Grrl Power #242 – Well that sucked
Well that’s concerning.
Anvil doesn’t run on the kinetic energy she absorbs, but she’s never had anyone just yank it all out of her at once like that. The shock was like a sudden drop in blood pressure which is why she passed out. She had a lot of it power saved up at this point in the fight too. Seems like a waste but you know, battles are chaotic that way.
I know it’s come up before, but superhero battles in real life would likely be super deadly. A regular human punching another has a minute chance of killing them. A trained boxer or martial artist or powerlifter or whatever has a better chance, but only marginally (unless you’re intentionally targeting the throat or something.) It’s still meat and bone connecting with more meat and bone, but with super powers, there is such a potential gulf between the damage that can be dealt and what can be absorbed. If Gigaton Punch sees an unknown villain battling police, and all the cops’ bullets are bouncing off the guy, he might think he’s pretty safe using his low level Kiloton Punch to start off with, but then the guy explodes like he was crushed in between two colliding cement trucks. Turns out the bullets weren’t bouncing off him because he was super armored, but because he had a super accurate pinpoint forcefield generator that was perfect for bullets but nothing else. When the scale goes from 1 to 1 million, misjudging someone’s defensive ability by 10% could be catastrophic. Luckily this isn’t that sort of comic, but that’s still why Anvil decided to start in with a grapple instead of, as she said, risking punching his head off.
If you are in a mood for a significantly more violent Superhero webcomic, check out Vanguard. It’s not to say Grrl Power won’t ever have some good ‘ol proper violence in it, just that it won’t be a feature. I could totally see Dabbler bisecting zombies or something, but guts are a pain to draw, even though personally I do enjoy reading ultra violent comics like Ricky-Oh/Fist of the Northstar and good macabre stuff. That link (which is now fixed) goes to a manga about creepy spirals. I know “woooooooooo, scary.” No seriously, it’s creepy. Uzumaki is da man. (Whoops, Uzumaki is the name of the book. Junji Ito is the man.) It’s also $20 for 650 pages hardback… well shoot, I’m going to buy that for myself. It’s uh, comic research for when I have to draw creepy stuff in Grrl Power.
Here’s an art tip. When you see a hand in the comic that’s as well drawn as the one in panel 4, there’s a good chance at some point I was gnarling my hand up in front of my webcam for reference. Seriously my webcam folder is like 25 pictures of my hands and a few shoes.
Reader Outrider created a 3D animation of Sydney’s Orbs’ skilltree. It just spins around it a few times while it rotates but it looks all professional. :)
Well, again, the back end failed to post the comic on time, which is just not acceptable. I’m going to look into this with godaddy, but if they can’t offer any help I’m going to have to sump their hosting and move somewhere else.
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Death tolls has yet to toll a single death – hope Anvil isn’t the first.
Dang sure she’ll be OK – https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/60
I think that’s a form of cheating.
Not really, dabbler rebuilt her as a cyborg. like thor.
10 SMITE!
20 GOTO 10
Ragnarok. that wasn’t Thor.
That…Is a very strong reminder of just how far this comic’s art has been improving. Good job, DaveB!
Yeah, seriously. Anvil’s boobs in the old comic make me twelve kinds of sad. But looking at the new art, it’s SO much better. Can’t wait to see how it improves even from here!
Fan-fricking-tastic, an energy sink, this is gonna be a pain assuming his variety is as wide as I think….
I am thinking he’s an energy manipulator, a little broader than an energy sink. Take in many types of energy (if kinetic is included he is resistant to projectiles), convert them, and throw them.
But that’s even WORSE!
Kinda seems like a cross between Sebastian Shaw and Taskmaster so far.
Yeeeeowtch. Not sure what his powers are yet, maybe energy absorption and return of same? He’s the new MDV (Most Dangerous Villain) yet though. Guessing he’ll go toe to toe with Maxima at some point.
[Grabs some popcorn and soda]
FWTDT looks like he’s being set up for an antagonist requiring an unorthodox approach…
(a copyright lawyer, perhaps? I’m pretty sure that there’s someone somewhere who owns the rights to Hemingway’s works and whatnot ;) )
Unorthodox approach, you say?
Nah, I can’t think of anyone there who would do that sort of thing.
Like Sydney Lighthooking one of those steel power poles and playing stickball?
Well, one of the things I could think of would be Sydney creating an inverted shield around him (if possible) and then having it up until he passes out due to lack of air.
