Grrl Power #244 – Recruitus interruptus
Lots of speculation about (FWT)Death Toll’s powers, and there have been several correct guesses, but I won’t say which ones (but those should be further reinforced by this page). Those people get to say they called it, and hopefully the actual reveal will still be worth it, but first I need to show the characters doing a little work to get there.
Not too much else to say about this page, other than Sydney’s armband is suspiciously bereft of content. Let’s assume she’s locked out of many of the usual functions until she is trained on using them. That’s one of those things I would have put a lot more time into designing if I still had a job where I was bored at work for long stretches. But that’s fine, I’ll have time to spruce it up at some point and if it looks radically different I can use say Sydney is using a different theme.
<— If you enjoy the comic, consider supporting it via Patreon so I can continue to food. Or buy something via the Amazon referral link, which I really appreciate cause I know it’s like one or two extra clicks, unless you just have that referral link bookmarked, but it’s fun going in to the report and seeing what was purchased through it. I can’t see who bought what or any details of the transaction, just what was purchased. I’m not the NSA over here. (Someone bought a Fender Stratocaster through the link once! Thanks!) Here’s something I saw on the list – I know nothing about this but it looks cute. A Centaur’s Life.
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All those empty windows in the PipBoy could be filled with [REDACTED] and [CLASSIFIED]. Halo’s not cleared for all content yet. Sure, they’ll fast-track her clearance, but it’ll take a couple of weeks.
At least it comes with Google Maps. She can use it to find all the good Thai restaurants in the area.
She can also look for “Ghost Pepper Mexican” on Yelp. She can go for the fish tacos or the veggie burritos.
Fish tacos *giggle*
Did you know, that originally, tacos were a fish dish? Only found that out recently
I’m glad I’m not the only one who turns 12 when I hear “fish tacos”.
What? And advertise all the secrets? A known unknown is just a known known in the making. Much better to keep your unknown knowns unknown unknown, y’know?
You crazy.
I still say it seems as though he can only copy one power at a time. Though I no longer think that for him to copy it, it has to have just been used on him without him copying something else. Copying only one power at a time of course means that someone who legitimately has multiple powers, like Halo, would be able to out pace him by switching powers constantly.
Also, so far he doesn’t seem to be using the same power twice, so I’m thinking that to use a specific power again, he has to be in proximity to its use again.
My guess is that he just always has the opposite to what is thrown at him.
If so, to capture send in Harem to punch him from him from 3 sides and he will become so locked into place (opposite of teleport) he turns to stone himself.
He didn’t send a heat wall to counter Dabbler’s ice wall from her blade. He released lightning of the same color and roughly same sound effect as Jiggawatt nicked him with a while back, when Anvil was going for a sleeper hold. He didn’t use any kind of opposite of lightning when Jiggawatt leapt at him. The “always has the opposite of what is thrown at him” does not even begin to explain anything he has been shown doing.
Opposite of a lightning based move through attack = Capture defense that stores the energy.
He did oppose a fireball from Dabbler with an ice ball.
He then opposed an area attack of ice (wall) from Dabbler with an area around him aura of heat.
When Anvil applied mechanical force to his neck, he applied electrical force back at her.
When she applied kinetic assisted strength, he responded with kinetic absorbing/drain defense.
Opposing force is not always opposite here, since he has deflected powers or apparently absorbed them at times. If he were a physicist and had a mental powerset that creates an equal and opposing reaction, he could pick which of the vectors of attack to oppose.
The guy can just absorb powers, like rouge from X-men, or Arther patrelly from Heroes. He already took Anvils kinetic power, heatwaves fire power, and absorbed and redirected Gigawatt right when she attacked him.
Simple absorption is too powerful and cookie cutter for Dave. He always has some kind of hook to balance it out. For instance, Maxima is potentially Superman level invulnerable, but only if she takes the points out of everything else. She could potentially thrash Superman, but only if she slows herself down and makes herself extremely vulnerable. Etc…
So, instead of Superman, Maxi is Astro Lad (or what ever the name of the Legionnaire who can only use one power at a time)
That would be Ultra Boy-all of Superman’s powers, but one at a time. Maxima is better looking, though.
