Grrl Power #285 – Power down
So yeah, Sydney’s plan ultimately boils down to “choke him out” which isn’t tremendously imaginative, but she did have to jump through quite a few hoops to get there first.
The fight does at long last finally end on the next page. Normally that would be a spoiler, but it’s been a long time coming and a lot of people have been ready for it for a while. I would include myself among them, but I say that while wryly looking at how much stuff I cut from the fight. Some of it is dialog that I’ll probably edit and save for later, some of it’s stuff I can use in other fights, but honestly it may be a while before there’s another big action sequence.
In case it’s at all confusing, panel 4 is supposed to be Sydney checking the time while water splashes off her shield, but looking at the page fresh just before I post it, I could see someone thinking her wrist thing is bursting or she’s blocking a splash with it? Maybe I’ll move the splash lower when I go back through and start doing edits for the book.
(Sorry for the delay in posting. I moronically scheduled the post for “the next day” forgetting that I was starting to write the post after midnight, so it was already the 19th.)
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First. HA!
“First” is so last century. Please please get a life of some sort.
Yeah, I got got told of for that
Doh! damn typo’s never an edit button when you want one
it should say
“Yeah, I got told of for that”
There were two typos: (forgot the second ‘f’ in off)
“Yeah, I got told off for that”
Actually, “Yeah, I got told off for that.” If you don’t punctuate, how will we know when….to….breathe….. Oh sorry, V.
Yep, now that V’s exclamation point has been erased, Sydney’s ready to put a period at the end of his sentence…
So how long do you think his sentence will be?
I’d guess that even women would be having sympathy for a guy who has a 40-50 year period…
I get your point, but unless other readers leave space to reflect, they might have a question mark hanging over your indent.
I’d rather a question mark than leaving everyone’s participles dangling.
That’s only a problem if your participles dangle in public, like Vehemence’s did.
Yeay you. For the next level of achievement, try to actually post something usefull for a change, instead of being a waste of internet space
Missed your morning cup of coffee there buddy?
Achievement Unlocked: Wasting a chance to put an insightful comment right at the top of the page.
Reward: Internet Mockery.
+1
Nice use of humour, rather than a harsher form of put-down.
*flinches at the words ‘put-down’, with a slight whine.
Sometimes I just link “Weird” Al’s “Lame Claim To Fame” to comment about being first.
Wow… V should have just posted “first” rather than starting a super fight
Um. I don’t see anything.
And of course now I do. *sigh*
Hrm. I have the same “no comic” issue, and lots of force reloading aint fixing it…
Commenting seems to get the comic to load. That is… weird.
Well, can’t see the comic yet so….Pinecones.
Here goes nothing. Computer magic strikes again?
What? Did someone’s computer pass the “Smoke Test?” Did someone let the magic smoke out of the components on the motherboard?
Only problem with that is trying to get the smoke back in; it’s pretty much impossible.
Eh, worth a shot…
Beep boop can I haz comic if I comment? No? Yes?
Yush! Sydney gets props, wew!
“Can I get that commendation in writing?…Just for the record?”
And a shiny to go with it.
Sydney won’t get any gold stars though, until a few years after passing Officer Candidate Training.
Shinys are also medals. Saving your CO might not get you a pay raise but they usually hand out other stuff.
“For service above and beyond the call of duty”.
I had the same issue. I had to go to a different page, then come back. It doesn’t show up on the main grrlpowercomic.com, you have to use the actual archive link.
that didnt work for me
Going through the archive link fixed it for me (both Firefox & Chrome).
I usually bookmark each page as I link to it after any new posting, so I always start from the archive. I’ve never had any problem with just hitting “next” to get the new page…Which I bookmark before I even read it.
Refreshed three times worked for me.
Why is Max’s text a different font now? Is it because now that she’s power-dumped into strength, she over pronounces all her words? Like her vocal cords are so strong that they grate? Eh.
Will Vehemence’s arm revert to normal? Like the metal plates break off or something?
1st Comment! (?)
Damn. Beaten to the punch.
She just had a rough day. And now a rough throat.
Yeah, I imagined she sounded Pony to me :)
…This is the point where I’m just waiting for Dr. Revenge to jump in with:
“FOR PONY!”
Me too, although I was fishing for another response :p
Well you might hook a dog fish or even a cat fish, but a pony fish? Apparently it does exist!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponyfish
Epic backfire… it was too obvious, right?
Would a “seahorse” do?
Her throat is hurt, so it would be a ‘sea hoarse”
If it hurts too much, she can use horse whispering.
Whinny!
I missed the mane event – another punfest! 8-(
Maybe also be called a “C Horse,” because Max’s throat had gotten a bit Constricted or Compressed…Not as much as V’s throat is now, though.
Some of these pun threads can stampede out of control, if they are not reined in early, and rear up as a nightmare!
I refuse to try to corral this bunch. No sense getting roped in to an impossible task.
I see no reason to beat a dead horse.
How else are you going to tenderize it?
I prefer fresh cut light seared .
And cooked to perfection by Fwoosh.
Of course .
“20% cooler”? Or, perhaps you meant foal? :P
No, “a little hoarse” :p
But yeah… she’s also 20% cooler now. :D
It’s cause she spent several minutes with one of the strongest people in the world trying to crush her windpipe.
