Grrl Power #245 – Operation angry muppet
Lightstorm is one of those things that I set up early in the fight and it kept getting pushed further and further until I finally found a place for it. In its original form, it was Harem finding a cluster of tough villains and dumping a dozen flashbangs on them all at once, then the team dogpiles them while they’re still staggered. I wound up having Max supply the flash and the bang when she knocked Hex from the sky, but this use of the tactic is still valid. Sydney took Math’s lesson to heart and was thinking several moves ahead here. She’s trying to verify what she suspects Death Toll’s powers are, and while a lot of you have figured it out already, she doesn’t want to commit her teammates to anything before she’s at least tested her theory. She didn’t think for a second the flashbangs would do anything, but it made a good cover for sticking the googly eyes on him. It’s weird, he mostly looks like a guy with googly eyes on his mask, but then if you look at him just right, he does look like a scary muppet.
I wanted Sydney to say something funny as her operation activation phrase, so my first thought was “go” in German. Google translate spit out a bunch of options, one of which was “Aufgebraucht werden” A more thorough examination of the phrase seems to indicate that it more closely means “to be depleted” or “to go and deplete.” I’m sure there’s at least one reader who can clarify the phrase, but the non-sequiterness actually makes it more perfect for Sydney. Other than knowing how to curse and a few phrases from video games (meine lieben!) she doesn’t know German, but she probably thinks she knows a few words based on some cursory googling. Plus, I just like the idea of Sydney randomly screaming semi-sensical German.
#MakeComics: Thirteen panels on a page. How not to draw a comic right here folks. Scott McCloud would be rolling in his… well, he’s not dead, so I’ll say Segway. In a normal comic that would be 2 pages of content at least, but I have this need to make each page its own semi-self contained scene. It’s a better read if you’re keeping up with the comic as it’s posted, though I am a bit worried it will make the book rather dense feeling. More bang for your buck I suppose. Probably should have made this a double pager but too late now.
<— If you enjoy the comic, consider supporting it via Patreon so I can continue to food. Or buy something via the Amazon referral link.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
Did her bruised cheek magically heal and I missed it?
Being able to gloat magically heals wounds. Diddenchukno?
Nope, I keep forgetting them, but they’re back in now if you CTRL+F5.
With the blood dripping in the last panel that looks absolutely horrifying.
Like she just crunched down on a hamster and is now eyeing the next snack.
Sydney is secretly one of the Visitors.
Dark bruise is still on the right side.
Oh, well done… this made me laugh so hard. I was expecting some tricky technical solution from Halo, but this is better. Now I’m hoping it really is Deus behind the mask, just so we can see him sulk.
Death Toll’s description isn’t technically accurate—he’s been affected by attacks (for instance, he turned into something coppery, along with his outfit, when Jiggawatt zapped him). He just hasn’t been negatively affected by attacks.
Of course, if it was his conscious choice to turn into copper as a means of defeating a lightning-based attack, rather than his power working automatically, then maybe “he hasn’t been affected” is correct.
And yes, I’m being a pedantic ass :P
Well, as long as you are not an ass-tick pedant, we cool. :)
I’ll see you and raise you one. Silver is the most conductive metal, so he should have changed to THAT as the single best defense. Copper is about 8% lower than silver. So either:
1) His defense is not perfect
2) He is on a budget and chose a cheaper metal
3) The author thought that the audience would not know which shiny colorless metal he turned into and used copper as a good default electrical reference.
Which brings up the question “How do we know the Silver Surfer is actually silver?” Has anyone ever done a metallurgical assay?
The Silver Surfer is not silver. He just looks silver so the game was applied.
I like how ironic his comment “I am untouchable!” is.
He’s already been touched… in the head.
I think a lot of people are touched in the head.
I think a lot of people just need a high five…
to the face.
They laugh ’cause they know they’re untouchable. Not because what I said was wrong,
I really like that Sydney smirk in the last panel! It says “gotcha” so well!
hmm, I’m not sure if this has been pointed out and whether or not it’s true, but is Death Tolls legally blind? He doesn’t seem to reacting at all to the googly eyes slapped onto the skull, he hasn’t moved from that spot and he’s only reacted to attacks. He may have some sort of warning field that helps him counter incoming attacks.
