Grrl Power #261 – Pylondriver
Hopefully you guys aren’t getting bored with Maxima whipping this guy like he’s heavy cream. As usual, this is just how the fight went down in my head, but it’s also part of the reason I’ve been doing so many double pages lately. Not that this page really counts as a double, I just wanted to draw that big ass panel of Max using that overpass column like a pestle on Vehemence. Still, gotta keep the story moving. It makes for a lot of nights drawing into the wee hours, but it’s worth it. It does mean I didn’t get a chance to do a mini comic below this page, something to the tune of Sydney staring wide eyed at the carnage and leaning over to Harem, telling her to remind her never to get into a fight with Maxima or something of that nature.
You can tell by now that one of Maxima’s official unofficial powers is dramatic face shadowing, which is harder for her to pull off than for instance Alucard, since his face isn’t metallic and reflective. Luckily unofficial powers are much cheaper. Of course when the RPG system she’s built in allows for it, I like to give Maxima some sort of presence or intimidation attack, similar to a dragon’s fear aura, but really just based on her reputation for being a real bonebreaker in a fight.
Here’s the link to the new comments highlighter for chrome which I can’t live without anymore, and the GitHub link which you can use to install on FireFox via Greasemonkey.
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Vehemence must feel like a serious dissapointment. The man is getting crushed right now.
but on the bright side…he’s now a pillar of the community.
This comment just killed me!
Ionic, isn’t it?
For some reason this spelling error erks me more than my cat cutting my arm open.
Deof is just trying to clear the air. :-)
I do believe, in this instance, the word “ionic” is totally appropriate. Google it and you’ll see the intended pun…
Your mandatory ‘spelling-error-in-a-spelling-complaint-post’: irks.
Spelling error?!? I will not stand for such column-y against my orthography!
Irked is spelled with an “i.”
So he meant his spelling error irked him?
:confused:
Ionic is right, as I’m sure you now know, having researched the reference and acknowledged the intellectual power of the originator..
I is so smart that in my spare time I compose sonnets in ionic pent-up matter.
Ow… just… ow… :)
I aim to please.
He even writes in that method for the church choir as part of Mass…
Effect?
No, Boston.
Hurr, hurr, gasp!
More like, he’s now part of the firm foundation of the city.
It’s his own fault. He attacked Maxima. What a doric.
Well, it’s his own fault for arranging this little super-brawl in the first place. The way he’s getting pounded, they’ll have to relocate the new road construction because it’s V’s fault for the new geological fault created here…
His role was fairly uncertain at the beginning, but it’s now more concrete.
Yeah, but I’m kinda wondering if he’s going to have a turn around, by one means or another. Still, totally going to get a beat down either way.
OK, still fun but one more like this would be starting to edge towards boring. No counterattacks, either actual attacks or some kind of banter that strikes home, is like no conflict and that is juuust starting to get boring for the reader. Unless it was played for comedy or something or V gets a decent counterattack of some kind soon I can’t see much fun in going on like this much farther.
IF V does change it around soon then this will probably seem like great pacing when reading the archives.
Not much else to say but thanks for the timely delivered content. :)
I think this is just past their opening exchange. Unlike supers in the DC/Marvel universe, we are seeing people bleed, lose teeth, break bones, etc. I don’t think V is out. After all, Max told Halo something like “don’t hit someone with a car. If you are strong enough to pick one up, then you can hit harder than it can.” Hitting him with a stone pillar isn’t going to stop him (he was, after all, hit with a car, engine block and all). I think he’s going to get up and its going to be more serious from here.
Sounds good for the future then. :)
Not feeling much of an “exchange” just yet though. He only hurt her so far because she basically stood there and took it in a pissing contest sort of way. But yes I’ve always felt if he continues to simply get up whenever the action slows then the possibility always exists for him to try something or show another side of his abilities. It will probably all feel much better when read as an long archive dive.
Truthfully I want Vehemence to break a couple of her bones before loosing the fight, as Maxima is becoming a rather boring character if she ends the boss of the fight like this. Dave, I would like you to take note that while fights can be quite exciting, Having someone beat someone else into a pulp is not an entertaining media for the masses. The Internet would be quite different if that was the case.
Give Vehemence a reason to have his buildup.
As long as it’s not a “This isn’t even my final form” sort of thing, I agree.
of course this isn’t his final form. those lines aren’t glowing yet
Well. She did say he broke her nose.
“…Having someone beat someone else into a pulp is not an entertaining media for the masses.”
Tell that to the people who like to watch boxing matches or other such “fighting sports.”
in those cases, however, you generally have both sides standing a chance of winning and being in the fight, or at least putting up some resistance. this… isn’t, if it continues like this, theres no suspense that Max has won, so its just dragging something out
and when one is totally outmatched, they generally last one exchange, not a couple
The big difference between this fight & a boxing match is that neither combatant really has a trainer or manager in the corner to “throw in the towel” when it’s obvious that one fighter is seriously out-matched. I have to give V credit for wanting to try continuing this “match,” but it’s on his own head to surrender…Before he loses his head altogether.
