Grrl Power #340 – Shared insecurities
After loosening up a little, Sydney suffers a bit of a backslide, but she’ll adjust. There’s little chance she’ll ever be prancing around like Dabbler though.
Sydney grew up on superhero comics of course, and also stuff like Red Sonja, She-Ra, Xena, etc, so the idea of the strong woman is not surprising to her. If there’s a body type she’s legitimately biased against, it’s the heroin chic beanpole supermodel look. It’s not the obvious unhealthy standard so much, or the fact that she feels it’s totally unattainable look for her – it’s just as unlikely she’ll ever look like Xena either. She just prefers the look of a woman that can one hand a bastard sword or punch out a horse. Not that she has anything against horses in particular. It’s just just her standard unit of toughness is 1 horse ka-power. I’ll be here all week folks, tip your waitress.
I know that last word balloon is a little gratuitous, and I prefer covering things in a more natural looking manner, but from Sydney’s point of view, they’re just… right there. For those of you having to quickly scroll the comic off the page then read it while furtively glancing over your shoulder, there’s only one more page actually in the showers. Of course then there’s the locker room, but things will be gradually returning to fully SFW status shortly.
In case anyone would like, here’s a full size Chibi Dabbler: 
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.
Why isn’t Dabbler veiled? There are some people there who are not “in the know”.
Her cover is that’s her “battle form” so she can supposedly walk around either way. Doesn’t mean people won’t be suspicious.
Another thing I noticed about her form is the lack of the stereotypical ‘demon tail’.
Was that feature left off due to:
1) Too cliche
2) Mixed alien/demon heritage
3) Too much trouble to draw
4) Another consequence of her lack of sword skills
She didn’t have one in Wereworld… … …that I remember. Been a WHILE since I read that.
In wereworld what looked like a tail was a mechanical bit of rope that tied the main dude up at one point.
I’m sorry am I the only one who has no clue what wereworld is?
Yes.
It’s a webcomic by a friend of Dave’s which featured Dabbler as a character (with permission) long before Grrlpower got off the ground.
Arg. Wereworld website is dead.
Has been for a number of years now :(
https://wereworld.comicgenesis.com/d/20031005.html
tail. Then again.. 4….. things other then arms… so not so canon
It is canon, but just like Dabbles’ extra arms, she is simply hiding the other extra pair so as not to damage the psyche of any humans who seen them (male or female)
pretty sure the succubus having a tail thing is just one of those japanese fiction tropes.
Well. To go full nerd here the D&D Monster manuals depict succubi them with tails.
On a less nerdy note it seems they had tails in folklore too, at least according to this sculpture
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Succubus_bracket_02.jpg/220px-Succubus_bracket_02.jpg
I fail at code
fair enough. i stand corrected.
You sure that that is a tail and not some other appendage? o_O
Maybe she has a tail. It’s just busy…doing things we can’t see…
Or…. she might not have a tail because shes also part alien and part doppleganger
Prolly number two, but number 4 is possible too. Or she just got annoyed with it, tails get stepped on, and it’s hard to keep them pointed straight up when yer bipedal, painful too no doubt. My eldest has a knot in the end of his tail where it got broken when he was a kitten.
of course theres still this https://wereworld.comicgenesis.com/d/20021120.html Certainly looks taily ta me.
Yeah, that’s a cybernetic detachable tail (also, note the two extra pieces of anatomy she is sporting that have yet to show up here, if ever at all)
prolly won’t from what i read rann begged her offa dave, so the extra tits were prolly his.
Fairly sure she lost it, she does have a cybernetic one, that she doesn’t always ‘plug in’
Here is Word of DaveB: “She never had an organic tail, and the other succubi teased her in succubus school…”.
So all the other succubi have one, but Dab’s mixed heritage prevented hers.
Or she changed her form a little bit because for most humans it’s more attractive not to have a tail? xD
Speak for yourself :P
so you like giving and receiving at the same time eh?
Cue the hentai jokes in 3… 2… 1…
whatever happend to wereworld,is there anymore of it?i loved that story as i do yours both are a good read
The showers would be attached to the training areas of the building, which in turn would be in the high-clearance area. There shouldn’t be anyone around that isn’t cleared to know about dabbler’s true form.
Xochitl (Varia) is still in there and she’s s raw recruit so she doesn’t have that level of clearance. Battle form is the cover for now.
Sydney is also a raw recruit. The recruits also all discussed thier power sets at the range, which would mean that they are all cleared to know Arc Swat power sets. They might not all know about Arc Dark though, Sydney found out by accident.
Both Sydney and Xuriel have powers that are secret even to other members of Arc-SWAT. Halo only knows about Dabbler because she used her truesight.
Sydney was still a civilian when she discovered dabbler’s true form :) she was officially recruited afterwards :) other than that, the ‘raw’ recruits will have to work together once their training is complete – so it makes sense that they know the others powerset so they can respond accordingly :) (dabbler’s a bit of a special case though, as she’s defined as a civilian consultant – and she don’t want to share her tech :p)
Is there something canon stating that “raw recruit” is not enough to have clearance? When Zephan complained about Sydney she was a civil.
Also, is Varia a “raw recruit”? Nobody addressed her as “recruit” yet, we didn’t see her insignia, and doing the basics is not prove enough, Harem is there too and she is a corporal.
