Grrl Power #272 – Sandbagger Vance
When you blow someone’s arm off in a superhero comic, it’s really only going to go one of two ways. Since Vehemence is an Arch-Villain, it had to go this way. Maxima just needed to face someone who wasn’t going to be out-powered. It’s a rare situation for her to be sure. I’m sure some people will be disgruntled by this and others will be… uh, gruntled I guess, but don’t worry about the fight resetting or anything though, we’re entering the home stretch.
I needed Vehemence to be so tough that if he ever shows up in the comic again, everyone knows that the proper response is “Oh shit, run!” He was always my guy who could go toe to toe with the Hulk or Juggernaut, Superman or even Darkseid, assuming Darkseid didn’t open with the ol’ Omega Beams. Vehemence is smart enough to know not to face off against a threat like that without warming up a little, which is a large part of what makes him Arch tier. Ooh, I just had a thought, I know I said him vs. Vegeta in the little byline, or whatever it’s called, but imagine Vehemence vs. DC’s Parasite. I’m actually not sure how that fight would go down but it would definitely be bad for the city it takes place in.
Drawing armored limbs that don’t look like Colossus’s is challenging. I tries doing vertical strips of armor, but he wound up looking like a metal eel or something. Which… is kind of cool, just not the look I had in mind for him.
So the Patreon campaign recently exceeded $3000 which is amazing! Within a few weeks of a year after I lost my job actually, or as I prefer to think of it, was promoted to full time comic dude. I want to thank everyone for their support as it’s been a great year. It turns out I really don’t miss the commute to the office to grind away in a cube like I had done for the last 20 years. The milestone goal for $3000 was “really making a living for realsies” so when I my wife had the chance she signed me up with her health insurance. Being without for a year was a little harrowing, but spending 10-12 hours a day drawing is inherently less risky than commuting and being around other germ bags. Still, yesterday I got a gentle reminder that living lean is really only a short term solution. I woke up and some nerve or tendon in my shoulder had decided to twist around the wrong way so I was in a fair amount of pain and had a super limited range of motion. Fortunately sleeping on it the next night fixed it (hooray for the human body I guess?) I was hoping it would since I didn’t want to live out the rest of the month like that until the health insurance kicked in.
Speaking of the health insurance though, I picked $3000 because it’s a round number and that’s how our brains work, not because it was the number I came up with after sitting down and doing a budget. Since American healthcare is enormously expensive, riding on my wife’s plan is more than a car payment. At least it includes dental and vision, which the cheaper Obamacare options don’t, and I could definitely use some new specs and a good tooth scraping. Unfortunately I will probably have to add at least one more ad banner to the site to make up the difference. I don’t want to, and I know it’s a first world problem, but the good thing is that I should be cash positive after that which is nice since I don’t want to be one of those webcomicers that has to run a kickstarter to afford to attend an out of state con. It also makes the next Patreon milestone easy to pick, which is to ditch some of the ads.
So I’m looking forward to next year! The first story arc will be wrapped up, and I’m excited for the next one. I promise more than one day will pass during it. :) I can put together a book (honestly it may wind up being two or even three volumes just cause a 300(-ish) page color book might be hella expensive), run a kickstarter for that, and even start looking at some of those out of state cons.
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.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
Well, that was the end of any possibilities of brute force working. Throwing him in the air or making a killshot was the last of that line.
Vehemence’s main weakness is that he has to power up first, and we’re well past that.
It was not just because he likes violence that Vehemence took out Vekter and Opal. They and Death Toll could have disabled him while the fight was still young. Now, I don’t think that’s even an option anymore, not even if ArcSWAT could wake them up and have them cooperate and support them. Vehemence knows magic and has the power to pull off considerable feats with it now – such what he just did, grounding himself.
The only option left is the one I was hoping for: a trap card.
Sydney’s unknown balls are a little too obvious, but they fit the bill.
