Grrl Power #361 – Hits and misses
In Math’s defense, those guys were categorized as scrubs because they were all wiped out in about 5 seconds. She’s essentially complimenting Math for taking them down quickly by calling them scrubs. That’s certainly how he’ll relate it later.
Math, of course turned down the Doctor’s healing touch, she had more serious injuries to deal with and of course a busted nose is a good reminder to do better in the next fight. It’s hardly the first time he’s gotten his schnoz shifted. This time it might have actually straightened it out.
There’s a lot of people Maxima could call out for actions in the battle, good and bad. As well as ditching a family event, Jiggawatt took out three people on arrival and was instrumental in Vehemence’s takedown. Achilles ran some interference but could have been a lot more useful, etc. I’m not going to cover the whole battle in the following pages, but assume Maxima recaps it with a fair amount of granularity in between pages. I’m sure some of you could really get into some detailed tactics porn, but I’ll probably just pepper that in as I go during future battles.
BTW don’t concern yourself that in the first panel you can’t see the back of Hiro, Anvil, Dabbler and Math’s heads. There a screen there… a partition… an invisibility partition… ok I just ran out of time and sort of forgot to add them. Pretend that Math spilled some skittles and they all bent over to pick them up. Also if you hadn’t noticed that before I pointed it out just forget about it. *waves hands, snaps fingers* I just felt guilty after I noticed I left them out. Actually now that I look at the layout of the room from the stage, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be able to see the backs of the chairs in the front row from where the recruits are sitting. *shakes fist at sky* ARCHITECTURE!!!
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.
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And for the foot fetish Dabbler lines them up 2×2 (read: two by two) instead of 5×5.
I’m a bit surprised Max didn’t erase the betting grid from the whiteboard before beginning.
Probably cause she wants in on the action somewhere. Course, she might also know about the origins, so…who knows? >.>
That would be bad for morale, so I am not. Regardless of whether it was done purely as a joke or if there is actually money now committed to the bets.
As a note, this is a key moment, even though it may not seem so, where a wise commander would tolerate something (even of a dubious nature) which boosted morale and avoid doing anything that will unnecessarily disrupt it. Behind the scenes she may well have pointed this out to Arianna, to ensure that she ignores anything overly politically correct too.
The unit has only just been formed. The team ‘getting to know you’ and bonding exercise, at the steak house got disrupted. In a way that could very well have newbies (and even old hands for that matter) wondering ‘what kind of a life have I signed up for?’ Several of the team had traumatic and even life-or-death experiences. Some of which have not even completed basic training, so lack even rudimentary training to help them cope with such.
Plus this is the following day, but the first time they are being required to actually take time to reflect on the things which happened to them, in full. Note that they are doing this without the rush of adrenalin and the other psychological advantages of being kept too busy to self-analyse.
Some of Maxima’s subordinates may be in a lot more of a fragile state than it appears on the outside. Nurturing a friendly team spirit, is far more important than pandering to false civilian political correctness. Clearly Maxima has judged that Varia was joining in, and not genuinely bothered by, the betting on her origins. Which would be the only reason to have intervened otherwise.
That said, the team is going to be under a closer media spotlight than any military unit has ever been before. And it is not going to stop. So they will need to beware of genuine issues. Further though, Maxima will have to take extra care to prevent civilian concerns from interfering overly with her unit’s combat effectiveness.
“ignores anything overly politically correct too.”
you meant INcorrect right?
the way you worded it sounds like being politically correct is a bad thing.
And don’t get me wrong, i am not a fan of political correctness, but its Arianna we are talking about.
In this case I was referring to any overly political correct views that the observer (Arianna) might have. Although if it is being applied to the subject (the team’s behaviour) then your version is the way to go. Mind you my phraseology could have done with a bit of polishing to avoid the ambiguity.
Political correctness is fine, and I am a supporter of it, when applied judiciously. But you missed the key word in your sentence. Namely “overly”. I have serious issues with our society taking things too far.
Living in Bulgaria now, I can see that the children here, despite being in the poorest and most impoverished part of Europe, enjoy life in ways that have very much declined in Britain. They can play out in the streets or countryside, without fear. The younger ones do not have to worry about being put in a bathing suit on the beach. They can play on a playground that does not have bouncy tarmac and rubber padding.
The latter may seem like a good idea, but if it were enforced here, they would have nothing. As it would be unaffordable. Having a playground which helps them learn how to take knocks in life, is better than having nothing at all. Especially if the only alternative is to sit at home watching TV,* rather than living a healthier life outdoors.
* Mind you such is not necessarily an option here, where even running a light-bulb, for more than a few hours a night, might be beyond a family’s means.
The points I cite are how people enjoy life more when they are not fooled into believing propaganda, that certain things are more dangerous than they actually are.
Whereas you clearly like to promote such a distorted perception of danger. Either wilfully, or through being fooled by propaganda yourself.
Plus the only theme in your comments is your hatred of Muslims, in particular, and refugees in general. For instance, in your last, straying from being anti-PC, to being pro-PC, in order to pursue your agenda. Yet not otherwise showing any interest in the comic, or it’s issues.
None of which speaks well for your motives, nor encourages the comic-loving community to care about what you have to say.
For propaganda I would believe the head of the German Police union over a former Stasi member that is also a jewish lesbian. There are unedited videos showing “refugee” violence obviously you have not seen any or not smart enough to search for them.
188 german MPS are drawing up plans to close the German border, refusegee housing is being torched in Sweden/Germany, and today 40,000 marched in PEGIDA. Moslem nations wont take them because they know how dangerous they are. The head of the German Police Union came out against covering up refugee crime after the 7yo rape victim was covered up for 3 months.
Over 300 refusegee housing has been arsoned this year alone in Germany do you really think it is because moslems are the religion of peace? The last time the moslems got kicked out of Europe the inquisition was the self defense needed to clean up those that let them in. How was I possibly pro PC, unless your comment about seeing kids naked on the beach meant you think I supported the 1700 little white girls being gang raped by moslems in Rotherham UK?
After encountering your invented word “refusegee” for the second time, I suddenly realized it wasn’t a typo. Wow Mikey, you really are full of hate, aren’t you? it seems like all of your posts use heavily loaded language instead of finding more benign ways of getting your point across. P.S. you accidentally spelled refugee correctly the other two times you used it.
“the way you worded it sounds like being politically correct is a bad thing.”
IMO, it IS a bad thing. Political Correctness is really nothing more than excessive use of euphemisms to the point where all meaning, context & actual definition is obliterated…There is no real communication taking place. A more general description would be like a complete “whitewashing” of the language.
This is a tactic that comes straight out of the Communist Manifesto, for a general “brainwashing” of the public at large…If you can control the use of language, then you start to have control over how people have to think in order to use the language.
Everyone who thinks “political correctness” is a good thing needs to live in a totalitarian country, as a serf. Political correctness began in SOVIET RUSSIA, under the KGB. You voiced a viewpoint that differed from the Politbureau, even retroactively, and soldiers would take you from your family, home, or workplace, and take you to a “psychiatric” facility to be “politically corrected.” Sometimes by using you for HARD LABOR. Many of the “politically corrected” were never seen again.
I agree with everything you said.
Political correctness? Orwell’s 1984. Or for the less literate types out there – Stallone’s Demolition Man.
It’s been used to silence opposition by totalitarian regimes and fascists quite a bit in the last century. Because ‘offensive speech’ is subjective, and when it’s made an objective thing, what is offensive winds up being decided by some political elites in charge to squash ideas that counter them. It’s tyranny of the mind. So if one wants to praise political correctness, congratulations – that person has just followed in the footsteps of other notable political tyrants such as Lenin, Stalin, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Robert Mugabe, Chiang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong, Slobodan Milosevic, Kim Jong Il (and his son as well), Idi Amin, and of course (sorry for how I’m probably going to imbuke Godwin’s Law here)…. Adolf Hitler.
