Grrl Power #413 – Green herring
Ok you guys are going to have to bear with me for one more page. I really tried to make this a double to clear up what has Max wound up, but after the previous double pages and the sword wall, I was on the verge of falling behind. Hopefully you guys will enjoy the payoff. And anyway I really wanted to get in Deus pulling the red herring gag on Max.
Who knows if the version of how he got that bowl is just as relayed on this page or this is a little punched up for her benefit. Well, he would, obviously. Dumb question really. I’m casting doubt at you! Level 2 wizard spell! Roll to save!
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So, what IS she pointing at?
Since column 3 of the trinkets, right column, are comprised of movie references at this point, that leaves columns 1 and 2. Column 2, row 2 appears to be a regular geode if I’m not mistaken. The rest of that column looks like they may be more movie references or book references. Can’t tell myself, but I’d need a more detailed shot of the pendant to be able to identify it at any rate.
Column 1 is where this gets real interesting though. Row 1 appears to be a unicorn horn and possibly a book or movie reference. I could name quite a few if that were the case. Row 2 and 3 are particularly interesting in this because 2 looks to be possible tech of some kind and row 3 is as of yet unrevealed.
My money is banking on row 2 for that one given her reaction. If it is tech, it’s probably tech that’s supposed to be secret. That would give more credibility to the outrage and surprise.
In the author desription for that page it was already said that only two items were actual pop culture references, namely the crystal and falcon (top right and bottom right). The others are random items and things that will be used in later updates (such as today’s and tomorrow’s page).
More detail? You should join the Patreon, then you’d have more than just this partial panel at double-size. :)
Wish I could, but I don’t have money to begin with. The almighty bills kill my paychecks outright.
-___-? that’s a bowl? i thought it was an armband.
why the hell did it post my comment here i swear i did not hit reply oh well
Personally thought it was her old retainer slash braces (wasn’t she wearing them in her flashback to the first time her powers caused her brothers pants to instantaneously change colour to brown?)
Well, since the title of this page is “Green Herring,” I sorta thought that it might be a can of Green Spam, to go with some Green Eggs…
But then again, no one in that room right now happens to be Sam I am either…
Aww you tease :P
Also, I wonder if Deus is being sincere?
Sincere about what? Seeing how much he can poke the GEOD’s buttons before she slags his building?
Well, one question is if the flashback is an accurate representation of what happened. This comic often has “flashbacks” that are just one character’s flight of fancy, after all. It probably happened, though we can ask ourselves if Deus keeps the bowl just for the sake of telling this story, or if he has any genuine appreciation of the gesture.
Well. That would make it an “imagine spot” not a flashback. /picky
Hence the quotes. :-)
I believe the flashback issue real.
And why Deus keeps the ashtray, it is an ego stroker.
Because it reaffirms his sense of “goodness”.
While he is ruthless the ashtray says it is for a worthy cause.
At least that is one way to see it.
Possibly I also might be reading an additional bit of sentimental in the fact he says “There are some things money can’t buy.” Sentimentalism he hastily tries to cover up with his next statement about there aren’t but buying them cheapens them.
He did get a little creative in his interview where he described how he came to run that country, so it’s very possible this didn’t happen quite the way we’re seeing either.
I believe Dues is being sincere. If you look at that smile in the last panel, it’s obvious that he sincerely loves pushing peoples’ buttons.
:)
Boo, I say, boo!
I too say boo
Damn red herring :P
But, it’s green o_O
You evil magnificent bastard of a troll!
Don’t encourage him >_> Oh wait, you meant Deus <_<
Even if Guesticus was referring to Deus then it would still include DaveB, as the guy who writes Deus’ dialogue.
;)
Also, I just noticed his seven o’clock shadow. Have we seen a super with facial hair beforehand? I still believe he has powers, but the Porto beard is throwing me off.
well, there seems to have been a super with a facial hair, although i don’t know if that actually happened, or if it was just a hypothetical situation.
i think this story was supposed to be narrated from Sydney perspective or something.
she might have learned about this here meeting later, but i don’t know how she would have knew of that moment in the bar if that was the case. (plothole?)
You are right, according to Harem, male supers don’t have facial hair
What about Omar?
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1886
I had assumed that ‘Arc-SPARQ engineer’ was semantically equivalent to ‘Gadgeteer,’ which is so totally a superpower because if it isn’t then Edna Mode isn’t a metahuman and that’s just totally absurd, because Edna Mode is so blatantly a metahuman.
And the construction worker who decided not to be a safe cracker.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1183
The scene may have just been an Imagine Spot rather than a real event of course, but why would they be imagining a super with a beard if they can’t grow one?
