Grrl Power #254 – Sydney’s auditing a class at Acme Looniversity
Since the noise Sydney is making is hard to spell, I’ve included an .MP3 of it. The original tongue sound effect was achieved by someone wetting their finger, then popping it out of a bottle, then looping it, so it’s questionable how accurate Sydney’s imitation of it is. Harem has a lot more life experience under her belt than you’d expect for a nineteen year old, but that’s to be expected when you can do two or more things at once from the age of… I don’t recall when I said she first got her powers, I think seven? Anyway, she’s read way more books, had more part time jobs, and definitely watched more TV than almost anyone on the team, (except probably Dabbler or Zeph.) The point being, despite only being nineteen, she knows full well what Sydney is imitating. She just hasn’t quite figured out why. Not that anyone under 20 automatically wouldn’t, but the younger you are, the less chance there is that Lo0ney Tunes was a staple of your childhood. Heck, there are people reading the comic who will be graduating high school this year or next who weren’t even born when Space Jam came out. Yeah, I just made a bunch of people feel old. Myself included.
Anyway, realizing this while I was writing the page, for a split second I considered explaining the joke (for Harem’s benefit), cause as we all know, jokes are funnier when someone explains them to you. Actually, I think some jokes can be funnier when explained, but that’s everything to do with delivery.
You can see a hint of Anvil’s undies on this page, which is intentional but not necessarily intended to be lascivious. It’s more like, there are things that superheroines would have to deal with that superheroes wouldn’t as much (besides being thrown by your hair), for instance, if you’re dragged in to a super throw down when you’re wearing a skirt, there’s a pretty good chance a photo of your panties will wind up online or in a tabloid. Sure, Captain America could get his uniform torn down to just his tighty whities, but it’s much more likely to happen if you’re wearing something flimsy or revealing to begin with. Not that Anvil’s outfit was really revealing at all, but it wasn’t made of kevlar either. I’m setting up for scenes later on where the gals sit around at lunch and commiserate about such things. Of course, drawing Anvil in a battle damaged dress isn’t the worst part of my day or anything, I just don’t want to be too gratuitous about it. :)
Last comic I said that this page was the second half of a double page, which then got rewritten as a double. Here’s the original, which ended with Sydney tricking Vehemence into punching Anvil. It’s not… bad, especially if you imagine it as the second half of the previous page. I like the rebound line, but it sort of felt like it was missing a few panels that explicitly showed Sydney grabbing Anvil and yanking her in front of the punch. The challenge with sequential art is figuring out what you need to show and what you can assume the reader will be able to infer. That’s 101, 102 is concerning yourself with pacing on top of all the 101 stuff. You’d think during action you could cut out more to quicken the pacing, but then OnePunch Man releases an entire chapter that’s just the camera spinning around a character while someone jumps from tree to tree in the background.
Here’s the link to the new comments highlighter for chrome, and the GitHub link which you can use to install on FireFox via Greasemonkey. I’ll make a permanent link for those somewhere on the page eventually.
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Repliying doesn’t seem to work for me today…
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Reminded of an old Garfield favorite:
“Hmm, I can’t shake this feeling I’ve forgotten something…”
Odie lands on him with a WHUMP
“Oh, that’s right. I kicked Odie into next week, last week.”
In their newest combat maneuver, Anvil steps out of the fight for 3.3 seconds while all of Harem braids her hair with lightning speed!
No, that is the Barberarian’s job.
That is greatness
Easily my favorite thing about this whole comic is the tiny splash of white for Halo’s grin in panel 1. She’s already realized what the joke is, and she is Super Stoked to get to execute it.
You mean it’s not because she saw Anvil’s panties?
I didn’t see that before, nice catch!
so in the original draft you liked, I could tell that Sydney grabbed and moved anvil. that said I like Sydney dropping anvil directly onto him from up high way better
LOL! Sydney’s shit eating grin in the second to last panel just absolutely makes this page. God help us if she ever goes evil.
