks are not getting any problems, but one other reader has reported something similar. Our current best guess is that it was due to the virus checker, they were using, throwing up a false positive. Perhaps you could give details of the error message and which virus checker made the alert? That way Dave would be able to pass it on, to the relevant parties, to investigate.
I’ve gotten an alert a few times as well, Orange something or other. Not every time, though, which inclines me to suspect something in the ads or possibly the randomized comic sharing system, but so far it’s only happened here.
If such occurrences are rare, it is going to be even harder to pin them down. Perhaps it might be best to include a description of the advert banners visible too, if it happens again. Although I do realise that would be rather a tedious exercise. But, if there is something amiss, it could be worth the effort, to get it removed.
Don’t forget to update the virus checker though, if it is not at the moment. That will reduce the chance of a false positive, if that is what is happening.
When have advertisers ever had our best interests to heart?
Most spotting scopes do not have crosshairs. One of the few that do is the Leupold Mark 4 (which actually looks fairly close to what you drew Harem using in comic 216):
https://www.leupold.com/tactical/spotting-scopes/mark-4-spotting-scopes/mark-4-12-40x60mm-tactical-spotting-scope/
The reticle options shown on the page I linked to. They offer traditional crosshair reticles (exactly the same as some of the reticles they offer on rifle scopes) as well as a couple of special Horus reticles designed specifically for spotting scopes.
Ah, good to know. At least the one I chose looks like some combination of those.
Through the scope we can see that Dabbler is really ticked off at Peggy for interfering. I’m sure she would give Peggy the middle finger…. if her hands actually had one.
P.S.
My web search on the sword stance gives a preferred spelling of “Jodan No Kamae”.
So it appears that when I was playing ‘Whack a Mole” as a kid I was actually practicing Kendo. Who knew?
Fairly sure Peggy is happy to be 150 metres (or was it yards?) away from a pissed of alien succubus :D
Wonder if Sydney is close enough to pick up some new swear words :D
i don’t know if this is accurate but i believe 10 people have been taken out of the 30.
Waitaminit!! On the previous page Dabs says something to the effect that those “myolinear ribbons” can’t be cut. So how the heck does Heavenly sliced through a canister of them? From the cross section it doesn’t look to be like Spidey’s fluid filled web shooters where the ribbons are formed by exdruded liquid which hardens in air. They seem to be tightly packed or wound. Don’t mind me, just pickin’ nits.
Obviously there’s a difference between a knife and an energy blade. That or the ribbons lose whatever elastic advantage they might have when they’re packed in that tight.
Reminds me a bit of Prince Rupert Drops. Tiny drops of ordinary, household glass. Except you can bang on them with a hammer and not break them. That’s because the glass has immense forces at work inside it, which work to reinforce the glass and make it incredibly strong. (Tempered glass on steroids).
I could see the cables having similar traits. or the energy sword simply being that sharp.
This little Youtube vid has a wonderful explanation for Prince Rupert’s Drops, and their interesting vulnerability…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe-f4gokRBs
She either burned through them, or she had a monomolecular edge. Either one works–there must be SOME way to remove those ribbons, after all.
The energy blade can change its shape and size. It grew to exist inside the ribbons. Less like a cut, more like a teleporter chop.
I know the facial scars make Peggy look all bad-ass and all, but I had a concern about one of them. The vertical cut follows the contours of the face and misses the recessed eye socket. However, the object that would leave a cut from one cheek to the other would basically have to remove the nose in-between. This would unfortunately change her looks from pin-up girl to “Phantom of the Opera” so I can see why you avoided it.
Maybe it was just a really sharp part of the helicopter crash :P
You are assuming that the “cut” oriented from an edge weapon.
But what about … :
1. .. an aura like projected weapons or particle beams and such ?
2. Maybe her head got stuck in a net of hot wire-meshes ?
3. Maybe an ultra bright flare of some kind went up and got her burned through the optical lenses of her scope ?
4. Maybe she peeked through some kind of hole while something blew up on the other side ?
5. … drops of molten glas/plastic from the helicopter’s cockpit ?