That said, I’m guessing the same as you ;) that she is a recruit and that recruit likely is not level enough, and also DaveB just kinda confirmed it.
Well technically Harem wasn’t there to “do” the basics, but to review them. That could mean either she herself was sitting through them again as punishment(likely) or she was grading them somehow for paperwork purposes.
Also security clearance is a whole other basket of fish from rank, but it’s a given to assume that someone who is new and isn’t known to have a background in military or federal intelligence simply wouldn’t have that kind of access to information. People on the team are going to have more access, or see things that can’t be spoken of, but you’re also not going to give them a full file work up on the whole team. Somethings are need to know, and some are just private.
As someone who was in the Navy with a secret clearance I can absolutely confirm that security clearances are a whole different thing than rank.
And except in extreme cases like sydneys, having an active one while in bootcamp is practically unheard of
HOWEVER, that being said, depending on your rate/mos they might start processing you for your secret clearance the day you get of the bus so you will have it by the time you need it when you get to school or your first command (unless your me and made a really stupid choice in a first husband, then it will be almost 18 months to be cleared)
Var does have an insignia, and a codename (“Varia” is her codename, and the ‘Rainbow’ choker is her insignia)
I was talking about the insignia of her military rank.
What has that got to do with the price of pork rinds in the South Sudan?
I am using that saying in the future!
By all means, do so! :D
Could you explain me what do you find unrelated with what?
Why should rank decide who knows the ‘truth’ about Dabbles? There is a good chance if they are ever in a fight together (not against each other, but on the same team or squad) Dabbles will ‘slip’ up and Var will find out, unless the top brass (and Ari) will work to ensure there will be rank segregation in the field, or simply no inter-squad mingling
Ok, I find that confused, but lets try.
The one who related rank and clearance was gohan, not me, if that was the problem you should reply to him in the first place.
If you read my original post, I made two independent points. The second one was that we don’t officially know Varia’s military rank, for instance her insignia (her military insignia obviously) has not been shown.
At this point you pointed out that she has a superhero insignia. Actually I rather find this observation unrelated with both topics (her clearance and her military rank).
Guessing that you got confused I tried to clarify and you replied with the metaphor, that honestly I still feel uncalled.
Hope it’s more clear now.
ummmm isn’t Sudan predominantly Muslim? The price of pork rinds is your head.
Pretty true, but notice that Guesticus said South Sudan (independence 2011). Officially it have freedom of religion and while there’s a bit of controversy due the lack of reliable surveys, the agreement is that Islam is at best at third place.
Nice catch anyway :)
As a recruit, she will not yet have one. Upon completion of basic training, the recruits will be assigned a rank of Private.
The blog below this page goes some way to answering this. It also establishes that Varia is a recruit.
Yes, I know, but that could mean the other recruits and not specifically Varia.
Again, I think she is a recruit myself, I just commenting that there’s nothing stating her as so directly, as opposed to Vance and Ren who we already saw the lack of insignia in their jackets, or Jiggawatt who also is listed as “Recruit” in the cast.
Somehow, I have no objection seeing Dabbler unveiled…
:P
mmmmhmmm no objection here
They all, and I’m talking about the whole world, already saw she this way during the steakhouse battle broadcast.
Again, all those who don’t know her full story believe that to be her ‘Battle Form’, as told during the Press Conference
Uh? Shachar asked “Why isn’t Dabbler veiled?” and I said why is useless for her to be.
Yes, we know it’s useless. But from the POV of those not in the know, they might be wondering why she needs to do welding (or whatever made her electro-grimy) in her Battle Form.
damage resistance and ability to manipulate components is the excuse du juer
I was thinking in “I really like how hot I look as a purple four armed succubus” ;)
Yup, that’s true and is why DaveB said that people could be suspicious :)
Another point, remember what Maxima said when she was coming to meet Sydney, she got told to come in disguise. With that info, you can expect reasonably that everyone in dabblers normal daily travels around the base already knows about her.
Also at that point in time, sydney wasnt even a recruit yet
Being an aficionado of fitness women and into bodybuilding myself, it often bothered me how entertainment in general likes the idea but not the look of a strong woman. The new Hercules movie with the Rock gets major kudos from me for just this reason with how they cast a very well-built female to play the role of Atalanta. IMDB says her name is Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, a Norwegian actress. I often notice how many Crossfit female champs come from the Nordic countries, Iceland especially. It’s jut too bad that reviews noted her “fitting the role” so well but seemed afraid to comment on her physique but had alot to say about the Rock’s. When I saw her toss fully grown male warriors across the screen, it wasn’t hard to believe it. I wonder how much the Rock’s influence played into getting her cast and into that type of shape.
Ronda Rousey’s foray into movie i another positive trend.
It’s sadly not just films but even sports that dislike the looks of athletic women. Serena Williams, despite being the best female tennis player and one of the best athletes in the world, makes less money than the 2nd ranked Maria Sharapova makes out of endorsements alone. Apparently not even being the best in something is enough to make women marketable if their build differs from the unrealistically narrow standard of beauty.
The difference between Serena’s and Maria’s endorsements isn’t just the physical difference, Serena “just isn’t white enough” for many large endorsements (note: NOT MY opinion).
