Grrl Power #372 – Conquest rodeo
If you think the chair got it bad, now he straight up needs a new pair of jeans. Inconvenient erections are inconvenient enough on their own, but a teenage boy with super strength would probably need to keep a few extra pairs of jeans in his locker, or buy jeans with quick release snaps in the fly. If there’s ever a Grrl Power After Dark comic, it will probably contain exploding denim.
Dabbler is acting awfully smitten with Barberian, but it’s all part of the service. Some guys are “Yeah, we did it, high five, it’s casual, whatever.” Barberian is in the “Yeah I’m in the rotation but I like to think I’m her favorite.” category, and Dabbler doesn’t mind playing to that. Obviously there’s a much larger spectrum as well. The “I don’t really like that she has a rotation, but as long as I’m included I guess I can’t complain.” all the way to the straight up jealous types, but they don’t get invited to play in the first place.
Since this comic tends to be very moment to moment, I don’t think I’ve really mastered the “passage of time” transition. This takes place in almost the same place as the previous page but Sydney has had enough time to change. Now that I think about it I should have put them down in the lobby or something.
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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"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
And we have our new super, Cap’Tain “E” Rection, a round of appalause for him people…
You humans need to help me out on the etiquette for this one. Should we be upstanding?
Yep, a “Standing” Ovation!
Make sure to clap “long” and “hard”.
Even after a moment of weakness which brought him to participate in last night’s super brawl, Barberian is shaping up to be an otherwise outstanding citizen.
I think that’s worth saluting. I mean, he certainly is…
I think he’d have a “bone” to pick with this line of comments
Even so, keep him out of the childrens’ genre when it comes to designing pop-up books.
What is that Lll? MidnightDStroyer has fallen down the well and needs rescuing? You have a rope, but want somebody to erect something strong, to tie it to?
Or writing the Dick in Jane books.
I don’t think we want the think about the clap right now.
Anybody else think it is suspicious that Daphne is wearing super skimpy clothes (very light weight) just after hearing about the Gold hoarding geomancer? And with one of her “resting” until she can be healed so she is safely off the duty lists. All it takes is a rasp to file off the corners of a bar, then she just uses sweat to glue it to her body up to the point she can’t vorp (scraping some off it is too much). Back to her apartment, swab clear. Rinse and repeat. Gold dust can be easily sold in Alaska…
OOps missed the point: and able to sneak off and get the coordinates from the video footage taken on the visit to show the president (who could not go down there but _would_ be interested).
Ahh, you ninjad a plausible solution, to my doubts about Harem’s agent skills.
I think it more likely she is just dressed for clubbing. Given that they have no hint where the geomancer is, it seems unlikely that they will bump into him, in a random club. And even Harem’s double agent skills would probably not have tracked him down, in that short a time.
However, she can be sure that photos will be taken of them, at the venue. So you could well be right, if she is playing the long game.
so did he rip that..
or is it implied he popped a alien sex goddess induced super strength appendage and broke it that way?
I wonder if that combination of strength and scissors would be enough to cut Maxima’s hair? I mean she oculd tone down her defenses first I guess and that would help.
Yes.
It seems likely to me.
Given that the original owner of the chair immediately disavowed ownership, I expect he did a bit more than that…
Guys can be touchy about anything penis related. Talking about it, avoiding seeing it accidentally in the toilets, let alone touching something that has been touched by one. Sportsmen, in particular, have social cup etiquette.
Doesn’t bother me though. Sniff enough butts, to say hello, and you get used to the sight of junk.
Have a look at panel 4. Does anyone else get a white moth-woman vibe?
She seriously needs to avoid Vance at the moment. He would be drooling, at the sight of her!
I get a vibe that Dabbler is not the only lady going commando in that hallway.
Arroooo!
We never did find out if Barberian had anything other than “strong” on his resume, did we?
I’m very curious about Jabberwokky too. Maybe one day when Dave needs a “quick” update we can get an update and player list.
Well, he seemed to be at least partially resistant to V’s Aggro-field and took multiple hits from Dabbler’s mental “Flashbang” to keep his memories fuzzied so apparently he has a resistance to “Emotional” Magic
I feel like a building full of supers would be a bit like the Olympic village. Buncha incredibly beautiful people at the peak of physical fitness with lots of energy to burn…
Fun fact: During the 2010 Olympics, they handed out 100.000 condoms to the sporters. That’s 15 a person
They ran out halfway through.
Note that it lasted 16 days
That’s not even 1 a day, and since you shouldn’t reuse, even if it’s the same night, makes sense.
Note how the 15 a man ran out halfway. Thus, after 8 days.
15 per person there are female among the sporters soooo………..
Are you implying that the Olympians have an inverse Dabbler rule? That they are only allowed relations with fellow Olympians?
Whilst I am sure a lot of that would be happening, even in the Olympic village, there are other people around.
Mind you the inferred maths does rather assume that nobody actually has any condoms themselves, to start with.
However that does not diminish the initial point. If you assume there are a lot around initially, the implications, about why they need so many extra, just makes their appetites even more impressive.
I am really looking forward to the club scene. Im interested to see how the general public will react to so much of arcswat showing up and making merry. Im also curious to see if we will run into the super haters or not.
If there are any super hatersthere just send in Dabbler. In wurst case senatio the chairs will be the only victims.