Yeah, that always gives me a sore throat too ;D
Well, at least Maxima got the chance to return V’s favor for that…
I’m glad you considered that detail, it shows very close attentiveness. :D
Crushed windpipes take a little repairing. I’m actually quite happy to see different fonts. Most of your are probably too young to remember POGO, but Walt Kelly did a lot of pioneering work, among it using different fonts for different characters. In a visual medium, it’s a very useful technique.
The Mansion of E has a different font for every race, and there are a lot of them. Plus some individuals merit their own, unique font. Likewise Flaky Pastry has distinctive colours and/or background shades for each principal character’s speech bubbles.
Which can be very helpful when one, or more, characters are not in shot, but are speaking in a particular panel. Of course, DaveB gets around that with chibis. But it can also help clarify who is saying which particular line, if the layout does not make it clear which comment belongs to which individual.
It is interesting to see how the different techniques are applied in each instance though. Each has it’s pros and cons, but they all work well, using their own approach.
A technique which is particularly useful where bubble-tails have to cross to get the right order of speaking.
I like how Flaky Pastry does it, sometimes I wish I had but it’s easy to find color combinations that some or all people have trouble with.
Mmm, I had not considered that. It works for Flaky Pastry because they only have the three protagonists, and any other characters only appear rarely and in limited numbers. For the most part. Whereas the cast list here is big (albeit not vast, like in the Mansion of E).
So, even finding shades that were not a problem with colour-blind folks, the sheer number of colours that would be involved would mean that some could easily be mistaken for another character’s shade.
Welll…
At least for the members of Archon, you could, I guess, reproduce their choker-patterns as a transparency behind the text of their bubble, with slight color to it. (idk, maybe 20-35% opacity?)
You would only need to put it in the bubble once, across the top, (behind the first 2-3 rows of text) because that would be noticeable enough to be fairly obvious.
If the bubble were crammed into the screen because nearly everyone was talking (like when Sydney was trying to think of a fitting name), it probably wouldn’t matter that you wouldn’t have enough room to fit that callsign-image (I can’t think of a good thing to call it), because when everyone is talking over each other, it’s either for massive angst, for humor, or because someone is about to have a Flash of Insight that begets a Pin-Drop Moment. (And they usually get named specifically in the following moments, along with phrases of varying levels of incredulity.)
The Lydian Option has different fonts for different (translated) alien languages. Lots of gore and splatter, but most of it green 8-)
Sigh Pogo now I feel old.
We have met the enemy… and we’re both growing older?
I may grow old but I will never grow up!
Of Course!… ’cause then you couldn’t be a Toys-R-Us Kid!!!
Haven’t been there in ages.
Though Gen – Con beats it to hell and back.
Hm, hadn’t considered the super strength angle. I just assumed it had something to do with effectively getting crushed/choked out for the past few minutes.
She has been being choked for a while, even through her armor. You try getting choked for a while and then see if you can still talk normally. :P
Well crap. None of those comments above mine were there before… *facepalm*
I had the same thought/reaction when I posted mine too.
Proves we’re all addicts. ;p
Naw, we’re just adding more padding to our comment-nesting.
Proves we’re spammers instead. ;p
I am not addicted……..I can give this up anytime I want to maaaan! *sniff sniff* hey is it Thursday yet I need my fix !! come oooooooooon maan, just need a little bit of Dabbler to tide me over.
Sounds like you could use a visit to Dave’s Deviantart page.
Wasn’t Jiggawatt supposed to be the one holding his arm, or there somewhere? is that her arm reaching in from the side and holding one of the arm stones?
Dark skin, golden manicured nails, I’m going to say yes, that’s Jiggawatt.
Ah yes I hadn’t noticed the nails
Yeah I had to make some choices when drawing this page concerning the economics of character placement. Jiggawatt should be wrapped around his arm and you really should be able to see the back of Anvil and probably the guys across from her holding his legs but this page and the previous double page took about 7 and a half days to get knocked out. Instead imagine she’s holding one of the crystals gingerly and trying to stay out of the way in case anyone’s grip slips.
That makes good sense for Jiggs. She got one free flying lesson tonight and she is in pretty rough shape anyway.
That’s not even including that Jiggy’s flying lesson came after being on ground zero for a sonic boom…
She’s a walking thunderclap, I’m sure a little sonic boom is no big deal! :D
Well, she was already deaf from her first encounter, so the sonic part shouldn’t be a problem there :p
Oh yeah it make perfect sense for her to stay out the way, and it would take forever to work out where everyone was in a proper dog pile, I think you managed to get across that they’re all there somewhere without making the panel too cluttered.
I understand her trepidation. Considering all the super-strong people grappling him, if she gets pinched between some wrastling folks it could go bad for a squishy human.
Plus, there is the water issue.
She is electric based in her powers. Anyone remember Misfits of Science?
Oh yes finally! You had us worried there, Dave, where were you?!
Yay! V didn’t have 4th wall breaking artist killing powers!
Also, I still sincerely hope death-tolling him will be the final blow.
I did suggest that several pages back, when Sydney first saw the aura. Death Toll was, oddly, unaffected. Which leads me to believe that his powers are at least partly automatic. Which means that it is possible that flopping him on Vehemence’s back might have a similar effect to how he downed Anvil earlier. That would be funny to see.
