Grrl Power #282 – It was this or wrap his arm in ten million dryer sheets
Sydney’s plan continues, this time with a more active result. I hope no one thought Dabbler was going to have to do jumping jacks until Vehemence’s power ran out, or he passed out from hunger. The hypnoboobs (all glory to them) effect isn’t that strong. It’s seriously distracting, but it’s not “mouse pushing a lever to get cocaine until it starves to death.” (Which according to a quick search I did to make sure I got the drug right, isn’t even a thing that happened, or at least comes with a giant asterisk, but it has its uses as an apocryphal tale.)
The flashback panel on this page is supposed to point out that super speed does you no good if you’re caught flat footed. Remember Vehemence was nearly matching Maxima’s speed earlier, at least while Max was doing the even spread with her power pool, and Sydney wanted to make sure Jiggawatt got a chance to do her part before being swatted away. The funny thing is, before I went back and looked at the page to pull the clip, I was sure Maxima said “Well I have to be ready for it!” I considered changing it and making a note that’s how Sydney recalled it to make it more clear why she included that snippet of her day in her plan – but… I thought that would be distracting and hopefully the page makes enough sense without any tinkering.
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.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
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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.
As someone with ADHD, and a creative, I can attest that Sydney’s “plan” is pretty much the way the ADHD brain works. Despite the misnomer, it’s less an attention deficit than it is an attention surplus. It’s also not at all unusual for someone with advanced ADHD to have characteristics of OCD. Marry that with Halo’s obsession for all things comic and Manga, she would have spent much of her day noticing and cataloging what powers every has, even the bad guys. I’d expect her to be perhaps the only one who could pull an improvised plan like this together on the fly, except Max.
And, as far as getting in trouble is concerned, she’s just as likely to be given a medal of valor as reprimanded. Obviously, she’s assessed the situation and determined that Vehemence will only kill those he feels are threats. I’d guess that Max wanted Halo for the team precisely because of her knowledge of superpower lore, and specifically for situations just like this.
The climax is building nicely. (I think I just got Dabbler’s attention.)
I think they wanted her because she has a huge suite of powers and her heart is in the right place.
Maxima’s embarrassment about once being a nerd/geek/whatever in the past suggests she doesn’t put much stock in it as useful in adult life let alone for combat (after all this comic universe is supposed to be a little more realistic than the bulk of comics [not tons but a bit more so]). I’m sure Max will start to change her mind after the bad guy who almost kicked their ass completely and the green horn who saved it both happily and proudly spouted such knowledge.
BJ …
Interesting way of explaining to a degree how ADHD works, and I’d know, I have it. I don’t think I could have given it a better description really, and I’ve known I’ve had it for five years now. To a certain amount, I’d agree I can be a bit OCD about things. Oh wait, that’s CDO (bad joke I know).
Like I’ve told people, half joking but the statement is true in a way, “Most folks need to learn How to notice things better. Myself, I need to learn How Not to notice things better.”
One of my doctors pointed me to a theory that people with ADD were the trackers when we were H+G tribes. They were the ones that could pick out signs from the barest clues because they saw EVERYTHING. And this is why ADD is a survival trait and exists in so many people.
I’ve heard that too, and I do put stock in that theory, but, at the same time, it’s been several thousand years since then (minimum), but the statistical rate of occurrence of ADD in the children of adults who have ADD is still extremely high (disproportionately so, IMO), so I think there’s more to it than that.
Well with the increase in the level of specialization in the various fields of knowledge , those persons with ADD/ADD could be a step towards a new breed of researcher.
One who will have a base understanding of many fields, and will be able to see how various different discoveries could work together.
Just a thought on my part.
If what you just said actually makes a connection in their minds, they can probably be included in the list of “all time greatest inventors.”
You can see what’s coming right? After all this kerfuffle, the general will have the entire team brushing up on their comic reading in order to build on their repository of tactical options.
Numerous super-heroes, all reading super hero comics, inside a comic shop owned by a super hero, and asking stupid noob questions of the hard-core comic book nerds in the shop? That scenario is far too good to pass up!
Make it happen Dave…- please! :-D
(or if you prefer… “make it so.”)
Make it happen
The library at Archon is going to be full of comic boxes.
Syd’s comic shop is going to become a training/reference resource for strategy-&-tactics!
Consider:
1)__Supers come to study. At first just to read, but later to debate/consult with the comic nerds.
2)__When comic nerds learn that Syd’s shop hosts actual Supers, they’ll FLOCK IN DROVES!!!?!
