Grrl Power #321 – Naming rights
I have more multi tipped screwdrivers than I have any reasonable need for. Every time I go into a home improvement store, I feel a compulsion to buy one. Or a LED flashlight. It’s the same compulsion I get when I go into a comic shop. It’s nearly impossible for me to leave without a new set of dice.
Ren’s powers aren’t really just super speed and strength. It’s really more reflexes than speed. He can move very fast, but it’s not the sort of super speed that lets him outrun a race car. “Super adrenaline” is really more of his elevator pitch for his powers. There’s more to them than that, but I should get out of the habit of trying to explain everything on one or two pages right as it’s introduced. It’s ok to throw an idea out there then revisit it later when that person is doing something with their power in a more show don’t tell fashion, or more realistically for me, show and also tell. It’s something I’d like to try and transition the comic to. More explain as it happens rather than people standing around talking about stuff.
#MakeComics: I hear people ask artists if they use a lot of references when they draw. It depends on what you already know how to draw and what you’re drawing. I’m generally pretty good with anatomy, but my webcam folder is full of shots of my own hands, and I always need pictures of expressions and heads in different angles. And expressions in different angles. In addition to those usual references, here are some other things I searched for to use as references:
Hallway: for lighting reference in panel 6. The “corner” behind Ren is supposed to be a wall that ends at the lightswitch, then the blueish wall is a perpendicular hallway leading to another room, but I couldn’t figure out how to make the lighting look right. Still need to work on that. The problem with googling “hallways” is that almost every shot I could find was just a photo taken straight down a hallway, no hallways connecting to a room. I googled “kitchens” after that looking for rooms with connecting hallways and didn’t have much luck. My human bodies/faces/hands reference folders (and pre-existing knowledge) are pretty flush. Obviously my architectural knowledge, and the lighting thereof need some supplementing.
On the previous page I searched for “firing range” “shooting range” “military firing range” in order to find some common signage you’d find in such places to populate some of the background with, but 99% of the stuff I found was shots looking downrange or across the shooting… area. You know, all the people doing the shooting. I searched for “firing range signage” and still got really sucky results, but eventually found one sign about “Always treat your gun as if it was loaded” yadda yadda.
Then I came to the thing I needed a reference for that I though would be super easy to find on the interwebs: “Woman smushing boobs together” It’s not that I needed reference for the boobs, it was the hand position I was having trouble with. I had surprisingly poor results, so I tried variants; “Woman squeezing boobs” “smushed boobs” “squeezing boobs” Really poor results. I think the problem is people don’t name photos “woman squeezing boobs” they name the picture “Angela_showing_off_the_girls.jpg” and google has no idea what’s in the picture other than Angela and girls.
So I turned to crowdsourcing my search on Twitter, figuring someone had a folder on their computer of this exact thing. I wound up getting a few people who thought I was asking for selfies, and I’m not going to say no to that (after making it clear I wasn’t looking for anything explicit) So thanks very much those who contributed. You can see the results on this page. I’m not sure why Harem is hefting herself other than that’s what I pictured her doing when I wrote her dialog.
It must be an oversight that I haven’t included The Hero Biz on my list of recommended webcomics. I think I’ve linked to it before, but it should live over there. It’s basically a superhero comic strip from Arianna’s point of view. The Director of PR character actually looks rather a lot like her. Anyway, they’re running a kickstarter, so check out the comic and then the kickstarter if’n you like what you see.
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!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
So, super reflexes?
More like “controlled biological overclocking”. Ren can apparently get short bursts of hypercognition, hysterical strength, etc. without shredding his muscles or melting his brain.
So, bullet time, basically.
That’s a good name for him, actually.
He’d have to be trained on firearms for it to properly count, though
Well he’s already at the gun range though.
Teaching at it no less.
He doesn’t seem like enough of a gun nut to be called that. Quick Time might work, but it doesn’t really sound as good. Hmm…
There’s some decent ideas thrown around so far but none of them seem to really click IMO. Granted, I’m not having much luck myself. When thinking of his powers, “Burst” came to mind but similar to “Bullet Time” it has a bit of a gun connotation to it. “Rush” also popped into my head but alas, it doesn’t feel right to me either.
Adrenal, Rush, Response, or ACE, (Adrenaline Enhanced Cognition)
These are all good names for his abilities and how they function.
*Adrenaline Cortex Extract is the proper term, which I found when googling Adrenal extract.
I vote for him to be called Bullet Time.
I like the idea of Rush.
Quickblackver. Wait! No! I made a terrible mistake!
Usain Bolt?
How about I stop being racist now…
Black Lightning. The Dark Dynamo. Power Pimp. Help me out damn you……
How much rope do you need or just call for Jack, he has plenty of rope.
