Grrl Power #436 – Muppetosis
Ok, now before anyone rushes to post that drugs take longer than that to take effect, or that Muppet Vision isn’t a side effect of Adderall, one, a-doy, two, this is Sydney we’re talking about and three, you know, the weakness on the webcomic format is that you have to wait for the next page, at least if you’re reading along in real time. Of course, the strength of the webcomic format is that you guys can comment, speculate, and share your favorite slow cook recipes in the meantime, so have at it!
The difference between a fanny pack and a proper “utility belt” is that the utility belt should be properly packed so it doesn’t rattle in case stealth is needed. Even her little pill carrier isn’t just a hollow tin clamshell, it’s got a foam bed in it with slits to hold the pills securely so she doesn’t sound like she’s running around with a box of tic-tacs in her pocket. Of course that means she can only fit a dozen in there instead of like 30, so she’s got probably 2 extra Adderalls, some ibuprofen, a couple allergy pills, some proper painkillers, and other assorted over the counter drugs. Her first aid kit though, has a collection of antidotes to various poisons, which Sydney is absolutely not allowed to get in to yet cause she has no training with that stuff, and if your face is sliding off your skull cause someone slipped weaponized leprosy into your waffles, reading the little booklet that comes with the antidotes may not be an option.
By the way, this belt isn’t her full loadout, it’s literally just a belt with some pouches that Sydney’s stuffed with goodies she’s imagined needing. You’ll notice for instance it doesn’t include her sidearm (which she wouldn’t be carrying anyway until she’s certified) Her full combat loadout includes a tactical vest with a crossdraw holster, ammo pouches, etc. I imagine it will be suspiciously similar to this design.
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No side effect, Maxima just has Muppet Powers….
Dabbler has cast a few illusions as a joke, and convinced everyone else to pretend nothing is wrong?
That’s… actually within the realm of possibility that she is indeed messing with Sidney. Probably not, but possible.
Well look at that. Correct after all.
Ha ha. Puppet Max. Ha ha.
This is reminding me of ‘Smile Time’.
best Angel episode… ever.
“Angel..” “Spike, don’t say it”
‘YOU’RE A WEE PUPPET MAN!”
“What are you all looking at?!?”
“They’re looking at the wee little puppet man!”
But this particular puppet has Life-Like Hair™ & a Kug-Fu Grip™.
So now you know, and knowing is half the battle.
Gee eye Jooooooooeee!
Also, we get a good look at the Halo logo in this one, thanks Dave!
Okay Sydney, you have to tell Maxi about the Muppets On Parade side-effect (but not until after you have checked out the rest of the group, bets on Dabbles and Pixel not looking any different :P)
Pixel will actually look pixellated.
Dabbler will be.. an anti-Succubus. I dunno, Rosanne Barr maybe?
The horror. The HORROR!
Does that mean the Archeologist will suddenly become Indiana Jones?
So Sydney is planning to get less than 4 hours of sleep for two nights in a row?
Some people can do so quite happily.
Me, I’ve been on about 4 1/4 hours a night for the last three nights and am okay so far…
In high school, I averaged 5 hours of sleep a night all week (I caught up on weekends).
For twelve months after my daughter was born, I got by on four hours or less a night. That gets harder in your thirties.
Or, to put it another way: she’s young, she can handle it.
But I’m in my fifties…
Me too! Sleep is for the weekends!
Yeah, when you’re young & vigorous, you can handle pretty much anything. Back in my mid-twenties, I drove cross-country (literally coast-to-coast) in about 4 days…Drive for at least 16 hours, pull over to a rest stop for 3-4 hours sleep, then drive some more.
I was transferring from my Navy tech school to my first duty station at the time. Had 1 week to drive it & still spent 3 days of that at home along the way.
:P
I’ve been doing the same all week, I’m not happy or cheerful but I’m functional.
I’m not sure what time of day this is. Maybe the dosage will wear off by bedtime.
Has anybody fallen in love with Sydney, following her adorkable dance in panel 3?
Nope. I did before that. The girl is just so gosh darn adorable!
Or adorkable. Whichever.
Agreed. But she is especially so right through today’s page…
The faces today are something else.
I especially like her face in the last panel, something like an indignant librarian; “Where are you going with that book? Do you think you can just borrow it?”
