Grrl Power #441 – The wolfening
The impervious forcefield doesn’t hurt with the subdued fear response. Neither does standing 10 feet from the most powerful superhero in the world. Depending on what lore you prefer, werewolves are potentially quite tough, and vampires can be anything from “before Willow learned how to use magic, she could kill them” up to extremely powerful, especially if they’re old or high up on the generation tree. Generally speaking though, most of them would have little chance against Superman, at least in a stand up fight. Superman vs Alucard from Hellsing might be a little closer I guess. Yes Superman has a specific vulnerability to magic, but Maxima doesn’t. Basically Sydney doesn’t feel like she has anything in particular to be afraid of, even if these two were obviously not already non-aggressive.
I’m not a fan of lazy wolfman makeup. You know, not a wolf face, just fake teeth, the slightly built up nose with the dark tip and scowl wrinkles, bushier eyebrows and the wreath of… well, it’s usually not even fur is it, it’s basically just an Amish beard. In fact it’s one of my bigger fantasy pet peeves. I understand doing a full wolf face is impractical for, say, early seasons of Buffy, but at least they did a full body costume – even if the faces were dumb looking. Penny Dreadful certainly has the budget for it, and I suppose they couldn’t be blamed for going for the Lon Chaney look with their Wolfman, but still, so many shows take the easy route. Just about the only thing I can think of off the top of my head that went whole hog was the original Wolfen movie. Not an easy thing to do in an entirely pre-CG era. Well, it would be tough to do in a post CG era too, at least convincingly. Pixar I would trust to do good looking fur, but not some studio making the latest CW “young underwear models milling about in front of a camera” production. Anyway, my lycanthrope hybrids are full on animal face since it doesn’t affect my budget either way. This makes a potential crossover with Fred Perry’s Gold Digger universe slightly more challenging since the were-whatevers there basically have human faces. Of course the explanation is easy enough, just that lycans can halt the transformation at different stages. Well, cross that bridge when I get to it.
I have a bad habit of filling the background with empty frames, then when it comes time to color it, I’m scrambling to fill them with something. I think it worked out okay this time, the paintings in the background are by an artist named by Zdzislaw Beksinski. Well the first one in the hall is a Geiger, but you can’t see it on this page. I found Beksinski’s art by googling “macabre painting” or something. He’s got quite a collection. Check them out if you enjoy macabre stuff.
I’m on vacation this week in the Bahamas. (At the Atlantis resort, if you’re curious) I’m taking a drawing tablet with me to work in the evenings, but I imagine I’ll be fairly distracted during the day. I scheduled this page before I left, but the double res Patreon version might be a few hours late, we’ll see. The Thursday comic should go up on time.
Patreon supporters can view this page at twice the size! (as soon as I wake up and post it then immediately go back to sleep since Patreon doesn’t have a way to schedule posts yet.) $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like :)
Here’s the link to the new comments highlighter for chrome, and the GitHub link which you can use to install on FireFox via Greasemonkey.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
Just thought I’d say, I loved the “You’re So Fluffy” line.
Admit it, who else heard Sydney use Agnes voice for it????
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SI6rhotAkE
Slight misquote but meh…
I don’t hear voices…
well, not unless there is actually someone present and talking to me.
You dont? your missing all the best conversations!!!!
It is odd actually. Me that is, not you. I love girls with foreign accents To the extent that I have only ever dated the one girl with an English accent. And I have a real ear for accents so, way back when I learnt new languages, I rapidly picked up the correct accent. Plus it infuriates me if I hear an accent that I cannot place, meaning I will always enquire what it is.
Yet, despite all that, I never mentally give any characters in comics an accent. Even if (like with Grrl Power) you can figure out, or are even told, what the accent should be. With the obvious exception for characters who’s dialogue (like Varia’s) is shown incorporating their accent
In fact it positively surprised me, at the movies, to hear Garfield with an American accent! Not that I was expecting an English accent mind. If anything, I would have expected him to have a ‘cat accent’, I guess. Some sort of purring or mewing tone to the voice. On account that he does not actually speak. He only uses thought bubbles.
I remember one gag, where Garfield was listening to the radio, and knew the answer to the big money competition, so phoned up, to claim the prize. Except he realised that he could not speak!
Of course Jon can understand him, but we pet owners have a rapport, that allows us to do stuff like that, despite them not speaking English. And cats definitely have a meow accent!
I’m gonna sound like a furry, here, but… what irks me about werewolves in movies is that their fur is all mangy and gross. As a guy with—if I may say so myself—a very nice beard and a bitchin’ head of hair, I just can’t see anybody with that much fur letting it get nasty.
Indeed even a dangerous werewolf would not have gross messed up fur until after a messy kill/meal and even in wolfen form they’d likely engage in some sort of grooming afterward.
I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic’s. His hair was perfect. Aooooooooow! Werewolves of London.
Enjoy every sandwich.
“Don’t mess with him! He’ll rip your lungs out Jim!”
But at least his hair is perfect! That’s a valuable asset in the social circles of London, I hear…
;)
I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain
He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Fook’s
Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein
Aaoooooo!