It might be more entertaining if I was more invested in Vehemence and want him to succeed but I don’t. Right now he is just an obstacle for Maxima. If he turns out to be a decent obstacle then there is something for Maxima to overcome and maybe a little baby conflict/drama can be created making this interesting to read a story. IF he doesn’t then I go with what you said and its time to move on soon. But if I was reading this as an archive dive its really only been a few posts so I’ll live for a while longer before making that call for myself. Maxima deserves a little time to show off as the big power of the series I guess….
In literature of any kind, any one who has a serious threat needs to be established as a player in the story… not just a random walk-on. We haven’t had anywhere near enough build up for Vehemence to be that kind of threat. He came in and proved to be a bigger threat than expected sure… but his intentions remain unknown.
Bigger threat than expected or not, Vehemance is still just a random dude that walked up to the gang and picked a fight and for Vehemance to be a serious threat would undermine the the teams credibility quite a bit.
I’d say that he’s had the buildup. He’s had…what? 20 pages? (Guesstimate, not going back to count.) He beat the crap out of Anvil, lifted Stalwart(*) despite him weighing the same as the space shuttle. He’s established his bona fides as a badass, now he needs to deliver on the promise…which he is epically failing to do.
I really want to see him stand up, say “That all you got?”, and use the pylon like a baseball bat to piledrive (pylondrive?) Maxima into the ground. Whereupon he proceeds to beat the crap out of her for a while until she heroically rallies (perhaps with some help from the team) and turns it around…at which point he escapes, swearing eternal vengeance, and becomes a recurring boss villain.
But yes, I’m onboard with everyone else: watching a curbstomp battle is only fun if the viewer has already got a serious mad-on for the one being stomped. We don’t have any reason to dislike V at this point, so any more of this is going to get pretty old.
(*) Was it Stalwart or Hiro? I can’t really tell them apart.
Wart is either bald or seriously close-cropped hair, Hiro has a a full head
Leave it to Maxima to redefine “having a crush on someone”….
I think the only way Vehemence is going to get out of this fight is to dig a deeper hole than the one he already dug to get *into* this fight. I mean that literally, as in digging down deeper than the hole Max just pylon-drove him into until he reaches the sewers…
Dear god tap out man
Remember………Jesus didn’t tap out and nothing bad came out of that did it? :p
Well sure, when you know the code for unlimited lives…
One of the most long-running tropes in comics is that there are very few special exceptions who DON’T have a means of “respawning” in a safe zone…
I guess I only read those webcomics if it is a natural part of the world like Order of the Stick. Otherwise no death webcomics sounds pretty boring. If you’re talking about non-webcomics I don’t read those unless someone puts them in my hand (which does happen… ).
He could have a power similar to Goku from DBZ. When he takes a massive beating that brings him near death but doesn’t kill him he recovers with much greater power than he previously had, kind of a form of adaptation. That would explain why he wants more powerful people to attack him.
Yeah, but watching Goku get pounded was slightly more involving since we were invested in what he and his were trying to accomplish save (still got kind of silly long sometimes but that’s DBZ for ya). All V is gonna loose as far as we know is his pride and rep. This doesn’t hold my interest through a multi-page curbstomping (as more and more of the fans are calling it). If he adapts IMMEDIATELY after the curb stomping then maybe even on more page of beatings could be completely redeemed though.
By the way DaveB, if your reading this, not bored yet. These statements of mine are for if this type of post continues for a while without being “redeemed” by some sort of continuance of conflict. (and I suspect you have something planned cause its been a fun ride so far)
Unless he’s going to go out Obi Wan Kenobi style “I will become more powerful than you can ever imagine”. Then haunt Max intermittently at bad times. :P
A ghost? I guess if bugging other villains with sometimes unwanted/solicited advice is his idea of “more powerful”… yeah actually I could see that being a real pain, not worth dying for, but telling every bad guy that comes along all of Maxi’s weaknesses and even emotional insecurities might be fun. Who knows how much dirt he could get before Dabbler and the Magic Crew exorcise him from the base and Max’s house!
V: *said to villain of the week* “She can shift her powers around to adjust to your powers and fighting style. Also she loves ponies, nature hikes and has started and deleted a profile on Match.com several times since I died… months ago…”
Maxima: “SHUT UP!” *array of gold beams fires all around making obscuring noise and dust*
*as the noise settles down a little* V: “She didn’t wash the bra she is wearing now from the other night because she thinks it will wear her expensive bras out earlier and also – she’s lazy.”
* entire area is Dragon Slav’d * (or whatever her Explody/Implody/Explody attack is called)
*actual tumble weed rolls by empty bowl like site of the “fight”*
V: “Well, that was kind of childish.”
Maxima: AaaaAAAaaaaAAAAAARGH!!!!!!
…
Bring back Nya Nya Cant Hit Me Man… as superhero Paparatzi. He’s not a ghost, but he might as well be.
He’d be an excellent choice to be working for the press, recording all of those major battles.