Incorrect. Political correctness in and off itself is not a bad thing, only its corruption. Which you outlined at first, then went on to make yourself wrong by likening political correctness itself and people who approve of the idea to famous (obvious) fascists and tyrants.
Like all things, there are many good ideas that EVERY government twists and corrupts to control its people. Without that corruption and being applied with level headedness, many things would be of benefit to our various and unfortunately divided societies.
“…that EVERY government twists and corrupts to control its people.”
Yeah, it’s just that it used to be called “propaganda.” Changing the label by which it’s used doesn’t change the core truth of what it is.
did you stop reading at “thing”?
Political correctness can be boiled down to one simple thing. Treating others with the respect you demand for yourself. It’s a simple extension of the golden rule.
Keep that basic principle in mind, and pretty much the only people you’ll have issues with are people who are actively looking to be offended by something, *anything*, you say or do.
Going to probably make some people hate my by saying this, but what I’m saying is the truth.
Political correctness is anathema to freedom of speech. It KILLS free speech and the flowing discourse of ideas.
It’s basically intellectual fascism, to be honest. You don’t combat what you consider to be offensive speech (SUBJECTIVE offensive speech btw) by banning it. You combat what you consider to be offensive speech by more speech.
If you can’t argue your point against a point that you find distasteful, and feel the need to ban it to make it ‘politically correct’…. then the person who is ‘offended’ is most of the time just looking for a fight, not actually genuinely offended…. or they’re too easily offended to know how to live in a free society of ideas.
No hate here. I cannot find anything in there to disagree with.
Political correctness is the weak way to try to win an argument without having to actually engage in it in the first place by attacking the language rather than engaging the ideas.
I disagree- while it can be used that way, way more often I see it used to simply ask people to *not* casually insult others- and there’s a lot of unthinking, casual insults going around. And indeed, it’s often brought up to simply make people aware that’s what they’re doing.
In practice, I see “you’re just being PC/you’re overly PC,” used to shut down conversation much more often than I do someone asking for word consideration trying to use it the same. Most PC usage I see is, “Hey, can you not use X for specifically Y reason? K thanks. Now back to topic…”. While I see a ton of, “And I use X despite what those PC people have to say! You ask me to not use it? You’re a horrible censor, get out of here, I don’t want to hear anything you have to say!”.
It’s ironic, really, but my practical experience is a lot of the people talking about what words to use or not are trying to facilitate conversations, while a lot of people saying you shouldn’t do so are merely looking for excuses to not engage on the subjects or change their behavior.
The problem with what you’re saying is people are insulted by a LOT of stuff. And that feeling of being offended is incredibly subjective. Especially when the feeling of being offended is words. Not to mention it’s incredibly condescending that you think you know better than me what I can say out of my own mouth. That is real ‘Big Brother’ mentality there.
Also, I don’t really know where you’ve been hearing PC, but they generally arent polite about it. Most of the time, they are total asses and use incredibly heavy handed methods of enforcing banning ‘offensive speech’ (most of which isnt offensive from an objective standpoint, just a subjective one – not to mention ‘offensive’ changes with each generation – hell, each year… sometimes faster), unpopular THOUGHTS (vocalized or implied), or doing things which does not fit a pre-ordained set of rules by the elites who put those rules in place (often where the rules are so nebulous and far reaching to basically allow NO freedom of expression or ideas whatsoever).
Such as getting students expelled, lowering students grades, social shunning, violence, slander against the ‘politically incorrect’ person, death threats, workers being fired or demoted, heavy fines, jailtime, etc.
Even for the theoretical ‘polite request to ask me not to say something which you deem offensive (or who you THINK someone ELSE might find offensive)’ – what if I tell you no. That I will keep speaking my mind anyway? That’s not me telling you ‘not to speak YOUR mind’ – that’s me telling you not to tell me how to speak my own mind.
Name ANYTHING created, and I will give an example of how some idiot or group, somewhere, at some time, can and probably does find it offensive.
In India, it’s offensive to use my left hand in a handshake, to eat food, or present a gift. That sort of sucks since I’m LEFT HANDED.
In Australia, it’s offensive to sit in the back seat of a cab if the front seat isn’t taken.
In Japan, it’s offensive to tip your waiter.
In Turkey, it’s offensive to put your hands in your pocket for no reason.
In the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, the ‘peace’ gesture is offensive. It’s sort of like sticking up your middle finger in the US. (Maybe Maxima was saying f** you guys? :) )
Showing the soles of your shoes is offensive in… I think pretty much EVERY Arab country. So… don’t cross your legs when you’re sitting down.
Speaking of not crossing stuff… if you cross your fingers for good luck in Vietnam, you’re going to offend a LOT of people because of what they think crossed fingers looks like (hint – it’s part of female anatomy)
Also don’t pat anyone on the head, even a kid, if you’re in a Buddhist country. You’d be invading their spiritual selves (the head is sacred in Buddhist philosophy). Not that you should go around patting strangers’ heads anyway, but that’s just weird, not offensive necessarily.
Don’t give a ‘thumbs up’ sign in more countries than I can count, because there are a variety of swear meanings for that.
Also don’t scratch your chin in Italy. You just offended someone by flipping them off.
Don’t ever waggle your finger to ask someone to come over in most asian countries – it’s offensive…. you’re basically saying you want them to drop dead.
Don’t use the OK hand gesture in France – it’s offensive. You’re calling them a nothing or a zero. If you’re talking to someone from Brazil, you’re calling them an A-hole. Same for Germans.
In … well… too many countries, it’s offensive to show my entire face or drive.
People get offended about EVERYTHING. EVERYWHERE. Because in general, people want to be offended so they can get ‘justifiably angry’ at someone else. That’s pretty much the core of political correctness – wanting to feel superior to other people by telling them what they can or can’t say, can or can’t do, can or can’t believe, can or can’t draw, can or can’t imply, etc.
TL;DR – Political Correctness sucks.
Umm, using the ‘peace’ gesture is not offensive in New Zealand, what Maxi is doing is giving ‘the fingers’, not the ‘peace’ gesture (and it’s the ‘victory’ sign anyway: ‘v’ for ‘victory’)
Nixon used to use the correct sign a lot (index and middle finger spread, ring and pinkie folded into the palm and thumb on top, with palm facing the recipient), the fingers is the other way around with the back of the hand facing the recipient and the arm and fingers typically pointed at the recipient and the hand then raised (tried finding a clip of it, but could only find the one-finger salute :(
Basically, what PC boils down to is the attempt to restrict or eliminate someone’s else’s Rights to do anything or say anything simply because you’re offended. Alex Crowley had it right in one respect; Do what thou wilt is the whole of the law.
The exceptions BY LAW are if something you say (ex: yelling FIRE in a crowded theater & cause a panic) or do (ex: punch someone in the mouth or pick their pocket for money) is the direct cause of personal harm and/or property theft/damage is a criminal act.
There is no Right to Freedom from being Offended. If you find someone to be offensive, you exercise your own Right of Freedom of Association & walk the f**k away from them. They may have the Freedom of Speech, but you are under NO obligation to listen to them; indeed, if they try to force you to listen, you can nail them with charges of harassment, slander (if speaking), libel (if it’s in print), or stalking.
Political Correctness doesn’t care if an ass-wipe uses force…Indeed, many actually DO use force & that’s when THEY are violating YOUR Rights.