No, they don’t have body hair (ie anything below the neck)
And somehow the ones that chose not to have a beard don’t have any kind of stubble. I wonder if there are different levels of hairless
There is such a thing called ‘shaving’
Adrian “Ren” Gyron, the Recruit with the super adrenaline, has a soul patch so her theory that it’s common to all supers is wrong, that said I suspect it’s uncommon.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1736
By that, I mean I mean that the trait that the trait of no facial hair isn’t universal but it’s uncommon for them to have facial hair.
What if their power was to have the best beard?
He’s not super, he’s just awesome. like Lex Luthor.
With all respect to normal humans, who can accomplish much with only grit and wit…
…the dude is built like an 18 wheeler took the form of a man in order to better fit into a suit. I’d put money that he’s bigger than half the men on the team.
Some normal humans are just very large. (Insert name of American football linebacker here.)
Y’know, if you watch pro wrestling, you think “Those guys aren’t so big.”. Then you see someone like Triple H standing next to an adult fan and you ask “How much does it cost for him to get ONE suit tailored to his size?!?”.
Hmm, there were eight visible trinkets, we saw one and know what two others are, that still leaves four updates before we get to the correct one :P
But what is the 9th one that we have not seen yet?
That’s why said ‘visible trinkets’
Do you really believe DaveB is that big of a troll that it would end up being the one trinket we couldn’t see? That’s like on those shows where, 15 minutes before the end of the show, the lead detective gets handed a piece of paper and goes “That’s it! That’s the answer!” and goes running off and arrests the character that wasn’t even on the suspect list, and only showing the final clue after the arrest just the shaft the armchair detectives who have been trying to piece the clues together the entire show (personally, that always pisses me off >:( )
!!!!!!!!!!
I thought that looked like something made by a child when I first saw it!
I was really taken aback by how dynamicly angry Max looks in the last panel. That was really well done.
Okay, this and the last page leaves me no doubt who to play Deus in the Live Action Block Buster Movie: Willem Defoe!
Norman Osborn? I thought that was a given, with CGI to give him the bodyguard physique…
That would be perfect (ly scary), loving it :D
Dam that had me flat laughting for at least a minutte :D
Deus, you magnificent basterd you. That was some first class trolling, though he better tell her soon before his poking the bear (or rather bullying the dragon) goes wrong.
+1 for the “Bullying the dragon” reference, and +5 for if it DOES go wrong <3
Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus.
Or, in terms more suitable to the genre – “Don’t Tug On Superman’s Cape”.
Tugging Superman’s Cape is quite safe. All he will do is say “Did you want something, citizen?”. Now tugging Batman’s cape? You better believe it’s gonna cost you half your teeth.
Don’t pull the mask off the ol’ Lone Ranger, either.
It’s also not wise to spit into the wind either.
“Ah!. It all comes back to me now” said the sailor, as he pissed into the wind…
or maybe “I See!” said the blind carpenter, as he picked up his hammer and saw…
Wait, what’s that about dormant nun titties? o_O
After so much time passing after taking their vows of celibacy, yeah, they would tend to go dormant from non-use…
This is hilarious, and adorable.
I don’t know if it was said already on the previous page, but my guess on what Max really pointed at is the necklace (middle item top row) and that it is a necklace that once was hers but that she lost.
Whatever it is, I feel the item must have some sentimental value to provoke such a strong reaction from Max.
Yes, mentioned that on the first page of comments last page
Totally Agrecian: anything other than personal sentimental value would not have her reacting this way
Well, if “it” was a personal item that she lost, then she would be well within rights to demand its return. But she hasn’t (yet).
Probably more complicated than just that.
Damn it Dave, stop teasing us!
Well, technically, we brought this upon ourselves with all the speculations and guesses :p
Deus is a troll as well. I like him more and more.
You just love these trolly cliffhangers don’t you Dave?
I reserve the right to, purposely or otherwise, misinterpret any data to which I receive, particularly in the case of bringing the bothers to another soul.
OK, I laughed. LOVE the look on both their faces in the last panel!
Also, Dat vote incentive tho’…. Can’t wait to see that one colored! I love it!
It’d be nice if the flashback was true. It shows that Deus actually can have some compassion.
I think Panel #4 suggests that it is. He’s certainly been careful to fit this gift into his mental map of the world. Note, also, that panel #1 establishes that the inhabitants of Galytn knew EXACTLY what went down with that ‘abdication,’ and are apparently just fine with it.
The previous flashbacks were used to indicate the truth while he spun so far he crossed into outright lying. I think this flashback is 100% true.
