Grrl Power #249 – Much like gravy, the plot thickens
Much like…
- the waist of a quality tester at Doritos
- the glasses of an aging nerd
- someone taking steroids and thinking that by itself will make them buff but not really working out
- the skull of an increasingly stupid person
…the plot thickens.
So this page may bring up a question or two. Will they be answered soon? The answer is yes, obviously, but stay tuned all the same. Same Grrl Time, same Grrl Channel.
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I love the little hand-dusting gesture in panel #7. It sort of says, “Yep- that was just as much fun as I thought it would be. Now on to the main course…”
Dundundun’s smile is weird : you can see all of his upper teeth. I don’t know anyone who smiles like that. Is it one of his powers? Intimating predatory smile?
It’s the width of the smile that disturbs me. I experimented in front of a mirror, and I did at least manage to smile with the full height of my upper teeth showing. I didn’t manage to smile widely enough to show all three of my molars, though – I can barely show my second premolar, even from the side.
Vehemence must smile a lot, to get so practiced at it. What a nice guy.
personally, i can barely get to the third, and i have practice with those smile
If he’s a super mutant, I wouldn’t assume he has the same dental structure as a normal human. He may be sporting multiple concentric rows of teeth for all we know.
You guys should really take into account the overall SIZE of this mans mouth. He has like a Steven Tyler mouth! His lips go from one end of his face to the other, it really doesn’t surprise me how much of his mouth you can see.
His teeth… I meant teeth…
Just picture the Joker from DC Comics. That man is all teeth. In fact, I believe when Mark Hamill was coming up with the voice for the Joker he was quoted as saying something akin to – “that man is all teeth” – and watching the resulting rictus grin appear on Mr. Hamill’s face as the voice emerges is freaky as hell. And looks EXACTLY like that last panel.
The Joker is based on a real actor, fromthe 20’s or 30’s, if you search YouTube (or the interwebs) for “Real Life Inspirations for Comic Book Characters” (or something like that) you will find an article about it
The Man Who Laughs (1928) Wiki reference page
Probably, just remember the image of the guy without his mouth being covered
One of his unofficial superpowers is “dramatic license”
Don’t ever try toning it down.
It fits him awesomely!
He wears it like Super man wears a cape. Others may try but they never look as cool. (I’m look at you Wayne)
Just a side note humans are the only primate that smiles as a sign of enjoyment and pleasure when bearing their teeth in all other primates this is a sign of aggression. When I found this out I stopped smiling with my teeth showing, if you see me smiling with my teeth run I’m not happy. I also tend to laugh when threatened I think this is mostly a defense mechanism but it could be something else never did try and figure out why it does tend to throw folks off that are about to try to harm me though guy starts laughing uncontrollably and then smiles with his teeth. Really a nice guy I don’t like fighting or harming people goes against my nature but I will defend myself.
Yeah, that’s a Slasher Smile if I ever saw one!
Or a Grin of Audacity, depending. And I do like that the article mentions the Dragon. If we assume Vale is Deus’s last line of defense, this dude might be his vanguard.
Something tells me he got a better offer.
Clearly Vehemence is either a member of Arc Dark who had been keeping his head down this long just to make sure the entire group gets cleaned up in one go, or is trying to set up/further expand his own villain group and wants to emphasize just how big a threat Archon is to all potential villains out there to gather more under his banner.
Either way… DUN DUN DUNNNN.
I doubt that… See Grrl Power #186 – Fingers to maximum steepleage!
Vehemence aka Fedorka, is the first one shown to accept Maxima’s challenge at the press conference.
But Remember Dave said that #186 isn’t quite what is actually going on it’s just scenarios.
Likely Dave put in a bunch of characters he already generally had designed/ideas for, in maybe their approximate roles in his head at the time, but as any creator can tell you, just because you think you know what a particular character is going to be used for doesn’t mean you *actually* know what you’re going to do with them when they do finally show up. While I’m sure some of those scenarios will prove to be great “foreshadowing,” some of them will just be “potential scenarios” simply because “Actually, now that I think about it, it’d be better if character Y was doing X” =P
Well it’s both. Arianna is listing off “some guy spoiling for a fight, some nutjob with super powers, shadowy figures with evil plans etc” and I drew admittedly spoiler-y examples of that stuff.
THANK YOU! now I have a place to point people who doubt my foreshadowed villains list!
Oh joy! There are more real dangers to come.
“Shreds eddi and uses him as confetti”
ouchie! Let’s see what I got left in the old body wardrobe…
Are you Blinky, Inky, Pinky, Clyde, or Sue?
I’ve always wanted to try being a boy named Sue. Toughest bastich in Texas.
Been decades since last played Mr Pac, but 5 ghosts? Thought it was only 4 o_O
Cartoon
only 4 at a time but the pink is a girl one named sue. there was some reason they changed the color of one of the guys and for a rerelease or story change or such but the players wouldn’t accept the change forcing a new name to be choosen.
