Grrl Power #428 – F.U.tility
You know, except for all the stupid Swiss Army doodads, Sydney’s fantasy multi-axe might almost be a workable tool. (Ok, minus the laser sight as well) And since she can fly, why would she need an ice climbing axe? Because she’s been playing Tomb Raider, that’s why.
After Sydney gets over her initial enthusiasm, Anvil may need to point out that Arc-SWAT isn’t the investigatory branch of Archon, so stuff like a lock pick gun might not be the most practical gadget if she’s really tight on space.
Still, I’ve never understood why superheroes don’t all have utility belts of some sort. Sure, batarangs don’t do you any good if you can’t throw then with 90 plus percent accuracy, but everyone from Wonder Woman to Spider-Man would benefit from a fingerprinting kit and some zip-cuffs. The super soldier formula and process used on Captain America is functionally impossible to replicate for story reasons, but not his shield. Tell me Black Widow wouldn’t benefit from vibranium bracers at least, and think about how much more Spidey’s punches would hurt if he had some brass knuckles, vibranium or not.
(Actually, since when is his shield vibranium? They keep calling it vibranium in the movies, but I thought it was adamantium, or at least an adamantium/vibranium alloy. It probably is, they just don’t want to keep saying “adamantium/vibranium alloy.”) Edit: Ok, as about 20 people have commented, they apparently can’t use the word adamantium in the Cap and Avengers series cause Fox licenced out the X-men and all their particular baggage which includes the word adamantium and maybe even the word mutant, which seems like a really dick thing for Fox to do – I mean beyond the dumb Fantastic Four reboot.
I’ve updated the vote incentive with that picture of Peggy and Zayra. It’s pencils only at the moment because… well, because of Overwatch if I’m honest. Anyway, check it out, and I’ll hopefully have it further along in the next week or two.
So, A-kon is this weekend, and I will be around. I’d say I’ll be at most of the webcomic panels, but looking at the schedule, I hardly see any. I’m not sure what’s going on with that. Fan Expo Dallas is the same weekend, I don’t know if non-anime indie people are moving over there or what – though I did see that Joe Madureira will be giving a talk at Fan Expo. It’s probably not worth a one day ticket to see just one panel there, I mean, it’s not like hearing him talk will make me a better artist or anything, but for the first time I’m considering bouncing between the two cons. Actually their guest list is pretty amazing. We’ll see.
As for A-kon, if anyone is there and wants to meet up, there’s a restaurant in the hotel called the Media Grill and Bar. I’ll be there at 7pm on Friday wearing, uh… I don’t really have any Grrl Power shirts or anything. I’ll have one of those short brimmed green caps that Max wears. It doesn’t have an eagle on it, it’s just the kind you can get at Target. I have glasses and a goatee (technically a Van Dyke – something I learned from the City of Heroes character creator) Anyway there’s a tiny picture of me over at the Patreon.
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Actually, a multi-tool or swiss army knife, and a cheap lighter; both tied together with an idiot string, is all you really need. Fire and steel builds a civilization. Oh, and a survival training course to teach the confidence to go out in the world with just those items.
Actually, a solid credit card might be of more use to Sydney…
Did somebody say… bat credit card!?
No firing of guns or going off on a rant now please. In any event, Batman would be hunted down and arrested, if he tried operating in the Archon world (as a vigilante). Despite Sydney viewing him as a role model.
To the BatCard! Chaaaaaarge!
Holy smoke Batman, somebody has swiped it!
+1
Come on, there were lots of practical lists from last time. Let’s see how long it takes Sydney to come up with a good list of her own.
Funnily enough the shovel she wants already exists, for the most part.
https://gearupcenter.com/products/crovel-extreme-3.html
Also there’s an optional Z-Spike for it; a spike designed for killing zombies, but also useful for breaking other things.
Actually, even a simple prybar has lots of utility contained in it’s own form: For one thing, it’s extremely efficient for opening up chests (both padlocked an anatomical).
Eeew! Eeew! Eeew!
Hey, you know what they say… “The quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
Actually, I find that the quickest way is straight through the ribcage, but it does tend to get a little messy.
Marvel cannot use adamantium at all. It’s part of the Wolverine/X-Men property they leased out the rights to.
In the movies they can’t. They still own their own comics…
OMG!!!!!!.…….How is it even possible you guys have been following super hero based things and yet you think vibranium which is what caps (iconic round one) shield has always been made of is some studio license snafu???? Sure the word mutant which is licesend out was changed when refering to wanda and pietro in Age of Ultron, that is a legit gripe….
But vibranium is real/canon and is found in wakanda, as is adamantium, the are two different things and have been for many decades in the comics..