No, Max can use multiple powers. Look at her bio. She basically has a pool of stats, and she can take from one pool and dump into another, cranking any given stat through the roof, but it’s not one power at a time for Max.
I wouldn’t say he copies powers. More like he can create a counter to any power used against him. Similar to Darwin from First Class. He negated kinetic absorption, spouted fire to counter ice, turned into metal to capture and redirect Jiggawatt.
He’s also killer at rock, paper, scissors and similar games.
Comic relief panel: ArcSwat scatters…
They don’t knowSydney well enough. After this that head-tilt gesture will mean”seek hard cover and hang on”.
And now Sydney shows what she can Really bring to the team.
“I’m giving this guy a good rules lawyering!”
Well I guess we can take Hiro off the “Rakish good looks,” after that beating he took from Death Toll.
And cunning plan my foot! That wonder spaz thinks she’s got everything figured out, all the professionals there couldn’t take him down what makes her think she has a single clue how his powers tick? And she just ruined an epic match up between Death toll, who has been cleaning house. And Max, miss gold plated super woman. I wanted to see this match happen!!!
She is a comic girl geek first and foremost. Having read most of that worlds comics she probably has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of powers.
Her and every other comic book fan out there. Doesn’t mean they got what it takes to take him on.
Of course Halo will fail, it’s only her first cunning plan. Which will be insane, impractical and overly simplistic. Her second, which is merely insane will succeed.
It is always the insane and complicated plans that work.
I think there’s a trope called so crazy it has to work
Please stop feeding Iron Rogue
At least Halo is smart enough to understand the old maxim about “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” So Maxima should directly attack someone who has repeatedly shown the ability to counter direct attacks? What a brilliant plan!
Yeah, wanted to at least have DT give Maxi the DTs first, but that would just leave Harem left to counter DT
Two things Sydney has that the others don’t: Geek-cred and the ability to read and understand tactics (Maxi’s excuse is simply rage overcoming brains)
Max has those but I think your right, between being upset her people are going down and the shock of AB’s hit, she isn’t on her game. On top of that, DT requires her to step outside the box more than she’s probably used to (being career military). She may not exactly be by the book but first that’s the book she’s most familiar with and doesn’t exactly cover this situation.
I reeaaally hope the Author hasn’t read Worm. It would make a certain someone vastly more ominous. Also if the Author has read Worm he’s probably read Pact too. Also a not good sign for our heroes.
I doubt Maxima’s arc is likely to end with ripping off Scion. Although it would be interesting to see what contingencies are in place for if someone slaps a mind-whammy on her and sends her against her team-mates.
So, how does Halo plan to deal with Death Knoll?
My first choice would be to douse him with a liberal application of quick-setting foam. Apply from a distance, harmless on contact, yet works as a restraint.
Second choice would be to hit him with a gaseous or skin-absorbed sleepy-time cocktail
Death Knoll… cute let me guess she make him laugh himself to death.
Not bad tactics especially if used together.
Then again, if she was acting perfectly calm and rational at the moment, people would start complaining she was a Mary Sue or a cold fish.
He seems pretty much immune to physical attacks or energy blasts. I find it hard to believe that Maxima would decide the best way to proceed would be to hit him with more of the same, only harder.
Why not try having Harem drug him?
Why not try having Dabbler use her Bondage Gun on him?
Why not try having Dabbler use the Sleep Spell she used on Glowbug on him?
Why not try having Dabbler use the Mind Control Kiss she used on Jabber on him?
Sleep cocktail via needle may count as an attack and get countered.
Didn’t Harem have some kind of drawback making her unable to ‘SAFELY’ teleport others?
Not that i remember other then weight limit. Moving anyone but even Syd/peggy whould most likely require here to de-port a few her bodies.
DaveB said that she can’t teleport a person, probably anything alive.
