Grrl Power #407 – Pseudohistory
Yeah, there’s a little history there, but nothing either one would cop to. That doesn’t mean he isn’t interested, or even that wasn’t trying to date her without her knowing about it, or even even that she’s not interested. But certainly not interested in games. Or maybe this is how she flirts. People are complicated.
Max spends enough time being annoyed at the things men do* that she hasn’t done a whole lot of dating in her life. It is safe to say she has pretty high standards though. She can afford to pretty selective as she checks a lot of boxes in the “desirable” categories. Wealth, fame, beauty, exotic, power – both literal and societal. This assumes “Strong enough to accidentally kill me if she sneezes while we’re kissing” is not a strong turn off for a potential suitor. Also; “Strong enough to permanently emasculate me if she sneezes while we’re… (long pause) You know. Say no more. Wink wink nudge nudge, eh?”
Of course, Maxima has to balance her inclination toward selectiveness with her own sex drive. That’s something that’s never been established in the comic for her. Dabbler, in her own words, never goes below an 11, but she has pretty strong willpower. That begins to wane as her innate hunger goes un-slaked. Harem is probably a 7 or 8 on the sex drive scale, and maybe a 5 or 6 on the willpower scale, which means she’s woken up next to a few people and thought “Come on, Daphne.” Anvil’s right in the middle, but gets a few spikes when she sees a guy with is her type, primarily guys who are taller than her, which is rare enough, and gangly guys aren’t really her thing either. It’s safe to say she likes watching basketball. Sydney comes in pretty low on the scale, despite getting flustered around cute guys. In her case, she also wrestles with a certain degree of self confidence deficit, so in the rare cases she’s genuinely smitten, she’s usually slow to put it out there.
*(#NotAllMen)
In case anyone doesn’t know, Conan’s line is a paraphrasing of a statement attributed to Khan (Genghis, not Singh), “The greatest happiness is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see those dear to them bathed in tears, to clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters.” But I think Conan’s is more pithy.
Ug, two double pages in a row, both with mini comics? I need a vacation. And by vacation I mean a single page that’s slightly easier to draw than usual. :/
Patreon supporters can view this page at twice the size! (as soon as I wake up and post it then immediately go back to sleep since Patreon doesn’t have a way to schedule posts yet.) $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like :)
Here’s the link to the new comments highlighter for chrome, and the GitHub link which you can use to install on FireFox via Greasemonkey.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
When I finished reading this one, I thought for a minute there might’ve been a reference to this comic’s second panel:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/720
But the hair color of the guy doesn’t match. Ah well.
That’s her younger brother.
He’s lucky after pulling that stunt that he didn’t become her ‘half’ brother.
^
| That’s a win.
Does Max’s Younger Brother have super powers? Will he appear in the webcomic at some point?
He is a Villain, known as the “Pop-up Bandit”, you never know where or when he will pop-up, but usually when you are relaxing
No powers, but we’ll definitely see him again.
awesome! love origin stories
Except when any new people join the group, you have to hear it over & over & over…
:P
No, there is such a thing as blah blah scene change and that’s why she now walks with a limp
D’awwww.. they’re so cute.
as the spouse of an ADHD sufferer, I can say Sydney is accurate as balls. Many ADD/ADHD people “forget that sex is a thing” when faced with the torrent of madness that is their everyday thought process.
It frustrates me.
As someone with ADD, and for myself, I don’t forget that sex is a thing but it’s occupying a wants/desires/to do list along with 1 or up to 6 or things going on at the moment.
Sex plus random funny thought en medias res makes for some serious META humor within myself.
“This assumes “Strong enough to accidentally kill me if she sneezes while we’re kissing” is not a strong turn off for a potential suitor. Also; “Strong enough to permanently emasculate me if she sneezes while we’re… (long pause) You know. Say no more. Wink wink nudge nudge, eh?””
Eh, I’d risk it.
Don’t care, had snu-snu.