And for shame Dave for making such a huge error in bold, a simple wiki check would have saved you embarassment.
I just love that Sydney’s angel and devil are “Min Max” and “Three Moves Ahead.” Or maybe I have those reversed. Either way, so perfectly character!
Atari 2600 was 70’s game tech, not 80’s.
Late 70’s early mid 80’s is when it really took off Pong was early 70’s didn’t have Pong had an Atari 2600 got it in 82 for my 12th birthday. Ack I’ve turned into the I remember when guy.
The Atari 2600 was released on September 11, 1977… so yes, it’s late 70’s game tech. Discontinued on January 1, 1992.
On the other hand, GVBlackmoon is correct as well… it was the early 80s when it was at its most popular, because of titles like Space Invaders (1980) and Pac-Man (1982). Funnily enough, Pac Man is one of the games that are credited for contributing to the video game crash of 1983, and yet, it was one of the best-selling Atari 2600 cartridges ever (more than 7 million sold). That’s a strange dichotomy there, IMO.
As a side-note, it looks like GVBlackmoon and I are approximately the same age… within a few months of each other, anyway.
The Atari 2600 style controller port was a de-facto standard in itself, for example the Amiga CD-32 released in 1993 had two DB 9 controller ports which could read a standard Atari controller, as well as the more complicated CD-32 controller. Though if Sydney is REALLY worried about needing an Atari controller on her utility belt, they can be easily emulated (provided you remember the pin out) with either a paper clip, or a loose staple. :-)
I don’t disagree about the utility belt. But why would Spiderman need zip-cuffs? He’s got webs. Webs are the best multi-tool. His belt is where he keeps the spare web fluid too.
And I don’t think the movies can use adamantium can they? Wouldn’t the rights have gone along with Wolverine to Fox for all movie purposes? It’s like why they couldn’t call Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch mutants in Avengers 2.
That last I recall reading about it, Spidey’s webbing dissolves after 45 minutes. Still, yeah he could probably do without that on his belt.
About an hour as far as I can remember.
I wonder how much business he create for windows cleaners…
Legally that is the situation… Marvel cannot use “adamantium” because Wolverine.
However, it also highlights what whomever negotiated that contract wasn’t thinking at all. Marvel has rights to characters and books that do have or mention adamantium… It *isn’t* an exclusively Wolverine thing. example: Ultron’s updated body after his first reconstruction was adamantium. That exclusivity could easily have been negotiated out. Also not mentioning mutants, since many of MCU’s properties also have mutants of their own who are not affiliated with the X-Men property.
For shame Dave and all super hero fans…
Both metals have existed in the comix for decades, Vibranium since 1966, Adamantium since 1969 in the comix… It is not a movie rights snafu, Sydney would lecuture you all endlessly for such public failures to use wiki to fact check prior to posting…
https://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Adamantium
https://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Vibranium
Talking about the Movies, not the comics: in the movies, Marvel can not use the term ‘Mutant’
This is of course the stupidest situation possible. By al rights the contracts should have left Marvel in the position to have the final say in their IPs no matter the medium. The fact they cannot show how screwed up the MPAA is.
It is down to the financial position Marvel were in when they made the sale. As I understand it, they were in dire need of the money. Further it was their intention to sell off the movie rights to all of their characters. Thus throwing in ancillary things like “mutant” and “adamantium” increased the sale price, yet made no impact on their intended business model (namely keeping to the comic business). Thus ensuring that they retained the comic rights.
It was only when the first successes came (after various more disappointing attempts in their history), that things turned around. It became apparent that movie effects had progressed to the point where super powers could be portrayed as intended, without the compromises needed in previous decades.
Even more importantly being the realisation that the movie market was ready for the genre. Not to mention that the feedback, from the movie sales, was helping their core business sales too. So Marvel were able to shift their model, to retain the rights and keep control of the ongoing movies, rather than let it pass out of their hands.
Of course those they had already signed away, left them in the situation we see today. But had they not made those early choices, the films we got to see may not have ever been made, and their business might have collapsed without that revenue. Having to avoid using a few words is a small price to pay for gaining one of the most successful movie franchises ever.
Really people – Cap’s shield is fictional substance whatever which has been inconsistently referred to / retconned so many times that what it was, is, or will be is a meaningless discussion.
They’ve changed it quite a bit. Originally it was a “mystery alloy”, the only thing left after an experimental metallurgical plant blew up, and supposedly it was in that shape, with those colors, when they found it. Then they decided to try and make it fit in more, and went with adamantium/vibranium. When the movie went with vibranium alone it was really a slap in the face, as if it WAS full vibranium, it would have exploded multiple times throughout the film.