“This is Nyah-Nyah Man reporting for News Channel 5; going where no other reporter can dare go to bring you the news. Live & IN YOUR FACE!”
Nyah-Nyah Man’s paid gig is that he is… The Filmer!
Suzi News: “Oh you didnt… Driver! Get us closer!”
“Lady, I don’t get paid enough to drive you into a war zone…And they won’t pay me extra hazard bonuses either. You wanna get closer, you can walk.”
Heh… I can totally see the bra line being true. Everybody knows there isn’t much of a point in wearing one of your nice bras to exercise in. And with a rack like that, her bras would be hideously expensive.
Goku is a little weird anyway. Every single in-movie not anime series villain he faced after his initial Super Saiyan boost required everyone including Vegeta to lend their power to him
Yeah its that whole “Precious Comrades” thing the Japanese like to push on their kids. How everybody in the team is super important to the team leader. Sometimes just emotionally but in the better shows they actually like help set things up or something. Naruto being the most obvious about it but also one of the better at occasionally making me believe it.
That fits perfectly. I thought it was just a sence of pride, or maybe a wish to look impressive, when he kept encouraging the team to pile on, how he waited until he was the only target left, how he got super excited when his “haymaker” did nothing more than give Max a bloody nose. But if he gains power re more he gets beat, it fits perfectly.
On a side note, just saw Patreon pic Sydney-05 …
“What was that? This is not a shawade. We need total concentwation.
Now try that again. This time … with feewing.”
I love it
Hate to say it but this gas all gone on far too long, and far too many previously unseen elements introduced …. when you have no real idea what comes next, it’s hard to keep up interest
So… how did you first start reading comic books. Was everything clearcut from the first issue in a series?
I have two rules when it comes to fighting: hit them first, and don’t stop hitting.
Maxima failed at the first rule, but she’s following the second rule like it’s her religion! :D
That’s because that is her true nature
I am quite happy with the current turn of events.
It was time we have finally seen what can Max do in an actual fight.
Also, when you introduce an immensely powerful character, then let her be an immensely powerful character. Let her steamroll almost everyone, even those who steamroll others. Don’t use her exclusively to demonstrate how powerful some other guy is ( a.k.a. Worf Effect).
In other words, let her wipe the flor with V and call it a day.
There will be plenty of opportunities to push her to the edge in the future.
Of course there is the problem of keeping her from solving every problem by herself in a minute, but we have already seen she is more than willing to let others work unless her intervention becomes absolutely necessary.
Given the powers she’s already shown, the entire fight so far has been a little pointless. Everyone else on the team is basically irrelevant — Max could have mopped up all of the baddies we’ve seen in this battle single handed, probably faster than the team was able to do it.
The only way I can explain why the team exists is:
1) It’s a way for the government to keep mostly-good-aligned supers busy and under control instead of wandering around doing whatever they want.
2) By having an entire team ArcSwat can cover multiple threat locations at once.
Which implies that the reason this battle has gone the way it has is because Max is letting everyone else gain some XP instead of just dealing with the issues herself.
its about threat types and minimum force. you don’t use a mini-gun to deal with bank robbers.
Your reason #2 is the main thing that has been said by DaveB in the comments. They are a team to help in different locations and won’t always be together. Just because the baddies got to them while at a dinner celebrating the conference, doesn’t mean they will always be in the same place together.
Of course she was able to wipe all the baddies by herself. ( well, maybe aside from Death Toll. We still have no clue how would that one work out )
It was quite obvious she was hanging back with the purpose to build up her team’s teamwork, skills and confidence. That was what any good commander would have done. It’s not like she would be on duty 24/7, responding to every single low to mid-level threat that pops up all over the world.
I wouldn’t say this fight is pointless at all. As i said, until this point we haven’t seen Max in an actual fight. Seeing her blast inanimate objects, brag about her power and demonstrate other abilities under relaxed, controled circumstances gave absolutely no indication of how would she act against a powerful living target and what her combat skills really are.
Now we know, and so does everyone else.
This is the good example of “show, don’t tell”.
I considered all the second-hand info we got about her meaningless until we have seen it in action.
hmmm… it makes me wonder though… he hasn’t displayed any power directly relating to the tattoo-markings (though i guess that might not matter)…what if vehemence is a cookie-cutter super? like, all the power he has right now was given to him by a different super via the marks? like “i made one guy have powers and it took maxima to take him down” ?
The likelihood is the markings are what make V so strong and tough. That’s all he’s got and it is nowhere near enough for the task at hand. He loses and flees/escapes. Some time later V shows up with a more intricate pattern carved into him. V vs. M FIGHT!
So far I am happy enough. I find myself hoping V lives through this, he seems somewhat interesting. There are story arguments for having him pull a comeback off, but it can work either way. Maxima is something along the lines of this world’s Superman, though without his sometimes excessive “niceness”. It probably SHOULD take something really special to seriously challenge her.
Now, if she can curbstomp anyone, that is a bit excessive.
BTW, I followed the link someone posted to “The Fall of Doc Future”. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I can’t give it an A+, but probably an A- yes.