Really @MidnightDStroyer? Unless you want to perpetuate old stereotypes, librarians are only indignant if people don’t want to take home books, I promise. Any ones who feel otherwise either need to retire fast or find a new job. We don’t sush people anymore either, I promise :)
Oops I closed those Italic tags wrong, been too long since I’ve played with HTML.
I’m pretty sure MidNightDStroyer was just using the stereotype to be funny, because the imagery IS funny :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQZCyxGmxIk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyLmSAnoR6g
And I know about funny stereotypes.
I’m a lawyer.:)
Oh I’m sure you’re correct. I figured as much but it was kind of fun to act indignant about a stereotype that was about being indignant. I think it would have come across slightly better if I had gotten the tags right. Thatnks also why I included the smiley, I was intending to me I that I wasn’t mad.
Being indignant about being labeled as indignant brought a smile to my face.
*feels stereotypical urges to chase the cat*
Err, on second thoughts…
*takes a second look*
Heeere pussy cat, nice pussy cat…
*offers a yummy-looking virgin mouse*
Speaking of stereotypes…
Hey Yorp! Wanna go for walkies?
https://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=112229
Something is wrong about that poor dog! Buffy has never failed to be enthusiastic about going for a walk. If given a choice between Salami and walkies, she invariably chooses the latter!
Mind you if she steps outside and sees that there is a torrential downpour (and Bulgaria does not do this by halves) she will change her mind. Likewise if the snow is too deep for her to go through other than by tunneling!
In fact, even when she was so badly affected by an infection, that she was within 24 hours of dying, she still tried to walk (on our way to the vets) but was unable to even stand for more than a few seconds!
It took major surgery to save her, yet she was keen to get out, on her daily walk, the instant she could stand! I had to carefully ration her, to make sure she did not over-do it.
You would dance too, if you realised you’re Batman.
er, sorry.. BatYorp
It’s BatDog, BatDog .
“Looks around for a newspaper.”
“Ace the Bathound”, you mean.
*runs away from DR.REVENGE and dashes behind Chronocidal‘s legs, peering out anxiously at DR.REVENGE*
*looks up atChronocidaland wags tail gratefully*
As long as it’s not DynoMutt
What’s wrong with DynoMutt? o_O
Everything….
Just. Everything.
I’d bet The Doctor’s K-9 companion had more fans than DynoMutt.
:/
Snoopy dance has never really done it for me.
Reminds me more of Calvins dance from Calvin and Hobbes
Valid point, and much more interesting.
I mean, I like these things when Calvin, Hobbes, and Snoopy do them.
Less-so with more realistic stuff. ^_^
_again_, Yorp. We have fallen in love with Sydney _again_.
She made Kevin aka Vehemence like her, i don’t think there is anyone here who hasn’t already fallen in love with her.
You’re not telling us it took you THIS long to fall in love with her are you?
For me, I fell in love with Sydney when I noticed how self-aware she was: She knows she’s nuts(loopy) but is having fun with it.
I seen far too many people IRL who are nuts, don’t know it, expect others to take them seriously, and – worst of all – ARE taken seriously by others who are too stupid/nuts to know they themselves are stupid/nuts.
No, it was here.
Okay, time for a re-read (when I get time). Panel four on that page is crazy attractive. I actually like that panel more than anything else we’ve seen lately (okay, I have a thing for sad / worried faces, apparently).
DaveB, you are very talented. Always remember that.
Panel four is Joel
Panels 1 & 2 would be easily mistaken as one if doing a quick panel count. As opposed to when reading through. But, yea, Weatherheight will have been talking about 5, rather than 4. And I agree that is a very attractive look, in panel 5. So that is a part of it. But there is a whole not more.
Sydney had just had to hide in the loo, which awoke my protective instincts. Then looks cute peering out in panel 2. And bounces back, when she sees the coast is clear. Showing her resilience.
But the tipping point was panels 6 and 7. Sydney again looks cute in 6, with her glasses all wonky as she leans against the door. But Sydney is doing that because she is worried about dragging friends and family into something that may be illegal or dangerous. And, clearly, the strain of having to lie about the tube has been draining and depressing her. But even so, is determined, in panel 7, that she can find a way through.
Sydney is a good person. She cares about others, wants to protect them and does not like it if she has to conceal things from them. Yet has the strength of character to press on, and find a solution, despite the difficulties.