Except V isn’t attacking so it wouldn’t trigger Death Toll’s counter-power? I guess V has to concentrate to make his less usual “Any-Thing-Goes” powers happen. Living off vehemence must not be a basic part of his powers?
Simply slamming him into Dt probably wouldn’t work. However, he might not be the most level-headed person when they let him out of that pool, so they’d probably be able to bait-and-dodge him into punching Dt at full vhemic strength. If Opal, who was never sedated, is still conscious, she could further simplify the issue.
They could insert DT somewhere, I am sure one end might have a few violent reactions shortly if the other end cant breathe which should trigger DT off quite well.
So if we send Harem out for a purple wig, gold paint, a bra and several boxes of tissues… Yes, I could see him attacking DT straight away!
Well that or dating “him”
I made the same observation. There is, of course, the possibility that his powers do in fact not work when he’s unconscious, which allowed the aura to wake him just enough for his powers to prevent any further effect. In that case, he’d be unlikely to survive.
Dt has been around as a suggestion for ages.
The DT suggestion is only a little way behind using the shield to choke Veh comment.
*gasp shudder shudder gasp* Oh yeah, DaveB. That’s the stuff. Got my fix, finally. Whew! Thought I was a goner around 9:00 a.m. Serious withdrawal.
“First.”?!? Isn’t that last millennium? Are we going Retro? If so, then XYZZY beeyatches!
If you start talking leet….
I was talking leet in the ’70’s, back when we still admitted to our typos.
Back into the black? What does that mean? Did his runes start out as black or is it a figure of speach?
Accounting phrase. Often, when we make up a balance sheet, or any reports really, negative numbers are denoted in red while positive ones are in black to make it easier to understand when the boss is looking at them. So Vehemence going back into the black would mean he would start getting stronger again.
And thus ballance out at a point where his input from the drowning attempt equals his output from staying alive, and will be able to hold that point indefinitly (and even flail around a little to tire out the people trying to kill him)
Yep, eventually he will hit equilibrium, which answers one of my questions. I figured he needed greater and greater LEVELS of violence to keep getting stronger past a certain point. So that means, if they get him back to “normal” and lock him up in a nice super strong cell, even with random bits of violence nearby it should never be enough for him to escape because two nerds slap fighting each other for a million years wont eventually bring him back to this level of power.
No balancing out. Being in the black is profiting so he would get stronger to the point he could overpower them again and keep increasing.
That depends on what dictates how much power he’s losing. If he just passively loses a percentage of power, he’ll ballance out. If it’s directly based on how big he is, he could shrink down and start gaining power again. But if he shrinks back down, he’s not strong enough to directly take on Maxima (he got stronger from growing). So Maxima can blow his head off
I think she’s reffering to his suit (which he is too large to fit atm.
Meaning no more power to burn, reverting to ‘normal’.
Actually, I misread it. Kale’s explanation is the right one.
I’m pretty sure that it just means when his markings turn back to black, when he was closer to a regular human. Black in accounting is positive so is not desirable to have him at a positive amount of power.
I initially thought that (empty his reserves till he is ‘normal’, not even white stripes) till Sydney followed up with the line of finishing this up once and for all.
He he. I like the final comment about prison breaks et al. Not to mention the righteously happy Sydney. Well worth waiting for.
*slips out of gorilla suit and tu-tu, with a sigh of relief*
Sydney is about to blackmail V into promising to be a good boy or next time it’s a sewer line.
Yeah, that sounds like Sydney, all right.
Haha, love how Sydney is all casual like “so, what’s up after this? Party?”. She’s not even slightly worried smoething might go wrong at this point.
Well, she did say she had stuff to do later. Maybe she just wants to make sure she won’t be late for whatever it is. *gasp* Will we get to meet Sydney Scoville Sr.!?
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1541
She has to go to the gaming group. . .
It’s still a few months until the game at the beginning of the comic, so I can’t imagine her being in that big of a hurry to get there, but you just might be on to something.
Did she actually mention a gaming group at some point in the comic that I have since forgotten about?
Not specifically. But that game is in the back of the shop (possibly the one we have seen already or maybe in a new location), which implies that she may have been a regular gamer, since before the comic even began. Many gamers get into it at school, and carry on into later life. It would certainly go some way to explaining her grasp of tactics, which such gaming does help to refine.
Points which could be used in a counter-argument is that role playing is extremely common in the armed forces. You always see a strong turn out from the various arms of the military, on both sides of the Atlantic at Gen Con (*sniff* or you did, back when there was a UK version). Plus we know that Maxima is an ex-nerd. So it is possible that she encouraged Sydney into gaming, as a useful way to channel her energies.
Also Sydney has only just met a couple of the members of the gaming group, so clearly she was not gaming with those particular individuals, prior to today. Although there is nothing which would prevent them from becoming friends, and then being invited to join her group, as new members. In the following months.
Plenty of them show up for the original GEN-CON.
Assuming that Sydney is currently a gamer, and that tonight also happens to be gaming night, I rather doubt that she will prioritise that. Not over celebratory drinks, getting dinner (she must be starving, having been interrupted!) And/or appearing on late night talk shows, getting debriefed or whatever other official duties she might have before being pointed at bed.