That grin as she slams the column down is terrifying. If the news cameras caught that, future foes will need brown pants, as soon as they see her grin, they’ll have problems…
…If they weren’t wearing brown pants before, they *will* be brown after they face off with Maxima…
I still need to know the -why- … V said he’d gathered them all here..but is it true? and was it all just so he could enjoy a really good fight? I can see a super who’s into that kind of thing being that … stupid? …self obsessed? …nuts?
But how did he do it? Does V have a manipulative side? I’m not sure I buy that from a guy who apparently lived for super brawls… its not exactly ringing my “There’s mischief afoot!”bell…. but the puzzle pieces just don’t fit… yet (hopefully they’ll all fit at a later date)
Hmm. Maxima said something about if you can lift stuff you caqn probably hit harder than that stuff with your power so don’t do that.
Yeah, though you would think at a certain size of item she would start getting a decent extra umpf from the added mass… If she adds some of her field to items she picks up to give them enough integrity so that she can pick them up in one piece maybe her power allows her to fudge that rule of thumb she gave Sydney a little. I mean her fist is still harder but with her “whatever field” added to it for integrity maybe that pylon hits a lot harder than it should?? Then add in the extra mass and the fact he doesn’t get a chance to grapple her when being hit by a pylon as opposed to her fist (allowing her to back off speed and focus more into strength?) maybe this tactic has value as a “safer” way to wear down a really tough opponent.
You’re thinking of the ‘Zero Point Telekinesis’ that allows objects to retain their integrity even when they’re being lifted by points – i.e. her fists – that would normally be too small to support them. Your theory is valid in that respect.
However, speed does need to be factored in when determining how hard something hits, meaning she could still hit someone extremely hard by putting a lot into speed and then going all out on impact velocity (provided she had enough into armour to take the reactive energy herself, and flight to avoid just pinging away).
So the extra “reinforced” mass she is swinging allows her to keep her speed up but still hit as hard? I guess that makes for a reason to use it plus keeping a healthy distance from V. (balancing all those powers out during an ongoing fight must have been a real pain to learn. Would love to see some flash backs about that some day.)
Anyway the original poster was worried about the speech she gave to Sydney and the Zero Point thing makes her power perhaps more than a bit different then Sydney’s “strength” so she can ignore her own speech in certain circumstances she has worked out through experience.
well, Sydney’s strength revolves entirely around the Lighthook, which in itself is a strong appendage. Thus the sum of its strength is its own force. Maxima’s strength is an application of ‘power’, which is dictated by different rules. Lighthook is just Lighthook, whereas Maxima’s Strength includes the ZPT to maintain the integrity of whatever she’s using it on…unless that happens to be Vehemence, of course.
As for her balancing, Maxima was a soldier remember, and she’s been forced to adapt to situations as well as leading the team. I imagine she’s very good at organising her own mind by now.
While she did say that in her “civilian safety awareness” speech, you’re taking her a bit out of context. Her main concerns were 1) a thrown car (and its debris caused by impact) could harm bystanders and 2) depriving civilians of their means of transportation rather than causing maximal damage to whoever one is trying to hit.
I think the point stil holds. I have/had the same thought as the OP. If you pick up a car (or any object) and throw it you’re not really gaining much over just slugging them. If the object is wide enough your even just distribute the impact over a wider area than first.
The exceptions to weapon use and super strenght are:
1) The object is more durable than your fist/hitting-appendage
2) The object focuses the impact better ( this can be a smaller point like spear, but sometimes a wider weaker blow can also be called for)
3) You can get a gravity assist (see Anvil Drop)
4) The object as a property you lack.
Most human scale weapons through history do those. Humans aren’t super durable so most other materials make for great weapons. If you punch had enough to shatter bone chances are good you’ll shatter your own bones, so using metal or even thick wood is ideal. Sword and spears focus impacts onto smaller sharp edges.
Which brings us to Armor vs Strength in the GrrI-verse. Armor is what allows a super to be durable. Someone who is Strong but has almost no Armor has no protection from recoil. If you tried to punch through the ground you’d pulp your arm before doing much. This is where a weapon (car, telephone pole, tree, other Armored super) becomes useful. Sydney’s Lighthook doesn’t seem to recoil on her very much so she gets a pass. For Maxima, if she’s only keeping enough armor to not break her fingers on impact, she can dump enough into Strenght, Speed, and Flight to add a considerable amount of extra force to a gravity assisted smash.
If Object Armor > Your Armor, then can be used as weapon.
If Your Armor > Object Armor, waste of time and like weaker impact.
The question becomes if pulverizing and deforming concert and rebar is going to carry enough energy to hurt Vehemence, or if it will be like firing an uncooked noodle out of Peggie’s sniper rifle at a tank. Sure the noodle is delivering a lot of enegy. But most of that is going to get expended as it turns to grain-vapor when it hits the armor.
Now if Maxima had done this same move using Achilles as the blunt instrument of her displeasure….
Actually, Achilles would be a crappy blunt instrument – he’s all floppy and soft compared to a pole.