Werewolves of London!
Aaoooooo! (Repeat)
If you hear him howling around your kitchen door
Better not let him in
Little old lady got mutilated late last night
Werewolves of London again
Asoooooo!
Werewolves of London!
Aaoooooo! (Repeat)
He’s the hairy-handed gent who ran amuck in Kent
Lately he’s been overheard in Mayfair
Better stay away from him
He’ll rip your lungs out, Jim
I’d like to meet his tailor
Aaoooooo!
Werewolves of London!
Aaoooooo! (Repeat)
Well, I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen
Doing the Werewolves of London
I saw Lon Chaney, Jr. walking with the Queen
Doing the Werewolves of London
I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic’s
And his hair was perfect
Aaoooooo!
Werewolves of London!
Aaoooooo! (Repeat)
Draw blood…
It wouldn’t surprise me if we ever learnt Sydney was on “Team Jacob.”
Nah, she is on team ‘Fanfic’.
I thought those paintings looked familiar…Beksinski is awesome, good find!
Giger fan myself, but those might be a bit too adult. And a good Hieronymus Bosch would be too darn big.
I am convinced that the line in panel #4 should only be delivered in front of a certain Impressionist. Some of the Parliament paintings might be suitably gloomy: https://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/monet/parliament/
To be fair, he could have been more threatening toward her, even with a cheaper look… (Link NSFW for reasons to be seen. No cussing though.)
https://youtu.be/aD9qdh9Szog
No cussing, but he does dance around with his nob hanging out…
I am glad to see that humans are becoming much less repressed about such natural behaviour.
Naturally, they covered him up a bit for the Disney version, but the point was to allude to more than just eating going on.
I think that is still my favorite production of Into The Woods (despite the wonder of the movie). The stage is a wonderful performer too.
They did a good job on the wolf suit (although, they gave him a human todger, and the muzzle looks more like that of a fox )
OK, it is now official, Pokemon Go is more popular than porn!
This is healthy for society, as sex has always been good at burning off calories, but this is not true of watching porn. However playing PG for 43 minutes a day, for a whole week, would burn off the equivalent of seven chocolate donuts for a man (or six for a woman).
So the really great news is that you can choose your Pokestop routes, to ensure that you can call in on any convenient donut shops.
Just be careful if your route takes you through the red light district…
… your boss might not appreciate you picking up the one he was after!
An ARG like PG was inevitable. I’ve been saying this for 10 years now, that eventually, an ARG would come around that would thrust them into the public view. Society has and will change. Just as previous ARGs have caused legislation, PG will too.
I see two types of legislation coming from PG:
(1) Legislation to allow companies/places to “opt out”. A lot of cemeteries have already banned it as inappropriate/disrespectful… and if you want to talk about disrespectful, someone found a Koffin (a gas-type Pokemon) in the Holocaust Survivors Museum.
(2) Legislation to protect us from lawsuits from idiots who step out into a busy street because they’re too busy playing PG to pay attention to where they’re going. You know it’ll happen sooner or later, if it hasn’t already.
1) Existing law can provide protection from inappropriate elements, like that. It falls under “outraging public decency”. The makers will need to respond rapidly to such complaints, to avoid falling foul of such.
2) That is not necessary. This is very similar to people using GPS navigation systems and driving dangerously. As far as I know no country introduced new legislation for that. On one paw, if the manufacturers created flawed software, which directed users in a dangerous manner, users must be allowed to seek remedy for harm that befalls them.
On the other paw though, if the users fail to exercise good judgement, in using it, they must be liable for their actions. Either of which must therefore be free to seek the arbitration of a court, in resolving such disputes.
What I can see though is some countries putting in add-hoc bans on things that they consider to be harmful, but without any tangible benefit, to their society. GPS was useful, Pokemon Go is not likely to be viewed as such, by stuffed shirts.
The opt out is something I think will be likely (for augmented reality in general). But will be tricky to enact. It will not be long before Wikipedia realises that the entire world needs labeling, with hot links, to relevant Wiki articles.
Google Earth will want to get in on the act too. So you can use your smartphone to call up the name of the street you are looking at. And get directions to the nearest Google Earth approved restaurant, by having the route shown, as a path to follow, overlaid in your field of view.* Etc.
Some of which will point to private property. If only to say the house/apartment number or name, for example. Is it reasonable to allow an opt out for publicly useful information, like that?
Contrast that to an app which directs tourists to famous peoples houses. And a less reputable version, which overlays pornographic scenes of them, at that location.
* And yea, stuff like that is probably already out there. I don’t own a smartphone, so don’t bother tracking the developments of such.
My sister is actually involved in the mapping of such data. This is a field called GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and is used to match up a variety of statistics, heuristics, and other data to their relevant geographic locations on map databases for use by companies and researchers around the world. My sister has largely been responsible for tracking down businesses who are likely no longer at their listed locations, identifying which one is there, and ensuring the proper one is listed. As GIS databases expand more and more of this data will be usable in ARGs.