Marvel never went with Cap’s shield being Adamantium/Vibranium because that would be ridiculously stupid since Adamantium was developed decades later trying to recreate Cap’s shield so can’t possibly be part of the shield’s make-up and comes up against the issue that if Adamantium had existed to use in making the shield they’d have never made the shield since the entire point of the experiment was to come up with a tougher metal alloy for tanks and other military craft. If they already had a material (adamantium) which can handle a nuclear blast and therefor impervious to all the weapons available during WWII they’d have had no motivation to try and find something even tougher (how would they even know if they didn’t have tools that could harm Adamantium that they had something even tougher?).
And Cap’s original shield was not round
Since I can’t edit…
As apparently a lot of people mentioned, the legalities surrounding licensing do make the question have real-world meaning.
Adamantium and vibranium alloy in the comics vibranium in the movies because X-men and Fox (i think it is fox) have the rights to adamantium so the movies had to choose the other impossible to damage metal.
Unknown Iron Alloy plus Vibranium no adamantium, only place it canonically is adamantium and vibranium is the ultimate avengers animated universe.
The “unknown iron alloy” was referred to as proto-adamantium for quite some time.
Actually, if I remember right from the first Captain America movie, what’s in his shield is all the vibranium that was available outside of that country that Black Panther is from.
Yep. At the time they made the shield, they had just used all of the available stuff in their arsenal. This was what back in 1944/5?
What organization takes everything of a super rare substance and turns it into a shield?
Monarchies, dictatorships and corporations owned by a billionaire. And more than a few historical examples of similar things being done. Such as with Crown Jewels.
Dumb though, yea. With substances that have special properties, over and above just looking perdy.
What organization takes all of a super rare thing and makes a pretty disk of it? Scientists. And if they had THAT big a lump of the stuff, I can see why they thought they could get more of it. The color/shape looks like an impact tester.
The US military that also spent all of their money on a “Super soldier serum” that produced only one. So they went “Fuck it suck cost” and outfitted said super soldier with the best they had and watched as he won them the war.
Sunk cost*
There is a weapon that does most of what she’s considering. It’s the mek’leth, based on the fictional Klingon weapon. It’s real, and a combination cutlass-axe, with a hilt that is perfect for catching enemy weapons or slashing throats. It absolutely rules in any melee and most mundane situations. The only two drawbacks is that it leaves you vulnerable to long-range attacks (though Klingons would accuse any long range enemies of being cowards), and the user has to adapt his/her fighting style to the weapon.
I like the economy trap idea, although I suspect that I would have taken the machete anyway. You really can’t go wrong with a machete.
Mostly, the military’s gear is pretty carefully thought out, and is made to be both lightweight, and multi-purpose. While I have to admit Sydney’s choice of the lockpicks was probably a good one, ARCHON will likely have other means of breaking into places where they need to get. Those methods may not be as quiet, granted, but they likely will be faster, and sometimes speed can substitute for stealth. Most of the stuff on the table on the previous page is pretty much going to be on par with the kukri–cool, perhaps, but mainly because of its reputation–ARCHON is going to be trained with, and will expect to use, other equivalents.
Klingons would call anyone who uses a ranged weapon a coward?! Never heard of disruptors, apparently.
A Klingon by definition would meet his foe on essentially equal terms, though. Shooting a man armed only with a knife *would* be considered cowardly. Shooting one who also had a disruptor, *while* he was attacking you with a knife would be perfectly fine tho.
Mek’leths are basically falcatas or kukris with shitty grips that you can’t effectively stab with. They suffer from the designers wanting them to look alien and exotic more than they wanted them to be effective, so they deliberately deviate from the lines along which historical weapons tended to evolve. Thing is, there’s a reason that historical weapons evolved along the lines they did, and that’s because that’s what works. They’re not horrible blades, but they’re really not good, either.
They’re better than bat’leths, though. My fanwank explanation for the bat’leth is that they were invented by some Klingon who decided to demonstrate how badass he was by defeating his opponent while handicapped by hanging onto a basically useless giant batarang, and then his opponent, not to be outdone, did the same thing, and now anyone who is weak enough to want to use an actual effective weapon in a fight is viewed with contempt and scorn.
Good psychological explanation. Which made me chuckle.
My favorite bat’leth fight, and I don’t mean that in a good way, was the Klingon attack on DS9. You had 4 or more Federation officers using bat’leths with more proficiency than the Klingons, and after it was all over they pan out to a scene of a circular deck with all the Federation folks panting but alive and untouched, and all the Klingons down and conveniently unconscious. But certainly not killed, because there’s not a drop of blood in the entire scene, despite everyone swinging around these pointy and bladed weapons.