Or, perhaps the nose was lost? For precisely the reason you mention, re-attaching and/or re-forming a new nose would be a priority. That is actually the oldest,* most practised form of cosmetic surgery that we have on the planet. So our surgeons are very good at it.
Peggy may have simply told them not to do anything with the other scars. They do not detract from her looks, so why bother. She was obviously going through a heck of a lot of other surgery, and recovery, at the time.
* Violating some cultural taboo, hundreds of years ago, in India, would earn the penalty of the girl involved having her nose cut off. One of the religions took pity on all the noseless girls and women, so pioneered the technique of grafting skin from elsewhere on the body, onto the nose, to make a new one.
In fact, it is the direct, traceable origins of the technique we use today. Modern surgeons can read translated descriptions of the ancient surgery and see it is, in basic principle, the same as modern surgeons use. And we even know how that happened. British doctors, serving in India, during the days of the Rajah, saw how advanced the surgery was and copied it.
Sadly, they lacked honour, and claimed the work as their own. Although I may be doing them a disservice. They could have been wise to do so, as ‘native’ medicines and techniques would likely to have been viewed with disdain. And, as such, anyone attempting it may have both lost their reputation and any patients. As opposed to being able to spread the life-changing surgery around the world.
Seems to be an obvious flaw with Dabblers “You can’t steal my tech.” technology. The ammo sticks around, as it would kind of have to if you want to shoot anyone more than a foot away. But I’ll wager Deus has his hands on one of those bullet halves within the hour.
It really bothers me how poorly Dabbler has been doing. Did she order a double helping of Stupid Pills for dinner instead of a steak?
She is supposed to be able to fight Maxima to a standstill. She was able to beat Math once, although she used magic to do it. She’s supposed to be one of the team’s heavyweights.
In the time it took for Math to beat 4 opponents, Anvil to beat 3, and Sydney to take out two, Dabbler managed to fail to take down even one, and that one wasn’t even bothering to use her powers. When last I pointed that out people said “She was having fun.”
No. She wasn’t. https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1343
Dabbler: “I am rather embarrassed. I’m still on my first, but once I get outside I’ll rack up 10 easy.”
Heavenly Sword: “You should be embarrassed witch! I haven’t even used my powers yet!”
Sword demonstrates her power. What does Dabbler do? She drags out the sword that even she will admit she’s not very good with. If she has any degree of training with a sword, she ought to be able to recognize when she’s outclassed. But no, she flails around with her sword and gets trounced easily.
She manages to take the Speedster down. It starts looking like she’s going to try an at least marginally intelligent plan for using the Bondage Gun on Heavenly Sword, by drawing her in close and trying for a point blank shot, but no. Dabbler gets stupid and gives Sword plenty of time for a defensive move.
Since the Bondage Gun failed, what is Dabbler’s next move? She prepares to go at it with her sword again. Yeah. Like that worked out so well before.
This is a genius whose intelligence cannot be measured on a human scale?
there’s a simple explanation- Dabbler is a Jack of All Trades ( or, as she calls it, a Jill Of All Trades)- which means she knows a little bit about a lot of things. She is going up against a specialist in sword fighting, and probably tactics.
which also explains her poor choice of tactics- her intelligence goes into coming up with her weapons.(bear in mind we don’t know how intelligent her usual opponents are)
Dabbler has the attention span of an ADHD child sky high on both sugar and azo dyes. She wants to show off and have fun with her fights, and doesn’t think responsibly. Hence only one kill strike for her so far.
You don’t need to be a child to be that way.
I am proof. (Assuming that I don’t reverse my personality in the next 6 weeks)
Like someone said ages ago, Halo has ADHLAS (Attention Deficit Hey Look A Squirrel) and she’s an adult. I just used the child reference as children tend to be naturally hyper (in my experience, anyway), so imagine an ADHD child pumped up on hyperising chemicals (and yes, hyperising is a word in my own dictionary :-P).