If Sydney decides to show up at the club, I am trying to decide if she goes with a) Fez and bow tie, or
b) Long scarf and floppy hat.
Starfleet Boson Dress.
I think the Deadpool shirt *is* her club clothes ;)
only her vandread pilot uniform has both the playful show and shy cover up sectors properly covered unless they let her use her otome hime robes from her cosplay selection.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/718
She’ll wear the scarf, of course. Impractically long scarves are cooler than fezzes and bowties.
Leon was correct: unless you are Moroccan, fezzes are not cool
Meh, like most reality, it’s more complicated than that.
In many variations of colour, decoration, and material, similar headgear is traditional to a number of nations, and can be seen in traditional dress and military uniforms, the history of some of them predating the Moroccan and Turkish variants.
Yeah, like bagpipes aren’t just Scottish or Irish
asks xurial to provide a 10 strong hero salute wait she already got the barberian just 9 more.
You appear to have her pegged as a Whovian – and one whose faves are 4 and 11, at that.
Tom Baker is the definitive doctor. The rest are just mayflies, buzzing around him.
/pawbump
Fives!
So much so, that they even brought him back for the 50th Anniversary, so technically that episode had four Doctor’s :D
Only one thing to say about this page… LOL XD
…dabbler is only wearing a sweater atm isn’t she
Well she could also be said to be wearing a boy-toy.
Or is he wearing her?
Ahh, so you’ve noticed she is being a bit cheeky then. I bet she is hoping Maxima will spot her and give Dabbler a smack.
When Max asks what happened to the chair, Dabbler answers “Trouser Ferret” in hopes of the surprise echo effect. (Maxima Bingo!)
I like Make-Maxima-Say Bingo! I think a lot of its phrases were selected by the poor now-one-toe-lighter lass for whom ‘bright’ is literal but alas, not figurative in that sense in which she is easily eclipsed by Halo and Dabbler, among other co-workers.
Yes, Halo eclipses. Deal with it.
No, she would say “Pants Weasel”, like she did to get Maxi to say “Booby” (oh, and “Trouser Ferret” has already been crossed off of the list)
Yep my bad. https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1358
Of course it is a natural for the “erection” box …
Actually a few others as well: ‘Thrust’ and ‘Penetrate’ (and maybe ‘Turgid’?)
So they are just letting Barberian go free after he took part in a super fight and had sex with a succubus. I wonder how they are going to keep Dabbler’s species existence a secret now.
They probably made him sign a loooot of paper with triple score word like “confidentiality” and “super high security prison”… basically it’s not easy to say who was a real agressor and who was under vehemence aura… and for dabbler, please for the love of nerd let the people know that there is species of hot, horny, sex feeding, indiscriminating, alien demon. what could possibly go wrong with that.
Plus, he didn’t really Fight – or Want to fight – he just turned up because his Buddies did…
He surrendered when offered. The only one shown who did in the preliminary fighting.
He does not know that Dabbler is anything other than stated at the press conference. Namely a super who can shapechange into another form. On top of which, Dabbler has hit him with an amnesia spell, so he will have difficulty remembering anything too specific.
Most of the participants in the fight, were having their free will taken away from them, by being subject to Vehemence’s aggro aura. As such Maxima has already announced that most of them will be released, as innocent victims, rather than being classed as criminal aggressors.
Barberian was the most clear-cut case of having no case to answer. He clearly had no wish to fight, and stood meekly by when asked to wait, by Dabbler Then surrendered promptly, as soon as he realised that was an option. Doubtless he was fast tracked in being interviewed and released.
Innocent people are allowed to do what they like.
so we have a guy who came only to support a friend, surrender peacefully when he understand he’s not on the good side of the gun, and do whatever he can, including feeding the sex-crazed alien, to cooperate… guys, not only we should let him go but we should give him the medal of the “most reasonable henchman EVAR”
I don’t think ‘having sex with a succubus’ counts as a sacrifice in any way of the word. We can clearly see he loved it. Exhausting maybe, but that doesn’t detract from a positive experience. If anything it adds to it
Honestly, Dabbler has already dropped plenty of clues in public. She outright mentioned that her battle form looks “suspiciously like a four armed succubus”. she’s demonstrated the possession/development of multiple pieces of technology that is not only “super advanced”, but specifically geared towards usage in space. Take the railgun which she stated she made for shooting out satellites in orbit. And the bondage pistol who’s straps can be used to tow asteroids.
There’s basically 3 or 4 things about Dabbler that seem like things to keep secret (for better or worse):
One: She’s a succubus, sex and sin ahoy plus assorted religious/spiritual hullabaloo with acknowledging the existence of such things.
Two: She’s a high-order extraterrestrial life form, a mongrel of a one created by the interactions of Multiple other species at that.
Three: Archon and by extension the american government Knows about points One and Two and have chosen to keep it all a secret from the public at large.
Fourh-ish: If we imagine the people of the US throwing a fit over points One through Three, just imagine the utter and complete bleep-storm that would ensue from the other nations? Naturally there is every reason to suspect other nations are harboring alien life forms as well and might get pissed off as much at archon for blowing the whistle and making their own coverups more difficult than for any other reason.
At this stage, Dabbler’s true nature is probably Not the worst kept secrets in archon. Anyone who knows that succubi are real will probably have guessed she is one (we know Deus and co know outright via Harem). Anyone who knows what an Aetheon throne is will know she’s not a local (pretty sure Vehemence is not the only person who would pick up on that soundbite getting flung around).