It was scene after scene of one or another of the Federation officers pulling some 4 point maneuver on some poor, unsuspecting Klingon. Block, block, gutpunch, middle of the bet’leth (apparently unsharpened) to the chin, and down goes the Klingon. Over and over and over again.
So what’s this I hear about Marvel signing over the movie rights to adamantium in some sort of non-replicable law office accident?
He he.
I have to admit im curious. Is anvil impressed that she spotted the trap? I bet the smart money was on her picking like 180 pounds of gear then collapsing on the ground the moment she pulls on the pack.
No doubt there was a bet going among the officers about how this trap worked out
With decent odds against Sidney, given her propensity to “ooh” tunnel vision.
They call it Vibranium because Fox has the rights to Adamantium and the MCU doesn’t, so they can’t actually say it’s an Adamantium/Vibranium Superalloy.
Well, Spider-Man had a utility belt. He used it to hold, among other things, spare web-cartridges, lockpicks, and the Spider-Signal. I always did like the way that Spidey thought.
And it seems to me that most of this stuff is worse than useless, given that Sydney needs both her hands free to use her powers to maximum effect. I think Sydney needs to make another order from Machina Industries. I mean, she’s already got a cell-bracer for her left hand, she could use a multitool-bracer for her right.
Sydney won’t be a front line field agent, if anything she will be strategy (when she isn’t distracted and has time to plan)
Given Spidey’s strength, if he hit somebody with brass knuckles on, he’d likely kill them.
A thug, sure, but not the Rhino or Titania. Actually, I’m not sure brass knuckles would help him much against Titania.
The brass knuckles wouldn’t help him very much against most of his rouges gallery. Given his sheer strength if hes needing to use brass knuckles on them his own fist would/could crush them when used. He’s been shown to crush steel supports with his finger strength… on accident…
He’d need Adamantium Knuckles to improve his damage.
I’m keep thinking of that scene in Sherlock Holmes (the Robert Downy Jr ones) where Sherlock is about to pick a lock when Watson steps past him and just kicks the door in.
In most of the situations ARC-SWAT are going to be in it would be more prudent to breach and clear.
Yea, Arc-Drark is the ones that need lockpicks
Versatility is important. Syd (among others) can get into any place she really wants into. However, sometimes it might be useful to NOT destroy whatever’s in the space… or the wall defining it… Lockpicks weigh practically nothing and take practically no space.
Similarly for weapons, Syd has no need for a cannon but as far as we’ve seen the PPO is not much use against one target standing in the middle of a bunch of hostages.
Power is important sometimes. Finesse is important sometimes. You want your heroes to be capable of both.
> the PPO is not much use against one target standing in the middle of a bunch of hostages.
No, but the hook is perfectly sufficient for that one… and for that matter, she’s sucker-punched a couple of her team-mates by cracking them over the head with one of the orbs.
Reminds me of one of the segments in Max Payne (or Max Payne 2) where the bad guys set explosives, planning to blow the door open…
The wall falls over, leaving the doorframe untouched (and crushing the two henchmen). WHOOPS! Something tells me that wasn’t part of the plan…
A scenario that probably entered her mind is being pursued by zombies. You want to get in to that difficult to open door, but also close it after yourself so they can’t follow.
“Most” situations, maybe. But I think there is a lot to be said for keeping one’s options open.
According to Wikipedia the main shield was made by an impossible to reproduce (guy fell asleep during experiment) process of bonding vibranium with an experimental iron alloy (later retconned to “proto-adamantium as attempts to recreate the shield resulted in the discovery of adamantium). Adamantium is wrapped up in the X-Men movie rights, which means Marvel can’t use it in the MCU. Also, at various times Captain Americas have used pure adamantium, pure vibranium, and even pure steel shields, normally because the main shield was unavailable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_America%27s_shield
Research for the win!
Sadly, I lived and read through most of that. ::sigh::
I’m reminded of moon shadow from ps238. Although in his case, he deliberately took as much as he could to avoid going out on patrol.
Oh yeah, I knew I’d seen that one before, I just couldn’t remember where. I kept thinking “Didn’t Sydney already do this?”
Wonder Woman and Spider Man would have found the fingerprinting kits pretty useless too, being outside the local law enforcement system (Spider-Man being chased by the police half of the time…).