That is someone I can fall for.
For me it was the first time she went on one of her blue streaks. Sooo badass :-)
Personally, I was a bit disturbed by Sydney’s face in the 2nd panel. CAN Human faces do that? I asked Daniel the Human, but he just grinned at me evilly. I hate it when he does that…
Wonder what other messages would also work in there…
They all do. The serious ones just pretend that they do not.
I am….rather scared by that thought…
Wait, Daniel the Human did the same thing about the guy with the “flip-top-head” from some toothpaste ad (whatever toothpaste is), please tell me they can’t do that too… O_O
Just Canadians.
*nods*
No I find her to be annoying. Her ADHD is so played up that as far as I can see she cannot function in normal society. And her mouth in a lot of states that still have laws against cursing in public would have her in jail for years. The only people who I have seen that act like Sidney does in public were in mental institutions.
Each to their own.
Given the sheer number of pages, the ADHD scenes are actually very few, by proportion. Ignoring the other incidents where Sydney is being wacky for different reasons. I am wholly supportive of seeing how her mind works though. ADHD is a constant issue, not an occasional one.
It is something that affects Sydney all the time, to a greater or lesser degree. Hence I do not consider it to be “playing it up”, as opposed to letting the readers remain aware how much of her life has to be shaped around coping with the condition.
As to the mental institution remarks, I feel that is a reflection of the intolerance that much of society shows towards people with any mental condition. If they are atypical they should be locked up, where the intolerant do not have to see them. I do not feel that is how we should behave! Such extremes need only be done if someone poses a serious threat to themselves or others.
Getting a fajita on Dabbler’s breasts is not such a serious situation as to warrant Sydney being locked up, under medical supervision, for the rest of her life! Nor any of the rest of her behaviour to date.
I’m referring to Sidney’s overall behavior. Running around like she’s on fire and yelling that the raptors will come eat her because of her savory essence because the sunlight hit her on live tv is not the act of a sane person.
But it also is not the act of someone who should be locked up, because (barring an unfortunate fajita attack) she is not an imminent threat to herself or others. These days, we don’t put people in mental institutions just for being a goofball.
It wasn’t so very long ago that we would institutionalize people for laziness, egotism, disappointed love, “female disease”, mental excitement, cold, snuff, greediness, imaginary female trouble, “gathering in the head,” (whatever that meant), exposure and quackery, jealousy, religion, asthma, masturbation, and “bad habits”.
When you start institutionalizing people just for mental illness, whether that be ADHD, autism, or other mental disorders, you’re starting down a slippery slope. I feel rather strongly about this, having almost been institutionalized back in 1980 for being too smart. One family tried to have me committed on the grounds that I couldn’t socialize with their son, who bullied me for being smarter than him. The truth is, I could socialize with him, but I didn’t want to, because he was an asshole to everybody. He bullied everyone, even his “friends” (who were probably just too scared to speak up).
Still, if you listened to their Insane Troll Logic, you would think that they were trying to get me locked up for having a 12th grade comprehension level when I was still in 4th grade (and college level by 6th grade).
+10
I don’t know of a single state law that cursing in public isn’t protected speech. And considering she’s in her… what, mid-twenties? I’ve know people that act FAR goofier.
Personally, I suspect she’s only got a mild case of ADHD and uses it as an excuse. Possibly even one of those kids who were basically misdiagnosed and given Adderall until they were hooked.
Until recently here in Michigan cursing in front of women and children could get you up to a year in jail and a $5,000.00 fine.
Right. But that’s in a public arena. As I mentioned in my longer post (below), governments may prohibit or limit the use of profanity in certain public arenas. That law is (or was) designed to protect women and young children, which is one of the reasons it survived Supreme Court scrutiny as long as it did.
What if it is a child swearing in front of a bunch of nuns? o_O
Or nuns swearing in front of children?
Thought of that, but what sort of nun-ly order would The Sisters of Holy Swearing belong to?
In regards to what Kaeto said:
Sorry, Kaeto, your legal knowledge is woefully out of date. At least within the borders of the United States, laws against profanity are prohibited by the First Amendment in most cases. Government can prohibit profanity only if it is used in conjunction with speech that the Supreme Court has deemed “unprotected speech.” This includes “fighting words,” “true threats,” and “incitement” (e.g. using profanity to incite a mob to riot).
