Grrl Power #405 – Terrorportation
Super powered janitorial duty isn’t glamorous, but it’s a team effort. Sometimes you’re the striker, and sometimes you’re the guy painting the lines on the field. Or hosing down the bleachers.
There’s probably plenty of things Sydney could be doing at a construction site besides just sweeping and scooping, buuuut, someone needs to be doing it and she is still just a recruit.
Unfortunately for Sydney, Jiggawatt can’t use the radio when she’s arc-stepping (not to be confused with ArcSTEP, Archon’s dance division, which totally exists). In some ways, Jiggawatt is a better teleporter than Harem. She can take slightly more (inanimate) mass with her, but she needs line of sight, or at least an indirect path, as she can jump into then through several sufficiently large/dense clouds before coming back down. A single arc-step is about as fast as Harem, but each extra bounce adds time, and Harem can potentially go much further in a single ‘port.
I guess Sydney’s wrist comp was making her arm sweaty, so she took it off. ¬.¬
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Jiggawatt’s two powers are electricity, surprise and fear … her THREE powers are electricity, surprise, fear, and ruthless efficiency … AMONGST her powers are such elements as electricity, surprise, fear, ruthless efficiency, and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.
Dude, Dave beat you to the reference, like, three pages ago. It still made me smile and I’ll never disapprove of it, though. I will also never expect it.
Grey just expanded on the below comic text.
And she also has a skill, specializing in ARC-welding.
OUCH. I felt that one all the way in California…
Has Jiggawatt’s hair changed color?
Yes, it changed color years ago. There were valid remarks about a dark skinned lightning wielder with white hair being too close to Storm from X-Men, so her hair was changed to blonde.
No, it was simply people who can’t differentiate between two totally different characters simply because they have the same skin colour
Straight up. It’s like, oh hey that white guy and that white guy both have blonde hair. Clearly they’re the same person or a ripoff thereof.
Show someone not too familiar with Street Fighter Guile and Charlie Nash and they’d have a hard time telling them apart.
Similar phenotype, and powertype combo, especially with similar build can raise eyebrows. Heck with super-powered people it can sometimes just be powers. Give anyone flight and superstrength (or some variation of high durability, speed, ect…) and automatically people claim they are rip-offs of Superman.
Which is kinda cheap in itself since Superman originally couldn’t fly.
I do remember a “Separated at Birth?” article that showed pictures of Captain America, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Human Torch, Ka-Zar, Captain Marvel and Iron Fist, all in their civvies. They just repeated the same face shot six times, and it was right on the money. Just to show off, that would be, in order, Steve Rogers, Hank Pym, Clint Barton, Jim Hammond or Johnny Storm, Kevin Plunder, Mar-Vell, and Danny Rand. (For extra credit, Captain Hero could also be included, if he had been invented at the time of the article I am thinking of. His secret identity was six year old Bobby Wright.)
Not really. It’s just that she has the same hair, skin, and visually recognisable powers. Having a rich white guy dressing up in a animal costume and beating up people would be considered dangerously close to batman, even if that isn’t his complete character.
She’s a surprise bender?
But is she the last surprise bender?
If she does that again to the wrong person…
Good thing Syd already retrained her shocked response.
Wasn’t talking about Sydney though
I would like to wish everyone out there a happy Pi day, which rounded to 4 decimal points is 3.1416. Feel free to celebrate with the fruit, berry, meringue, cream, or pot pie of your choice. (quiche and cheesecake will be allowed as alternatives, with signed permission from Martha Stewart)
all i can think of is..
the fact that Sydney probably just recieved hearing damage.. again… Hearing doesn’t heal really ya’kno! though maybe with the superpower healing it can.. but normally you don’t regrow those hearing hair thingies. Varia could’ve given a nice warning about that incoming haha.
apparently Jiggawatt’s thunder isn’t as loud as real thunder, so it might not be ear-damaging, but it might cause some ringing for a bit…
she WAS in the process of telling her that she’s waiting for… Krakoom… Jiggawatt to show up… she just wasn’t fast enough to get it all out before she actually showed up…
I do like this comic, although it does raise an interesting question–namely, what constitutes a workable path for the arc-step? Can Jiggawatt transport herself over power lines, or is she restricted to clouds and the like? And what kind of clouds are we talking about, here?
