Grrl Power #367 – Collar commandeering
I decided that since I have everyone in the same room I could have people other than the same dozen or so do all the talking. It means again I’m breaking my own rule about not including people into the Who’s Who until they’re properly introduced in the comic, but in this case it’s not spoiling the name of an unknown bad guy or something. Just giving you names to reference in the comments.
Of course just a few pages after joking about how bad guys are never named Kevin because they all have to have cool sounding names, I go and name a guy Konstantin Zaitzev. Granted most Russian names sound pretty cool anyway, well except Sacha, cause in America Sasha is a girl’s name. Not that girls can’t have cool sounding names or be bad guys of course, but you do lose some gravitas if you announce yourself as Penelope: Destroyer of Worlds!
Catherine has some weight to it, as does Morgan, Scarlett, Imogen, Harley, Meredith, Gemma, most of the greek goddesses, Artemis, Hera, etc… Generally though women’s names aren’t meant to sound tough. It also depends on your personal experience with any given name, male or female. If you knew someone who was a real brat or a bully or a crybaby, it will color your perception of a name, and it only takes one dumbass celebrity to ruin a name for a generation.
Archon doesn’t exist in a vacuum of course, and like Zeph said, egos can get in the way of common sense. I joke about other agencies being secretly relieved about handing off potentially super dangerous investigations to them there in that last panel, but it’s incredibly easy to imagine a commander or squad who “aren’t impressed with those so called supers.” Truth be told it could actually pretty straight forward taking down a lot of supers if you were prepared and took them by surprise. A few agencies have done so in the past, (usually lethally) which emboldens others to try, but it’s risky. If you know what a super’s powers are, that evens the odds quite a bit, but if you just think you know what a super’s powers are, that can get you into a lot of trouble. For instance, if you think someone can turn to stone, you could bring a big rifle to take them apart. But if it turns out that person is Concretia, you could find out the hard way that blowing her apart only frees her up to create a new body elsewhere, then you could wind up with someone who can turn to stone who is also armed with a high powered rifle.
It always bothers me in shows when someone with some power, the genre doesn’t matter, could be Fringe, Buffy, SHIELD, Smallville, etc, they’re surrounded by armed cops or soldiers, told to freeze, and they start powering up an attack and takes them all out. I know it’s done for dramatic effect, but the instant that guy started doing anything besides laying down on the ground, he’d be riddled with so many bullets he’d be… let’s see, swiss cheese comparison, dick as a pencil, you get the idea.
Be sure to check out the slightly NSFW vote incentive (there’s prominent underboob) done by Sean Harrington of Spying with Lana. (Definitely NSFW. Like… hard R? Maybe hard PG-13. I don’t know, there’s non-explicit sex all over the place and “almost nudity” on practically every page, but check it out if you get the chance as it’s pretty funny and has great art.) You can comment on it here. Oh, and there’s a speed paint video of the picture here.
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.
1! 2! 3! On the Marathon candy bar!
First! Again. Who’s the Canuck?
looks more like a curly wurly
https://www.exotic-chocolates.com/images/Cadbury-Curly-Wurly-Chocolates.jpg
Could be either, really.
Of course, they no longer make Marathon candy bars… I’m just that old, that I remember them fondly.
marathon’s were just a knockoff of the curly wurly anyway
Curley wurley arnt commonly avalible in the us
Definitely looks like a Curly Wurly to me. Ah the fond memories, long choc for 10p on the way to school. Saw one recently and thought hang on that’s about a third shorter. Of course Cadbury tried the old “oh you think it is as you were smaller then” and still charge same price, well I found a wrapper in a scrapbook I had when I was a kid, and yup it was indeed about 3rd bigger back then.
yh they used to be huge
Yup. Just like Space Raiders.** They used to be this big:
*stretches paws out, as far as they can reach*
But now you are lucky if they cover your open paw! The pickled onion ones are still incredibly yummy though. And now I am going to be drooling, until I can next get to the UK to satisfy that craving. :-(
** Ooh, seeing that they have gone up to 20p makes me hopeful they will be a decent size again, when I get to buy some. They did keep them at 10p for an incredibly long time, in the face of the steadily rising prices of other crisps (chips to those of you who don’t recognise the term). So the shrinking size was justified.
I spotted some in poundstretchers store yesterday (big multibag) and no they seem the same size if not smaller). Like crisps im sure used to be 30g bags now 25g and about 5 times more expensive.
Oh and Yorp I have great news for you! You wont have to wait you can get them on amazon would you believe!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Space-Raiders-Pickled-Onion-Bags/dp/B005TG4YGQ
40 x 22g bags !
Thanks for the info. :)
Sadly my internet connection goes by radio, across a country full of internet-savvy mafia. On top of which I have had an incident where I detected that my traffic was being monitored. Somebody who I met, in an online game, accidentally let slip some information, which he could only have gained by monitoring a completely separate program I had running.
Informed opinion, from those with relevant professional backgrounds, concluded from the surrounding circumstances that it was a classic spook approach (for justified public interest reasons). With financial based criminal hacking being possible, but less likely. Not that I have ever kept any financial information, or the like, on my computer. But it made me glad that I have that policy!
Likewise I would not risk using an internet café, for similar reasons. Nor do I have a particular need to do that.
So no space raiders, or satisfying my other craving, namely salt and vinegar crisps, until I go visiting at Christmas.
Remember Yorp, you aren’t paranoid if they are out to get you!.
At least its only about 50 or so days until you can stock up (Tescos and Asda will likely be doing deals on 48 bag boxes of crisps as well cheapish). Would also recommend the original KP Prawn Cocktail flavour skips. Aww man I used to love the melty flavour when I was young pup, along with also the space raiders (ironically you can ALSO get skips on Amazon lol).
As for S n V crisps, I am sincerely hoping you are going for the classic Walkers ones?
I always far preferred Golden Wonder to Walkers. It saddened me that Walkers had the bigger distribution and advertising capabilities, and pushed them out of business. As I felt their rivals product had a far superior texture, which also brought out the flavour better.
So I was really happy to find them on the shelves again, after all the years they had been gone. Only to have my hopes dashed, when they vanished once more.
*rolls over, morosely, and stares at the wall*
Don’t Fret little fella, for they too can be purchased through the wonders of online shopping (in a 2 seconds search found Golden Wonder Crisps S&V 16X6Pk for just under 15 quid (that’s 96 bags for 15.5p each! You seriously are going to be stocking up soon :D
Whoot! On-line shopping is still a problem. But now that you have pointed out that they are still in business, I was able to locate a stockists near where I will be visiting.
Thank you most kindly!
No worries Yorp. I have a similar problem getting say red bounty bars (dark choc ones) for my mum who lives abroad. Ironically all the shops around me don’t have them, even supermarkets, just the blue ones, yet recently my works canteen has started doing both lol.
Best way though to check to see if what you want is around is a search on the web, especially local stockists if you can. Once of course you are away from being watched.
Ever need to know if UK is still doing stuff, just ask dude :) *open flasher mac showing pockets of Golden Wonder Crisps and Raiders* I got what YOU need!
He he. Nice to know.
Golden Wonder have a stockist locator. Sadly it does not indicate which products in their range are carried in each. But, given that Bulgaria totally lacks anything close to salt and vinegar crisps (except by unaffordably expensive custom import, or, as you say, by internet shopping) I consider it to be worth the effort to check them out.
For similar reasons my annual budget always factors in several trips to fish and chip shops, when I am on my UK tour. My standard reply, when they ask if I want salt or vinegar:
“Salted please. And I want to give swimming lessons to my chips.”
To be fair, all the things that they are made of a comparatively more expensive now.
That’s one of the problems with the USA…Highest corporate tax rate in the world. It’s no wonder businesses are fleeing to more business-friendly countries.
:-(
We also have the highest disparity between executive pay and that of their average employee (on average, around 126 times more last I checked). Additionally, the effective tax rate on large corporations is roughly half of what the actual collection rate SHOULD be.
Tax dodging is rather common amongst the very rich in both their personal and professional lives. They are the primary cause for all of the budget shortfalls our government has (yes, that includes those members of our government that fall into the “very rich” category).