Some government institutions may also prohibit or limit the use of profanity when used in certain public arenas. Public schools, for example, can limit and even punish profanity without violating the First Amendment. Such regulations are allowable because society has an interest in teaching children “socially appropriate” behavior, which outweighs First Amendment concerns in the classroom.
Having said all that, some states still have laws intended to protect women and/or young children, or laws regarding blasphemy (for example, “G-d dammit”)… but even those are Class C misdemeanors, and usually only result in a fine of anywhere from $5 to $300. Jail time is usually only issued if you are unable to pay your fine (or for repeat offenders), and almost never for more than 30 days… not “years”.
You know I quarter expect it to be an actual muppet. And on the note of side effects sometimes the brain and the body start producing the side effects as a placebo.
While hallucinations on Adderall are a listed side effect, you’re supposed to immediately stop using it if they happen and consult a doctor!
I think those are really just marketing toys.
Sometimes I listen to medical programs, on the radio. On one a doctor described how he was once in a situation where there were no pain killers available, so he had to prescribe placebos. Which, fortunately worked.
When the real things arrived, he called the patient in, explained what he had done, and provided the genuine pain killers. Which the patient immediately took.
At that point the patient responded adversely, showing extreme symptoms that were putting their life at risk! The doctor analysed them and realised they all corresponded to an overdose of the drug. Double checking the amounts provided, he confirmed they were correct. And the patient confirmed that he had taken nothing else.
So the doctor realised that the body was still treating the placebo as if it were the genuine article, and then responding as if an overdose had just been taken. So he immediately implemented overdose recovery procedures and restored the patient to normal function. With the entire process following the normal path you would expect of a ‘genuine’ overdose.
What if THAT’S HOW THINGS ACTUALLY ARE?!?!?
So she’s now in a version of the state that Pratchett defined as ‘knurd’?
in my head I heard the song from one of the most recent muppet movies. Am I a man or a muppet.
By the way (and fully expecting this to be brought up several times, specially when the comments reach multiple pages :P) but panels two and three are very very good :D
And if someone doesn’t turn panel two into a gravatar will be very very disappointed!!! :(
Your gravatar looks a bit missing, you could use it yourself. Or were you planning on using panel 9?
Can’t exactly use a Gravatar when not using a real email account
So set up a redundant email account. Use yahoo or google etc.
Kinda already doing that, have a lifetime universal email account (or at least, had one) but it is connected through Eudora and haven’t really checked it in years (fairly sure it is still valid as still use it every month for ordering stuff from an online store and play DCUO and EQ2 at the All Access level)
Well if someone DOES wanna make panel 2 a Gravatar, this might help…
Solbet is already on it. But good of you to show willing.
*wags tail*
Well, I did turn it into a caption comp type thing 1st… :P
The question is, does the real Max look like a muppet to her and she has to answer to seem normal, or is there no one there and she would be replying to thin air?
The real question is: when did Maxi put her jacket back on? o_O
It has not escaped me that Muppet Maxima (TM) looks suspiciously like Bert…
So did muppet Angel, IIRC…
Yep, I recalled correctly.
No, she doesn’t look anything like Bert (or Ernie), more like Guy Smiley
Maxima, you’re a bloody puppet!
Maxima into her comm:”Halo is exhibiting sudden Marxist outbursts.Have security standing by.”
Ohhh! A muppet of a serving military officer WOULD be a “puppet of the State”… well spotted, that man.
Thanks for the new avatar, Dave. It was kind of hard to choose from on this page, there is a good one in almost every panel.
So happy to see your new Gravatar :D
I’ll probably stick with Aahz for now…someday…heh
Yeah, Aahz is safe as long as no one else comes here with a Skeeve avatar…
;)
That would be a big Myth-stake.
Just watch out for Gleep
Oh c’mon, let’s not go dragon this out any further than it already has…
Just remember the Deevil is in the details.
It’s only downside is a lack of long silky ears. I concede I could be a bit biased on this point, however.
::twitches a long silky ear thoughtfully::
I love the way Sydney’s face in panel 4 is like an Ad for “ADHD-B-Gone”
Breaking the fourth wall in Panel 4
If Maxima had to resemble the Gerry Anderson marionette, which style would best suit her…?
The cartoony looking head from Thunderbirds or the realistic head from Captain Scarlet?