Near as I can tell, PG is already using the flags for waterways to determine higher probabilities for water type pokemon, residential and commercial areas for increased spawns, and geographically tagged photos of art and monuments. It looks like they may have run their own algorithms to populate the pokestops and gyms with that data so that you can’t stand within range of 3 stops at once and you can’t stand within range of a stop and a gym at the same time.
I have no doubt that legislation will come to ensure that people can opt out of specific things, be it in ARGs or GIS as a whole. Already we can see some of this in attempts to implement the ‘Right to be Forgotten’ in many countries around the world (largely in EU, from what I hear).
Personally, I would love it if businesses could pay to have a pokestop at their place of business that has hours of operation matching their own, and for cities to be able to have their park pokestops be limited to the hours when their cities parks are considered ‘open’. I know in my city there are many pokestops in parks that ‘close’ at 10pm, and when I went to an all you can eat buffet’s pokestop (selected for the geotagged pictures of the historical golf art pieces they have on display) it was already closed. The parks don’t physically close like the buffet did, but no one is supposed to be there from 10pm to 7am or the police can be called to get them to leave. By shutting down the pokestops when a park/business is supposed to be closed (and displaying the stops hours of operation) it would discourage players from loitering where they shouldn’t be hanging around and encourage them to come around when the places are actually open.
But, now that Nintendo’s stocks have risen so much (25% in the first couple days) from PG (which is a free game, I might add) I’m sure they will be funding Niantic (the publishing company for the game) to implement a lot more into the game. We’ll see if anything like this is included.
As to the Lawsuits question, Yorp, you are totally correct on both cases. All Niantic would need to prove is that they a) warned user to remain aware of their surroundings while playing (which they do) and b) that they used appropriate data sources to map their guiding software such that it doesn’t deliberately lead to hidden dangers. There are SOOOO many loopholes and caveats for that one that it would be nearly impossible to win a lawsuit against that unless you found internal documents saying they wanted to lead people into specific dangers. They used Googlemaps geodata, so if anything, flaws in the map fall on Google’s enormous legal shoulders.
Legally, they didn’t even need to keep the pokemon out of the road, but they did, because they didn’t want to encourage people to walk out into the road to catch them. But seriously, I can catch stuff across the street from my backyard, there’s no reason you would need to go in the street even if the pokemon did spawn there. The widest street in my city (other than the highway) is just barely too far to catch something on one sidewalk from the other, but that street was made to be able to turn two covered wagons around next to each other as per Brigham Young’s orders (ie 132 feet across). The range is pretty nice with a 40 meter (131 feet) radius.
Responsibility for ensuring that data is fit for purpose lies with the company making use of it. Not the one who compiled it in the first place. Unless they are so foolish as to provide guarantees to that effect. Google would have little difficulty defending themselves against such a suit.
It will not be too long before the first Pokemon Go related death occurs. Say a child drowning in persuit of a water Pokemon. Or one killed chasing one into a busy road.
At which point I doubt that juries will agree with you that the company can absolve itself of any responsibility. If their game is encouraging minors to enter dangerous areas, no disclaimer will prove to be an adequate defence.
I can say this categorically as such disclaimers do get thrown out of court. “Users of this car park do so at their own risk” being a classical example. If the car park has been laid out in a dangerous fashion, likely to cause a car crash, by following the markings, then the company IS liable.
Share prices can go down, as well as up.
Not that I am anti-Pokemon Go. It is a fun development in society. But the makers will need to tighten up their game thoroughly. And, without doubt, are going to be spending years in courtrooms, around the globe, protecting their profit margins. Just look at Uber as an example, for how that works.
Actually, Niantic isn’t providing the map at all and has no responsibility for the map’s content. They are using the Google Maps API. The only way the map gets updated is if Google updates it, not Niantic.
By downloading the local cities maps to my phone for Offline Mode in the Google Maps app I am able to save on data and battery while playing PoGo by not redownloading whatever small area I am in at the time as I walk.
Um, minor correction: Google Engineers have stated that downloading the maps like I did will have a very minimal impact on battery and data usage in regards to playing PoGo.
There we disagree. If they are placing interactive elements on that map (be it directly or via code), they have a duty of care to the players, to ensure that those do not appear in hazardous areas.
The makers of the map have not created them with the intent of determining if an area is safe. Therefore the onus lies upon the company making use of the maps, to ensure that they are diligent in checking that the maps can be used, in such a way, without undue risk.
If Pokemon appear in the middle of traffic, on railway lines, in power sub stations, along cliff tops or in the middle of water, that is not safe to enter (such as canals), then they are failing to ensure that minors playing the game are safe.
All death and injury, which results, will then have to be examined, to see if the company contributed to them, via neglecting to check each area properly.
How are they meant to do that in a worldwide game? Well that is for them to figure out. Before the kids start dying. Fail to, and the will discover that some countries are getting tougher on corporate manslaughter. They may not be allowed to just offset the deaths, against the profits, on their balance sheets.
there has already been a death related to pokemon go, as in – a guy went into a particularly known “bad” neighbourhood and got stabbed for his trouble. i have seen a person get hit by a car while playin, and other people clog up the traffic. also, 3 kids also broke into someone’s house to get into his back yard to get a pokemon (broke through a glass sliding door, a window and ruined stuff on their way through).