Could be a Babe Ruth, wrapper matches too.
Dangit people. Now I want to find and eat a Curly Wurley
And I don’t mean that in some sexual way. I want one now after seeing that picture.
I confess I have the munchies for one now as well
never underestimate the human ego wars are started that way
DaveB: In the third panel, you are mixing past and present tenses. Stick to past tenses, and it should read well enough.
The verbs are has, become, and begin. It’s all present tense. “Has happened” is present passive.
Also, draw is present.
But the main intent is past tense. He is discussing past situations.
Agreed. Whilst it is fair to start in the past and transition to the present, where it is logical to do that, I feel Town Crier calls it fairly in this instance. Not that it felt odd to me on first reading, but just agreeing on the principle. It can easily be argued the other way, as what was true then, remains true now, but the mixing of tenses is best avoided, as a matter of course.
i feel i should point out that it is speech and people really have perfect diction
He is an English gentleman adventurer.
Hurumph! If you will excuse me, I have business which requires my attention.
*adjusts monocle and adjourns to smoking room*
Time for tiffin what what ol chap? Are those your fighting trousers young Yorp ? shouldn’t you be in your afternoon tea drinking trousers?
Pip Pip, Cheerio.
trust me the english do more damage to the language in one day than america does in a year
Yeah, I agree with that…In America, if you sit on the bum, he’ll complain loudly for you to get off.
If you’re looking for a lift, you’re probably hitchhiking, not looking for something besides stairs to go up a floor.
Speaking of floors, the 1st floor is on the ground level (the *first* level of the building when you enter) & don’t need stairs or an elevator.
In England, fags are made for burning…In America, only a few psychos would do that.
The list could go on & on, but…
( •_•)
( •_•)~⌐■-■
(⌐■_■)
…the point has been made.
Gaaaah!
Misspelled my own name…
When am I going to learn to proofread myself where there’s no edit function?
I would say
NEVER!
(K)not to mention, who wants a knot around your nuts
As long as it’s not a Gordian Knot & Alexander is standing by with his sword…
Indeed we say lift not elevator. Pants are trousers, which is actually one I never understood seeing as we say underpants. If you don’t wear “pants” how can you even have underpants?
Nothing you need get your knickers in a twist about mind.
Never get your knickers in a knot. It doesn’t solve anything, and it makes you walk funny.
I’m gonna have to agree here, though like Yorp, it’s in principle, mainly. On second-reading, it does seem a bit off, but given that it took someone else mentioning it for me to actually notice, I’d say it’s not a super-high-priority edit. (Meaning — if you need sleep, then sleep first ;) )
I’ve tweaked that panel, since I had to replace flaunting with flouting anyway. Hopefully it reads a bit smoother now.
When Seneca said that in the second panel, I almost wanted Zephan to say “Yes, he is. And don’t call me Shirley.”
Unless its the weekend, then he can be Shirley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmJiZ8VcfD4
Sorry, but gotta go full grammar-nazi on you
:
*had happened
Oh, that last panel!
Second panel… Is Seneca eating a Curly-Wurly? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curly_Wurly
thats what it looks like to me
I was thinking Marathon bar, but a thread just above here informs me that they’re no longer made, so yeah I guess it’s a Curly-Wurly.
Shouldn’t she be eating Skittles?
She couldn’t after she dropped them now, could she? Only Achilles eats stuff off the floor!
Every part of Achilles eating is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. He clearly does it, but the mind boggles at trying to work out how that exactly goes.
Well, clearly he doesn’t need to eat for the nutrition; he’s immune to starvation anyway. So the obvious answer is that he eats only for the “mouth feel” of it.
But apparently his digestive system works merely for moving the food through it, since the nutrients are essentially useless.
;)
Well floor food does add to the “mouth feel”
Yeah but then over here, a Marathon bar was changed to a Snickers bar (Get some nuts fool) and wouldn’t look like a curly wurly anyway :P
i’m loving how the swat guys are all perched up on bookcases and stuff waiting for the bad guys. Sydney was right, always expect ninjas.
It is the one laying on the floor they need on worry about’
The bad guys that is.
DaveB: in the third panel, surely you mean “flouting”, not “flaunting”?
I doubt Zephan would confuse the two.
Yup! I think sometimes those words are semi-interchangeable but you’re right, in this context he definitely means flouting.
Seneca needs to go back to etiquette training
One should not talk while masticating.
…If she’s got some kind of college education, then she already finished matriculating.
Never stop matriculating. That’s how you get old.
People get old regardless whether they matriculate or not. Also, you don’t need to matriculate to learn something either…
Maybe you should masticate on that bit of wisdom.
;)
There is one social situation where it is considered acceptable. Dabbler will be able to enlighten the curious.
The comment Dave brought up about supers being filled with bullets really are a subject that also annoys me as well.
Especially in the case of a lot of modern media where we have a lot of very low powered superhumans thats still treated like a big deal, when they as such are not bullet proof or in any other way protected against a police sniper, or even a guy with a rifle and a grudge.
Oh, this one bugs the heck out of me. Even if you are a master of matter and energy manipulation of all types and can create armor and force fields as the speed of thought, that’s not worth spit unless you have superhuman reaction times and reflexes. Most people when they hear the crack of a gunshot think “What’s that? A gunshot? Is someone shooting at me? Maybe I should react to that…” and by that time it is far too late, as the bullet has already exited your skull. Even if the gunshot in question is somehow a big slow bullet shot from a half mile away, you do not have time to identify the threat and respond to it.
i always remember something from the dresden files books an assassin said to the main character that if he was going to kill him it would be with a sniper rifle using a high velocity bullet that out runs its own sonic boom.
no defences are raised if you are dead before you know you bean hit and the same thing applies to 90% of suppers
Really, there aren’t too many rifles that don’t fire bullets that outrun their own sonic booms (most toss bullets at speeds between mach 2 and 3). Even most pistol rounds break the speed of sound, and those that don’t have bullets that arrive just after the boom.
Just after being ‘microseconds, at most’ – waaaaaay too short a time for anyone with reflexes in the ‘normal’ range to do anything about it.. ^_^
fair enuff i dont know too much about guns i live in the uk where we have to get a bit more creative when we need to kill people
“Never hit your grandma with a shovel,
it leaves a bad impression on her mind.
In some other way impart,
all the love that’s in your heart,
and remember that she may retort in kind.
Remember, Grandma’s loved you since a baby,
And even though in fun t’would prove a shock,
So respect her aged head
Stay the shovel and instead
Hit your sweet old, dear old, Grandma with a rock.”
(Lyrics courtesy of Spike Jones, circa 1942.)
Sorry, when you said you had to “get a bit more creative when we need to kill people”, this is what came to mind. :)
i was thinking more along the lines of drown them in a toilet or strangle them with a shirt sleeve but whatever works for you
Duly noted, the Traveling Shovel of Death shall not get to kill Grandma.
What about Reindeer? I’ve heard they’re quite effective at offing grandmas.
Only on Christmas Eve.
Agreed. For a pistol, the bullet’s speed (in feet per second) is usually between 500 and 1400; higher for some rounds. A .45-caliber bullet is at the low end of the spectrum, about 340 miles per hour (far below the speed of sound). If you need to stifle the sound of a bullet, for best results start with a bullet that’s already subsonic, and add a sound suppressor. Just remember that “silencers” don’t work like they do in Hollywood, where all you hear is this stifled “thwip, thwip” noise.
Rifle rounds are generally faster (there is one specific exception I will mention below); from 1200 feet per second (still supersonic) at the low end, and at the high end there are some so-called “barrel burners” with muzzle velocities as high as 4000 fps (Mach 3.5 at sea level). The upper limit on small arms bullet speed is about 5200-5300 fps (approximately Mach 4.6) because of friction and the expansion speed of smokeless propellants.
The one exception that I know of is the De Lisle Commando Carbine, a British firearm used during World War II, produced in very limited numbers (right around 130, if I remember correctly). It used a .45 caliber subsonic round and had an integrated sound suppressor, making it one of the quietest firearms ever made. At close range it sounded like a stifled cough, and it was inaudible beyond 50 yards (45 meters). It produced about 85 decibels of sound when fired; most pistols produce 155 to 170 decibels without a sound suppressor.
