Grrl Power #256 – Tactical shift
That was an impressive hit, but if anything Vehemence seems to be picking up steam. I would have liked to soften that up a little by starting with a panel of him reeling a bit from the tumble, or at least Anvil’s chin smash, but that’s not the critical point of the page. The fact that Maxima is finally coming down from on high is.
Getting her face right in the last panel was important. I wanted her to look just the tiniest bit crazy and/or excited. Not steepled fingers crazy, just the realization that she’s going to get to cut lose on someone. Normally panels like that where someone’s wearing a subtle expression take me several tries, but I managed to knock out something pretty close to what I wanted on the first try, (not including the usual juking around the eyes to make them even and stuff like that, so… yay!
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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I think you guys missed the part where V is really M’s ex. Neither one wants to talk about the split, but each is eager to set things straight after the judge screwed them.
may be they need to pay back shylock
I don’t see it, if they did split then maxima would’ve pounded the guy before he finished monologing.
Wouldn’t That be an interesting twist if he was already a member of an organization similar to the one they’re trying to start up here. Hell ARC-black, etc. are still fair game for background.
Are you referring to ARCDark? I was under the impression that was the undercover/spying branch.
He is all “double-crossy” apparently, which can equate to being “double-agenty”.
Fair enough
He seems too knowledgeable and classy for bark-bark. Eh, ARC-dark. (sorry!)
He does have teeth enough for a superpowered bite attack tho…
*bark-bark* This is now how I will be thinking of the branch for all future comics. Much like Meow-meow instead of Mjolnir.
ARC-Bark = K9 unit of ARC, perfect for Yorp?
*sniff sniff*
If you watch where you are sniffing (stay away from flowing skirts slash dresses in particular) they might recruit you :D
….
Put on your sunglasses everyone.
You are about to witness an ungodly level of asskicking.
For which side? For all we know vehemence could have a “vengeance” power that sends every bit of damage he has already had back at maxima. Plus if maxima can max out with speed and STR she can literally end the fight before the next bullet (from the machine gun in panel 3) even hits anything. So it could either drag out into its own 20 comic run of just fighting or it could end in 2 pages
This could get extremely bad for bystanders very quickly… IF he’s tier 9, he and Max can do about as much damage to the area as Godzilla and the kaiju of your choice having a street brawl.
Dave I’ve noticed this a while but I usually thought I accidentally clicked the “Email me when new comments are added to this thread.” checkbox. My mailbox get bombed every time a comment is posted after I post. Could you please check it out?
There should be a unsubscribe link in the E-Mail.
There is but do you realize how many posts occur here and it starts over every time I make a new post.
Of all the comic sites I visit and comment on, Grrlpower tops them all in sheer volume of commentary. (and you got mail… sorry)
Yeah I should be able to unsubscribe you. Send your email to grrlpowercomic@gmail.com so I can uncheck it.
Alright the unsubscribe does work fine with me. It the subscribe itself, I have been extra careful not to check if the box is unchecked because of the traffic volume (which is tribute to to your story) as of late but it’s subscribing any way.
It’s interesting that the sword was able to cut him, but various other things didn’t draw blood. An exploding car, for instance, would theoretically generate a lot shrapnel. Of course it’s a magic sword, so maybe that has something to do with it.
There was a little bleeding when his tooth got knocked out. But it seems to have stopped already. He may have some regenerative or just quick heal power.
It strikes me that he’s only getting hurt by unexpected attacks (Stalwart’s Blindside punch, foot crush,Anvil falling on him,Dabbler’s sword attack from behind) But if he EXPECTS or sees the attack coming (Dabbler’s spell, Vekter’s shield and car throw) Then it’s a No-sell.
That doesn’t account for the shot to the knee. I think he has point resistance to high kinetic attacks. The sword cut would prove this because the intitial strike point my not take damage but the slice has a low impact so has some effect.
Also bravo Peggy on taking the knee shot. there is less likely to be armor there, and it will generally give a non gun armed combatant something else to think about.
Is it just me, or does he get hurt more when he’s taken off guard?
Maybe he’s powered by his own self confidence, like Gladiator from the Shi’ar…
If you can see it you can prepare for it.