I rate myself as a fanatical gamer. But even I would not prioritise a gaming session, after what she has been through today, from the bank robbery onwards.
Plus, if tonight was game night, she would probably have contacted the group already, straight after calling her folks. Given that, at that point, she was just settling into a meal with her new colleagues, with the possibility that might take up most of the evening.
Sydney’s gaming group has the same style problems as the two Star Wars trilogy. Even though the second set of movies occur before the later, the people have more advanced ships and tech. The original GP comics occur after the current ‘flashback’ but have less detailed artwork. Dave may have to redo a few of the fist pages for the print version.
One favor please Dave. When you do release the printed version, please don’t do a later ‘Director’s Cut’ re-issue with additional CGI animals and buildings in the desert scenes.
All hail Darth Jar-Jar.
Vast overarching interstellar war DOES tend to wipe out most of the “advanced” stuff. Practicality trumps luxury at wartime while luxury trumps practicality during peacetime. The Millenium Falcon is a bit of an odd duck. Although starting life as a luxury yacht for Lando, it is ALSO very practical for a smuggler like Han Solo (who won it in a bet). The reason there no more is because the factory that used to make them was co-opted by the Empire to make Ty and Y wing fighters.
Holy crap, you’re right — all 1500+ comics cover less than one day. Wow. That means that Sydney knew all these people for, like, 3-4 hours (maybe 6-7 for Max) before they got into a superfight and she started telling them what to do.
Yup. But the other thing to consider is that the unit has only just been formed. She may be the newest recruit, but they are all still relatively new to each other (barring a few pre-existing long term friendships, from before they were brought together here).
Note how Maxima was encouraging the team to break up their usual pairings, at the dinner. They are familiar each other, but not well enough that anybody feels comfortable with the rest of the team. They are still at the breaking the ice stage.
What they do know, from sparring, is that Math is the most skilled fighter amongst them. And Sydney has managed to K.O. him! Plus her shield withstood Maxima’s nuke attack. The combination of those two feats will have had quite an impression.
Throw in her genre-savvy nerd knowledge, at a time when everything they were doing was only making the enemy stronger, and that acceptance of her leadership becomes more credible.
Maxim 2. A Sergeant in motion outranks a Lieutenant who doesn’t know what’s going on.
We are only on page #285 right now.
The 1500 is page count of comments.
Is that how that count works? Thank you Dr.Revenge. That has been bugging me forever.
You’re kidding, right?
Sydney just joined a military outfit.
Now, before even going through Basic, she has been attacked by an enemy force, involved in active combat, made first contact with a previously unknown enemy organization, taken part in an action on american soil that resulted in destruction of both government and civilian property, played hopscotch with her own chain of command (“you don’t direct combat operations Scoville”) and about a dozen other things.
It doesn’t matter what she prioritizes. She will be in debriefings and filling out paperwork for at least a week. And even if nobody plans to prosecute her they will take the opportunity to make her intensely aware that someone COULD, and repeat the “you are a representative of the United States, Soldier” speech at least three times a day.
She is also, underneath her bluster, nervous, insecure and has been thrust into an unprecedented situation in the full glare of the onlooking world. Maxima is clearly insightful, and understands this. Plus realises that Sydney is in the same ball-park power as herself.
In other words, Halo has enough power to raze a city-block, if she goes off the rails! Maxima will not be thoughtless enough to push her too far, too fast. If any of the aspects you list starts to overwhelm Sydney, Maxima will find a way to ease off the pressure.
Regular recruits can expect a tough time, including hazing. Sydney will only be exposed to what Maxima feels she can handle. If that sounds unrealistic consider the consequences. A normal recruit that quits (or commits suicide), just gets replaced by somebody else who can handle the pressure. If they loose Halo there is no comparable replacement possible. Even worse if she goes bad!
Plus do not forget ‘to the victor goes the spoils’. Halo has just become a national hero. A super hero, to boot. Normal military rules will only apply where they serve to make her a stronger and better member of the unit. If they get in the way, there will be a lot of grateful individuals who will bend the rules.
Not least those who’s lives have been saved by her actions. Including her commanding officer. If anybody gives Sydney bull shit about destruction of property, it is they who will be taught that lives take precedence over property. In no uncertain terms.
There is also the fact that Maxima clearly stated being open to suggestions and asking for options. Sydney would have been remiss in her duties had she NOT done this.
Since other members of Arc SWAT are also civilians just joining (Jiggawatt and Harem come to mind), Max has probably already modified the training and discipline styles to better suit the situation and avoid losing anyone. When Harem broke in on their secret meeting to evaluate Sydney, Max only growled at her. In a true military unit, Harem would end up with a formal reprimand or worse, since it was a repeat offense. And Math and Dabbler are not even military. Both are listed as Civilian Specialists. Max is dealing with a unique bunch in a very unique situation.
i believe you would call that an “Atypical” situation, hmm…?
V is thrashing around in a panic. They have won, but it is taking a lot of time.
Yea, the beauty of both a noose around his neck AND drowning him, is that they can pull him out of the water without stopping choking him
‘Once and for all’, she says. When even death could not keep people down. ;p
Sydney tells him to play nice, V will pay attention. He enjoys breathing too much. It will take a while for the nightmare of being defeated by a 90 pound kid to fade away.