In other words, only the people who already know about the things Dabbler secretly is can directly figure it out, though considering that this is only the first few days of archon being officially active… well, it seems likely to be another one of those “foolproof, impossible to figure out” things that lasts two weeks or less.
Secrecy only favours the leadership of one country on the planet, so yea, Dabbler is not too concerned about that. Allowing suspicion, as to the truth, though is convenient. It allows people get used to her both as an individual and as a defender of justice and keeper of the peace, whilst contemplating that she may not just be a shapechanging human.
If Dabbler does a good job of showing the public that she is a good person then, when the truth eventually does get out, she will actually be a figurehead to point at and say ‘look aliens can be OK, one of our super heroes is an alien’.
The government will get flack, of course. However they clearly have been acting in the public’s best interest, in studying aliens and alien technology, by first-hand examination. Plus they have shown due diligence in assigning a top super-spy (probably amongst others) to monitor Dabbler 24/7.
If nothing else, they can claim that they wanted to ensure she really was an alien, rather than a skilled super with super genius inventing capabilities. Clearly falsely claiming her to be an alien, and part of a galactic community of many aliens, would be unnecessarily damaging, unless provable to be incontestably true.
Even now they genuinely may not have proof. We certainly have not seen it, if they do. Halo’s True sight orb being the one thing which might tip that. However they are equally unsure as to their provenance, so cannot use their capabilities as incontrovertible proof. Plausible deniability is maintained. If barely.
Not counting the fact that Arc can’t do shit to stop Dabbler from telling the world she’s an alien.
Imagine a guy comes out and tells the world he just had sex with a Succubus. Now imagine how the world would react.
At most, the guys would say ‘sure you did buddy. Congratulations. Did she live in Canada?’
Either that or he’ll get asked how he got away from her werewolf.
I like the way Alison gets a haircut…
https://strongfemaleprotagonist.com/issue-5/page-87/
(Everyone run-don’t-walk and read this cover to cover!)
… god I love Dabbler…
I laughed. Hard. So hard in fact, my bosses were wondering why I was sitting on the floor struggling to breathe. >.>
Panel 3 Face hugger pose lol.
Panel 5 …..it wasn’t his hands that wrecked that chair (why Dabbler chose him).
I realize that it took me a while to notice and someone else may have asked this… but… is Dabbler not wearing pants?
Dabbles is wearing a sweater. A keyhole sweater. That is all. :)
Nobody, not even Sydney, has mentioned that Dabbler is naked from the waist down, so she’s not just wearing a sweater. Like the pretty lady seen here, I think she’s instead wearing what’s called a sweater dress.
Could be, but many, if not most, women’s sweaters extend to or past the hips. For Dabbles, that’s a mini-skirt. Nobody I’ve seen commenting has accused her of being naked from the waist down, just wearing a short upper garment, by whatever name you care to use, sans underwear. And I’m fine with that.
I am getting lots of hits for “keyhole sweater dress”. Most are quite long, but shorter versions are available. Dabbler, being Dabbler, has just opted for a very short version. As you say, it would certainly correspond to mini-skirt length.
I hope this fashion proves to be very popular at Grrl Power Con. Although I doubt I could pull it off myself.
Unless the lady gave me permission, of course.
“Although I doubt I could pull it off myself.”
I would agree to that statement. For one thing, your more horizontal posture, as is natural for a canine, would just make the lower hem slide forward. If you were going commando, it would just be too obvious & there are many prudes in society that would just have try making it miserable for you.
Also, with that hem sliding up, that not only exposing your tail, but your dangily bits (presuming that you’re not a bitch; flapping clams, if you are) would make for interesting conversation starters as well.
And if you were a human, dressing like that in public would be grounds for arrest…
:P
Re.: Keyhole sweater-dress, butt crack and dangly bits
I only have the one finely crafted and eleoquent retort.
Just because you can lick your own nose may impress the ladies, but it doesn’t do a thing for me…
:)
Except me. Just now. :D
And a fair few folks voiced their suspicions prior to this comic.
*crosseyed* the…is nothing but muscle an human’s are the only species that lacks a bone there…uh…this just seems very prehensile with super strength involved…
Dabbler’s legs are really confusing me… I know she has two joints in her legs but it still looks like one of them is backward based on the position of that hoof. Can someone explain to me how her legs are wrapping around him to look like that…?
Yeah, the way it’s drawn makes it look like her left leg is wrapped around his waist in a normal fashion, butt she appears to be sitting on her right leg with it pressed against his front. I was wondering about this myself, just didn’t want to say anything until I had read all the comments to see if it had been addressed elsewhere. Still haven’t done that…
Yea, I think that is the only way it is working. She can do that because of the extra joint in her goat-like leg.
Even with the extra joint, her left leg cannot reach that far around. It would require the first two straight parts of her leg to have gotten all the way around his torso, to end up underneath her bum.* Because we can see that the third part is originating from there, ending up with the hoof, at the far end.
So yea, ignore the left leg, as you say, that is just wrapped around him, but the rest of it is remaining out of sight. The right leg is not mirroring that though, which is what we would normally expect. Instead Dabblers upper two sections of her right leg are folded, like this (but bent even more so almost parallel) on the other side of his torso.