Just because the USA does not recognise it as a legal right, does not mean that it does not exist. Other countries realise that there is a moral right and some of them have legislation which reflects that, to a greater or lesser degree. Even the pope, earlier this year, indicated that if somebody insulted his mother he would punch them on the nose!
If there is no legal redress then people will take matters into their own hands. Society has to choose between supporting peoples right to be offensive and peoples right not to be offended. I think it foolish to only recognise and support the former, at the expense of the latter.
Not that I would pretend that it is easy, as this thread indicates, due to differing opinions on what is outrageous. But it is certainly possible to define actions which are grossly offensive within a particular society or community.
And we are capable of making judgement calls even without having to define them, simply by deciding if something was said or done with the intent to cause outrage. Thus allowing the protection of people from varying cultures.
Failing to do this means we have to accept the consequences of offended individuals and communities using violence to resolve the matter. And there are people willing to die to protect their right not to be offended.
“The problem with what you’re saying is people are insulted by a LOT of stuff. And that feeling of being offended is incredibly subjective. Especially when the feeling of being offended is words. Not to mention it’s incredibly condescending that you think you know better than me what I can say out of my own mouth. That is real ‘Big Brother’ mentality there. ”
Two things- sure, it’s subjective, but that doesn’t mean that it’s objectively fine to say whatever, you’re dealing with other people and all language is subjective. Sure, some stuff is rude in some areas and not others, so that means, if you go to one of the areas where it is, you probably *should* change your behavior and not get mad at people for telling you how to not-come-across-as-a-dick-in-that-situation.
Two, it’s condescending to tell people they can’t ask others to consider their language. See how that works?
This is actually a case-in-point- you’re telling people what they can’t do with language. You aren’t complaining about any ‘big brother’ mentality that you aren’t actively engaging in right here. If you’re offended by people asking others to watch their language… well, that’s not them being big brother, that’s you being offended. And frankly, for less reason.
One way of putting it- You don’t have a right not to be not-offended by people asking for respect.
Drinking water in a muslim nation on a 100+ degree day will get you thrown in jail if you are not a muslim, but you can claim its needed if you are. As a foreign worker male nurse found out last Ramadan, in a nation that wouldn’t have running water if not for oil.
Dear me, what a surprise. Yet another example of your hatred of Muslims. Yawn.
ZeroiaSD, the way this is handled, in countries which have laws, which factor this kind of thing in, is to distinguish between offence (the realm of the politically incorrect) and something which is likely to cause ‘moral outrage’ (something that might cause rioting, for instance).
And it would not be me judging you, it would be a jury of our peers. Using the morals of an average member of society as the yardstick.
Albeit that I would ask the jury to consider the specifics (including the ethnicity, religion and culture of the alleged victim) rather than try to apply average morals across society.
We know that if somebody makes obscene suggestions about someone else’s mother, that it could well provoke a violent response. This is a clear incitement to violence. Which we should hold to be a criminal action. Regardless that it is, attempting to provoke a masochistic response.
Even the USA recognises that inciting a person, or group, to attack someone is a crime. I am just contesting that we should not pretend that incitement is only limited to saying “I suggest you attack that person”. Moral outrage can also be used to incite violence.
If somebody attempts to do such by tailoring their insult to a victim’s ethnicity, or religion, or race (for example), we can apply the same principles I outlined above. Using common-sense methods of judging it, such as:
“Is this comment intended to be offensive enough to provoke a violent response?” Or “Would an average member of our society know that this comment is grossly offensive, to a member of the target’s race/religion/ethnic group?” Or “With what the accused knows of the target, is it reasonable to assume they were trying to provoke moral outrage?”
I would point out that I am perfectly happy to have things tightened up, in order to discourage frivolous claims of offence. Likewise setting yardsticks which help juries to distinguish between peoples rights to express political opinions, versus them specifically attempting to incite a riot.
Allow me to set morals aside and appeal to enlightened self-interest.
We live in an age where smaller and smaller groups are gaining access to weapons of mass destruction. For instance genetic/ biological and, fairly shortly, nano technological weapons.
We need to be aiming to get the world to a point where no sane* group feels persecuted to the degree that they are willing to ‘push the button’ or unleash a pandemic.
One aspect to that is to ensure that everybody feels that they have access to justice. In particular that they have a legal route, that they can pursue, to remedy anything which they feel strongly enough about to, otherwise, be willing to kill or be killed over.
And if that includes the words that are said to or about them, we need to take that into consideration. Or, to take it to the ultimate conclusion, risk extinction.
* The insane ones need a different approach. But, for the rest, we can ask ‘if I were in their shoes, would I feel that I am being persecuted?’
Surely Maxima is just signalling “.. and my second point is..” or something similar. Speaking as an Englishman with quite a lot of experience of working with Americans, I find it’s a very characteristic American thing. Brits don’t usually do it, for obvious reasons.
The “peace” sign was popularised by Winston Churchill during WW2, as a reference to the BBC’s “Beethoven’s Fifth” sign-on (“V” in morse code….). The “two fingers” gesture is of unknown origin, but may derive from an older gesture which appears in Shakespeare as “a fig for the King of Spain!”
That said, I sometimes find Max hard to read. She is pretty much the only career soldier in the group (apart from Peggy) but CAN be quite unprofessional at times.
The other problem is that, in practical terms, only specific groups have the ‘right to be offended – certain people being offend d is kosher while other people being offended should just just up because they are x y or z, and aren’t one of the specific ever changing group of protected classes. It’s a minefield of ‘group a is ok to say mean things about, group b isn’t, croup c was yesterday, isn’t today. With group d, the thing that was ok yesterday is horribly offensive today, and should get you banished from the public sphere …
Should you go out of your way to offend someone? Probably not. Should you go out of your way to be offended by someone? Definitely not. It’s at least as douchy.
-Should you go out of your way to offend someone? Probably not. Should you go out of your way to be offended by someone? Definitely not. It’s at least as douchy.-
With, ironically, anti-PC people very, very often being in the second category.
PC doesn’t ask. It demands. It says ‘ if you bruise my feelings I’ll ruin your life’. And only certain people are allowed to be offended – you aren’t in one of the proper groups, you don’t get that protection, certain groups are free fire zones, others are able to define away anything which might even slightly offend their sensibilities.
Sorry, aren’t going to make me approve of that kind of enforced language editing, especially when it becomes a minefield of shibboleths which are constantly in flux and changing, where what was correct one day is a dreadful insult next week, and you have to do major research to have a conversation.
Only chorfs demand respect, people expect courtesy. Respect is not courtesy. Courtesy, I will grant, anyone is entitled from me so long as they remain courteous in kind. Remove that courtesy and I am under no obligations to them at all. Courtesy is a social construct. Respect is not.
“Respect” is not a right. You are not remotely entitled to it. Respect is in fact a bone deep emotional response. It can’t be granted by the state as a massive emotional empowerment program. It can not be made an award for having successfully drawn breath. It can’t be downloaded free at the app store.
Respect is impossible to give. RESPECT has to be EARNED.
Sometimes, whiteboards (& blackboards too) are already permanently marked with a grid pattern. It’s so that someone can write specific lists or other data in a rows/columns format without having to draw a grid pattern by hand every time.
Max may have erased what Sydney wrote, but the grid would still be there.
The previous comic showed Sydney constructing the grid, and only the top three rows had been completed. Whereas the above comic has a full grid. Plus it has now been completed with comments in some of the boxes.
Thought it was just Sydney writing the names and the odds, not making the grid as well
Panel 3 only has 3 lines fully completed and the 4th in the process of being drawn. Whereas panel 4 shows at least 7 lines. Ergo Sydney had to be drawing the lines.
Eh, we’ve seen Max take part in such bets before, such as the “How long ’till Sydney visits the infirmary” bet, or the “Can Sydney avoid commenting on Anvil’s height” bet. She lost in both.