MEEP MEEP! BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
As Zephan put it:
“That’s another one off…THE LIST!”
Just a heads up, Vehemence’s missing tooth switched from his canine to his bicuspid in the 6th panel.
I think it switched from an incisor to a canine, but yeah.
NNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD
Are you spying on me?
No, we leave that to the NSA.
I think the looney toons reference makes me love this comic even more
Yah, Trust Sydney to drop an anvil on someone’s head in their first fight.
I can’t believe I missed that! Anvil . . . >wanders off shaking head<
*KERWINCE* You weren’t the only one that missed it…till now. >.>
and how long was it a begging item to see anvil droped on someone when she was first intro’ed by her code name people missing it is cause for shame.
Truly written. And after all Dave’s hard work. I confess it took reading the comments for me to catch on.
One word: SUH-WEET!
Not only did Sydney demonstrate a long reach with the lighthook, but also gives Vehemence a case of whiplash without even touching HIM to do it. And all it took was dropping a Anvil on his head…Take THAT, Wile E.
black with lace waist, I approve.
and All that kinetic energy that was stored went right through her feet. Further irony is that he was ran Into the road by Anvil.
+1
She had none stored, but she does have now.
but she would have minimized absorption to maximize damage against V or run an immediate dump right back out her feet.
Was just thinking…. what if Mr. V’s power turns pain into power? The more he hurts, the better he gets? Talk about intentional masochism.
Interesting. Adrenaline rush type powers are not uncommon, but endorphin rush sounds new.
….
Can Vehemence control force vector Magnitudes? (The force any force hits with: assuming he can correctly gauge the general magnitude, he can calibrate to counter or apply it. The muscles are for both mental and physical control- but it would mean that his pinky could throw Anvil into orbit potentially.)
This does, however, mean that he is just playing with them…
To me the background lines in panel 6 wouldn’t be there if he weren’t in actual pain. Which basically means unless he’s got regen powers he’d have to be a real moron to keep playing with them at this point.
Check out the character by name of Accelerator https://toarumajutsunoindex.wikia.com/wiki/Accelerator
Pretty much like that, yes. Ideal power for a supervillian if you want flexibility and god-modeing.
unfortunately Accelerator’s power didn’t do much good Vs Tomu(spelling?)
Only because Kamijou specifically negates ALL powers, even ones that would be beneficial to him, like healing, and it’s “always on.”
I’d say the Roadrunner’s post-meep-meep, tongue sound is more of a rapid _thup-thp-thp-thp-thp_.
No everyone can do the proper Roadrunner SFX you know.
Also… Halo’s Molestorb- how quickly can it move?
Because if it can move fast enough, she has the equivalent of a super-punch right there.
I keep thinking that with Vehemence, knowledge is literally power… Or did this get discussed in the comment section forever ago?
His power might be tied to the number of super powered people he is near. Seem very determined to not allow any of his cohorts to leave.
I had this image suddenly pop into my head.
Sydney has suffered a major wardrobe malfunction in front of the a press camera during a fight and is angsting about it appearing in the next days papers. The other ladies ‘console’ her by telling about a few of their incidents. Punch line, Sydney’s picture never shows up, instead a not nearly as revealing picture of one of her much better endowed teammates from the same fight does. Leaving Sydney relieved, and annoyed.
Some Anvil’s need to be dropped!
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped
I laughed.
This needs to be put in their entry for “Anvil on Head”
I think I have a fair understanding of his powers….He was able to take the explosion without flinching, but when launching Anvil into the sky he took damage and lost a tooth.
so hear me out,
I think this guys ability is to “edit his personal stats” kinda similarly to our dear leader.
Lets say there are four stats to be thought about in this; Strength, defense, speed, and reflex and each one starts out with a base of five points… when he took the car hit he dumped all his stats into defense, then shuffled a little into strength for when he retaliated.
Sounds plausible right Dave?