Ugh… Due to oversaturation of carbon dioxide in the air within the shield bubble, low level of oxygen in said air, etc… Whatever causes people to go lightheaded when they are too long in an unventilated space x)
Lack of oxygen causes you to become light-headed. Carbon dioxide build-up causes rapid breathing and perhaps coughing. Your lungs monitor CO2 levels not oxygen to induce breathing. It is usually easier to notice the presence of something (CO2) rather than the absence of something (O2).
There are three main method that work on energy absorbers: hitting them with something they can’t absorb, cause them to deplete their reserves, and overloading them. The first two methods can usually work well together, the third tends to be messy when it works.
I bet between Sydney and Max’s blasts they could make him pop like a tick.
Sic math on him and call it a night.
Er, I guess Math is out.
But he’s still smiling. (smirking?)
Time for Peggy to put a .50 cal round between his eyes.
Non-lethal, remember. Peggy is their last option not their first. Besides if he absorbs energy, the bullet will fail.
Gas his ass
If he doesn’t know it’s coming, unless it’s a passive effect, that bullet will kill ’em.
DT seems to have a better handle on the situation. I suspect any normal attacks will be deflected or absorbed.
He was not paying attention when Hex’s wild shots hit him.
Still a stupid name
I think that is part of the point.
Do I smell a recurring badguy in the making?
Either that, or he’ll get creepely deconstructed by Sydney, her being genre savvy and all.
That would just be so poetic. Also, very much like Sydney. I mean, since they made the mention in her Bio that she knows uses for powers the owner doesn’t … I wouldnt be surprised for her to pull a stunt like that here.
That said, I’m interested in seeing how Sydney is going to react to this. I mean, she’s relatively close to him at the moment. The others are trained, but she’s not that used to the idea of combat. Yet.
That would be like defeating Superman by ripping on him for wearing his undies on the outside (the latest shit movies are shit and are not worth mentioning) and a cape, and mentioning that radiactive rocks from his home planent can do weird things to him, and watching him curl up into a ball and start crying for his dead mummy
In otherwords, utter bullflunkies!
To quote that infamous great dane: “ruh-roh!”
Hmm… Uzumaki. Haven’t read the manga but I’ve seen the movie based on it. Really freaky shit indeed.
Junji Ito is a scary, scary person with a warped imagination.
If you like Uzumaki, you should look into some of his other works, like Gyo (it’s about legs with fish, recently made into an anime), Tomie, and some of his short stories like The Enigma of Amigara Fault.
Warning: seriously gross, seriously creepy, and if you get nightmares from watching horror movies, his stuff will ensure that you never sleep again. Or go near the ocean. And you’ll freak out at anything with spirals. Oh god the spirals… @
I’ve watched Gyo and one of the Tomie movies. Regarding Tomie, I kind of got the impression that if you’ve seen one you’ve pretty much seen all of them.
what the tomie has his own movie series when zebra girl hasn’t had her first!!?
I think Halo’s going to take him down with one of her unknowns.
No,she uses her breathweapon on him
She didn’t have any hot sauce (for the rest of us that is known as super suicide sauce) with dinner. The breath weapon trick only works right after lunch.
Meh, grab him with the Molestorb & smash him against the shield a few times. Or sleeper hold.
Incidentally: would it be possible to shove the glowing tentacle thingy directly down someone’s throat and asphyxiate them à la Skitter?
In the Heroes Unlimited ™ game Tentacles is a power, so is Alter Limb. I’ll just let your imagination work on the possibilities of that combination.
Well there’s always Evan’s Spiked Tentacles of Forced Intrusion….
https://oots.wikia.com/wiki/Evan's_Spiked_Tentacles_of_Forced_Intrusion
That sounds similar to “Jonass’s Lovefraftian Surprise sex”.
https://www.doesnotplaywellwithothers.com/comics/2011-02-10-pwc-0019.png
This is potential boss battle then…
Yes, only the strongest are still active.
It looks like For Whom The Death Tolls powers work only in defence. Possibly the best to take him down would be Achilles.
there is always the possibility that his power is not to Copy powers, but to Inverse them
that would give Achilles Hypervulnerability
That wouldn’t be his only power, based on the zapping effect when Anvil grabbed him and swatting Concretia away.
My current theory is that he’s got the standard strength + toughness type powers, but has also obtained/built a grab-bag of technological stuff, including whatever drained Anvil’s powers. So that he depowers them and then smacks them if necessary.
Sub-theory: based on how dumb this costume / name are meant to look, it may just be one of multiple costumes and guises he worked out. And he may also have multiple sets of gadgets to keep people guessing.