When I said help I meant help me come up with hilariously racist names. keep it rolling.
cheetah or panther with the option of black appended to it, suggests speed and strength while also obliquely referencing for racist points africa by way of both animals are traditionally identified as african.
Considering how some of Archon’s powered personnel have been named so far, I don’t think a speed name is too fitting- following the pattern set by the cast page, it should either be:
-A name that doesn’t make much sense unless you know his power.
ex. Anvils could be described as tools to convert striking force into weapons and armor, Math is always ‘calculating’ 3 steps ahead in battle, Maxima can ‘max out’ her stats
-Outright relate to his power, but only what is already obvious.
ex. Jiggawatt has electricity powers, Harem has multiple bodies, Heatwave has heat powers
I think the term for what he experiences is time dilation (his sense of time passing differs from others), so something that implies he can stop time to an extent might intimidate villains without giving away how it actually works. Maybe something like Stopwatch would fit?
Big Ben?
Ben short for Adrian, of course.
:D
(lol)
flashstep could work flash brief and intense and step again brief or limited physical action plus it would mislead a little for tactical advantage by hiding his strength boost
I like Bullet Time too. :)
Count my vote for Bullet Time
Overclock is a great name for him.
A little too computery I think but close.
I second Overclock. Sounds appropriate, given his power set. :)
But it would void his warranty.
Yes. It sounds like Quickness as well as Improved Initiative and Enhanced Abilities; granting the ability to observe and (re)act in quick time, though not to race about at Speed. (Ref: Mutants & Masterminds).
Suggested name(s), simply: Adrenalin, Surge. One, the other, or both.
The big question is: Does he need to be startled to activate the power, or can he trigger the reaction at will?
Surge. Definitely Surge.
“Blurge”
How ’bout no?
splurge!!
How about “Sploosh!”
Wooo. OUTLAW COUNTRY!
That’s really not a great idea considering how long surge lasted……..I miss surge.
You and me both, pal. Especially since my genes failed the roll against Adult Onset Diabetes.
AdRENalin, or Adrianalin (nah, AdRENalin is betterer :D)
Ahh good line of thinking. I think you may be close to his handle.
Eh, it might be a bit too punny.
You are wrong there. He was three punny.
Walked right into that one, didn’t I?
And it’s gonna cost ya’ something to walk into it…Three punny & six pence, precisely.
“Three punny”? I don’t think you’re opera-ting on all cylinders there.
Call him “Jeff”. Confuse the enemy, his team, and the general public!
+1
Ran a Champions campaign with a NPC who had perceptual superspeed and the reflexes to match (time powers, instead of adrenalin). I called him Millisecond, ’cause that’s how long it took to do things. Use it if you like…
Going on the time theme, something really simple like TMan (Time Man), might work.
QTman (for Quick Time Man), is more descriptive but could be misinterpreted as “Cute Man”.
Him I like. Hero name ‘Zipper’.
Possible codenames:
Renaline
Pause
Blitz
Empire Skates
meercat? or however that spelled…
what do you call that thing from the advert?
Meerkat (surprisingly, it’s not in the spellchecker o_O )
Have you considered this might be one of those rare cases where his real name becomes his nickname? Ren, short for Adrenaline.
It is not without precedent. Hiro became “Super Hiro”. And Peggy’s callsign is “Peggy”.
At least it’s not ‘Miss Peggy’ – too similar to the muppet.
Just don’t dress him up in yellow & call him Whizzer…DC comics did that a few decades ago & still can’t live it down.
:P
Marvel has the Whizzer. Original father of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.
Comics or one of the two Cinematic Universes (one has mutants, the other has Avengers)
The real original father of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver is Maggie
Whizzer was originally a Marvel character started in the 30’s or 40’s (wikia doesn’t like this browser and more often than not refuses to load properly) and “Whizzer and Chips” was a British weekly ‘comic that went from 1969 to 1990
Ok, you caught me…It was Marvel, not DC. My bad.
*Ninjas are very good at slinking off to a corner*
I like him too, but definitely NOT “Zipper” (certain terms like ‘zipper malfunction’, zipper control’, etc. all keep coming to mind).
He seems especially well-adjusted, all things considered, and I do like his power..
He does have the snappy repartee to add to his arsenal so how about SNAPPY …. Oh oh oh …. I got it …. The Champ [inspired by a certain Radio Character]
So remember the name would be SNAPPY and not SNIPEY. That would be bad Karma.
Yeah, well another term for Zipper is “Fly.” It would also work well with the general term “Superfly.”
…Even though he doesn’t fly (as far as we know).
…And we don’t know how well he does with the ladies either (yet).
The best speedster name I’ve seen was a guy from the Wildcard books. The guy was a Klan member or something, and he called himself “The Racist”
In Curveball, the speedster’s name is Red Shift. The speedster in Worm is Velocity, with several others having a bit of speed as part of a power set.