At least, not an adult
Literally nobody.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/345
Why not small bits of people? That’s the real danger of a teleporter, you know- They teleport behind you, grasp your (Insert appendage here) firmly, then teleport away.
And bring that appendage with them.
You better do not bore Harem at sex…
Gives a new meaning to that old game of “I’ve got your nose!”
Or they teleport small things into you. Like a grenade, or a vial of bleach.
One of Magneto’s Acolytes during the ’90s favorite threat was to grab someone’s head and threaten to Teleport with it if they didn’t surrender
If you have a hammer all you see are nails.
and then you’d hammer in the morning, you’d hammer in the evening, all… over… this… land….
You mean you weren’t thinking of that song?
Now I am :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaWl2lA7968
What I am really wondering about is why they do not do more intelligence on him. Sydney just now tries the Truesight, how about Dabbler (https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/620) and/or Gwen (https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/428) scanning him?
up until he one-shotted Anvil, he was a low-priority target, he was literally just standing around looking doofy with his mask and cape, yes, he took the hit from Hex’s laser blasts, and he defected Concretia, but that’s about all we see… NOW, especially after Max changed his status to a numero-uno-HIGH priority target, that all changed, Arc-Light is focusing on him in multiple ways, Peggy /Harem are probably aiming at the Sniper’s Triangle right now, waiting for the signal to fire a LETHAL shot rather than trying to subdue like they have been up to now, Hiro, Stalwart and Jiggawatt all launched attacks that would have taken out quite a few foes in a very close-ordered well-timed sequence, granted, they all failed (except for Peggy, she probably hasn’t fired yet…), but that’s the nature of the beast in chaotic combat situations like this… then, when they all failed, Max stepped up to the plate, but was stopped by Sydney…
as for Gwen, right now she’s the one projecting the S.E.P. Field over the Arc-Light personnel on the next roof-top over, so i highly doubt that she’d be available to actually DO that type of scanning right now…
The boring comic book construction kit explanation for why those things haven’t been tried is I don’t want to hold up the story/bore you guys while the team exhausts all options on the guy before Sydney chimes in. At least in this page we see Dabbler trying to trap the guy like she did with Heavenly.
Sold :) to not to bore the readers is a reason that I can totally agree with :)
Keeping the story moving is good.
It’s a pity though, because I’m really curious how he would go about countering the things I suggested trying. It would tell me a lot about his powers.
So, how does Halo plan to deal with Death Knoll?
My first choice would be to douse him with a liberal application of quick-setting foam. Apply from a distance, harmless on contact, yet works as a restraint.
Second choice would be to hit him with a gaseous or skin-absorbed sleepy-time cocktail.
I would guess several attacks at the same time, including the two you mentioned.
She had her lighthook ready for a reason.
Most important is that each attack is different but do not negate each other.
Halo should “attack” him with her “holo-duke”, since it has no substance or power, he will lose all his powers.
Or, if some of the speculation is true, gain truesight as the counter.
I agree with the foam plan, though I was thinking glue…mixed liberally with capsicum…or some other allergen or irritant.
How about 40#s of fiberglass insulation.
Shredded.
You just added the UN Commission On Human Rights to your Hunted By list.
Voloume #8.
Page #201.
Line #13.
NEXT!
Need to use tech rather than powers.
I hope he ignored Achilles. We don’t want him immune to every type of damage.
So far I think quickly equipping him with an anaesthetic gas mask instead of his skull mask and Max restraining him till it takes effect will be the best solution.
Its worth a shot but he has already responded to Dabbler’s magic and magical item in exactly the same way he would respond to a supers power so I’m betting it would go the same with tech. (technology sufficiently advanced and all of that)
I don’t know, but for some reason, the thought of Halo having a cunning plan scares the living hell out of me.
If DT knew Sydney as well as we do, he’d be running for exit. I bet anyone in Arc SWAT who heard her took one big step back from the possible Ground Zero.
You could also say that they upgraded/replaced it later.