You can actually confirm this on panel 4, if you look really closely, as you can see her right leg. But importantly no hoof. Because, just like a human could wrap their foot around, in that pose, Dabbler has bent the second joint on her leg, to put her hoof across his tummy. Holding her easily in place, with her left leg being on exactly the opposite side and squeezing him.
* Envisage a nut cracker to see how impossible that is. They need to have that big curved bit, for the nuts to fit between the straight parts of the lever. Humans could not (normally) wrap their legs around someone to put their feet under their own bum.
Left leg is all you see, wrapped all the way around. As for the right, well my money is it is slid into his pants from behind –checking for a tail. She could probably give a wicked pinch if she wanted. Goat hooves (the pads) are very sensitive even if they use them to jump on rocks. Also it would give her the leverage to go up so he is “eyeing the keyhole” as it were.
Her leg’s are neither that long, not is she that ‘stretchy’ (she’s not Morph)
Her leg _is_ longer than her torso is from waist to horns. Refer to her in the chair with him https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1912 . Now just understand that her “ankle” joint is “alien’ and despite similarities to goat appendages and musculature built to appeal to humanoid tastes. Oh and she is morph –by definition Succumb can be taller or shorter to taste. And his waist is heroic build (read abs deluxe, no gut) so its not like she has to stretch much.
But she isn’t Mr Amorphous (aka “Morph”)
Being able to adjust your height isn’t the same as being able to stretch individual body parts or limbs
Ahem “she is roughly 1/2 succubus, 1/3 doppleganger, and 1/6 some unidentified alien species.”
The doppelganger in there is by definition a morph. Though not an Amorph as then she would be Schlock…
We have had no indication that she has a similar ability as Mr Amorphous (you know, Heatwave’s boyfriend and best buds with Les?)
Les? Oh, you mean Achilles! For a second there, I thought you might be referencing Les Nessman, a radio personality from Cincinnati.
He has the ability to induce feelings of inadequacy in other men.
And some horses.
I’ve heard a couple of elephants express envy when Vehemence broke out…
Alright, I’m wondering if anyone else saw Harem’s white dress, then scrolled down the screen to discover you can already see through it? The whitened colour of skin, the other side of the dress, the possible lack of underwear (tho Daniel the Human points out there could be a “V-string” there)?
Just asking…
And the answer is, someone has already commented that she is going commando. She will be a popular girl tonight, either way.
Especially if someone spills a drink on her. I recognized where I’d seen that fabric before, I think Glowbug wore the same kinda stuff during the fight, & I’m pretty sure we noticed how that turned out for her…
Yes, mentioned that somewhere below :D
Eh, fair enough. I’m operating pretty well for someone very overdue for some power-down cycles, that’s my excuse…
Or she sent a self out to buy a “bald merkin” just to mess with Sydney….
Also wondering if Barberian’s shirt is something people would want to buy…
I fought ARC-SWAT
and all I got was
—— and ———-
and my ———
——— by Dabbler
Wonder what the blanks are… :P
I fought ARC-SWAT
and all I got was
detained and debriefed
and my world
rocked by Dabbler
alt end mind
wiped by Dabbler
no, no, he didn’t get debriefed until dabbler took them off latter…
As far as anyone knows, he’s still debriefed.
Does the phrase “Has anyone seen my underwear?” jog a memory or two?
So, is Dabbler wearing anything under that shirt? I am operating under the assumption that she IS, but not much.
What surprises me is that, despite how much people have been saying about this subject already, there seems to be more discussion about Dabbler’s legs & feet.
I wonder why that is?…
I don’t claim to be the local expert on goat feet, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what the hell Dabbler is doing with her legs. I’m looking at this from every angle and I can’t figure out where one leg ends and the other begins. It is ridiculously distracting.
I Think I have it figured out.. Her left leg’s wrapped around his hip like a normal monkey-cling, the Right leg I believe is folded at the knee, allowing the foot/lower leg to be more or less directly below Dabbler’s possibly uncovered rumpables, The knee would be pressing against his left hip (left from his perspective), with the ancle and below pressing against his stomach to be the counter-press to her left leg doing the wraparound so she’s secured. Ergo, the hoof we are seeing belongs to her right leg, (from her perspective again), not the left wrapped around like some extendable tentacle thing.
Your description fits the scenario but that begs the question of why like that? Easy way to quickly distance herself from him for some reason? Release with left leg and kick out with right could propel her away from him rather quickly.
Humans have limited multi tasking capability with their limbs. Try the following: Move your leg anticlockwise. Continue doing that and try to use your finger to trace the number 6 in the air. You may well find yourself having difficulties doing both at once.
Succubi though are clearly vastly superior in this regard. Not least from the number of different limbs. But are capable of conducting complex diverse tasks simultaneously. Note the speed, and ease, of dealing with both Sydney and the chair, in completely different ways.
If a human female jumps up on to a guy, she will do so (typically) with her legs behaving in a matching manner. Either wrapping both around his waste or bending both knees and wedging herself above his hips. Neither option has any particularly defining reason for being chosen. They are simply different techniques to avoid falling off.
Succubi however do not have to choose one or the other. They are fully capable of mixing and matching techniques. And throwing in an extra twist, like also using the hoof part of the leg, to cling on. Likewise no particular reason is necessary.