Back in the day when Conan the Destroyer came out a lot of people were upset with Grace Jones getting the role of Zula saying she was too mannish. Personally every time she came on screen I was “excited” because she was hot as hell to me. When they were filming the movie she hurt a couple of guys because she would get carried away. Nothing serious but she really liked fighting.
Agrecian: Ms Jones always had the physique of a well-toned fighter (remember her in “A View To A Kill”?)
you call having your JAW broken as a “NOT serious” injury??!!… that’s what happened to the guy she hit with the quarterstaff in the scene where she got “recruited” by Conan… other than that one, i kinda knew she was “a bit TOO” active in her role as a warrior, but I’m not sure sure of any other details of others she may have injured during filming… as for her as a person, she does look good, don’t get me wrong, but she is/was a bit too skinny/wiry for my tastes.
No a broken jaw is not serious. These guys were “stuntmen” and it comes with the territory. A serious injury effects your health or life. So maybe he had a few pins in his jaw and ate soft food for a while. I’m sure he was well compensated. And knowing her probably compensated in other ways as well. She was known to have an aggressive sexual appetite as well or that was the rumor. David Letterman, who usually was quite attentive to his female guests, seemed intimidated by her.
Pretty sure any injury that requires surgery and wiring ones jaw shut is classified as serious, stunt person or not.
You don’t need surgery to wire a jaw shut those wires are on the outside of the jaw but inside the mouth. And if it was not a full break probably just immobilized the jaw.
Im not a fan of grace jones either. Not because of anything mannish or wiry or anything bodytype related. I just dont find her to be a good actress and her facial expressions are just…. Disturbing to watch most of the time :).
Good example of fitness wonen in entertainment though… Hmm. Ravhel mclish in iron eagles 3 maybe? Karen shepard in hercules as the enforcer. Pretty sure cory eversons been in a few decent movies and tv shows.
Having trouble thinking of many others actually. At least who are all six pack ab fitness types. I think maybe amy fadhli was in some bit parts? And sue price was in the nemesis movies but they were pretty awful movies. I mean theres cynthia rothrock but most of her movies are just in the “so bad its good” category instead of “good”
Anyone remember “FloJo”? She was pretty hot in the Olympics.
Which is really sad, because Serena is gorgeous.
It might not just be a body type thing, but a prejudice thing as Ie Yamof Ool
pointed out. I saw an interview with Serena and Venus where they recounted the things that the other, all white, young girls would do to them when they started playing tennis simply because they were black. Stupid stuff like leaving their dirty panties on top of the Williams’ girls gear. Things that would bring a sexual harassment suit in a business environment, but was just the white girls way of trying to make the black girls uncomfortable. And it typically kids who are the least prejudiced, IMO. When the high school kids next door to me have a party it’s like the united colors of Benetton. They are white, and their guests run the spectrum. But then the community, while still majority white, is fairly representative.
Anyway, if a bunch of teen girls are so prejudiced as to pull that kind of crap, imagine how fucked in the head their parents must be.
I suspect that it’s because there’s a certain percentage of the male population that gets scared around spectacularly fit women. I’m not really sure why, but I’ve seen it in action, so I’m pretty sure that it’s true. Me, I like muscular women. They’re sexy and dangerous and can tear me into little, tiny pieces if they want. Um. Not that I get…I think I’ll be quiet now.
Yeah, I think it might have something to do with the male psychological notion that a woman who fits that unreal ideal is less likely to beat them up, compared to the fit, muscular type.
;)
Serena has biceps proportionally larger than Anvil, Bigger than deflategate Brady, and thicker than the thighs of most NBA pros. If you compare Serena or todays Sammy Sosa to the Sammy Sosa rookie card you can tell they have more testosterone than is natural.
Perhaps getting a little carried away with the comment, there?
Anvil’s arms are definitely bigger (check her out in that last panel, then actually look at a pictures of Serena), and women’s thighs are supposed to be larger than men’s. Skinny men are stick figures (like Deflategate). I also don’t know what you mean by “Serena has more testosterone than is natural.” Clearly its natural. She’s a gorgeous woman, who works out like crazy. Not like she’s not growing a beard (which btw is also a natural phenomenon which many women feel shamed into hiding, so people think its not normal).
The whole point of this page is that women come in different forms. Serena being strong/curvy doesn’t mean she deserves to be compared to Sammy Sosa, anymore than Anvil would if she were a real person. This thread isn’t a place to get into an opinion throwing match… I should really just scoot past this… but I wanted to say this comment comes across as offensive, and is missing the point of today’s comic page.
I know we’re talking about strong women’s bodies here, but … goodness. Jus … careful with wording and comparisons, maybe, when you’re a member of a dominant culture and are making judgements about people from a subjugated culture, that you don’t belong to? Cause again, a big point of this page is the way men unfairly judge women’s bodies, and enforce the idea that one’s ability to feel beautiful should come from outside validation, according to popular beauty ideals. But what is “should,” or “normal,” really? Those words don’t even mean anything when you see people for who they actually are.
No disrespect. Jus sayin.
two dragon claws way up (best thumbs up impression I can manage if you could see me).