So, I think Sydney mentioned that Max had her flight transponder/comm device/etc. armband thing as an app on her phone or something. Or maybe that was a comment theorizing it. What I’m wondering is does everybody else just have an app too or is Sydney the only with the ability to adjust who she’s talking to with her comms like that?
Three words of advice for FWTDT (however unlikely I think he is to heed them):
Give up*.
Now.
*It doesn’t matter whether it’s by surrendering or running away.
Ohh boy, a plan so cunning you can stick a tail on it and call it weasel.
That’s three… still true though.
Oh c’mon…
I was really into that and then I run out of pages.
Thanks for the epic story, it has to be in the top 3 funniest things I’ve ever encountered.
Don’t leave now, Sydney is about to do something the entire team of veterans couldn’t
and thusly we have the reason that Anvil calls her the “big guns” when she left her game to show up at Archon in the first few comics, when she takes out a bad guy that one shots at least four members of your team, stalemates Dabbler (we don’t actually SEE her getting taken out, but it’s implied, so I’m willing to say it’s a stalemate vs KO), and he probably would have taken out Max as well… yeah, she gets to be called “The Big Guns” anytime she wants to…
Don’t worry.
I decided to kill some time by rereading from the beginning and in the process learnt that I might be lucky enough to see a new page when I get home on Monday (time-zones allowing).
This is Sydney’s real debut as a hero. Taking down a boss with a plan so outlandish the whole world will wonder, “how the @&%#+£ did something that stupid-looking work so well?”
Back in the Air Force, we TACP’s had a saying, If it looks stupid, but it works, IT AIN’T STUPID!
No, it’s still stupid, just in Witness Protection under an assumed name/identity :P
Now you have me trying to imagine what it would be like for a WPP agent to have to try to guard Sydney had she not found the orbs, yet had to enter the program for some reason.
There is a buddy movie in that idea.
There is a buddy movie in that idea. Title “Witless Protection”.
so i don’t know if someone else guessed this is what death’s true power is, but i don’t want to read 2 pages of comments looking for this one thing. i personally think his power is a sort of opposition ability or perfect counter. as in EVERYTHING you throw at him, he can call forth an ability to perfectly match and negate it, meaning you have to rely on more than just your power to beat him
She ordered out at that food place that served her the eye blinding sauce (via Harem) and is planning to toss a plateful into FWTDT’s face. Mama’s special dumpling attack!
At that time of night? In less than a minute? o_O
Er, its an all night restraint? She ordered the special? She sent Harem to the California franchise ? (Have we defined a limit to harem’s distance yet? Weight I see…)
We’ve got some idea of her capabilities from Dabbler’s Science Corner #2
Well that don’t look right… Lets try again!
We’ve got some idea of her capabilities from Dabbler’s Science Corner #2
DSC #2, Panel 11:
DSC #2, Panel 12:
DSC #2, Post info
Why do I do the feeling Harems going to do what she did to all the Arc guys are Hiro got soda on himself?
That may have merit. The only thing that stayed constant between his appearance changes during the attacks was the skull mask. It may be the power core / magic totem behind his abilities. If a Daphne can grab it and port away safely, then he could be made defenseless. As it is right now he is very defensefull.
FWTDT (last panel, next comic): And I would have gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for that meddling kid!
Guys, his power was made obvious when he blocked Jiggawatt.
Death Knell has the power to change what his body is made of. Something rubbery for Anvil. Copper for Jiggawatt. The ice and fire are the results of chemical reactions.
He might have a healthy dose of strength thrown in for good measure.
Something hard for Dabbler…
Not much of a feat for almost half the population…
The reason ‘perfect counter’ irks me is that it assumes you can basically do anything, but only when a specific situation demands it. “Ooh, sorry. I can only create fire when someone’s shooting ice beams at me. So yeah, we’re going to die of exposure. But hey, if someone projects a stream of anti-matter at us we’ll survive just fine! ”
You also have to ask what a perfect counter is, and where it comes from. Is the perfect counter to a laser a perfect reflector? Absorber? Transparency? Who or what controls or decides what to use?