3)__The shop’s sales will skyrocket, Joel will stop worrying about how to pay the bills.
4)__”Happy Ending”
The Best Plans, are the ones where the Generals give you an a** chewing, then (off the record) start to laugh saying that is the best thing they ever saw.
OR
The Best Plans are like what Capt. Robert Smalls did. As a slave in the Confederate South, Capt. Smalls stole a Ship, picked up his crews families, navigated through a mined harbor (as a slave, he was forced to lay the mines and knew where they were), then sailed into the Union Blockade (who almost fired on his ship, but saw the white flag).
He gave the Union 3 valuable things, the Ship, the Cargo (4 large Artillery pieces), and most importantly of all a Confederate Code Book.
Hailed as a hero in the North, he received a large reward and meet with President Lincoln. Story could end here but Capt. Smalls was far too awesome.
Robert Smalls then signed up to serve in the Union Navy. As the navigator, his ship was surrounded by Confederates, and his Captain was about to surrender. Captured black soldiers/sailors were not enslaved, they were executed. He did the only thing he could do, MUTINY.
Robert Smalls took command of the ship, and turned the tide of the battle and helped win the day. For his actions (ties back in, the leadership forgot about the mutiny) they promoted Robert Smalls to Captain in the US Navy, the first black man to be Captain. Captaining the very vessel that he had stolen from the Confederates.
(ps: He retired as free and successful Republican Congressman for South Carolina)
Kinda, there are two main things that are both under the label of add these days. There is lack of attention, where it is impossible to focus on any one task for a given tie, and there is impulse control/hyperactivity, where the person has issue NOT doing anything that comes into their head, and tends to have higher than normal energy, and thus are CONSTANTLY doing different things. They can occur together, which SERIOUSLY sucks, but if you mostly have just the second on, you CAN focus, and can often run into an issue called HYPERFOCUS, where your entire mind manages to all latch on to the sae thing at once, and at that point you can’t focus on anything BUT one thing. Personally, i hate that they slowly merged them together under adhd back in the 90s. THey did it ecause its a very similar path in the brain that causes it, and have the same treatement, but htey are NOT the same thing.
Leaking Pen, you do have a valid point. Its not uncommon, sadly, for them to merge disorders into a more general category. The biggest worry of course is they try and apply treatment “mentality” from the larger group. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t.
As to ADD / ADHD specifically, it is quite commonly a symptom of a larger problem. This makes it even harder to adapt to and cope with. Because the two often “work” together Against you.
I’m listed as having ADHD, and I’d agree with them. I have both moments of “HyperFocus” as well as “Can’t Focus To Save My Life”. Medication, therapy as well as a certain amount of navel gazing has done wonders for helping me cope with it. Comments friends of mine with ADD or ADHD have helped immensely as well.
“Folks with ADHD can be some of the best multi-taskers out there. Instead of letting it work Against you, find ways to make it work For you.”
Oh crap! This is actually a good plan!
…
Why is Jiggawatt looking so perturbed, though? Is it because of the spank? Or is it because she doesn’t get to watch the hypno-boobs no more? (All glory to the hypno-boobs.)
Mostly that whack on the ass. Any plan where the main point is to sic Max on the problem is a good plan.
Just because it felt good doesn’t mean it was appreciated.
so was the typo in the message planed or not
By Dave, probably… By Sidney, probably not so much.
Yes. It was planed. And trained. And possibly automobiled.
& rocketed, but I’m not sure of ICBM’ed or space shuttled. It definitely wasn’t submarined.
Watch more Steve Martin movies please. :)
Are those hearts in pannel 4?
Yes. That whack hurt but it was done for tough love.
Home is where the heart is…
Wait! What?
O.o
Well, the home looks pretty cozy…
So this just leaves the portal question mark, unless it is related to the surprise vs. super speed idea, and the Death Tolls absorption of Anvil’s energy question mark to be clearly used in the plan.
I suppose the spicy food vs. her eye one as well though his eye’s must be fairly immune to attack of that sort by now (seems like their choices for attacks are either: completely destroy that part of his body or have no effect so blowing his eye would probably blow part of his head away) maybe the spicy noodle was a reference to Sydney hurting herself with her own mismanaged “super power” as in her mouth and stomach were super immune to dangerous levels of cap, and whatever The Unmaker was, but her eye wasn’t. Maybe she intends to have V accidentally affect himself with one of his powers somehow?
Anybody know what the rest of the “To: The Good Guys Arc-SWAT Distro” is? was Distro supposed to be destroy vehemence plan or something?