As long as his name is Red Shift you don’t have to worry about him since he would be heading away from you. If he changed his name to Blue Shift then look out because he is heading towards you at a significant percent of light speed.
Fun fact (I just made up):
If the Flash was coming at you at about 40% of C, then he would actually appear to be the Reverse Flash since his uniform would be blue-shifted into the yellow range.
*pulls up soapbox*
And another thing. Wouldn’t the name of the Reverse Flash technically be “Hsalf”?
The Whizzer! :)
Ouch
His corporate sponsor is Flomax.
My speedster’s name in the Heroes RPG was Flash Drive. He was the Pretty One (seriously, he had a 42 COM by the time he hit 3rd level…)
Was he still ‘pretty’ after he hit that wall at full speed? Or just ‘pretty wrecked’? :P
I left you a note at the (current) end of page 2, DB — I gathered up the names that people had suggested, though I might’ve missed some.
Oh, I get it.
…I liked it better when it was just absurd and not a pun.
I’ve never been fond of the codename thing. It fits for some characters, but for the most part it seems silly.
The last HERO supers campaign we played ended up with my character being called “Megumi”, the summoner got called “Nathan”, the regenerating martial artist was “Vincent” and I forget the name of the fourth guy.
Our code names were “Greyskin”, “Abyss”, (not sure he had a codename) and “Abaddon” but most of the time our characters just used their regular names.
Peggy is of a like mind with you, on that.
In my head Mach The Knife still sounds more awesome.
He reminds me of the “healing touch” folks from the “Trauma Centre” game series. Some can slow down time in times of need so they can save somebody’s life.
I’m just going to comment that the end of the Agents of Shield season resulted in something that reminded me of this:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/955
Heh, finally caught up on that last night myself. Harem kept popping into my head due to the red head in that episode.
Time to go out and buy me some fish oil pills.
What about Adrenaline Crash? Wonder if he gets that 10x as well, that’s gotta go beyond sucking. https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/267
10 Commandments of Firearms Safety. Every range I ever been to has them posted or more like plastered all over the place. Sometimes at each firing point.
Thanks, I’ll stick that in the background somewhere.
Just in case…
Example of sign at a shooting range: https://www.huroniahandgunclub.com/graphics/range_rules_huronia_hand_gun_club.JPG
With humor: https://ectmonster.deviantart.com/art/Gun-range-safety-poster-342281500
+1
1. Pointing your firearm directly at someone but not immediately firing garners respect.
2. Always check to see if the gun is loaded by looking down the barrel.
3.Sideways is just more awesome!
4. Bigger is always better.
5. Holsters are for sissies, shove it in yer pants.
6. No really, shotguns are meant to be fired one handed.
7. Always keep your finger on the trigger, especially when arguing with the ol’ lady.
8. Prove to your friends that it’s not loaded by holding it to yer head and pulling the trigger.
9. Cops love to compare guns, just pull it out and show em.
!0. If you intend to follow any of these commandments be sure not to breed beforehand.
Yes my friends, follow these 10 simple rules and you too can win a Darwin Award.
Yeah, but you’ll look totally gangstah while you do it. :-) oh and wear your pants down around your knees while you’re at it. I heard that increases running speed and makes it harder to trip.
Other powers include making that speech with in 100 sq miles of max and not instantly vaporising
That alone qualifies him as one of the most powerful people on the planet.
Interesting comic today — and what a lovely Harem XD That is the kind of auditor I like XD
I’m not sure why, but the water while falling doesn’t ring right to me.
Yes, I know, I’m the same one who nitpicked the previous free-fall physics :-)
Shachar
Well, it doesn’t look realistic, but it looks perfectly consistant with the drawing style of the artist, so I find it’s OK.
the water looks fine to me, but even with super reaction times he wouldn’t be able to kneel down beside it. You can only kneel as fast as you can fall, which is the same acceleration as the cup. Unless he pushed himself down using the counter, he would always be above the cup
also, typo: “chose your own” -> “choose your own”
Not if his ACTUAL power is some sort of personal time dilation thing. We’ve been told he “pitches” it as super adrenaline, not that it’s actually superadrenaline.
We’re talking about a universe with superpowers, so some degree of flexibility in regards to physics is allowed. Otherwise, no supper should be able to lift a car with one hand, since the pressure would break it.
Yet we know that spinach can, so your case is proven.
I hope my point was not too subtle.
Popeye the Sailor Man endorses your point…
Now I want to see Popeye the Sailor Moon.
Granted. Well, I can get close anyhow. But it shall have to be considered a final request.
Does that comic you linked have any correlation to the fact that Uranus exhibits a blue glow?
…This may even be linked with the phrase, “Once in a blue moon,” I think…
Challenge accepted.
https://dmotivated.com/view_posters.php?id=947
Then if that’s not disturbing enough here’s the live action version.
https://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=102779
Good thing I always keep a large stock of Brain Bleach™ on hand…
I don’t. He’s hardly attractive straight. I’d hate to see him bent.