Example – Death Toll is getting choked by anvil. Why would the ‘perfect counter ‘be to electrocute the choker and not say, to grow spikes out of your back or become frictionless? So either you just say “fuck it, it’s auto-magical” or you set rules for how it counters things. Death toll doesn’t follow any rule consistently enough for me to think he’s a ‘perfect counter’ case.
I like the ‘energy absorber/capacitor’ or ‘ability mirror’ theorems best. They work a lot more consistently. He could even have stolen a bit of JW’s lightning ( # 234, panel 1) for his counter against Anvil. The only weirdness for a straight power absorber is the physical appearance shift as he absorbed/released JW.
To DaveB, if you want to look up more types of superpowers go to this site,
https://powerlisting.wikia.com/wiki/Superpower_Wiki
Halo has a plan, why am I worried?
Because you have been reading the comic… :P
What worries me most is that she herself seems to see the necessity to keep her plan a secret from most of her team before implementing it, possibly out of fear of being stopped.
Huh … where is the next bomb shelter around here … ?
It’s more likely, IMHO, that there’s a time constraint. Halo’s stopping Maxima from doing what FWTDT apparently wanted her to do might make him start to suspect she knows how his powers work and how to beat them. To delay putting the plan so that she can explain what she has in mind increases the chance that he might decide to hightail it out of there.
puttingNot my best day for proofreading what I’m writing.
Well here’s my 2 cents on the Death toll. From what we have seen his counters are specialised: grappled/restrained by anvil? zap her in a way that doesn’t need DT to move, punched by a kinetic-absorber? Absorb her energy first. Get zap-tackled by someone who can transform into living lightning? Transform into a living conductor to trap and redirect her. Fire against ice, ice against fire, bitch-slap of doom against flying unconscious Concretia… Yeah, he is clearly using counter-mancy and not simply making clever use of powers he’s absorbed from others during the fight or so is my take on things.
But I do not believe beating him will be as simple as “indirect attacks”, because his powers clearly dont just respond to things that are currently hitting him, but also to incoming attacks by say launching ice blasts to counter incoming fireblasts, he also does not Have to use his hands to counter since Anvil’s grapple and the anti-squirrel panic blast both where attacks that where negated without him having to visibly move a muscle. Intent and reaction time also does not seem to factor in as I doubt he would be able to see the barrage of laser-like blasts incoming, likewise he reacted to having Concretia launched at him Through a wall with remarkable speed… Suggesting his defenses and his ability to parry things is quasi-automatic or at least an autonomous process.
This raises the question of what indirect methods would actually work… Fill his personal space with gas? a gust of wind would fix that in a hurry.. suck the air out of his immediate area? If he can turn into conductive material, I’m fairly sure he can simply not breathe or generate his own air-bubble (makes no less sense than being spontaneously manifest any of his other abilities). Destabilize the ground he is standing on or apply wet oil? Being able to fly would handily negate/counter both those and similar ways to get at him.
The pressing questions now is this I think: just how lenient is his countermancy with what counts as an attack on him? We know he can counter things without movement, it will strike back against someone attempting to restrain and choke him, but will it counter something like having him stand on a car in full motion that suddenly slams on the brakes to send him flying? Or some analog technique that the crew could currently bring to bear on him.
Another remains just how good the countermancy is at multitasking or countering persistent attacks… so far most of his counters have involved a quick strike or counterblast to eliminate or redirect a hazard, but so far the only “ongoing” or non-instantaneous effect its done was the transmuting to copper-form, which lasted for two panels and a maniacal laugh worth of time, though we have no real idea if he could potentially have stayed in that form and kept jiggawatt captured over a non-momentary period of time.
In short I do not expect him to go down to a simple indirect-attack like flipping the ground he is on … building a cage around him Might work, depending on if his countermancy would count the cage’s placement/construction as an incoming attack or not. But all signs still point to that simply Not attacking him at all would work for negating his ability to dish out super-powered levels of damage. Does not help them with actually arresting him, but like with Maxima for the badguys I think team archon’s best bet is to deal with all the other badguys and saving this one for last.