Given that she regularly takes part in such, I really doubt she has a problem with them.
Dave B. –
What an incredible opportunity. I fully hope to see the “Math’s Inurement Training Montage” as a Vote Incentive!
Many years latter a decrepit aged Math with a long white beard emerges “I’ve finally done it” he exclaims “I no longer care about boobs” then he keels over dead.
Math will now vanish from the comic, until a later nigh-unbeatable villain cuts power to the entire city – at which point, Math will emerge from the
hyperbolic time chamberARCHON computer lab, proceed to go Super-Saiyan-God-Super-Saiyan, and save the day.Then stops by the shops for a fresh pallet of tissues, and disappears back into the computer lab.
Just before he dies, he looks outside and sees an attractive lady running around topless, and smiles
“I am now an ass man.”
From the way Dave has written Math so far, Math has always been something of an ass…
;)
What’s left to live for if he doesn’t care about boobs?
It’s the way he would have wanted to go.
I’m pretty sure that there are still other parts of a woman he’d be interested in even if he somehow tired of boobs – which I think is probably not going to happen anyway :)
I seriously doubt it. I’ve yet to grow tired of T&A, i expect to be that dirty old man chasing the nurses down the hallway in my wheelchair.
Jabberwokky was my favorite villain and I really hope we’ll see her again. Perhaps she and Math will go out on a date. Cheetah style.
Don’t you mean rabbit style?
I don’t know, Lions can have a “Happy Ending” like 20-30 times a DAY when in season, but a Pig’s “Ending” can last a half an hour….
This comment is completely random! … sorta.
… Say what do you guys think would happen if a rule 63 (male, Incubus instead of Succubus) Dabbler was put in the same room with regular (female, succubus) Dabbler?
Perpetual motion in bed?
I believe the orignal mythological incubus/succubus needed human sexuality as substance. In some myths, they are even the same creature, just taking different shapes depending on the prey.
Though our Succubi seem to be more simple, and just want sexual energy. Asuming that incubi exist in this universe, there’s no doubt they’ll do some (ALOT) of casual humping. We already know that Dabbler grew up among others of her kind, and there was tons of sex.
Since both Incubi and Succubi live by absorbing sexual energy, neither would be broadcasting any for the other to absorb. So while they might, indeed, get it on it would only be for practice and giggles. Probably wouldn’t be any marathon sessions either, you would get mighty hungry from that much exercise. :P
Vehemence seemed to be able to grow from his own violence, just not as fast as from others.
If the different emotional energies work the same way, Succubi would probably get atleast some energy from it, though not as fast as regular orgies
His own violence against others, sure. He’s not hitting himself. If he was it probably wouldn’t work
I think such powers don’t quite care quite that much about alternate reality selves. probably counts under something along the lines of “Different actor ID’s” if this was a Bethesda game.
Actually it was just violence around him. He was getting a fair charge from the fight even before he actually got involved. It’d be like Dabbler going to a Swinger’s Party or BDSM club. Even if she didn’t actually participate she’d get some energy.
I can’t resist! Two days of Dabbler and that cute sweater!
Dabbler’s got the cute nerdy sweater thing going. Is it bad I want to see this in a sketch with maybe a cute pleated skirt and some dark framed glasses to go along with?
It is cute, but I think the sweater makes Dabbler look like a child’s fuzzy toy. And is she wearing any pants or skirts? All I see are her legs.
Well last time we saw Dabbler, all we could see was the Jumper too, so we got no idea what is being worn below the waist, however since Maxima isn’t chewing her head off, we can at least assume Dabbler IS wearing some sort of lower-body clothing…
If I know my succubi, then I would put my money on either short-shorts or hot pants. Or anything short enough to make you think that she doesn’t have anything down there.
I recall that being a common practice among teen girls in LA in the mid-late 80’s. You saying she’s retro?
1980s? I see it out & about nowadays!
loving the sweater, so wondering why Sydney hasn’t made any Velma Dinkley references about it yet… great vote incentive: Grrl Power characters as the Scooby Gang!
With Yorp as Scooby?
Yorp! Yorp! Where are you? I have a Yorpie Snack for you!
Right here
*tail wagging*
*mouth drooling*
Yes, that exactly!
Pleated skirt, glasses…so adorkable.
It’s just begging for Sydney to ask!
Daniel here, & I had a random thought last night, Aussie time. I know all this discussion happened last page, but I just have to throw this out there…
What if Varia &
Periwinkle Butt SnifferBelle Of The BallFor Whom The Bell Tolls are related?Tried explaining it to Screwball, but he couldn’t understand it :P
Think about it tho. Varia’s power is every time she touches someone, it activates a different power depending on the person. With
Periwinkle Butt SnifferBell Tolls, every time someone attacks him, it activates a different power depending on how they attack. Quite an interesting coincidence, if you ask me. Both with highly variable powers, depending on how they interact with another person. Neither can active them by themselves either, both needing another person to work their magic…While Varia’s Mother claims her Father is pure blood Aztec, they can’t exactly confirm that without he Mother making a full confession, maybe a DNA test (but unlikely) or going back in time (even less likely). All we know of
Periwinkle Butt SnifferBell Tolls is his skin tone appears Caucasian, though many skin types have various tones including lighter versions, Aztec skin types would be no different. We never saw his actual face, so that makes identifying race impossible. We also don’t know how oldPeriwinkle Butt SnifferBell Tolls is, but we do know Varia looks pretty young, maybe 18-mid 20s range, so her Father doesn’t have to be all that old…I’m not saying he’s definitely her Father, but it’s possible they are related. If
Periwinkle Butt SnifferBell Tolls is closer to her age, he could be a half-Brother, sharing a Father. But if he IS old enough, & is a lighter skinned Aztec (or Varia’s Mother lied about the full-blooded Father), there could be a strong enough case for a Paternal DNA test…Wonder which gambling option THAT revelation would pay out to… :P
Possible, but unlikely. Varia’s dad is probably a playboy that claims to have Aztec blood to fuck with women.
Good luck with that, Maxima. It’s been twenty years and I’m still not bored yet.
Man, am I having the same architecture problem in this picture I am currently drawing. It’s almost the same angle, but higher and more ambiguous. But my drawing skill are nil compared to Dave’s. Either way, this is a great page! Math for the win! #MaximaKnowsBest
I’m just hoping that she takes the criticism for what she did to the fire guy okay. And that the doc can fix him.
They were in a pitched battle. Fire is a lethal capability and that guy was armed with it. Their terms of engagement allowed lethal force to be used, if necessary. Being armed with a lethal weapon, he was a clear and present danger to the team. Who were significantly outnumbered and having to deal with each enemy as swiftly as possible in order to survive.
Sydney’s method of attack was exactly as ordered by her commanding officer. Whilst she was permitted to use lethal force, it is wholly to her credit that she showed both sufficient constraint and control to avoid killing the aggressor, and just hospitalised him.
Halo made a judgement call, in a time-critical moment, where she remained wholly within the terms of engagement and used exactly the tactics that had been prescribed to use under such circumstances.
Just what criticism were you proposing should be levelled against her?
Mostly just repeating what was said in the immediate after-action report from Harem. My understanding is that seeing what you did afterwards can be pretty jolting. A lot of people are okay during the first battle, but freeze completely after that.
You’re right that she did EXACTLY what she was told to do. That still doesn’t won’t make it easy.
Oh I completely agree, Sydney, in particular, is going to need a lot of support here. A very careful eye (and possibly formal assessment) will need to be kept on her, to ensure she is not showing any symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, for one. And much discussion about the lessons to be learnt, and how things could be handled in future (including ways to minimise the chances of freezing), are in order too.