This is a character based and powered super power comic with Dabbler being by far the most versatile because heavily multi-talented character yet. This kind of character is too powerful to just let her breath through every hurdle, so you need to limited her in order to fit her into the story. In other comics she might be partially blind, limping, coulnd’t turn her head to the right due to a spinal injury, be allergic to artificial light, faint at the smell of cheesy socks and run in fright before costumed people.
Since that would be just silly, and this comic is character oriented, her limitations mainly are based on flaws of mind and character.
That said, did anyone ever try spooking her by using a mask ? Could be why X is wearing one.
+1 (to each of the commentators replies’, they all added valuable counter-arguments)
This strikes me as being similar to analysis of historical battles. Where armchair commentators will specify the forces at a commander’s disposal, the tactical situation and then state that ‘the commander should have ordered X to do Y’. But completely ignoring the personalities, history and intentions of the relevant parties.
Frequently, when you do that, you see that the commander knew that a particular order (such as reinforce me, at all costs), would simply be ignored, evaded or subverted. They were limited in the range of options available due to their knowledge of their colleague.
Quite often, it was down to politics. The nominal subordinate would be able to ignore orders they did not like, because they were in favour with the crown (or the admiralty, or 10 Downing Street, or whatever). The fact that they might face later sanctions for failing to follow orders is fairly irrelevant to the commander on the ground. The battle would have been lost. All they can do is make the best use of the unit that they can, within the limited scope that they have confidence will be obeyed.
In this instance Peggy, for one, is very clearly aware that Dabbler is there to have fun. It matters not one bit how many capabilities she has at her disposal. Heavenly Sword was only going down, when Dabbler was done with her entertainment.
Well she is obviously a genius above human scale just look at the tech she has built. Doesn’t mean she is a genius at tactics. Plus she’s cocky and that’s always been a major flaw. We didn’t see her fight with the sword a second time so there is no way to know how that fight would have gone. It could have been to trick HS into a false sense of security while she got another gadget out or used her sticky air magic that she used to beat math.
Yea. One thing that springs to mind is the origin of the word ‘genius.’ It originally meant somebody who was very good at one particular thing. And, in actuality, that is still how it works. Even though we tend to think that if someone is very good at one particular thing (say being a Nobel prize winning physicist) ,that they are super-intelligent at everything.
They are certainly likely to be above average at many things. But they will have their share of things they are incompetent at too. Albert Einstein, genius at physics. Crap at fashion. Or brushing his hair. Mainly because he did not care about it. In this case, Dabbler is not concerned about getting quick victories.
She is used to taking on opponents one on one, and being able to set her own pace. This whole, having to help out a team concept appears to be rather new to her. So she may learn. But appearances can be mistaken. She is an alien with a very mixed heritage. She may simply not care about being a team player.
Just look at the vastly different attitudes and motivations between Japanese and Allied troops in WWII. Almost incomprehensible to each other, at the time. Leading to many misunderstandings and differences of opinion (such as regards to the issue of surrendering and, thereby the treatment of prisoners). And that was without bringing aliens into the equation.
So good at gadgets, yes. But that does not automatically mean good at everything. The rest we will have to figure out, as we see more.
That sums up Shelly Cooper: (alleged) genius at some (one?) things, but a complete nonce at most other things
“…origin of the word ‘genius.’ It originally meant somebody who was very good at one particular thing. And, in actuality, that is still how it works.”
Or, as it was said by the famous cowboy Will Rogers, “Everybody’s ignorant, just in different subjects.” Indeed, when I was in the Navy, I knew people that were smart enough to qualify to go into one of the nuclear fields (as I was, but declined in favor of electronics), but seemed to have trouble tying their shoes; a bit short of common sense.
common phrase around my place of work is “why is common sense not very common” in at least half the cases from someone who demonstrated a lack of same within the last day and sadly in almost a third within the last four hours
“Cannot be measured on a human scale” doesn’t have to mean too high on all counts. Her thought processes might simply be too different from human for a standardised test to gauge them.
For example, think of exam technique. Some people who are extremely knowledgeable in a subject can score poorly because they concentrate on a single question rather than the entire exam. Its a matter of priorities.