Like roll with the blow, block it, evade it…
Yeah, but that doesn’t fully explain HOW he’s preparing for it..
I noticed whoever sniped him was aiming to disable his leg. I bet it was Peggy. Girl’s got incredible aim.
Looks like close range (weapons in the shot) so probably Goose (Doom look alike?) or Shawn (the ex-Seal). Unless they are using the same weapon it looks like Goose’s (blonde special ops/Space Marine!). So when Goose shots someone in the ass do they call it “goosing” the perp?
Doom look alike? IDK where yer getting that from, I’m pretty sure he’s supposed to resemble Duke Nukem, the doom guy doesn’t look anything like that.
That’s why there was a “?” mark after it and I went with a different description on the next one cause I really don’t know much about those references just thought that is how people were describing him…
Some times us fogies forget that there is an entire generation that wasn’t born when Doom and Duke Nukem was the big names in gaming. The last DN game was actually released in 2011, but didn’t get much of a following, so when DN is mentioned most often it is in reference to Duke Nukem 3D which was released in 1996.
So though a lot old timers, like me, want to think DN is and icon that everyone recognizes, there’s a whole lot of people to whom that’s just a name that geriatrics likes to mention for some obscure reason.
Nope, I’m that old but its a game that had no interest for me at all and I come from a VERY rural community which at that time wasn’t full of gamers who would keep me informed by force of games I didn’t personally care about. And I was born with a so so memory so will eventually forget, or at least make fuzzy, EVERYTHING that wasn’t important to me personally. *shrugs*
But the names I’ve heard enough through out the decades to remember. Just not the details of what they were attached to. Hence the garbled reference to a reference. I don’t remember care models from back then either… I do remember that pop in glass bottles was so extremely yummy and full of bubbles and so I am extremely aware that pop in plastic bottles, which is most of what they have now, is like they have stolen half your flavor and fizz from you!! I remember when the bathrooms in all parks, even in town, were like just hole in the ground outhouses and you had to worry about snakes and wasps and stuff attacking your bum! Now you youngsters get FLUSHING TOILETS AND SHOWERS OMG YOU SPOILED BUGGERS!!! Roughing it my arse….
Hmm, let’s give him what he has wanted all along…
Seriously, he first said that he invited all of the typical foes of ARC in order to see them win against them. Then, when he was rejected, he said he just liked to fight.
He has wanted to be set against Maxima all along. Perhaps giving him this is a fail on the part of the heroes, regardless of his ultimate goals.
Perhaps, but it still seems like the best option considering the circumstances.
Possibly. But just because its what the bad guy wants too, doesn’t necessarily make it a bad idea.
As an alternate tactic, I’d be interested in seeing if Syndey can project her forcefield outside of herself. Put the baddie in an unbreakable dome till he passes out from lack of oxygen.
I’m wondering when Sydney will try using the molestorb to just hoist Vehemence into the air and hold him there. It doesn’t seem like he’d be able to do much, unless he’s got some powers he’s holding back (which is entirely possible). The only issue is that we don’t actually know how strong the molestorb’s tentacle is—he might be able to just rip it off of himself, or even rip it apart.
“just hoist Vehemence into the air and hold him there”
Shhe… Don’t bother trying to suggest actually effective maneuvers against V which would negate all of his strength. That’s been tried by many people already, it’s not going to work. Hoisting him by an ankle with the Lighthook might end this more prematurely than the author intends, despite any logic concerning the use of members of ARC superpowers.
We do not know if the lighthook can be broken and what effect that could have on the orb and/or user.
Also we only know the strenght is enough to lift a car. So we have no idea if vehemence might be too heavy to lift. After all he did not get knocked back by a hit from Stalwart, so we can asume he has at least some power to stabilise himself.
The lighthook has the lift/carry capacity of a pern dragon, it can carry as much as it (or Sydney) thinks it can carry
Or Dave just decided that Sydney just lassoing vehemence and ending the fight wouldn’t be as entertaining as watching the “titan” of each side duke it out in a glorious display of explosions and violence!