Am I the only one still worried about Opal and Green Hair? Because if Opal’s ability is what I think it may be, she could be a very dangerous player.
You’re not the only one. These remaining baddies may be smart enough to coordinate attacks and give mutual support.
Sydney did shout a warning.
That he was a dork? Yeah, really effective
Dave, as this comic progresses, are going to be shown the nuances of the skilltree? Like, what’s the difference between a slot connected with a single line, compared to one connected with a double line?
Yup, eventually they’ll start to figure that stuff out.
When four years = one day, the word ‘eventually’ takes on a whole new meaning. :)
Dang, hit send button too soon. Here’s wishing you a happy fourth anniversary this week, and hoping for many more.
I’ll be on reading hiatus after the fight wrap-up. I’ll be back in a couple of years. That’s how I read Girl Genius.
I don’t know if you are aware of the old TV series Greatest American Hero (dating myself, here), but they used a similar idea – guy is given a power suit and immediately loses the instruction manual. So he gets to figure it out as he goes along. Moral of the story, for people building super-science / super-magic toys: make the help function inherent and include something that can overcome language barriers (pictographs, telepathy, translator, video of use, etc.).
Greatest TV show ever.
Greatest theme song ever.
Just wait until Michael Bay re-imagines it as the next beloved series to screw over
Tee hee. Next day (sometime next year for us), Sydney is driving to the comic shop, quietly singing, “Look what’s to me. I can’t believe it myself. Suddenly I’m on top of the world…” As she slams open the door to the shop and bounds in, she sings in crescendo, “Believe it not, I’m walking on air…”
Joel: [very sarcastic] Well that would explain a few things. What the hell happened to you yesterday? You took off with the deposits, get caught up in a bank robbery and I don’t hear from you for the rest of the day. And I got slammed starting just after 5 until late in the night and the website almost went down due to the amount of traffic. What did you do?
Sydney: Did you watch the news?
Joel: I saw that crazy interview you gave after the bank robbery, but otherwise, I was just too busy or tired. I didn’t get out of here until after midnight.
Sydney: Here, have a seat. I have something to show you. [ Big grin ]
Joel: Um, how did you get that shiner?
But are you sure you want just anyone who picks up the stuff to be able to use it?
Maybe it’s like Thor’s hammer: if they can pick them up, and activate them, then they are deemed worthy
Speaking of Thor: have no problem with someone else picking up the hammer and being deemed worthy, but ‘Thor’ isn’t a title, that’s his fracking name! When Beta Ray Bill got the hammer, he didn’t become Thor, same with that frog.
Read an article on the whole “Thor becomes female” bollocks, and one question was: will Loki’s views towards his brother change? the answer was “no it won’t”, actually, yes it fracking will because the new female wielder of the Hammer is not his brother
If you want to get technical, they had it right: Loki’s view of his brother won’t change. His opinion of the new wielder is separate from his view of Thor since the new (female) wielder isn’t his brother.
I still think that the double line slots are slots which enables a powered interaction with the other orbs (which are normally unmoveable)
so Sydney would have Telekinesis but only uses it subcounciously on her other orbs
powered down not powered
Got to wonder if the ex-boyfriend has just come calling…
After all, Possession (especially Demonic Possession) is 9 tenths of the law….
‘For whom the Death Tolls….. it Tolls for you, Tantalus. “
He’s STILL at the Urologist about the Great Burning that heralds his coming.
The Uzumaki link is not working for me.
You should be happy about that.
While it is clear that Death Toll is with the group of villains, should they be targeting him? Someone in the comments mentioned needing an unorthodox method to deal with him, how about simply not attacking him? Till now he has done nothing more than stand around and deflect anything thrown at him, possibly his powers are some form of absolute defense with no offense power on his own.
This reminds me of an old Foxtrot comic https://www.gocomics.com/foxtrotclassics/2010/02/04
So basicly he’s Wobbuffet (Wobbuffet has no attacks, only counter attacks)
Personally, I always wished it had more counterattacks – Magic Coat and Bide would be nice options.
If someone absorbs energy then you have to hit them with NEGATIVE energy, i.e. cold. Let’s douse him with a few hundred gallons of liquid nitrogen and see how well he likes it. Also, he still has a respiratory system. Hit with a dose of knockout gas. (Or Dabbler can try another sleep spell)
If it turns out they can’t attack him, maybe they can contain him. Dabbler’s crystal cage sword technique might work if he does not have too high of an inherent strength level.
If all else fails, maybe we could drop him into that active volcano Max threatened threatened Achilles with.