It’s the same problem speedsters like ‘Mach the Knife’ face all the time: how do they move so fast when they experience the same gravity & friction (ie. grip) as everyone else?
Answer: secondary powers, comic-book physics etc.
Regarding supers playing fast’n’loose with the laws of physics, I believe The ‘Centipede Dilemma’ plays an important part –
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CentipedesDilemma
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Centipede%27s_Dilemma
In short, all these supers keep messing up the laws of physics simply because no one told them they can’t. Just as the humble bee flies in violation of the laws of aerodynamics, and will probably continue doing so until it learns said laws.
{Yes, I KNOW the “Bees can’t possibly fly because aerodynamics say so” thing is a fallacy, but I’m trying to make a humorous point here.]
That could be a countermeasure:
“Hey, Speedo, how’d you make that last turn? Not possible!”
“Hah! Just watch this… OH SH…”
*crashes*
I followed that link, and just got lost on TV Tropes for several hours.
See, see! Insidious and addictive. Just say no!
Yeah, running super fast is pointless if you don’t have traction, just as super strength is far less effective if you can’t get leverage. Max’s Zero-Range TK gives her the equivalent effect of leverage; Spiderman’s ability to stick to walls gives him sufficient gripping power, even though he still has to exert more strength if he doesn’t have actual leverage.
“You can only kneel as fast as you can fall”
Well, if you are fit you can at least duck down faster than a fall, even without superpowers.
When you duck down you are bending your knees and waist using your muscles. That makes your upper body go down, and your feet go up (you can feel how the pressure in your soles decrease) while at the same time your centre of mass start to fall.
Then, from your centre of mass, your lower body has one force pulling down, gravity, and one pulling up, your muscles using the inertia of your upper body as anchor. The upper body have two forces pulling down: gravity and your muscles using the inertia and the weight of your lower body as anchor, which obviously is greater than gravity alone.
Ie, your body actually pulls itself down faster than a fall “grabbing” your own weight to make the force.
It’s easy to prove, just grab a ball at your eyes height and try to win the race down :)
Not necessarily. Speedsters have some sort of ability to push themselves around anyway – otherwise little things like ground friction, air resistance, and bodily inertia would stop them before they started. It isn’t much of a stretch to imagine that ability pushing them down as well as sideways.
he also forgot he can properly park his car without damaging other cars
Reckt
You know why females are so bad at estimating distances?
Because mens keep lying about how much is twelve inches.
If you’re having trouble finding reference photos, try looking for reference videos.
You can also look for an other keyword … boob or tit + job
Another great way to get odd perspective angles in rooms is to use the virtual tours on real estate sites to look around places. The really good ones can let you place the camera anywhere in a room and look at will.
Ooh, that’s a good idea. A google street view for interiors.
I know that Dan Shive actually makes 3D models of his more commonly used interiors, then just sketches over the renders of that. Blender is a good free 3d program, though people seem to like Sketchup as well.
Incidentally, the search term you were looking for was “grabbing breast”. Almost predictably, the first appropriate hit is of Lady Gaga. :)
Just in case: Google already have it working, it’s called “See inside”.
For example Houston’s Nirvana Indian Restaurant (click on “See Inside” at the left).
That is not what I was expecting. I envisaged that there would be either a modelled interior, similar to say the Eiffel Tower. Or, when I saw that the “See Inside” link was actually a photo, I got excited. Thinking ‘oh cool, they have actually taken a portable version of the Google 360 degree camera into the restaurant, and taken a panoramic shot, from in there’.
Which made me chuckle, as I could envisage the staff being told to spend a couple of days tarting the place up before the camera was due.
And, after clicking on the icon, coming to a shot of an immaculate restaurant interior, enhanced that impression. As did the normal navigation buttons, which allow you to turn around, on the spot, and see things from each angle.
What a brilliant feature, that lets you check out the ambiance of a restaurant, without having to even set foot into it! Plus you can see if the toilets are conveniently located (important for some people), if there is a bar, how closely the tables are crammed together, and so on.
So got highly disoriented when the first turn took me outside the shop!
Shame that it is just a gallery of regular photos, and not what I was expecting. A single shot, from a carefully chosen angle, can easily give a false impression. And is less useful for reference material too, as it will avoid the things like doorways, or other mundane features.
Very disappointing.
Its not as all consuming as that but some of the more loved environmental vistas and touristy building internal shots are linked through here.
https://www.360cities.net/
Some more ordinary stuff can be found here.
https://www.gigapan.com/
OH, here is those sight links and a bunch more.
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-panorama-websites-360-degree-virtual-tour-world/
Looks like enough content out there to be useful anyway.