Kif, I have made it with a woman. Inform the men…
and you know the fact that she has a personality like an Industrial strength cheese grater.
she falls into the category where she’s physically attractive enough that guys want to have sex with her but so insufferable to be around that anything more than that would violate the Geneva convention.
Much like the Sydney thing last comic, I kinda feel like Maxima’s personality is also part of the “Supers and Normals don’t mix well” trope. (If it isn’t a trope, it should be.) The main difference is in power levels.
I imagine it does get difficult mustering sympathy that Starbucks messed up your order when you just had to take out a Legion of Doom.
That is definitely part of it but that’s the part that is on the Super side.
On the Normal side, a Normal always has the same awareness and anxiety in any interaction with a Super that people have when they’re around someone who is openly carrying a loaded shotgun. Even if the Supers are technically on the side of the Normals, it affects how both sides interact. In the case of the last strip, the person with the anti-tank weapon (as was seen on TV) has the ability to glide up and self-insert herself into the conversation with a rebuke and smarmy grin because there’s really nothing a Normal can do in that situation.
As part of a vicious circle, this probably makes the higher-end supers even more abrasive because, when everybody is treating the Super like an unexploded warhead, the Super develops habits that limit social interaction.
Sidenote: This is why I usually have very little interest in the Superhero genre. Except for Mark Waid and (arguably) Garth Ennis, most writers are very lazy with their writing when it comes to the Normal/Super relationship. To pick on Marvel, it doesn’t matter how often a Norse Thunder God will create a hurricane in the middle of New York City, he’ll still be trusted and loved by the end of the day. Despite any lack of consequences for his reckless behavior, people will still come right up and talk to him without any trace of anxiety.
When someone is carrying a loaded shotgun I’d fear they’d point it at me as a joke and accidentally shoot me. Supers… let’s say I’d be less afraid of them than I probably should be.
If you enjoy regular old reading then there is a webnovel called Worm that you might be interested in as it deals with some of that . Though fair warning the series gets reaaaally depressing at times.
Maxima seems like a rather reasonable person as long as you don’t act like fool or jerk. Unfortunately Maxima is surrounded with people who are rather special.
At the very least, you could qualify for a Darwin Award & maybe live to tell about it.
Yeah, my wife coughed mid-coitus once and bent it the wrong way. I thought it was was going to break, can’t imagine what it would be like if she were superpowered.
Uh, yeah. There are Women on Top positions that CAN break it (pelvic bone vs erection. Bone wins) if you’re both not careful, and that would require a rather painful and embarrassing visit to the E.R. because the alternative can easily be DEATH.
Yeah, this really IS a thing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penile_fracture
A whole new level to the phrase, “broken bone,” but would it count as a Simple Fracture, or a Compound Fracture?
O.o
Doggy style on a plush matress is a dangerous position. I could do a 5 minute PSA on putting your willy in danger.
Is it just me, or is Maxima’s dialogue in panel 2 hard to follow?
It is an old American idiom (which is now most often used by old Americans).
It means take a sudden liking to. Apparently it refers to the rapidity of the situation, since the early all-wooden homes went up in flames very rapidly.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=get+along+like+a+house+on+fire
I know I’ve heard it a few times here in Australia…
You mean panel three? It’s just Sydney in panel two
I suspect Runnerbrax may have meant panel 1 – and I had trouble with it too. When a list of things is written in that patter-like way, I’m used to it using question marks to indicate the uptone like so:
“As for the guy who runs it – A genius? Certainly. A sociopath? Probably. An eccentric egomaniac? Definitely.“
Usually yes, but doesn’t seem to me that Maxi is posing it as questions but as fact
It’s coming out weird cause it’s sort of a speech she’s rehearsed in her head a few times.
No, doesn’t come out weird to me
Just look at it in this order: “The guy… is certainly a genius, probably a sociopath, and definitely an eccentric egomaniac!” See? It’s not a question but statements of opinion (please, there is no need to re-do that speech, was just explaining slash pointing out how it reads ‘normal’ without question marks)
The legal department for Machina Industries probably suggested changing the last line of the mission statement to ‘women or significant others’. You can take over the world, but you should be polite about it.