I would say he’s mostly strength (4-5) and defence (4)
Think about it. We have seen him take 3 hits
1st and weakest vektors bitumen storm,did nothing
2nd vektors Cadillac attack, torn his suit.
3rd, stalwarts punch, with the weight of a space shuttle behind it, knocked out a tooth
If he could adjust his stats vektors attacks would not have even torn his suit (he didn’t need the strength against vektors)
He clearly has insane strength (thrown normal human 1170m+(assuming anvils flight is 30s,with very dirty maths) into the air, punch space shuttle a few feet of the ground)
I’m waiting to see what Vehemence’s tattoos mean. Their first boss fight can’t just be a guy who punches stuff hard.
The tattoos may not mean anything. Sometimes its just rule of cool. It’s often not so much what they mean as why they exist. Especially when they seem to be affected by his power. If it was just a cool dragon tattoo on the guy’s back that did nothing, its simply rule of cool. The fact these tattoos do something says they’re intertwined with his powers. They could be some form of nano-tech in his body that releases ‘excess energy’ through those ‘vents'(ie the tattoos) or that its magic, and they ‘react’ to how much power he uses.
They also might not be tattoos.
Vehemence now seems to have a more normal number of teeth
He had to absorb a few for that extra boost!
The speed, strength, and length of the molestrob are all very impressive, but what’s really amazing is Sydney’s accuracy, and I don’t mean the catching-anvil bit, but the throwing-anvil-directly-at-V’s-head-from-hundreds-of-meters-up-in-the-air bit, especially with her eyes so far from the throwing end.
Can sydney “see” through the molstrob? if not, how did she aim?
Maybe she didn’t aim. Instead she thought, “Catch Anvil and throw him straight down on Vehemence’s head.” And the Orb did it.
That makes a lot of sense, actually.
You’d think with the curves on the lady, I’d use the correct pronoun? No, of course not. Anvil is definitely and deliciously female. So she would be dropped.
I spy with my little eye something black and lacy.
Two things here:
1. V isn’t punching Stalwart on the chin. Getting punched in the throat is likely to throw anyone off their game (assuming it doesn’t kill them outright).
2. Given that we have no idea what the upper limit of the orbs’ development will be, I wonder if we’ll ever see the lighthook pull that stunt with no input from Sydney! Think about it.
Not punching him in the throat, but the under-jaw
I’m imagining a scene set sometime in the future, where they’re approaching an operation in an aircraft, and all the flying characters — Maxima and Halo and Hiro and so on — leap out.
And so do Anvil and Achilles. Somebody says, “Hey, you guys can’t fly!” Anvil grins and says, “No, but I can land with the best of them…” and Achilles leers and says “… and I get to land right on top of her!”
Anvil arrives at the operation FULLY charged, and Achilles with a shit-eating grin.
Nah, Les would be aiming to be under Anvil ;)
That would be Math if possible
math wouldn’t commit suicide for a glance and agree les land on top to add charge because being stomped into the ground would be a waste of resources (he’s out of the fight and anvil has less energy to show off with)
As stated “If possible”
My thought is that if Achilles landed on top of Anvil, she’d have a second kinetic source to absorb, giving her double the charge for a single landing.
First impact Anvil hits ground, Second Impact, Achilles hits Anvil. Result: Anvil is very ready to start dishing out some impacts of her own.
Is the fact i am graduating high school this year supposed to mean i haven’t seen space jams?
Yes. So if you have, you must unview it.
Und ve have ze technology to does zat for you. x
“Pulls out a rusty saw and a melon baller”
Your enthusiasm is an inspiration to all… to run much faster and farther. (BEEP-BEEP)
Ve vill find you, und ve vill cure you.
One day
I have an odd feeling that “cure” doesn’t mean quite the same thing to you as it does to pretty much everyone else.
Come into mein in office, und ve vill find out.
Sure, some time around next February 32 maybe.
“Pencils Deof Movestofca in for an appointment”
checks calendar to see warped time occurrence and notes the next feb 32 is a week ago.
That’s why I love time machines.