Just noticed in the Authors notes, that Sydney probably has a couple spare adderalls in her pill box, I’d say she doesn’t, otherwise why take the generics??
Either that or the complete lack of sleep + ADHD meds wearing off + Burn pain = bad medication decisions
I believe on the last page she noticed that her usual pill box was empty. She’s been so busy for the last 4 days she probably just forgot to refill it. Also, with some of the stuff she’s doing, her system may be burning through the medicine at a faster rate. Remember, she hasn’t used the orbs so much before. They could actually be causing her to need more ADHA meds than she usually uses.
They may need to look at upping her dose, or having her take it more often.
I think you mean ADHD.
They talked about it in an earlier panel, and I feel like Maxima hit the nail on the head when she said that to up the dosage for Halo would be to put her on Meth. After a certain amount, it doesn’t do anything for you and can be hazardous to increase the dosage.
Hope my Gravatar actully links this time.
A newly-set up gravatar can take a while to be update, if I recall my first time correctly.
Stylish one you chose too. Most distinctive.
Thank you, I actually have had it set up for awhile, I just realised that I was using the wrong email address. If you take a close enough look at the blown up image of it, you will see that it is actually a bunch of hands and arms.
Yes I did mean ADHD, silly type. I know that upping a dose could result in no effect or bad affects, but if constant use of the orbs means that her system burns through the drug faster, then looking at upping a dose (carefully monitored) to relate to orb use could help. After all, she just flew 3 people plus herself, quite a distance in the shield orb.
Long term tracking is what is needed her. maybe have a app put into her wrist pad that monitors how much adderal(?) is in her system and tracking if orb use does burn through a dose faster. then the wrist pad can tell her if she needs to take more sooner.
Yeah, or they could try some other medications. Afterall, Adderall isn’t the only medication, it is just the most common. More than ten years ago, it was Ritalin. I had maxed out the safe dosage for children before they had considered putting me on Adderall. Who knows what is in the experimental stages at this point that might be more effective for her.
Why is the “women’s” sign facing inside the bathroom?
Just in case they forgot where they are.
Which, in Sydney’s case, is an extremely believable occurrence.
I don’t think it is. Notice the tile on the wall beyond on the door.
Yeah, for what ever reason, she is facing the door as it closes, maybe to stop it from swinging shut and hitting her butt
And why does it have a hair bow?
So you know it’s for women and not Super-Man
To remind guys wearing kilts to use the other door, or it to show women which door to choose when wearing pants.
That is not a bow, it is a propeller beany. She is in the little nerd’s room.
+1
Actually I believe its the first sign of hallucination, as it made me think it was Sydney’s orbs. Like she was seeing the sign representing herself.
To hide the cat ears (spoilers)
As far as I can tell, it is on the outside. Sydney walks into bathroom, sees Max muppet, steps back out.
I think she’s doing the “slowly closing the door as she leaves” thing (I have a friend that does this – really baffling to me as to why).
And may I add, that is a nice bathroom for a government facility. They must have gotten a deal on government contract hammers and used the savings on the bathroom.
It’s a restaurant, not a government facility
That is some quality dancing.
Especially considering how much of a klutz she normally is.
Seeing people as muppets seems kind of a major side-effect. I mean, I love the gag, but if this were real life I’d be wondering if maybe she should have the Archon doctor check to make sure she’s taking what she’s supposed to be taking.
Dave does indicate that drug side effects take longer to kick in than that…
… dun, dun, dun…
this is not an hallucination!
Quick Sydney, turn on PBS. I want to see what Sesame Street looks like this way. Maybe all the characters look human now.
And all the humans are now Muppets…
That would be totally bitchin’ (fer sure, fer sure).
Someone should forward this idea to PBS – I’d make a pledge to see this happen.
I wouldn’t put it past half the team to actually have a Maxima hand-puppet just for occassions like this. Especially Dabbler or Harem.
They are too busy playing “Make Maxima Say” Bingo.
Perhaps the game will soon be replaced by the “Guess what wacky thing Sydney will do next!” Lottery?
“Make Sydney behave normally bingo”?
• Eat an entire meal without injuring anyone.
• Meet someone, with atypical looks, and avoid insulting them.
• See a member of the clergy, without making any undead or Marx brothers impersonations.