Personally, I would give her the ability to teleport without restriction…but she does so completely blind (to our world, anyway–lighting, if it can see at all, would see completely differently from humans), so she has to have a set of destination coordinates. Since she is so electricity focused, it would make sense if she used the electrical grid to provide her with aiming coordinates, probably thanks to a rates map from the local power companies (power company rates are based on, among other things, energy loss, pulse frequency, voltage, and a whole host of other factors which would make every location effectively unique). In other countries, this might be somewhat harder, as there is a much stronger impetus to use direct current power transmission outside of the developed world, rather than the alternating current we use, meaning that even in areas that have power, it would be harder for her to get good destination coordinates.
As you have it now, though, Harem is unquestionably the better teleporter–she can get places faster, she’s got a longer effective range, and she can go strange places using nothing more than internet video cameras. Plus, she’s quieter, which makes a big difference in ARCHON’s line of work. Jiggawatt might be able to carry more per load, but that still leaves her the preferred teleport hero only in very limited situations.
Oh, and Harem can teleport from inside to outside, and Jiggawatt generally would not be able to do that–the building’s wiring would get in the way, and JIggawatt would cause massive collateral damage at the very least.
I see what you’re saying there, but it would pretty much make her a watered down Jenny Sparks (not a bad thing). It would make it realistic to be unable to “see” while in that form. Perhaps she would be restricted to electric/magnetic fields thus seeing in another spectrum. If you really thinks about it; between Jiggawatt and Harem Jiggawatt has a more realistic power. (putting aside the whole turns to lightning bit) she’s limited in ways Harem isn’t.
Nah. Jiggawatt can generate her own electrical energy, as well as manipulate others’, so she’s more of…crap. I don’t any superhero who can do both, really. Although, honestly, I don’t really keep up with superheroes as much as I would like to–I just don’t have the time.
Of the two of them, though, I don’t really think either has the “more realistic” power. Harem’s limitations seem fuzzier, but I believe that it’s just because the more broken aspects of her power are a lot more subtle. Having five Harems, each doing something else, gives her a lot of additional time to consider a problem, and to learn about/model potential solutions. This seems to me to be fairly realistic–Harem is, potentially, among the most dangerous of the heroes, but her power is a lot more subtle, and requires a lot more planning and study to solve a problem effectively.
Sydney, by the way, has a very similar advantage with her gaming group, except that Sydney can take advantage of more points of view than Harem can (although none of her fellow gamers are likely to be as well-informed). That would likely be part of the reason Sydney ends up being referred to as the “big guns,” and why her being a nerd is so useful.
Well, Jiggawatt clearly is not completely sensory deprived (as she should be) in electrical form. She wouldn’t be able to move effectively even with coordinates. She wouldn’t even know if she was moving or not. My guess is she acquires a whole new set of senses when she’s lightning. Maybe she can sense electron transfer around her. As to traveling through the electrical grid: that depends on how powerful a surge she is and the tolerances of the wires, transformers, fuses, etc.
The real questions to me are: Can she transform pure electrical current into objects and vice versa? She can do that to herself and the objects she’s carrying/wearing. And we know she can recreate complicated objects and even data seeing as her cellphone survived her arc-step. Maybe Apple can hire her to make iPhones in bulk with enough of a charge. Which leads to the next question. Can she generate a charge from nothing or does it take something from her or the matter around her? If it’s from nothing, can she power a city if she just holds a couple of power lines? Only DaveB know.
I would imagine she avoids powerlines because of electrical interference. Wouldn’t want to blow out every computer in the tri-state area just going to get your morning cup of coffee. That and what effect does that electricity have on her? Could she be drained? Overloaded? Data corrupted?
umm why would impossible powers care about a little thing like electricity being unable to see? It is also unable to turn into a human.
Jiggy is still my favourite. Because screw that guy.
Also, Lighthook garbage disposal is actually pretty cool.
Yeah, may not be ‘glamorous’, but it’s just as important
I don’t know if anyone already mention this or not, but I predict that when Varia gestalts with Jiggawatt, she gets magnetic powers. I’m calling it.
Sorry, the artist beat you to it back when Varia was introduced.
(I’m glad she isn’t a male minotaur.)
Huh?! male minotaur?… that’s kinda out-of-the-blue… what’s THAT got to do with this, or in fact… ANY strip from this comic?
Sorry – you’re REMEMBERING it:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1745
Okay, but think of the money Jiggawat could make by porting into sand and selling the resulting fulgurite.
I have to ask…will Sydney’s lifting ability with the Light Hook get stronger as she uses it more, or is it pretty much going to stay at 15-16 tons? Cause it would make sense if it increases over time, sort of like a sort of super-exercise.
