No, Sydney… just no. You don’t go barging in whatever room you like in a military facility. She’s done some bone headed things in the past. This may top the list. Well, it’s in the top ten anyway, this is Sydney we’re talking about here.

There was a tiny part of me that wanted to make the last panel Sydney just looking over her shoulder and going “Oh, hey.” but Sydney’s not quite that sedate.

Maxima’s not the most regimented commander in the armed forces, still, I assume Sydney’s in for about a million hours of night watch or whatever would happen in this situation. It may be unprecedented.

Normally to get a slot in the Who’s Who, someone has to have a speaking part on the page as well as be introduced in the comic by name. I thought it was ok to make an exception in this case. General Faulk’s aide speaks but hasn’t been named, which is ok because I haven’t thought of a name for him yet. He’s the same guy from way back on this page, though now that I look like it I realize his hair is the wrong color… and the wrong style… and his shirt is different. Ok, maybe it should be a different guy. I really should not rely on my own memory for reference.

Colors on this page provided again by Keith. This time with far less touch up on my part.

Edit: Many people have already pointed out that this would probably never happen due to layers of security in a facility like this. Yes, you’re probably right, but in my defense, this isn’t a classified meeting taking place. It’s a North American-Super-Mutual-Defense-and-Public-Relations type meeting, as evidenced by Arianna being in attendance, as well as (and I don’t expect anyone to recognize them) the press secretaries of the US and Canada. (and probably Mexico, but I ran out of room) So slightly lower security on the room. Besides Sydney’s already made it through all the other security, and there was just the one door in her way. Maybe the aide came out to greet her.

As far as using recognizable people like this, yes it can create a problem with “comic time” later on, but that’s just the nature of comics. Besides, this is supposed to be our Earth now, just with supers going public. Also this gag wouldn’t have worked well if I had just drawn some statesmanly looking guy with an arrow saying “President” pointing at him.

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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.