But helping Sydney to cope with having hospitalising someone* is very distinct from criticising her for doing that. She acted wholly appropriately and, had she failed to so, or even hesitated, it could be her team-mates who ended up in the hospital, if not a grave!
* Who we now know was not acting completely under his own volition, due to the mental influence of Vehemence’s aggro aura. But we must always assess someone based on the knowledge they had at the time of the incident. Likewise their training, which for Halo was non-existent, other than that chat with Maxima.
Mind you, my comments are based on what we saw. We did not see the specific build up (for the fire guy himself). If Harem saw it all, and felt that Sydney had other options, then that must be factored in. But, as per your link, Maxima’s comment was “I will talk to her about it”. Whilst a fully-trained soldier might be expected to recognise and be able to implement those other options, the same cannot be said for a raw recruit (especially with the various other mitigating factors).
Maxima will have a fine line to walk between pointing out other options Sydney could deploy in that kind of situation, and criticising her in a way that could cripple her self-confidence. Life-or-death judgement calls are not easy to make, and Halo’s was a reasonable call.
Also, we can guess Halo lack of training and fighting knowledge is also a factor into what other options she could have used.
She only has a rough knowledge of her tentacle orb strength (lifting her car) but she never really fully trained with it nor received help to analyse more in depht what’s possible. (
Guess they’ll notably train halo to better gauge the amount of strength required and refine the techniques she can deploy to neutralise someone the fastest way possible while limiting lasting damage. (Though, If they are trained to make the same kind of neutralisations max does with her ‘super’ krav maga – it’ll still have some lasting damage anyway :))
So, been thinking on exactly this point.
Peggy came to the fight with a high power rifle to use in what was intended to be a non-lethal engagement.
Halo came to the fight armed with an invulnerable shield and a magic rope.
One way or another, someone was going to end up hurt.
The untrained individual thankfully had something that would be hard to make lethal. The trained individual had something that is considered by many to be automatically lethal. Yes, some talking with the subject needs to be had, but more importantly, training.
Peggy did not “come to the fight” with a high powered rifle it was part of the Harem equipping process and it was also stated that a high power rifle for many supers is merely an annoyance, which was proven later by shooting Vehemence in the EYE.
The untrained individual had many lethal options (PPO, Strangulation by the “magic rope” exercised later on the big bad, throwing one of the non-tough supers from a great height into the ground as was done with Anvil later) and chose quite correctly to not exercise them, training is required sure but the baseline pre-training is good. Even the chosen method of taking down Vehemence would have been very lethal to a non-super and indeed to more than a few supers.
Don’t worry about missing the backs of MAHD in panel one, you made up with that by forgetting to draw VJ in panels five and six :P
Question – what do handoffs mean in this context?
Also, loving how Dabbler’s and Max’s hair are done. :)
In tag wrestling, if one team-member is having problems with an opponent, they hand-off the fight to their team-mate, by touching them. The one who was in the ring then exits, and their ally takes over.
In the super-hero context most heroes are good at some things but may be vulnerable to certain attacks themselves. For instance Anvil is superb at fighting brawlers and other physical attackers. But is vulnerable to any enemy who uses non-kinetic attacks.
Hence it is vital for the team to learn how to safely disengage, from an opponent that they are weak against. Which requires coordinating with a team-mate to take their place.
Jiggawatt it seems is a little cold. Half-bro instead of bro?
It does seem a bit off, but it is conveying useful information. We can only speculate as to why Jiggawatt chose that turn of phrase, but it may have been done so advisedly, rather than uncaring. For instance, if they grew up in separate homes, and have had little or no social contact, then there is no reason why they would be emotionally close. And would also help to ease any guilt she might feel at leaving the occasion.
Hence Jiggawatt may have inserted the ‘half’ to imply that, or as a precursor to a more detailed reply. Similarly for other family situations which would seem odd, to outsiders, without some kind of elucidation. Explain something all your life, growing up, and such a caveat can become habitual.
So, in this case, it might be that they look very different to each other. An extreme example could be if he is (partly) of a different ethnic group to her. Half-Chinese or half-Caucasian, for instance. Whilst there is no obligation to explain such, she may prefer to do so. And saying ‘half-brother’ does so succinctly.
She mentioned the half brother two pages back, and called him such since they were talking about heritage. She refers to him here as the half brother so as to not imply a different sibling.
Gotcha. I had forgotten that. And it does make sense, with that pointed out. Thanks.
Jiggawatt as Candace Flynn….*giggling*
I had thought about that, but the context seemed different. One about family with powers and this one more personal.
Jiggawatt does also have a bit of an ironic smile going. Which can be accounted for by the rest of the situation mind. But it may also be because she is baiting Sydney. Dangling another bit of family mystery in front of her, to see if Sydney takes the bait, and starts speculating wildly.
Same father, different mothers? Aren’t siblings that have either a different father or mother regarded as half-siblings? That’s how I took the meaning.
Yea that is the meaning intended. I was just speculating on the specifics, albeit unnecessarily as none of the hypotheses were necessary, to explain the turn of phrase she used, thanks to DaveB explaining, in this thread.
Just to elaborate on his point slightly, as (two pages ago) Varia was responding to a question about possible genetic causes for becoming a super, it was vital to be specific about her family relationships. If she had been imprecise then, it could leave her listeners with a wrong impression, as half-siblings need to be considered in a different way to full siblings.
Given that Sydney is clearly both a good analytic thinker, and is trying to spot any information which might shed light on the cause of becoming a natural born super, this was important to do. Little things like this are making me appreciate that Varia is a sharp thinker, despite a couple of early issues that could have implied otherwise.
Even if she normally warmly only describes him as her brother, she realised it was important not to on that occasion, and was simply being consistent, with that precedent, on this one. To avoid potentially confusing the situation.
Mind you, if DaveB has not decided on the specifics of their relationships, other than them being half-siblings, then any of my speculations could still be true, simply by co-incidence!
In particular the living in separate houses one is actually common for half siblings, especially if divorce is involved (as opposed to the death of the first parent, for example). Although one would hope that most families try to keep in touch enough to allow half-siblings to develop a bond, that may not be possible in acrimonious divorces or long-distance separation.
“Varia” should read “Jiggawatt” in my previous post. And I confused my own line of thoughts, by making that error, and then mixed up the two. So scratch my later sentence “
Little things like this are making me appreciate that Varia is a sharp thinker, despite a couple of early issues that could have implied otherwise.”I haven’t really formed any impression about Jiggawatt yet, other than she likes making a stylish entry, and can handle a witty come-back, so this is just making a small contribution to a positive start.
The purpose of boobs is to signal “fertile female”, which is the signal for any sensible male to do any foolish thing that might get him in her pants. Training Math is resist his instincts [or rather to look closer to realize when he has a shot] is not going to be easy.
As a master martial artist, Math’s skills become less ‘skill’ and more instinct and muscle memory over time. Which makes him extremely instinctual and a little primal, if principled. Like a self-tamed beast of some sort. Making him ignore instinct might actually weaken him. In that sense you could say that being a completely reasonable and understandable lech (not as if that’s necessarily a bad thing) is closely tied to his abilities.
My read on the drawn out fight Dabbler had: she wanted to prove herself.
My read on the drawn out fight Math had: He wanted an exciting fight, and once he found such a fight he didn’t want it to end.
The majority of Maxima’s post battle tactical porn spread is contained in the pages of reader comments produced during the battle. No need to rehash. ;P
One… interesting difference between WebComics and traditional print comics.
*Shivers* ooooh, tactics porn…
Sorry, sorry, I was having a Darkest Dungeon moment… which is all about making a plan, following a plan, the plan going to hell from RNG, and then making a new plan, which is what lesser beings call ‘tactics’.