I’m willing to see Sydney attempt something with the hentacle just to satisfy the people constantly suggesting this idea.
everyone seems to think hentacle is about tenticle monsters, squid, octipi (octipi? that cant be right) and tentacoo wape (and to a certain expent their right), but here some bits you dont see
https://www.ghastlycomic.com/comics/20010510.jpg
https://sexylosers.com/comics/sl016.gif
One reason why it might seem not to be right is because it’s octopus, the plural of which is octopi. =OP
Well, he was wondering about it.
Oh, and the ghastly comic link isn’t working (at least not for me) because the site treats it like hotlinking. Just replace the .jpg with html and https://www.ghastlycomic.com/d/20010510.html works.
One more thing, you might want to warn people when providing links that are NSFW.
My left eyebrow is twitching again.
Sounds like a medical condition. You might want to see a doctor (or psychiatrist) about that. =OP
“Opens door”
Please come in.
ok sorry
One of the selling points of this strip is how it negates and dismisses the fallacies of various other comics (launching fire or other similar projectiles at enemies near occupied buildings or civilians when innocent bystanders could be hit; believing that aliens would attack Earth for its water when there are plenty of unguarded, water-bearing asteroids in space; using lethal force to take down an enemy when a mere disabling punch, kick or tap would do the trick, etc.) So why would the creator give us a potentially time-consuming, casualty-producing, knock-down, drag-out fight when Sydney could take this guy down by surrounding him with a forcefield until he loses consciousness? Let’s see if that happens before Maxima decides to raze the place.
And again… There has been no indication given in the comic that Sydney can form the shield around someone or something else without being in it herself! Read it from the beginning again if you doubt me.
Imprisoning herself with V in a small bubble does not seem like a good idea at the moment. Even if he would turn out to be rather decent and try to keep from killing her he would still be able to knock her out with a light tap. And if that didn’t disrupt the shield I don’t doubt he’d try some thing else, and might end up killing her. In the end it’s highly likely he’d be free, Syd possibly dead and all she’d achieved would be to keep him out of the fight for what, a minute or two?
Of course, if Vehemence has super-speed, he hasn’t shown it until now. Plenty of non-speedsters have reacted to him–I mean, Sydney did say “He’s fast!” but that doesn’t necessarily equate to super-fast, otherwise most of these people probably wouldn’t have landed any hits at all.
So given that Maxima’s base speed is bullet-time…Vehemence is probably screwed against her.
Unless, of course, he does have super-speed and just hasn’t been using it yet. Which would be kind of in-character, though he has taken some significant injuries (tooth knocked out, Dabbler’s sword drew blood) that it would have been handy to be able to avoid, so who knows.
He could have “super speed”, yet still not be a classic Flash/Quicksilver-type “speedster” as long as his top speed is faster than what could be achieved by unaugmented human ability.
I have a feeling things are gonna go crazy.
Max looks like that one Superman video when he got to beat the hell out of Darkseid. He was able to let it all hang out because as Supes said, “You can take it, can’t you?”
Looks like Max is about to Go Full Power. And she’ll most likely really enjoy it, since she needs to keep it damped down for safety.
I like Vehemence. I sort of wish he was auditioning for the team!
This is his audition
Two words for Vehemence–“uh” and “oh!”
This seems very similar to The Glasses Come Off except that Maxima’s glasses do not qualify as Nerd Glasses. :)
is it time? its time!: https://www.myinstants.com/instant/yeah/
Yeah, it looks like Vehemence is pushing a button that Maxima LIKES to have pushed…No small trick for *any* guy.
Dam.. i really loved both the action and the banter in this comic, the “buzz off red, let others have a chance to play” part were priceless.
And im also dam glad Sydney did not get a chance to ruin things here, she were rather annoying in the last couple pf comics.
I love the headphones comment, and I want some of those headphones.
Yay! Even number :)
Ok, I CANT WAIT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
Dave, you’re good, you know?
Not a criticism, but is supposed to be buzz off? Because it says buzz of :P
Re-fresh your cache, he has fixed it
I sure wish I could “refresh” my cash.
That’s easy…Just walk into a bank. When you reach one of the tellers, open your wallet & just say, “Fill ‘er up.”