And did we establish that Deus is in the same city as Archon? I see by the presence of Sydney’s wrist navigator that they flew over, but it could have been any distance when you can hit Mach 4.
Deus and Archon are at least close enough for Harem to Vorp over periodically and tattle on the team. I don’t recall if it’s been revealed what kind of range she has though.
See: Grrl Power – Dabbler’s Science Corner #2
Her range is fairly much: if she can see the destination, she can reach it, it’s the getting back that can be the problem
“…if she can see the destination…”
…or if she’s very familiar with the destination.
yep, she can warp to her home farm from Archon HQ.
But she still needs (or needed) to take a taxi back
Last panel, Sydney’s line: And Deus responds with a startled “How did you know my middle name?” gestures to PA standing in shadows “I thought we buried that info…”
“I thought we buried that info…”
They did, but it showed up again after 3 days.
Other products from Machina:
M.I. emergency ration packs. “One container feeds a multitude.’
M.I. dehydrated wine. ‘Just add water.’
M.I. emergency inflatable rafts. ‘It will feel like you are walking on water.’
Maxima’s body language confuses me. When she was relaxed, her arms were crossed. When she became upset, she hunched her shoulders forward and crossed her arms even tighter. That is defensive.
Most people I have seen with combat training tend to uncross arms and/or legs and center their balance when stressed. Other common ‘ticks’ are pulling the elbows in toward the torso and positioning the hands somewhere not specifically threatening but in front of the body above the waist. Their body language tends to scream: “I’m not going to start a physical fight, but I’m ready to finish one.”
That’s probably more a symptom of what the person drawing her does/sees around him. And DaveB is not a military man
Plus maxima could be doing a handstand and still be able to take 99.9% of combantants, she probably nevered needed to learn that behavior, since she is almost always the strongest person in the room and the fastest. Also flying means you cant be tripped.
She’s a full army bad ass. She may never have needed to learn to fight, but you can bet she still does
If you have said tics, keeping your arms deliberately crossed to ensure that you are very aware of the position of your arms and hands is a common way of avoiding going into “pre-combat mode”.
Its a charged social situation rather than something that is going to turn into a fight. Although Max might be ticked off enough that she feels she’d be tempted to take a pop at Deus if she did have a hand free.
Maybe she’s getting defensive because this is a major contractor she cannot afford to upset too much and possibly an unwanted suitor. She can be snarky, but she cannot push him too far or risk losing the gear his company makes for the team.
Maxima tends to cross her arms in a way that she thinks de-emphasizes her breasts. Usually her arms are crossed mostly in front of them, instead of under them which would certainly put then in presentation mode.
I’d say it mostly works… but would be less effective (at de-emphasizing) in a low-cut top.
That’s why she doesn’t wear those :P
I think we’ve seen her wear sleeveless undershirts. This sort of thing is a habit she’s developed. It wouldn’t be odd at all for her to fold her arms the same way as she always does without thinking about what shirt she’s wearing right at the moment. Might be a short gag and some fanservice to come out of that going forward.
It’s not one size fits all. I think she’s conflicted about Deus.
Depends on the type of combat training, maybe. Some long-time martial artists tend to relax and center in a stressful situation instead of hunching up and telegraphing. What Would Math Do?
Isn’t Math fairly much always in pre-combat mode? When he’s not in post-combat because he plans several moves ahead and he’s already won :P
That’s probably her “Not going to punch this guy into the sun, not going to punch this guy into the sun” posture.
Also not even a ‘military thing’ but a ‘lessons from professional public speaking’ : crossing your arms means ‘not open to anything the other person is saying, and I’m right and you are wrong’ : which fits along with the trope of ‘Maxima is Miss Perfect’ in her own mind. Deus, on the other hand…master of political tactics. :)
is “image” short for “imagine”? I need to get with the lingo
It was a typo
Wow, Max in that third panel looks… Like a regular human, instead of, well, her.