But, knowing Succubi, if there is a reason, it is probably sexual. So applying pressure on a particular part of Barberian’s bum, to sexually stimulate him there, likewise using the hoof to squeeze another of his pleasure points, above his groin. Throw in her pheremones, ear nibbling, bouncy hypnotic breasts, and the guy was at her whim.
And in her quim earlier >.>
Is white-hair Harem wearing Saran-wrap? It kinda looks like it.
No, just a see through white dress (probably made of the same material as Glow-bug’s outfit, so don’t get her wet… or do, if you want to see steam come out of Maxi’s ears :D)
Oh, and her name is “Abbey” (or ‘Co-ed’), in honour of “Abbey” from ‘NCIS’
I hadn’t picked up on the various Harems actually having names. If WhiteHair === Abbey, who are the others?
I had to ask the same question a couple of pages ago.
Here’s what DaveB said on the matter:
The ones Guesticus came up with are:
To put it another way, let’s use the first panel on this page since DaveB was kind enough to line up all the Harems there.
First is Berry or Vanilla or Girl Next Door or Farmer’s Daughter.
Second is Goth or Gothamer.
Third is Co-ed or Abbey.
Fourth is Blondini or Vogue.
And Fifth is Gothamer or Goth.
Damnit! I screwed that up. Where’s that edit button!
Fifth should have been Punk or Bodie.
And just to point out, those were simply personal nicknames that simply sounded like actual names, rather than simply descriptive’s (feel free to use your own names if you like :D)
Originally, was calling ‘Gothamer’ ‘Gothette’
Okay, so which Daphne is still in storage due to the broken wrist? Believe the only one we haven’t seen ‘today’ has been either Berry or Gothamer
It looks to me like Berry. It’s a little hard to tell since she got her arm slashed in mid-Vorp, but it seems to be her down at the bottom of the page holding her arm. That’s assuming, of course, that it wasn’t a different Harem who got hurt and that one was just holding her arm because all of the Harems felt the pain.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1380
You were correct about how she got injured, just confused about which one it happened to (both Berry and Bodie were in that scene, Berry fortunately managed to *vorp* out before her throat got sliced, Bodie wasn’t quite so lucky, or still lucky that it was her arm and not her throat)
Both Berry and Blondini are holding their arms
Looks like I was wrong! It’s none other than Bodie who got slashed with the knife since she’s all bandaged up on this other page. Since she’s now out and about with no bandages, it looks like the Doc was able to find time for her.
On the other hand, it looks like my conclusion about who was in storage was correct. It was Berry who got smacked with a rock hard enough to lose her tranquilizer gun thing, presumably breaking the wrist.
Nice to see the return of “The List” :D
You’ve been checking out our heroine’s ass, I see. :D
Guesticus was performing subtle detail analysis. In addition to fulfilling a vital community duty. DaveB has indicated that he needs practice drawing women’s posteriors. Clearly he will need feedback on this matter, so caring readers will examine the results extensively.
Dave, I think you have done a pretty good job there. Although there is scope for improvement. Please feel free to carry on practising. Total mastery requires many many pictures. I would hesitate to call it a burden, but us loyal fans will accept the duty, and indeed honour, of inspecting heroic female bums.
Keep up the good work!
I’m fully prepared to get behind that.
*chuckle*
Man, now I’m all bummed out that I didn’t think of that joke.
*Bump
OOO going for a mention in there?
If Sydney turns out to be based on a real person, I am probably already listed. Perhaps, in the front, under the heading of “irritating stalker”. Hopefully though I will be in the inverted list, at the back (separately or simultaneously) as “nerd cred established” and, even better, if under “potentially suitable”.
I am sure Guesticus would deserve consideration too, albeit not under the initial category. He does get a guaranteed pass on nerd cred though. :)
You flatter me, but no where near the level of nerdage (or dorkitude) as others, more of a, Dabbler, if you will :P
I wonder if Dabbler will switch over to her human disguise before they go into this club. Considering what happened to that restaurant “yesterday,” the clubs owners might be a trifle concerned if they see her walk into the place in her battle form.
Constructive Criticism: The panel in the middle of the page looks awkward with the speech bubbles and the super-long … whatever you call the pointy part of a speech bubble. I get that you wanted to have the other people in the background but it still looks awkward. Probably would’ve been best done in two panels.
That aside, I barely ever post but I really enjoy the comic, it’s pretty awesome. :)
So what are the odds the released, debriefed folks show at the club as well? Or they run into the chick with the “Busters” who ran off before debriefing and thinks they are there to arrest her?
Or Concretia in human form. While she got broke up a couple times, she’d be mighty hard to detain for debriefing while in spirit form.
But I doubt if Dave is ready for another battle so soon
quite a few of the original antagonists certainly up for another fight.
…Well, Vehemence is feeling up, but just not for a fight…
Whoops! It should say “won’t be up for a another fight.”
Isn’t it time for The Barberian to get a “Cast” entry, seeing as he’s now had more screen time and more lines than some of the regulars? Not to mention more conversations in the comment section?
*awards virtual chocolate Easter egg*
Congratulations on being today’s winner. Doubtless DaveB will update the link to the widget, in due course, to get it to display. You will see (if you refresh your memory cache) that Dave has already done so on the previous comic. If you want to check out what Barberian’s Who’s Who entry looks like.