The argument against FWTDT being an auto-counter, auto-negate super is that it is too broad and powerful of a power. It is like god-moding a character. If it really is this power, I think the counter is limited to his imagination or thoughts, so he is using the powers that he has recently seen as the counters. The argument against him being a power copier/power absorber-returner is that, although nearly all the powers he has shown has been used by other supers, one hasn’t been used by any of the other supers. When he changed his skin and clothes to riveted copper bands, that hadn’t been done by anyone we’ve seen yet. I think he has a magical item as a mask that allows him to mimic the powers he thinks he sees. Super strength, fire, ice, electricity … those are all relatively easy to understand and therefore mimic. I think his copper-coating was a mistaken mimic of Concretia’s power. If it was a copy of her power (incorporeal body possessing a material/substance and forming a body from it), he would have had to have stepped into a large mass of copper to form that shell. Instead, he just changed his clothes and skin into copper, because he misunderstood how Concretia’s power worked, possibly because he wasn’t watching when she formed her asphalt body. So, his power is limited by what he observes and how he thinks the powers that he sees works. So, I say he is a power mimic.
Why hasn’t Dabbler tried her sleep spell on DT yet? Since it has no physical manifestation to absorb or counter it seems like the most likely thing to work.
Maybe she is afraid his automatic defense will be to cast some kind of Greater Dispel or something worse that is total overkill as a counterspell and will fry something important on her? Maybe she is following those rules where you have to choose to memorize so many spells for the next waking period and then sleep or meditate? All kinds of fun reasons possible with magic I suppose… (I suppose it could be the old “happened off screen” excuse. Kind of likely a few probes and attacks did. )
If its a limit in her ability to cast spells, that would be interesting information about the scope of her powers.
It seems unlikely that she expects his ability to be some sort of counter power. If so, ArcLight’s report on the scouter would be different.
If he blocked it, it would be a new dimension to his powers that we haven’t seen him demonstrate yet.
Its possible that Dabbler hasn’t thought of using sleep if she could cast it. That’s probably reasonable. But its the attack that we’ve seen that is most likely to work. That and a simple bullet to the brain. (And really, why aren’t more people in the fight using standard guns. Is throwing a parking stone really a more effective method of combat than using a gun. Sydney was able to block the parking stone. Think she would have stopped a bullet?)
I assume you mean the bad guys. If they had showed any kind of coordination up till now I might have suggested the baddies met up and discussed avoiding guns in order to prevent friendly fire ricochets taking out the squishies/glass cannons too quickly. But they haven’t so… I’m not sure why not other than their powers have given them God complexes since this seems to be the first all powered fight many of them have been in…
Some of the reasons your not seeing guns could be –
1) several individuals have energy/mass expulsion abilities, most of which are equal to or better than most pistols. Plus they have the advantage of no paperwork, unlimited ammo, superior concealment and no money required.
2) Quite a few of the strongmen/women seem to be especially durable. Small arms fire probably is more an annoyance than a threat. If you don’t respect a weapons power there’s a likely hood you’ll not use that weapon even if it is practical. Also they probably figure most of ArcSwat’s heavy hitters will not be significantly effected by bullets. I think Peggy commented on this but not sure of the issue.
3) Some brought equivalents, Hex brought some serious high tech gear to the fight – her target choice downplayed the power of her weapons.
4) Physically unable to wield guns, Mr. Crystal Claws being one of them.
5) I bet several of these people are not a gun owner, many people are not. This “team” of villains feels hastily thrown together with no equipment provided.
6) Ego.
Why bother with guns when a punch can level a wall or crush a car? And as Peggy noted a while back, even her Barrett only inconveniences a lot of the bad guys.
If you got in a stalemate with a glass canon this might give you the ability to attack in two different ways simultaneously. If you have no long range attack other than flinging cars guns would help you reach fliers and speedsters. Further if you are super strong and durable you can hold an outrageously more powerful gun till it might be able to affect EVERYBODY less durable than you at long range.