That is I doubt the Arc Dark thing…
Aha, but it totally could be! If he was, say, with this group of “supervillains” and wanted to goad them into making a move so they could all be cleaned up, making a sweeping statement in front of them to encourage them to act and get put down could totally work.
Dun dun dunnn!
Yes, it would be cool if he was just a n infiltrating agent this whole time, albeit possibly one with an agenda.
He could also be a foreign super who happened to get caught up in it during undercover work.
I would think MI6/britain super.
Russian seems more likely from his build, so he could be more of a frenemy.
Or he might be a longterm antagnist who really just wanted to watch what Archon could do, but also did not wanted them to escape (and possible attack his country/get in the way of his plans).
I see a lot of options what could be up with him.
I said this below but i want to put my two cents in here too:
I’m more for the “rival gangs” explanation. Vekter and Vehemence joined forces for this excursion which would explain why Vekter didn’t know who everyone in the villain group was and said “our group” in a previous page. Now… Vehemence took this opportunity to ensure that all of Vekter’s attack group squad was arrested while he probably only brought along his lesser minions (who went down very easily). Since he never took part in the fight and is now actively assisting Archon in taking down a threat (extraordinary circumstances may allow for sidestepping the vigilante thing, or he could counter with the “good samaritan” defence) he’ll likely be able to walk off scot-free but Vekter is definitely going to the slammer.
Vehemence — Does “Multitasking” mean (1) Gathering Intelligence and (2) setting his power set to “charge” — maybe he has performance issues without a long psych-up period. Sure, there are euphemisms like “siphoning off the chthonic flux of the battle” or “I strike naught but when the stars are right” or “I get stronger the more of my nominal allies are unconscious” but really he’s just making sure the motor’s running before going toe-to-toe with the U.S. Govt’s big guns.
If that is the essential outline of Vehemence’s main strengths, then strategically he’s got to exploit it before his opposition wises up lest he be targeted immediately when he’s spotted — even in proximity to evil deeds he had no part of. Going meta, that might form an argument why this explanation makes little sense for DaveB to use — the character might be too limited to be more than a diversion.
Alternately, if he was really involved in organizing this attack, as suggested by being labeled a double-crosser, perhaps he a monomaniac powered by his own callousness which is not his natural mindset. He walks the path of sociopathy to drive his powers to their utmost, so fragile humans best get out of the way when he’s working on a goal.
This is the guy Halo talked to. What is he up to? This is getting very inter-es-ting to quote Wolfgang from Rowens and Martins Laugh-In. Boy am I dating myself.
Meh, not necessarily dating yourself. I was born long after that show was already off the air and I remember it… And I’m not even from America originally…
At least when you are dating yourself, you are sure to get lucky.
Unless your hand goes to sleep :P
+1
I’m just gonna come right out and say it.
I FRIKKIN CALLED IT
Ok, there
Cool! Um… what did you call it?
I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine, and he shall be my Squishy.
Hmph… sounds like they got that from Looney Tunes. =OP
“Bad Squishy! Bad Squishy!”
Loved that movie :)
I like his hat. And pretty much his suit in general.
Vehemence has got style. He definitely pulls off the business suit and fedora look.
One thing is clear to me. Vehemence is impervious. I don’t know how impervious, but notice the telekinetic storm with all the rocks hitting him… He doesn’t even feel it… Furthermore, unlike Achilles, the imperviousness extends to his clothes as well… This could potentially be a very big problem for ArcSwat, depending on what his obviously third party agenda actually is…
It actually looks like he has a personal force field, as the rocks seem to be disintegrating before they hit him.
It looks like he is forming out of smoke or dust to me.
If you look at panels 4 & 7 you should notice the debris field slipstreaming around him
Wait a second here. Has Opal dyed her tongue..? How does one go about doing that?
A looooot of grape Jolly Ranchers.
Actually, it looks like her tongue switches color after Vehemence hits her. That is either one heck of a hit or an art typo.
Her tongue is purple in panel 3, before Fedorka kills her
You can get your eyeballs tattooed. I don’t think getting your tongue colored is much of a problem, actually.
It’s actually an unfortunate side-effect of using more than 8 portals at once.
While eating grape Jolly Ranchers.
Damn. DAMN. DAMNDAMNDAMN THAT’S COOL!
Vehemence is now my second favorite villain- after Lord Vetinari.
Vetinari is not a villain lol. He is a really awesome good guy. He sends Vimes to do the right thing, he is benevolent generally. He didn’t kill the king-in-waiting. Unless you are a mime, he is …er…harmless.
‘I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people. You’re wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides.’
Dude is anything but harmless- he just has enough control that even if he was crippled, he would be more dangerous than anyone else in Anh-MorPork
“Because the bad people know how to plan. It’s part of the specification, you might say. Every evil tyrant has a plan to rule the world. The good people don’t seem to have the knack.”
If bad people know how to plan, why do so many of them wind up in prison?
Because the difference between bad people and evil people, is that evil people are much smarter than the bad people.
You can be evil without being a bad person.