P.S., some of you were probably wondering about Dabbler’s railgun. The prototype railguns currently being tested have a muzzle velocity of about 35,000 feet per second (10.67 km per second, which is roughly 23,868 miles per hour or Mach 31.4 at sea level.)
There are some other rifle rounds designed for subsonic loads, such as .300 Whisper. Basically a .223 necked up to .30 caliber, it’s meant to throw a relatively heavy bullet just below the speed of sound. Power is about the same as a .45 ACP, but the more ballistically efficient bullet gives it more range. A few years ago, I got to watch a guy firing an AR-15 chambered in .300 Whisper and fitted with a suppressor. I was standing about twenty-five feet from the shooter, and I literally couldn’t hear the muzzle blast over the sound of the bolt cycling. Pretty impressive for a center-fire rifle…
But don’t go shooting at sign-posts, even if they do bear your logo!
“…dead before you know you bean hit and the same thing applies to 90% of suppers”
Maybe it’s just me, but I prefer my supper to be already dead before it goes on my plate…
;)
Heathen! Don’t you know that Gagh is best served live?
And it’s never served with beans…
Racht always looked a little more appealing than Gagh to me at least when its not half dead already
so shall I put away the fava beans and chianti?
Clearly, Hannibal wasn’t a trekkie. He could have made his own blood wine…
“The food computer on the ship’s in need of overhaul,
’cause dinner got up off the plate and just ran up the wall, singing
Clear the way for the smugglers, oh up and out we go;
Clear the way for hyperdrive, and blast away, heigh-ho.”
“You’re now in orbit weightless, and your stomach is in doubt;
When there’s no down, you can’t throw up, in space you just throw out.
Clear the way for the smugglers, oh up and out we go;
Clear the way for hyperdrive, and blast away, heigh-ho.”
(Part of a filk song I heard at a convention once.)
That^
+1
The problem, as DaveB pointed out, lies mostly in thinking you know the target’s powers…and being mistaken. The sniper rifle approach to wizards is fine, unless you don’t know that the wizard is paranoid and in the habit of briefly raising his invisible bullet-proof shield whenever he enters an area where he’d be vulnerable. You pop him as he walks out his door, and your first shot bounces–you’ve missed your shot,and now he’s doing some hoodoo to backtrack the shot and set your building on fire.
I did a forum thread a while back on supers who deliberately deceive everyone as to the nature of their powers. One of my favorites was Foresight, a super who allegedly had jedi-like short-range precognition that gave him something like a combination of spider-sense and super reflexes. His real power was the ability to roll back time while keeping his memory–and he did it automatically whenever he experienced any physical trauma. He hid it and lied about it because if its true nature got out, no one who lost a loved one to accident or violence would ever have closure, and he’d never get any peace.
I read a fanfic like that called Crush. The main character got control over gravity. So what he did was pretend to be magneto. He intentionally only moved metal around, flew on a metal disc like Static Shock, and used only slightly bs techno jargon to justify the few oddities like, he was locked in a synthetic diamond plated prison cell. Nothing a magna kinetic could manipulate. He shattered his cell and claimed that the bonds between molecules is magnetic in nature, positive and negative charges etc. So at close range, and with a lot of concentration, he could disrupt those bonds, and shatter anything. I forget how he justified turning the knockout gas they tried to use on him into a puddle on the floor though. But yeah, he decided only morons admitted what their powers actually are. Had he done so, the bad guys would have kept him in a chemical coma instead of letting him wake up in a diamond cell.
Sure, perfect example recently, V thought that Maxima had her strength drained by electricity. She doesn’t, but her allocation works out such that she effectively does. That footage was broadcast, so the world thinks that Maxima’s strength is drained by electricity. That’ll probably come up again.
+1
And Archon will not do anything to dispel that illusion, if they are wise.
So, “Oh, it didn’t work for that villain? Clearly he didn’t use enough.” or “Only magical electricity works because the… thaumic resonance (?)… disrupts the… superlative forces… which… reverses the polarity of the neutron flow! *phew*”
Always, always go with “it is not our policy to comment on security matters”. The generic government turn of phrase across the globe. Lies, half-truths and attempts at misdirection sting you in the arse.
But, if the press asked “what if Maxima is taken out by lightning, now that the world knows she is vulnerable to it?” After trotting out the above “no comment” reply, they could follow it up with another standard reply “Our team are trained to use one member’s strengths to overcome another’s weaknesses. But clearly we cannot comment further, for security reasons.”
General reassurances are likewise normal practice, to reassure the public. So it serves that purpose here. But also does not deny that Maxima has that weakness. So has the same result as your version, but more subtly and is therefore less likely to rouse suspicions.
As well as the Oliver North special of “We can neither confirm nor deny the allegations made against us”
Ah yes, Kane (or is it Cain or Kain…). The ultimate pragmatist. Also he used a sniper rifle so he could be far enough away that the muzzle flash wasn’t distinctive, nothing to react to means absent absolute paranoia no defenses.
The character’s name is Jared Kincaid, actually.
Harry Dresden was so scared of Kincaid he once woke up in a panic, looking around for the Red Laser Sighting Light.
Though that trope was proven wrong in a later book when Kincaid took someone out from a great distance without the need for a Sighting Light.
Unless the Super has a) Some type of Danger Precog coupled with ultra fast reflexes; b) Is Bullet resistant; c) Powerful Telepathy and Telekinesis; d) Auto Shields; e) A Super-Good Luck Power – any well trained Sniper/Assassin can take them out.
f) A guardian angel. (or demon, god, bodyguard and so on)
g) A “you don’t want to hurt me” aura.
h) Any kind of undetectability (invisibility, good sneaking skills, etc)
i) Feels that dying is a lifestyle choice, rather than it being something which causes any loss of capability.
j) Aren’t allowed to die, even if they want to. (E.g.: Mr. Immortal)
k) Will eventually heal from effectively anything. (Sidekick Girl had an “origin moment” that involved a gaping head wound. A sniper could put her out of commission for a long time, but not kill her.)
Not to mention that as seen on Mythbusters. A decent snipers muzzle flash (without a suppressor) can only barely be seen from 200 yards away. Any further and you are hit before you even hear it.
“…create armor and force fields as the speed of thought, that’s not worth spit unless you have superhuman reaction times and reflexes.”
And you also have to be aware of the attack before the trigger is pulled. Even super-fast reflexes don’t help much if you don’t even know you’re being attacked; A sniper at 5000 yds would still ruin your day.
500 meters would be enough. 5000 yards is nearly 3 miles. A bit much even for Peggy.
Furthest confirmed sniper kill was 2475 meters, according to Wikipedia. So, yeah. 5000 would be damn near impossible.
True. Peggy is good. But not the best in the world. She is only a four star sniper. Somewhere out there is a super sniper who may be able to pull that off though.
in fairness, you also have to account for wind, and the rifle itself. we ever get railgun sniper rifles, you’re going to see that distance grow, specially if weather conditions agreed (which is a minute chance, but still possible).
One thing to bear in mind about the ratings system is that each star increase indicates “Anyone less than this has no chance to beat them, all other things being equal”*
Peggy, with four star sniper skill has demonstrated being able to:
• Shoot Vehemence in the eye
• Shoot a sword out of Heavenly Sword’s hand (albeit that it was likely stationary when she fired).
Given that she is a seasoned sniper, standard operating procedure would require that she had moved to a safe distance, sufficiently far away that she would not easily be spotted when firing. Given the dangers posed by the scale and violence of that super fight, it implies that would be a significant distance.
Making both those shots pretty darned good. To say the least. Yet she is only a four star. Whoever holds the five star ranking is so good they would always beat Peggy, in a sniper-on-sniper fight! **
Hence why I indicated the ‘super’ in my comment. I think Peggy is already at the maximum attainable by a normal human. And supers? They break the rules.
* This is not canon, simply my personal reasoning. But we have never seen anything which contradicts it. Rather the one time it looked to, Dave indicated the rating that needed adjusting. Which makes me feel confident it is a fair interpretation.