Oh, random bit of legal I wasn’t aware of, most people won’t be able to sue unless they do so before 30 days from the time they start playing. Niantic has included and Arbitration Clause in the Terms of Service which requires you to use Arbitration rather than the courts unless you ‘opt out’ within 30 days of agreeing to the TOS by sending them a letter specifying your intent to bring them up on litigation.
Now, that’s not quite as bad as it sounds. I’ve known Arbitrators myself. It’s a system that helps keep legal fees down for everyone involved, including the government, and usually works out pretty well. But unlike court, arbitration won’t change legal precedent and doesn’t make the news.
I would be interested to see how that holds up in court. Especially given that different countries have varying laws regarding unreasonable terms concealed within a TOS. A number will consider it automatically void, as an unreasonable term, or simply contrary to national laws.
Take for example if I chose to release a game and inserted the following in the TOS:
No court in the world would find that acceptable! It is not much different to the one you are proposing. Barring changing it from applying to corporate manslaughter charges, rather than murder.
Criminal cases will not be resolved by arbitration. That can only apply to civil claims (and then subject to whether national laws permit such).
Either way you can guarantee that the worlds press will be very interested in any such cases. Arbitration does not grant automatic confidentiality.
Indeed, many TOS stuff can get thrown out, including the Arbitration issue, if a judge deems it extreme. But I seriously can’t think of anything so far that would get them sued regarding the mapping and incentive for people to walk to specific locations. Even the water issue is already covered by previous legislation regarding toys that encourage people to go into or under the water for extended periods of time (particularly, I’m remembering the diving ring law suits in California and New York in the 90’s).
Everything I can think of, if Niantic was ruled against, would also apply to geocaching in general, fitness apps, camping apps, hiking apps, bird watching apps, and tons of other apps that encourage people to go out into nature.
Neither the precedent, you cited, nor the apps are encouraging users to go to specific unsafe areas. Whereas if pokemon are appearing in hazardous spots (or are believed to be in such, due to the nature of the game), then that is different to just encouraging people to ‘go out into nature’.
Niantic will need to keep looking for better case lore. Or, far better, find a way to stop the pokemon from spawning in places where they might get players killed.
So far as I can tell, most spawns are reachable from safe places and without trespassing. The ones that aren’t are going to be the same as the ones that are, for the most part, as they appear to be in fairly wide blocks of space. So far as running into traffic, that’s the fault of the game exactly as much as texting is in that interactable items only show as such when within range… which is enough to catch a pokemon across a seven-lane street as long as you stop walking for two seconds.
The only appearing, when in range, does sound well-thought out. “Catching Pokemon” does rather conjure up images of kids running after them, across the highway, after all. If it does not require moving towards them, then that should minimise the risk.
We have already had people falling off cliffs though, playing the game. So clearly it is not as risk-free as could be hoped for.
Take, for example, a very rare pokemon zone, on one side of a railway line. With a kids school on the other. Might kids feel tempted to cross the line, during lunch break, in the hope of getting the pokemon before their rivals, who are going by the long but safe route?
Yes it is. I’m not talking about them suing Nintendo or Niantic. I’m talking about them suing the driver of the car that hit them, or the driver getting charged with vehicular manslaughter, because someone wasn’t watching where he was going because he was too busy playing PG. I know that I certainly don’t want a felony on my record just because you were too busy playing a game to look up!
Again that does not require new legislation. If you are driving safely, and a player is not paying attention, then you cannot be held to account, for their negligence. But guilt or innocence needs to be established on a case by case basis, via the normal methods used in the justice system.
We can’t pass a law that allows us to run over gamers, with impunity.
Now, if you suggested something similar for paparazzi, you would find me to be an enthusiastic supporter!
Actually, yes you can. It depends on how much time you had to stop. If they just step right out in front of you, then generally it’s their fault.
On the other hand, if you had time to stop, then it’s your fault, because you should have been paying attention! That’s how the courts see it.
If you had time to stop but they were also jaywalking (not crossing at a marked crosswalk), then the blame is divided because they were doing something illegal.
Sorry… second paragraph should read, “if you had time to stop and still hit him through no fault of your own (such as panicking and missing the brake pedal, or having your pants leg get caught on the accelerator) then it’s your fault”
Actually if you are driving safely and there is an accident which provably happens ‘through no fault of your own’, you are still found not guilty. Having your pants leg caught on an accelerator does not make you guilty of dangerous driving. It makes you the victim of an accident.
Only if it can be proven that something you did unduly contributed to that, would you be found guilty. So, if you are attending a 70’s night, check to make sure your flares are not likely to get snagged on the pedals, before you drive.
Incorrect. Check what MidnightDStroyer said below: In the United States, the pedestrian always always always has right of way. You will be held accountable for harm and damages, unless it can be proven (for example) that the pedestrian intended to commit suicide.