Even if not…I mean, right now, Sydney can haul as much as a 10-wheel dump truck. Or, to put it another way, about 5-8 cars, depending on make, model, and passenger load. All things considered, that’s one hell of a load. As in, I would totally believe it if it turned out she could pick up the full dumpster and throw it at people.
I think we worked out last page that Sydney should be able to upgrade Lighthook’s strength just by putting an upgrade point in the right string coming off it. The hard part would be working out which it is, & then how much improvement is possible…
nope… if you can throw a car (truck) then you can probably HIT that much harder, and it would be a waste of energy to use the car…
May be, but throwing the car first as a distraction, making the target duck or blink sets them up for an open smack from the tentacle-orb
In situations like this people always seem to forget that it’s harder to dodge a car.
With Lighthook there is no requirement that she let go of the car in question. It may be a waste of some energy but if nothing of you contacts them, there is no ju to do on (as in grabbed and thrown). And a held object is aimed all the way there, like a TOW missile with a light hook wire guide (adjust a little left as they try to dodge it). And for style points Sydney can put some spin on the thrown object too.
Of course letting it go high like a miss and then slamming it down at the last second is also a thing.
Or, have it go past the target and then have it circle around them, like a giant painful tetherball :P
I think you are forgetting things like gravity and inertia….
If you are throwing at a downwards angle it is possible for it to hit harder than you could throw it unaided, so if she were throwing it at someone down a steep slope it may be worth it. Thrown objects also have a lot more range, and a lot less destructive power that the PPO(cause I’m hip).
Soft targets. Lol I am totally envisioning a bean bag chair sized “crowd control” item on the end of the Lighthook — like a non-lethal wrecking ball for use on mobs…
Why didn’t Sydney deblouse? I know she’s not actually doing anything too physical, but taking off that heavy blouse is always a welcome thing for me. Especially outside in the heat.
Because Sydney does soooo well in direct sunlight?
Grrl Power #65 – A slight overreaction
And she’s a bit body shy, especially around other supers.
Someone needs to tell Sydney, that while Maxi and Hiro can lift heavier items, she can lift more, which makes her just as valuable if not more so
Also, her ability has more inventive uses. She can do the old trick of waiting for a vehicle to come down a street then snap a rope across the road to an anchor point. This would either scoop the rider off a motorcycle or stop an enclosed vehicle. ARC will probably have to give her some pointers on the car-catch maneuver. If the rope is placed too high there is the risk of slicing through the passenger compartment, resulting in death and decapitation. I don’t think Sydney would want that on her conscience.
There is also the risk of slicing through the engine block, or, if not slicing through, at least the potentiality of pushing the block into the driver and slash or passenger
But, was talking specifically about her clean-up job: Maxi and Hiro can lift heavier objects, but only one at a time
She can probably lift the rear tires of the average vehicle faster and easier than someone that has to grab on.
I’ve just figured out the perfect recipe for popcorn, involving a full stick melted butter and a bit of olive oil n the popper, adding pepper, kosher salt, and a touch of paprika right before the popping starts, and then blending in another half stick of butter after it pops.
And
My lack of skill with the tags managed to exclude the “John Oliver” attribution for the second quotation. :(
Getting hit by lightning is no fun, and being near ground zero is really not good for you. Sydney has just cause to be upset. What’s worse is that some victims of lighting were not hit by the actual bolt, but the shockwave did them in, and hard. One true story lists a guy, on his porch watching a thunderstorm, on a NON-metal chair, he sees the lightning hit ACROSS THE STREET, bounce back and strike him dead-center, knocking him off, sending him to the ER, where he died.
There have also been cases where the EMP from the lightning stopped people’s hearts.
And that one poor bastard forest ranger who got hit something like 7 times (including an arc through the open windows of his moving truck).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Sullivan
His name was SO close to fit his super power. If his parents had called him Rodney, his nickname would be ‘Rod’, and follow all comic book naming conventions.
30 yards from a strike closest I have been to one needless to say I was attempting to dig a hole under the humvee I was working on at the time. Would have done it as well if the Corporal hadn’t stopped me. I don’t mind lightning as long as it is over there and not right next to me.
Is it just me, or is there a lightning bolt pattern on the can of drink Sydney was about to open? Continuance of a recurring trope?