HAHAHAHAHAHA. Deus, oh you are absolutely fantastic. I love it. It is just fantastic how he keeps jabbing the tiger in the best ways.
Maxima, your artist is teasing us again!
He drew your ass in latex. *waits for it*
You know, if what he relayed to Max here is true, for an Evil Despot, Deus is actually a pretty nice guy!
Despot, maybe. Evil has yet to be determined (except by those puritans who believe any killing is Evil, and specially a White Man in fancy business suit killing a Black Man in Africa (ignoring the fact the Black Man was a self-confessed mass-murderer of his own people)
I’d go with “Somewhat Narcissistic and Extremely Pragmatic.” The latter to the extent that he’s just one bad day away from downright Sociopathy.
You don’t have to have ‘one bad day’ to be a sociopath: not all sociopaths are outwardly crazy or evil
Moreover even if they have that suppoesed ‘one bad day’ they were sociopaths long before then. they may have hid it well but they have almost always had extreme antisocial attitudes and a lack of conscience. It’s a defining characteristic of the personality disorder.
Clarification – “… one bad day away from DISPLAYING downright sociopathy …:”.
I’m guessing he’s got that already, to some degree, but keeps it inobvious.
It is said quite seriously these days that, to rise to the top of the corporate ladder, being either a psychopath or a sociopath is a major advantage.
Hell according most sociopaths (who are not capable of feeling empathy) are more empathetic than your average CEO.
Well, DaveB says in the tagline that this is the supervillain equivalent of pulling the superheroine’s pigtails, so Deus is specifically a supervillain. Generally, with the possible exception of the misguided or the insane, supervillains are, by default, defined as evil, as opposed to antagonists, rivals, forces of nature, or eldritch beings, to name a few.
Whether he embraces/believes in his own evil is another matter: we certainly have witnessed him embacing the tropes of supervillainy.
confidence: winding Max up when you are alone with her and have a history.
If he knows her, he knows she won’t actually HURT him. Rather, he’ll know the lines he can cross before she will.
Winding her up probably isn’t one of those lines – would result in nothing more than property damage, which he would probably consider worth it.
No, she would hurt him, but not even enough to have him visit a 24hr Emergency Department
I like this, not MAINLY because of Deus trolling Maxima but because… it shows a glimpse of humanity from him, another hint that, despite whatever vibes he might give off, he’s got some basic good in him. It makes him more complex of a character, and in a good way.
I feel that Deus is trying(but about to fail)to throw Maxima off the trail….!
about the first panel…
I watched “Chinese Zodiac” yesterday, and now with this page, those lines on the ground… what the hell are they for? :D
Given that the yellow one goes directly to the center of the doorway, I’m guessing that they are guiding lines to lead people to different facilities in this warehouse / factory. Follow the yellow line and it takes you to the day-care, red line to the shipping dock, green line leads to a breakroom etc.
Common in local hospitals. One color to surgery, another to ER, etc. Staff just tell guests which line to follow.
Sometimes lines like that are drawn on the floor to guide automated carts to deliver things like mail.
Or maybe DaveB has been watching reruns of SG-1.
If you don’t have walls to paint the lines on, use the floor (most places have at least floors of some material)
He’d kill them anyway. But even someone like him gets touched by a kid thanking him
Don’t worry little girl. Your Mom won’t be saying things like that (or anything else for that matter) ever again. Now just point out who else she told so we can get our quota for the “Re-education” camps this week.
Why? Her mother didn’t say anything that wasn’t the truth, and it is obviously a widely publically known truth
Agreed. If Deus didn’t like this specific image / rep, he’d go and scare the hell out of his PR department about it until something changed, not go all ‘1984’ on people. Simply not his style, from what we can see.
If anything, he
(a) Seems remarkably upfront about the type of person he is (albeit whilst trying to put the best possible “spin” on it);
(b) Seems extremely OK with adulation, especially from people who benefit from his schemes.
I’m still sure he has Ruby’s Scroll all the way to the left of the same shelf since it looks like the back of one
Max is SO easy. Is her brother still alive because I’m sure he OFTEN got her this mad. As an evil older brother annoying sisters was a full time hobby. I’ll bet good money she still doesn’t talk to him. lol
I could be mistaken, but I’m pretty sure Max blowing out the wall when startled awake was the end of her brother trying to annoy quite so obviously.
Given how close it came to being the obvious end of said brother, yeah …..
That’s why he switched to doing things not so obvious :D
Nah–my one of my younger brothers was almost skewered by a sword punching through his bedroom door, as he was trying to escape the wrath of another brother. It might have sobered him for a day, before he goaded his sibling into another rage.