Distro would be a distribution list. Common on company email servers. Send a message to one email address and it’s distributed to a list of people.
Thank you. :)
The commentary under the plan page indicates that there are 3 or 4 potential plans being considered so just because it has a question mark doesn’t mean it has to be used.
Don’t see what you see I guess. I just see that there is a multistep plan in place using the inspirations indicated in the super ADHD brain strip with corrections having to be improvised on the fly when the enemy or Sydney’s own powers don’t do as expected. But yes there are some red herrings though I noticed many of the question marks are getting used even if some of them indicate the need for distractions and so may be mostly used up in the first move.
Fun to guess right?
Step 1: Distract V
Step 2: Get Max Out
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit
Step 3 sort of looks like it involves Max hitting something or someone but that doesn’t make a lot of sense with his powers unless it is also a distraction meant to focus V on Max while simultaneously putting him more at ease (he’s worried about Max making his head go boom but if people continue behaving violently that is in his favor.)
Which makes sense. A lot of the stuff in the Sydney Brain Collage seemed to indicate distractions so it makes sense that there would be multiple levels of them in the plan.
I wonder if there is a to the bad guys message too and how she delivered it
All the badguys are back asleep now that V’s aura is gone.
I suspect the speedster is going to make a getaway considering the cuffs were undone when the aggro aura was deployed. That’s assuming he really does have the metabolism to quickly burn off the drugs.
It seems to me that it’s sort of irrelevant if the others get away or not: V has already admitted he manipulated them into this and he has the power to make people violent.
Near as I can tell, at this point those folks are just more victims (potentially dangerous victims, but victims nonetheless).
yes, and a bank robber is a victim of poverty.
the only person he manipulated is vector i believe.
then vector, with help of V (V and V huh?) gathered people who were already mostly ready to do something (maybe except for the hair dresser https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1420)
he wouldn’t be able to make them fight the justice league if they weren’t already willing to do so.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1490
“…i invited every anti-government, anti-police, anarchist, criminal and slash or nutjob with super powers I’D ever come across…”. so much for the manipulation part.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1536.
“A few phone calls, a chick that makes portals, and here we are. i even let vector think the whole thing was his idea”.
And ofc you are going to reply “we have no reason to believe the villain”
i think we can believe THIS ONE.
More like PoWs than victims, I’d say. They might not have known where the situation was going to go, but they did willingly put themselves into it. Vehemence just turned a series of small incidents into one big one.
And harem will have put the drug cuffs straight back on shortly after everyone passed out again.
None of Harem’s forms were in the crowd watching Dabbler. So she is probably too busy re-cuffing the mook mob. Also Duke, Peggy and the other support troops are still there. They’re not letting this bunch get away. Not after all the work and pain of catching them.
Another good part about this plan is that V will still think Maxima’s weakness is electricity – he’s going to think that Max can act now because the electricity was countered.
Well, he’s correct about the effect even if he’s wrong about the cause.
Kiiind of. He thought it drained her, while all it really did was compel her to commit.
As far as Sydney knows, Maxima actually is weak to lighting — I don’t think that among the busy schedule of the day Sydney got the same rundown of Maxima’s power pool that we got.
Actually, she asked Harem or Dabbler about that, so Syd just knows it stops her from using her full power, not weakens her.
Dabbler may know, but the details of Max’s powers are classified. Probably above Harem’s pay grade.
I kinda wonder if that…Gamma eater looks fatter than last time, as if its getting full.
I don’t know! That was the first thing I thought seeing this page.
Nyom Nyom.
I’ve been waiting for a while now for that little bigger to overdose on the stuff and mutate into a super-threat, which will force everyone to team up in order to defeat it.
I’m still hopeful.
That’s not how radiation and genetics work.
That can totally be how Dabbler’s magic works, and I can just see it…
“Look I got the spell from a long lost dungeon I didn’t have a chance to know what it does at this point!”
“It was… supposed to be just as controllable. It did fine in beta test!”
“MWAHAHAHAHAHA GO MY TINY MINION OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION why are you looking at me like that guys that thing is completely harmless”
etc
V needs to retrain himself (for his good, not the world’s good). Despite the violence theme he is the proper intellectual villain, meaning he tries to think about things when people do strange stuff near him, and that’s going to make him lose this time because it causes a delay before he acts. When he is in combat he should swat first and think later, except of course for cases like Anvil or FWTDT.