I love tactics. When I was a GM I used it to make my players squirm. *Evil Grin*
It’s perfectly acceptable for a GM to use “tactics” against the adventuring party. You can bet your sweet bippy that the players are going to use tactics against the GM’s team! I say this from the viewpoint of having been both a player & a GM in a whole bunch of different games.
And I used to love to use tactics to make my DM go “Damn, that didn’t go as planned”
Last update.
Second page.
Sydney’s low-hanging glasses are still a thing.
Will that ever be fixed?
Please let her buy some sensible frames…
I think the idea is that they are down at the end of her nose since she’s far-sighted and she spends a lot of her time looking up and over them, only using the glasses when she needs to.
Really, however, I think they are there to enhance her adorkable factor!
They are still ‘a thing’ because it is part of Sydney: that’s the style of glasses she uses, in the same sense that Ari wears chopsticks in her hair
Though I do find Math funny and a clever character, I think that someone who had studied martial arts to the nth degree and had achieved his “level” of skill would be so easily distracted in a fight situation. His focus would be off the charts to pull off the moves he does.
I would also think if he were such a horn-dog, the internet would hold no new [legally viewable] contents for him to consume.
Your comments are very reasonable. But there is also a powerful mechanism which could easily undo that sensible supposition. One totally consistent with the usual mystical martial artist origin stories. Namely being trained by monks, or a venerable martial artist. In some extremely remote corner of the world. With no girls, or TV or internet. For years. And years.
No wonder the guy never developed proper social skills for behaving around women! Let alone developing the distraction immunity under question.
I don’t see a problem with Math. He can match supers and is essentially a regular Joe. Math is what we call a Badass Normal. He has two weaknesses, Supers who are immune to physical combat, and Weapons of Mass Distraction. Keeps him from being non-super Superman, and lets him be taken out of a combat he could otherwise destroy and prevent character development for others. Enforcer Character plot vulnerabilities.
That aside, I like how honest and open he is with his desires and appreciation. None of the ‘overly-appropriate’ crap that’s just a mask of what amounts to submissiveness, like pretty much everyone else.
specificaly mentioning sydney’s comic book knowledge as comic book knowledge seemed a bit weird
Coming from a lapsed-geek (or was it ‘nerd’?), how is that ‘weird’?
Not to me. What I find weird is zombie films where everybody avoids using the word ‘zombie’ to describe something that just happened. Yet all too many, even in time-critical survival situations, pretend that nobody has ever watched a zombie movie. Or comes up with some odd word, or turn of phrase, that just comes across as dumb.
Just as those zombie movies are meant to be set in our world, where there have been zombie movies for decades, so Grrl Power is set here too. Complete with all the characters being familiar with Super-man (he has been referenced, due to Super Hiro being known as ‘Super Man lite’) and the various Marvel stories.
Most notibly of course being that Sydney fantasises about marrying Wolverine. In a geeky way, of course, as they are all fictional. Their world being no different to ours. Apart from the slight divergence that, in addition to the comic fictional heroes, there turn out to be real ones too.
But anybody who has spent years studying a subject (and who is also a good analytical thinker) will have an edge on somebody who has never done so. Even if that genre was purely fictional up to that point in history.
So I always contend that the best person you can hope for to be present in a first-contact situation with aliens is a clever science fiction fan. The more well-read they are the better. They will be familiar with a huge range of dos and don’ts for such situations. Things which could improve communications, avoid diplomatic insults or recognise concealed hostile intent. Any one of which could be pivotol in how the encounter turns out, and even the survival of the species.
So anybody analysing that first meeting, shrewdly, might attribute the success to that individual’s science-fiction book knowledge.
This would not make anybody present at such think ‘oh this means we are in a science fiction book!’ Any more than anyone in the meeting depicted above is thinking ‘we are in a super hero comic’. Apart from Sydney of course, but us uber-geeks think differently. We just pretend that we do not live in comics, most of the time, to avoid alarming the normals too much.
Two days later, Math has found Maxima online.
I doubt it’d take that long to find the fanart
Fanart?
Internet rule #34, it it exists, there is porn of it; no exceptions! Shiney shiney Maxima is now known to the world. Her golden skin may be enough for robot-fetishists to get off on, or maybe just people who like shiney things. Either way, if there isn’t net-porn of her in their world yet, it’s still a work in progress then…
By now there’s porn of at least every “odd” (Harem,Dabbler,Maxima,Amorphus) Super on the team
Probably some very creepy specific porn involving Amorphus
Not our fault we’ve seen his tounge stretch long enough to make Gene Simmonds say “I Quit!” or his arm expand to twice it’s usual length and 3 times it’s diameter.
Yeah, but for all we know, Brooke probably wrote it.
Harem, specifically, has already done a photo-shoot with Playboy…Dave’s got the centerfold over in his Deviant Art pages (you’ll have to sign in & have the NSFW filter turned off in your own account to see the topless version). Ain’t any real need for a Rule #34 there…
:P
Greatest. Order. Ever.
I have a hypothetical question that has absolutely nothing to do with the story as DaveB is telling it.
Just as a for instance, let’s say that there is a guy with telekinetic powers working in the construction trade, using his brain to move big and heavy loads around the job site. He is distracted at an inopportune moment and drops the load, nearly smushing a coworker or three. Let us then say that he went to Archon and said that he did not want to join up as a military cop or superhero or anything, but did want some help in learning how to use his powers more safely. Would they be able to accommodate him, or would he have to at least take out a short-term enlistment?
Certainly, if they did help him, he’d have to be carefully kept away from much of what was going on to avoid his uncovering any secrets, and he certainly wouldn’t be getting any big paychecks from them. Instead, he’d very probably have to pay them.
I don’t know. Maybe they’d just send him off to that little place Doctor Charles Xavier has opened down the road . . .
At one point DaveB stated the incidence of supers in the population is literally one in a million. There would be a maximum of about 300 people in the country who could potentially enroll in the ‘Super Powers for Dummies’ training academy. Not enough to keep a consistent paying clientele.
My proposal would be to contact the major networks and put together a new reality series similar to ‘The Biggest Loser’. They already spend months with individuals at home and with personal trainers just to see someone lose weight. I think a lot more people would tune in to see the network sponsor the same process for a potential new hero. We would see a person tracked over time with their own trainers learning how to handle their new-found abilities. The out-takes from the training alone would be worth tuning in. “And here we are back in New York where local boy Peter Parker is attempting the first use of his, um, string shooters, to swing from his roof across to another building. There he goes! (cut to an embarrassing face plant into the side of building repeated in slo-mo from three different angles)
That would be an interesting reality show. :D
Your point about there not being enough supers around to make a full scale school a financially sound proposition is well made, meanwhile. It makes it more likely in my mind that Archon itself might want to do it. It wouldn’t necessarily have to be self-sustaining if Sydney’s group ran it and whatever money it actually did raise could be used to pay for Osprey fuel or mosque rebuilding or whatever.
Actually, as I pointed out during the News Conference segway with the dude that the thieves wanted to tear open a vault door, but he decided to go back to construction, They could use people like him or your Psychokenetic” to help repair the damage left after a fight, or to help Search and Rescue teams in a disaster (Which ARCHON also has as part of their Duties)
Even if Archon enforced a “court-ordered temporary enlistment” for the Superpowers Academy, no one would have to be “boot camp trained” or trained for any kind of combat functions to get through it. In the example of Ignoble’s telekinetic construction worker, he could be assigned to regular training & actual service as a member of an after-the-battle-clean-up crew…clearing away rubble, aiding construction crews (& any participating supers) in the rebuilding effort. Maybe even assigning work in government-contracted construction projects.