I was noticing that myself. It’s like her facial features hardened up when she saw Deus.
Wait. If we take his name, his companies name and the scar on his face we can spell “Deus Ex Machina”.
And he propably totally did that intentionally.
You didn’t get that until now?
I’m hoping that eventually someone else takes over the company and fires him.
Just so he’ll be Deus ex-Machina.
One punny point to you, sir!
I’ve been waiting for this! And it’s even better than I thought!
See, I was wondering if Maxima approved of Deus, because we already know that Deus is infatuated with Maxima. But this is even bigger than I expected!
XD
Certainly puts new light on him groping the monitor, and Vale’s reaction to it :D
“Deus x Maxima”
This looks more like it’s shaping up to be “Deus vs. Maxima.”
DaveB just found this comic about 2 weeks ago on Pinterest and I LOVE it. I’m working on my second read though working on looking at many of the comments afterwards this time. I dropped a couple of comments back on earlier pages but wanted to say something I don’t want to get lost.
In terms of Maxima being a feminist and not liking guys staring at her and wearing shorter shirts I don’t see this as any type of a problem or conflict with her personality for two reasons.
1.) She may just like how she looks in what she wears personally and part of feminism to me at least is wearing what makes YOU feel good and not needing to change that simply to not get cat called and harassed. This is true in my case, I’m not going to change my style for any guy, or gal for that matter, I wear what I do because I like it and if other appreciate it without being dicks so much the better. If their dicks I will likely say something.
2.) It seems to me that Maxima has a long torso. I don’t mean that in a its too long kind of way but more like she has a swimmers build to some extent. Most of that is due to he overall high but it still makes a difference. I happen to be 5’4″ which is just under average height for a woman so I usually wear petite sizes, especially since I have a 27in inseam for pants. All my height is in my torso which can cause some interesting problems. I usually wear regular sizes in short sleeved shirts and tank tops or they are not long enough to stay tucked in or cover my midsection if I bend over or raise my arms too far. So in my mind that is the problem that Maxima has, she simply cant get shirts long enough for her.
Sorry about the long post. I love this comic and can SO relate to Sydney.
She’s got money now, so she can afford to have her cloths tailored to fit her.
If you mean Maxi’s ‘problem’ with baring her abs all the time, believe that is more to do with the texture of her skin means that the fabric of her top keeps ‘riding up’ unless she ‘straps it down’ with a belt (even tucking it in doesn’t always help, and who tucks in tank top or t-shirt unless you are wearing something over it?)
Long posts from new readers (specially something like yours) is not something you need to apologize for :D
Good point @Guesticus I hadn’t thought of that and while tailoring to fit is a valid point it wouldn’t help with that particular problem. Plus I cant quite see Maxima getting tailoring done because in her case she would most likely need to have it completely custom and i just cant see her putting up with that. Not because of money but because she doesn’t want the even more pain in the ass that it would be. Just my thoughts though :)
Yup, sounds about right: Maxi would rather just deal with the clothing ‘riding up’ than be forced to wear a ‘body suit’ (the bottom would have to be connected to something, and even crotch-less body suits are a pain in the… well, not there as it is crotch-less)
Do we have an accent for Maxima?
I mean, based on the pictures from her brother and the bag-pop I see pine-trees, but that could basically be anywhere west of New England. With an idiom like that, I’ve got a slightly-Southern accent stuck in my head, because I’ve only heard people from the South drop things like that.
Saying phrases like “you would get on like a house on fire” seems more of an ‘age thing’ than a ‘specific location thing’
I’m only familiar with that phrase thanks to British comedies like Blackadder and Are You Being Served?. Never in my life have I heard a friend, coworker, or anybody else use it.
Like said: an age thing (maybe she watched a lot of good comedies, rather than ‘sit-coms’, while deployed over seas)
I have to sway that is probably the most honest corporate mission statement I’ve ever read.
say not sway
“There would have been dancing.”