As has been mentioned, V acts like an addict to vehemic energy. Past a certain point all he cares about is getting that rush. He may try to fight smarter, but his main weakness is that need. He will take insane risks for it. Despite the current situation, V has been nearly killed a couple times. And it has cost him some body parts. Only Max’s desire for a live capture has kept him from being disintegrated.
Is this fight supposed to last precisely 100 pages? I remember it started around page 200 with a can of soda, and we’re approaching page 300 now.
I can”t say whether or not if that’s the original intention, but please notice Vehemence is still up & about.
It ain’t over until it’s over…
…But it appears the fat lady is ready to come onstage to start singing.
;)
She is warming up her tonsils in the green room as we speak.
We all say things, without thinking about them, phrases that previous generations accepted as normal, because to them it was normal to use phrases that callously denigrated whole sections of our communities. Consider,
a) almost every male singer of opera also has a high body fat percentage, it is part of the tool set it seems.
b) no one denigrates them for being “fat”
c) the quote “fat lady sings” is a slighting, belittling reference to what is usually a performance by an incredibly talented and dedicated artist, who has devoted her life to her craft, and HAS NOT been given the final word in the production (which usually has a dozen or more such artists) because she is the LEAST of them, but because she is the greatest voice on the stage. Funny that it is made of the woman artists, and not the men, who in some operas have the last word . . . oh, that’s right, sorry, misogyny is funny by default . . .
let’s all unite in ridding our language of these horrible hold-overs from a time we have put behind us.
Think of it as a opportunity to coin new phrases of our own.
Please have a happy new year, my friend.
I think you missed the joke. “It ain’t over ’till the fat lady sings” is DELIBERATELY phrased in a crude and boorish fashion. The intentionally bad grammar should be a giveaway.
The denigration is aimed more at the speaker than the opera singer, by purposely presenting themselves as a lowbrow clod. The modern equivalent would be someone imitating Homer Simpson or Eric Cartman. The humor comes from the fact that they’re knowingly acting like BAD role models.
I’m more worried about cases that aren’t humorously tongue-in-cheek, such as the anti-atheist messages that they inserted into USA currency and Pledge of Allegiance in the 1950’s to oppose “godless communists”, in which the intention was (and remains!) pure “you people aren’t welcome here” without a hint of irony.
I didn’t miss, or even consider any potential joke. Sexist or otherwise bigoted phrases are not funny however you parse them, they short-circuit straight to offensive to me, and most other civilised people. I imagine, as you say, some ignorant boor using the term, because TO HIM it is funny to go around caring-less how his behaviour impacts on those around him.
Thanks for explaining what you saw as humourous in it though.
However, as I said, it is a left over from age we can put behind ourselves, just as we have put away the other racisms and bigotries of the previous generations. It is just a simply matter of coining our own phrases.
Then people who think it is the height of humour to play at being Ma and Pa Kettle might feel unsupported. And THEN children won’t ever hear these bigoted phrases, and the memes supporting their retention will fade for lack of new minds to conquer.
2 questions:
1)__In Panel_9, is the cute little “nyom-nyom” actually there, or is this a throwback to Syd’s “ADHD Strategy Mode”, same as the panel below it?
2)__In Panel_11, I’d initially thought that Max was saying “Oh Hell”, but the tail of the word-balloon points away from both her & V, so who is speaking here?
it’s V because he thinks it’s the lightning that’s weakening Max and the lightning is bye-bye now
It also does point to his head with how he is leaning over her.
The nyom-nyom thing is the radiation eater turning on.
The panel below it is a part of the plan… I think. It is showing how Sydney knows Vehmence won’t be able to react.
Good Point – I’d failed to consider how V was, in fact, looming over her.
No doubt this is to minimize her chances of escape by cramping her in an awkward semi-fetal pose.
So, this means the cute little “gamma ray sponge” is really there?
Because I’d imagine that ABSORBING V’s lightning would be safer than cancelling it with her “darkening”…
…unless Syd’s plan is to induce massive radiation poisoning in V…?
Would the cellular damage from exposure to gamma radiation qualify as violence?
It =IS= a physical effect, after all.
Sydney hasn’t seen her absorb lightning only using her darkening so there isn’t really a way for Sydney to know about absorption she could assume but in a situation like this assumptions aren’t what you want to make a lot of.
I kinda get the feeling either Dave forgot about it or that her ability to absorb lightning has actually been removed. That, or she can only absorb so much lightning. Otherwise, yeah, it would seem easier and ‘cleaner’ to just absorb it as opposed to neutralize it with the added risk of radiation.