You can always try out this interior walkthrough:
https://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2013/08/doctor-whos-day-roundup-step-inside-the-tardis-on-google-maps/
I’m not sure what you mean, that’s exactly what it is. You can walk around following predefined paths, and turn around, up and down in each stop point, entirely similar to Street View. As DaveB said “a google street view for interiors”.
You can even see the clients appear and disappear from the tables, as you hit the different photo sessions, like in Street View.
You can leave the shop, but you can walk back too.
Am I misunderstanding something?
BTW, personally I find easier to navigate using the mouse, click to go forward, drag to turn around and up-down, and the wheel does the in-out zoom.
Ok, turns out the thing that looked like ‘turn around’ was actually the gallery navigation buttons. Whereas I should have been clicking around the compass above it. So chalk that down to my usual frustration at technology, and walking away from it when weird shit happens.
And, yea, the mouse click in the photo is by far the best way of navigating. It is the way I am used to using it outdoors, but, psycho analysing my own behaviour, changing to the more confined spaces, of an indoors setting, prompted me to look around for indoors navigation options.
So let me amend my conclusion to:
Nice feature!
Oh, and the Moulin Rouge, in Paris, does not have an interior view yet. Just to save y’all from the bother of checking it out yourselves.
I mean, obviously that is the first place everyone would go to, with this technology, right? It isn’t just me…
Seriously, why do I always leave Lowe’s or Home Depot with another random tool I don’t need?
After spending half an hour poking around such places, it just seems wrong to leave empty-handed.
Hmmm… Security Torx tips – I’m sure they’ll be handy one day…
Yep, they work any place a regular Torx tip works, plus fit those [$DEITY]-awful screws you are not supposed to remove because it will violate your warranty.
I’ll put this here for reasons.
Years ago, when LED flashlights were new, I bought a 1W LED bulb for about $14.
The idea was to make your current 2 or 3 or 4 cell flashlight last longer.
Of course, completely unsuitable for a lantern style flashlight as on a C or a D the center terminal is positive, and on a 6v lantern battery the center terminal is negative.
Last week, LOWES (not the theater) has a special. LED lantern and 6v battery $5.
The 6v battery alone is $4.
And they still sell the $14 LED bulbs!
So… I have a lantern but can’t use the LED because it is meant for C and D cells.
Until… I sawed the connectors to the lamp socket off and ran wires to power it backwards.
Also… It had a “Use 4 D cells instead of a 6v battery” adapter shaped like a 6v battery.
But… I have many still useable NiMH batteries…. C cells.
But…. I also have “Use C cells as D cells” adapters.
So… I have 4 C cell NiMH batteries in my LED lantern.
Ta da!
Oh yeah. The strip. Um… Snappy? Because, snap implies fast but brief?
Pretty good idea. Let us save that for a super-speed female though. Preferably a villain, with absolutely no inhibitions.
*pops a note in the GrrlPower After Dark suggestions box*
That reminds me of the superhero team/exotic dance troupe the All Stripper Squadron, from the now-dead furry webcomic “Supermegatopia!”…
Topless Lass, The Tease, Captain Thrust, Lapdancer, Jiggly Jill, and Long Tom.
Boy, that takes me back… When the internet was young…
I think The Streak would be better.
+1
Blondie power : He doesn’t smile, be he un-shirted by VORP-induced maneuver, staring at the actual-real-true Mightay Halo, or even witnessing some high-end ‘trite stand-up’ jokes. Either he is an absolute coldfish (that would be a power in itself) – and there his code name will be ‘pisse-froid’ just because it sounds better in French.
Or he never smiles because he knows what’s happening, and he knows because he’s a telepath, and when you know what’s in people’s mind, nothing can make you smile anymore…
And have someone end up calling him ‘Piss-Fluid’? o_O
Maybe it is because his smile is registered as a dangerous weapon?
That tooth gleam could blind people or cut through steel.
His secret identity is Chip Skylark?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IRdw_Qgwqc
It took me a few moments to realize that Sydney’s holding the Flight Orb. I couldn’t figure out why in the world was Sydney eye-to-eye with Ren…
Thought she was standing on the desk until you pointed it out :D
It was panel three that got me.
I thought that Blondie was way short, until it clicked that Sydney was still hovering.
Reminds me of a power is was tossing around for a while; control of personal perception of time.
so you could slow or speed your perception rate to make a fight seem to yourself as if slow motion, or (my favorite bit) speed through a tedious train journey :P
(no prizes for guessing where i came up with this one)
If his organs have redundancies or he heals fast he could expy Aegis from Worm.
Not really Aegis was all about being able to get back up again after taking a hit. Ren seems to be focusing more on the perception aspect of his abilites, he probably couldn’t survive being a chew toy for mutant dogs.