I don’t know. Evilness can make people extremely stupid. By nature, they make plans that will help themselves at the detriment of a lot of people. Their plans tend to include getting something for nothing, getting rich quickly or achieving power fraudulently, usually through shortcuts that may be beneficial in the short term but completely disastrous in the long run.
It can- But those people are not particularly clever to begin with. The trap of “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” comes into play in this case. The trick is to have someone who is willing to slap you upside the head before you do something stupid while in the madness place.
Nobody ever said they knew how to plan well!
Ok let me qualify that. For a trained assassin who is tyrant of a city of thieves, he is a good guy. That aside, Pratchett paints him as someone to like and respect – Pratchett is not evil and he does not try to convey Vetinari as evil. Balances and perspectives are there.
Vetinari is a lawful neutral guy. Fortunately for the general populace his procedure for the smooth running of his city usually invests their well being.
nah, more lawful evil. He has no problem with the town being in the grasp of thieves and murderers, as long as 1: he still have more say and 2: they are organized, and everything is civilized.
Step out of line, and he WILL have you placed in a a place where he can make full use of you, even if that is as fertilizer.
Never forget, Vetinari is an assassin, and top of his class, even though no one can remember what he was trained to kill people with.
also, it’s a fair assumption that the guy ruling the larges hive of scum and villainy on the face of the disk through mind chilling soft spoken fear and a raised eyebrow, may be found on the southern end of the alignment spectrum
He seems to be proficient in killing people with other people. Can assassins train in that?
Vetinari is like Dr. Doom in philosophy. He wants to be in charge in order to prevent catastrophe. The difference is Dr. Doom fails, because he’s an attention whore.
Vetinari sends Vimes to do the right thing because Vimes keeps both the worst criminals and the nobles in line very, very well. And Vimes is somewhat controllable and predictable. Vetinari also:
Has a whole branch of dark clerks who he uses regularly (spying and assassination).
Kidnaps.
Subverts his own “justice” system by vanishing useful criminals.
Shuts down banks, businesses, and institutions at will (meaning when he thinks it will do the city good).
“Tyrant, remember.”
… and in the end, is scarily effective and manages to do a whole lot of good.
Yup. Remember:
“Evil is not just an alignment- it’s a way of life.”
-The Evil Overlord Baron Von Pineapple
Forest Gump reference for the win.
I can only make a water boy reference.
The footnote “Ominous is as ominous does.”
Superpowered battle royales (battles royale?) are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.
But someone will always get pimp slapped.
Every goddamned time! Those selection boxes are bad for your health in more ways than one…
Anyone else remember Vehemence’s “Challenge Accepted” from https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1189 ? Because I think this is exactly what he wanted to happen….
Dozens of people remember it. No one, however, has given me a satisfactory answer to how they know for certain that that was Vehemence. Could be a clone, long-lost twin/sibling, another person on whom similar genetic experiments were performed, duplicate from an alternate dimension, person from the same organization, or member of the same alien race, etc.
He’s been foreshadowed. Of course it’s him. :P
Took logic, did you?
Arianna become a oracle?
It’s an Occam’s Razor thing.
It is possible that Vehemence and the guy Sydney spoke to are not the same person. The guy that just hit Opal could be a twin brother, clone, doppleganger, alternate dimension copy, or what-have-you. The reason why everyone thinks they are the same person is simply that they both look alike.
And Vehemence looks like Challenge Accepted Dude within the somewhat flexible realm of DaveB’s artwork.
You can decide to doubt that the character in one panel of the comic is the same guy as the one in the next panel. There is no way to be certain after all. That’s where Occam’s Razor comes in. The most simple hypothesis is that it’s always the same character from point to point unless there is some specific reason for doubt.
It is reasonable to believe that Challenge Accepted Dude, Perpetrating Evil Dude, and Vehemence are all the same character. There has been nothing introduced to place any doubt upon that. That’s not absolute certainty, but it will do.
First and foremost, that’s a misuse of Occam’s Razor. At best, it can only tell us which theory should be preferred, not which one is true. For example, while the person holding the murder weapon when the police show up at the crime scene almost certainly will become the prime suspect, there might be any number of ways he or she could have been framed, could be covering for someone else, or what appears to be a murder could actually have been a suicide. The police can’t simply state, “Him have murder weapon, therefore him guilty”.
Which leads to my second point: it’s not a question of whether anyone doubts the two are one and the same, but whether there’s sufficient evidence to exclude other possibilities, when the only person who knows for certain is DaveB… and AFAIK, he hasn’t said. I, for the most part, think that it’s more likely that they are than they aren’t, but it’s his story and if it turns out that they aren’t, then I don’t have any problem with that as long as he makes whatever he decides plausible.
Third, your mention of “perpetrating evil dude” and Vehemence being different is a bad analogy due to strength of evidence.
Why would anyone want to? ;)
Do you *know* for certain that that is the same Arianna? Or the same Hiro? Or the same anybody?
So yes, we all are assuming that who looks the same is the same until disproved. Including our cousin and yourself.
If you can *prove* for certain they are not, then I will be interested :)
Like I responded above, that’s a bad analogy due to strength of evidence.