Dancing in the aisles or the streets? Or maybe amongst the stars (well, Deus more than likely would be seeing stars if he ticks off Maxi too much :P)
First impression: Max let her hair down and brushed it? Huh. She looks prettier than usual, I wonder if this is intentional on her part (or Dave’s).
Second impression: Ahaaaa…. now it makes sense.
Maxi does like to have her hair down more often than up, because of her Elf-ears
What does it say about me, that the only problem i have with that mission statement is, that it should say dependants (or possibly spouses/significant others), instead of women?
that you are taking political correctness too far and are attempting to whitewash cultural heritage by altering a direct Conan the Barbarian quote to something which suites your “sensibilities” regardless of the fictional society or context that quote comes from. and in the process ruining any lessons which might be learned from it in the process ensuring that future generations make those mistakes again because they were unable to learn from them.
Nothing to do with PC-bulllickers, but more covering all possible scenarios (even Conan misquoted when he said that line)
Wasn’t it Genghis Khan? The original quote would have been too awkward for the movie.
Zack Tilly
No. Because for an alpha male who is straight, and in the cultures of the times, the implication is that you have killed at the adult males (which includes any male, however young, who is willing to pick up a spear), as they were under arms and opposing you. You ignore the minor males, as they are not a threat to you and therefore beneath your notice. And you rape all the women and girl children, which is your due as the conqueror.
You do not consider anyone else’s position in a PC-like manner, because you are only concerned about your own position and that kind of empathy for the other does not register with your world view.
Hmm. I’m starting to wonder if Deus’ “evil madman” persona is just an affectation, and he’s really a softy underneath that tough businessman exterior. He’s obviously a nerd-boy.
Well, we know that he likes to:
-Laugh maniacally
–While lightning flashes in the background
-Has ordered people killed to further his goals <= This one is important
-Is the head of a big company
–That has a double agent in the ARCHON
On the other hand, he works with the good guys and has a sense of humor.
“Has ordered people killed to further his goals.”
True, but that guy was bad.
Yes, I am joking …. but I think it is funny because it is also very very true.
And just remember: Winston Churchill ordered people killed as well, Eisenhower ordered two Atomic bombs to be dropped on civilian population areas!!!
Actually, it was President Truman who ordered two Japanese cities to be nuked. Eisenhower was still a General at that point. Further, I think I read somewhere that the atom bombs actually were aimed at war plants and not just at the cities, but considering that both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were effectively leveled, I suppose it’s kind of a moot point.
As horrendous as the death and destruction was though, it would have been even worse had the US and it’s allies kept the bombs locked away and invaded instead.
Actually, Winnie did not order the death of his people, he ordered that the German attack on certain locales not be foiled, so as to not give away, to the Germans, that the Allies had cracked their codes. A very tough decision, one that wears upon the soul.
Didn’t say he ordered his people killed, and thank you, knew it was one of those Presidents but didn’t know which one
The point was: even acknowledged and accepted ‘good guys’ have ordered peoples’ deaths, and it’s still too early to determine which side Deus is on (other than his own)
The firebombings of Japanese cities which had been going on for some time before the use of nuclear weapons killed more civilians than the nukes themselves did. The Allied war effort was very much interested in destroying the will of the population to carry on the war, and inflicting civilian casualties was a deliberate part of that effort. The dropping of the two atomic weapons was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back, which it is reasonable to assume would have happened even if Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been destroyed by conventional firebombing.
Being a “good guy” in war typically only means that you were on the winning side. Only very recently in historical terms have atrocities by the victors been punished by their own side.
I once did an improvisational mad rant, whilst changing a baby’s poopy diaper, about how I would torture people by making babies’ poop extra vile and super sticky (like tar), as well as create miniature robots that would wake babies at odd hours so that the parents would suffer more from sleep deprivation. It all ended with a properly evil/mad MWAHAHAHAHA! The moms present were in stitches from laughter… all except one… she gave me a sober, calculating eye. None have seen her since that day. Coincidence? Ma-aybe.
A mind is a wonderful thing to play with…
Sydney opened the flood gates, this is gonna be dramatic.