…Which would be a bad time to be super-aware & hyper-cognizant of what’s happening to you…
This is actually a power I would consider as one of my top ten picks if I could have powers.
The power to slow down time and consider what really needs to be done next in the middle of a battle.
His powerset almost sounds like the guy from the show Alphas. He had super-adrenaline…
Ahh Alphas. I haven’t heard about that series since Big Bang Theory reminded me. Albeit i only saw the first season and maybe 2 eps of the 2nd. I thought it was a good series though.
I started watching that recently (not before I thought of Ren mind you, he’s been on the books for like 3 years.) and… I wish that show was just a little bit better. That or I’ve just watched too many shows like that, because I usually can see what the bad guys are planning way before the team does. The “bad guy gets captured or lets himself get captured but that’s his plan all along” or the bad guy sets up someone else as the fall guy cause the team doesn’t know what he looks like stuff feels a little predictable to me.
That’s called “Genre Savvy”, Dave.
Remember? You gave that power to Sydney.
Seriously, I’ve got a hunch that Sydney spends (or spent) a LOT of time on TVTropes.
Hell, she could even be an editor.
Possible names would include the terms Turbo, Boost/Booster, Surge or maybe Tsunami.
Surge works I like Rush better.
In the best Homer Simpson voice I can muster………”yummmmmmm cleeeeeeavage.”
From DaveB: “…and I’m not going to say no to that (after making it clear I wasn’t looking for anything explicit)”
That’s too bad…since I’m not currently attached or spoken for, I wouldn’t have specified that contributors be “non-explicit.”
If people are willing to take selfies from weird angles for me I want to encourage it. I don’t want to get a reputation for turning my twitter account into /r/girlsgonewild or something. If I want pictures of boobs, that’s easy enough to find online. Sometimes they’re even hard to avoid. The hard thing to find (on demand that is) is pictures of them in weird packaging (like hands) or from odd angles. Usually I can fake it but it’s nice to have additional resources.
Tall Man! Wait… that might not be a Phantasmly good idea.
He needs to change his name to “Mo”. So that “Slow Mo” would make sense.
Shame he can’t shapechange into a mole. That would be great for an Adrian.
Loved that book and series as a kid :D
Missed out on the sequel when he was a grownup though :(
“SloMo” was one that I had thought of as well, but it needs to be spoken as if the voice is going into slow motion, too. “Hi! My name is SsssssllllloooooooMmmmmmoooooooo.”
Adrenaren
Panel nine: “You better play along and help us come up for a name for you before Ari does, and if she does it first, you are stuck with it forever! Or until you go Evil!!”
Hopefully I can be the first to offer this reference.
I like this reference better…It even fits better with today’s comic page.
https://media.photobucket.com/user/nileshgaba/media/google5yb.jpg.html?filters%5Bterm%5D=google%20boobs&filters%5Bprimary%5D=images&filters%5Bsecondary%5D=videos&sort=1&o=11
My favourite part of today’s comic? Sydney hovering up to Ren height, in panel one. Then, albeit not so conspicuously, as you can’t see her feet, remaining at his face height from then on.
And Ren, not batting an eye at that? He is cool.
y’know, I still cant believe blond guy is not a girl. kinda reminds me of Stav Strashko in that way.
He looks more guy-like to me today.
His face “males up” a bit in the next few pages as my art is a little fluid that way, but he’s still supposed to be a bit, you know, male lead in a magic girl anime type.
So you’ve been watching Cute High Earth Defense Club Love! too?
Wait, that’s a guy?
*checks
…Okay, wow, yeah. It is a guy, assuming you know what you’re looking for.
Sexing chicks is a highly trained job that is well paid and has a critical shortage in the UK at the moment. And, yea, you really do need to know what you are looking for.
Baby chickens!
I think the interesting debate will come from tying in super reflexes with super strength. Assuming that his car lifting point was alluding to his own capabilities, rather than just being an analogy. Whilst fiddling with time, or speeding up perceptions could account for the bullet-time reflexes, neither will make you stronger.
Whereas adrenalin will do both. Up to a point. And if he starts at ten times that baseline, it sounds like he can lift buses and tanks. So it will be interesting coming up with a single mechanism which could explain both.
DaveB, you are cruel. Think of all the faeries that are going to die in this debate!
“a single mechanism which could explain both.”
There is always someone shouting “required secondary power” and like that, so here come a question.
Why only one power? Why not a power set?
But that aside
I have heard, that if an atom or particle (not sure on how small scale that normally works) has not enough energy to go through an obstacle, it may borrow the energy from the future.
While it doesn’t explain the “time De-synchronization” (is what i am calling it right now) that would at least explain his instant crouch. At the beginning he gains energy to accelerate momentarily, and after that the energy is lost when he is down. That way he can gain momentary bursts of strength.
You just need the right psuedobabble. “Playing with time” could explain-away an apparent increase in strength as applying force over quick time.