All done. If you look down (or maybe sideways, depending on your personal circumstances) you will see Barberian’s head has suddenly appeared.
I can fix that. Maybe.
At the very least, I can make pants that’ll survive *coughs* that.
He he. I can see that tailoring could be exchanged for haircutting sessions. An outstanding style, such as your own, would need regular maintenance to ensure the overall look remained flawless.
Hopefully he will set up shop conveniently nearby. It would be in Archon’s interests to ensure that staff could easily access such services during their lunch hours. Both for productivity and quality of life considerations.
Unless its a hair weave… Or Ashley’s power set includes “hair” of he natural sort.
But engineering a restraint device, possible some kind of cold deploying system. Sounds like Gadget work to me. Of course she would have to examine the subject…
Yups, pop in to requisition some new gear and then pop next door to get their hair touched up while they wait
Just realized she’s not wearing pants.
Which she are you referring to? Given that both Dabbler and Harem may be deficient in that area.
Dabbler is good at sliding that under the radar mind. Both Arianna and Maxima failed to get suspicious about that, in the meeting, earlier.
Hey, uh … something weird seems to be happening with this site. Whenever I click anywhere on it, including this comment box, I get taken to some sort of spyware/adware page. I thought you should be aware of this. It even got around my AdBlock.
I’m not getting that. What browser are you seeing it in?
Thanks for reporting that. I am not experiencing any similar difficulty myself, using Chrome/Avast. Please advise if it is happens on other web sites too. It may be symptomatic of a virus on your computer, rather than this website.
If anyone else is experiencing difficulty, please let us know, either here, or if too concerned to use the website, then via twitter:
https://twitter.com/grrlpowercomic
Dave Barrack @grrlpowercomic
Mentioning the browser(s) and/or any anti-virus running can help isolate a particular problem, if it is platform-specific. Likewise in identifying which anti-virus providers are effective or vulnerable.
I am sure DaveB will look into this, if we get any indication that it is site-specific, rather than an isolated incident.
I’m using Firefox and not getting anything like that either. I suspect your computer is infected, Hawkflight.
Try running your anti-virus and see if that helps.
Using IE and not having that problem
It’s still good that you brought it to everyone’s attention
Ok. Here’s my question: If super strength has to do with muscles, how in hell does this make a super boner? I mean, sure, if he coughs or laughs with a boner we’re going to see some serious dancing pants (the like of which we have never seen before… I feel a gif inspiration coming on…) but there is no muscle tissue in the boner. Only a soft spongy material that gets engorged with blood. Are you saying he has super strong blood? If so, what happens when he bleeds?
… I’m guessing that I’m over-thinking this but… damnit, where else are you going to over think stuff like this?
Super strength has to do with being super strong, that need not involve muscles. Only humans need muscles to be strong. Robots do not. Super humans get their strength via their power. The ones who we know something about the source of their strength:
• Anvil – Stores kinetic energy, which she can use to boost her strength. This may even account for her basic super strength too (although it is possible that she has boosted musculature too).
• Harem – Gets stronger when she un-teleports/stores her extra bodies. Her strength going up geometrically as each gets stored. Whilst this is too strange to explain with mundane physics, it clearly is not directly related to her muscles alone.
• Math – All his powers come from skill and training. Whilst much of his strength probably does come from muscles, the bulk of his super powers will be drawing upon ki. Spiritual inner strength. This is what allows him strength that falls in the range that only supers can normally possess. Despite (without his exotic martial arts) just being a normal human.
• Mr. Amorphous – “His body has great tensile strength giving him super strength” clearly this is imbuing special properties on his entire body, not just his muscles. If he stretches a body part, that act alone can apply force to objects, without so much as flexing a muscle. Mr. Amorphous will be just as much of a menace to chairs as Barberian!
• Achilles – “… he is about 50% stronger than a normal human since he doesn’t have to worry about tearing muscles or breaking bones by straining too hard.” So far he is the only super who purely gets his strength from muscles.
• Maxima – Gains all her powers (except her energy blast) from using her zero-range telekinesis. Including her strength. Whilst Maxima may appear to be super strong, it is not the case. She is actually a psionicist. Very powerful, but with range limited to touch only. Her musculature will be no stronger than that of any normal human.
The remaining two strong heroes do not list the source of their power. So they might just have boosted muscles. Note though that Super Hiro’s powers do noticeably overlap Maximas. Therefore it is possible that something similar to hers (or maybe Anvil’s) is his source. He can absorb certain energy attacks, perhaps he is constantly absorbing such energy from the environment, and that is boosting his capabilities, including granting him super strength?
In conclusion there are many sources of super strength in this setting, and very few of those require muscles. Clearly Barberian’s grants super strength to any part of his body.
Question – where does this analysis come from?
Careful observation, and until DaveB speaks up, that is all it is: a dedicated fan examining every facet to get a better understanding of how things work :D
I have no insider information, all my sources are from things that we see in the comic, or replies DaveB has made in the comments. Most of the above was drawn from the cast list (see button at the top of the page) plus the Dabbler’s Science Corners for Maxima’s and Harem’s powers.
Obviously the conclusions are my own, so please feel free to challenge them, if they do not seem sound. I can and do make mistakes, and am happy to be corrected, if I am in error.