The pillar on the other hand, has something to it that has been revealed to be a serious weakness of Vehemence – he needs to breathe, and crushed concrete turns into dust, which makes him choke and cough. It’s entirely possible that the only “real” damage that smash into the bridge did was to his lungs (hence all of the coughing, horking up dust and spitting it out). Griding up a concrete support pillar on his face has the double effect of adding smash from range (meaning he can’t grab her back, ’cause she’s out of arm’s reach), AND adding more dust and grit for him to not be able to breathe.
She’s not here to play nice, she’s here to put him down hard, and make sure he doesn’t ever want to go through that again.
“If you pick up a car (or any object) and throw it you’re not really gaining much over just slugging them.”
You may be right (I may be crazy, but it just may be… nm, back to topic) about that. However, that doesn’t change that her point was not “you shouldn’t hit someone with a car because that doesn’t maximize damage to your opponent”, but rather because you endanger others and cause greater property damage by doing so. Since Maxima isn’t doing either of those, she isn’t going against what she said..
You are also ignoring (or forgetting) the part about pounding them into the ground rather than through walls
There’s still a simple means of defeating him that we’ve already seen, that doesn’t require denudation of the countryside. But maybe Dave is holding it as a future device.
You man Dabbler letting Maxima borrow her sword and driving it through his neck?
I could say launching him to space, as so many have, but we haven’t really seen that DONE before.
Beating him to death with Achilles cause he is “harder” than even Maxima’s fists? (need to find a way to make him rigid so he could be used as a club or blunt spear… hmmm make rigid… maybe >that< would work… )
He's choking maybe she can drown him in something?
To what, this defeat we've already seen, are you referring?
Pretty sure the OP is thinking of having Sydney hoist V up with her lighthook and just dangle him. He’s shown no sign of flight or any ability to move without something to push on so, unless he’s strong enough to break / pry loose the ‘hook, he wouldn’t be going anywhere.
She tried to grapple him with it earlier and failed miserably. I think the only way she can lift him up is if he isn’t resisting at all.
You’re getting warmer.
Hoisting him with the lighthook would help, but there’s something else that would render him totally helpless in just a minute or two.
*breathing hard*
Sorry, just a little out of breath.
I for one am entirely in favor of Maxima curb-stomping this ass. The entire world is going to see the footage, and if she lets up enough to exchange banter the intimidation factor goes right down the drain.
Maxima is a MILITARY OFFICER. She is also operating in circumstances where lethal force is clearly authorized. Personally I would recommend grinding the pillar back and forth a couple times before checking to see if V is still breathing.
As of Panel 1 in today’s comic, I hereby officially proclaim that adamas’ first-page comment in the previous comic (October 23, 2014 at 1:30 pm) should be made canon to the Grrl Power comic; Vehemence is indeed coughing & choking…
he gonna spit out a pair of walnuts?
I was referring to your comment about his “bait & tackle,” not the comment about walnuts. Although it’s tough to tell at this point, what with all of that dust (& a concrete PYLON) blocking our view, maybe he will but we might not to get to see it.
Some of the comments here have reminded me of a character called Mimico, or something like that, over in the shared Whateley universe, which is sort of a high school for mutants that grew out of a series of stories focusing on Transgendered mutants.
Anyway, this guy is one of the big bads of this world and his gimmick is to hunt up high powered heros to fight so he can mimic their abilities. He does not absorb them. Just copies them, and he can keep the power for a fairly long time depending on how much he uses it.
The thing that made me think of him is that his modus is not to defeat or kill the heros. He sees them as an important resource and once he gets what he wants he leaves and uses the power for fairly mundane stuff. Simple bank robbery and the like, and then every few months he returns and goads the heros into another fight so he can power up again with interesting skills. He in particular likes to find very high class regnerators in order to restore himself to a healthy young age. He’s in his fifties at the moment.
I read those stories. His name/codename is Mimeo. He’s a interesting villain because (unlike the ‘Kimba’ team’s usual (off-campus) enemies) he doesn’t kill opponents or bystanders. The usual enemies include Lovecraft-type horrors (drive normal people insane just by being seen) aka ‘Voodoo-wolves’ and a villain team lead by a black mage.
“…a high school for mutants that grew out of a series of stories focusing on Transgendered mutants.”
Oh God! I just imagined what it would be like for a transgendered “Wolverine” during her time of menstruation…The image is NOT pleasant.
:O
That would be bizarre as well. No other woman would have the same menstrual option as female Wolverine. If things get too annoying just rip out your own uterus and quickly heal up with a uterus growing back in the state it should be in after shedding the unused “lining” of cells and blood. Kind of a “Quickly Ripping Off the Band-aid” kind of thing. O.O XD
I should be grossed out. Instead, all I could think of is how brilliant that idea is. o.O
The down side is that some types of regeneration may cause a woman to have an unlimited number of eggs and age at a reduced rate. So one might be thinking up alternative medicine relief cures for a few centuries. TT
That’s…
that’s just sick…
Well sure, that’s why its just a outside “option” not a recommendation.