That would actually make sense if you do the force over time bit based on his personal perceived time.
James Bolivar DiGriz aka Slippery Jim did it quite nicely in on of the short stories by Harry Harrison.
The mechanism was an alien adrenaline drug that would give them a 10% boost to perception and speed but on humans it worked to a much greater effect, including a perceptible red shift, temperature drop and the challenge of moving through air as thick as pudding.
That reminds me of the Stargate SG-1 episode “Upgrades”, where the Tok’ra had a device that only worked on humans. Greatly enhanced speed & strength… until it suddenly runs out.
Wild Wild West (the original) did it first.
The way I see it, Ren just has one of those “necessary secondary powers” that make a “primary power” able to function. For example, Mach the Knife would HAVE to have superfast reflexes just so he could use his super speed without also being super clumsy.
Ren has the “secondary” power of super reflexes but not the “primary” power of super speed.
Nobody ever said that supers would ALL get power sets, ya’ know…
If this is one of those “every time you bring logic/real science into sci-fi/fantasy a fairy dies” things, then I have only one thing to say. Let the fairy genocide begin!
*cries*
Please let hulk related nicknames remain a running gag for this guy.
Vehemence already has that locked down, with my own nickname for him: The Incredible Bulk.
Having both his speed and Hulk’s rage he would be ‘Fast and Furious’.
+1
Seen some of those movies. Not a fan. If there was a hero based on it, I’m sorry, but I’d consider that…
2 Fast 2 Furious.
ba dum bump tsssh!
You are braver than I. All I have seen is the trailers, which was enough to put me off watching the actual films. But, as a super handle, “Fast and Furious” would give him some serious cred. Although the “Furious” might encourage Hulk comparisons, so it may not be ideal.
For reference from GURPS ,
Enhanced time sense for cognitive capacity,
Altered time rate for movement if applicable.
Yup. Although there are also a couple of others which spring to mind, simply because they sound similar to Ren’s description. Namely hyper-reflexes and hyper-strength. But enhanced time sense does match the effect epitomised in panel 7 spot on.
Both the advantages I named have a built in limitation, which prevents them from being used for very long. I wonder if Ren has anything like that? If not, he actually has a very powerful set. Not quite as bad as with a classic super-speeder but, if he does have super strength too, it will allow him at apply massive force, but in a very calculated and controlled fashion.
Throw a bus at him, and you might find it coming back at you, but pounded into a more aerodynamic form, and with sharp and pointy bits, sticking out, to make it more fun if you try to catch it.
so basicly he has short unsustainable burst of a set of powers,,
Don’t wanna nitpick, but you messed up panel 6. If the corner is supposed to lead into a hallway, the lightswitch is inverted. There is also something off about the angle of the table and drawer, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
On the light switch, not necessarily it could be 1 of 2 switches that control his lights.
The lightswitch is one of those tilt ones. I don’t know their proper name: https://nrgspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/largeWSS0S-D0.jpg And yeah the perspective of that panel is probably off by a bit, especially when you factor in Ren’s height.
But it’s tilting in the wrong direction, the depth lines/shading suggest we’re seeing it from the left which makes no sense if the wall is collapsing inwards.
Here quick image to explain https://imgur.com/ZQBkixz
I think what throws of the rest of the picture is the table being in front of the drawer. Either Ren has some really weird taste in furnishing, where he enjoy putting furniture directly in front of each other (which is horribly impractical) or that is a very peculiar drawer design.
Personally, I believe the decoration and furnishings make sense. The light switch is in the kitchen. So is he. The table with the drawer is between the edge of the wall and the countertop, which is closest to the camera (with views being left|front). Viewed from the top, the setup is:
____________________| ||
| |Table| * ||
|Countertop|——–| |
|—————-| |
with double lines representing the picture, and the * representing the light switch.
Huh, wonder why my picture got screwed up.
Let’s try this again. Periods are empty space.
_____________________|………||
|…………….|Table|….*……………||
|Countertop|…………………………|
|…………….|…………………………|
Close enough. Wishing I could edit.
It looks fine to me. It fits if the wall is at the same general angle as the furniture,
It’s called a rocker switch. Also the position, switch down, could be explained by a 3-way switch if there is a second exit to the room.
Yea, I have a gallery, with six routes leading from it (excluding the loft entrance). But, rather than wire it up in a convenient way, for instance where flipping any switch will change the light from its current state, they chose to do it an interesting way.
The set up memorises the last switch flipped. Ok, pretty easy, you think. Flip it back and the state changes. But they decided to have a bit more fun. If, instead, you flip another switch it will alter the setting. However that is the limit. Any use after that will not yield a result, unless you reverse the previous two switches in order.