It did result in the confiscation of even the crap weapons in the house.
Teens just don’t think too good.
It’s not?! But a gift from an innocent child is the greatest treasure in all the universe!
But Maxi’s reaction would only be that extreme if the gift had been giving to her
Oh man, Deus’ expressions are just the best.
No, no I DON’T know God damned well what she’s pointing at…but I want to. I think it’s the key to her heart, bottom shelf center. Also, It IS a ZPM.
yeah, the SGC wants it back.
A few comments about the first panel.
1) No hand rail on the stairs. Safety violation. What do you think this is, the Death Star?
2) Who had the bright idea “Let’s store our supplies on shelves 30 feet in the air”?
3) How the hell do you get pallets on shelves 30 feet in the air?
Answer to #2 & 3 is Vecktor.
Or a good reach truck could do it.
Those are a lot higher than 30 ft in the air (I worked in a warehouse at one point). And they make some really big pallet jacks out there. But I like Dr. Revenge’s answer: superpowers.
On point one, different country in which Deus gets to set the rules about what’s safe or not.
With you on point 2.
With point 3, there’s a lot of places with shelving well beyond 30ft high, usually there’s a specialized vehicle/equipment used for retrieving items up that high.
Agreed on all points. The main reason we don’t see that sort of specialized equipment more often is cost – usually cheaper to just add another floor slab (although, admittedly, not by much). Once you factor in maintenance and repair costs, specialized tech looks less and less attractive for this sort of application.
Had the same reaction as O.B. Juan at first though. Then I rolled with it. :)
Ok a little something you ” people” seem to have missed.
Panel 2 of https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2052 shows Deus’s display having 3 shelves.
We see 3 objects on shelved 1 & 2.
On shelf 3 we see only 2 objects as Deus’s shoulder is blocking the 3rd.
I do believe that said mystery item is what Max is getting wound up about.
No, DaveB wouldn’t be that much of a breeder of rouge fish to do that (and he only made this page because of the rampant speculations about which of the eight visible trinkets we could see it was, not counting the crystal dildo and Golden Hawk)
Come, come now have faith in DaveB…
DaveB, I have faith that you are at *least* as big a troll as Deus. Please, toy with our hearts and minds some more – we obviously love it. :D
That’s a bold trolling strategy there Deus. Let’s see how that plays out.
In the original Greek, Tyrant was a neutral term meaning supreme or absolute ruler. It had no negative or positive connotations. Will Deus be the one to take the word back?
I doubt it–after over 400 years of “tyrant=evil tyrant,” the meaning has basically shifted permanently.
Just like “dictator,” which in the Roman Republic meant “an official given extraordinary powers for a limited time to resolve a particular problem or situation.” (We can thank Julius and Augustus Caesar and their permanent Dictatorships for the Reform of the System for that linguistic shift.)
Deus, you wonderful troll. You are the textbook example of the Magnificent Bastard.
This was brilliant.
You are casting doubt? On me? Really? A Will save from a second level wizard spell?
I’m Built for will saves! HAH! I laugh you! Laugh, I say, LAUGH! I could make this save in my…
*rolls a natural 1*
…sleep. SON OF A @$#%&!!!!!
FINE! I accept your doubt… *grumble*
Hmmm… I rolled bad enough my equipment can be affected too…
*Rolls*
My hat accepts too…
Now this is how you write a villain…or is he even a villain? I’m starting to wonder…
He may be a villain, just not evil
He’s certainly a jerkface troll though :P
Well, I’d say more a guy who would save the world. Because it would hurt his business. And maybe he has a few people who amuse him enough to care about.
er because having the world destroyed would hurt it.
Well, yeah. World destruction does tend to dramatically lower the number of clients you can sell your products to…
Until you rebuild the planet.
Narratively, he is definitely a viilain.
Thematically, he’s NOT a cliche, nor a straw man, nor a paper tiger.
He’s far more real than the typical antagonist, which is why we love him so.
Villian, not the other…
Oh, to hell with it :(
We may need to use a new term. A hero that does not always act heroically is called an anti-hero. If we have a potential villain that sometimes does good, then will have to call him an anti-villain.
TV Tropes (abandon all time, ye who enter here) had a pretty good description that fits Deus in many aspects. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AntiVillain
I think the ‘Anti-Villain’ definition pegs Deus exactly. Well done.
You nearly got me, but I managed to flee before I was completely sucked in.
He’s definitely a villian. And he’s definitely evil. But he’s just lawful evil, which I absolutely love.