However, after you’ve spent the week regrowing limbs that have been chopped off, skin that was burned off, and regrowing that large hole that the rebar left when you had to slowly drag yourself off of it you may think its just insult to injury that you now have to put up with the aches and general fun that comes with menstruating that weekend and beyond…
But maybe regen speeds up the whole process so that its over in minutes? Then this whole thread of thought is meaningless. *shrugs*
I was just think along the lines of; as nasty as Logan can get with his claws & testosterone, a female version on “the cycle” could give a whole new level of meaning to the phrase, “It’s time to spill some blood.”
I imagined that with X-23. Still not a pretty image, but at least the face is more tolerable. :p
Well she is technically a transgendered Wolverine. (They tried to clone him but the Y chromosome was corrupt so they double his X chromosome and used it instead.)
Read the stories. One is a high class mage whose first case of PMS includes a magickally generated thunderstorm in the dorm hallway, another used ‘Tenchi Muyo’s Ryoko as a template (HIGH regeneration and plasma/anti-matter creation) who comments that the usual medication wears off too quickly for it to do her any good. Both are M2F transgender.
One of the benefits to being M2F should be that you can avoid bleeding out one’s (@@$@ once a month. Poor things…
Please to be posting a linkage to that story? Hopefully it’s not a paper comic
This might be the link… But I just used Google and clicked on the most likely look option: https://www.crystalhall.org/whateleyfaq.html
Thanks, but there are no pic-a-tures, just words :(
LOL
Sometimes there are some author and fan made pictures in the forums (some even 3D!) or at least there were the many ages ago I used to go there.
Thought it was a comic, not a novel
Not even a novel. Its a big team writing project where the original team has slowly quite and been replaced with others ‘cept the new writers most often just write their own characters.
It started to look like the original super team would never have their personal stories finished ‘cept as background to the new characters (who in turn might well suffer the same fate). Since I like closure I stopped reading there. But who knows, in all this time maybe they went back and restarted the original characters with or without the original authors.
Something I will say is that as long as this comic seems, in the end, it’s only three pages long. It’s just the length of time between posts that gives everyone a chance to analyze it in detail.
silly vehemence didn’t you hear maxima’s warning still you picked a fight you had your chance at prison and you turned it down so now it seems max will make sure you die (hopefully no “out of sight out of mind “stuff or “well he couldn’t have survived that” stuff. max is going to make sure you are dead)
And then the TVtrope of ‘If you kill him, you’ll become just like him!” takes effect. I for one am waiting for that moment that Max takes that trip down the slippery slope turning from a ‘Hero’ to the ‘Villain’ side.
I doubt this trope works for Max. It’s implied that, as a military unit, she’s killed her fair share of people – probably with her powers. Adding V to that list won’t change her personality, if she feels any guilt at all over it.
And military personel can’t be villains? o_O
You forget those photos of guards standing on naked prisoners?
I am not so sure that will happen.
Or, perhaps it has already happened and she has recovered.
Remember, she said earlier through her discussion with the press, that there are “not as many as there used to” for the number of supers the enemy had while she was in a combat zone. An obvious referral to her killing off a few.
I have noticed something over this fight. If (and a BIG if) someone was filming it all, they would see how insanely deadly and brutal Max is, to add on top that she really does not seem human at all. (bright purple blood) The meme can be spun on the net and other media distribution means can be told that it’s not the super/meta villains who is the threat, but HER. Some will be against her due to her inhuman-ness, but most will be against Max due to her overwhelming power, blood lust in battle, and little control over her beyond ‘Her word/honor’.
This battle could be spun (more so in other nations) regardless of Arianna effort in that Arc can barely keep Max reined in. If Max accidentally kills V, then I am sure the long term fall out from this battle will be worse than anyone could think of.
This just my 2 cents so far.
No matter what Maxima does, there’s always going to be a way for others to find a way to spin it. An example of this can be seen in the slave owners’ view of slaves in antebellum US: if they didn’t rebel, then they must have been content to be slaves; if they rebelled, but not actively, then they were lazy (despite lacking any real incentive to work hard); and if they rebelled actively, they were ungrateful belligerents.
This has less to do with slaves and more like a living WMD that appears to have militant ‘feminist’ issues, anger management problems, trained to be a fighter and a killer that appears to have no remorse in what she does, and has announced that anyone who opposes Arc will either be jailed or killed. It wouldn’t be a hard thing to think that what is there to stop Max from knocking off the world leaders and telling everyone she’s taking over?
I never said it had anything to do with slaves. The “this” in “An example of this” refers to being able to spin something regardless of what another person (or, in my example, group of people) do.
As to your other points:
1) “Hav[ing] militant feminist issues”, last time I check, wasn’t against the law.
2) Her so-called “anger management” issues are, so far as I can tell, overblown.
3) A trained fighter and killer… in the military? Somebody call the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines to protect us!
4) Just because she doesn’t appear to have remorse doesn’t mean she doesn’t.