While I agree with the gist of what you’re saying, I think you have misunderstood Mark’s statement on two points. First, he said Serena’s biceps are proportionally bigger than Anvil’s, not actually bigger. Second, he said Serena’s biceps are bigger than the men’s thighs, while your response seems to compare thighs to thighs. I’m not claiming that Mark’s statements are accurate, I just want to make sure we’re responding to what he actually said.
If this comes from testosterone, I think I wanna be more manly. o-o
https://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/ffn_williams_serena_vemipxxsbmf_041614_51385702.jpg?w=700
Mmmmmmm….. Sooo gorgeous. I think something moved. :-P
That is just so wrong (by which I mean “incorrect” and/or “gross exaggeration”, Mark.
J.K. Rowling (who is a fan of Serena) had to put down a critic on Twitter recently, who made fun of her body by saying “the main reason for her success is that she is built like a man.”
This was Rowling’s response:
I think Rowling would say pretty much the same to you, Mark. And she’s right.
Why you no work, href? I think I need to practice with href tags a bit more. The sentence should have been “Yeah, my husband looks just like THIS in a dress.”
yeah I also failed. Anyway, there’s a very sexy and athletic woman on the other side of that link ;)
I remember J.K. Rowling tweeting that. So spot on. love her
I love that rowling said that :)
I’ve had to struggle with the tags here also. I think the close tag is just the a. As in , spaces so it isn’t parsed as a tag.
And… even with the spaces it was parsed as a tag! {/a}
Certain percentage? Would that percentage be 90% by any chance? 90% of men are whiny lil bitches after all. Threatened by strong women? Congrats on being a weak man.
the issue there is, if they did make any comment on how she looked, the biggots in the Social Jerk*** Waster movement would pounce on the author for suppposedly objectifying women and scream about patriarchy..
Sadly all too true. Unless you’re submissively worshiping a female’s looks, you’re automatically a sexist who only thinks in terms of having sex with women. Which is completely natural but somehow they manage to demonize this. Plenty of women look at men the same way, also natural, but this is okay by their standards. If your preferences are in the more ‘accepted’ stylized sort of looks when it comes to women, rather than hulking or hairy or rotund, then you’re still sexist just because of your preferences, you’re -still- objectifying them, except now it’s because you ‘don’t know how to appreciate women’ rather than ‘women aren’t sex toys for you’.
You literally can’t win unless you’re wringing your hands or singing extra and unnecessary praises to assuage someone’s ego. This isn’t even just my own observations, I spend most of my time hanging out with my female friends and they complain about this sort of thing constantly, said it makes sane people look bad, and actually generates further aggression and jaded perspectives against women due to people constantly being assaulted by all these hyper-sensitive reactionist groups crawling out of the woodworks like crazy people.
Their words, but I completely agree. You basically can’t appreciate a woman’s looks if she’s socially-acceptably pretty without being a chauvinistic pig, and if you don’t find yourself attracted to or in praise of another woman’s looks (too tall, too muscular, too hairy, too fat) then you’re some form of woman-oppressing hater (despite that in my experience it’s usually other women making these calls and negative remarks about other women). It’s crap like that which is actually oppressive. Naturally they don’t care how you or women feel about a man’s looks (making fun of skinny or fat men is acceptable to everyone, apparently) so the bias is real.
I’m totally sexist, I hate men……competition…..die in a fire…..screw you all…..
I’m not sexist, I hate 95% of humanity (99.9% of the people I deal with personally)
No, that just means you do not discriminate :D
Of course I discriminate! I discriminate against the 95% the species wouldn’t need to maintain acceptable genetic diveresity! =P
… is that a nipple on anvils speech bubble?
Yes, yes it is. Glad I’m not the only one that noticed.
Seems like the bubble should’ve been a little larger from the older pics of Anvil’s assets, though.
She might have been wearing a pushup bra. She probably needs serious support for those things.
This is the first time se has been shown without any form of support, and ‘real’ bodybuilders have a figure like Kenya’s in the last panel (ie they don’t have unsupported beachballs unless they have implants)
Actually, what I’ve noticed is that female body builders tend to fall into 2 categories:
1) “Normal” builds with exceptionally well defined muscles. They look exceptionally fit and have the normal curves otherwise. Ms. Williams, who has been commented on here, falls into this category. While models tend to be uber-skinny – sometimes to the point of emaciation, athletic women have far more attractive bodies to any intelligent man or woman.
2) “Competitive” builds where they have gone to extremes to reduce body fat to near zero – which, considering that breasts are mostly fat, leads to them having significantly reduced their “curves” up there. Sometimes it’s to the point where they disappear into their pectoral muscles. It may win a lot of competitions, but it’s not particularly attractive.
The same tends to be true of the male body builders, i.e. there are “normal” builds that look exceptionally fit and well defined and the “competitive” builds where they have taken it to freakish extremes. In my opinion, these so-called “ripped” physiques are ugly in both men and women. Also, from my experience with friends who were into natural body building (no drugs or hormones – just exercise and weight lifting), the natural body builders were far more healthy, agile, and STRONG than the “ripped” people. The natural body builders could lift, bench-press, etc. much more than the freaks and had far higher endurance and flexibility.