Oooh, nice list, list though I’m not the one who asked the original question.
As I said to the gent after me though with great power (super strength and durability) comes the power to hold a really powerful gun. (like armament off a vehicle modified to be mounted on some big guys shoulder powerful) Big enough to take out all the mildly squishy and maybe big enough to at least knock the bricks around since if they can’t fly they might have a mass that can be affected etc…
Number six sounds like the God Complex thing…
Specialty weapons require money, someone who can build it, the ability to transport it without attracting attention and so on. Also if your mass is still within human norms the kickback is going to require bracing as you fire. Which makes you a slow moving target in a fire fight, not good. Mainly, if you don’t have a good chunk of change to throw around this wouldn’t be practical.
If this was a formal team I could see having a few specialty guns but as an ad hoc affair I’m not surprised not see them.
Excellent logic. Though if I was super durable and or strong I might do a smash and grab at a gun store for the strongest thing they have (elephant gun would be a lovely) to take out squishy fliers, glass canons and any other low armor targets of opportunity. Till I could afford that big magical/high tech gun dream I would still want as wide a bag of tricks as possible.
You forgot a possibility: they were unable to obtain gun permits and thus could not find a dealer who sell them one.
Oh, wait, this is America. Disregard this comment.
*… who would sell…
2) Peggy said it after hitting Concretia: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1353
DaveB, I gotta say, love the level of detail and finish you put in this comic. Been watching for a while. Apart from the current battle with FWTDT, it’s the finish, detail, and continuity that keeps me interested.
Keep up the good work!
Everybody’s going on & on about what kind of powers Death Toll could have and how to defeat him, but I think the real point is he’s pulling Arggo – and even Max fell for it.
The unfortunate thing for the villain team is they aren’t trying to jump in and score hits while he does it. That’s the whole point of a tank “pulling aggro” instead of “soloing the mission.”
Maybe their minds had been so busy making desperate plans for how to run away with Maxima, a sniper, special agents and lots of news folk reporting their every move that it is taking a second to dry their pants and wrap their minds around the idea they may actually have a shot at winning now! XD
If I had to bet one way or the other, I’d guess that Halo has him figured out and their chances just took a tick towards the downturn. I wouldn’t cancel those escape plans quite yet.
At the moment, it looks like a majority of the original attackers are down and a bunch are out of it. There just aren’t enough warm bodies for a counter-attack any more.
Also, at least two of them (Hex and zebra mohawk) want nothing more to do with the battle.
Yay! The Molestorb makes an appearance! (In appropriate context too!)
It is hardly appropriate for a recruit to countermand the orders of a senior officer. One of Halo’s first lessons in Basic Training will be the rank structure and how to respect the chain of command.
When and where necessary. This is a team, not a drill formation. All input is welcome and formalities can wait until after.
By the way, is Concretia the “Marble Maiden” mentioned earlier?
( https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/366 )
If Marble Maid is that well known, Leon would have used her proper name. Concretia, like the others is a new face to Archon. Interesting to think about.
Ah, but MM is a vigilante, whose identity is probably unknown…if in the past she’s only used Marble as her base material, it may have not been obvious that was who she was, since this is the first time she’s used common materials to form her avatar…
It’s also possible that Marble Maiden uses marbles (or lost hers) not made of marble
Dave revealed it was a borrowed character design named Anima a while back.
I support the adaptation version
I am about halfway to certain that members of ARCHON in the future will suffer terrible bouts of PTSD whenever they hear the words: “Therefore, I have developed a cunning plan!”
God speed you poor bastards!
Will Halo prove to be Dangerously Genre Savvy or will she be Wrong Genre Savvy?
My money is on dangerous.
That includes dangerously wrong at least once.
One of her bios, maybe the current one, has it that her knowledge of tropes comes in very useful.
This is seriously off the wall, but what if Sydney is having Harem dressing up in various superhero cosplay outfits that she has in her wardrobe?