** Barring cunning tricks on her behalf, like using a claymore mine, to even the odds
If we are talking super-fast reflexes, there is no limit ; you can react on SEEING the bullet. Or, well … remember Jedi? The people (and others) who can deflect lasers from droids because their reaction time is NEGATIVE?
Without superhuman reaction times, yes, you would need to keep the shield active all the time.
Jedi use The Force to be slightly precognitive. Their actually reaction time are slightly better then average due to their physical training. So, they can be surprised if the are not concentrating.
Also, plasma bolts, not lasers. Which have a visible travel time even over macroscopic distances sufficient to show up across multiple frames of film.
Mythbusters did an episode in which they figured out the speed of blaster bolts. They traveled at 35 miles per hour.
Mythbusters did a dodge the bullet experiement, and as proved on that by the time you hear it you are dead. The muzzle flash is only barely visible at 200 yards and the min safe distance to dodge is around 400 yards if you see the flash and would need at least 0.490 milliseconds to get out of the way.
Yup, the only plausible (non-super) option is to anticipate the firing and have already dodged, before the gun goes off. But, do it right, and the casual observer might conclude that you dodged the bullet. Which, in a manner of speaking, you have.
Personally I just keep the bullet with my name on it locked in a very secure hidden location. Far safer that way.
Old Army saying: “You don’t hear the one that kills you…”
Believe it was M*A*S*H which disproved that old myth
Everyone fears the bullet with their name on it, but shrapnel comes addressed to occupant.
this is especially true of some sorts of danger sense..as an example, one character I have can tell when someone is observing her, from what direction, with what sense, whether it was a casual notice or if there was some kind of intent directed at her, what that intent was and whether or not it’s via a mechanical device. She can tell the difference of being watched through a camera, a scope or with human eyes and the difference between being heard and being seen. She actually starts noticing before the other person is consciously aware that they’re noticing her because what she’s actually picking up the innate empathic contact that comes when one person pays attention to another character.
Some sociopaths and people able to deliberate tamp down the innate empathic abilities of every human can get past this. She tries to keep it really low key. Most of the world’s soldiers actually are aware of this sense and have it to a degree to, because it’s the “I feel like I’m being watched” sensation magnified by several orders of magnitude.
So, for a lot of snipers, they’d alert her to their presence and intention just by trying to find her in the scope. One person triggered it because they saw the trailing threads of her hair on a video screen. Their conscious mind dismissed the image as a trick of the light but it alerted Lucretia that someone had put a camera at her door.
so basically, the best way to surprise her is view people like features of the terrain so you never make empathic contact…or else use AoE stuff where you don’t have to know her precise location.
Of course, despite being possibly one of the most powerful potentials in the setting, she’s an absolutely horrible fighter. At one point she was thrown into a garbage compactor by a racist garbage man. The compactor and the truck attached to it got torn apart, but her attackers were taken apart by one of the mercenaries assigned to watch her.
One of my readers referred to her as if Superman were born in a world where Batman opened an academy.
Interesting stuff, in its own right. But the bit that piques my curiosity the most is:
Clearly you are talking about received wisdom. Although we have all had that sensation at some time or anther, I am sure. The traditional interpretation being that we are picking up subconscious clues from the ‘five’ senses. Which is wholly reasonable.
Although we know nowadays, of course, that humans have a whole lot more than just those. Such as: the sense of balance, pain, the ability to perceive our own bodies orientation and positioning, the ability to sense temperature changes and so on.
So the possibility that there is a specialist sense dedicated to this very specific task is possible. Albeit through means unknown. The traditional ESP explanation that it picks up on brain activity being just one.
Brain activity is electrical, and sharks (for example) can sense electrical impulses in muscles, remotely (albeit only measured in feet). Clearly it would not be even an enhanced version of that sense, not at the kinds of ranges soldiers act at. Especially as it only works as well as that because it is in water.
But something analogous to that (just lacking the target finding aspects of it) might be leaking out of peoples’ heads and being picked up by us. Perhaps at the quantum level.*
To conclude, I would love to see any research which actually tried to pin this down. Either proving that the phenomenon was real, rather than a subconscious assumption, in appropriate circumstances. Or trying to pin down how good humans are at picking up subtle cues, from specific senses, in these kinds of conditions.
* And just to tweak the noses of any quantum physicists out there, I shall suggest that it might derive from the observer effect.
Notice how steam is emitted from the physicist’s ears, when you make statements like this.
I was speaking in terms of the metaphysics of that universe. So the sense exists as an empathy within that universe.
Actually, that universe runs on idealism rather than materialism, so people are capable of what they believe they are capable of and a coherent world mostly only exists because the group as a whole agrees on certain consistencies. The fact that they aren’t aware that they live in an idealist universe rather than a materialistic one also helps keep things from going chaotic.
Nice and wholly self-consistent. Plus a setting where being a hero really can give you the means to overcome adversity, in and of itself. Cleverly done.
Yeah, Divine Blood, on the other hand, is based on materialism but with urban fantasy/superhero style pseudo-science and also based on the idea that ideals and such can have a heavy impact for how people can interact with that base reality. Requires a bit more consistency in the unwritten parts.
Nope. The Army acknowledges this “danger sense”. When receiving Spec Ops training on sniping and particularly on sneaking up on someone to kill them close quarters, we are trained to focus slightly to one side of the target until the moment we strike, so as not to alert said target in advance. This sense is very real, especially when a person is in a heightened state of awareness, such as combat.
*paws itching, to get hold of any published DARPA ESP research*
[Thinks: Nope, Engine System Prognosis is not what I was after.]
* pokes next page button with paw*
Mmm, now that is getting closer. Oh and that is interesting. Not quite there though.
*sighs*
* pokes next page button with paw*
What about multiple degrees of separation? Like if someone was viewing a light on a screen indicating that a motion sensor had just been tripped by her? At that point they’re not even looking indirectly at her.
And what about if someone just set up a motion sensor that was hooked up to a bomb?
The bomb has no connection to anything empathic so she can’t sense it. Though she’d see the electrical impulses.
If you set a long enough delay on the camera image so that the person is watching a recording, she won’t notice the attention.
Her senses are the most fun part to write about her really. There’s her “someone’s watching me” thing and then there’s her heat and electrical senses which she gets frustrated with because it means she can’t easily read a computer screen or watch a TV because everything gets overwhelmed by her perception of the active electrical impulses going on and if the temperature in a room is unstable enough, like say if someone turns on an air conditioner on full blast and set to a much lower temperature than the air is currently, then her basic light vision is overwhelmed by information on temperature shifts and she can’t read things like street signs or books.
She claims its dyslexia. Everybody knows she’s lying. She knows everybody knows she’s lying but she doesn’t care and nobody has asked her what’s really going on.
And then again, those who aren’t bullet proof (excuse me, bullet resistant) normally might get the bright idea to wear a flak jacket under their outer clothing. Most LE agents are trained to go for body-shots first, because they’re easier targets than the head. With any luck (except bad) at all, the super bad-guy might still have enough time to finish powering up his attack. But it seems to be a pretty common mistake made in comics…Making the bad guys so stupid to ignore that particular vulnerability.
There are quite a few supers that are truly bullet proof. Superman comes to mind as the obvious example. Max and Achilles are in this universe. Hiro and Stalwart might be.
When Mongul took over Warworld, he had access to bullets big enough to give even Superman some trouble…
Yup yup. Many super characters are less powerful than guy with gun. Often the narrative doesn’t acknowledge this fact, leading to a dozen cops falling back from someone less dangerous than any one of them.
This is something I try to avoid in my Divine Blood setting where training generally trumps innate power.
The limits of body hardening is up to bullet resistant. One of the major characters can survive being pelted with .50 cal, but it’s hardly natural, she’s gone through lots of training and multiple procedures to harden her skin for that level of protection. It’s also not fun and she ended up with multiple fractured bones and some internal bleeding.
It is entirely feasible for an expert shot to be able to kill a God or Demon if they pick their time such as if the God or Demon in question is unaware and thus not raising a shield to counter projectiles.