5) No, she announced to the world that anyone who uses their powers to suppress others will be jailed, killed, or hospitalized.
6) Its a free country, so you can think what you want. I, OTOH, would prefer to see some evidence that she plans on “knocking off the world leaders and telling everyone she’s taking over” before I’m willing to condemn her.
I should have put what I said in context. Let me clarify. What I said before is how OTHERS, more so the general population, would see her.
As to me, Yes, she admits to be a loyal U.S. citizen and member of the armed forces. But did she officially get discharged from service to work in Arc? Or is carrying on in the military? If the later, will she obey any order given to her? Even if they are bad ones?
And now I see her fight, I see her less human and more Superman/God like being. Worse, I still worry that someone or something will make her snap and she’ll do what Dr. Manhattan was framed for. It might not be here and now, but that danger is still lurking with Max.
1) From Grrl Power #148:
Pinky: What finally cemented you under the [Department of Defense] instead of [the Department of Homeland Security] or another agency?
Ariana: … It’s easer to move career soldiers within the military that it is to muster them out then hope tthey report for civilian law enforcement.
2) RE: following bad orders/Superman or godlike being/something making her snap
First, all of these to a certain extent could be addressed not only of any soldier but anyone who has access to a weapon (someone with a knife could appear to hold a “godlike” power of life and death over someone who’s unarmed). Second, go through the archives and every time you see Maxima mention non-supers, it’s in the context of people to be protected from those who would abuse their powers to subjugate them, which hardly sounds like someone planning a coup d’etat or corrupted by power (speaking of which, many forget that Lord Acton’s quote is actually “Power tends to corrupt….”).
3) Dr. Manhattan
As you yourself pointed out, he was framed, i.e., not guilty of the actions he was accused of, so he can hardly be held up as an example of what you’re afraid of might happen to Maxima.
Suzie News was standing next to Arianna a while back and Harem has a camera phone running. I’m a little surprised given the length of the melee that there are not swarms of news helicopters in the area.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1386
ARCHON knew what a PR nightmare the first public fight was going to be. They just didn’t expect it to be this big and this soon. It’s going to be interesting to see the fallout from this fight, but preparations have been made.
I would bet there was a no fly zone instituted very soon after this fight broke out. Remember you have flying supers and ranged weapons going in many directions. It would almost be like sending a news helicopter into a full on dogfight with a bunch of fighter aircraft. News chopper won’t last long in that environment.
And even after multiple instances of that, a Ms Lane from the Daily Planet never seems to learn that lesson. (But then a pair of eye glasses also leaves her totally befuddled over someone’s identity)
Assuming you’re right (probably), Maxima might have orders covering what to do/say afterwards and Arianna should have a pre-prepared speech no matter what the outcome is.
You go squish now.
Now as long as Anvil or even Max don’t start suffering from the Worf Effect (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWorfEffect) that will be good. We’ve already seen the Worf Barrage (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWorfBarrage).
Is Maxima’s other power having too many teeth? Geeze, she looks like a shark!
I suspect that is the point:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SlasherSmile
Maxima, you,re hitting him with the wrong object.
You need to be using Achilles as the blunt instrument of your displeasure…. He doesn’t deform on impact.
This is true.
Also, she definitely seems to be a proponent of do as I say, not as I do. Given what she told Sydney about hitting people with things. “If you can lift it, you can probably hit harder without it than with it.” Or something along those lines. Unless, of course, she was just trying to be dramatic and/or not actually kill him.
Well, from here she can sit on that column and gently press down with her flight. She doesn’t have to get dangerously close to someone who’s strong enough to break her nose, but he has to tip his hand almost immediately on any next-level powers he’s got or he just gets mortar-and-pestled into oblivion.
The coughing would indicate that he’s got a time limit to get out of that before he has breathing issues.
Actually with her zero point telekinesis she should have no problem holding the column together.
@ Kale She told Sydney that due to cars being major crumple zones and taking away civilians means of earning money. The column is already trashed for it’s original purpose.
She’s not throwing a pylon at him, though. She’s crushing him with more than twice the weight of a fully loaded overpass during rush hour.
Maxima is doing a very feminist extremist cliche right now, with the pole and the pounding and the victim choking a bit, lol
Say, nice to see Maxima has internal logic to her powers, she is not attacking with her own body right now since she put emphasis on strength mostly for that hit leaving armor/speed relatively weaker.
That would be the most ideal time for V to start doing mindcontrol or another nonphysical attack (he seems smart even if he is not wise, he should have some magic up his sleeve or something).
…or perhaps the team cleans up, go eat, and then the REAL plot begins in a rather subtle, devious, devastating way and only Sydney notices but no one thinks it’s important….. not yet…..
Max is so over powered. At least Superman and Wonder Woman have baddies that’ll give them a run for their money; Max gets a guy that gives her a bloody nose. Rather disappointing fight.
This is their first fight, you have to leave room for growth, and the ability to use the teams in smaller groups. I doubt even Superman or Wonder Woman had too hard a time in their first fights.