Also – getting back to the original topic:
I remember reading somewhere that a good way to distinguish “natural” female assets from implants is that the natural tend to sag into more of a teardrop shape and be fuller at the bottom than on top while implants tend to be more symmetrical from top to bottom – assuming more the shape of a supported bust, but doing so without any support. Implants also sit higher on the chest than natural. It would appear that Anvil is more “natural” and “normal” – insofar as a superhuman can be considered normal.
That’s because ‘body builders’ build up their muscles for fitness, whereas ‘body sculptors’ go for the ‘ripped’ look rather than strength
the word balloon is about the size of both their heads. so i would say its plenty big. The balloon is also white 2d object which messes with being able to read proportions.
I caught it, too.
Thank god I wasn’t alone.
Clever censorship. It is the art of … artness… and arteries?
Yes. We must always strive for… uh… mmm.
I just really liked the stupid nipple cover on the word bubble.
Got-damned word balloons.
And don’t get me started about the cropping in panels 4 and 5. Dave, if you needed more space you should have made this a double.
Panel four is a view of Kenya’s big beautiful butt
Come on Dave, it’s almost like you want to keep this comic SFW!
…
looks up Dave’s DeviantArt profile instead.
why stop at 5… go all out!… UN-crop panels 6 AND 7 TOO!!
Just give us a version without any text at all and I’ll be happy.
With the advent of Crossfit and more and more women haring photo on Bodyspace, Facebook and Tumbler, it seems younger Gen and Millennial women are more open to the idea of building muscle. Ten years ago you had to look in a bodybuilding mags to see it. Today these women are showing up at the grocery store or are your neighbor in your apartment complex. I’m also seeing more male and female nurses and doctors in hospitals who seem to lift seriously too. It’s clearly a generational thing. In ten year I think the stigma will mostly be gone.
being a bit sarcastic here… but the reason those nurses and doctors are seeming to be body builders (of whatever flavor) is REALLY because they NEED to be, in order to PICK UP our population of OBESE lard-butt PATIENTS!!!so they can get them into and out of the gurneys, change bed-linens, perform CPR, etc, etc…
scantronb: There IS a reason why doctors use “CBT” to describe some patients. CBT = Chronic Burger Toxicity (a morbidly obese patient).
They have a lot of others, too; some of them I find pretty funny, such as RTTBBB, which stands for “Rat-a-Tat-Tat with a BaseBall Bat” (aka, Blunt Force Trauma). Here’s a few others:
AGA = Acute Gravity Attack (fell over)
ATD = Acute Tylenol Deficiency (fever or headache)
ATS = Acute Thespian Syndrome (patient is faking illness)
CCFCCP = Coo-Coo For Co-Co Puffs (dementia)
CIBS = Cast-Iron Butt Syndrome (when the needle goes into the buttocks straight but comes out curved)
DRTTTT = Dead Right There, There, There, and There (patient dead and dismembered at scene of accident)
FDSTW = Found Dead; Stayed That Way (could not resuscitate)
They have many, many more, and most of them are not flattering.
For the really curious: https://messybeast.com/dragonqueen/medical-acronyms.htm
There’s also CTD (Circling The Drain), for patients who are terminal & the only thing to do is keep them comfortable.
A few more (from the UK):
FLK – Funny Looking Kid
LOBNH – Lights On But Nobody Home
GPO – Good for Parts Only
TEETH – Tried Everything Else, Try Homeopathy
PGT – Patient Got Thumped
UBI – Unexplained Beer Injury
DBI – Dirt Bag Index: multiplies the number of tattoos by the number of missing teeth to
estimate number of days since last bath
Pumpkin Positive – Brain is so small that shining a light in their mouth would make their
whole head light up.
I saw a documentary about how big homeopathy has gotten in the UK.
I suppose it’s like Mormanism or Scientology in the USA: There are idiots everywhere and plenty of people who are more than happy to separate them from their money.
You can’t pray away a disease or mental illness, and neither can you cure it by drinking water which has less than 1 part per all the oceans in the world of some substance which isn’t a cure for the disease either…
That’s true, but that doesn’t mean that all homeopathic remedies are ineffective. The psychosomatic response has to be considered. Sometimes things work that normally wouldn’t work, simply because the person believes they will work.
Also, comparing Mormonism to Scientology is really a poor comparison. Mormonism is an actual religion; Scientology is more akin to a cult that hides behind the facade of being a religion (the only reason they’re tax exempt is because they blackmailed the IRS.)
Homeopathy by definition has no active ingredients, so it is ineffective. I understand what you’re trying to say about the psychosomatic response, it’s the same thing defenders of acupuncture try to get away with. In fact all alternative medicine by definition is medicine that has not been shown to work any better than placebo. Paying someone for some water to make your headache go away is just putting wealth in a charlatan’s pocket. Money creates industry which creates lobbyists which have a net negative effect on national health. People start thinking fake medicine can be some sort of cure all, and if that headache is actually something more serious, they might not see a real doctor before it’s too late to do something about it. For that reason alone I think people should stay away from any sort of alt-med solution.
As far as comparing one religion to another, lets not forget that all religions are made up. Some have a more immediately apparent detrimental effect on people and the world than others, but they’re all just sides of the same coin. (A coin with like 4,000 faces I guess.)
It might just be a perspective thing, but Kenya’s breast covering Speech bubble does not seem large enough to have properly covered her Breast.
Was just thinking that, too.
I was surprised that it wasn’t a little larger too.