Actually, if they woke Opal up, they could probably get her to open a couple dozen portals in a tight ring around Vehemence and one over him that would all point inward so that he literally has nowhere to go, and can only punch himself. Imagine Haku from Naruto, except no spaces between the portals for him to escape.
And he would punch himself stronger, and stronger until he gained enough Vehemic power to break the portal lock.
There isn’t anything to break in that kind of portal lock-down. And if she really wanted to, she could just put him into an infinite loop through a pair of portals big enough that he can’t maneuver out of them, a la the Portal games. Nothing to grab, and will be going terminal velocity so that she could then just shoot him into space, or a giant vat of Jello.
I doubt decellerating from terminal velocity against the ground in Earth’s atmosphere would do much damage to him at this point, even with his massive size and, erm, mass.
Drop him into a portal into the atmosphere of Jupiter.
I winced thinking how unpleasant that would be.
…
I LIKE IT!
Most teleporters need to actually see the place they are teleporting or have some sort of anchor that is pinpointing that loaction for them. Scrying sometimes work but they need a good idea of place they are teleporting that is why most teleporters can’t use ‘port to space’ trick when they are facing a dangerous enemy.
telescopes.
SPAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCEEEEEE!
“And he would punch himself stronger, and stronger until he gained enough Vehemic power to break the portal lock.”
I doubt that would work or he could have done that at any time before the battle. I would guess in order for it to be counted as “violence” someone else has to be involved. Just beating up yourself or inanimate objects probably doesn’t work.
I think you are right in that. Think about dabbler. She feeds off of the sexual energy of others. It is likely violent actions and emotions of others that feed Vehemence.
I’m betting Sydney’s Random Orphaned Node has something to do with the solution(From the Level up.)
Additionally, we know her shield’s airtight and Max’s blasts can’t take it down, and Dabbler’s magic can’t work around it, AND it even nullifies teleportation, so maybe she could just… suffocate him into unconsciousness. He’s got to use a lot of air being that big, after all.
Another trophy for Cpt Obvious to collect. Trapping a super strong, nigh indestructible villain with you with the only shield you can project is never a good idea especially when you a relatively mushy compared to them.
Well, I think brute force involving decapitation would still do it – he’s not the Thing (Carpenter/Campbell, not Kirby) – but it’s uncertain as to whether Maxima can do so after this latest power-up. At this point “nuke from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure” [1] is probably an accurate statement when it comes to brute force. We really need Syndey to do something very clever/very weird if Dabbler can’t pull some Sufficiently Advanced tech out of a hat.
[1] Or have One-Punch Man hit him in the head, but that’s about the same thing.
Max has a lot more power available in her energy blast. It’s the side effects that concern her. She may be able to focus the attack for best effect but the blast still creates a shockwave and lots of heat. Not to mention debris shrapnel. If she tries to get above him, look for her to try a downward blast.
O_O Oh shiitake mushrooms!
Either that, or V has access to sensu beans, like Goku does.
I’m thinking that there’s a couple of possibilities for Sydney’s unknown orbs that could solve this fight.
1) Some kind of ‘energy absorption / destroyer’ orb which would allow her to zap the energy from vehemence kill Death Toll did to anvil.
2) Some kind of power that disables vehemence’s ability to move (like the ‘zero point energy’ from the incredibles), or some kind of restraining / capturing capability
Wither way, it’s looking like it’s going to be one of the unknowns.
Possibly unlocked due to Sydney being off her meds and able to think much more non-linearly, as people with ADHD tend to do.
another way would be if one orb simply shut down any power someone else has. This would as well explain why she couldnt figure it out until now since he didnt have much contact with other supers til now.
That make the life of a Sydney super cop to easy. Not fun and dont think will happen
I seen suggestions that V is a demon (he would have to be shape-changed, because Sydney used the Comm Orb and would have seen through an illusion), or is possessed by a demon. I suppose he could be part-demon too.
Of those, I like the “possessed by a demon” idea best. It would explain how he knew that he could use his vehemic magic to grow and regenerate if he had never done it before: the demon told him and coached him on how to do it, for when he reached the required energy level.