Or said God or Demon might be a civilian with practically know combat capability…in which case not much skill is needed.
Yeah, idiots with guns just standing there not shooting and writers not realizing just how hard being bulletproof is are two of my pet peeves.
The Undersiders from worm would die to a guy with a pistol who knows how to use it if they don’t see him coming (or a cage match). You can fire six aimed shots at close range in two seconds. And Skitter (the only bullet resistent one due to wearing armor) would still be disabled by the first shot breaking her ribs, thus giving the shooter time for a couple more and then a shot to the back of the head).
Who is the pink hair lady in Harrison’s panel?
That is a Harem most likely Berry.
You sure it isn’t Gwen?
Gwen has yellow eyes, this character has green eyes.
That kind of outfit doesn’t strike me as very Harem-like. Way too much skin covered. And maybe it’s just a quirk of the art but her ears seem pointed.
Actually, is that even a girl? If the character has an elf-motif going, could be a guy. Don’t really see a superheroine-level bust there to settle the matter.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1295
for Harem in uniform
And https://www.deviantart.com/art/Harem-Playboy-Shoot-Topless-354162310 for Harem OUT of uniform…
(NSFW & need to log in as an adult to see it)
this is certainly not harem
the pink hair harem as blue eyes
those are green and the face look younger nearly childish…
so nope someone else
Went back an looked at
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1873
and found it is one of the unnamed noobies.
Yup, definitely her. Not a Harem nor Gwen. New girl.
Temporarily to be referred to as Pinky, in homage to the awesome monster from Terrarria. But we can also refer to her by her formal temporary title. Pinky Manga Girl.
No Yorp, we already have a Pinky, Suzie’s arch-rival news-reporter
You, sir, are correct. As such, we should stick to her formal title.
I’mma call her Veldrina. Pink hair, pointed ears. Clearly she is the Favored Soul representative of the Western Pantheon from Order of the Stick. :V
IDK, I was thinking of calling her “Rinku” or some other feminine form of the name Link. Her collar looks like it might have a triangle on it.
I might be wrong on her collar design, but her hair and height are both rather resemblant of a few iterations of Link.
We’ll find out who this pink punk pixie is soon enough.
Not wearing Harem’s choker. Also, doesn’t look anything like Harem.
Is it just me or is her collar a cat bell?
(Puts on Deerstalker hat and lights pipe)
The evidence and hand can only point to one conclusion. In keeping with the long tradition of a hero’s outfit giving some clue to his innate abilities, we can conclude that the aforementioned cat bell implies some sort of cat related ability, i.e. she has the talent of altering her shape into that of a feline. Also, since she had been chosen to be a part of a select cadre of exceptionally gifted individuals, we can conclude that this polymorphic ability would result in no common tabby. It would most likely be one of the larger species of predatory cat. The exact type can be deduced using another commonly occurring theme found among the heroic class, the tendency to elicit an alliterative nom de guerre for their alternate persona. Her unorthodox hair coloring leads us to the irrefutable conclusion that her chosen name is in fact the Pink Panther.
(gives a self satisfied puff on the pipe)
What is that you say? Copyright infringement? I was created in the 1880s. I not not of this ‘movie’ you speak of.
Or she’s a stealth expert, and is so naturally attuned to moving silently that she kept freaking people out, so they made her dye her hair neon pink and put a bell around her neck.
I have effectively done that with my Jack Russell. For some reason she never barks (unless her paw is trodden on, or something similarly alarming), and she is getting increasingly hard of hearing. As I do not keep her on a lead, but rely on verbal commands, I have to ensure she keeps close enough that I can be certain she will hear me.
Hence the audio tracking device, for when she is behind me. It is just her annual vaccination tag, but I do not take the old ones off, when I add the new one. As they are made out of metal, they jangle together, as she walks. It really is the best way to keep track of a stealth pet.
We both came to the same conclusion :D
Very eloquently deduced and portrayed O.B. Juan, even to the extent where you made it feel elementary.
Whoever she is, she is adorable and I want to know more. Where is that information narrator from Starship Troopers when you need him!?
I say she is a member of ArcLight. She is sitting right in the middle of their contingent.
Maxima has already called Archon members on their (very human) tendency to “clique up” during last evenings dinner after the first press conference.
Mmm, and George Lucas is sitting just the other side of Harrison. So that would imply he is Arc-Light too.
I guess that explains why he called his company Industrial Light and Magic.
The Pink Haired one should be nicknamed Skitty, after the Pink Cat Pokemon.
Or is that Gwen?
Nope, if you check out the earlier scene, we see them sitting next to each other. Plus different features (cat-like ears for instance), collar and clothes.
Then I get to call her Skitty, until she’s given an official name.
:-D
I was wondering who the girl with the pink hair was also.
Gwen’s cousin, twice-removed. Her unusual characteristic being that she was born with pink hair. She was studying art in Paris, where fellow students nicknamed her “Pinky Manga Girl”. One one day, shopping near the Louvre, she was attacked by a ferocious predator!
Amongst Pinky Manga Girl’s shopping she had a silver-plated statuette of the Eiffel Tower. Evading attack until she managed to grab it, she struck the foul beast! Apparently mortally wounded, it dragged itself away, allowing Pinky to bind her wounds and make her way back to her apartment.
Over the next few days, as she healed unusually quickly, Pinky Manga Girl noticed strange changes in herself. She acquired a craving for milk, found catnip irresistible and, most bizarre of all, her ears were becoming distinctively pointed! Plus her dreams were vivid and full, of her chasing mice, prowling on rooftops, leaping from one to another, and hoarding nice shiny things.
Until, one morning, she awakens, naked, in the attic above her bedroom. Surrounded by a pile of stolen gems and object-d’art. Pinky then realises that her dreams were all true, and thus was born the Pink Panther!
Today she is reformed, but still battles intense kleptomaniac urges, in her newly-found role, on the other side of the law.
But I could be wrong.
+2
Panel 6: Only an 8.1 on the awesome scale? Really, they should know better…
They’re just encouraging more destructive/over-the-top heroing as the team tries to achieve a 10
max set the level 10 at the press rally when turned an aria of desert in to glass
Aria of Desert sounds like the start of a major spell from the Nasuverse/Type-Moon universe.
I am the grain of my land…
Or to go to the best known Type-Moon Aria: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPcPzvjgrPE
Remember that it failed.
1,5 point deduction for failure to produce desired results
Scale of awesome? How about this ‘big bang’ from about 2.5 miles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2cILh8RjbE
Heh. It tickled me when the shock wave hit and the guy says:
“Holy sss… [thinks: this footage is gonna be worth big bucks, don’t swear!]… smoking toledos.”
There’s also the time the Mythbusters blew up a concrete mixer. https://youtu.be/4IcHUHRf_S0
They were standing five miles (8 km) from the blast point. In case you were wondering, they were testing the myth that you could remove the slag from the inside of the drum with a stick of dynamite (which turned out to be plausible, btw).
But there was a problem: Two concrete trucks were donated to them. When they were filling this one, the drum stopped rotating. While they were fixing it, they forgot: There’s still concrete in there… so it wasn’t concrete slag, it was a concrete floor, several feet thick.
The other truck was used for the actual experiment; but since this is Mythbusters, they decided that since they can’t use this truck, they might as well blow it up. The FBI decided to use it as a training exercise, and loaded it with 900 lbs (~410 kg) of high explosive. The result was the most satisfying explosion ever seen on Mythbusters (IMO).
That truck done farted into nothingness!!
Did you see the face in the smoke?
A hand, right at the end, on second watching. But nothing suggestive to me of a face, no.
Russian people rarely refer to mobsters by their first and family name. It is either family name only, mob-only nickname or first and second name (without family one) when addressing him personally.
but law enforcer do use the full legal name then add any aliases they know about
Full legal name would’ve included the middle name
if there is one
Zeph isn’t Russian though, he is talking quite sedately
Who’s the pink haired girl with the skull-like choker?
Some new girl probably
Need a wiki as DaveB doesn’t have the time to do all this!
There is one. We have been too lazy to fill it out.
*hangs head, in shame*
i don’t think its a “skull like”
to me it looks like a cat bell choker.