That seems to be the popular consensus, but to me, it looks more like a trident (you can just make out four prongs, three peeking out below Sydney’s bottom finger and one on the side)
It is a can of ‘Crimson Cow’ energy drink. Because comics can not use copyrighted material without risking a visit from the legal department of some other company.
That might make for a paladin-like character who exists to punish those who illegally use other peoples intellectual property. He carries around a long wooden pole as his weapon. “Cease and desist foul doer. For I am the Copyright Crusader* and I shall smite thee with my Legal Staff!”
(* copyright pending)
Dang it. I just did a search and found somebody already copyrighted ‘Crimson Cow’. I guess I will be getting a visit from my own creation.
We interrupt this comment thread with breaking news:
I did a check on a few logos and I think DaveB actually pranked us with his own trope.
Sydney appears to be opening a can of Volt Cola as Jiggawatt arrives.
https://energy-drinks.cz/obrazky/volt-power-cola.jpg
Close, but not quite the same
If Jig needs to have line of sight, why couldn’t they HEAR her coming?
It would depend on the distance from whatever cloud she arc stepped into before arc stepping in. Lightning = Speed of light.
Thunder = Speed of sound
I see that she takes the elements as discribe by When the eternally surprised for the disc world universe.
A somewhat out of leftfield question, just put on the latest comic, and related to a fanfic idea.
As I don’t know Dabbler’s backstory (other than the small tidbits we’ve been given).
Would she be the type to recognize various Netherworld Overlords at first glance?
Another random after re-reading the archive, the two orbs without known powers and given the big bad being shadowed.
Perfect set up for a Truth Compulsion field (think Lasso of Truth only as an area effect).
Watch out saying things like ArcSTEP, Arianna might patton it, then where will we be?
DaveB said it was already an official part of ARCHON
DaveB totally sounded like he was joking that ArcSTEP totally exists.
“ArcSTEP, Archon’s dance division”
… Please tell me that there is a Dancing with the Supers spinoff being planned!!!!!
Dawned on me looking at Panel 7 (6 if you don’t count the little tiny panel between the first and the next big one)…
At first I thought, “Sydney’s wearing that hat and glasses to keep out the sun, right?”
Then I realized… her orbs… always glowing, always in color…
the constantly being in a disco rave has to be annoying after awhile, and the hat and shades probably reduces that effect.
How many ferret balls is Jiggawatts port rated for?
I miss Jiggawatts whit hair already :(.
Same here, but, fairly sure DaveB mentioned the ‘official in-comic’ reason for the change is because she likes to change her hair-colour, so, hopefully we will get other colours, like green and a powder blue, and one day, when the numbnuts who can’t tell Jiggs and Storm apart have buggered off, we can have her back in her white colouring
I miss it mostly because in my opinion the yellow looks horrible so hopefully blue or green will look better.
Hm, I just thought of something. Obviously sydney can’t carry much with the lighthook alone, but what if she used the fly-orb alongside it? That thing has enough juice to break mach one and then some, so it’s got enough horsepower to emulate a powerful jet engine. Except she can possibly turn its speed into torque and lift a load more with it.
Two things.
1) I figured Varia couldn’t absorb any power from Sydney because Sydney has no power — she’s a true normal, who just happened to find some powerful orbs. That also explains why Syd doesn’t have the size and shape that real supers do. If you try to figure that Sydney’s power is the power to use the orbs, you then have to explain why, if she does have a super power, why is she exempt from the “people with super powers are super attractive” rule?
2) What would happen if Sydney ran her lighthook through a block and tackle, which multiplies lifting power?
Varia’s gestalt power works with both supers and normals. It’s explained on this page: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1751.
I’m kind of disappointed you didn’t interpolate a guy in the corner saying:
“Surprise mutha*****r!”
Given that Syndey lacks any kind of super toughness, she should really be either running her shield or wearing a hard hat while working construction. It’s not at all unlikely that she lighthooks some rubble over her head and a bit of it falls off and hits her.
Wait, I just realized. If Varia’s power is related to those she touches…has she ever tried to touch Sydney and use one of her orbs ? Since she can hop along with Harem, she might actually be able to use the orbs as well !
Varia and Sydney did touch with the intent of finding out what their gestalt might be, and the orbs began to orbit both of them, which may suggest that Varia may be able to use the orbs while touching Sydney. However, neither of them noticed that the orbs changed their orbit, and Varia made no attempt to grab any of them.
If Sydney put her shield up around some rubble, and flew it, I wonder how much she could lift. It would be less likely to drop stuff.