They make some of those multitools.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Dead-On-Tools-Annihilator-18-in-Wrecking-and-Utility-Bar-AN18/202268983
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Razor-Back-Pulverizer-Multi-Purpose-Concrete-and-Demolition-Tool-2517500/205040655
https://media.popularmechanics.com/images/stanley-fubar-entry-430.jpg
https://www.firehooksunlimited.net/images/wide-adz-pro-bar/wide_adz_probar_002.jpg
Folks have already mentioned that Spidey uses his webbing as cuffs (yeah it only lasts an hour, but in general that’s more than enough time to get the bad guys passed on to the police) and already has a utility belt (even if it seems like most writers forget about it), so I’ll just add here that given that the only reason most baddies aren’t turned into a spreadable paste when he hits them is that he pulls his punches (yep, that is the official reasoning), giving him brass knuckles wouldn’t do much of anything except look cool and/or ruin a set of brass knuckles when he really does have to go all out.
That’s a silly thing to make someone do though. Instead of letting a Super hero use martial arts to disable someone, he just ‘doesn’t punch as hard’
Wait, you don’t consider boxing (and punching) to be ‘martial arts’?
And it’s not silly, it shows that Parker knows both his own strength and how much damage most of those he is fighting can take: he starts off small and works his way up if they show resistance to his punches
A sucker punch is not boxing. The only reason supers get away with that kinda thing is because they are nearly always stronger than the other guy. You can’t just punch away at someone tougher than you, you need to use some actual tactics
And I know comics brush over the whole ‘knocked out’ thing, but getting knocked out is actually REALLY bad for a person, and almost always causes permanent damage
To be fair, what Guesticus described was not a sucker punch, it was a pulled punch. Two very different things. A sucker punch is when you try to take somebody by surprise and hit them when they are looking the other way.
Being a Spidey fan, I had better stand up for him. He kicks, he throws, he slams, he dodges, he parries and he even uses his own signature weapons (his webslingers). If that is not martial arts, what is? He uses the Spidey Style, which utilises his superhuman agility (and strength) to devastating effect.
Very often his foes are stronger than him and either too heavily armoured or otherwise too tough for even his full-strength blows to harm them. He then has to use his style, agility and wits to improve the effectiveness of his attacks.
For instance bouncing off a wall, to strike a foe from an unexpected angle (this is related to a sucker punch, but lacks the dishonour of attacking without the foe knowing you intend to fight). Or building up momentum, by swinging into the attack. Or gaining a situational advantage, such as attacking from a great height, or improvising with something in the environment, which can provide an edge.
He very much does, therefore, use martial arts. He is simply self-taught, as opposed to having studied under a master.
But every school of martial arts had to be founded by someone. Not all will have evolved from earlier martial arts. At a minimum at least one person had to be self-taught, before the first martial arts pupil had knowledge passed onto them from someone else. And it has probably happened a number times, down through the centuries.
Parker-sensei, we have learned no one of us can defeat you.
“You show wisdom, my student.”
So we’re going to have to gang up on you. Get him, guys!
“Web to the face”
Thwip
Thwip
Thwip
Ooohhhmmmmmm
Sydney’s essential gear: a uniform that is bullet, fire, and chemical resistant (for when she’s caught with her shield down). I’d suggest a helmet of some sort, too, with communications built into the collar, helmet, and wrist-comp. Beyond that she’d have different kits for different missions.
Sydney’s orbs _are_ her utility belt, impossible to take away from her, and Harem can “field-drop” any tools needed for a situation, which means most of the stuff on the table is worthless as a standard field kit. Which doesn’t mean that Sydney shouldn’t have several kits put together for Harem to deliver as needed, and be fully trained in using it all (especially the medical field kit). But she should forget about the weapons; there are very few situations in which they would be handy where her orbs won’t do the job. She’s not a ninja, after all (although she should always expect them).
Yeah, the problem is Sydney is thinking of a utility belt like she’s a master detective like Batman, and also like a Zombie Apocalypse survival kit. She’ll over-encumber the first iteration and quickly pare it down over time.
Actually, considering she already HAD a day running laps – she might under-encumber. She already has a uniform, gun and pip boy. A simple first aid kit, duct tape, small multi-tool/knife and lock-picks might be all she REALLY needs. Her orbs can do all the heavy lifting and she won’t want too many things that take up a hand slot.
Ok – maybe a water bottle, energy bar and an extra dose of her meds. That will add noticeably to her weight tho. (Water is heavy, so is food)
She would also take into account carrying “Tubey”, or a variation of it, the wrist comm, and the breathing apparatus. I like the idea of her orbs in a customized carrying case that allows her to “pull” one without removing the others. When it comes to low profile Sydney wouldn’t be my first choice, but it might draw less attention glowing balls of light around her head.
Reminds me of a similar scene from PS238. Of course Moonshadow had very different incentives…
With that thinking, why does anyone on the team need to carry anything? They have Harem to equip them with anything they could possibly need (up to her weight limit)
Because you can’t always depend on a team mate to be there with what you need when you need it, you have to have certain essential gear you keep with you because even with a teleporter time counts.