I’m not sure how much of a problem the fatalness of superpowers would be to a government organization. It seems like fatal superpowers would simply have the same use of force restrictions as guns: if cops are using a gun, they are aiming to kill.
So in the scenario in the commentary: police are shooting, so killing is a go. Hero should punch at full power to ensure a kill.
Cops shoot to kill?
Sorry, but i don´t think that it is that simple. Not even in America.
Criminals shoot to kill, cops shouldn´t. of course it can happen, but normally police officers try to incapacitate. If they kill someone, there is a s***load of paperwork and an internal investigation.
It´s even worse in other countries, especially here in Germany.
Cops running around like Rambo, killing every suspect in sight and going:”Yeah, case closed”, are quite fictional. Hollywood fictional.
There’s no such thing as shooting to incapacitate, except in movies. Once bullets are flying, cops are trained to shoot to kill because, and any gunshot wound (even a “flesh wound”) is potentially lethal since you don’t actually know what internal organs or arteries you might be hitting.
Let’s clarify, just for the sake of it. As I understand from several police officers who are friends, they are neither trained to “shoot to kill” or to “shoot to incapacitate”. They’re trained to shoot for the center body mass, since you’ve got to be world-class good to reliably hit any other body parts at a range of anything more than a few feet with a standard issue police handgun. The center body mass is much easier to hit – though still not easy once the distances get longer.
Since a hit to the center body mass can easily kill, maim, incapacitate, or leave relatively unharmed but stunned depending on where it hits – and an inch one way or the other can be the difference between kill and stun – police officers are trained only to shoot when they intend for their suspect to end up dead, as that’s a very good possibility. It’s not exactly the same as shooting to kill though. The suspect could easily survive if as long as it misses something vital, or medical help is provided quickly enough.
The real difference between Hollywood and real police officers (or we hope it’s the real difference, though sometimes poorly trained officers may prove us wrong) is that even pulling your gun is supposed to be a last ditch move – something you only do when you have no other options. Shooting your weapon is supposed to be the very last ditch move – you d*** well better have exhausted all your other options before you take the shot, or IA and likely the prosecutor will be breathing down your neck. Sometimes “exhaust your other options” may be as quick as “Someone else’s life is in danger and if I don’t stop the suspect now they will kill someone else/me. I’m too far away to do anything but shoot my handgun at them.” Those situations are few and far between in real life though, especially as officers are more and more often equipped with better and better “less-lethal” options. Of course, some folks still like to argue about “less-lethal” being over-used, but they’re better than the cops having the two options of “shoot real bullets” or do nothing.
………Seeing as how most cops seem to use a gun in your face just to say hello………
Actually I think it’s likely due to the idea that THEIR lives are in danger at all times…….. so they think everyone is out to kill them…..which leads to drawing their weapons every damn time.
actualy pointing a weapon is meant to ………threaten and intimidate potential targets into surrender or mearly pausing long enough to adjust situation so people don’t end up dead.
In the Toronto, Canada area, anytime a cop draws his/her gun to use it outside of a shooting range requires an After-Action Report. It does not come out of the holster casually. When a police officer draws a weapon, they need probable cause, such as someone holding a gun in a threatening manner, but not necessarily directly at somebody. When the suspect points the gun at somebody, then the Special Investigations Unit gets called in; the SIU investigates all cases when somebody is injured or killed by police or under police responsibility, like in the police lock-up. Unnecessary escalation can lead to criminal charges, like an incident that happened last summer.
The other thing about shooting for the centre of mass is that it lessens the chance for unintended casualties. Trying to hit a small target, like a foot or arm, is more likely to miss and allow the bullet to continue to travel and hit something behind the intended target.
And some rare but cool niche cases:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BThc31VHCZ0
Shooting is lethal force.
Trick shots to try to incapacitate someone are hard to pull off, resulting in a useless miss or a regular (likely fatal) hit, and aren’t guaranteed to not be fatal even if successful.
There is a difference between shooting someone from range to stop them and capping them in the head when they are unconscious, off course, but using a firearm is only acceptable when the death of the target is acceptable, even if you would prefer not to kill them and will happily stop shooting when they no longer pose a threat, dead or not.
THAT is what police are (supposed to be) trained to do, and that is what the law allows for self-defense, as well.
ALL shooting of firearms is “shoot to kill”. The only thing more than that is “shoot them some more after they are incapacitated”, which the law rather specifically does not allow under any circumstances for civilians (and police are indeed civilians, though they are, more and more, trying to act like they aren’t).