Given that this is the central point of my house, with stairs leading from it, and corridors off it to bedrooms, bathrooms, another wing and even a balcony, that leaves an awful lot of possible routes you might take. And there is a good chance that I might have slept since the last time I changed the lights.
Fortunately there is one other option, if you forget which route. You can play ‘flip the switches’. Trip enough of them and it manages to re-set the memory. But the gallery is pretty big, is enclosed in the middle of the building and this is a rural setting, so when the street lights go out, it becomes pitch black. And there are open stairs there.
A fun game to play when half-asleep.
Heh, I love harems facial expression. She looks like she just got shot or something, even though you can totally picture her saying dat ass with that look on her face. Probably a consequence of a long speech bubble with an abrupt tone change at the end. Anyway, it is confirmed, ren is awesome and will likely continue to be. Blondie is a freaking downer. I dunno if he just takes everything too seriously, or if he has a tragic backstory (as bishie men need to add even more fangirl allure) but yeah, I dont think he and sydney are going to get along very well.
Huh, I must say, Dave, his powers seem oddly similar to that of the one I pitched to you on Patreon. :-/
Hmm, I see some similarities, but very different use cases. I’ll email you.
Neat :)
I know it’s a stupid time to start wondering, but how do they usually recruit someone?
It’s in the archives somewhere. But “usually” is a very subjective thing, since ARCHON hasn’t been running for very long at all.
Most (?) of the current supers in ARCHON are military volunteers with known powersets (and/or useful skills). There is probably a sprinkling of supers that came via other government agencies, and a few that haven’t (like Sydney).
Staged bank robberies, every time. I’m kidding obviously.
Sometimes they’re not staged? Guess rocket pants cost money.
Can’t be too expensive or ol’ Wile E. Coyote would have been buying cases of premium dog food instead of jet engines and rocket skates.
If he’s coming over from the Opps community he may already have a Tac-Code (think call-sign for non-pilots), but that’s going by the hair, the Soul Patch sais Civi, possibly Collage Athlete, so he may already have a recognized monika he could bring over, that shirt in panel 6 looks very collegial sports
This whole room screams Civi to me. Guy with long hair, guy with soul patch, dreadlocks, dyed hair, and the most dysfunctional ponytail in the world. *Twitch* The only one I’m going to guess is current military is Harem and she’s probably the worst about keeping the dress code.
That’s Arianna’s influence. She wants her supers to look unique. Max would prefer slightly tighter styling, but she’s always had very hard to cut purple hair (at least while in the military) so she didn’t argue the point too hard.
Except for one lil detail……once you’re no longer in the actual military you’ll likely want to grow out yer hair. Ren is likely just a guy… a black guy at that ….their hair is a bitch to manage if you don’t wanna take forever on it. Tho it can do awesome shit mine never could have without plaster. It’s simpler to buzz it, and you can prolly do it yourself.
There actually is a Bulk in Marvel Comics. ;)
There’s a Bulk in webcomics.
The League of Superredundant Heroes.
There is also a Bulk in Power Rangers
Dammit, now the Bulk & Skull music is stuck in my head again…
It will be interesting to see who “the sergeant” mentioned in Panel #1 is.
Okay, so typical guy, but with fast reflexes. Got it.
I want to see Ren vs Math. Its the battle no one can follow without slow motion cameras!
You know, I was speculating about this earlier. While Ren would have extremely fast reaction time, he wouldn’t actually BE fast. So if Math threw a punch Ren might see it coming from miles away but still not be able to dodge it. Or it would become some kind of chess situation where Math has to pull of a move that is impossible to dodge or block with Ren’s physical abilites. Alternatively, Math could do a atack that Ren does not see coming (like winding up a punch and then kicking him while he has his focus on Math’s upper body, or getting into a wrestling position and then pulling of some kind of Kill Bill type of point blank punch from behind to knock him out.
Either way, my money’s on Math winning.
Math would probably win. But, you may be underestimating Ren’s capabilities. Although his perceptions are top notch, he is not lacking in the raw speed, when compared to a normal human. Only when compared to the Flash or other top-end super-speeder.
his powers remind me(a Bit) of Ambrose Chase from PLANETARY though Ambrose Actually altered Local Physics around him. also reminds me of a Character I was creating for a Story who could baiacall do the same thing with the downside that SHE had a high metabolism and if she pushed it too hard she would collapse from exhaustion.
For the signage you might get better results with “Gun Range”, “Gun Club”, or “Small arms range”. “Shooting Range” , while a heavy generalization tagged onto all areas therein, generally applies to the outdoor range. Most signs are going to be safety precaution signs and membership reminders like, “If using range guns only use range ammunition”.
The real question here is why Harem decided to make that face and at what point in her speech bubble she started making it. It’s kinda condescending if used from the very beginning, but would be funny just for the “Dat Ass”.
Yeah, that’s her “Dat Ass” emphasis face.