But, maybe the demon lied about the regeneration. Maybe the “regeneration” is actually parts of the demon’s body coming from the demon realm and replacing the destroyed parts of V’s body. (The teeth are slightly pointed.) That this “regeneration” is actually the method in which the demon gains access to our world, by eventually completely replacing V’s body. It would also explain why “regeneration” would make V stronger, he now has much stronger demon parts that make more efficient use of vehemic magic. At some point, the demon would have enough of V’s body replaced that the demon could take over and run things, leaving V trapped in what’s left of his body or dead, depending on how the “regeneration” that tipped the balance went.
And while we are talking demons, why hasn’t anyone suggested that if a demon was involved with V, why not have it be the demon that Dabbler flashbacked to when Maxima blew up the tank?
As a side note, I believe V has vehemic-energy-powered magic, like Dabbler has lust-energy-powered magic. Meaning he could do a lot of different kinds of magic spells and effects that are powered by vehemic energy, just like Dabbler (for instance, anchoring himself to the ground like he did, or neutralizing a sleep spell like he did, or conjure pants like he did). He is basically a sorcerer/wizard/mage powered by violence, if he isn’t actually a demon in disguise. Yes, he is a brawler, because it helps him power up. But, that doesn’t mean he can’t cast other spells with his magic.
Actually it was never stated that he didn’t know about his regeneration. Only his ability ot grow. So It’s more likely that as a person who is constantly drawn to violence, who was part of the LA Race Riots, and is a brawler. That he’s regened lots of times till now. And each Regen makes him just that much more tougher [of equivalent power to the damage and violence he ate].
I don’t think it would be that demon (it is possible but unlikely) since when they were flashing all of the future arch-villains they both showed up, but in different panels. Then again, it is still possible.
By that standard you couldn’t sue someone for torturing you as long as they didn’t leave any marks or injuries. Obviously not the case.
You _can_ sue over anything. But can you WIN the suit is the question…
Evidence is useful in trying to win the suit. Lack of evidence of torture would undermine such a suit to a large extent.
Usually being found chained to the wall would be pretty damn convincing.
One thought here that is not Deus Ex with Sydney’s Orbs is that –back in the base– they were tested by two mages who were not only unable to determine their power source, in some respects did not even detect their presence. Magic cannot affect the orbs. Ergo, Sydney could use a 5 ball direct grapple of V while also using flight and forecfield. His magic cannot affect the balls at all…
Say a ring of them around his neck to lift him. Max or any one in reach could target the ground to break the stickyfoot spell. And the Force field would only be around her not both as she wants him to be air deprived during the flight and unable to throw things at her. Going up!
Why did she try to go in for a hit?
Why not just blow his head off from a distance when he was regenerating arm?
Because she is Maxi
She was reaching for V’s head when he grabbed her. Like the arm shot, Max wanted to focus the blast. V just got faster.
shrapnel i think she already blew some stuff up that is really really expensive to
So Sydney’s other orbs have to remain forever unused because any use of them would suddenly be a dues ex machina?
If they had universal appliance. But that’s not how trap cards work; they’re unbeatable but only in a specific set of circumstances. For example, a tank is much more powerful than an anti-tank mine, but if the former rolls over latter, the tank is at the very least disabled for the fight. Anyone using CCGs would know what I’m talking about.
Giving supers a specific weakness is a common way to plant the trap card within them – kryptonite, Death Star exhaust port and so on. It goes all the way back to Achilles’ heel, so it’s a time honoured tradition.
Vehemence has demonstrated no such weakness aside from the obvious fact that he has to power up, which means he’s a lot easier to handle early on. We’re well past that, so an external trap card should be the key.
I should also mention that I absolutely adore Grrlpower. The art is exhilarating, the attention to detail impressive (even if the author gets a little help from the friendly neighbourhood nerds once in a while), the consideration for what’s verisimilar and reasonable within universe is uplifting. The storyline is great and the blend between slice of life and action hero is about as good as can be done – and improving over time.