Like basically told Harem where she lives had Harem go into the costume closet or something, with the ploy being to distract Death Toll?
+ 1 for creativity
+ 1 for unsuspected solutions that may even work
+ 1 for the likely resulting fan-service
+ 1 for Naruto’s Harem-Jutsu reference
+ 1 for the possible nose bleed finishing move
Too bad it simply would be too weird to implement.
Harem is much taller and heavier than Sydney. None of Sydney’s outfits would fit her. 5’8″ 36-C chest vs. 5’0″ 32-A chest. Nope, not going to fit.
What are the odds that Halos plan results in him being incontinent?
A power copier can’t do the complex or fine skilled sub powers. This is the weakness probably.
They could try a sonic attack to see if they could create the ‘brown note’.
Hmm seems Syd has a plan, anyone want to bet its going to result in something unexpected?
That is the textbook definition of a Sydney plan. Everyone is thinking cage or other immobilizing gambit. So expect the Spanish Inquisition. Or a face full of something sticky to blind DT.
Actually, everyone always expected the Spanish Inquisition since they gave you 30 days notice so you could prepare your defense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o85NK1EEnMY
Always expect ninjas!
NO ONE EXPECTS A SYDNEY PLAN!
it seems that Girrl Power has been challenged by gretta gravity ( or at least a nice cosplay of her ) to the bucket challenge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BoZMCxrk34
please dont shoot the messenger i like both this and spinnerette
That is Greta, Mrs G-E Krowe herself
thank you i didn’t know. I’m simply a fan of the comics on a base level. my true fanboy attitude is for more RP games and movies, so i simply assumed it may have been a cosplayer presenting the challenge for KrazyKrow.
You can actually hear KrazyKrow giggling at the end of the video. So, she definitely did challenge GrrlPower, along with a couple more. Time to break out the animation tools and get Maxima to do the
wet t-shirtALS Ice Bucket challenge.My first thought with Halo contacting Harem, was to get DT to copy Harem’s power.
Harem shows off her abilities, DT copies, then when he splits into 5 DTs…
1) Power levels of all his stolen powers are reduced.
2) The 1 mind / 5 input sources (of 5 senses each, plus any superpower senses) would stun & disorient, making it hard to target & use the right power from the right body on the right target. Harem had time to grow up with her powers, DT’s mind would have to learn to cope on the fly, in the middle of a battle royal.
3) If the DT 5 bodies retain the copy other powers ability, would they feedback on themselves, trying to copy each other’s copied power? Is his copying automatic or at will? And is there a range to his copy ability?
But then Halo comments about “did you find them”… people / animals / objects / hmmm what is “them”? With Sydney being new to the team, she doesn’t know all the items in the armory, or all the different ARC-groups capabilities, so “them” has to be something she has seen or knows about.
Side note: for a hyper non-military background Sydney has been real good at following Maxima’s orders during this whole fight… I’m impressed (and a little disappointed). I really thought that until she has got some fight training and team training that she would be jumping into the battle chaos “trying to help”. Halo getting in the way (mostly comically) but still helping / winning in a most non-military fashion would drive the drill instructor Maxima crazy, but Sydney’s shown remarkable control so far.
But is it as cunning as a fox that majored in cunning in Oxford University?
*But is it as cunning as a fox that has been appointed professor of cunning at Oxford University?
The fox is digging in deeper then usual. I think everybody should take the hint.
Aww, maybe I should have read some comments before making my quote.
That’s why we need new cliches.
We just need some more Blackadder, then we can make new quotes.
That old Blackadder has you in it’s spell?
That old Blackadder that they weaved so well?
Zing!
i thought it was Foxford University
Or just a metal spike Kuroko style.
I hope this plan is as cunning as a plan developed by a fox who is the professor of cunning at Oxford University!
This makes the weasel tail and the college fox both three for three. Rowan Atkinson’s ears are burning.
I just hope Heatwave wasn’t involved.
If the team hasn’t seen the Blackadder series, Sydney will have a great time introducing them. I can see Max enjoying Blackadder Goes Fourth.