Furthermore, it’s an attempt to shift the burden of proof. I never claimed they were different (rather, I’ve claimed I don’t have sufficient evidence to know whether they were the same or not), others have claimed they are the same.
And you took the only one sentence of my post that was a joke :)
Of course it is, why not?
You are saying we can´t assume they are the same, because they could be not. But there is not a clue about they being NOT the same. You are just saying that it is possible what it is possible.
You are giving nothing, just a tautology, while we at least have that they look alike, which is a fact.
And anyway, take it easy man, don’t you do it too even in real life? :)
The “bad analogy”, however, was meant to refer to the entire post.
Because the burden of proof is on the person who makes a claim as to whether something is true.
Which, in and of itself, is insufficient evidence for the claim that they are the same, as I have pointed out .
You mean I can’t enjoy a good debate? I mean, if I were really serious, I’d point out that that’s an ad hominem tu quoque.
…an ad hominem tu quoque.
Weird, the link keeps disappearing in my browser.
Houston, we have problems (with at least one add-on).
The first one works fine in my browser.
The second one, you must keep the “h t t p : / /” part at the start of the links, otherwise the parser will insert this page link as a prefix.
Oooookey.
The first example is a rubbish example: just because he does something that he says is unhealthy and that the other person shouldn’t do it does not make it a fallacy statement (or whatever it’s called), nor does it make him a hypocrite
If you were attempting to make some other claim using those examples, have no idea what it is
Simply stating “you do it too” does not invalidate an argument. Although I should have made it clearer that I wasn’t being entirely serious.
If you directly compare the two pics (from this issue, and the one that Mekan1k linked) there’s some fairly compelling evidence that they may be different people. The guy depicted in #186 is missing the 2nd and 3rd molar on his upper right jaw (8 teeth visible on lower jaw, 6 on upper counting from the same centerline point). Vehemence has the correct 8 + 8 on the right hand side of his jaw.
‘course it could just be an art error :)
rather he seems to have the right 8+8 on the right hand side of his jaw. He’s certainly got the 8 on the upper
They have the same costume, and face tattoos. As far as superhero comics go, that is proof positive of being the same character. It is always possible for anyone to be a clone, twin, or doppleganger at any given time at the writer’s whim, but it is not remotely reasonable to assume any given character is one by default.
However, “Challenge Accepted” guy not only has larger ears and nose (at least in proportion to the rest of his head), but also, unlike Vehemence, an underbite and dimples. While all those could reasonably explained away due to “the somewhat flexible realm of DaveB’s artwork”, that the former has black eyes rather than the latter’s light blue would require quite a bit more handwaving.`
You can only see the tiny edge of his eye in the Challenge Accepted Pic, because his hat obscures it. Part of the eye would of course be black simply due to natural outlining. I took a screenshot, and zoomed in though, and once zoomed in, you can see that the eye is not purely black, but a dark shade of blue. It probably only looks black because the outline and the light reflecting on it cover up most of what is visible of the eye.
All of the differences between the two images are easily within the bounds of artistic style evolution. Insisting that they are two different characters without any actual evidence that goes beyond minor art nitpicks is ridiculous.
Wild Mass Guess:
Vehemence and Portal are related; see the facial tatoos.
Portal is running around with people Vehemence and/or her family do not approve of.
Vehemence let’s them get stuck in, takes her out to remove their escape route, and then absconds with Portal, leaving TK guy and the rest to the cops.
Neatly getting rid of the problem.
Which would make Vehemence some sort of troubleshooter, and would explain why he was initially watching from the sidelines.
And it would make Portal and her boyfriend criminal!Romeo and Juliet.
Dabbler has similar facial markings when in human form… Your argument is invalid. Or is it?
You may be onto some\hing. This may not even be his final form!
I like this theory the best.
I wonder how Vehemance will weasel his way out of jail time for his vigilante entrance? Somehow I think he may be the instigator of this whole fight, and it wouldnt surprise me if he was really ARC agent/double agent (not sure which branch, probably ARC-dark).
ARC has “forgiven” vigilantism before (heatwave, Mr. Amorphous, Achilles).
But I’m sure he has an agenda and a step-by-step plan of some sort, maybe even a method of escape.
I’m more for the “rival gangs” explanation. Vekter and Vehemence joined forces for this excursion which would explain why Vekter didn’t know who everyone in the villain group was and said “our group” in a previous page. Now… Vehemence took this opportunity to ensure that all of Vekter’s attack group squad was arrested while he probably only brought along his lesser minions (who went down very easily). Since he never took part in the fight and is now actively assisting Archon in taking down a threat he’ll likely be able to walk off scot-free but Vekter is definitely going to the slammer.
Hah :) Add in the marks being gang/tribal/planet belonging signs, and Vehemence being her arranged fiance whom she spurned (*) for an outsider (Vekter) and it will be my own sitcom theory :)
(*) Her big brother she disobeyed, is my second guess.