To clarify a bit further: Whether or not you are held responsible for vehicular assault (or even vehicular homicide, if the victim died) depends on whether or not the accident happened through no fault of your own. Even if you are not charged with a crime, you will be held responsible for harm and damages.
If you live in a country which lacks proper social security, it is natural to make the mistake you are making. Which is to equate the need to pay the victim of a traffic accident, with the presumption that such makes the driver guilty of dangerous driving. The two are not the same thing.
Pedestrians are not required to have accident insurance. Car drivers are. Ergo why restitution is sought from the driver. The legal justification for this is that pedestrians were not at risk from cars before cars were invented. Hence why MidnightDStroyer is quoting that the pedestrian has the ultimate right of way.
This however is separate to determining whether a driver is fit to drive, or should otherwise be penalised for dangerous driving. Should they be found guilty of that, they could have points put on their license, have it taken away completely or even find themselves in jail.
Either way it is a legal requirement for any driver in the USA to have insurance. So the burden of paying falls on the insurer, not the individual. Should the driver not have insurance they are committing a felony, which carries its own penalties.
However, the potential financial loss that could affect the driver is any increase in insurance premiums. Being convicted of dangerous driving will have a severe impact on the future cost of insurance, if it will even be offered at all. But this is why being able to prove that you were blameless, in the accident, is still relevant, even in the USA.
I see, via your ninja comment, that you are aware of the distinction. :)
Do note though that nothing I said was incorrect, nor contradicted by MidnightDStroyer‘s comments.
But we have meandered rather far from Pokemon Go (which I think is a highly pertinent topic to discuss, given Sydney’s obsessions with pop culture). So it is probably not too productive proceeding much further, on the more mundane traffic law topic. Interesting though it has been to debate it.
In the USA, the pedestrian ALWAYS has Right of Way…Even if they’re jaywalking & live long enough to get cited for it, the driver is still held accountable for harm & damages.
And here is a new one https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2016/07/19/video-driver-playing-pokemon-go-hits-baltimore-police-car/
So far as I’m aware, the Koffing is confirmation bias–and if it’s not, and poison-type pokemon are weighted to spawn more heavily there, it’s more than likely the result of automated population based on location keywords.
It may be; but even so, the Holocaust Survivors Museum is one of those places that now bans Pokemon Go.
My apologies to DaveB for making such a huge eyesore of an unrelated legal discussion in his comic’s comment section. But I am really glad to read a comic that attracts so many people who think deeply about issues and can hold a rational discussion.
Now I’m suddenly wondering if there would ever be an ARG in the Grrl-vers.
Niantic is actually letting you contact them to ask for a new stop or gym, ask to be removed from the map, and getting warnings of dangerous areas. They are trying to be responsible about this, in my opinion.
On full-furry Werewolf flicks- what about The Howling? That was a good practical effects full-wolf series, even if the reporter does end up looking like a were-pomeranian.
Gah, forgot you couldn’t edit on this.
There’s also the Underworld series, though I was super disappointed when Michael turned into a smurf instead of a badass wolf-bat-were-pire.
I really liked the “Stutter-shifting” of Underworld. Yeah Michael was rather disappointing especially considering how well they did Markus.
I really wish we could see Maxima’s face in that last panel.
I assume a knowing smirk
Talked about Howling and American Werewolf in London on the first page :D
I would love to see that crossover just to see sydneys reaction because she has thous comics in her store.
I would love to see that crossover just to see sydneys reaction because she has thous comics in her store.
“The fear factor drops when one is equipped with an impervious forcefield.” And a pair of nut crackers. Don’t forget the nut crackers.
Darn, my shrink had almost cured the trauma, of that memory.
*curls tail up, protectively, around balls*
OK, I can’t be the only one to wonder about the leap of logic going from “it’s not just vampires who are real” to “that guy is a werewolf”. I mean, apart from Underworld and Twilight I don’t think I’ve heard of those two species in the same story. Or was she just guessing when she said “show me the money”? As in, show me what you are?
True Blood, The Originals, Underworld and the dozens of supernatural TV shows they have inspired.
“Show me the money!” is hardly werewolf specific. The leap of logic from “it’s not just vampires who are real” to “that guy is some monster movie classic” is a bit less severe and do bear in mind how much he clearly wants to impress (or outdo Ingsol). Inflection in his speach could easily have been used to imply he wasn’t standard human.
I know, hence my last sentence being her saying that for him to show what he is.
“House of Dracula” at earlies 1940s is the first movie I remember featuring them both. The werewolf was Chaney Junior doing the same character as in The Wolf Man, and Dracula was John Carradine I think.
Didn’t think John Carradine was that old! o_O Isn’t he still alive and active now?
THE John Carradine died like 20 or more years ago, I don’t know about anybody else of the same name. His most famous son, David Carradine (Kung Fu TV show), also died a few years ago. There’s two or three more childs of John that are actors too, but I don’t think there’s a Junior between them.
Was thinking of David and Keith :(
Wait, Grasshopper died? :( :( :(
Yes. In a hotel room in Thailand via auto-erotic asphyxiation, according to the main report. (I can think of very few less-dignified ways to die.) There have been a few who have opined that he was murdered.