Yeah just ask just ask Shadow Boxer aka Mr. Crushed Nuts when he wakes up.
Even as flexible as Mr. Amorphorous is, Sydney still gave him a good “what for?”
:D
unfortunately that example is null and void, because he was supposed to stay “in character” as a squishy human for the bank job… therefore he COULDN’T do anything about it except get wailed on by Sydney… remember the whole point was to “expose” MAXIMA as a superhero… getting Sydney was a happy coincidence that they were NOT planning on.
You can never plan on Sydney.
Heck, nobody can plan on Sydney. Most of the time, Sydney doesn’t even plan on herself, mostly going on pure improvisation. But when the going got tough, Sydney is capable of planning on herself.
And that’s when you start running if you are opposing her.
Waterboarding to the rescue?
Waterboarding creates the illusion of drowning. V is getting the real deal.
Don’t you actually drown for real with waterboarding, just slower than usual?
I thought I read that somewhere
Yep, people can die of being waterboarded.
From what I just read, you can drown on your own vomit. Also, part of “simulating drowning” is oxygen deprivation, so it could definitely kill you through suffocation if it went on long enough.
Lovely conversations we have, hey?
Comes of reading too many comics. Just ask Dr. Wertham or any modern counterpart of him. :\
i only see a white pixel ?
Happened to me, too. Just refresh and it should eventually fix itself.
If F5 does not work, try shift F5 (assuming you are using Windows).
CTRL+F5 for chrome and firefox.
that worked thank you !
I’m Just waiting for the phone call to the president; ” Mr president in the interest of this guy not going super saiyan you need to make world peace happen and now…. No you can’t attack or be violent to do it”
Well, guess Republicans would be out of the question.
And quite a few democrats too. *cough* Al Sharpton *cough* Michael Moore *cough* and several race-baiters that have been making the news recently.
I’m pretty sure that when you get down to it, those boundaries would be a challenge for MOST humans, whatever their religious or party affiliation.
NOOOOOO!!! It was late and now its not loading for me!!!
BLARGH!!!
Force it to reload it from scratch and it pops up just fine. Same thing happened to me.
Today has not been a good day.
Sydney’s face is so different from the others and lends itself so well to basic anime type faces. She would probably be fairly easy to animate.
(◠‿◠)
So cute. She deserves a cookie!
One of those dinner plate size decorated cookies.
First is in the last century.
Now, you have to write “LAST” in the last comment… :)
Last!
But considering how much people keep adding comments, how is one to know when to post their “last” as the last comment?
:/
Therein lies the challenge. Everyone who finds the thread could post the “last” comment…
Oh no, this is even worse than “first”!
Not really: 1 minute to update time usually guarantees a last post.
I guarantee that this is the last post.
You, sir, are 50% correct.
Here, have half a cookie ^_^
Hmm, where did the hair occluding Maxima’s face go to in the penultimate pannel?
A quick head toss?
I can’t see the page, all I see is a single gray pixel ;_;
The page is just very very far away. If you do not have a pair of binoculars, you can bring it closer by pressing F5.
Or, depending on your browser, you could us the “zoom page” function: With Firefox, it’s Ctrl + to zoom in, Ctrl – to zoom out.
You might have to hit that multiple times to get it where you want it…Good luck.
;)
Reload the data. (so it ignores the cache which it uses in a normal refresh)
Maxima’s smile of gratitude may be the most attractive she’s looked yet.
She should smile more often. Maybe Sydney can help her with that as well.
Dabbler’s been trying to do that, to no avail…
Wrong approach. Fun to watch though.
still trying to figure out how she got Maxima to say Trouser Ferret.
Max probably slapped a security clearance on that whole incident that is above Gen. Falk’s pay grade.
Ask Leon.
Which is funny, since that’s one of the major things she seems to be unhappy about. Her looks make her feel like people assume she’s just eye candy so she has to work 200% harder at being taken seriously.
Her cast page even describes it quite clearly. By focusing on her attractiveness (and not her astounding asskickery) you’ve highlighted her concerns perfectly.
She doesn’t want people to JUST see her as eye candy. I doubt she doesn’t want people to think she’s attractive, she just wants them to also see her other qualities.
Or that’s how I interpet it atleast
That’s also how I saw it. Kinda hard to avoid being photogenic when even your super genes conspire to make you look hot. As far as I can tell, being attractive for Max is no big deal so long as that’s not the only thing people see.
I’m pretty sure Max wouldn’t be happy with being seen as anything less than awe-inspiring.
Uh… okay? I’m not sure how commenting that a given picture is the most attractive I’ve ever seen is reducing the person to only attractiveness. It was a comparison to previous comics. Rest assured I would also comment along the lines of “that’s the hardest we’ve ever seen Max hit someone” or “that’s the angriest Dabbler has ever looked.”
I think the second to last panel of this comic, is a close contender. Although I may be biassed, because I find that Sydney’s expressions in the last three panels to be amongst her cutest. So I get a double whammy, on that page. It is why I use that page as my default log in page, for the comic.
For sure, that one’s up there too. :)
When Max lets herself relax, she looks much more at peace.
Wow a lot of people are having issues with this page
Yes but it was an easy thing to fix. I used reload. Yorp apparently got it to work with just refresh.