I am liking this guy more and more :D. Powers seem similar to Stalwert’s: Strong, highly durable, and very hard to move or knock him around. Wonder if he actually works for Deus Ex.
Looking at the roster… Dabbler and others are shown as having no notable appearances yet… This is clearly untrue…
Not to be nit-picky, but Opal’s purple hair braids are gone in the panel where she first goes unconscious (along with her purple face-paint, also missing)
Then the braids are back in the following panel.
Just for consistency’s sake, I know how you like to get them all hammered out before it goes into the final form. :)
oh wait, on third look, that’s heavenly sword in that panel, not Opal… stupid small screen.
nothing to see here, move along, move along…
Does that mean you’ve won no no-prize for that? =OP
By Odin’s beard, I think he does deserve the no-prize for that.
Excelsior!
And you failed to notice Opal’s purple tongue in the 3rd panel?
Even if that was Opal and not Heavenly Sword, it seems awfully strange that you’d notice that and not the fact that Opal was falling backwards and Heavenly Sword is face down, not on her back…
And if you look at panel 6, Opal is on her front
Or that you’d notice that and not that Opal was on pavement and Heavenly is on grass ;)
Or the placement of the arms (Opal is clearly not handcuffed, while HS almost certainly is).
You can actually see them in her left hand. But I thought it would be too much :)
them = handcuffs?
her = HS?
Are you talking about a panel from a previous strip?
I am talking about the same as you. What was you talking about?
And do we really want to know?
did you make Opal’s tongue purple in the third panel? o.O
He has small ears. We all know what that means, right?
That he is not a boxer? Or at least, not a lousy boxer
He needs small earmuffs?
Fedorka is off the Card List!
That name has been striken from approved names.
For now that is.
He may have been finally officially named, doesn’t remove the name he shall be known as :P
Personally I prefer to call him Nice Hat.
Especially to his face. :P
DaveB said that there would be fatalities, looks like panel 4 is it :(
I remember him saying there would be casualties, I don’t remember anything specifically about fatalities.
Oh right, well, still counts (it certainly looks like Fedorka snapped her neck)
Doubt it. Just unconscious I bet. DaveB was talking bout stuff like Heatwave’s toe and Anvil being knocked unconscious. Battle isn’t really the focus of this comic and it seems to be fairly tame. He’d probably save killing a human being for something BIG down the line after much build up and us getting to know that person really well. If portal girl died it wouldn’t have much impact as we have barely gotten a chance to know her.
He seems like a good candidate for having an ulterior motive or seven. Mush like the villains on the Scream series. Come to think of it they were all fairly physically strong too. Hmmmmmm.
Heh this guy. I think he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be a villain. he made a choice, and I think, because he likes Sydney, as she’s one of the good ones, he’s doin’ what he is. Course, I could be waaaaaay off base. :) So let us all wait and see what’s up! *grabs the popcorn and hops back up on her floating cloud and watches eagerly.* Oh BTW, will SOMEONE please find out where the heck Achilles landed? Since we haven’t seen him in awhile, i am worried what that boy is getting up to. SHENANNIGANS!
He is buried under a wall of the restaurant.
Heavenly Sword put him there, the Hex blew up the rest, some of which fell on him also.
They need to dig him out fast. Who knows when they might need him for a fastball special?
Is he playing the fake good guy routine to join Archon and destroy it from within trope?
Or, as Dave likes to destroy some tropes on occasion, maybe he’s trying to get set up as an Archon double-agent in the ranks of villain-hood…but first he has to be subtle about joining Archon. Vekter is the only villain still awake as a witness but will be incarcerated soon.
Or maybe trying to set up as a triple-agent. Of course Harem already has him beat by being able to act as quintuple-agents…
Who knows what tropes lie in the hearts of Grrl Power comic characters?
the halo knows
super idea, the Meme-A-Trope. a villain/hero who can become/follow/copy any meme or trope…of course, that would lead to an ultimate fighting form of Popeye the Sailor Moon….
just forget I said that.
don’t Google it!
Don’t!
(insert maniacal laughter here)
Can I look for it on YouTube instead?
“Ah, Lex Luthor. The plot thins.”
A lot of people have been thinking V is with ARC-Dark.
I disagree, I think he is ex-ARC.
He was there at the beginning but left for reasons dealing with the command structure.
I.E. he was the original field commander until they brought in Max and put her in charge as both a political and PR move.
He showed up at this little event just to tweak Max and to show her she is not all that she has made out to be.
i like your ide. it certainly makes more sense then him being arcdark, seeing how he accepted the ARC challenge, an odd move for a member to do
Seems exactly like what an undercover agent mascarading as an evil villain would do.
I like his ide too, especially since it didn’t come in March. Just wish he just had more of them.
(I’ll be quiet now).
Actually I have posted several ideas.
Tho they may have missed you attention due to a squirrel running by.
He gets ides every month, same as everyone else (most ignore them). Ideas, on the other hand, are a much more rare and valuable commodity.