Even the military tries to avoid that, generally speaking.
I don’t know how things work in Germany (though a 9gag post indicated that your entire police force only fired 36 bullets in an entire year). Police use of deadly force is not uncommon.
As a simplification, police can use force when:
1. They feel like their life or the life of others is currently in danger.
2. A suspect of a violent felony is fleeing
Most departments have guidelines on the appropriate use of force (the top range of force being deadly force). Police departments reserve guns use for when the office decides that deadly force is warranted . Guns are not used to apply non-lethal force.
A quick Google search indicates that there were at least 400 shooting deaths by police in 2012 across America.
No reason to expect super heroes in the same roles as the police to have similar rules on use of force. Of course, abilities that require property damage would probably have more stringent controls.
The situation in Germany is usually* less dangerous than in the US, so there are less occurences where a police officer might feel threatened. There are more than 7 million registered guns in Germany and an estimated amount of 17 million of illegal weapons. The government owns ~3 million guns. That’s quite a lot more than most people are aware of. You don’t see them anywhere in daily life though and there aren’t many gun related homicides. There are roughly 800 people who die from gunshots every year but more than 90% of that are suicides.
We don’t have concealed carry permits except for people who need them for their job (afaik). We have very strict laws about gun ownership, which include things like mental health and needing a valid reason to buy a gun.
So… a police officer usually doesn’t have to deal with someone armed with a gun. We have violent crimes of course but they are only a small percentage. Most crimes are white collar stuff. Even pulling their gun has prerequisites. Firing it even more so.
Getting into the police force isn’t easy, they have relatively high standards although you will still find your fair share of idiots there – like in every other group on the planet. I do not know how much of it is real or just something that happens in the movies, but can sheriffs really make any civilian into a deputy?
Some of this might explain the difference between the police in the USA and Germany.
*Unless they are up against gangs like Hell’s Angels or russian mobsters. Then they get to deal with everything up to military equipment used against them. But we have special units for that, the normal police officer is unlikely to walk into AK-47 fire.
You’re right about the paperwork and the investigation, but completely wrong otherwise. Cops are trained to shoot for the center of mass, which is the chest. This gives the best odds of scoring a hit because even if they have a poor shot they might hit the edge of the chest, the gut, or the head.
Cops absolutely do not shoot to incapacitate. In any situation in which they are firing their weapon they are supposed to be either in deadly danger, attempting to prevent deadly danger to civilians, or (and this will vary by state) attempting to prevent certain classes of felonies from being committed.
The old chestnut about cops “winging them in the leg” is just as false as the Old West chestnut about “shoot the gun out of their hands.” That said, you can find rare examples where the police used sharpshooters to actually shoot a weapon out of a person’s hands, but in every case you will find that the person was not presenting an immediate threat to the cops or civilians by pointing the weapon at them or firing it at them.
It’s not the kind of comic that lets Reality Ensues happen even when it gets dark?
B’aaaw…
Was looking forward to that part.
Tired of superhero comics where the supposed ‘heroes’ are hilariously irresponsible yet never see any serious negative consequences for it, or villains have supremely deadly abilities yet never manage to bring them to their hilariously, overpoweringly fatal logical conclusion – and all along this, noone ever notices how mind-boggingly unlikely it is that nothing of the kind would happen (of the sort where they’d come under serious investigation for staging ALL fights). :<
There are a few animated series where staged crimes come as a plot twist. One of them also has a memory-altering villain, who gains control of most of the heroes in a city and got away with altering one hero’s memories for years. Not enough is known about Toll to say for sure if he can easily kill with his powers anyway.
If you really want a story like that, then I recommend reading Worm. https://parahumans.wordpress.com/about/ But be warned, it is -very- dark. And superpowers are being used … effectively. Stuff breaks, people die and then it all starts to go really bad. Excellent story. ^^
This doesn’t look like it’ll be that sort – so far, the heroes have been pulling their punches so as to not cause too much destruction, and the villains have been going all-out and not worrying about destruction (which has been noted in-comic).
I dunno, I’m still calling this guy as an augmented-non-super. Gadgets and stuff hidden in the outfit. Taser, some kind of kinetic drainy thingy. Everyone else has been comfortable dressing in basically street clothes, confident in their appearance. Death Toll is the only one who has made an effort to dress in a manner that (he assumes) would be more imposing. I feel like he’s overcompensating for something….
I wonder if he could not be mister X, the boos of the corporation with a crush on Maxima. He seemed to have a thing with being overmelodramatic (remember the lightning button and evil laught), and he would probable have access to such high tech gadgets.