She is “Pinky Manga Girl”, or “Pinky” in short. A new character, glimpsed once in the crowd shot a few pages back, but not yet introduced.
Can’t be Pinky, we already have one, but ‘Manga-girl’ is available
Possibly confusable with Sydney, probably best to stick with the longer version. Mouthful though it is, we shall have her actual name before too much longer, I am sure.
Still waiting on the name of Suzie’s rival, aka Pinky the First :P
Sorry, coolness of the first name aside, Mob Boss with a last name meaning “Bunny” is definitely not a name that strikes fear into the hearts of men.
only if you know that it does.
also, where did you get the bunny?
Zaitzev, I assume is miswriting of a reasonably common last name Zaitsev. Which is derived directly from the word “Zayats” meaning “rabbit”.
I mean even in Russian it is not a funny last name, and it is pretty common, so spelling it with a “z” aside – props to the author for that.
It’s just not a “cool” name.
I mean even in Russian it is not a funny last name, and it is pretty common, so spelling it with a “z” aside – props to the author for that.
It’s just not a “cool” name.
if you speak Russian, then yeah, that’s not a very threatening name.
and, after you “fixed” the word, i guess i can see that too..
but otherwise, it’s an alright name.
he who fears not the bunny has clearly never seen monty python
Indeed, unless you possess the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, it is to be greatly feared!
Even demons can fear bunnies!
i do not know of the Monty’s bunnies, but i would definitely fear the blade bunny.
I had the opportunity of appearing with her. But feared to do so without an unlimited supply of replacement bodies.*
* Literal True story. And fully documented too.
Or read Sluggy Freelance. Maxima vs Bun-Bun would probably go on as long as the Vehemence fight.
Or read Watership Down, or seen a rabbit chase a snake up a tree: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rebnrnGLKh0
Carlos the Gerbil begs to differ! The most feared assassin working for Spain the magical world has ever known! And no, the wizards still cant understand why the muggles break into giggles whenever they hear the name.
Speaking of names and meanings: “Sasha”/”Sanya” are DIMs of “Alexander”. Like in “Alexander III of Macedon”.
It’s the fallacy of diminutive forms – after all, each Richard is Dick, but are all of them dicks?
Phonetically speaking, Dick the third is the funniest.
But it only works if spoken with an Irish accent.
Dirty tree and a turd
Naw, that’s the place where Yorp did his “duty”…
“Broad? Chick?”
I wish I could say those were terms that nobody in the real world uses any more, but it occurs to me that I have a coworker who regularly uses broad when talking about women.
Yeah, the dames get their panties in a bunch when you call them “chicks” or “broads”. Of course, that is mild stuff in Australia…
“Lead the way toots.”
“Toots?”
“Babe? Sweetcakes? AH! Princess!”
/looks distinctly unamused
“You wanna throw me a clue here? Im drowning?”
Of course Casey Jones was drowning there…His stint in professional sports wasn’t for swimming.
:P
“Broad” doesn’t even really apply anymore, it was a term that came up to refer to a style popular with woman where they had padding to make their shoulders look, well, broader.
And here I thought it was referring to hips and butts.
Yeah before I wrote that I asked on twitter if anyone under the age of 50 uses it anymore. Really even 50 is young to use that term non-jokingly.
To me, chick and gal are interchangeable feminine versions of dude and guy, but I may have missed a memo.
Dude is acceptable if the chick has guy interests and isn’t all girly all the time.
Sydney would get “duded” regularly. Most likely, she would use it pretty regularly as well.
Also, I still think of “guys” as non-gender specific plural.
I consider it to be dual purpose. “The guys should take one room, and the girls the other” for one usage. Or “She is one of the guys”. Which would not be taken as saying she is a man, rather that she is part of the group. What that group is then further defining it. So it could be a group of work colleagues or friends for example. Either of which could have both male and female members.
Although, come to think of it, I probably would not use it to refer to an all-female group. Rather I would just call them the girls.*
Sooo, on reflection, I realise that is just how the linguistic rules for heavily gender defined languages work, such as French and Bulgarian. If you are referring to a group of people, you use the masculine name (and associated grammar) even if there is just one man in it. Whereas if there are only women (and children) you switch to the feminine form.
In conclusion, I should not consider it dual use. Not unless I switch to calling a group of girls “guys”. Which I have no intention of doing. Therefore, as it stands, for me, it is gender specific in both singular and plural forms.
* Or women, if in a more formal and stuffy environment. Although, in my experience the older women get the more they enjoy being called girls. So (ignoring the ones who are touchy about political correctness) the only ones likely to object are those who are young enough to feel the need to emphasise they are not immature. But, I do modify my language to accommodate such feelings, when the need arises.
Funny enough, once upon a time “man” was gender neutral and just referred to any person. The term for male was “werman”. Unfortunately, the tendency was to assume male when mentioning an unstated person. So “man” began to be equated with male and we lost the original masculine and our neutral term became the masculine term.
>>>It always bothers me in shows when someone with some power, the genre doesn’t matter, could be Fringe, Buffy, SHIELD, Smallville, etc, they’re surrounded by armed cops or soldiers, told to freeze, and they start powering up an attack and takes them all out. I know it’s done for dramatic effect, but the instant that guy started doing anything besides laying down on the ground, he’d be riddled with so many bullets he’d be… let’s see, swiss cheese comparison, dick as a pencil, you get the idea.<<<
Depends on the universe, and the sociocultural situation.
A lot of universes do not have powers with visual manifestations, or the need for obvious displays to use them.
You get zero warning if the Purple Man, say, just took control of every female in the strike group, not before he starts shooting.
Or if Magneto just took control of every trigger in a two block radius.
And then a lot of powers come with obligatory secondary/support powersets.
And a lot of THOSE are non-obvious.
Then there's the legal situation, because you KNOW you will get coppers defending shoots by claiming they had a suspicion of their being superhuman, whether they were or not.
A couple high profile cases, and you'll either get a crackdown on local agencies, or a distinct disinclination to approach law enforcement on the part of supers.
if they are non obvious, then yes.
you will get destroyed without warning.
HOWEVER.
when you see someone doing “kaaaameeeeHAAAMEEEEEE HA!A!A!A!A!A!”
its a rather obvious sign.
also “doing anything besides laying down on the ground”
if he doesn’t go down within 2 seconds, and instead is just standing there…
chances are he/she is mentally preparing to perform some mass “fatality”
and to execute all that at once, can take some coordination.
Which is why one of my favourite bits in Disgaea is when Etna shoots most of the Prism Rangers before they get the chance to transform.
“Nuke the dancing putz” should be a standard tactic when dealing with supervillains. If they’re chanting, glowing, cackling, or waving their arms, then open fire until you have to reload, then open fire some more.
Automatic firearms: Because I have a bullet with your name on it, and I’m gonna keep shooting until I figure out which one it is. ;-)
Like an armored hero I run in Champions called Warhead. His deadliest attack he just stands there and generates a sub-critical mass of nuclear material in each gauntlet. Then suddenly slams them together. Creating a nuclear blast. There is no evidence he’s doing this until he slams his gauntlets together. And by then it’s too late.
disclaimer – i have no idea what you are talking about, but lets go with it.
“There is no evidence”
there may be no sparks or obvious light, but to say there is no evidence, would be incorrect.
you simply do not have the ability to perceive the evidence.
and that ability would be some sort of heat vision, as all nuclear materials radiate constantly.
the only way to hide it, is if it was confined in a dimensional pocket, or if the character you are talking about had the ability control energy.
but that would probably fall int he category of “required secondary power”, and you said “… in each gauntlet”.
now, i assume that you got that character from some computer game.
but what about those who don’t have powers?
well, ignoring civilians and other irrelevant variables, lets focus on people, who’s job require them to deal with supers.
you would think that would be a part of the standard equipment, wouldn’t it?
I created him in a pencil and paper RPG and the time needed to generate the masses is 3 seconds then KA-BOOM. And the only survivors are him and those who can survive being at ground zero of a 10 megatonne blast.
But I bet the muggers regretted attacking him! Briefly.
also
it seems like you ignored a certain point.