Go five minutes without making a pop culture reference about something.
“Eat an entire meal without injuring anyone.” Especially herself.
Nah, you get to play them in parallel. :)
Ooh, ooh, does this mean we are going to see plushy Dabbler and doll Gwen?
Quick Sydney, back into the restroom. See yourself in plushy form!
It wouldn’t suprise me if that supertailor and his sewingninjas have made puppet versions of everyone on Aria’s order. Those things will potentialy sell like crazy.
Hopefully,this won’t be a parody of a Twilight Zone episode…..!
Or Kill la Kill…
Maxima should have left “Smile Time” alone. Just saying. :-)
I wonder if the com ball would cure drug or fatigue induced halucinations.
Seeing the true reality is the com ball’s main job. So you would hope so.
In this case mind, it may not be an hallucination!
But what if those two unknown balls actualy ARE hallicinations? Plot twist!
1. Comm Ball reveals truth,
2. Sydneys mind warps truth to puppets
3…….
4. Profits
You can speak truth to power if you like, I want to warp truth to puppets.
It could just as well cause hallucinations. The previous owner of Halos balls may have been into that kind of stuff.
Com balls shows you what is real. if your brain’s not in a state to interpret it correctly, that’s not its fault.
Ahh, but there is one other thing at play with the orbs. The fly ball cures vertigo, as an ancillary effect. That too is a mental state. Might not the truesight orb likewise be able to cure mentally-induced hallucinations?
The really worrying possibility (however remote) is that what Sydney sees now is NOT a product of her meds, but indication that “something” happened to Max and/or the rest of the universe during her restroom visit.
Someone went all “Smile Time” on the rest of the team… :P
Yes, Daniel the Human has explained “Smile Time” to me…
If that is a puppet, I wonder who thought it would be a good idea to put a hand up in there. Max might return the favor.
Kinda like that adorable episode of “Angel” with the demonic puppet (the one where Angel and Spike get puppet-fied and then have full-on brawl where they literally beat the stuffing out of each other :D)
I take Adderall on a irregular basis (long story as to why not daily), and I have had visual hallucinations with in 30 minutes of taking it. Could be because the other hand full of anti-psychotics I take having a synergistic effect with it, but it’s with in the realm of the possible.
Very much like your handle – It’s Pythonesque.
“J. Michael Looney (Silly Party) hails from Dorchester.”
Reminded me of the Mr Bean music video “(I Wanna Be) Elected” :D
Not sure if this is just the first time I’m seeing it, but I dig the Halo logo.
It’s the first time we have seen it clearly, first showed up during the long-distance bubble-ride
Stay up all night? She got what, an hour or two of sleep before. I think steady sleep deprivation is going to really hurt soon.
If she’s this bad, it’s makes me wonder how she’s part of the government military complex rather than on their watch list of known supers instead. :p
She is part of their recruitment plan: “If we accepted Sydney, you have to be a greater asset! Join up now!!”
Sign up today and make an asset of yourself!
Also, +1
I like your dogged determination, to show approval.
+1
That was specifically discussed very early on,
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/684
Better to have her in training than loose :D
What the hell why not, +1 for you too. :D
Even though Gen. Faulk agreed with Max’s reasoning, doesn’t mean that he envies Max & Ari what they intend to do with Sydney…
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/939
Yes, but that was before all the other things that have been found out.
No. She’s not a sociopath. She does get wacky on drugs that she (seems) to be needing to take. Basically, she’s only come off worse as time (and it’s only been a day) has gone by :p
Unless she can learn some sort of discipline (which being that she’s an adult who has yet to learn any) and maybe learn a bit of a work ethic (from what we’ve seen of her comic shop business, she seems to lack one)…it’s a lot of work that may not be possible or worth the risk.
Think about it. They give her the training, she levels up the orbs and still maintains both a lack of disciple or work ethic. Makes for a lousy cop, soldier, employee, boss…fun comic though, but the start of the comic also went with the idea of “Reality with super powers” :p
Would they allow someone like Sydney into the military? Not likely.
Why not? They have allowed worse in the real military
Halo already is one of the most powerful supers in the world. And there is every indication that she will outstrip Maxima, one day, and become the most powerful, bar none.
And you really think they would not allow her in the military?
*tries to nonchalantly take a sip from a water bowl, but is snickering so much that splatters water across the floor*
I think they’d try to strip the balls from her and give them to some one else.