If it *-is-* Mr.X (of “ARC-Dark”), then it’s not being done with Arianna’s knowledge (Pg.201).
I’d favor it being (a mortal) Mr.Deus, pretending to be super-powered via the use of [Machina Industries]-tech, as a ploy to get closer to his “crush”, Maxima. Trouble with this is that somebody (besides Harem) ought to recognize his voice, don’t you think? I see no signs of any voice-distorting tech in his mask or around his throat.
Apologies, I mixed the names, the one that I was thinking of was Deus (hence the references to his crush on maxima and the lightning)
Augmented-non-super works until you consider that Anvil had him in a headlock and was attempting to choke him out and he didn’t appear to be bothered by it at all. And his neck isn’t covered by any kind of armor. She had the lock before he used the bug-zapper on her, and he spoke before doing it. You typically can’t speak when someone is trying to choke you out, that’s sort of the entire intent of the maneuver.
I was thinking “augmented super”. Strength plus toughness plus maybe something else as his own powers, plus a load of technological gadgetry. (Or possibly magic, which the robe and mask would suggest but not guarantee… could all be tech intended to look like magic, as part of one of multiple identities).
What I find interesting about the skill tree is the six faint lines which go off at angles making them not appear to connect to the rest of the skill tree. Either there’s an entire group of subsets which aren’t visible, she’s missing an Orb, or they interface with someone else’s skill tree…
BTW, Dave, the “good macabre stuff” link doesn’t seem to work with this iPad. I’ll try to convince my Windows machine to work this evening and see if it works for me there.
If you’re reffering to the center portion of the skill tree, then take note that two of those seven slots have points allocated to them, and that Sydney has seven orbs and can only use two of them at a time. Coincidence! I think not!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She can only use 2 at once because, and this may come as a huge shock to you: she only has 2 hands!!!
She has tried using them with various parts of her body, but they only work when they are in the sweaty palms of her hands (mittens are her Achilles hand)
has she tried holding 2 balls in one hand? or sticking a ball to the back of her hand? if both work voila 6 balls in use heh heh heh
That would be self-evident and the first thing to try. She doesn’t do it, so it didn’t work.
She tried everything she could, including feet and her butt, you think she wouldn’t try holding 2 in one hand? She found that they had to be clutched in the palm of her hand, not just touching her hand
I wonder, if she let’s Dabbler handle the orbs to test them, 1) Could a secondary handler actual activate them? and 2) could Dabbler use 4 for them at a time?
DAVE hey! I took a look at Vanguard comic, and I must say gay costumes (as Hancock would call them) put me off. What I like in your comic best are the military-like uniforms instead the cosplay-like costumes. And I LOVE to see the cosplay gay villains getting their asses handed to them!
Your comments about supers punching an unknown villain’s head off reminds me of a dirty trick a GM pulled on us during a Champions RPG game back in the day. The game let you make superheroes based on point levels. You used the points to buy your powers, characteristics, etc. so a 1000 point hero was roughly equal to a 1000 point villain for example.
Anyways, the GM made a villain that was just a normal person that found a mega powered blaster pistol. So he spent all the points buying an ungodly powerful attack power but nothing at all on defenses or ability to hit since he was just an untrained feeb. He was robbing a bank with it when our hero group showed up to save the day. He shot it at us and not suprisingly missed but blew out the wall of the bank and the building next door. We assumed he must be über powerful with an attack like that since no one would POSSIBLY have no defenses and hit him with everything we had. Which turned poor Joe Gunn into a greasy smear right in front of the news cameras.
Turns out it was a plot to discredit us by a villain group. But it was still a lesson in moderation of attacks.
What!? Didn’t your characters see bank robber waving his BFG around?
most people waving BMFGs around either wear armor or don’t NEED armor.
Champion’s sometimes went overboard on this. In their mag they had a team based on a gold theme. Gold Brick, Gold eh..something*something. Each of them had a limitation that made them ridiculously vulnerable to a common attack. Gold Brick was decent tough physically but would die if you tried to read his mind, for example. It’s still my favorite game for simulating superheroes, though. Even if it’s the most challenging to GM.
I enjoyed building heroes in Champions, mostly cause the edition I was using had a few loopholes that I exploited mercilessly. I’m still waiting for a really good build your own superhero game, and not an MMO where everything is balanced to a razor’s edge. I want a superhero game like Diablo 2, where you could build a character that could output 30K damage if you did it right.
One of my players did that in Superworld (from the Basic Roleplaying line).