So he was a part of the old A.R.C. before they added the H.O.N. ? That might be possible though maybe if so its not so much Maxima he is here to show up but instead he is here to show that the old mission impossible/cloak and dagger way of dealing with threats was better than this public policing force? *shrugs*
My gut tells me he is not related to ARC in such a direct manner if at all.
NO, I believe “IF” it is true it would have been when they were trying for an all military unit.
Before Ari and company got involved.
Oh, I didn’t think there was any evidence of such a version of ARC right before Maxima’s group was put together. I thought it was A.R.C. the clandestine organization against unusual threats for decades then this decision to create a new branch from it then Maxima’s team being assembled. But I guess they might not have mentioned it yet. Will be a fun flash back later on if true.
During the press conference Ari said that there is a long history of supers serving the nation, with several panels of “examples”.
So it is not a stretch to infer a previous all military version of ARC.
It says all the supers etc… were gathered from the various government agencies they had been serving in to form the one group called A.R.C. in 1941 “to defend the security of american citizens”. She says, “as of today” A.R.C. is being reorganized in the press conference. Its kind of implied that from 1941 through till a short time before the press conference A.R.C. had been doing its thing in much the same way. Maybe they had an internal policy to mostly recruit from the military at the end? Course they are all military after training now. I could see him being the field commander in the last most recent incarnation of A.R.C.
Since this may be Opal’s last appearance for quite a while, I would like to get a clarification on her chosen nom-de-guerre (as opposed to Dabbler’s squeaky toy which was a nom-nom-nom de guerre).
Everyone else has a name that either describes their powers in some way, or mirrors their emotional or personal philosophy. Aside from that fact that ‘Opal’ can be made from the letters in ‘Portal’ I do not see a relation from her name to her character.
If it is just mixing letters from Portal, she could also have been: Alto, ALPO, Oral, Part, Patrol, Plato, Plot, Polar, Rapt, Taro, Tarp, Trap (and for you Schlock Mercenary fans: LOTA)
Her eyes look opal-ish when she’s using her power?
Not everyone’s name need be a reflection on their powers
Characters from DCUO:
Haasts Harrier (Goofed that, should have been Haasts Eagle): named that because she is from NZ and has wings, but her powers are Ice
Craizee Christall: named because of her real name and her height, plus her skin is crystal, her power is Mental
(Major) Cyana Magnum: an homage to Venus Bluegenes/Rogue Trooper (named after one of the minor side-characters, Major Magnum), her power is Gadgets
Blacquelight: dark-blue skinned alien Yellow Lantern
Issanador Abolchick: she’s an adorable chick, her power is Electric
last one hasn’t been created yet, but she will be modeled after a Cheetah (the animal, didn’t know at the time there is a DC character named Cheetah) and her power will be Sorcery
Maybe she is just an example of the OTHER type of super. The ones smart enough not to announce their power set to anyone who didn’t do their homework. Of course people who hold press conferences showing the bulk of their powers might as well name themselves after their powers…
If I had powers I’d use them to power armor and or weapons and use them to fight with the bulk of the time under a code name that reveals nothing then when someone does their homework and negates my armor and weapons I use my actual power set to fry them so as to keep the secret.
Maybe her name is Opal Jones and she just thinks the whole code name deal is too silly. …
hold up… wha-crack??!!
Did vehemence just break her neck…. with his fingertips??
I mean, i know he’s evil but…..
Dayum.
I’m assuming the “wha” is the sound of his arm striking through the rubble in the telekinetic storm.
The crack is simply an “impact” sound effect.
Yeah, thought that as well, just look at the angle of her neck/head
Last panel – human beings have two (2) premolars per halfjaw.
Maybe he’s not human?
Wow. “Vote incentive” deserves the name.
Date ….. Vot/day (rounded)
09-04 ….. 600 .. ————
09-06 ….. 400 .. ——–
09-07 ….. 200 .. —-
09-08 ….. 500 .. ———-
09-10 ….. 300 .. ——
09-11 ….. 500 .. ———-
09-12 ….. 300 .. ——
09-13 ….. 300 .. ——
09-14 ….. 200 .. —-
09-15 .. 3,300 .. —————————————————————–
Notice that over 200 comic pages in and Sydney is still at day one. This will take years to get to the end of the week!
Unless the next part of the week nothing happens then it will be mostly skipped?
There will most likely be a period of time that will be skipped, but hopefully we will see some of Syd’s training. As it will be hilarious.
Oh yes please!
The comic is about those “in between” hero moments for heroines and DaveB said he liked the training/discovery phase of powers the best so I know it will probably put the fight itself to shame.
WWBMD?
Since she has powers I don’t know if that applies though maybe it should.
What
Would
Bat
Man
Do
Even though she has the powers, she still needs training in how to use them to the best effect.
Also she needs to learn basic law enforcement procedures.
And possibly some military protocols.
Oh and she will possibly give a few classes her self on power stunts and the like.
Is Vehemence really Elan?
Nale, maybe… but not Elan… he’s too buff for a Bard.
PS. and before anybody responds… YES, i know that Nale is Elan’s evil twin and therefore have the same body type… it’s a joke…
Well, I don’t think Vehemence is really Roy; His arms aren’t thin enough.