I don’t recall seeing this question answered anywhere, perhaps you have…
…has anyone ever established whether-or-not Jiggawatt is immune to the gamma radiation from her “darkening”?
I don’t think it’s been answered, and I don’t know whether anyone in-universe even knows. Jiggawatt doesn’t seem to realise it’s an issue before her physics slapdown from Xuriel earlier in the fight, so I very much doubt anyone’s run the experiments to check.
That’s just my theory. In truth, we don’t know. This only came up because of this comic anyways, especially since I had forgotten about the part on Jiggy’s profile that mentioned lightning absorption.
Ooooooooh, a cracked screen… That’s going to come out of Jiggawatts’ deposit. :)
I’m sure ARCSWAT has a weekly shipment of phones to cover all manner of replacement reasons. Max goes through enough just with her temper for that to be practical.
If the rest of Sydney’s plan works out right, Jiggy’s cellphone will not have sacrificed itself in vain & it will be forever remembered with honor.
A moment if silence is called for…
…
…
…
Earlier their hacker guy gave Max a new phone. It seems like they have a ready supply of replacements
General Falk is trying to get Max to cut down on pulverising phones. Apparently her phones are a seperate line item due to volume losses.
As well as Mosques.
that was ONE Mosque!! and it was an accident… mostly
But as an incident, it’s a noodle…
Ya pillage one village and everybody typecasts ya. – Attilla the Hun
“No! No! It’s rape, pillage then burn!” — atilla the Hun to a batch of new recruit barbarians.
First recorded use of the term “Firecrotch”.
You just can’t find well-trained barbarians these days..
It is pointing towards Sydney, or possibly a few feet to Sydney’s right (V’s left of her) if my sense of space its right. It is kind of hard to tell when Dave B keeps moving people via artistic teleportation, which functions Very differently from all other kinds of teleportation. Typical conventions (assuming V it’s talking) would have it pointing more to the right or possibly lower right and would probably be placed further right in the panel. If it were Jiggawatt then it would be placed closer to the botm of the panel probably pointing down or slightly lower left. For Dabbler it would pointing 00
We can safely assume it’s V who’s going: “Oh Hell”. as he knows he’s fux0red
syd would be pointed more to the lower part and left of the panel. JW would be more straight down. max would point in towards her mouth. so V is a possibility but the direction it points is about the one max looked to see dabs jump-rope routine opening the possibility our love(and lust)able succubi sweetheart may worry over the rad-eaters absorption limits.
Unless Sydney doesn’t want her to attack right now in which case it could be her or someone else who has taken a second to read “The Plan”.
It is pointing towards Sydney, or possibly a few feet to Sydney’s right (V’s left of her) if my sense of space its right. It is kind of hard to tell when Dave B keeps moving people via artistic teleportation, which functions Very differently from all other kinds of teleportation and really messes up spatial references. Assuming it is presently pointing at about 1:00 typical comic conventions would have it point at about1:30 or 2:00 for Sydney, 3:30-4:00 for Vehemence, 5:00 for Maxima (probably with a short tail), about 6:30-7:00 for Jiggawatt, about 8 or 9:00 for Dabbler (and it might have a, longer tail).
Well, V is in a pickle. He is currently bent over Maxima, and is no longer keeping her at full defense. Positionally, Max only has to worry about hitting a low flying airplane (or the Moon) if she uncorks another blast on V, and currently her options include a straight shot at every vital organ he has outside of his brain, i.e. his chest is wide open.
His plan, it was not well thought out.
“Pissing off Max” or “Triggering Sydney’s ADHD” ranks up there with “Marrying a Kardashian” for bad planning.
But both are also probably better for your health than Marrying a Kardashian.
Real bad planning, PISSING off Sydney .
Managing to make Sydney turn her ADHD towards vengeance would likely be less painful than “crossing the streams” from unlicensed nuclear accelerators…
BEWARE THE LIST!
Wrong way around. ‘Crossing the streams’ was said to make your physical form come apart at light speed i.e. instant death. Getting on Sydney’s bad side will make you wish you were dead.
Sorry about the double post. The second one will probably make more sense since it was mostly complete.
I think Max may have come up with a new first aid technique for setting broken noses: ‘severe scowling’. Her nose is looking a lot straighter than it was a few pages ago.
I think that is because her scowl is wrinkling the whole area. You cannot see the irregularity of her nose.
I’m not sure I get the fear vomit thing and Maxima’s reaction to remembering that part still.