Zack Tilly: better, POO, to have redundant gear you don’t need than to be in need of gear you don’t have
As a member of the knife and tool industry, I can assure you that the tool Sydney thinks up in the first panel is possible. If you know the right engineer. It just wouldn’t look exactly as she’s picturing it.
Well no, putting a laser sight on the saw blade is silly
Right, you put it in the handle to help mark the cut you’re going to make. Yes, that IS a real product, never underestimate the gadget-happiness of the modern handyman.
It’s actually quite handy means you don’t have to have a square as well as your saw, laser sighted handtools\powertools are a definite thing and are very much appreciated by the tradies I know :)
Is that you, neighbour Wilson?
you can also get a laser guide on scissors, where it gets in the way for ordinary use, and where the battery dies before you actually need the guide (say, for a bias cut on a weirdly printed fabric).
They, of course, have dual use, for ninja tailors.
Oh, yes!
A good pair of scissors are heavier than throwing knives and will penetrate quite deeply…
…I speculate, of course–I would never, NEVER, contemplate using scissors as a weapon (even as the foundation for a tailoring-based martial art), or throwing them across the room at a paper human target… or at a corkboard, either.
…because cork and paper both just ruin the edge on the blades.
(And also, laser scissors are poorly balanced and generally of shoddy construction–not weapon-grade at all, at all.)
If you watch the (quite good, albeit surreal) anime “Dog and Scissors”, you will see non-laser-guided scissors being used as very effective weapons, in a variety of circumstances. But mainly to attack the dog, of the title.
*tucks tail under body, and whines in sympathy*
I said it would be possible not practical.
I want one. I don’t care how impractial it would be.
But did you happen to notice that it included something not mentioned in the dialogue, which might make that a bit harder? Namely a fishing rod, complete with line, float and hook.
Too bad Dabbler isn’t present in this page. We could get her take on the use of special alloys to accomplish certain tasks. Especially her custom made personal device made out of ‘vibratium’.
You’re thinking of a dildo, aren’t you?
Making a dildo out of something whose primary property is to ABSORB vibrations would not be popular…
Her allows is probably a little different
“A modicum of snuff” Baron Munchausen reference? :o
Yup.
For the OTHER fan wank. They…can’t reproduce Cap’s shield. It’s a Vibranium/Admanitum alloy…and they can’t figure out how to get it RIGHT. First time was a fluke. (And, in the MCU, well…that was all the Vibranium they had).
Spidey, at least, recognizes gadgets=good. Also: YAY! Sydney is learning!
*blushes*
I has paws, not hands!
She also needs a non-barometric altimeter, and to memorize an altitude/air pressure table. She then needs to practice forming forcefields of a given volume and then contracting them so the air contained within is at sea-level pressure. Useful backup for when the supplemental oxygen runs out.
I was right! This was a psych test!
::does the “I was right and you were wrong so now I dance on your head” song::
And loving the “The Last Starfighter” reference in panel 5.
Special forces *loves* things with multiple uses.
Design customized kit.
Learn what the recruit thinks is important.
Emphasize to recruit bulk and weight.
win/win/win
“It’s a floor wax!”
“It’s a dessert topping!”
“It’s a floor wax!”
“It’s a dessert topping!”
“Hold on you two – New Shimmer is a floor wax AND a dessert topping!”
I believe Brass Knuckles are illegal in New York (along with just about everything else useful). Spidey has enough trouble as being a vigilante, adding brass knuckles to it would definitely make him a criminal under New York law and push him out of that grey area of “Super Hero” to law enforcement. Come to think of it, Hawkeye, Mockingbird and just about any hero who uses any type of weapon could be arrested. Heck just punching a bad guy could have them charged with assault.
Sydney doesn’t really need lockpicks (and a lockpick gun is actually pretty useless since it doesn’t have the fine control you need) because as noted she is not a covert operative and Any lock she needs past she could smash with her light hook.A prybar might be useful to get under something to allow the light hook something to press on, but otherwise she is fine. A multitool, zip ties, a flashlight (two probably, one regular, one head mounted to keep her hands free for using her orbs, a lighter, some paracord (maybe as a bracelet), zip ties, a water bottle (either a canteen, or water bladder), a mirror (for signaling and checking around corners), a combat first aid kit, a green laser pointer, some energy bars ( in case she gets stuck somewhere and needs to eat), gum, hard candy, a hat and sunglasses, and of course, her meds.
Don’t give her gum. Then she couldn’t walk into a villain hideout and use the classic line “I came her to chew gum and kick ass and I’m all out of gum”.