The Villain Tally Returns!
Reminders:
+ My original post of this list and its subsequent commentary can be found HERE
+ Things that I specifically want verified will be marked with this symbol: *(?)*
+ Suggestions for unnamed bad guys are welcome, but I get the feeling we’ll find out a lot of them soon…
Changelog for V1.10:
+ Active/Defeated status and “last seen” page # as usual
+ Thanks to NotFred for catching some errors in the first appearances of several villains. They have been corrected.
Still Active (In rough order of 1st appearance)
1) “Vehemence” [1st appearance: #186]
——Last seen double-crossing Vekter #249
2) “Vekter” [1st appearance: #204]
——May be Forshadowed Villain #6 *(?)*
——Last seen in #249
———————————————————————————
Out of the Fight (In rough order of presumed defeat)
1) Blue-haired Meat-head [1st appearance: #200]
——Beaten by Anvil in #202
2) Crystal-handed (Apparently naked) Meat-head [1st appearance: #202]
——Backhanded by Maxima in #203
3) “Shadow Boxer” [1st appearance: #205]
——Beaten by Halo in #206
4) Caucasian male wearing black shirt [1st appearance: #206]
——Choked out by Anvil in #206
——may be Defeated Villain 19 below pictured face down in #224 *(?)*
5) Spiky hair with yellow tuft Male [1st appearance: #207]
——Bean-bagged in the face by Shawn in #207
6) “Concretia” [1st appearance: #204]
——Beaten by Math in #209 and shot by Peggy in #216
——Inactive status unconfirmed
7) Female in red costume with gymnastics ribbon [1st appearance: #204]
——Beaten by Achilles (launched by Maxima) in #209
8) Caucasian Male in white tank top [1st appearance: #210]
——Beaten by Math in #210
9) Black Male with fire knuckles [1st appearance: #210]
——Beaten by Math induced friendly fire in #210
10) Laser beam eyes [1st appearance: #204]
——Ameteur dentistry by Math in #211
11) “Lee Press-on Claws” [1st appearance: #204]
——Beaten by Halo in #212
12) Anvil’s 3rd bad guy [1st appearance: #212]
——Only torso with a light blue shirt, and belt in Anvil’s grip shown
——Beaten by Anvil sometime between #206 and #212
13) Male in navy blue shirt with Mohawk [1st appearance: #214]
——Pictured defeated on the restaurant floor in #214
14) Shirtless sweaty Black Male with braided hair [1st appearance: #219]
——Beaten by Heatwave in #219
15) Male in Blue vest [1st appearance: #219]
——Head-gripped by stalwart in #219
16) “Heavenly Sword” [1st appearance: #203]
——Defeated by Dabbler in #223
17) “Silent Shadow/Mach the Knife” [1st appearance: #204]
——Incapacitated by Dabbler in #220 Drugged by Harem in #224
18) Partial shirtless torso and arm wearing black pants [1st appearance: #224] *(?)*
——Pictured defeated face down in the grass in the very bottom corner of #224
19) Caucasian Male wearing black shirt and camo pants[1st appearance: #224] *(?)*
——Pictured defeated face down in the grass in #224
——May be Defeated Villain 4 listed above *(?)*
20) Blond Male in red pants, yellow shirt, with hat [1st appearance: #226]
——Beaten by Mr. Amorphous in #226
21) Laser-burnt male in green Camo skinny jeans [1st appearance: #227]
——Hit by Friendly fire from Hex in #227
22) “Gauntlette” [1st appearance: #204]
——Beaten by Jiggawatt in #228
23) Caucasian Male with dark pony tail and green cloud legs [1st appearance: #228]
——Beaten by Jiggawatt in #228
24) Blond Male in overalls with orange energy lines [1st appearance: #228]
——Beaten by Jiggawatt in #228
25) Pair of legs wearing red pants with black greeves [1st appearance: #228]
——Thrown into the asphalt by Maxima in #228
26) Caucasian male with yellow shirt, green pants and fire hair [1st appearance: #204]
——Beaten by Halo in #229
27) “Hex” [1st appearance: #202]
——Last seen escaping through the bushes in #229
——Inactive status unconfirmed
28) “Boilerplate” [1st appearance: #226]
——Beaten by Maxima in #230
29) “Breakpoint” [1st appearance: #204]
——Beaten by Hiro in #231
30) Giant wearing Orange shorts and glasses [1st appearance: #204]
——Suggested name: “Budget Hulk”
——Beaten by Hiro in #231
31) Blue crystal swordsman [1st appearance: #204]
——Suggested name: ”Blue Ice”
——Beaten by Hiro in #231
32) “Glowbug” [1st appearance: #204]
——Defeated by Dabbler in #235
33) Hairdresser with Zebra Mohawk [1st appearance: #229]
——Suggested name: “The Barberian”
——Surrendered to Dabbler in #235
34) “Jabberwokky” [1st appearance: #213]
——Squished by Vekter in #238
35) “Atomic Bombshell” [1st appearance: #202]
——Defeated by Anvil in #241
36) “For Whom the Death Tolls”/”Death Toll” [1st appearance: #204]
——Defeated by Dabbler, Goose, Maxima and Halo in #247
37) ”Opal” [1st appearance: #204]
——May be Forshadowed Villain #7 *(?)*
——Defeated by Vehemence in #249
———————————————————————————
Foreshadowed (In rough order of 1st appearance)
1) Deus [1st appearance: #130]
2) Vale [1st appearance: #130]
3) Demon Lord (“Screwball”) [1st appearance: #176]
4) Panel 2 [1st appearance: #186]
5) Panel 4 [1st appearance: #186]
6) Panel 5 Foreground [1st appearance: #186]
——This may actually be ”Vekter” *(?)*
7) Panel 5 Background [1st appearance: #186]
——This may actually be “Opal”*(?)*
8) Panel 6 [1st appearance: #186]
——————————————————————————–
Honorable Mentions (In rough order of 1st appearance)
1) That Flying rescue guy! [1st appearance: #7]
——Not a villain, but his TV show was canned before filming.