I get the feeling it’s less that Harem doesn’t know and more of “Okay Sydney you’ve one to far in your stupidity I can’t admit to knowing it.” :p
no she gets the sound reference to roadrunner just not why she did it (daphne missed the bit of codename anvil drop as looney toon event thinking of her teammate as kenya)
V’s new not-so-favorite song:
You dropped Anvil on me, baby,
You dropped Anvil on me
A thing I’ve just understood (or started to think I understand…) : the whiter the ‘speed lines’, the faster the move…and I thought it was just decorative…
oh god, looney tunes. I so HATED that show…
I dont know you but have now lost all respect for you. how can you not love looney tunes?!?!?!?!
Could also be that they’re young enough that they think “Looney Tunes Show” (the new, sitcommy one) instead of the classic shorts.
Brother! That explains it. Rafun, go grab some REAL Looney Tunes on YouTube. Don’t settle for anything earlier that the 1960s and better yet the 40s and 50s.
Thanks for pointing that out. I thought he was talking about a show that ran in the 90’s here. Nothing classic about that one.
could be an age thing, he may have been exposed to them when he was starting to lose the whole sense of wonder thing. Happened to me with the old A-team series with Mr. T. I started wondering why they never hit with those stainless steel M-14 carbines. then I started hating the show with a passion. I felt betrayed.
Actually, they hit quite a lot, cars, tanks, all sorts of vehicles and armor, just not actual people! Which makes their aim truly exceptional. They can take out a charging car, and yet not kill the driver. Or shoot out a guy’s missile launcher without killing him. They are just so good, they don’t actually have to KILL THEIR ENEMIES to win.
and yet they looked like they were playing “Spray and Pray” My grandfather would’ve shot ME if I waved a gun around like that
I hope you weren’t expecting realism from a tv show?
so that’s what the insurgency was using for training films in iraq
Heh i love that crasy ADHD girl XD
Trouble is? Vehemence’s disposition. Right cross and a knocked out tooth? Most folks are done at that point. He smirks back. Might not have an advantage in superpowers, but he does have a disposition advantage (Spiderman is proof of how serious that can be.)
Took me a moment to think about it and I finally got the joke. I really palm to forehead smacked my self hard for not getting it quickly. Love the joke though
Potential comm chatter…
Sydney : I got you Anvil…. Hey you want revenge ?
Anvil : DO I ! AND HOW?
Sydney : One Acme special Anvil drop with spin for face augering coming up !
Anvil (face lighting up and trying not to laugh) : Oh GOD you’re EVIL ! DO IT !!
One of the ways I thought they might end this fight is with a bloodied Math stumbling over towards Max..
‘Dad stop trying to harm my team mates. And I KNOW how much you like analysing for weaknesses.
They are a good team !’
I’m looking at the power levels and so far we have:
1 – ?
2 – ?
3 – Expert Human
4 – ?
5 – Mega
6 – Ultra
7 – Paragon
8 – ?
9 – Penumbrate
I’m wonder if 4 is “Meta” or maybe “Hyper” and 8 is “Exemplar”
1 is likely “Incompetent Human” and 2 is likely “Average Human”
Try 1 is Human, 2 is Skilled Human. Peggy is a 3 for firearms and she threads needles with a .50 cal. Someone like Goose might be a 2. 1 is a recruit who has just had the safety lecture and is about to fire a rifle for the first time. Metahuman for 4 sounds appropriate. For 8 any classy sounding synonym for 7 or 9 would fit.
And this is why I love Sydney! And this comic in general.
Think about this…anvil just landed on vehemence with something approaching terminal velocity…how much kinetic energy did she just absorb from THAT impact? Thank you Sydney. :) This is getting good. :)
GASP! he lost a canine tooth! now he’ll pull the meat out of his sandwiches whenever he takes a bite! unless he eats deviled ham or PBJ’s …Hamburges and cuban sandwiches are dead to him now.
Tossing this out there, was in 2nd grade when Space Jam came out.