I’m sure Archon would find SOME positive purpose to put their skills to work (during & as a part of training) that wouldn’t need to include any kind of combat function.
The 300 US supers limit is way low. 3000 is a much more likely figure, tho possibly still low. Our recent battle involved upwards of 50 supers, and we are told of several other groups, some of them in the US. Add in the large number of lone operators, and our minimum figure is rapidly passing 300.
Besides story facts, we have story convenience. While 300 may be more than will actually appear in the strip, we don’t want the writer rejecting interesting lines and characters on the grounds that the number of supers has passed 300.
Now we can say that our military unit thinks there are only 300. Military intelligence often has a poor reputation, and any of a number of reasons could produce a way low figure. And having the stars surprised by unexpected opposition has got to be SOP. But the number of US supers is 4-5 figures.
Pretty much matching my thinking on the numbers.
Another reason that the projected number is probably way low. Many people with powers may have no idea that they have them. Someone that can breath underwater, but looks completely normal may have never tried to breath underwater. Who would?
Immune to the harmful effects of radiation? Unlikely to ever know you have that power.
Can you de-activate other people’s powers with a touch? Canon establishes that you have likely never met another super.
For every person with powers, there are probably another 5-10 that never find out.
But if you’re super hot and have no body hair, you might start to suspect that somethings up . . .
Some of the super powers might not be good in fights. Talking to plants+sensing metal would help you mine for gold, while Flatulence Woman’s method of flying leaves a chemtrail. If you ever rolled on a random power chart you can end up with a bad character.
Yet each of those can be used in a fight. You can get plants to tell you where a sniper is hiding amongst them. And, if you can sense metal, you can directly detect most combatants on a modern battlefield. Doubly useful if you have access to drone weaponry. You will be able to direct it with absolute precision, even if it’s own sensors cannot locate the enemy.
Likewise flight very often has utility in a fight. If someone is trying to kill you, it is nice to have the option to fly away. And ironically amusing if you leave them choking in your fumes.
But, yea, random powers are unlikely to allow you earn you a place in Arc-SWAT, by themselves. Especially if you are stinky.
The latter. It is no different to the real world, where somebody wants to learn a trade or profession (say electrician or engineer) and decides that the best route for them to do that is to join the armed forces.
The military do not consider training civilians to be their job. Not purely for the purposes of sending them straight back into civilian life anyhow. All the training they do is to get personnel ready for a role in the military.
But, just as we have other options for how to become electricians and engineers, so do the heroes in that world. Whilst O.B. Juan is perfectly correct to point out how problematic the low instance of supers is, that is easily offset by the vast utility that super powers offer. Which just serves to make their scarce capabilities all the more valuable.
The private sector would pay vast sums to acquire the services of a telekinetic powerful enough to have used it in the construction industry! They would be falling over each other offering free training as part of their job offers. Somebody is bound to set up a formal training organisation (and some governments, including the USA, might decide that also having state-sponsored ones will serve the public interest).
Note that (although it would help a lot) it is not necessary to have actual supers teaching in a super-school or academy. What is vital is for them to learn real helpful information about and from supers, and then collate that into lessons which can help supers in general (such as how to deal with legal issues arising from accidentally having killed or injured people with your super power) and then more specifically for how to apply or use particular powers.
Of course some powers might be too specific for any institution to have found a way to help instruct such a super. So, other than the general courses, they might have to seek out a private individual who happens to have something similar and try to get tuition from them. And, of course, there will be companies and organisations who will help in that. Either for a fee, or as part of trying to get the hero to join their organisation.
Failing that, and other things like the TV suggestion above, then a truly unique super, who does not want to sign up, will just have to find out things for themselves. After all there always has to be somebody who does that, in order for the first teacher to exist.
Mind you, there may well be exceptions, where Archon decide that they have to take somebody in, temporarily, without the intent of keeping them in the military. For instance somebody who is incredibly powerful and a public menace, * due to lack of control, as opposed to criminal intent.
Putting them in prison would not be an option (unless a judge ordered that in extreme circumstances). But who would still need to be kept off the streets, until some means can be found to keep the public safe. Either by training or some gadget whipped up by Arc-Spark or other inventors. If no other institution has the facilities to do that, then the only practical option would lie with Archon.
* Sydney was clearly being interviewed to determine her status on this front, so they are not oblivious to the possibility. Even though they would prefer to have the private sector handle non-military things, sometimes there may not be a safe alternative.
Just as a further thought, most of the students in such super education faculties would not be supers themselves (especially if they are set up as departments in existing institutions). Any time something new enters society, that has profound and far reaching consequences, there will be a need for specialists who know how to cope with that.
Which means training them up. In this case there will be many companies who want to have protection from supers. Be it banks trying to stop them getting into their vaults. Or companies with industrial secrets that they want to keep secret. But very very few of them will be able to afford actual supers to help do that.
Hence why most of the students will be normals, who are there to learn everything they can about supers. Some will be legal students, learning how to interpret existing laws with super-powers in the mix. Scientific students, in all branches, will be studying the implications of super powers and figuring out how to make use of mundane things discovered via super powers. But they need to know if observing them via such means might compromise the data. And so on.
A super-powered student might find that they are the only super in a given class, for instance. Yet will be in huge demand to help out, or give demonstrations, in every other class. “Would you mind just popping this micro-satellite up in low-Earth orbit?” “Hiyas, can we take a quick sample of your blood please?” “We are trying to figure out how girls think, and hope you will be able to do scans of our test groups?”
Thanks to all.
Someone please tell Sydney to stop throwing things at me! I did say “Doctor” Charles Xavier when I should have said “Professor.” I’m sorry, already!
Another option for supers needing training or employment may be corporate sponsorship. I can see Red Bull hiring Warren Worthington III as their spokesperson in their ‘Red Bull gives you wings’ commercials. I personally think the reason Harem turned down the sponsorship offer from Xerox is that she would need to keep all her copies identical.
Not sure the blue skin would help with that though. (Or does he still have blue skin, Last X-Men I read with him was just after he shed the Metal wings but he still had blue skin.)
Who’s incredibly long arm is that in panel six?
Oh, guess it was discussed on page one of the comments. My bad.
Mr. Amorphous
Their function is to act as peace keepers, so that is officially ‘the long arm of the law’.
Oh yeah! *raises hand* Anyone? Hey, don’t leave me hanging here.
Fives!
*paws at other hand*
As near to fives as I can offer!
Five months later, Mathias comes out of a blackened room, with a rip-van-winkle beard and a glazed look on his face.
Also his right arm (or left, depending on if he’s right or left handed) could give Stalwart a run for his money.
Five “months” later? Considering how he acts, I’d more expect to measure the time frame in years, not months…
It just sank in how pretty Dabbles looks in panel 4. Damn, DaveB, you just get better and better!
Another idea instead of having Math look at porn forever:
Dabbler, willing to have sex with Math? / Yeah.
Math, you up for it? / Take a guess.
Ok. Dabbler, after you two are done, DON’T wipe his memory.
He’d never survive the experience. >.> If she REALLY got going.
Yeah, well I do trust her not to kill him. Just to ruin him for lesser (human) women forever.
I’m looking forward to the character page updates. :)
Ha ha(alt text)
Could you two please stop having lunch together?
On second thought… nah, is funnier this way, keep going :P
If Dabbler reads my mind, to find an ideal look, for her to try and win me over she will find that Sydney’s would be above her own.