Just because Dabbler is a scientific and mathematical genius, doesn’t mean that she is any good at tactics. She could be an intensely competitive, grandstanding, thrillseeker with no sense of priorities or teamwork.
Sorry I missed you at A-Kon. Even with an assistant, this was one of my busiest conventions ever, and I didn’t have time for much of anything during dealer room hours.
I totally do not understand what’s happening in that first row (the lunge and bisect panels).
HS is bending her front knee and sliding the leg forward in a fencing lunge maneuver. This increases her reach and enables her to slice the missile in half before it is in range of the proximity sensor.
A dabbler round has just been severed in half…
Are the halves prone to any exciting events? Explode, deployment of indestructible ribbon? Ball of tangled or severed ribbon?
Or is it simply mostly inert? (No bets on what happens if the bits are chucked into a fire….)
I missed you at A-Kon as well. dangit
A great story about an army sniper in a supers universe. https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/45389/harbinger
Dang; now I want to see Peggy with a railgun…
Yea, she could put it to great use.
Looking at Dabbler’s expression and body language above though, I suspect that, if Peggy asked for it now, she might find the location, that Dabbler would insert it, to be rather uncomfortable.
I think Heavenly sword will grab the nearest long stick she can to wield as her focus for her energy blades…that or Dabbler will toss her something…
I’m thinking a “MOP!” – which not only would be funny visually, but great for jokes. Hell a squeegee sponge mop would be funny too.
I think Dabbler might outright use some magic now . Will it be sticky inviso-webs or will it be a focused lust beam or the party popping “O” beam?
She can extend the blade past the end of the stick; in theory all she really needs is a handle. So, once she gets over the shock of it, she should be back in the fight, only slightly hampered. (And that only because she was grabbing the ‘blade’ of her shinai for extra leverage.)
Dave, I believe this is the only of MANY (ok, a LOT) webcomics that I follow which I come back and re-read at least one more time before the next is out. You put so much into each, it’s just a joy to come back and pour over details I may’ve missed the first time. Thank you.
And, I have to ask teh Legion of Peanut Galleryistas, is that not THE SEXIEST we’ve yet seen Peg?
You mean you don’t return hourly to read the comments? o_O
I do have a full-time job and my boss already is flexible enough to let me go squash for a big chunk in the mid-day.. I try to limit my comix-reading to formal non-work times.
Heh heh, just teasing, this comic has possibly, imo, some of the best commenters (and most civil) on the web
You should at least come back every day, imo
Doesn’t dabbler know the rules? A trained master swordsman always can beat a bullet fired at then when they see it coming! Her little capture pod had no chance, blades have been proven to be able to cut bullets. She would have beaten Peggy’s bullet too if she saw it coming.
But why is Heavenly sword down? Peggy hit the sword not her.
Though it may not keep her out for long. After all all Heavenly needs is another thing to use like a pipe stick or something like that long object and she’s back in the fight.
The Barret light 50 that Peggy is using fire a round at 853 m/s. That is about Mach 2.4. The wood sword exploded in her hands. At the least, her hands numb and that would be assuming that the energy barrier around it absorbed some of the impact. At the far end, her wrists are broken.
As for cutting the round in half… yea good luck with that. At the range Peggy is at, she could be looking down the barrel, ready and her hands would barely move by the time the round hit her sword. Just a rude quick calculation shows that round would take 0.17 seconds to hit her, if she was at about 150m. Roughly.
She would need spider sense or The Force to pull that off.
Jedi were molded after samurai. Don’t think that the force is not with her.
Have you ever swung a baseball bat at a concrete wall? The same principle applies here, except she wasn’t expecting the shock.
On top of that, add the sheer noise of the stick blowing apart, the wooden shrapnel that could be coating her neck, hands, etc…..
Unfortunately all the shrapnel seems to be moving away from her, not to her.
Peggy in action WARNING!! EXTREMELY NOT SAFE FOR THE SQUEAMISH!!!
It might make them squeam.