I only wish I could contribute. Well, maybe some day.
The reveal will come in a non-critical event. And given how Dave wants to write this story, with comic consequences for Sydney, Max and anyone else foolish enough to still be there when they hear Sydney say, “Wait, I think I’ve got this finally.”
I could almost see myself at ground zero at the time going “Well that didn’t feel very good.” Followed soon by me telling the EMTs “Yes, I know my blood pressure should have killed me decades ago. But by all rights what just happened should have as well as any number of other things that have happened to me in my life. Focus on the broken arm and leg, they’re a bit inconvenient.”
Deus
Vehemence claims to be his own mastermind. I suspect Deus’ ultimate plan is control of Archon not destroying it.
Deus is supplying a lot (if not all) of Archon’s weapon & combat equipment needs. Of course it would make sense to set something up to further justify Archon’s existence & even to expand it.
However, in the page of villain introductions, Vehemence was the first one shown while Deus was the last one shown…And they were both in completely different settings, not at the same location.
It’s still possible that Deus somehow knew of V’s existence & contacted him to set up this fight, making sure that Vehemence wouldn’t implicate Deus. I’m not saying Deus *isn’t* behind this fight, but the possibility seems a bit remote.
He expands when he gets powered up, and regenerates.
Hmm..
Violence him up until he explodes.
Thing is, both his growth and regeneration seem to be voluntary, meaning he’s just not gonna do that. I suspect either a very large storage capacity or a venting mechanism, probably both. I’m sure he knows exactly how much energy he has as well as how much he can contain. Worst case scenario, “Oh my, I’m at my energy limit. Here, Maxi, play with this Supernova(TM) brand fireball.”
Ah yes, her player took the disadvantage Dependency (medicine), I wondered when that would become plot point, also almost forgot about her ADD.
As Doge said before, this is the real Sydney, unless you were being ironic or something
I was being a little ironic with GURPS reference.
V claims that it only makes him stronger but does it really, after all just because you are usually truthful about your powers doesn’t mean that you have to always be truthful, sometimes a bit of misinformation is what you need to prevent yourself from losing after all.
Isn’t he a bit overpowered for a first boss? I mean if that’s the first boss in the story, then we should expect no less than gods for the following arcs. Unless he’s going to be a recurring villain throughout the series who maybe even has a heel-face turn and helps with the biggest and baddest of big bosses.
But of course I’m geting way ahead seeing how it’s been more than 4 years in real time and yet we’re still in the first in-comic day.
Well, ARCSwat just went through about 30 of what could be called “mini bosses.” Villains showing up in numbers like this, isn’t there a high probability that there would be a “prime boss” represented somewhere in the group?
Erh, what? As far as I know, this is the ‘real life’ version of Sydney..
The RPG that began this story, is something she does with her friends, when she isn’t being a real one.. I think it’s page two, where she states that “I don’t just play a superhero.. I am one..”
I don’t recall anywhere, where Sydney herself is supposed to be a character in an RPG..
Or did I completely miss something somewhere?
Yes, Sydney is an RPG dork, but Dave also mentioned that the characters were all built in one RPG system- likely the Hero System or Mutants and Masterminds, or possibly the Trinity Universe games (Aeon/Trinity, Aberrant and Adventure!), since those are the most genre-appropriate.
I suspect that the characters may have been built with varying point values, however, since I don’t think there’s any way you can put the likes of Maxima or Dabbler in anywhere near the same XP range as Heatwave, Anvil or Halo, no matter which system you use.
If you are old enough to remember, it is most likely the Champions rpg from everything I have seen.
I’m pretty certain you got it right. It’s even possible that Sydney didn’t even really play super-genre RPG’s at the comic store until after it became well-known that she *is* a super.
Even if Fedorka had said “Okay, you got me, I surrender!”, panel 4 would have happened exactely the same
Imagine Vehemence and Vegeta fighting… Scary thought. If Vegeta’s moves aren’t instantly lethal, Vehemence would utterly and totally stomp him, laughing like a lunatic all the while.