Being somewhat new to the Webcomic, I probably have overlooked some things, but I went back to the Dabbler’s Science Corner and saw it explained there.
Never would have realized, considering everything Max can do and the levels of her powers. Impressive, non-the-less.
Thanks for the information.
My pleasure.
*wags tail contentedly*
Maxima is actually on a adjustment scale. She can adjust her Stats. The zero-point Telekinesis is just a physics work around to prevent her from ripping off the bumper instead picking up the ambulance.
Ahh, but it is more than just a work around. It is highly consistent, and well thought out. Easily explaining each aspect of Maxima’s powers. The telekinesis is used to form a movable force field allowing for:
• Defence – Force fields to surround every cell in Maxima’s body, plus every fibre in her clothing, plus (as you say) extending to people and objects she picks up. These can clearly turn off and on, flex and move in order to allow basic metabolism, such as oxygen exchange with blood and lungs breathing.
• Flight – Just move the above force fields, and all the things contained in them will move too.
• Strength – the same as the above, except (for example with a punch) Maxima only applies the motive force to her own body, and allows traditional physics to impart the kinetic energy to objects and opponents. Albeit that she never actually touches them directly. Her force fields will hit them. Where lifting is required, instead of just kinetic transfer, Maxima’s force field will extend to encompass them. As you pointed out, enhancing their structural integrity to allow undamaged lifting.
• Super speed – just move the force fields really fast. Clearly here though there is a problem, in that a required secondary power is needed. The protection needed from buffeting and acceleration (for both flight and speed) can be provided for by the force fields. Especially as they can protect each cell individually and customise the degree of protection, according to its needs.
However, what is not provided is the enhanced sensory and cognitive processing to allow bullets to be seen and grabbed in mid-air. But this is why I emphasise that Maxima is a psionicist her implied secondary power is boosting her mind, which is entirely consistent with her being a mental-based hero.
Importantly, regarding your comment, focussing her telekinetic powers, in one aspect or another, is how Maxima adjusts her stats.
Nah. Magic hand waving isn’t a very satisfying answer for this question. And I’m going to have to dissagree with you on the analysis of powers. Anvil does have the Kenetic power, but Math’s power comes from both his muscles and his extreme understanding of how to use them to maximum efficiency. This means he knows how to use his body to produce a maximum effect and how to target and manipulate his targets to maximum effect. He is specifically said to not have any super powers, which “spritual power” would actually fall into.
Mr. Amorphous’s body is not normal. It doesn’t really run in the same vein as the Barberian. Though, really all of his body acts, in a way, like muscle. One could say that he’s one giant tongue. Mostly because its funny to say so.
Also, robots get their strength from their own versions of muscles, usually pneumatics. Just because they aren’t cells doesn’t mean that those components aren’t analogous to the function of muscle cells.
What it comes down to is that something, be it quantum entangled muscles, zero-range telekinesis, or a body that acts like a single giant muscle, has to generate the force. A boner doesn’t have that. It is quite simply a sponge full of blood in a skin balloon. The more blood, the more pressure. It pops up because that is the shape of the sponge and skin balloon when its completely filled, and even then it is quite flexible.
Now, clearly he has super hard skin (wonder what that does for his sensitivity? ) so maybe he does generate enough blood pressure to cause this effect, but… its not going to be a common effect, I’d think.
Also, It does look like someone made that Gif…
via GIPHY
That gif! That be the stuff of nightmares!!
Re your first paragraph, everything you list is covered by his supreme martial arts skill. It does not explain why his strength exceeds that of a normal human. Even the Olympic gold weightlifting champion has a strength rating of zero stars, on the super-human scale.
How do you know what Barberian’s body is like? All we have to go by is our observations, and we have seen him doing something which is not explained by your insistence that his strength is provided by muscles. Logic dictates that something else must explain it, and this world has many possible alternatives, some of which I listed.
And super-powers can provide effects analagous to the function of muscle cells too. See my explanation above for how Maxima’s work.
Regarding your remainder, I do agree that super strong individuals (even if not listed separately) must have super-toughness, in order to apply the force they have. Otherwise their bones would snap, and their skin would be ripped apart anytime they hit something hard.
However that can be provided in very many different ways. We do not have any indicators, at this time, as to what Barberian’s mechanism might be. Super tough skin (and bone etc) would seem reasonable given that he appears to be a physical super. However so does Maxima, until you know the details of her powerset.
Perhaps you are getting hung up on the word muscles as a physical mass of meat. What I’m addressing is the mechanism of movement. Which there isn’t any beyond rough pneumatics in the penis of the human male, and In most penis havers. Which is why I feel safe to say that Mr.Amorphous is different that the Barberian because we have seen how they fight and how Mr. A’s powers effect how he uses his body.
The boner, despite what popular culture would have us believe, is a delicate thing, flexible to a point and only hard in comparison to its flaccid state. They’re is literally nothing there to support a super hard boner that can break things, no matter how “strong” it is. It will swivel, droop and flex as needed, because it’s connection point is stretchy. And, as a end user of bonkers, I am glad of that.The only thing that would be present to provide resistance to that is blood pressure, baring a body that acts like it is entirely made of muscle, or telekinesis.
Now I agree that we don’t know what generates the Barberian ‘s power, and his super bonkers are cannon now, regardless. However, I still think it would be a rare effect, and not a common problem at all. The more commonly problem would be… Well, the David Bowie gif gave a great example.