Let me guess, from Kill Bill conspiracy theorists?
I don’t know. If it was murder, then either the authorities were incompetent, the authorities were bribed or bullied into staging a cover-up, or the murderer was extraordinarily successful at making it look like an accident.
I personally tend towards the suicide theory, despite the fact he didn’t leave a note. If you leave out the “auto-erotic” part, it’s still “asphyxiation by hanging”… which is how some other celebrities have chosen to go. (Not naming any names for the sake of being respectful.)
Nope, Dracula was played by Bela Lagosis.
And then they were both in one with Abbott and Costello.
You mean “Lugosi” but nope, I know it was not Lugosi. Lugosi’s only performance as Dracula in an horror movie was in “Dracula”, which was the first Dracula movie IIRC.
You are right about him in “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein”, though, thanks for remind me that :)
Sydney does not assume that. In fact she only indicates her suspicions when she says “I like where this is going!”
Prior to that Gregor’s smugness was clearly implicating that he was more than he appeared. Which is more than enough to green light Sydney, to demand to be shown exactly what.
The “I like where this is going!” can also be in regards of the free beefcake (It’s that the term for male gratuitous exposure?)
Sydney does not think like that. Just look at how shy she is, even in girl-only showers! Here Halo is carried away with her enthusiasm for the extraordinary. She is not being driven by lust.
Yes she does, did you see her drooling at the boys when their shirts all vanished?
If you’ve forgotten, then I give you Hot Beefcake Injection
I did not forget that. I am not claiming that Sydney does not have a sex drive. I said she is shy. Nothing in that situation was drawing attention to her, or would make her feel self-conscious in a sexual way.
If Sydney were to have such feelings here, in front of Maxima, and a couple of complete strangers, she would NOT be acting out her sexual urges in front of them!
For other matters, yes, Sydney can do the most embarrassing things, with no sense of shame. But she is awkward and shy when issues of her sexuality are involved. You see that consistently whenever it occurs. Most recently, when being asked if she has a boyfriend. She lost her cool, because she does not know how to deal with that.
Contrast that to being able to ask Peggy about her sexual orientation, and remaining composed. Yet failing to do so, when the tables were turned. This is not her being hypocritical. She is a tom-boy and has not gotten into serious dating yet. In her own controlled environment, she could avoid things that embarrassed her. Now she cannot.
In time Sydney will get used to it. But, for the moment, the only ones you will see behaving the way suggested are Dabbler and Harem.
In this situation, Gregor is a stuffy old dude, with grey hair. Sydney does not even register him as being suitable boyfriend material!* As such she can behave the same way with him as she does in any non-sexual situation, being as silly as she likes.
* Sydney does not hide her interest, when that is the case. See her discussing Wolverine openly, and showing diagrams, in the List. Likewise flipping the List over, to enter Leon’s name. But that is a step removed from sex, and she further insulates herself by those very actions. Sydney uses the List as a mechanism to distance herself from dealing with the issue at a personal level.
Yeah, I could agree with this opinion. One of Sydney’s stated weaknesses happens to be buffed guys without shirts.
You think that Sydney would lust after dirty old men, and shamelessly throw herself at them? I is sad.
*ears droop*
“Old” depends largely on perception, and on the particular werewolf legends being utilized. For example, in the new World of Darkness, werewolves live about twice as long as a normal human. In Patricia Briggs’ novels, they are physically immortal as a side-effect of their robust constitution; the Marrok (the Alpha that rules all alphas in the United States) is hundreds of years old (he knew Lewis and Clark personally!), but could pass as someone in his early 20s, and after being turned, Dr. Wallace (who was in his 60s) looked like someone in his 30s. And, of course, in real life, some people age more gracefully than others.
So, Gregor could be younger than he looks, or much older…
Yes, I had considered that, as seen in the last sentence of that post you quoted.
As far as I can recall, the first time I personally encountered werewolves and vampires in the same story was in the mid-1970s.
And that instance was in a then-old movie.
In some legends, werewolves and vampires are basically the same thing. IIRC, Spanish lore says vampires are dead werewolves.
Not only in Spain. I’ve read lore from various places that have a lot of the attributes of werewolves and vampires being basically interchangeable.
KarmaTheAlligator, were you a dentist, in your past life?
What? Where did that come from? Also, I have no memories of my past lives.
If it is your karma to be an alligator, in this life, I just felt that it would have been ironic, if you were a dentist in your previous life.
I see, but no, the name comes from the fact that Karma sometimes bites back.
Heh.
In many stories werewolves are employed as guards for when the Vampire is sleeping and can’t defend himself.
run wolfman! before she yiffs you!!
‘yiffs you’? gadzooks, killaim, it’s a Despicable Me reference!! that’s complete sacrilege! (giggles)
It is? Thought it was a furry-sex thing o_O
It is. Yiff is another term for sex among the Furry community, derived from what people imagined a fox sounds like. And no, that musical group had no idea about that when they created the song “What Does The Fox Say?”
I can just imagine Maxima’s face in the last panel. I have too. It wasn’t shown.