… nvm didn’t see that they weren’t covering his eyes
I think you’re at least the second person who’s that has happened to (and that’s just among people who have posted comments), so I wouldn’t feel too bad about it.
I would suggest: ‘Aufgebracht werden’/’Getting pissed’ instead of ‘Aufgebraucht werden’/’Getting used up’ as operation name
I think, it would be really fitting in this case.
Just a thought, but if this guys all about absorbing powers best to fight him would be…. Mathais
no powers to absorb… Anyone got smelling salts.
Oh good lordy, Maxima’s face. Can he make a bigger version of that?
It’s… So…. BEAUTIFUL!!!
Great Dave, now you’re going to force me to hunt down a conscientious objector and a decal tool in TF2 to put another silly Max face on.
Wallpaper!
But seriously I laughed more at that face than at Deathtoll!
Sydney has been putting Max through some changes of expression all day. I get a feeling that’s not going to change.
Eddi, I have to agree. In ways Sydney brings out the real person underneath all that attitude she tends to cop. Not saying its a bad attitude, just that she paints a serious vibe a lot. This of course is partially to remind the “troops” that she is in ways their CO on the field.
I’ve already said I consider Sydney the little sister of this bunch. Clever, mildly annoying, always up to some silliness. But in the end she’s right there to help.
So, Cunninglinguist has wobbuffet power?
I am thinking he has a “Counter Shield”; absorbing or deflecting an attack with an equal or opposite force to counter it.
I haven’t posted the villain tally in a while since no villain has actually been defeated since my last update… so… update to the list when someone gets beaten…
Excuses, excuses, excuses…. =OP
Did you see my post?
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1458/comment-page-4#comment-236888
It’s time to put on makeup,
it’s time to light the flashbangs….
Smug Sydney is Smug…Angry Muppet is Angry!
Just as long as they raise the curtain.
I think I figured him out, see how he’s taunting people to attack him, he isn’t simply absorbing powers, and its not a Nemesis-mimic…
He either is, or some item he is wearing is an Aegis Shield: the ability to not only either absorb or deflect an enemy attack but send back its equal (and sometimes opposite) effect to counter balance it. Other wise known as a Counter-Shield.
Just a general comment on languages: for a variety of reasons, translations have always been a hit-or-miss proposition and there are always going to be “translations” that don’t exactly match up in meaning with the original. Richard Lederer, author of the various Anguished English books, is probably one of the foremost collectors of these types of mistakes in the English language.
First when there’s nothing
Until a loud, aching boom
Then the light seems to hide
Deep inside your eyes…
Flashbang,
What a feeling,
Stomach’s heaving.
I can’t see at all
And now I’m running for my life.
+1 for Wierd Al-esque lyrics
Now I have to ask which other villains where caught as collateral damage, cause ya know ArcSWAT knows what’s up with “Lightstorm”, but team Super-Riot does not. Bet at least green hair and Opal got nailed, since they were watching the fight directly.
That many flashbangs at once means unless they have some defense those two are out of it for a while. And that means out of this particular fight because DT will be dealt with before they can even stand up again.
Well, I have to wonder if any are left at this point. Zephy’s villain tally was getting close to 40 last I checked, back on 241 I think, and Max said she had eyes on “nearly 30” back when this whole shindig started.
The ones who seem to me to present real threats are out of it. Heavenly Sword, Glowbug, Mach, Breakpoint, Jabberwoky and A Bomb are all down. Hex is making a run for it. Unless Green and Opal have more on the ball than already seen, that leaves Fedora as the only unknown. The rest are mostly muscle.
Bad grammar or not, you have to admit, that is one set of code words that would not likely be said by anyone at the wong moment when Sydney and/or Harem were not yet ready for them to be said…
Afghanistan banana stand.
I run an Afghanistan banana stand, and I call out those words all day long to try to draw customers to me. And I have to call them out loudly and frequently if I hope to get more customers than all of the other Afghanistan banana stands I have to compete with who are calling out the same words.
But now I know why all of the CIA spies in the area always seem to be so very confused!