No, that is how a real breast looks when it is not filled with plastic, just check out sites like SheMuscle.com
I love how Halo is wearing all the towels. I’ve done something similar.
What the hell is Electro-grime?
Can i see? Please? comon just a quick peek… for science. Yeah science.
Aww :(
Most modern air purifiers/ air scrubbers use ion generators to cause particles in the air (pollen, dust, etc) to stick to electrified plates. These particles form a layer of grime on the plates that can be referred as “electro-grime”.
It’s just charged particles that stick due to electro-magnetism.
So Dabbler is now electrically charged? I thought that was Jiggawatt’s thing.
In order to build up a potential, you would need take two items (like people) and rub them together vigorously to build up a static electrical charge. OK, now I get it, never mind.
It’s not just Jiggawatt…EVERYBODY is electrically charged. What do you think lets your central nervous system work, anyway?
:P
Geeeeesus!
yes! we’re all electrically charged, partially electromagnetic, filled with miniscule iron filings, and we’re constantly RUSTING as well! (that’s the red in the red blood cells folks) We are all, technically, machines!
That being said, it’s kinda weird, ain’t it?
Strangely enough, people take anti-oxidants to reduce the effects of aging…Yet, our bodies NEED that oxygen to burn calories for energy, we NEED the iron in our blood to carry that oxygen, plus we also NEED salt-based (saline) fluids just to survive; these three things combined causes rust. So yeah, a major factor of aging is just little more than a slow-rusting process…
Some more than others… :P
*Shuts down Pretender Armour…*
Those who take in too much anti-oxidants could be committing suicide by cellular-level asphyxiation…
O.o
or the bits of fried material ya get on ya from welding, mostly carbon and other impurities.
Thank you Ie Yamof Ool, i enjoy learning new things.
Also thank you O.B. Juan for the image in my head, i love it :D
Electro grime is a type of musical style. So obviously she’s covered in music.
I know this is the LAST thing i should be noticing considering all that has been presented, but in the last panel, Anvil has *Tiny* little ears!
…And you’re right. Now I can’t unsee it.
Damnit, you’re right! Can’t unsee. DX
Are you sure that mask isn’t partially obscuring your vision? I mean, c’mon…You actually focused on Anvil’s ears?
Oh believe me, it was only after I took in and thoroughly processed *everything* else that I noticed it.
I know this comic has its knockers, but it’s the first time someone’s noticed some feature that’s too small…
Heh, heh…knockers!
Thx. I was worried that was a bit too, er, “Morecambe & Wise” for this forum 8-)
May need to explain, to a large proportion of readers, who “Morecombe & Wise” were :p
I’ve finally become middle-aged and parochial…
*stares at his Carry-On film collection and sobs*
Anyway, Prof. Wikipedia & Dr. Google know everything. Even dead British comics.
I would have gone with Benny Hill (also marking me as middle-aged, and also liberal use of “knockers”).
Why crying? Is it because of what passes for ‘comedy’ these days? In which case, Gobi could do with some more water
The opposite, in fact – some of the stuff I thought of as ‘classic’ has dated badly. I searched for the best-known M&W sketches on YouTube and they seemed much less funny than I recall.
And yes, Benny Hill would have been much better. Everyone knows who he was. Now I’ve got ‘that tune’ (Yakkety Sax) stuck in my head…
She has ears?
The similar reason why Maxi tends to cover up her pointy Elf ears, Kenya covers hers up because they are so ‘dainty’
It can’t be easy walking on wet tile with hooves.
Perhaps she had special “shoes” made. There are many different types of horseshoes maybe she has her own range of types. I doubt they are nailed in though, probably a magical form of adhesive.
Good point.
Many breeds of goats’ feet have a hard “rim” of Keratin (the same protein that forms hair and nails/claws in other mammals) but the center is more like our feet.
Presumably she’s gotten plenty of experience by now on how to move about on a variety of surfaces without having an accident.
Yes, but it would still be hilarious if she hit a soapy spot and pulled a “Bambi on Ice” maneuver. :D
Invotive please!!!
I think the nipple balloon is hilarious! We’ve all seen word balloons preserving people’s modesty before… I don’t think this sort of attention has ever been called to the practice, though. Almost constitutes a 4th-wall-break.
Agh… This is soooo good there is no such group as super(fit) humans in real life. It would make me hate them. And nature. Or aliens. Or whatever thingamabob responsible for their existence. So hate.
Did you not see all of the baseball players busted for steroids?
I waited for some crap like your comment. You idjit!
All bodybuliders and some sportsmen spent a lot of time in gym or any other places suitable for hard working. They are trining. Sculpting their bodies. They invest their time and strength. Its a long ang difficult process. There are some cheaters, cutting edges, but they invest their health instead of time and effort.
Me? I spend all this time at fast food and on couch. I look like blob of a human. No surprise at all.
All this is fair and square. It’s obvious. But what about some individuals who somehow got this first class bodies just by birth? No efforts, no sacrifices, no drawbacks, no anything. They are just unforgivable.
What do you mean there are no superfit humans in real life? You never heard of the “Mr and Mrs Universe” competitions?
Another idjit. Look my second comment.
There actually are a small percentage of the population who are like that naturally, without putting in much effort at all
If ARCswat had transgendered and/or genderless members,would they have separate showers???