He added super strength, a weapon with maximum damage and a bit martial arts together, added enough handicaps to get enough build points and reached about 24d6 damage (an average human has 12 hit points).
He had decent armor and a bit of flight but any game master who wanted to break him could do it easily.
Have you tried Champions Online?
Absorber.. Great.. Question is its just from people or any energy. if Physical contact is a no go that leaves Max Jiggy and Halos energy attacks. Also that may preclude non-lethal force we don’t know how controled Maxes blasts can be and Halos has none from what we have seen. eitehr that or Peg/Dam just shoot him..
Send in Jiggawatt. It would be interesting to find out what happens when you throw antimatter at an energy absorber.
rad-eater-“nomnomnomnomnom”
look we all know the super hero’s are going to win, the first page with sydney maxima and anvil is proof
It’s not whether they win. It’s how hard and how creative the win is that is worth watching.
No, all we know is that those 3 will still be alive after this Longest Day, not that they will win
If his skin can be pierced, Harem may be able to take him out with her Sleepy Time Gun. If not, this could get really ugly. Could he drain the energy from a Molestorb tentacle on contact – or even Sydney’s shield?
And if his skin can’t be pierced, just borrow the unconscious hand of Mr. Faintsdeadaway and try again!
So he’s been standing there the whole fight absorbing different attacks so he can release them later and now he’s getting his dream date: A team, or a larger portion of the team anyway, attacking him simultaneously so he can keep throwing one’s powers at another of their team mates as makes most strategic sense. Seems like it would be better to send just Maxima in since she can taker her own hits long enough to figure out how to bleed him out or knock him out. Then again maybe that is what she meant by, “new priority target” but I think I would have called dibs just to make it clear.
And yes I know this will probably be some kind of showcase for how effective Halo can be against unusual talents like this I was just thinking through what would be more proper given that in this fight the team leader sees Halo as a green recruit to be protected.
I think the most debilitating attack (for starters) on For Whom The Death Tolls ™ would be to pull his mask off. He’s concealing his identity for a reason, and if the mask were lighthooked off, he would probably try to hide his face.
While he’s not looking, throw Achilles on him. He won’t be able to get rid of a grappling Achilles, who also will not be charging his power up at all.
Achilles is a no-go he is currently under the restaurant remains.
Definitely agree that generally messing with his outfit is a good call. Grab his mask off, pull his cape/cowl over his head, pants him, whatever. Dude’s obsessed with his image; put him off his game.
give him one of Maxima’s Atomic Wedgies.
The costume items might be his powers. Another techie like Hex or a magic user.
Go Daddy seems to be having some internal problems lately. They claim that they’re aware of them & are working on the problem, but from this side of the wall it looks just the same as before, so far.
so.. he absorbed the stray lightning, kinetic energy, and possibly hex’s lasers as well?
if you can absorb people’s powers when they fire on you… standing still in a goof cloak, skull mask, and ridiculous name isn’t dumb, it’s fridge smart.
:D
Is there no way you can automate this yourself? Like, a quick and dirty “at” script which will look in a folder on your computer at a certain time on certain days of the week, and if a file (the new page) is present it will FTP it up to your host? This would be even easier in any flavor of Linux, in case you have a Mac or a Linux machine rather than Windows.
The safe way to do this would be to park your completed comic in your regular spot, then copy it to the “launch” folder. Then have the script erase it from the launch folder once it makes the FTP. You can even get fancy and have it verify that it made it and send you an email letting you know that it both tried and succeeded. Or tried and failed, if that is the case. In any even you get a regulated release time without having to be sitting at your computer, and a comforting email notice to let you know things went smoothly (or not, if that’s the case) that you can reference wherever you might be at the time. As long as you have your cell configured for email, of course, but that’s almost a given these days.
Depending on the amount of access and control you have over your Godaddy host (you’d need shell access, essentially), you can even do all of this locally and eliminate the need for an FTP, or to have your home computer on all the time.
Gotta wonder the legality of attacking him. Yes he was consorting with a group of people who are assaulting officers, yes he even directed one to do some assaulting, and yes he s wearing a provoking outfit and using provoking language, but thus far he has only acted in self defense. Just like Sydney not necessarily tacking down mister scar face because all he was doing is standing there. Have to wonder how their cases will play out in court with a self defense plea. Super powered or no.
Accessory before and after the act. Obstructing Justice. Resisting Arrest. Poor Fashion Choice. I’m afraid he’s beyond a plea of self-defense.
your own words show the legitimately of them going after him.