Dave is doing a wonderful job showing us his universe and introducing his characters
When Supperman first started, he couldn’t even fly, and Wonderboobs was heavily into bondage, to the point that her own lasso could be used against her
And Maxima is fighting someone who broke her nose.
Turning him into a smear on the bottom of a pylon is the acceptable response? o_O
For breaking the nose, no, but for starting a super brawl that has risked lives and injured people, yes. He had the chance to stand down.
The topic under discussion was whether or not Maxima was overpowered or not.
Another great entry, I absolutely love the way Dave is taking this. I kinda get the impression that he is also illustrating exactly why Maxima is the leader of ARCSwat and why she doesn’t enter a fray or unleash her powers casually. At her power levels she is the perfect battlefield commander, able to hover above the fray and shrug off most attacks.
Also I’m thinking that she doesn’t get much opportunity to really ‘cut loose’. Even so she’s pretty much cleaning ‘V’s clock on a strictly physical level. Hey, she hasn’t resorted to whatever kinda power blasts she has.
Another thought is, if she thinks the threat level is such that SHE has to enter the fray, then the kid gloves come off. At this point she’s been on a nonstop unrelenting attack, not allowing V any time to recover. Could be that when has had to do this in the past, the results were, shall we say “terminal”. I mean, at these power levels, how does one judge when enough is enough? Do I remember a previous reference in that she is the reason there are not many ‘Supers” left in the Middle East?
What would be Hilarious is if he has a move like Strago’s Revenge from Final Fantasy 6, or the multiple other equivalents out there, where all the damage he has done to him is done to the target, bypassing their armour and such.
Damnit Max! Now they have to construct additional pylons!
*Looking at smile* Uh, we’re sure Maxima is the good guy, right? However, she does earn points for not standing around waiting for the smoke to clear like an idiot. She claims to have been a bit of a nerd, so the odds of her seeing that tropes in anime are pretty good.
Side note: Did DaveB ever say if the supers are build out of a specific RPG system? Or is it more from his imagination?
Nothing specific, but he has mentioned several that he’s played in the past. Maybe a mishmash of systems that he liked?
Fair enough, just curious if anyone had tried to work out a character sheet for the team.
I’m 99.99% sure that Maxima is not a good guy.
Yeah, she’s a bad girl, who needs a sound spanking!
/lines up behind Dabbles
It’s been nice knowing you…
You are the only one who feels that way
Am I the only one wanting to see V walk out of the dust, bloody and torn, spitting teeth and wiping blood, but still cocky and ready for a fight? Okay, what I REALLY want to see is finally a look of utter shock and surprise on Max’s face when that happens!!
PING
A lightbulb went off in me head.
I think Vehemence is not only his name, but his power and weakness.
It’s doubt based due to the name.
He’s got the natural tank stats, but really can’t be hurt unless it’s done with Vehemence too.
That’s why all those other attacks went through, but did minimal damage.
It’s building up to the point where Vehemence, himself, might start doubting his own choices here.
Once he stops believing in himself, fight’s gonna be over damn quick.
Either that or enough vehement damage will get through and it will cross the physical max threshold of his body and mind and he’ll be KO’d…
That’s why Peggy’s shot to his eye did enough damage for a spurt of blood to escape…
Why the sword and fist attacks did some noticeable damage.
Probably why, if he faced the same Jihadist Super that Max nearly killed, he’d be on the receiving end of a beatdown. Nothing’s as vehement as a religious fanatic.
I think his power set is that simple. Really.
Have confidence in your skills and powers and you will damage him, if you hit him.
If yer a mentalist, he’s gonna take a real hit to the EGO big time and game over too.
Thoughts?
“This is what most guys mean when they say they got pounded by Maxima”
Which makes you wonder what the other guys mean when they say it.
Just thought of something: Maxima may be up to casually kicking that column around, but how come her boots are as well?
More generally, shouldn’t every high-powered supie effectively undress him-/herself in serious combat? 8-S
Zero-Touch TK
Depends on the Super. Max has some sort of shield she extends to her clothes. Blonde Bombshell and Vekter managed to get through that and pop her back, and that’s why her midriff is bare. Everyone else has been taking appropriate clothing damage, as their powers and defense dictate. Remember Stalwart’s demonstration with the tank had him take his shoe off before he sent it flying, because he didn’t want to wreck it.
I think he and other supers get their clothes specially tailored for them at Wreck it Ralph Lauren.
Just starting? *Yawn*, the flying brick is beating up the non-flying brick. What a surprise after the non-flying brick demonstrated that a haymaker to the face only made the flying brick take a single step back.
V is outclassed in every way: strength, resilience, and of course he lacks both flight and the ability to project energy blasts. So how is this interesting? If he was at least stronger than she and Maxima had to use her flight and energy blasts to beat him, that might be interesting. It would at least be more interesting.
Man… I would not want to take Max on a date when she was having a ‘bad day’….
Yeah, the restaurant might get attacked by a group of supervillains.
Well, if you happen to be one of those guys that don’t handle rejection very well & Max just says “no,” you might be thinking that your world crumbles around you.