There’s always money in the banana stand.
I understand it has a more profound effect on bank employees than it does on CIA
spiesagents.Which is why it’s being used. No accidental triggering, if you use random nonsense instead of real words.
That mask is the Copy Cap from page one. I swear it.
Munum munum.
I’m guessing this is an example of random words used instead of real words so that there’s no accidental triggering?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N_tupPBtWQ
remake of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i-L3YTeJJM
doot doo, de doot-doo.
He appears to be similar, but not quite exactly like, the threat faced by the Enterprise in Day of the Dove, where laughter caused the hate-soaking alien to lose its powers and flee. DT may not be hate-soaking, but he certainly appears to be superpower-soaking.
Oh man. Not only does Sydney/Halo have her orbs of various powers, but she is also a Troller as well. The WORST kind of hero for villains to face off against. With regular heroes, the villains lose, but still have their dignity. With Sydney/Halo? Villains, say goodbye to your dignity, for you are better off dead instead of a laughing stock, thus losing your reputation and NO ONE will EVER take you guys seriously ever again.
Especially since Jonah is also in attendance and if he’s even half as competent as he’s made out to be this little scene will be featured on youtube within half an hour.
I remember an article arguing the opposite – that some of Spidey’s opponents might actually have given up or quit crime altogether if he hadn’t trolled them so hard mid-fight all the time.
I can it depending on the villain. That said some of Spidey’s villains had more nerve than brains.
Oh, no! Halo is going to get an uplift! N-no, please no. think of what her ego will be like, she will be publicly be recognized, taking out the biggest bad guy, there are news crews watching this,,, Please think of her comic book store partner, what will he have to endure. Think of the squirrels, the homeless treeless squirrels. For pities sake DB, don’t….. Well, thinking about it, it could be extremely silly to watch too….. Have fun DB you’re a joy to read.
“News casters quite whispered voice.”
And now will Death Toll have to defend himself from a 90lb girl, with no powers, that he knows will kick his ass, or surrender to avoid the humiliation of answering that question that all people get in jail, “Whatca in for?”. “Please contact our web site to cast your vote.”
Sorry I’ve played Marvels Heroes and a few others, some made up by me, far to much it seems.
Actually, “to get depleted” or rather “to get used up” is the correct translation for “aufgebraucht werden”. Although i have no i idea how this would fit in the context.
“Aufgebracht werden”, as someone in the comments suggested, would mean something like “to become agitated”, in a wider sense perhaps laos “to become pissed of”.
By the way, great work with the comic. One of my favorites :-)
As an only cursory German speaker myself… I can kinda understand the logic. “Auf” – Out, “gebraucht” – sounds like “brought”, “werden” – the generic “to do”. I know this is all horribly inconsistent, but at first glance it actually made sense.
I guess ‘angebracht werden’/’to get put on’ would have had some sense too, but that is totally different spelled :D
“Aufgebraucht” can be split in “Auf” (“On”, “Open” – and in some context, “Up”) and “Gebraucht” (“Needed”, “Used”).
In this context, it would be the equivalent to “used up”.
So, “Aufgebraucht werden” translates quite nicely into “become used up”.
And it’s about as weird to hear, because I don’t think anyone would actually use these words like that.
I will have to admit, I have no idea what Death Toll’s power set is.
It’s pretty obvious that his main power is completely defensive. It triggers only when he’s attacked. He just stood there waiting, but he turned into a holy terror when they started trying to take him down.
He doesn’t copy powers. When he took down Anvil he used a kinetic energy drain, and none of the characters in this comic have that power.
Dabbler’s ice trap is not a direct attack. She doesn’t aim that at him, she aims it at the area around him. A purely defensive power shouldn’t trigger against that, but his does.
He takes down Hiro. That’s interesting, because Hiro didn’t use a power on Death Toll. Hiro has super strength, which is a power he uses on himself, not his target.
The flash-bang grenades didn’t affect him. Having a bunch of flash-bangs detonated at that proximity would blind, deafen, set on fire, and probably kill a normal human being. Those things are technically non-lethal, but that doesn’t make them harmless. In terms of super powers he would need either armor or a force field to avoid the damage, and specific defenses against being blinded and deafened.