Wow, I’m not sure how I feel about sharing deus’ taste in tie knots.
Color wise or was it how it looks?
…I can’t believe I hadn’t considered this a possibility.
The conversation in the bottom panel reminds me of when people I’ve met try too hard to cover something up (either that they actually dated or are dating). Not that I think that’s the case here, since they both seem like the types who would mind being honest about it. If it is the case though, I’d say it didn’t end on bad terms.
Deus is a future ex of Maxima . . . possibly. maybe. FB Status is: It’s Complicated.
I think Maxima in the third panel is the most friendly facial expression I’ve seen on her. Most of the time it looks like she has to work at not scowling.
Just my $.02
Of course that immediately raises the question about where all the other women fall on the ‘sex drive versus willpower’ graph. Dave…the world wants to know.
Personaly, I think he was trying to poach her..
Aside from all the evil villain checks Deuse made in his assassination coupe chapter. We have some more checks here to prove he’s a villain.
Do these words apply to him? Sociopath, Eccentric, Egomaniac? And does he have the quote of a murdering barbarian, who stole it from a even bigger marauder, murderer, and mass rapist? If more than one of these apply then you got a super villain on you’re hands. More than a few red flags there.
Shore the fact he’s a would be ex don’t help ether.
Well at least he is honest about it. Wich is unusaly pragmatic for a supervillain whan I think about it.
You realise you also described Batman’s alter ego: Bruce Wayne
If you have those, you have a villain.
Supervillains differ in their PRESENTATION!
Me and Megamind agree. :D
A lot of writers have said that every villain is the hero of their own story. No one starts off as a villain. There is always a push. The two main paths I have seen for top-tier villains are
1) The world has wronged me and I must seek retribution (Victor Friez, Punisher, Doc Oc.)
2) I am so much smarter/better than everyone else that the world would be a better place with me in charge (Lex Luthor, Dr. Doom, Darkseid)
FYI, Vader and Magneto (possibly Loki) fall under both.
The ‘agent of chaos and destruction’ villains such as Thanos and Joker can be fun to watch, but are hard to root for.
Something to be noted: not all Villains see themselves as ‘misguided or misunderstood Heroes’, some of them embrace Villainy
I’ve run RPG’s for nearly three decades, and developing a major villain is always a bit tough. I have to remind myself over and over about what you just wrote, so the villain and his/her decisions actually make sense once the party understands the context.
Give me mooks any day of the week – so much easier. :D
So, Dave, nice photo artwork mixed in with this one. (I guess – if you actually drew in those wall panels you’re insane.) Are you experimenting or is this something you’re going to start on a more regular basis? I don’t recall if I’ve seen shots like this before.
I use the odd texture in my art. I could probably actually draw a texture like that, in fact it wouldn’t hurt my art skills to do stuff like that, but that could be hours of work to learn how to do something like that, at least the first time, vs 10 minutes finding some decent open source textures on DA or 3D modeling sites.
In the mini-comic, I can see Maxima liking the boots with the exotic cleats. Practical, form-fitting, durable, and fashionable without being in-your-face.
Unless she is kicking you in the face
Okay, I *think* no one else commented on the under-main-comic-statement about signing the “declaration of intent to date.” I may have missed it, given that I only skimmed the comments looking for it, but I didn’t see it….
Anyway, another qualifier (not that I really need another), I haven’t read or watched “50 Shades of …” I’ve only seen the “Everything Wrong With …” version of it, but that under-the-comic-statement took on a whole new meaning when viewed through a 50 Shades-colored lens.
Not that I could see Maxima tolerating that type of behavior. I have no idea what way Maxima leans per say, and I’m not one to care or pass judgement on anyone’s particular tastes – whatever two (or more) consenting adults do in the privacy of their own private areas is up to them – as long as all parties are informed and consenting.
But given what we’ve seen of Maxima so far? Nope. I can’t see her playing Anastasia and doing the contract negotiation thing.