Dragonball Z is a horribly unbalanced anime, which also makes up stuff as it goes, relying often entirely on deus ex machinae. It’s really not the type of thing one should want to compare a character to in a ‘what if so and so fought so and so’ – it doesnt speak well for the comic concept because it’s suggesting the only person that can beat this overpowered, unbalanced character is another overpowered, unbalanced character from an anime that’s all about overpowered, unbalanced characters.
DBZ = The perfect embodiment of the concept of “Power Creep”.
I’m having a hard time thinking of anything short of Deus ex Machina or an insta-kill being able to pull the team’s collective asses out of the fire right now.
One has to assume that Dave will EVENTUALLY have Sydney pull something unexpected that decisively negates V. Probably with embarassing ease, all things considered.
One method that would seem pretty vindictive would be to dump a bunch of itching powder on him & let him tear himself apart…
But a few others suggested to find out if V is ticklish. Sydney shields up & someone hands over a feather duster to her Lighthook & let the hilarity commence.
Vehemence even seems to have developed a sort of respect or fondness for Sydney, even before he stepped into the fight. If anything, that might even let Sydney & Vehemence eventually form a sort of “Big Brother-Little Sister” sort of relationship in time.
So if you destroy Vehemence’s pants, they come back stronger?
If not stronger, at least hopefully more stretchy in case he decides to grow some more…
Imagine the money you could make.
I’m actually glad that goldeneye here is deus ex superhulking with his powers. Honestly, what fun is it if maxima can just lob off an arm and yell “checkmate” without him flipping the board and pulling out his YuGiOh deck?
Well, if he’s showing demonic powers/might be part demon….Why not try a banishment spell?
It’s already been postulated that Vehemence could be possessed by a demon, actually *is* a demon, or maybe even trying to *become* a demon. We can’t know if Banishment would work until Dave shows us his true origin though.
Defeating a sandwich… only makes it tastier…
Sorry V, but now they need to kill you.
Max should have just one-shotted his head.
Well its costs him something. You don’t get blood from the eyes for nothing. Something broke internally and he might be limited in his regeneration depending on his powerlevel. However, as Dave has given hints to, he is getting away from the fight, otherwise we wouldn’t have anything to fear later.
I’m pretty sure the blood was from Peggy shooting him in the eye with a sniper bullet a few pages ago.
V’s custom-tailored suit and hat – $1900.00
V’s custom-sized shoes – $300.00
V being able to defy the laws of physics – priceless!
For your consideration, fellow readers- here’s my little theory on “the end of V”. Sorry if this has already been posted, I might have skipped a few pages of comments:
1) I can’t help but think back to Anvil’s first line in the comic, “watch out, the big guns are here”. This line was given current-time, just before the current flashback- therefor Anvil knew at that point how this fight had ended.
2) Sydney likened using the PPO (I’m hip) to touching a star. She is the hero of the story- and either currently is (with more experience using her powers) or with soon be the most powerful member of Archon.
3) On the next page, Dave (who also may have known at that point how this fight was going to end), might have been foreshadowing when Max was giving Sydney pointers on how to minimize collateral damage when using firepower.
My conclusion- this is really between Sydney and V.
Possibility A: Sydney has the firepower to take V down, or at least make him want to cool his heels til another day.
Possibility B: V (who as actually shown the most class out of any character in the last year) simply pulls a “well, that was fun, see you later!” and leaves them alone to lick their wounds. That would seem to go along with his thoughts when he first met Sydney, “Good kid. Hope she doesn’t get killed tonight.”. Is it just me, or is that a friendly smile?
Thanks for reading. Long time lurker, first day posting. LOVE the comic, Dave!!!
Annnd… I just noticed one last little tidbit that may be nothing, or could be foreshadowing much further into the comic- at the bottom of V’s first chat with Sydney, Dave’s little note in tiny print: “Well, he seemed… nice?” His thoughts at the end would seem to suggest… he actually is.