To take down Hiro, who has 3 dots worth of armor, the way he did, Death Toll would need at least 4 dots worth of super strength. To soak the damage from the flash bangs he’d need some pretty serious armor. If he’s got that, there’s no reason why he couldn’t go on the offensive. Starting fights would be a lot easier than standing around waiting for someone to attack you.
All of which works perfectly with an Aegis-Shield AKA Counter-Shield type, a great one can even nullify secondary effects.
I think we will find his power ONLY works defensively; if he initiates an attack and the person defends it shouldn’t activate his power. Or they set a trap that he lunges into, because technically a pit fall or a cage aren’t attacking you only confining you.
It seems he copies/drains power from anyone who is HOSTILE. Not attacking him, or directing an attack at him, but actively engaged in aggression. The moment the googly eyes came on, everyone stopped being hostile, and his powers went fzzt.
Flash Bang grenades are not sentient. They can’t be hostile. And yet he was unaffected by them.
“He doesn’t copy powers. When he took down Anvil he used a kinetic energy drain, and none of the characters in this comic have that power.”
Except, you know, Anvil herself. It’s how she gets her super-strength.
Anvil’s power is to absorb kinetic energy, store it, and use it to boost her own attacks.
What Death Toll did was different. He didn’t just absorb her attack, he drained the energy out of her reserve pool. DaveB said that’s what knocked her out. She went from having a nice big charge to zero all at once and unexpectedly, and the shock to her system made her faint.
He didn’t copy her power. Anvil herself could not have done that. She has an Absorb power, and what Death Toll used was a Drain power.
Letting aside your theory, how do you know that Anvil can not do that? She can absorb kinetic energy, usually she found it in the form of a burst, but what if she make contact with a storage of kinetic energy (like herself or another kind)? How can we assure that she CAN’T absorb (drain) it?
A more accurate term for “Go!” in German would be “Los geht’s!”.
Funfact: I learned that from a videogame!
Please tell me its NOT company of heroes….
Day of Defeat: Source!
I learned it from Pheonix Wright Dual Destinies.
“Los geht´s” literally means “it starts going” or as an order: “let´s start”. also used “Auf geht´s”
… and they’ll be dubbing in the muppets’ version of Bohemian Rhapsody for the viewers at home for every time he opens his mouth…
“Is there a spot in this music video for me,
for meee,
for MEEEEEEEE?”
This also proves that he uses his power conciously. Otherwise the glue from the googly eyes would not have stuck to him. You need to sneak attack him.
My theory is that his power require aggression directed at him or someone he recognizes as his ally to work. Since Harem was not being hostile, merely mischievous, not only was she able to manhandle him, and plant the flashbangs, she was able to glue the googly eyes too.
Yeah let’s hope Dabbler doesn’t finish this one as well
I’m guessing he’s named for the part that *isn’t* in the Metallica song.
“Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.”
My guess since the beginning is that his power is basically to win every time someone attacks him, by duplicating or subverting their own powers against them, so he’s super strong at defense but useless at attack.
Eh…With that many Harems around him… couldn’t they have injected him with the night night drug while doing this also….
*Walks off muttering about heroes not thinking ahead.**
Actually, it’s a sign that the heroes are thinking ahead–or that Sydney is, at least. Trying to inject him would almost certainly have been countered, like all the other attacks. If his power prevents people from even punching him, what makes you think it wouldn’t stop Harem from stabbing him with a needle? So instead, she covers his eyes, sticks things to his mask, and drapes stuff around him–none of which are direct attacks.
Besides, angry muppet. A plan that turns the would-be ominous villain into an angry muppet is a good plan.
it’s not automatic, they could’ve done that, if it was automatic, then the lightstorm would’ve been countered. it’s a test to make sure the powers actually works the way syndney worked and that it’s not perfect.
he was unaffected by lightstorm and it’s possible his power deemed that enough.
I see what you did there. nice throwback to the game Halo was playing when we met her.
Sorry if I missed this in the previous 300 comments, but I wonder if this is a trick on Sydney’s part to get him to remove his mask, the possibility being his powers are tied to it somehow?