Thousands of people camped out on the server, all stabbing at the refresh button. So it is not surprising it is straining under the load. We just need to be careful that we do not break the internet!
better us than those Kardashian creatures
So, what stops V. from using his aggro Aura right now? Just the panic of drowning?
Just exactly that. The aura seems to require mental focus to start, like his other vehemic spells. He’s draining energy on some generalized “don’t die” power right now.
Perhaps his newer “Whatever-V-Can-Dream-Up” powers require concentration meaning he can only do one at a time (finally a limitation!) and MAYBE not only is feeding vehemic energy to his cells’ metabolisms (so many little mouths to feed tiny trickles of transformed energy. If they can’t eat the raw violence juice.) qualify as a non-standard (dreamt up) power like Ka-Pants but is a channeled power ( another limitation!! We are on a roll!) to boot requiring constant concentration (preventing refocusing on a new dreamed up power) where once Power Pants are spawned they just exist without any further concentration needed.
I don’t think Sydney really thought some of that out. I mean its hard to account for V’s unusual magical expanding power set at this charge level. I think she just came up with the least violent idea she could from her comics etc.. and got lucky with the rest. If he hadn’t panicked he literally could have done anything in the time it would have taken for lack of oxygen to force him to switch to channeling power to his metabolism. However he was indeed truly bothered by Maxima trying to “limb” him and then was quickly put through some instinctively terribly upsetting attacks. I could see him panicking if he’s only human underneath it all. So with the proviso that there was a lot of luck (or lack of good dice rolls on V’s part) involved along the way I’m thinking this is an acceptable win. Which considering some of the concerns going into these end stages makes it a mighty shiny thing indeed! ^0^
Huh, not sure this is attached where I wanted it to be attached? OH well… silly system.
Additionally the aggro aura in this case might just make people continue drownding him. Does it mean they can’t focus their aggression on him?
True though some of them might randomly switch targets once filled with the desire to do violence a fresh. Cooperation doesn’t seem like it is encouraged by aura. Everybody just looks like a nail to your hammer.
The guy who tricked you into this stupidity, hurt your friends, wrecked your dinner party, didn’t help fight during his own party, etc might be the most attractive target is what I’m thinking.
Hey, that makes perfect sense to me. I just don’t remember seeing tons of logic in the free for all the aura caused.
The BEST reason that they would keep on attacking Vehemence, based on the aura induced free for all, would be that he is the nearest target: Most of them are touching him already. That’s basically the reason allies attacked allies in the free for all right? The ally was the closest live target.
If he managed a force wall push at the same time or right after wards he might knock some of them loose enough to re-target. Don’t know if he can do any of his made-up-must-focus-powers while pushing the aura though. Seems like the aura would be a channeled effect? Preventing other actions not “built in” already like his strength etc… But then again he managed “wizard unlock” at the same time so maybe aura is close enough to his natural power set that it doesn’t require as much focus?
Hilariously there is apparently some sort of rivalry going on between Stalwart and Hiro over who’s second strongest.
from their power sets it might be a case of the “Unstoppable vs. Immoveable”
Hmm. No picture
Is Halo’s shield being permeable? If it’s able to block out air shouldn’t it block water too?
Dave’s comment notes the splashes are bouncing off her shield. Perspective issues are requiring a redraw from him. Panel one you can see the shield reacting as the water flows around it.
Wasn’t the splashes but the water around her feet.
Since it appears that commenting gets the comic to load for some reason, here it is.
well here goes
Did it work for y’all?
eventually, I was outside when it loaded.
i wanna see it too
Wait…back when we first encountered this guy…didn’t someone guess this? I know it wasn’t me, but I seem to remember, can’t find the comment though.
Hard to say when it started but there have been lots of calls to strangle and choke with either balls or Light Hook (or both) so I guess the general idea has been sent forth. Or are you talking about the shallow puddle of water? I don’t think anybody saw V-zilla going down to a baby drowning pool… Ocean’s yes. Puddle no.
Even calls to choke and strangle his balls, insert molestorb where the sun doesn’t shine and so on… :)
The first was just silly but the second. That just has the ring of awesome. ;)
Please tell me if he loses power he doesn’t end up buck nekkid again. *shudders. :)
He may have to poke some arm holes in his stretchy pants. The funny part might be the size of parts that were regenerated after he reached his “super-size”.
Nah, the pants are not illusionairy (Sydney checked for stuf with her commball). It may have costed him power to make the pants, but they are real now
Would a solid hologram hold up to casual scrutiny without her fiddling with the true sight orbs controls? I mean its kind of there? Its not really a strict hologram I guess.
P.S. I think the pants are real real just wondering.
Well Sydney looked straight through a Succubus Glamor by simply touching the orb. And that’s apparently one of the most powerfull illusions around
If I combine everybodies’ answers it sound like it would maybe see through the merely light part of the construct but maybe you would see the lines and contours of the “fields” of energy or whatever that makes it “solid”. Thus revealing the truth of its nature: Not a regular item but don’t try walking through it. Ouch!
I’m just guessing, but something like Green Lantern’s stuff would show as real but a tangible hologram acting as camouflage might be seen through. We will see.