Yeah, there’s a number of people who have suggested, over the course of the past month or two, that Vehemence isn’t actually a bad guy. There is some evidence for this, considering he’s only attacked supers, hasn’t gone for a lethal blow against anyone he didn’t know could handle it, and has been somewhat sweet on Sydney since his initial introduction.
One other thing that people have noted is that Vehemence would probably be way happier working for ARC-SWAT than he would continuing to be a villain. As a villain, he’d only get a delicious boost of violence any time he chose to go after other supers, but as a hero, he’d be constantly getting called into situations with astounding levels of violence. And if his goal is to get a big “meal” as often as possible, there’s little better than getting into law enforcement.
The main issue with him joining ARC-SWAT is that he enjoys violence a bit too much, and may not have Maxima’s restraint. He has a constant incentive to escalate any situation to lethal or near-lethal levels of violence, and ARC-SWAT ostensibly exists to prevent harm and destruction, not spread it.
This was meant to be in reply to Toktorill, above.
A fairly decent analysis. I don’t think he is evil in the conventional sense either. That said his power set combined with his tendency to play the blood knight aren’t exactly conducive to actual heroism. A vigilante sure, a merc certainly, but he’d make an awful cop.
Yeah, the only thing that points to his possibility of going good is that he’s had enough self-control to not make himself known before this point, and it’s implied that he’s been around for decades, at the minimum. So, at the very least, he’s capable of restraint, even if he may not want to restrain himself anymore.
But I’m sure we’ll find out his fate soon enough.
Big problem with him using as a (anti-)Hero, is that he would come to the scene and he kind of needs the bad guys to to their thing for a bit before he can start beating them up.
“Can you hit that civilian a bit more? I need a bit more powering up first” ” Oh and while you are at it, attack that old lady with her walker”
PR wise it would be bad.And if the bad guys would do their evil in a non-violent way he is useless.
They would be better of with trying to pursuade “periwinkle butt sniffer” as a hero, he could really just walk into any bad super and instantly take them out. He just might need some help to prevent multiple attacks at once.
I think the ppo will soon enough be involved
This guy’s a better Hulk than the Hulk. Seriously, his powers even make more sense than the Hulk’s. I accept that Hulk gets stronger the angrier that he gets, but there’s got to be a biological and mental limit to how angry you can possibly get. Having magic powers like Vehemence? There’s not necessarily a limit.
I’m sure someone must’ve mentioned it, but i’ll address an elephant in the room.
He had regrown his penis didn’t he?
I do have one other idea soul vampire and she would eat him before he could touch her then aging he would die very very fast
Hahah. Sorry Syd. Gonna have to OD the bad guy on your meds. He needs to calm down more than you do. – Things Maxima never thought she would say.
Day of update … goes to comment. XD. Just relized that Vemmy’s missing teeth is not metal. Now I’m wondering how many previous injuries he’s regened from have left him with metally parts. OR if over time the body makes the metal parts look normal as the vehemic energy gets used up?
I wonder if Vehemence is ticklish? Maybe they’ll be able to reduce his power level by making him giggle like a child. :D
…I would have Sydney ask him nicely to stop.
Who knows… he seems to like her, he’s not truly evil – only violent… it may work.
Aww I wanted to see the next page before o had to leave for school. Oh well, I’ll see it later today.
Wait…. Halo’s been ON her meds this entire time?!?! HOLY CRAP! I do not want to see what she’s like off them.
That’s a lie. Ireally want to see that.
So this guy’s the unholy lovechild of Lung and Crawler?
The Double V of Victory! ^^
Wow. He turned into less cool Cable
maxjohnthompson@yahoo.com
Waaaaiiiiiiit… it’s now wearing off? I used to take adderall and it usually wears off way before… whenever this is. I’m surprised it lasted so long!
“You should have gone for the head”
Yeah, sure, let’s let him regenerate an entire enhanced body at once.