Part of the plan isnt making Vehemence throw up on Maxima, right? Because….. not sure I follow. Then again I don’t have ADD, and there might be hidden underpinings to this plan which I am simply not ADD-ish enough to fathom.
I do think the darkening thing was a great idea though. It lets Maxima not have to be fully armored up, so she can do something to incapacitate or immobilize Vehemence.
I don’t think that was Max remembering insomuch as Halo’s mental note re: Even someone with superspeed can get caught flatfooted by the unexpected. So Halo had Dabbler distract V with a ‘grrls on trampolines’ outside the shield, so there would be a window of opportunity ‘wait, what?’ while Jigga negated his lightning deluge for Max to shift gears from full defense in.
So looking forward to the next comic!
I had to read his explanation a few times before I understood. It’s not about the vomit as much as it’s about Max being caught unprepared in spite of her speed, and applying to V. For Jiggy, getting next to him is quick, being lightning and all. Grabbing his arm and then neutralizing his lightning, however, would supposedly earn an instant flick from him. Because he wasn’t prepared for it at all given he was too busy staring at a pair of giant apples, Jiggy was able to do what she just did.
Actually I was confused because I didnt realize that it was Vehemence saying ‘Oh Hell’ – I thought it was Maxima saying that.
Oh waiiit I get it. It’s Vehemence saying ‘Oh hell’ not Maxima :)
Well she is crushing one of the lighting spikes. If things go to plan Max will hit him and then Sydney is going to use the Lighthook for something.
Huh, isn’t that a problem though? He’s already shown that if you destroy some part of him, it comes back stronger…
Sydney has a plan. Once the bad guys get to know her better, that will mean, “surrender now and avoid much pain and humiliation.”
The lightning spike isnt actually part of him though.
The spikes are grown out of his hand/arm. They kind of are part of him.
Also the fact that Vehemence thinks electricity drains Max’s strength. The power company just disconnected his service.
As Daffy Duck might say, “What a re-voltin’ development.”
How ionic!
Shocking.
I’m positively charged up about it.
Let’s not be negative about this.
Please. No more puns. Watt is with all the puns?!
I beg of all of you. Wire you all continuing with the lightning puns?
Seriously stop – it hertz. It really hertz. At the very least stop with all the OLD puns and have some current ones instead.
Watt is love?
Baby don’t Hertz me,
Don’t Hertz me
No Morse
Hey, Ohms are coul…
If all of you punsters don’t conduct yourselves properly, the Esteemed Author will have to intervene…
…& then you’ll all be grounded!
Behave? Nah. We’re just gonna keep plugging away at it. :D
Must… resist…
I haven’t the capacity to match these puns – they are worthy of being inducted into the pun Top 50 (or 60 in America).
Don’t blow a fuse man.
Resistance is futile.
Have we reached capacity yet?
I’m positively certain we have plenty of potential.
This thread is getting too long. Watt the f*ck?
So are we pulling the plug on it?
I feel that Maxima’s angry face isn’t quite angry enough in the last panel. That is all ^_^
Any madder and flames would be shooting out her nostrils.
It’ll be over 9000.
you forgot the plasma venting from her mouth.
“Flames. Flames, on the side of my face”
At this point, Max would be terrifying even if she had no superpowers at all.
All glory to lord nyom nyom! This is really getting good now. Wait. It has been good since the start.
Sorry if this has already been asked, haven’t found it in any of the comments i’v read so wanted to ask.
I am just wondering: What can Sydney’s shield actually block?
We’ve seen it block air since she became oxygen deprived but yet she can talk through it and others can talk to her meaning it does not block sound waves?
Harem couldn’t teleport into the shield and Vehemence’s rage aura got blocked yet she can send signals in whatever format that text message was to the outside of the shield?
Either the shield works off intent meaning Sydney can modify whats blocked (maybe subconsciously?) or its the good old magic things are magical. :)
Any other theories would be appreciated.
She may have sent the message as she moved to enclose V. She would have had to drop and then restart the shield to enclose him.
While discussing Dabbler’s hypnosis Dave mentioned the shield has a threshold value. Below that the shield does not react. Dabbler’s hypnosis, ordinary light and normal sound levels pass through. Possibly a radio signal would be under the threshold as well.
I’m pretty sure that any part of the EM spectrum not classified as immediately harmful (a.k.a most non-ionizing radiation) would have a threshold value where if it’s under it can pass through the shield. Having to create specific exemption for communication technology would be a real pita, especially when not having a manual.