You are assuming that Maxi wouldn’t be the one issuing the contract
Nah, I can’t see her issuing the contract either. No particular reason springs to mind. It just seems OOC for her. I’d go look up the male character’s name like I did for the female lead (I really have no idea about the books or movie at all), but I don’t care that much. Maxima really doesn’t seem to fit that role in the slightest.
Was just pointing out, that Maxi would more likely be in the Dom role rather than the Sub, if she was into that sort of thing at all (although… being a Sub could possibly make it safer for he other partner)
PANEL 3 MAXIMA PANEL 3 MAXIMA OH MY GOD PANEL 3 MAXIMA!!!!!!!!
…*ahem*. What I mean to say is that how Maxima is drawn in panel three looks amazing. Well done Dave.
I now have an honest to god favourite /panel/ in this comic.
Thanks! I wish my art with her was a little more consistent.
She me any artist who’s character’s are consistent, and will show you someone who traces or copy-pasta’s their work
That said, Panel Three Maxi does look significantly ‘softer’ and more beautiful than she normally does (which is already beautiful), Panel Eight is also very beautiful, in it’s own way :D
That panel is amazing on two levels
1) It’s a very nice look for Maxima.
2) With the following panels, it says something about the relationship of Sydney and Maxima (at least, this is the way I took it). She’s clearly more relaxed and approachable-looking when hanging out with just Sydney, but the second Deus shows up, the harsh angles are back – just like she is on base or in a fight.
As to the angles versus soft issue – draw it the way you like, Dave (I hope the differences here were narratively intentional). I tend to prefer defined cheekbones (Julie Bowen in “Happy Madison” is hot – Julie Bowen in “Modern Family” is absolute perfection), but I gotta say, Max in that panel is totally adorable.
I got around to thinking about what type of elevator music Deus would play in his building.
the Star Wars imperial march?
“O Fortuna”? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJC-_j3SnXk
‘Everybody Want to Rule the World’?
Given the mission statement, it’d have to be this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBGOQ7SsJrw
Better than every other elevator musak :D
Personally, I’m thinking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtEkhtOZEhg
Dang, reading the comments, and that first guy is an idiot: does he really believe the music was fan made? or was he referring to the bit at the very end? o_O
“The Atlantean Sword” is another epic piece of music, but not sure it would work in an elevator :(
Found another one that could be used: Field of Broken Swords (and, before anyone starts up, again, about the impracticality of Sonja’s chainmail bikini, ask yourself this: how often does she actually get hit? armour, specially full plate, is typically used by those who expect to be hit, and her bikini was no more impractical than Conan’s loincloth)
The Girl from Ipanima, obviously.
I suspect they have meant panel 1 – and I had trouble with it too. When a list of things is written in that patter-like way, I’m used to it using question marks to indicate the uptone like so:
“As for the guy who runs it – A genius? Certainly. A sociopath? Probably. An excentric egomaniac? Definitely.“
Gah, didn’t reply properly
Ok, am I the only one who doesn’t get why Deus doing air quotes with “Maxima” was a solid burn? Is it because they both use pseudonyms?
Neither of them are using pseudonyms, that’s why he did that, and that’s why it was a burn
My guess is that they both picked pompous sounding nicknames based on their own name and he is calling her out that she did it too.
Since ‘Maxima’ was derived from Maximillia, ‘Deus’ probably has the first name Thaddeus.
Dues is his Legal Name. He changed it according to Dave. Whether it’s a first name or Last Name is unknown and mostly irrelevant.
Dang, forgot about her ‘real’ name
Maxima seems to hold herself differently in his presence
No, she is holding herself the same in all panels, just the last two has her trying to make his nose hairs combust with her mind :P (specially the second last one)
I wonder which came first, his name, the scar, or the company name?
Well, consider that is his name, the scar would have come last (unless you mean “Machina Industries” specifically)
As a woman, I still feel compelled to say:
semi-casual Max is best Max. Dayum.
Actually… someone did. Sorta. Just the pun tho, and not the belief it would be canon.