Gum is an important component for several reasons. It is useful as a way to extend your water supply by keeping you from feeling thirsty, it is also an expedient adhesive, useful for putting the mirror on a knife or something to let you peer around corners without exposing yourself to enemy fire (e.g. Saving Private Ryan among many others). Also literally gumming up machinery lick locks or gears or anything really. And yes I know you were joking.
I’ve seen that tool actuall. Sans the swiss army tool bit. the axe head was detatchable with a metal plug thingy lock.
also not really a dick move for Fox to do. They bought and paid money for it.. They make pretty decent xmen movies and they want to keep the stuff. So its not strange they woudln’t sell that bit. Also. Point of fact..
Marvel never asked to buy it, they just went straight to only vibranium. Which in the cinmatic universe is apparently magic infused. They actively chose to use that as a plot point for later character involvement.
So… not a dick move
Vibranium is only found in one place in the Marvel universe, controlled by an insular and rather xenophobic society that doesn’t want it’s one material advantage over other nations to be released to said nations anyways. And as well, it’s rather rare to begin with. And adamantium? VERY difficult to manufacture apparently. Even though in the 90’s apparently everyone even tangentially associated with Wolverine managed to procure some. >.>! Otherwise…imagine a light chain link vest made of vibranium? Made public? Damn near everyone would be bulletproof, and how much fun would THAT be?
A light chain link vest. I believe that’s called ‘Mithril’.
And a super-stong, highly desired metal, found in only one place, and guarded by a xenophobic civilization. I wonder where Marvel got the idea for their version?
It is also known as “diamond-mesh fence”.
Oh, wait, you said, “chain link vest”, not “chain link fence”. Doh!
Actually there are two sources of Vibranium but the the nature of the Vibranium in each source is different.
Antarctic Vibranium breaks down all other metals with the exception of Wakandan Vibranium. Wakandan Vibranium absorbs any impact or vibration without being damaged. Adamantium is an alloy of Wakandan Vibranium and iron. In the main universe it comes in 4 varieties Proto-adamantium is technically what Capt’s shield is made of it is an alloy composed of accidently made true adamantium, vibranium and iron. It is technically the strongest form of adamantium but they have bean unable to recreate it. Think of it like the Adamantium equivalent of Damascus Steel. True adamantium is a reproducible attempt to recreate proto-adamantium. It’s strength is second only to proto-adamantium but id incredibly difficult to produce and work with plus it suppresses most biological functions if bonded with a living organism unless they have a sufficiently powerful healing factor. Adamantium beta is a variant of true a adamantium which is biologically compatible. Secondary adamantium is a cheap and relatively easy to produce version of adamantium. While still incredibly strong it is far inferior to other forms of adamantium.
There WAS another source for the version of Vibranium found in Wakanka but the island was bombed to destruction by Roxxon (or maybe the Brand) Corporation because if they couldn’t have exclusive control over it they weren’t going to let anyone else have it either. The bombing overwhelmed the vibranium’s absorption levels causing it to explode (although paradoxically it somehow absorbed the sound from its own explosion).
BTW that vote incentive is looking GORGEOUS. :D Can’t wait to see it in color.
I love this forum for reasons like this. A detailed discussion of the metallurgical properties of a fictional element.
Yea, mind you it is odd that nobody has mentioned that, whilst we can manufacture it artificially, aluminium is actually naturally occurring! No lost formula or such nonsense.
Mind you, most modern shields are actually made out of transparent, high-impact polycarbonate, rather than aluminium.
Aluminum is an element, but practically never found in pure form in nature, and it’s difficult to extract the pure aluminum from the ore. Until the development of the modern methods of refining and smelting it in the late 19th century, metallic aluminum was more valuable than gold. It is also not the same thing as adamantium.
Most of the shields I see actually are aluminum, purpose-built from sheets of aircraft aluminum, or made from retired street signs. Mine is plywood, though. I hate aluminum shields (and plastic ones even more). If you’re going to use a big shield, you should have to eat the drawbacks of it.
I’m wondering now what the actual ratio is of SCA shields to riot shields in the world.
Oh darn it, and there I was just about to show off my process for creating transparent aluminium. I figured that because riot shields need to be transparent, it would be a major improvement, to have see-through aluminium ones. The first batch I made up is awesome. Even a diamond won’t scratch it!
Plus I have learnt from all the comments on this topic, and wrote up the whole process. Which is a very good thing, as I am so forgetful that I never remember what I wanted upstairs, by the time I get there!
So I guess I wasted my time then, if aluminium shields are already commonplace? I felt sure that I was onto something good.
*sighs*
*tosses formula into the fire*
If only it cost a bit less…
Dr Nichols?