If that’s how it works, then it’s a bit odd that it blocks oxygen. She should check if it blocks water; if it doesn’t, that probably means the orbs are from Atlantis. Fits with her finding them while scuba diving too.
There is a theory one of the unknown orbs supplies air. Or a shield setting not yet active makes it permeable to air. Hopefully with filter settings.
DaveB specifically addressed this in this comment, down a ways…
It blocks everything except for plot. :)
Yup, this shield is powered by class IV Scenarium-generator.
Basically anything harmful, unless it’s just a type of glamour. And Oxygen just to give it a time limit.
Oxygen is flammable. So is hydrogen. Therefore, they’re dangerous and get blocked.
High Dave,
I just want to let you know you’ve taken the top position in my list of comics I look forward to seeing updates from. There are about 11 comics I follow VERY closely ranging from Girl Genious to Flipside. Between the characters, the comedy, the pacing and the interesting mix of fantasic powers, you’ve got me hooked. Thanks for producing this very intertaining web comic!
I used to read Flipside, until the Jester Girl got all serious and let the Monster Girl eat her hand off while she sat calmly and watched…a bit too Guro for me at that point…
Seriously, Sydney is the only one who wears her comm device/transponder/gauntlet/thingy on her arm. And apparently, it’s a good idea, at least some of the others should probably get on that. Peggy, Harem… anyone else who doesn’t regularly hit people with their forearms while utilizing super strength.
She was complaining about that back before the press conference. I think it was available so Max slipped it on her for safety reasons. She also has the comm gear choker like the rest.
Didn’t Maxima explain that it is a flight transponder?
In normal situations, non flying members don’t really need such a thing
Yes, well, in normal situations my mage doesn’t need a gun, but he packs one anyways because it’s a good idea. My shadowrun mage, is what I’m referring to.
That said, yeah, I know you’re right, plus they were out at dinner. But still it is useful.
Re the vote incentive.
I am officially out of touch. Who are they?
You have to go to the Deviant Art page for the lineup.
https://davebarrack.deviantart.com/art/Spectrum-Gals-496294983
from author:
In order, the gals are DrGraveling’s Monara, Traxex the Drow Ranger of DOTA 2 fame, Dabbler (mine), Andrah from Polymer City Chronicles, AnimeFlux’s Nalica, Maxima (mine), DC’s Starfire, and Kneesocks from the Anime Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt.
Voted, but looking forward to the next incentive project.
I’d vote for an animated Dabbler jumping Sydney’s Lighthook…
Heh, Max’s bloodlust made V ding in the last panel.
Me thinks big but whooping is going to happen soon.
What happened to Jiggawatt’s bleeding ears?
None of the communication was auditory, even if,she couldn’t hear it wouldn’t matter. Even the now was kind of obvious with Halo letting go of the forcefields sphere.
I think the reference was to the fact that Jigg’s ears are no longer bleeding… nor is there any sign that they were injured. Mind you, it’s not unreasonable to assume that she might have wiped the blood away, somehow, although it was neither shown nor implied.
As for the auditory bit, I think that was handled really well- while the balloon has the standard shouting-shape, it’s made with a dashed line to indicate that the sound is muffled.
I could argue the blood from the ears got zapped off during combat /arc-jump but I doubt it’s the case
It was missing before the arc-jump, so it’d be a pretty hard sell…
Oh Dave…. really hate to bother you, but you missed a detail in the all the details.
She has done multiple arc-jumps during the aggro fest fight –she nailed like 5 (or were those multiples of Concerti bodies?) in the wide angle spell scene. So the blood could be gone from there. Minor healing while reforming ?–there is precedence for such in werewolf style or teleport powers…
Teleport healing, even minor, is a pretty powerful ability. If that was the case, I would think she would have done it after going deaf the first time, just to help resolve the problem.
not suggesting she healed but that a bolt singed the blood off either when thrown or when she transformed during the agro-aura battle
She was off-panel for quite a while. Certainly long enough for Harem to check her over and wipe off the blood.
Note how V’s arm gem thing is cracking where Maxi is gripping it in that last panel.
Oh yeah. She has already redistributed her power and is ready for Round Whatever The Heck It Is.
Hopefully it’s the LAST round.
Your lips to Dave’s ears. :)
Oooo…Kinky.
;)
and I think his wife may object.
You’re gonna get me in trouble, man.
Well I always fall for a guy with big…. ears. Yeah lets go with that instead. Sure.
We also know that the hairdresser who surrendered can absorb attacks and redirect them. If he wasn’t drugged. might he be a player in Halo’s plan?