For genderless, I would guess no. Really, what would be the need? For transgendered, let’s not even go into that discussion…
Simple: they would use the shower of whatever gender they identified with. Full stop.
female bodied person identifies as male.. so… math…. nope, not happening.
female-bodied person identifies and male… Math hits on him… he kicks Math’s ass across the room, possibly literally, then the girls show up to kick it again for him being such a pig.
There are transgendered people who have breasts AND a penis…they’re referred to as shemales.
Not that those Thai ladyboys are familiar to you…!
I like women with muscle. Ever since I read Spinnerette and she said the word “girl abs”, I realized my appreciation for strong women.
I don’t think judging from prior pages that speech bubble is big enough.
Yeah it looks too small to me too with the bubble, but without the bubble it looks just about right. Don’t get too excited though, I didn’t even finish coloring her where the bubble overlaps.
No, it looks fine to me, unless Kenya has had some ‘surgical enhancements’
she’s not wearing a bra dude, unless you gave her dolly’s tits they’re fine.
I wonder if Dabbler’s Arc-Dark shadow is following her right now?
Useless unless she/he already developed sound transparency and is not attracted to women ;)
And then there’s the privacy issue (which is not the same thing as Dabbler’s modesty issue, or the lack thereof). I don’t think even Dabbler would appreciate her male handler spying on her in the shower. I’m pretty sure she’d notice, either because of her hearing or because of her porno sense.
If she’s not modest about nudity or sex (and we know she’s not), why would she care about her handler watching her in the shower? It’s actually one thing that many people are LESS sensitive about.
And for Dabbler, in any case, she might deliberately tease him by turning it into a “shower scene.”
Umm, because Dabbles isn’t the only one using the showers?
It’s not really spying if she knows he’s there, and she has horny sense. It’s like trying to sneak up on spider-man.
Not for modesty reasons (it’s pretty well established that Dabbler has no modesty). For privacy reasons. Same reason you don’t spy on women in the bathroom. Even Dabbler poops (I would assume); if X followed her in there, that would be a good way to get his corner of the room “very accurately filled with a fireball”.
This. Guesticus is right. If X followed her in there, all Dabbler has to do is tell the other girls (especially Maxima). I guarantee X would never make that mistake again.
True, but it’s still stalkerish behavior. In the real world, that’s the kind of thing that gets you arrested. Which might not bother Dabbler, but then she’d have blackmail material on X. All she has to do is tell the general that X followed her in there, and X would probably be given a new assignment in Alaska somewhere.
Don’t forget how many times in fiction clouds of steam have “revealed” something invisible because it was still a solid object and the steam either swirled around it or moisture condensed on the surface.
case in point: Naruto ‘sexy jutsu’: he’s made the nude form so its naughty bits are covered by little steam clouds. I always guessed that the only peeping he’d done had been in the girls’ steam baths…and he’d never gotten a better look.
We don’t know X’s gender.
Admittedly that should not make a difference, right?
While it’s true that X’s gender hasn’t been officially declared, X was affected and detected when Dabbler ramped up her lust aura (page 106), and admitted it, saying “How could I not? I mean… so what?”
So? Arianna, Maxima and Sydney were affected as well when she pushed her aura to 11. It’s not just males.
I do believe Sydney’s bruise is missing again.
Oh, right. The cheek bruise. Sydney hid that this morning. Apparently so well that even Dave couldn’t find it. ;)
Option 2 for the ‘new powers’ crowd: Sydney touching Varia set up a feedback process that caused the activation of one of the mystery orbs, resulting in her face healing (and yet not her leg bruise for some reason).
Or, the make-up she used to cover it up is water-proof?
Dangit. :/
Actually, shouldn’t Sydney have more than a few marks on her face and not just that bruise on her cheek? I mean she had a busy day yesterday.
Smacked herself in the nose with the tube:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/197
Reset her reaction to surprises:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/720
Got sand blasted at the demonstration:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1092
And got punched with nega-knuckles:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1286
I can accept things like that hit from the tube not being hard enough to leave a bruise, but what about the sand and the reset?
Actually, wouldn’t our heroine be a mass of bruises? She took a number of falls yesterday as well.
As a for instance:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/268
Actually, I thought that last chat bubble was brilliant… We all know what is behind it, and yet it highlights the fact that she could be mistaken for a man just based on her musculature… Sydney may not see the irony of it given that she is eye level with the chat bubble, but that chat bubble definitely serves to highlight the irony.
Yes her muscles, because all men have childbearing hips….. why does everyone miss the hips?
Because that’s proper anatomy and people tend to look at “girly bits” first?
um… i don’t think that quite right… i’ could go ask my roommate the nurse, but i am pretty sure there ARE anatomical differences between Men’s and Women’s pelvic bone-structure, ie, Hips… so, no, NO we DON’T have “childbearing hips”…
Yup, it’s one reason women walk the way they do
Ummm yes…..that was the point…..I refuse to use sarcasm tags.
Anyone notice the Chat Bubble Nipple in the last frame?
Pretty much everyone on the first page :D
And most everyone on this page too.
Even the likes of Red Sonja, She-Ra and Xena are not drawn to the looks of Anvil. Anvil looks like a weight lifter on steroids with breast surgery. :p You almost never, if ever, see any of the mentioned heroes drawn like a hard core weight lifter, like Anvil looks.