I wonder what she is thinking as well.
She is smirking, and thinking “Suffer what I have to endure! Mwhahahah”
Well, not quite…Max did suffer Sydney hugging her around the butt that one time when she demonstrated to Max how easy it is to grab her Flight Orb if she drops it while in mid-air…
OMG those sound effect made me laugh out loud!
Third panel*ENSMUGGEN*
Heh. Yea.
Mind you he was good enough at it, to get away with one of the silent sound effects instead.
Dave, beware the autocorrect, the name of the artist is not “Geiger” but “Giger”, Hans Rudolf Giger.
Thanks for the hint about Beksinski, I didn’t knew him and it’s pretty good. Also “macabre painting” is a nice search to do :)
And with this, my day has just been made.
To be 100% fair…that would be my reaction too. And those onomatopoeia made me laugh.
Ok, every time I read the wolf’s lines, I hear them in Reinhardt’s voice (from Overwatch). Makes it infinitely more enjoyable.
Well, I suppose because he has a striking resemblance to Reinhardt but that might be just me seeing that though
Another reason why she wouldn’t need to fear those two is that with the amount of spicy foods she eats her blood and flesh is probably poisonous to them. Or at lest screw up there sines permanently.
Blood, no. Flesh, probably not. Every part of her digestive system, yes. Ingsol is safe solong as she doesn’t breath on him but many sauces are fairly heavy on the garlic. And that’s assuming we don’t explain that weakness as a heightened sense of smell, in which case he’d be hella glad he doesn’t need to breath to live after her pepper breath.
No idea if Ingsol has the same weaknesses as the traditional vampire. For all we know, he may be more like the ones in the Mercedes Thompson novels. That is to say, garlic doesn’t hurt them, but it tastes horrible, smells worse, and it’ll put you last on the menu if there’s other prey available (but certainly won’t stop a starving vampire if you’re alone in the room with it).
Great now I’m imagining Sydney as an Augumon. PEPPER BREATH PAAAAH!
There is a manga called Dance in the Vampire Bund where Werewolves serve as soldiers and bodyguards. One day the Vampire Queen decided to make box lunches for her Werewolf guards. The problem is that Vampires have no sense of taste and Werewolves have a very good sense of taste and smell. They were all so happy that she had personally made them lunch that they just dug right in only to discover that she had liberally seasoned everything with wasabi.
Ooh, if they do not want their bento boxes, they can pass it my way. I love the stuff. Even the imitation wasabi, that is made for us gaijin, is nice.
Logical explanations for Sydney’s behaviour? She reacts on emotion and is a massive geek. Whether or not she can defend against werewolves and vampires is almost irrelevant.
Say that WITH PRIDE!
… what do lions have to do with this?
Oh believe me I do.
Or the one or so active dots on the otherwise unknown function orbs…………………
Reinheart, is that you?
With as much gray as Gregor is sporting, I am surprised that he doesn’t have granddaughters who have taught him that he can expect Sydney’s sort of reaction more often than not.
Sir Barkley I. She’s a dog person by this.
Yeah…won’t lie. I’d do the same thing honestly. Only, I’d probably call him “Charles” instead
AND WELCOME TO THE JAM
Has anyone else noticed that werewolfdude calls ingsol “ingosl” in the first three panels? THIS IS AN ATROCITY THAT MUST BE FIXED
And it will be, once DaveB gets back from vacation.
hahaha Sydney looks so happy in the last few panels! also, love the sound effects. very good.
Gregor looks like Reinhardt
Did you notice that werewolves in GrrlPower universe were revealed… on a full moon? It’s a one in 28 chance of a coincidence 0_0
And vampires were revealed on the 70th anniversary, of the Dracula premiere, starring Bela Lugosi!
*slowly uses nose to point at each paw, in turn, mouth moving silently*
That is less than a one in four chance!
Really? Wow. I also just commented above about Dracula and Lugosi before reading this. Life is made of coincidental coincidences.
Wait, Dracula is form the thirties, it should be the 80th anniversary.
Checked, the premier was in February 12, 1931. So 85.4th anniversary :)
Meh, I trusted Google’s summary. The one that pops up if you search for “bela lugosi dracula”.
All I was after was the release date, which that had (as highlighted above).* So I looked no further. Clearly though, on closer inspection, following your comments, it must be totally bogus. Given that the summary itself indicates that it is a 1931 movie! And Wikipedia shows a US release date appropriate for that, rather than the bullcrap Google provided.
* Approximately 70 years ago. Although I honestly thought it said mid July 1946 before. Given how inaccurate the date quoted actually is, I am content to put it down to Google tying the field up to a random date generator! Or some monkey sitting in their data entry office, trying to pick up peanuts off a keyboard.
Internet is not to trust? I’m shocked.
It’s very interesting that, as I said in my other comment, what you accidentaly interpreted ended being totally by chance pretty close to something that actually happen.
I’m not implying there are forces at work, mind you.
Wait, wait, wait, you are talking about this https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/182 right?