How many phones does Jiggawatt fry in an average week?
Probably a whole lit less once she started getting the mil-spec.
I love this comic! Been meaning to comment for a while now but keep getting distracted. I think grrl has a great story and wonderful characters! Has anyone ever mentioned that Sydney looks like/resembles Milo Thatch from Atlantis? Can’t wait for the next update!
+1
Thanks! Hah, they do look similar.
You’re welcome! ^^
Why am I expecting this fight to be just about wrapped up and Sydney gets the “My Little Pony” ringtone with Joel on the other end asking is she forgot to mention something? Cue end of flashback…
I suspect the speedster is going to make a getaway considering the cuffs were undone when the aggro aura was deployed. That’s assuming he really does have the metabolism to quickly burn off the drugs.
Ugh, comment page fail. Ignore the previous.
but in the same page where that was mentioned, Harem ALSO said that the drugs used should STILL keep him “out for hours”… so it could go either way. i think we’ll just have to wait it out and see what Dave does… :D
I’m thinking we may see a scene as V leaves where he looks over at Sydney and goes, ” I was mistaken, there are TWO people that are a threat to me. Your on my list, Ms. Scoville.”
ominous click (pen at the ready and THE LIST out). syd replies “one second and your on mine”
Defeating him is *NOT* the same as “un-arming” him. He may dislike losing a fight, but he’ll still see that Sydney has more respect for his bodily integrity than Max, & most likely let her live. At least that’s my assessment.
An enemy may-or-may-not be violent, but a corpse is NEVER violent, you see.
“a corpse is NEVER violent”. Apparently, you have never seen a zombie movie.
Although this *IS* a fair point, it’s not something that can (currently) happen in this universe/continuity…
…at least not until the Esteemed Author decides otherwise.
My original comment was based on V’s statement on Pg.274:
[https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1559]
Not yet… (see bonus strip and DaveB’s comments above it.)
Or a real vampire movie.
“Have you seen my mummy?”
~Little kid in a Dr. Who episode
Another answer would be a specialized telekinetic who moves dead bodies: a ‘Necro-kinetic’. Similar idea to any Necromancer who is head of an army of zombies but with the technicality of using psionic telekinesis instead of magic.
With no authority to do so, Halo ordered Jiggawatt to put her non-indestructible head where V could pull it off, trusting Maxima to act before that happens.
Jiggs could have said no. She is willing to try in order to rescue Max. Sydney is the only one with a plan.
She’s the only one with a plan. The options were follow the person who might know how to beat the guy killing our boss, or ignore the situation
One does wonder if she could have neutralized V’s electricity with a long range darkning attack instead.
So, did anyone else notice that Halo has 8 orbs instead of 7 in the 3rd panel?
Something Dave should fix.
i think you’re confusing Sydney’s poofy ponytail after it goes thru the hair-scrunchie thing as an orb… that panel only shows seven orbs.
This is not the first time this paticular incident has occurred.
Ah, you are indeed correct. Thanks for the clarification!
‘Hypnoboobs (all glory to them)’ < needs to be a wallpaper.
And a shirt. Definitely a shirt.
Hypnoboobs work better when there’s no shirt to block the view…
Body paint it is.
I’d like to suggest that DaveB should NOT make that a wallpaper…
…but only because it’s much better-suited to be an animated GIF, you see.
animated phone/computer wallpaper gets a vote
By the way, when did jiggawats hair change color? It went from white to yellow.
Dug back. All the way back on 234 her hair mysteriously changes yellow. Can’t believe I didn’t catch it before.
About the time people in the comments kept bringing up her physical resemblance to Storm from the X-Men. It was thought their power sets were different enough but the author is making some tweaks to seal the difference.
Understandable. I saw her picture in the who’s who where she’s got white hair.
I do think she looks better with white hair though.
Maybe he could try electric blue.
I think it was changed because of similarities to Storm.
Nevermind being a Storm expy, Jiggawatt’s color scheme works better as white-haired.
It’s one of those minor art tweaks to be rolled backwards when DaveB gets a chance, along with swapping from a 5-point to a 6-point star and a couple of others that I can’t remember offhand. If he gets a chance, that is.
what is that pokemon thing in this update?
It’s the rad muncher that Dabbler teleported in earlier.
Danger is no reason for typos, she should have taken half a second to spell check.
To paraphrase:
“When seconds count, the cops are minutes away.”
OR
“Ain’t nobody got time for ‘dat!”