Is that you?
Nope. Nor Drs Watson, Strange, or Doom.
I don’t need a ton of stuff to way me down in a pool. I’m as bouyant as a brick.
Don’t worry, your corpse will float back up
You’d think but no I can’t even float on my back or do the dead mans float.Things supposedly everyone can do. I sink with full lungs and regular swim trunks.I can sit on the bottom of a pool as easily as I sit on the floor.
Give it a few days for gasses to build up in your actually dead body. Then it’ll float
As for now: You probably have lots of muscles don’t you? Fat floats, but muscles are denser, and they actually sink
That’s what I was about to say. It reminds me of werewolves in the Mercy Thompson novels. When they’re in wolf form, they can’t swim, because they have too much muscle mass and almost no body fat. That’s why it’s a popular form of suicide among werewolves.
They don’t seem to swim very well even in human form either. Makes me wonder if they just say “well, I can’t swim in wolf form, so what’s the point in learning to swim as a human?” Or is learning to swim still that uncommon?
P.S.: Apparently, yes it is. In the United States, about 70% of African-Americans, 60% of Hispanics, and 40% of Caucasian adults have little-to-no swimming ability. If I remember correctly, in the U.K., learning to swim is part of public curriculum. Maybe there should be a push to add it to our public curriculum too…
Yup, both the secondary schools I went to had their own swimming pools. And the primary school used to take weekly trips to the public pool.
One of the optional courses, at the former, was swimming teaching, which I took. Never directly made use of it mind, in my career. But it was of great indirect benefit, when instructing others. The course had a surprising degree of theory, course planning and other generic teaching techniques, which were useful outside of just the pool environment.
You know, all this talk of Marvel/fox signing away admantium and having exclusive rights and such….. There are plenty of other sources that use the same material. D&D’s/pathfinder’s adamantine comes to mind.
Also Wikipedia states that many literary sources utilize the metal. “Adamant and the literary form adamantine occur in works such as Prometheus Bound,[3] the Aeneid, The Faerie Queene, Paradise Lost, Gulliver’s Travels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Lord of the Rings, and the film Forbidden Planet (as “adamantine steel”), all of which predate the use of adamantium in Marvel’s comics.”
With all these other sources, claiming rights to use the name of the metal seems equivalent to trying to claim the rights to using the name Bob or some other such silly claim.
(Also, long time reader. First time posting. Please don’t suck me into the vortex of compulsive posting on every page. I say this to my own brain)
Note, there is a difference between ‘Adamantine’ and ‘Adamantium’, it is not the same as between ‘Aluminum’ and ‘Aluminium’
Welcome out of the shadows, and into the light. You will find us a friendly community. We may compulsively follow the comic, but even those who only post rarely are valued.
But, on a different topic, can everyone please remember to vote every day. You will find the link to the right of this page.
Welcome!
What Doggy said. And viewpoints are valued, even ones no ones agrees with. :D
As long as they are well thought out (preferably anyway)
We also appreciate silly. :D
Sydney’s “Min Max” shoulder demon is actually “Mini Max” (note the dark glasses)
Don’t know about the copyright claims on “mutant”, tho the claim is likely worthless of itself, but TSR tried to claim “nazi”. They claimed that was a mistake, which, given the amount of grief they took about it, that is correct, tho perhaps not in the way they meant. But even if the claim is thrown out, it would cost a lot to defend the suit and the practical effect is that the user needs to be careful.
No, at one point Marvel did claim a copyright on ‘mutant’, not sure how long it lasted for or even if it is still in place
Forgot to mention: that is why DC had to use ‘metahuman’
There’s a common misunderstanding about TSR’s trademark on the “Nazi” thing.
My understanding is that they weren’t trying to trademark the word “Nazi”… they were trying to trademark that particular representation of a Nazi. In other words, in case some other company started making Nazi miniatures, they couldn’t make one that looked too similar to the one TSR made. I could be wrong.
Actually it was Lucasfilm, not TSR, but you are correct that it was the particular representation of Nazis. Namely from the film Indiana Jones. When TSR made a game of it, they were required, by Lucasfilm, to indicate that each name and representation (including the Nazi ones) was a trademark of Lucasfilm.
That makes more sense. Thanks for the correction. :)
So…is no one going to ask to play Overwatch with DaveB?
DaveB, you wanna play Overwatch?
If you end up over at Fan Expo on Saturday I’ll be the Dr. Mrs. The Monarch with a rifle nearly the size of me traveling with a Mighty Monarch, some henchmen and a few Team Venture hostages.
Yeah, but I’ll be the one who sounds authentic. Give a shout if you spot me about.