Sydney was afraid of just that, as part and parcel of being “whisked away”. And who do you think would have to do the “whisking away”? Regular troops could not oppose Sydney, all she need to is raise her shield, and they would be unable to affect her. They will simply have gained a powerful enemy.
Just how many Hulk and other Marvel stories have centred around just that kind of short-sighted murderous, thieving behaviour?
Especially when you realise that the folks who would actually have to murder Sydney (which looks to be the only way it could be done)* would be employing Archon personnel.
Do you think any of them would be happy killing an innocent civilian? Don’t you think they would realise that a regime, doing that with one person, is likely to do the same the instant they figure out how to repeat it with other powers? I am pretty sure both Maxima and Dabbler would flat refuse to co-operate with such a scheme.
In fact it is Maxima’s duty to disobey an unlawful order. Which that most certainly is! And Dabbler won’t even share tech because she is afraid of the misuse humans would get up to. She would probably help Sydney to get away!
Your dystopian society, you favour, would pretty rapidly have an all-out revolt by the supers. And I don’t think that the squishy humans would win!
* Without the kind of testing they are doing at the moment, they would not even know if Sydney’s power suit does not include “Spidey sense” (and she did spot Shadow Boxer trying to kill her unawares, so it may well do!) So shooting Sydney, before she raised her shield, may simply not work. At Mach 4 she could easily get to a point of safety before needing to lower her shield, to take air in.
My money is on a super power at play here. Either Dabbler is pranking Sid, or somebody has a “puppet-ification” power, and this is the first step in an attack.
Flash’s old foe Abra Kadabra?
Darn it Dave, you had me all excited in your comment section for a moment. You wrote “a tactical vest with a crossdraw holster”. My brain first parsed it as ‘crossbow holster’. I thought you were going for the
Chewbacca look.
I upvote any possibility of Bowcasters in a work of fiction.
Or reality, for that matter.
Well, if wearing a sports bra doesn’t much help Sydney stay “stabilized,” that sure would…
Ok… now I want to see everyone else as a muppet. I have to wonder what all the Harems would look like.
The Grinch grin is so creepy.
But in a good way . . .
Just gonna stick this here.
Ignoble pony the broney?
Baloney. ;-D
You two are becoming cronies now?
Over a meal of rigatoni, yes . . . or was it cannelloni . . .
In any event it was followed by bowls of spumoni.
Served by Phoney Baloney Maloney, the Rigatoni Cannelloni Pepperoni Macaroni Sherbet and Spumoni Champione.
UTINI!
“Takes a sip of my martini while looking at girls in bikinis.”
Careful with that or their boyfriends might kick you in the cojones!
Love the homage to the Calvin & Hobbes in panel three.
I am so unspeakably relieved that “this design” didn’t link to a Rob Liefeld character.
Now you made me curious of how a Liefeld style Halo would look. Perhaps something like Nineties Spinnerette.
My family, knowing my love of outdoor grilling and my sense of humor, gave me a black tactical bbq apron with enough pouches and straps on it to make Rob Liefeld blush.
Heh. The perfect Tim-the-Toolman gift.
She could carry her sidearm in a baggie…
She already does, until she can put it together at least :P
Will Sydney’s tactical gear include pouches for each orb, or will she continue to use the (so far) indestructible Mr. Tubey?
Now that everyone in the world knows who she is and that she has them, she may just keep her orbs where they are now – circling her head.
A rotating circle of glowing lights may be a problem when on something like a night stakeout where the observers are trying to stay hidden. In these situations Sydney needs to think WWBD (what would Batman do?)
I’m thinking individual, disposable slip-on covers made of dark grey foam…
…in the shape of bats.
I like your style.
+1
There will be times they will want to minimize the “Flock & Gawk”…
More likely have a place on her back to place Mr Tubey, like in that movie “After Earth”
Now, she’s as loopy as an Ouroborous made of interlocking Moebius strips.
Moebius, mo problems.
…woven together by M.C. Escher…
“…and your bottom lip is in your lap!”
You totally need to do a song and dance routine with Maxima!
This made me think of the puppet episode from Angel so much
as i said might be worthwhile to see if meds with a slower burn rate could be used some of the anti depressants have a 12 hour dosage cycle and work well for ADD