2) ”The Filmer” [1st appearance: #8]
——Technically a figment of Halo’s imagination, but I desperately want him to be real!
3) Lightning fist bar fight guy [1st appearance: #185]
——Suggested name: “Electric Fohawk”
4) Black construction worker [1st appearance: #185]
——Gave up his life of crime
5) “Nyah Nyah Can’t Hit Me Man.” [1st appearance: #193]
——”He doesn’t actually commit any crimes though, he just shows up during battles and annoys everyone. And I’m this (–] [–) close to making him canon.” –DaveB
6) Panel 5 Foreground [1st appearance: #186]
——This may actually be ”Vekter” *(?)*
7) Panel 5 Background [1st appearance: #186]
——This may actually be “Opal”*(?)*
I don’t think those two are Vekter and Opal, I think they look to much different (Hair style, also Vekter gives a different impression of character like the guy in that panel). Also they showed nothing to use ‘Max’ in any way, like they predicted in that panel?
The braids and general facial shape on the background character in 186 do look like Opal. The foreground character does have the right chin and general overall facial shape to be Vekter, but the hair is a little flat and the dental work is really off.
So, unless the pointy teeth in panel 5 of 186 are a mistake, that’s probably not Vekter.
Well, that page was drawn more than half a year ago, DaveB could have changed his mind about their look. Art is a living thing.
Maybe they were not talking about Max. Maybe a few of the others neither. Maybe none of them at all. Who knows?
Also the game isn’t over yet.
I’m inclined to agree with you kalrakh, but as unmaker pointed out there’s enough there for doubt, so I put “may”
as for using max. they said “this” so my closest guess is that they were going to use Archon to make them famous. that’s the only thing that fits vekter and opal
Am I the only one who thinks Vehemence should now have a Russian accent a la TF2 Heavy? Something about that “Dun Dun Dunnnnnn” just screams ‘Russian accent’ to me.
No his little talk with Sydney shows that he is probably American or has been here long enough to loose any accent he may have had.
Very true. But it could re-surface here. Just for dramatic effect.
Wouldn’t some of those portals overlapping possibly get the unconscious people tangled up? Or possibly bisected?
No, fairly sure each portal is unique and only ports the individual seperately
Several unconscious people are laying across two or three overlapping ovals. However, presumably Opal knows how her power works and is not planning to slice and dice her allies by dropping them through three portals. So maybe they will either open one by one, one on top of another (with blunt edges), or all at once forming one big portal.
Unless she doesn’t know what she’s doing and Vehemence stepped in to save her from making a huge mistake.
It is intentional!! She was planning to link each one to a single arrive portal and merge them all together into a multi-super, omni-powered, creepy-shaped, minded-joined being and use IT to perpetrate the evilest action a badly twisted mind could ever conceive:
** another The Fly sequel **
Vehemence….
Really enjoys doing Vekter & Opel dirt. If he is under orders, he really enjoys his job. More likely it is something personal, tho he may enjoy shafting anybody.
Definitely has an agenda,tho just what remains a guess, and will remain one even after we learn it.
Code of conduct is possible, but don’t rely on it. Sidney is to some extent a kid sister character and even the most vicious evil guy might have nice thoughts towards her.
“Challenge accepted” doesn’t sound good, but there are possible positive meanings.
Is well-known to the attackers, and possibly was the one who organized this attack. Probably not, but… We have a great mass of attackers, and they are not all going to ignore any stranger who might be a target. They knew he was there [probably brought him], and considered him an ally [in potential at least].
Is very unlikely to be associated with the heroes at this time. Later? maybe…
“Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!”
I guess Vehemence is a better name then “Big Mafioso Mother Fucker”
I meant problems as in my browser skips the link altogether and goes straight from the “an” to the period. For some reason, it’s doing the same thing today, even though other links on the page are showing up.
Do you mean your browser do not show the words “ad hominem tu quoque” in your post at all?
At the time, yes. But now they are showing.