“he even directed one to do some assaulting”
I don’t know a world were you can do that and get away with out the cops going after you.
Around here that would be known as conspiracy to commit a felony, with the same punishment as those that committed the actual assault.
He was subject to at least detainment and probably arrest simply by being on the scene. When he threatened Anvil after she offered to allow him to surrender he threw away any claims he might have had to being an innocent bystander who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He directly challenged and threatened Anvil after she told him to stand down. That’s more than enough.
I dunno. Something just doesn’t seem right about being attacked for saying “You should go get that cop.” or “F*** the police!” Seems a clever lawyer would simply put it off as coercion, as in he was afraid of being attacked himself thus directed attention away from him to another or they could simply write off as freedom of speech. But that’s just lawyer talk. And on the other hand, I don’t think saying things directly constitutes an allowance to be attacked. It’s like that whole “Don’t taze me bro!” University of Florida Taser incident. I suppose it’s good that Anvil began with a head lock, but obviously the debate could lead to some serious questions about escalation.
Death Trolls’ reaction to being placed under arrest and put into a headlock to bring him under control moves his way up from potential observer to active participant. Resisting arrest; assault causing bodily harm on a police officer. He will not be walking away from this one, unless he can prove he was being mentally controlled, as suggested by Hex’s reaction. Hey, Halo, your better grab that girl sneaking away behind the bushes.
You are missing the part where this is an action comic not a legal drama.
Sorry, I was just trying to point out it was interesting to me. I didn’t mean to interrupt anyone else’s discussion. Thank you for your time.
Everyone should be welcome to bring new points of view to the comments
I’m getting tired of comic book lawyers trying to get it all their way. The bad guys are not going to get turned loose on obscure points of freshman legalist wrangling or the influence of current real-world events. They attacked without warning and have attempted to maim and kill official law enforcement agents. They are going to be arrested, tried and convicted of a variety of misdemeanors and felonies that will ensure their next appearance in this strip will be after they escape whatever holding facility they get confined to.
If DT gets any special treatment it will be being suspected of leading the attack and he will be fighting all sorts of extra “intent to” stuff. Assuming he doesn’t have an escape plan under that ugly cloak.
And don’t play the Martyr of the Month card on me X. It just makes you look stupid.
Look, I’m not good at talking to people or commenting or holding conversations, I’m sorry ok? I’m not trying to manipulate you or offend you or make you look stupid, I just wanted to try and contribute something to the conversation- and yes, you’re scaring the hell out of me with your confrontation tones- when that happens I tend to run the hell away. You win this internet argument I am sorry I ever tried to comment, I am literally begging you to leave me alone! please!
I’m not angry at you specifically. That’s partly why I put my rant in Guesticus’ box. You were just the last straw of a way too long string of ignorance of the law and a desire to see what will never be.
And that’s as much apology as I’ll give about my behavior.
How about next time you sit on your hands and scream at the wall for 10 minutes instead of taking it out on a new commentor?
I don’t think he’s an absorber, if only because with Anvil and Hiro we’ve already seen two. We see him zap Anvil when she tries to grab him, then drain her stored kinetic energy. I think these are manifestations of some ludicrously broad and potent power. Maybe he can control energy or destroy/create it.
Increasingly, I’m betting on Death Toll being Deus. The chin shape and attitude fit.
I’m beginning to fall to your camp, it only makes sense.
I’m buying into Deus especially when the powers seem to be gadget based. Cowl produces electric shock, glove absorbs energy
For whom entropy beckons?
Man that was totes magotes awesome, I’m already digging this guy. I actually hope he gets away, I want to see more of him. I want to see him just chew the scenery in every single appearance. I don’t know if hes just a big comic nerd, or if he really is that way.
Dave, the link under “good macabre stuff” links to a nonexistent page for me. Firefox 31.0.
if he works like DC’s Parasite. There are a number ways to disable him. DCAU BATMAN beat the VIllian SUPERWOMAN by using a Smoke bomb that turned out to be sleep Gas as she purposefully sucked it in to taunt him. (Dumb Move on Her Part)
True we also don’t know how sturdy he is yet. (we haven’t actually seem him take a hit) if the heroes can’t get in graple range Peggy giving him a 50 cal in the kneecap won’t technically kill even a normal human. but should knock him into LALA land from blood loss pretty fast.
He was in a full choke hold by a well-powered up Anvil, and it didn’t even slow him down. He was able to speak as though he wasn’t even feeling the choke. I think that it’s well established that he is pretty sturdy.