Oh, I didn’t even think of that. Halo is a tricksy hobbitses, she is.
No one hit that though yet. Get him so mad he disarms himself.
So, “Aufgebraucht Werden” is only correct, if you are planning to let them deplete his powers, or something similar to that. If the Objective was to just Stick the Eyes at him, you could have used something like “ANKLEBEN” which means to stick something at something.
“Sydney took Math’s lesson to heart and was thinking several moves ahead here.”
As a fellow writer, I suggest you make the lessons the characters learn a little more obvious in the future, if possible. Something like that is too valuable to just let settle in the background, unnoticed.
As someone who is not very good at writing, but would like to improve, I’m curious as to what you mean. It seemed obvious enough to me that she had learned the lesson of thinking 3 moves ahead and was applying it what with her thinking tilt and formulated plan.
Unrelated, I am concerned about what happens after her three moves are up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_(comics)
What do you expect, Max? You DID tell Sydney earlier that arrogant mocking of the bad guys IS okay…
Fragarach? Or something like it, anyway. It requires the enemy to strike in order to reverse causality and counter them before the strike was made. And it is weak against less than full power attacks. Anvil was only taken out after she committed fully, and no actual retaliation was sent against Dabbler. Only the ice was stopped.
In the case of Dabbler’s Ice, only the Ice was attacking, so only it was countered. (Also, her fire blast was countered with an ice blast).
In Anvil’s case, her power was super strength from stored Kinetic Energy, so that was countered.
Jiggawatt’s attack was countered by absorbing “her” and throwing her elsewhere – Stalwart wasn’t really “countered” so much as “in the way” when he got rid of Jiggawatt.
In Hiro’s case, it was a super powered smash attack, which was countered with a super smash into the ground.
In Harem’s case, the googly-eyes and draping a belt over him wasn’t really an attack – the flashbangs made an attack when they went off, and they were countered perfectly. No blinding, no stun, no damage from explosives going off on his shirt. Since he now believes that was the purpose of her jumping him, he doesn’t know about the googly eyes.
So far, what we’ve got is a guy who can not initiate an attack. Every full-out attack is countered, “perfectly” (ie: in a way that stops that attack from repeating, or makes it obvious it did nothing to him), but he can’t start anything.
The googly eyes are to get everyone laughing at him, and then possibly taunt him into starting an attack, which may break his power. After all, what happens if someone without any (active) super powers at all tries to punch a brick wall like Max? Broken knuckles, through his own fault, and not an attack from someone else. Or possibly worse, his power just detects an attack (regardless of who makes it), and hard-counters it, knocking him out somehow just like it would anyone else.
I think there was an episode of Red Dwarf like that…
So FWTDT is a evil version of a Wobuffet.
Pretty much the conclusion I’ve come to so far. If this is his power then the best way to deal with him would be to build a container around him. Technically a cage isn’t an attack, or walls, and such; they are an obstacle. Just don’t attack him directly. (noteing a green lantern example: an energy container might count as an attack with his power and be countered, not sure, the Counter Shield thing tends to be off on each version on what specifically qualifies as an attack and how its handled.)
Maybe the key to that then is a nice padded cell, so it’s hard for him to hurt himself?
However as his power is clearly defensive, it doesn’t seem it would react if he went on the offense; so would he still be protected if he attacked and inanimate object like a wall or bars…
If he can absorb aggro attacks, could not Dabbler simply seduce him?
“aufgebraucht werden” means “become depleted”
“go” cannot be translated directly, but in german “jetzt” (now) has the same meaning.
I thought the German word for the verb “to go” was simply “gehen”, so “go away” would be “geh weg”. Is that not right?
yes and no. “gehen” rather means “walking” than “going” with the sidemeanings “of something is working correct” or “leaving”. A command like “Geh(t)!” mostly means “leave!”/” you are released to start your operation” or maybe “start walking” or sometimes “start working (damn computer)” But you are right: “go away” would be translated “geh weg!”
Thank you very much for the clarification! :)
I just thought of achmed the dead terrorist saying “Silence, I kill you”