Be warned though, if you don’t have an account or fill out a withdrawl slip with reference to your account, walking OUT of the bank might be problematic.
Okay, so Dabbler’s sword cut him, and remember when Dabbler was disarmed and her sword flew off to stick in the tree right in front of him? He seemed very nervous at that point (no pun intended). Could it be that he has a particular vulnerability to magic? Just spitballing.
The technical terms he’s throwing around suggest he’s magically inclined.
So does his glow-tattoo, for that matter.
Given that the other hit to show clear damage wasn’t magic (Stalwart punching him) I’m more inclined to believe the theory of “baseline defense, can buff with focused attention.”
Though even that…I’d expect him to have taken more damage from the falling Anvil, given how he really didn’t see it coming.
You mean like Maxima, but restricted to defence?
That’s an interesting theory. Maybe he’s like a Maxima 2.0… more human-looking than Maxima 1.0, but more vulnerable (or vice-versa: Max could be the “improved” version). Maxima does state previously that because supers tend to look like idealised humans that the possibility of artificial creation has not been ruled out.
Has anyone else been having difficulty navigating the site on their phone? Every time I try to visit it on my S3 it crashes :(
Villains of this calibur of durability and offensive capability typically don’t care if anybody knows they exist. They walk right into banks, and walk out with the vault. Vehemence was laying low for far too long to be a typical villain… He has some kind of agenda that we’re not going to find out about for another few years, at the conclusion of the second day…
Either that or his power has a weakness that prevents him from using his power frequently…
You mean like a time limit? That would work with the whole ‘let the mook brigade go first’ plan he seemed to be working with. They weed out anyone not up to snuff so that he isn’t wasting time on the weaker members.
enhanced battle power mixed in with combat resistance or power word “defender” perhaps he is a empowered soul and his secret he holds would be he cant defend against non-direct attacks or attacks that are accidental. possibly hes’ un-killable till tom dick and Janice accidently run him over, because they did not OBSERVE him existing, there for his powers ( which have to be seen to work) to take affect (effect?) cannot..
I get the feeling that Vehemence is having a whole lot of fun.
Methinks he might end up in orbit. Although XKCD type calculations would probably indicate that the shock wave shold kill most individuals in the business park (or rubble anyhow), who were not behind a Mark V Force field!
Easy to fix by doing a flying launch instead of trying to one-punch him. There will still be a sonic boom, but a mile or so up instead of at ground level in the parking lot.
Or you do a series of punches, following him on his path and increasing strength each time until you’ve built enough velocity for him to reach orbit or beyond.
Just don’t do the single punch launch unless you’re in the middle of a desert or ocean.
He’s kind of reminding me of rekoom. The way he’s this big bulky guy who just stands around taking it for a while before he does something, and one of them being for his teeth to be knocked out.
Also, one of his powers is apparently to not have a belly button. That’s the most powerful power of all.
Wow, I is powerful! Does having an artificial one lessen the power? I try to blend in with society, you see. So that folks will not suspect me.
Neither do Maxima (panel 5 or Stalwart (panels 4 and 7. I think DaveB either doesn’t like drawing belly buttons or thinks they’re too far away for belly buttons to be visible. Another couple of options: they wear their pants really high (above the belly button) or they’re so ripped that their belly buttons are inside the folds of their abdominal muscles.
Before anyone else mentions it, there should be a closing parenthesis after the “7”.
and no second opening parenthesis before panels 4
Actually, it should be “Neither do Maxima (panel 5) nor Stalwart (panels 4 and 7)….” IOW, the second opening parenthesis before “panels 4” was correct, but I also forgot a closing parenthesis after “panel 5” and “or” should be “nor”.
The parenthesi are out to get me today. It’s a conspiracy, I tell ya.
either that, or you’d actually put them in, but were attacked by a parenthesikinesthitist
…
okay, that’s gonna be a tough one to say, even just mentally….
‘someone who can move parentheses with their mind’
…Or maybe it’s dyslexia?
Maybe it’s like the women’s clothing that was worn during the 1960’s & 70’s…Network censors didn’t allow any kind of costume or clothing on women that would show their belly buttons. A few rare instances occurred that got past the censors though, like when Barbara Eden (I Dream of Jeannie) would put her hands on her hips & push down a bit to expose hers.