“His deadliest attack he just stands there …”
yeah, because they will give him the time.
That final panel must have been one heck of a situation, to have that many agencies gathered!
Or, I guess:
“Hey, come on over, ish my birfday, we ish hafing drinkies”
Since the attack on the World Trade Center inter-agency task forces are much more common. Especially since most of the federal law enforcement groups got reorganized under a single umbrella group. I could see a group like this being organized quite easily to deal with a militant cell of some sort.
Yeah, but each agency still wants to be the one to get the collar, so much so they will ‘withhold’ details that could ‘help’ another to get the collar, then blame that agency when things naturally go wrong
The world is falling apart. Universal laws are crumbling. Quick, Sydney needs introductions all round, or the Who’s Who traditions will be eternally broken!
Not to mention that with the recently passed laws in-story, any law enforcement engaging in such an activity on ‘suspicion’ without a warrant is…
…being a vigilante and subject to the same prosecution by ARCHON as any super would be.
Neat how that works out?
At least, I suspect that would be how it would play out?
In a manner of speaking I suppose. But not in a common sense interpretation. Vigilantes being considered to be individuals who have no law-enforcement powers. As opposed to having such powers but exceeding their authority. They may be breaking a law, but not that one.
Yes, police officers exceeding their authority would be violations of the state Police Act for the state they are in, which give police forces their authority and also state their limitations, considering the states and federal constitutions in the writing of the respective act. The United States federal government also has several acts which authorize and control the various federal law enforcement agencies: FBI, DEA, ATFE, DHS, etc.
DaveB: “…and it only takes one dumbass celebrity to ruin a name for a generation.”
Well, most of the time I’d agree. But then again, there’s plenty of people named Elvis running around…
DaveB: “Sean Harrington of Spying with Lana. (Definitely NSFW. Like… hard R? Maybe hard PG-13.”
Yeah, I recognized that art style even before reading your blog here…Indeed, those of your readers who go there will see my very own masked mug-shot in the comments section there too! :D
Wait, you saying that Elvis is a ‘dumbass’? Or trying to put those Kard-arse-ians in the same league as him?
“Spying with Lana” is a fun spy spoof, he has a clever way of obscuring the naked bits without it being too contrived (annoying yes, but not contrived)
“Wait, you saying that Elvis is a ‘dumbass’?”
Did you miss that part where I said “most of the time I’d agree?”
;-)
Butt, you mentioned Elvis after that
Is this a marvel movie? Because I swear I just saw a Stan Lee cameo.
Well I tawd I taw a bunny wabbit. But it turned out to be a mob boss.
He appears at the end of this scene as the janitor that comes in to sweep up the candy wrappers. “I’ve told these people a hundred times, ‘no eating in the auditorium’ “.
But we’ve already seen in the under-the-comic joke, at one point, where the janitor looks nothing like Stan Lee…
The reference I used for that guy is actually Dexter’s dad (James Remar) and I tacked a mustache on him.
I’d be with the ATF guy, just walk out before bad stuff happened.
Good instincts, that one.
Is anyone else finding that new comments are being marked as read, without clicking the button? It is consistently happening to me on this page. Which is very inconvenient for tracking new posts.
Wait, comments are marked as read or unread? I’m not seeing those buttons you’re talking about. (It makes it awfully inconvenient when you want to go back and see if anyone’s replied to one of your posts. I have to manually search for my “handle”.)
DaveB, would you care to weigh in on this? Why am I not seeing this? Does it have something to do with using Firefox, or an ad blocker, perhaps?
For info I use Google Chrome. I do run ad blocker, but keep girlpower.com as an exception.
For anyone who is not familiar with them, they look like the “Submit Comment” button. But be sure to look prior to initiating a comment, as they vanish until you submit it. They otherwise appear at the bottom of the comments page, immediately above the Comments box. Respectively titled “Mark Comments Read” and “Reset All Comments”.
If you do not have these it is because you have not run the optional comments highlighter thingmy for this site. Check Dave’s blog above. The very final part has the necessary links to install it, either for Chrome or for Firefox.
Ah, okay. Well, I installed the FireFox version. I guess I’ll find out if it’s working soon enough.
Cool. Everything is working normally for me again now, for info.
There was one step that I had forgotten, but it is definitely working for me now too. Thanks for the help.
My pleasure. :)
I’d advise looking into the Dragonslayers from the Whateley Academy universe an army squad of mostly normals assigned to take out supers though they’re all pretty much retired by the time of the Whateley stories. Very high casualty rate, but they were dreaded in the super world. One of them went on to be the gun range sergeant at the Academy (and then through some magic or another a super him…well, Whateley being Whateley…herself.)
Now while I know New York City has a rather inflated of themselves, but I really doubt the NYPD would be on par with the Federal agencies in terms of resources tech and influence. :)
What is Detective Cigar doing there and anyway?
While it is true that they may not have all of the resources of a federal agency, They often have authority that federal agencies do not. If a crime does not cross state boundaries or fit certain other limited circumstances it falls to local and state law enforcement. New York, New York could very well have it’s own anti-super protocols and would need them. If for no other reason then to contain the threat till Arc-Swat arrives.
Umm, maybe it’s his precinct? o_O
inflated opinion, that is. (Stupid typos)
inflated opinion, that is. (Stupid typos)
Best name for a female villian is Cassandra because it means “profit of doom”
You mean prophet of doom. In my experience, nobody is likely to profit from doom. ;)
Ferengi would find a way.
Shall we count out the bars of gold pressed latinum now brother? :)
I don’t know about that, several military support contractors do a great job of it.
I was thinking more along the lines of world-wide armageddon. If nobody survives, nobody’s left to profit from it.
The aliens would. If they beat me to the good stuff that is.
I’m pretty sure our friend Deus would be willing to attempt profiting from Doom. It just seems like the sort of thing a man who decided a button which activates dramatic Lightning and Thunder effects to accompany his ominous laugh would do. :)
Nobody profits off Victor!!
…Unless Victor himself also profits.
Or perhaps, stringing him along temporarily until Victor no longer needs him as part of his current plan of world domination.
You broke the rule, Dave. You will now be obligated to include a villain named, “Penelope: Destroyer of Worlds” (Or destroyer of something. . . )
that actually makes sense for a villain…hey it’s not like their parents were thinking “hm i’m creating the annihilator of earth lets make the child’s name memorable and sound villainous…i know! vilgax!” (yes i know in vilgax’s case it was just the naming process of the species) so having a villain named something normal makes sense of course they could change it like vehemence did
Here she is.
https://www.chasequarterman.com/Images/painting%20images/Full%20HTML/Penelope.htm
could just go with the idea that people keep walking in late due to it being a massive building
Nope she is in the wide shot at https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1873
So she has been “in” since before the skittles drop.
Mind you we have now found out who dropped the skittles. Namely Seneca.
I hope that Girl Power the Movie has her doing that, in the background. With Maxima raising her eyes heavenward and giving her Seneca a glare.
Meanwhile Achilles will be munching all those that have been rolling around on the ground.
So, Harry isn’t one of the Space Marines? Or is being an Ex-Ranger more important?
Probably a stupid question (and obvious to everyone else) but is he also Ex or current Chicago PD?
Actually, turns out he is one of the Space Marines
Yea. His Who’s Who entry indicates that Harrison works for both Arc-SWAT and Arc-Light, which is more important than what equipment he wears when doing so. Given that he is already stretched with two-roles, it seems less likely that he would still be a member of the Chicago PD. So I would read the “Ex”, in the opening sentence, of his entry, as also applying to being an ex-cop.
Reinforced by there being a law requiring that supers not work in law enforcement, other than in Archon. There are a couple of possibilities allowing the alternative interpretation though. One is if he is not a super. Although presumably he would need to be super good at time management, to do three demanding jobs well. Especially with one being (as best we can guess) 699 miles away from the other.
The other is if Harrison is a super, but has a power which would neither need training, nor provide a conflict of interest, as a cop. Dave did comment that common sense will be applied by Archon, if a cop only has, for example, bullet-proof skin. In which case he could remain as a member of the Chicago PD, even without being in Archon too.