I’d be more likely to believe Anvil had the type of body Sydney made fun of when she would see them online or on a fitness magazine. :p
The gym I patronize has any number of muscular female members that no one would mistake for a man. Women enjoy being fit and weight lifting as much as men do
I propose that we call the unit of measure to knockout the aforementioned hypothethical horse, a “mongo”, for obvious and amusing reasons.
Seconded
obvious? how is it obvious?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28khv-BydeY
OK… So, how many Mongo was Vehemence capable of at the various levels of his charge-ups?
for discussion’s sake let’s say the first level was him wearing the fedora still hiding behind the tree that Dabbler’s “mammary-trapped” sword struck, the second would be when “revealed” himself by taking out the Telekinetic and the Portal-girl (sorry can’t remember their names right now) the third would be right BEFORE Max walloped him thru the bridge, the next level being immediately AFTER the punch thru the piling… then finally, after all that panicked struggling while nearly drowning, right before he surrendered… feel free to add in any levels that i forgot about…
we have nearly 3k lead in the TWC, i don’t think anyone could beat us now, on the last day of voting.
July 2015, is the month of Grll Power!
Let’s try and claim the next month as well! :)
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN! 5k votes lead the first day, that around 11 times as many votes as the next in line… yeah, this is the month of 2kinds… no chance for 2 in a row. :/
Dabbler’s definitely my kind of prevert. Preeeee-verrrrrt.
What is “present” in panel 2? Dabby’s bewbs, or what is it?
I think so, “Present” as in presentation, not as in gift…though that definition could be argued too :)
Yup, Dabbles is ‘presenting’ herself in all it’s electro-grimed glory
Even so, I’d still accept that as a form of “gift.”
she is gifting them a beautiful image.
And it’s an image I’d like to see :P
It’s not my fault that Dave has us looking through a window in the wrong 4th wall…
I’m sure Syd appreciates Dabby’s presentation, but not as much as some of us would. ; )
I just noticed it. It’s a military joke I believe. I think she’s doing her own version of Present Arms, which is when you display your weapon for inspection.
Dumb question, but that is Dabbler’s bare skin, right? For some reason, every time I see her, I imagine that her whole body is covered in purple fur – like a short hair cat or something.
judging by that one image from “sex drive” say or whatever, i think it may be her actual skin color.
i think you may still find it on his deviant art.
It may be, but personally I’ve always imagined her with a short, furry nap, rather like velvet. An soft, soooooo soft…
Yes! Gladly volunteers to verify ;)
Mmm… My mind went to a weird place again :
1. Is is harder for Dabblernot to slip on wet tiles with her hooves?
2.. Does she buy her nail polish in bulk?
Should be EASIER to slip, I feel. She might use some kind of… padding
You know, it could be as simple as a non-slip cantrip. I mean, if she can dry herself off with a spell, why can’t she have a spell that makes the bottom of her hooves slightly “tacky” so they grip the tile better? Or, as someone else pointed out, maybe she wears the succubus equivalent of horseshoes.
there is a rubber based horse shoe for pavement, and there are “oxen” shoes that have 2 separate plates for cloven hooves
Huh. I didn’t know that. It doesn’t *surprise* me, but I didn’t know that. Thanks for the info.
Sydney Scoville: Towel Ninja
Seriously, I count at least four towels on the girl.
i cant help but think, if the towels where purple, that’d be a pretty decent nin-nin cosplay for syd.
If someone could make Chibi-Dabbler in an Avatar I’m sure there are quite a few who would appreciate it.
I’m already sold on this beautiful motherfucker
Anvil’s waist is to small, it looks weird.
Considering her height, seems about right
Shouldn’t Anvil’s modesty speech bubble be bigger? LOL
Only if she has implants
You seriously can’t wrap your head around the fact that she’s a Super and can therefore be both larger than average and still perky? Jeez, man, she’s got Super Boobs for Christ’s sake! Just deal with it!
the speech bubble also has a nipple in case you didn’t notice…
I know I didn’t read all the comments, but at first glance no one said anything about how well Anvil’s feet are drawn. I really like them. I mean I was looking at the cleavage and where the towel stopped and… nevermind. Dem feet tho…
if dabler did a spell sydney might loosen up- omg what did i just say bad betaki! i think i need new freinds….
Not sure if anyone else caught the joke since it’s a lot to scroll through, but the fact that Dabbler did a “Present Arms” maneuver is pretty funny.
Wow, I just read the whole chapter 1 and up until the point they really meet Dabbled. Thanks for the Link! The comic’s amazing.
If the speech bubble is anything to go by… they look rather small compared to the rest of her. But then kinda large for someone with such prolific muscles. Still. Not big.
Technically, the point of a bastard sword is that anyone of reasonable strength can use it one-handed or two-handed. The “Bastard” comes from them being a cross between a one-handed and a two-handed sword. It would be impressive to one-hand wield a greatsword, but outside of the kind of super strength that makes physique largely irrelevant that just isn’t possible.
Sydney says her team mates make fitness models selfconsious about their muscle tone, but if the information I’ve consumed is an implication of anything it’s a problem most fitness don’t need any help developing anymore.