Yeah, you CAN find it, if you really want to…
First the hat, then the shirt and coat, and now the pants. Clearly a sad day for haberdashery.
And soon his tighty whities just for you.
*retch*
Chaos, Puking, and Disorder, my work here is done.
Your work on the GUYS here may be done, but female readers might actually enjoy more beefcake.
No, no, I insist. You can have them.
That got me thinking, about his *equipment* so to speak.
If it’s as ridiculously proportioned as the rest of his body it’s not going to be much fun (unless Mr Amorphous has siblings), and if it’s of a more practical size it’s going to look a tad small.
Don’t worry, he went commando today ;)
I really, really don’t want to know how you know that. =OP
Guess is the towel boy in the villains club men’s shower room.
And I hear he gets “tipped” regularly.
/*covers ears la, la. la, I can’t hear you!
Ok so the neck pieces that have there insignias on them, Dabbler shows XXXX is that causes she’s a step beyond regular porn?
Of course it is. Regular porn only goes to ten, which happens to be Dabbs lowest setting…
Yeah, I caught that early in the comic but didn’t want to bring that “up” for discussion…
Where as everyone else has there first initial of the superhero name on there neck/mic piece.
(Just dawned on me so I went back for the last 100 pages and made sure.)
I saw this comic, and I’m thinking…
PATA PATA PATA PON.
So Gladiator of the Shi’ar is powered by his own self-confidence? I didn’t know that… The further he gets up his own ass, the stronger he gets? So, when he says things like, “I only use organically grown mohawk gel made before 1973” or “My new car is so sick, it does 0-60 in nothing flat” he gets stronger? What if he says “Why can’t I get a date?” Would his powers disappear?
You are confusing self confidence, “I know I can do this action very well!” with smug (irritatingly self satisfied), “I performed that action better than every one else yesterday.” If he was powered by smug then he would probably power up by sniffing his own farts and declaring how wonderful they smelled. ;D
Then he would move to San Francisco.
After Gladiator lifted the entire Baxter Building off its foundation (without it immediately collpasing into rubble), Reed Richards figured it out & arranged a way to make Gladiator lose confidence in his own strength. Gladiator was *severely* weakened as a result: that was the first comic I’d read where the concept of “Tactile Telekinesis” was addressed.
waiting for sydney to “wrap up” the situation in 10 pages… 9… 8…
*Grins and cracks fingers in anticipation*
AH!… But are they at Maximum Steepleage yet?…
Hers are at Maxima steeplege.
Ba-Dum…Tsh!
He’s using the thaum as a unit of magic! *Squeeeeeee!*
no, he’s using it as the noun that is getting acted upon, not as a unit of measurement… it’s like him saying that the water (thaumion) that you are trying to knock him over with is “just” at garden hose level… the water pressure (the excitation thereof ) needs to be pumped up to “fire-hose” level before it affects him.
I think panel four would be one of the most confusing ever for a non native english speaker.
And we are still at #3 and slipping fast.
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Thank you.
Grrl Power should get a banner. There is no reason not to have it.
Next episode: Maxima demonstrates Krav Maga and turns Vehemence into Dr. V.
lol, I loved the spellwords.
um, but- you do know that “Chutzpah” is actually a hebrew word that has roots in Yiddish, that means “spunk” or “cheekiness” “nerve” or any other word describing mouthing off to someone or being uncivil to them. right? (sorry, he suddenly gained a hebrew accent in my head, so I had to point that out XD )
Hmm, Vehemence..
-heads to Dictionary.com-
noun
1.
the quality of being vehement; ardor; fervor.
2.
vigorous impetuosity; fury:
Yeah, sounds kinda Hulk like, with the possibility of maybe he just get’s stronger the more excited rather than angry he get. Time will tell.
Also, speaking of three magnitudes more, it terrifies me that if this page (https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1189) is a general gauge of the ascending order of Boss Villains, that Giant Demon Lord fellow is three magnitudes below someone wearing a mask with bunnies, hearts and diamonds on it. Yes there is a shark also, but still!