But, she would see that if she wore that jumper, in conjunction with any of her cheeky expressions from here (from panel 6 onwards), she would have no difficulty winning me over.*
* Assuming that Sydney had already made it clear she had no interest in me. Otherwise I would resist the temptation to my dying breath. Taping over my eyes, if necessary, to avoid Dabbler overcoming me supernaturally with her hypnoboobs.**
** I fully commend the keyhole polo neck jumper to be added to the DaveB Fall Collection! I am sure that it will be in massive demand for convention goers, once Girl Power the Movie is released. And it may sell well to the general public too (unless chilly breasts prove it to be too impractical). I got a distinct paucity of hits googling for images matching that term, so there seems to be a niche, if the added perkiness overcomes the discomfort.
Well, it’s been pretty obvious that you’ve never made a secret about your infatuation with Sydney…
https://acidsquirrel.com/post/84464
;)
Might i suggest a re-draw of the site banner ? The comic art evolved a bit over the years and it’s getting really noticable with the comic page just under it :)
For extra kudos you could cut out the characters 6 portraits zones, and have those zones randomly change which character is shown ? maybe linked to day’s “who’s who”, or just random with each page refresh.
Have another look when you read this reply. You will find that precisely what you suggest does happen. You just happened to see it when the random selection was older images. Although it is true that the selection is biassed towards the older portraits, as there are not many new ones in there.
Eh. Seeing Sidney repeatedly complimented that “your knowledge of fictional comics lends you more tactical wisdom than most military folks or other supers” feels really off to me.
Military personal is used to deal with sort of predictable weaponery, because they and their opponents are both bound to the limits of human technology.
Supers a. aren’t used to fighting other supers, since they’re in most cases they only supers int their environment and b. Probably didn’t do a lot of fight analys before.
Sydney on the other hand finds herself in a situation, with a. the elite experts on super powers as her teachers, b. supers working like she learned from action comics and c. having analysed and produced a lot of sceneraios that are now realistic ones.
Furthermore she is often beaten by said experts when it comes to the things she didn’t prepare for.
For example: the gun question, because in comics and such supers tend to not use guns, her first super villain encounter, because she never experienced the heath of battle and Matt, because she got overconfident.
David,i think maxima suggestion/order is unless.
Math can watching everyday the best boobies in internet and have full hunger of sex.
The solution is simple ,a real woman ,not for one night,im talking about girlfriend.
A girlfriend(a girl with superpower who can crash him in case infidelity better) of not only calm the “hunger” of Math,make him more responsable.
I think Maxima likes Sydney a little too much. Sydney is a bad influence on her, from a military discipline perspective.
I was wondering if the above commendations might extend to being ‘mentioned in dispatches’, but I see that the USA does not do that any more. Which is a shame, as Sydney’s contributions did tip the balance of the battle, turning a likely defeat into a resounding victory. Making a remarkable contribution, like that, is deserving of official recognition, even if it does not involve heroism. It is a pity if there is not some means of doing that.
Mind you, she did exhibit heroism ‘above and beyond the call of duty’ by raising the shield with Vehemence on the inside with her. That, in combination with the above, certainly makes her deserving of an award. Plus Heatwave and Jiggawatt, at the very least, should get Purple Hearts.
Even if there is some technicality, such as the injuries not being sustained in wartime action. An exemption should be granted as, had Vehemence won, the US would have had their only super-force defeated and would be at the mercy of his whims. By making a mass-attack on Archon, he was essentially declaring war. And Arc-SWAT stood it’s ground, even when it looked like he was unbeatable.
At the very least, Sydney’s commendation WILL be entered into her military record (& be pretty impressive, considering that it’s for a Day 1 raw recruit!) & she’ll also get a copy of the official document as a Letter of Commendation to keep for herself.
Anything MORE than that isn’t likely to show up on the very next day after she earned it…It would take time to arrange any kind official ceremony or to show up in the newspapers (which Arianna would probably push for…You know, for PR purposes).
Oh yea, I was not expecting anything like that today, such things can take months. Mind you the high profile of this case would probably see awards happening sooner, rather than later. Especially if the government is seeking to reassure a skittish public that Archon will be able to keep them safe from super-villains. And they certainly would put maximum effort into publicising any awards. Although I think the media will leap on it eagerly enough.
Aw. And here I was hoping for some decent tactics porn like Dave talks about, and all that’s up here so far is boobs.
There’s all kinds of interesting topics in here… like, how long have they been practicing as a team?
Most people know to get ready to cover their ears and close their eyes when Max’s bang goes off, so that’s not a new tactic; they’ve likely practiced it.
Super Hiro knew just from the sound that he needed to disengage and switch targets, so he’s smart or trained or both about that…
Harem is almost fast enough to take down a speedster without injury (teleport-fu), but she usually avoided tagging all the glass cannons until after they were already unconscious… why not go after a bunch that were upright? Was she just too busy with the unconscious ones? Or is it considered too dangerous?
Do you think there were assignments we didn’t see going out mid-fight so that people got warned off opponents they couldn’t handle? I.e., was Max very busy, or mostly just hanging back and analyzing and handling real emergencies?
Who do we think got the highest score? Jigawatt’s a strong contender for all that she arrived late… if finishing moves count, I’m sure Harem and her drug cocktails won.
I dunno, maybe all this stuff got covered in comments on the individual pages.
The problem with talking tactics is that both sides were being controlled by Vehemence. His goal was to produce the maximum violence with the minimum damage being done to the people involved. What went down more closely resembled a sporting match than a battle.
Both sides would have fought differently if they had been trying to hurt or kill each other.
“was Max very busy, or mostly just hanging back and analyzing and handling real emergencies?”
One of the things Max was doing was that she first went airborne to draw the fire from ranged attackers away from ground-bound people & property. That’s included with your mention that she was getting a tactical overview & analysis of the scene & directing other teammates to where they needed to go.
Yeah, she was busy…
In a city anything affected by gravity would be safer aimed at the supers than some random civilian. When Bloomberg said he could shoot down a plane that was taken over he forgot a 500 tone plane is still 500 tones coming down somewhere over the city if he shoots it.
in the 2nd-to-last panel who’s really long arm is that? Maybe this is just me, but it looks like you would need rubber stretching powers in order to have an arm that long because it looks longer than everyone elses’ arms in comparison.
That will be your clue. Plus the knowledge that one of the heroes power is to do that. One of the earliest to be introduced in the comic. All you need to do is see if you can spot him in that panel.
I have no idea who you’re talking about but I’ll re-add this to my read list…
Ahh, sorry about keeping it too cryptic. Mr Amorphous can stretch his limbs, and is sitting on the other side of the isle. It is just Maxima’s head which disrupts seeing his arm reaching over.
Shocker for ya – every base or operating center has a guy who has the job of looking at boobs. Yep, not kidding at all.
See, it’s not permissible to use a government computer to play games or look at porn save for work purposes – there’s an act of Congress saying so.
Ok, so the firewalls record all attempts and if someone finds a porn site that isn’t on the block lists, it goes on their record/get written up/fired.
So someone has to check that out from time to time, go through the firewall logs and look at sites with the same IP constantly visiting that have odd names or have just hit the radar.
Yep, for a while, that was part of my job, looking for boobs, on a special PC in the DMZ. It was an odd six months.
My heart bleeds for you.
It sounds like the kind of thing that could be outsourced to civilians, to save valuable military personnels’ time.
*wags tail hopefully*
I think Maxima takes the wrong approach. The man is a material arts artist. Get him to train “self restraint” or overcome this weakness.
This is method is a lot faster and a lot more effective, because it lets him use his talent in learning martial arts and trains him also for other kinds of flashes like seeing her vagina.
This is the best military style “After Action Review” I’ve EVER seen referenced in a book or comic. This page alone makes this comic more realistic for how an organized team would operate than 99% of all supes writing. Well done!
Thanks! I guess it’s probably a bit of a low bar though, as I can’t actually think of any AAR’s from any other comics.