So, a ‘hard light’ hologram? Ka-Rimmer…
You’ve been “shipping” with the Red Dwarf, haven’t you?
;)
It just sounded better than Ka-EMH.
^_^
It also rolls off the tongue more easily than “KA-Smeghead.”
time to unpack Rachel and get out the puncture repair kit !
Max is actually smiling in this comic. Is she allowed to do that?
As for the ‘once and for all’ tactic, my (highly logical) hypothesis is:
– Sydney is looking at Max’s ear in this comic and realizes that Max is part Vulcan.
– Sydney gets Max to perform a Vulcan neck pinch on V and renders him unconscious.
– They put him in a cage full of tribbles that sap any negative emotions from his surroundings, keeping him in a permanently de-powered state.
“intention” is only for taste. it is not required for him to power up.
Yeah, one of our posters went wild telling everybody that a while back. He filled every page of comments for an update with that idea.
Sadly, while he meant to do a good thing, he was a bit off in his interpretation of the quotes available but by the time I went around with the author’s quotes that proved him to be wrong a strong impression of “fact” had been imprinted in a lot of reader’s brains.
ANY violence will feed him, even if no sentients were present HOWEVER, intent increases the quality of his violence chow meaning that he most likely gets a much better charge out of violence with intent behind it.
Thanks to the above I will most likely be saying this anytime V shows up for the rest of time despite the author putting a re-mention of the quality thing in one of his underblogs. Seriously, SERIOUSLY, we need a FAQ page for some of these cause I loose track of the exact page some of these author quotes are on and almost everybody insists on a quote before they will believe you. (which I admit is occasionally a righteous request. *cough* Pander *cough*)
I think I can find this one OK. But pwease don’t make me. These comments take long enough.
Maybe we should start a wiki so that quotes relevant to topics are easier to find and can just point people at that when questions come up?
That has been set up, but not populated yet.
https://grrl-power.wikia.com/wiki/Grrl_Power_Wiki
It occurred to me. That while I was looking up (well trying to look up… *sigh*) a quote for Pander I should have been slapping all of Dave’s more comic relevant quotes into a file.
I was actually going through every darn page of comments. Took forever. Oh well heinie sight and all that. :(
Everybody is free to sign up and add to the Wiki.
I have had no time to fill it up.
So yeah, I encourage it, even.
Heinie-sight usually means that it’s the “end” of the discussion…
O.o
or someone is sat on your face.
:-D
the cast section has to be expanded.
also, sometimes the “who’s who” is sometimes missing people on the page.
like right now there is CLEARLY vehemence on the page, and is not listed.
also, who is the blue shirt guy behind maxima?
I think when there are a lot of “important” people doing important things on the page he collapses the Who’s Who to those with speaking roles.
Certainly the cast section will require reboots off and on forever. Kind of daunting really. I’ve noticed most cast pages on many comics never get a second update even if the author is very active otherwise. Spoilers is probably a concern for part of it as well.
But if he made a WOG page (even better than a FAQ page for this crew) then every time Dave replies with a WOG he thinks will stand the test of time he could just cut and paste it into existence on that page. (if updating pages is harder than that with this set up forgive me but I think the only course I ever took for such was a basic HTML course way back and I never used it) Commenting efficiency would increase by leaps and bounds. I might even be able to have time to eat and take showers on update day again…..
Oh well, I can dream right?
I once read a webcomic where the authors posted a new cast page with every chapter. What would have been a snerk in chapter one, wasn’t mentioned until the cast page for chapters two or three. Some misinformation was even present. The cast page was pretty much what had been shown to date.
Unfortunately, that webcomic seems to have ended its run, but I’m still enjoying it’s sibling publication.
That sounds great as long as it is clearly marked in the archives.
Dave has sort of reserved the Who’s Who entries to those who had speaking parts in the comic. Vehemence is having a difficult time in trying to talk about anything right now…
Oh! Forgot to say that is Mr. Amorphous. Heatwaves concerned boyfriend I believe. His artwork has evolved and he changed shirts somewhere.
Only characters with dialogue are put into the Who’s Who. No word bubble, no inclusion.
A formal introduction is also required. Even if a charming doggy were to have a speech bubble, unless he got an introduction, he would not appear in the Who’s Who.
You don’t need no stinking introduction.
Indeed, your speech bubble as your introduction…You should’ve been in the Who’s Who for that.
Blue shirt is Amorphous.
Of course she is but only if she’s truly happy or has an awesomely creative idea for non-judicial punishment or taking down a perp.
Take him down with a passive attack rather than a active attack. Besides it’s hard to concentrate once you’ve been punched in the throat and then had a noose cinched down for good measure.
Keep seeing hairy butt instead of V’s shoulder in first frame. Damn ><
Aaaaaah! What has been seen cannot be unseen – now I see it too. That was evil.
In fourth one too…
Not to worry…I’ve replenished my stocks of Brain Bleach™ & there’s been enough need for it during the course of this fight to still keep up profitable sales numbers, even with a continuing discount offer…
;)
Now a desperately want a future villain or hero to have their legs be a massive arm and fist of doom! What the heck would you call a half man half arm/fist super?
I want to say Fistaur after Centaur but etymology wise that makes no sense.
Armstrong? Seems like every universe has at least one of them so looses massive originality points.