This isn’t the first time we have seen Seneca, and you go with that image? o_O
Just to toss this out. But if Penelope the precious, destroyer of worlds announced herself I think I would be more worried. Because real do the deed. While wannabes try to sound cool. Just saying.
Is it just me me or the Russian guy reminds me of Peter Stormare?
Was thinking the same thing when I saw him. But hey there is a reason he often have the role of a mob boss etc. He fits greatly as one.
I beg to differ DaveB. Harley is not just a gals’ name. I’m a guy & y names is Harley. Known a few other guys named Harley as well,
Not to mention your company selling much beloved hogs around the world.
When I was looking up unisex names Harley was one of the suggestions I considered, but decided not to use.
The huge big-ego thing is going to be the agencies demanding all of their own supers divisions, which would definitely lead.to a decline in power for ARC. No agency is going to be willing to tolerate being shoved to the sidelines every time a super shows up on the field.
I think we’re getting into over-exposition territory. The continued run of trying to answer every single minute question of the world is just dragging. I mean, super pay (each making enough to fund a SEAL team each), agencies being totally cooperative, instead of doing what they would naturally do, which is fight for resources (Shit just look at Marine/Navy relations for that one, and we’re both the same branch of the military). I thought the comic book shop angle could be an interesting spot for tension, but she can just crush that with her wallet as often as something crops up now.
The world is getting too flat too quickly, with every impediment being blown up before anything can even really happen.
Fair comment.
What I can offer though is that Dave is showing us a realistic day in the life of a character. This is not a standard story narrative style. But other writers interests lie in the adrenalin packed moments, whereas Dave is choosing to take us through it as it happens. Obviously I enjoy his innovative take.
Not that I am arguing your point mind. However debriefings and (as this is now incorporating) briefings do occur in both the military and police forces. I am sure the above kinds of interchanges do occur in such situations. It is far more realistic under conditions like the above, than to have a similar exchange, whilst pursuing a fleeing suspect. Which is the way that movies have to sometimes handle any exposition they need.
Finally, whilst Dave is probably itching to take us out into the field, our primary vehicle is Sydney. If she were to go out (without good reason, such as a need for something she can provide which others cannot), then there would be calls of irresponsibility. She is an untrained rookie. At the absolute minimum she would need a briefing, which this is actually doing. Just in case.
Ya’ know that really the most likely reaction from the other agencies wouldn’t be “Let Archon handle it.” but “Those super-guys need to be under OUR control.” Turf battles for generations.
Think of the splitting off of the Army Air Corps into the separate US Air Force, only a million times worse since there is a strictly limited supply of Supers.
That limited supply went out the window when Kevin and Co trashed that poor defenceless restaurant
You’d think the other agencies would have their own supers in them.
In a super-rich world, sure. But remember that there is such a shortage of supers in this world that even the US could not form a separate super-police force, to their super-army. Arc-SWAT has to fulfil both roles. And many of the members of it were drawn from those supers who were already in the disparate forces.
Maxima was airforce, for example. Whilst Harrison was an ex-Ranger and Chicago PD. Plus Seneca was poached from the 24th STS. Not that we know if the latter two new characters are actually supers, but they may be.
We can, with reasonable certainty, postulate that the same had to happen with the more intelligence based supers from the law enforcement and espionage agencies. Doubly so, as it has been made law for the former.
This is not to say that the army, FBI and other services will not have fought tooth and nail to keep some super capability. They certainly will have. And doubtless there will be exceptions. But they will have had very very few to start with. So any that might remain elsewhere will be viewed as priceless assets, not to be risked without supreme cause.
I would just think, the FBI/CIA would pay out just as much (and beable to sense they’re all government controlled organizations) for their own supers and not just rely on Arc SWAT who likely has their own agenda and a leader (Maxima) who doesn’t get involved when she should, under the guise of “Well, yeah, damage will happen but I can’t get involved because what if I wasn’t there to begin with” :p
Sorry, I just don’t think that answer would fly to the people’s who’s property just got ruined.
It’s one thing when it’s a superhero helping out to stop the alien invansion and he doesn’t have much choice. It’s another when it’s the government super cop standing idly by, getting paid lots of money, and not stopping things then and now when she can.
There is only so much money can do. If you have a world with only one super, he can only work in one organisation. This world has very few supers. What you are proposing is a bidding war between different branches of the government. If that policy were allowed, then most of the US police and defence budget would be spent in trying to poach supers from one government agency to another, there not being a factory which can produce more supers, simply because there is a demand for them.
Because do not forget that those outside of government employ probably chose to do so purposefully. They can get just as much money, and probably more, working in a job where they do not get shot at!
Finally if the policy was to have the supers dispersed so each agency had a few, then they would only be relatively weak small teams. We have just had a talk on how rock-paper-scissors needs to be played in super-battles. If your team is too small then you will not have the variety of attacks needed to exploit the enemy’s potential weaknesses. Likewise in defending against diverse attacks.
Plus WWII taught us that if you disperse tanks into small groups they will be overwhelmed by an enemy who chooses to concentrate their forces. Very easily. Hence why the North-Africa campaign featured huge tank battles, with each side trying to mass and deploy a greater force.
Finally, on the non-fighting side of things, having a variety of techniques, to investigate things, makes for better detection capability. Arc-Light and Arc-Dark (plus a few individuals in Arc-SWAT, such as Sydney, Gwen and Dabbler) have a huge range of capabilities between them. Thus allowing them to counter many kinds of super powers being used to conceal crimes. Small units can’t do that well.
Having small ineffective teams, in competing agencies, really does not make much sense, not in a world with limited numbers of supers.
I ignored your stuff about Maxima, and our other super cops, sitting around, and choosing to ignore crime, as being nonsense not worthy of consideration.
On the idea of widely-dispersed forces, the military term for taking out such things is “defeat in detail”.
The idea that all these other agencies will nicely get out of the way and let our team hog the field just is not how bureaucrats work. Rather, each agency will be using the supers as an excuse why they should not be blamed for failing at their job and why they need more money and their own supers team. Each will insist any combination of super teams be under their control and will be fighting to prevent any other agency from achieving that control. The example of the air force[s] has already been mentioned.
[We can note that such divided control has its advantages too. It is not unusual for Agency A to concentrate on one job and ignore those that B deems vital. Divided control allows both to be done.]
The idea that there are not enough supers to go around may be canon for the moment, but the estimates for the number of supers are low by at least an order of magnitude. The number of implied hostile supers is already straining the canon figure. [Count the number we have at the dinner, and multiply by the known groups, and we are accumulating groups and individuals rapidly. And that is before we count the relatively legal. ]
Besides the logic telling us that there have to be a lot of undiscovered supers, the story benefits from having a large supply of undiscovered supers off stage. any time we want to bring in a new element, we can just do so, without any strain on story logic.
All very well argued.
Oops, forgot to say that the intelligence and law enforcement types have been placed in Arc-Light and Arc-Dark.
I dunno, DaveB, Bad Penny: Blower Upper of Moons has a pretty scary ring to it. :P
OH, and I’m officially in love with the Pink Pussykat in panel five. Just sayin’. ’cause that’s definitely a cat bell on her collar…
She is really adorable!
No arguments here. But she does have the similar anime look that makes Sydney so cute, so she too would be pushing the right buttons, for me.
Plus I agree with secret‘s observation in an earlier thread, Pinky Manga Girl does appear to have pointy ears. Combined with anifreik‘s collar observation above, it makes me want to try an experiment:
Put a large amount of catnip into a ball of wool, and jiggle it about enticingly, above Pinky Manga Girl’s head. I bet you she will find it irresistible!
Maybe arrests should be worked like TV sponsorships.
“This arrest was brought unto you by the following: FBI, DHS, ATF, ARK, Coast Guard, TSA, and NASA.”
“Yes, you got ‘got’ so hard, even NASA was in on it. Don’t you feel that special kind of silly.”
somone has to pick them out of LEO after Maxima lets loose with a full power uppercut.
Damn it, where’s the +1 button?
Like the edit function for comments, it’s not here…so you approached that lacking in a socially-acceptable manner.
:)