Nope, my responses were carefully erected to counter the points you raised. A male with Maxima’s powers would break the chair with the moving forcefield/telekinesis. Likewise a guy analogue of Anvil, using direct kinetic power.
You saw that all Anvil needed was a single touch of a finger to deliver her nose boop. Her regular punch is just doing that in a more conventional, and easier to conceal fashion. A penis could do that just as easily.
If Stalwart’s strength does derive from manipulating fundamental forces, then the same thing as happened to Barberian will be familiar to him. When he increases his mass he will be using his required secondary power, to allow him to still apply his strength effectively. Let us say that he does this by reducing the effect of inertia acting against his mass.
Where a normal guy would find that the fabric of his trousers (or the chair) would flex, but would not rip, Stalwart will have a massively dense penis, being filled with similarly dense blood, being pumped around by a four star strength heart. Importantly his skin is able to withstand rupturing, because its mass/density has been increased accordingly.
In short a pneumatic system is transferring the strength from the heart, via the blood (and supplemented by arterial systems operating to keep the pressure up) to the penis. This alone will grant him a four star strength erection! The secondary power (overcoming the inertia) simply would allow him to act, in addition to just overcoming his own mass. Either way though, simple fabric would not stand a chance!
Exactly the same would happen with an android, with motive power provided by mechanical pumps and pneumatic systems. His analogue penis would punch through walls, without a muscle being involved.
Likewise, in fact, even a purely muscle bound hero. Any super who has not torn themselves apart from landing blows must have super toughness (even if only applying to overcome internal forces) capable of withstanding the equal and opposite force, applied against their own skin and bones, when they land such blows. Thus making even a penis tough. The stronger they are the tougher it has to be.
Therefore exactly the same process I outlined with Stalwart would apply, but just using muscles, skin and blood. Their muscular energy is being converted into pneumatic force. For pant ripping fives!
You forgot Stalwart’s Mass Control which by it’s nature would involve Super Strength. (If you can weigh a couple hundred tons, you need the strength to actually MOVE that much weight.
I did. Particularly worth mentioning though, as it implies that his strength might stem from being able to manipulate fundamental forces. Again pointing away from it being muscle based, unless his effective strength goes down, as his mass goes up. He would be using more and more of his finite strength to support his own weight.
If that is not the case, then it implies he is supplementing his super-strength with a secondary power. And it is reasonable to assume that it might be drawing upon a variant on his primary power, rather than introducing another source, to explain it. I am utilising Occam’s razor to support this logic.
Obviously if it turns out that he can supplement his super-strength in this manner, then there is no reason why it could not be providing it all. Again working on the basis of avoiding bringing in other elements to explain something, when there is a simpler explanation at hand.
Somehow it seems like Dabbler has been a lot more… well… Dabbler these last few pages.
At the beginning of the comic, she came off as an extremely sex-positive joker, and for the last few pages it’s been more predatory, if you would.
Cause she was hungry after expending considerable stored energy during the fight?
….is Dabbler wearing pants? I’m not sure she’s wearing pants.
If Dabbler is wearing anything, we can see that it is no more concealing than a thong or a g string.
Or even a C-string. (If you don’t know what a C-string is, just imagine a snap bracelet for your crotch.)
Well supers are a thing so living inanimate objects might be, as in; that chair might file a complaint with inhuman resources.
I DIED at that chair panel :D :D :D
Evidently, you managed to live long enough to tell us that you’re dying…So, technically, you couldn’t have died AT that chair panel, as there had to be some time in between you viewing that panel & then posting to the comments.
O.o
Unless Nimue is a zombie now, of course.
Or having recovered from it, by some other means. Not that we are prejudiced against the living challenged, in this community, if that is not the case.
For all we know, Minue may even be a member of the MacLeod clan…
• Is this some imposter?
• Has the MidnightDStroyer, that we know and love, perfected internet ninjutsu, and turned invisible?
• Did you get carried away with the thread, and are now communicating to us, from beyond the grave, as a ghost?
Or has he just been erased
https://40.media.tumblr.com/2ea3a1b5eae4e41674723d9e4855d9a4/tumblr_inline_nxtqyexQEv1su1pqh_540.jpg
;)
…And now you can.
I’m having a minor issue with Dabbler’s hoof placement in panels 2, 3, 6, & 7. With her goat-like leg joints, her hooves should be behind him.
I believe that to be her right hoof, not her left. Having goat-like articulation, that part of her leg can be positioned under her bum, as shown in most panels. Provided, of course, that her right leg is fully bent, to allow that. Which, we can see from panel 4, is actually the case.
I think Dabbler’s ears become smaller…
The main difference is that Dabbler’s hair is presently swept forwards, covering much of them up. Although, above, they appear to be in the normal position, for ears, the front part is concealed at the moment. Dabblers actually start from closer to her eyes, than the sides of her head, as with humans.
My brain sorta just included the idea that Sydney just has her normal clothing on under the required gear.
so she can shed it as soon as possible.
So unlike Superman and his ilk, Sydney wears her civvies underneath her superhero outfit instead of the other way around? Either way, it sounds hot and uncomfortable.
From what DaveB said in his blog under the comic, this page doesn’t take place immediately after the last one. Sydney – and presumably some others – have had time to run down to the locker room and get changed.