Armsman? Man-at-Arm? Armwrestler? Paddy-Cake? Knuckles? Right-Hand-Man? (nickname Right or Righty?) The Squeeze? Godzilla’s Girlfriend?
??
ShoulderMASS and his enchanting sidekick KneeBoob!
How about having someone like that on the hero-side? He (or she!) could use a code name like “The Law,” as in, “The Long Arm of…”
Nah, that would be stepping on Judge Dredd’s lines…”I AM the Law!”
“And I’m the Long Arm of It!”
… It could work.
I thought Peggy was the long arm of the law.
Or is she just the long distance plan?
I, so, want a receiver with the old Bell logo engraved on it.
Fisto! *a cookie if you get the reference*
2 Fallout references 1 of which is a sex-bot.
Hmm…
This guy (https://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091215090238/heman/images/e/e5/Fisto.jpg) from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe back in the 80s?
Gamesman got it. The New Vegas sexbot FISTO. =P
There was also a power fist named “Fisto” in Fallout 3.
yeah but there’s a reason I used New Vegas. (Besides my Courier being a reprogrammed Pleasure Android. Gotta love Mods.)
I heard that when the series was over he went back to his true love, Proctology .
X_X Nope.noooope,nopenopenopenopenope!
Mr. Adamas Dr. Fisto is ready for you in exam room 13.
*runs away still saying “nopenopenopenopenopenope!”
“Cues chase music “
*”Yakety Sax” starts playing and suddenly a bunch of bikini-clad women and a gorilla join the chase*
And a midget with a jackhammer
Paperwork. Wonder what it’s gonna say. We were all super manipulated until are newest untrained member used her brain.
Remember how Sidney goes from recruit at the beginning to corporal in comic #4, which is only a few months after the current events? I expect this might have something to do with it
Yeah, the worst part of military AND law enforcement. It’s like going to the bathroom: The job isn’t finished until the paperwork is completed.
Usually in triplicate .
To my own experience, it usually takes more than three “pages” of paper to fill up…
or more than three squares to wipe down…
…Airplane pilots dread the thought that they might “auger in.”
Roughnecks hate having to drill deep.
Euphemisms love making you wince.
Well that was more simple than I assumed.
So, how hard is Sydney going to crash once all of the excitement is over?
The paperwork should power her down.
Bet she doesn’t even go home. Just sleeps on their couch back at HQ.
Joel must have had super fans and media interviews for much of the last part of the comic shops open hours.
What day of the week is this anyway? Will training be some kind of part time or only on the weekends thing? Jeeze we are so only getting started!
Speaking from ADD experience, as soon as her brain confirms that everything is over, she is going to come down with a hell of a headache, and fall half asleep soon after.
Basicly it’s going to feel like the crash you get after drinking a sixpack of Red Bull in 1 go
So… ADD is like a drinking binge then hangover?
Red Bull is an energy drink.. so she’s getting a (sugar) rush, and later crashes twice as hard as soon as it’s done.
Best comparison I can think of, is walking 10 miles at a steady pace vs running said 10 miles.
Walking will give you a feeling like “whew, gotta sit down for a minute”, and running it will result in heeving, panting and almost passing out depending on your physical condition.
Now, imagine that scenario for a hyperactive brain.
Well I never had any pain but do sometimes get the “thousand yard stare” for a bit.
No… I’m comparing it to a suger rush, and the crash that follows. There is nothing indicating hangover, or alcohol in my story
got to say, Maxima has never looked prettier than in panel 6 :wuv:
With him powered down now, and still choking, Maxima could probably blow his head off now.
Though I doubt that’s what Sydney means with ending it
I bet it involves Sydney talking V into surrendering peacefully. Even if you don’t consider any other qualities that she possess, she sure knows how to push the right buttons on people…
Wow, now that there is some absolute, sans-perspective scaling, THAT IS ONE HUGE ARM! D: I mean I know he has grown, but still, it’s easier to comprehend the proportions now: his arm is appr. as long as a tall human.
And I can’t wait to see what other method Sydne has.
She’s gonna shove the Light Hook heavily coated in The Unmaker down his throat when he tries to take that first desperate gulp of power conserving air! Maybe even get some to his lungs! Though stomach might be just as lethal. Just slower.
I searched on ‘hot’ before posting. Looks like you beat me to the idea anyway. Oh well.
I suspect he’s going to be incapacitated with hot sauce. Would police strength pepper spray qualify as non-violent control? One CS grenade, one airtight forcefield, one tiny girl who is immune to the stuff.
One ultra-violent perp who can’t resist being hauled wherever is needed.
It’s not that Sydney is “immune” to it, per se…It’s that she actually enjoys that kind of self-abuse.
Except of course her eyes.
Eye scream, you scream, we all scream for eye-scream…
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EyeScream
Unless you only have sockets.
Someone needs to get Max some throat sweets.
Actually, I don’t know if they help if the sore throats due to chocking. In the interests of science, who wants to help me find out?
Wet maxima is sexy
Smiling Maxima is attractive. I don’t want to be the unidentified remains at ground zero, so I’ll refrain from more.
So, does that mean you wouldn’t want to arm-wrestle with Max?
Throw in a couple of dry quarts of Jell-O into that puddle & this scene will be a winner!
After you toss Dabbler in as well.