Yeah “Dracula” release was in February 14, 80th anniversary actually but that was a very nice catch anyway, I’m impressed.
From this point forward I expect Sydney to start calling him Reginald
I am willing to bet any amount of money that Max is biting her lip to stop from laughing… If it were me, I don’t think I would have the ability to hold it in.
she’s not afraid of anything… up untill during the meeting a litch cough’s up a large spider that scuttles towards sydney, grabs the spider apologises to sydney, and then eats it (because they are “healthy”)
Heh.
Sydney, Sydney, Sydney… It’s not ‘Barkly,’ it’s George.
I will call him Barkly
*dies*
*starts pumping JayDzed‘s chest*
I haz no lips, I can’t do the full resuscitation here!
Man, this is one dangerous comic. That is the second one dying, from this page!
Code Blue! Code Blue! Is there a Doctor in the house?
…ooops, we’re out of luck. The TARDIS just left…
I am kinda wondering why there is a line through the candlelights in the final panel?
It is just the demarcation gap, between the blocks, that the pillar is made up from. You can see it most clearly in panel 6, because you can follow the seam from the adjacent stone blocks in the wall. But it is also visible in the subsequent two panels (and elsewhere).
It’s a joint in the stonework.
jinx!
“Stonework“.
That’s even bigger than Cheech & Chong’s 1/4-Pounder!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrsbjjuDTzU
In the upcoming page we will get to see Dabbler’s next prank. As Wolf-Gregor and Sydney enter the meeting room their clothing appear to change into formal attire and a dancing candlestick starts singing ‘Be Our Guest”.
Most awesome Sydney response in quite a while. I totally agree with you about the Wolfman face thing (is wolf-face racist?). It always looked a bit lazy to me if the effect was made post American Werewolf in London. And are you seriously implying that the GD universe will make a cameo someday, if not a full crossover? SQUEEE!!!
Something I’ve sometimes noticed with people when talking about Superman and magic. He doesnt actually have a weakness against it. Usualluly because some superman writers show an amazing lack of knowledge for the canon rules on him when writing their stories like in the awful “Kingdome Come.” He just has no more of a defense against it than anyone else does. Otherwise wonder woman, being made from magic, would be able to beat him with ease in a fist fight. No using magic items even like the lasso. Same for captain marvel. Same for each fight with thor in which superman won both times. Same for when superman fought Michael the archangel, fought Ares, or fought dragons. The real idea being that stuff like turning him into a chicken ot using a magic sword will still cut him (if they can him him)
Sorry about the typos and poor grammar. Wrote this at work on my phone while waiting for the judge.
I think they retconned WW’s origin to where she is the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta. But yeah the lasso would definitely put a kink in his plans since it is a magic artifact. How the heck could Sup’s beat Michael?
No shes still essentially a golem, magically brought to life. But even if she was born normally that would still be magic if zeus was her father. I think youre thinking of cassie sandsmark though (wonder girl). Also superman has beaten samson and hercules in arm wrestling at the same time- both who credit magic or divine reasons for their strength
Also the magic lasso works on gods and other magic beings as well
If Superman is only as vulnerable as a normal human to magic, than Kingdom Come should have gone even worse for him. Most people don’t survive getting struck by lightning, and Captain Marvel’s powers are entirely magic, including the lightning bolt. Even without taking magic into account, Captain Marvel is Superman’s equal in power. Black Adam tends to be even stronger, since he doesn’t share his power like Marvel does, but writers conveniently forget about that part too.
Thor would also be able to give him a pretty good fight, since Thor’s hammer is magic, as is his lightning. Once again, regular folks don’t take to kindly to getting thumped in the skull by hammers wielded by super strong, lightning-controlling deities.
Luckily for Superman, he has popularity power. I believe that was especially the case with one of those fights against Thor, too. The whole Marvel Vs. DC thing, the fights were decided by votes.
And if you think Kingdom Come is full of writing that ignores canon, I’d like to point you to JLA: Act of God. A one-time event causes people to lose superpowers, except for technology. Which is odd, because it also somehow depowers Green Lantern and anybody else with a power ring. And the Atom somehow can’t shrink anymore, despite that also coming from technology.
It’s also kind of odd because this depowers Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, and Superman, who had their abilities because they weren’t human (or weren’t entirely human, in Aquaman’s case). It was part of their biology. It’s not like they turned Batman into a pudgy guy with no martial arts abilities, after all.
Last but not least, they break up Superman and Lois so he can move in and start dating Wonder Woman, who has decided to become a Roman Catholic for some reason, despite having personally met her own gods.
1) i didnt say he was as vulnerable as a human. Just that he had no special protection from being affected. You can jusg as easily say hes just as vulnerable to magic as captain marvel, wonder woman, batman, thor, martian manhunter, spiderman, steel, lex luthor, flash, my cat, and random citizen #324 are. Its just a convenient way to say “this can hurt the otherwise unhurtable superhero
2) same goes for almost every other superhero in dc. They state it for superman tho because his invulnerability levels are off the chart generally
3) kingdom come it horribly written and massively inconsistent with canon. Im not saying
Im not saying kingdom come isnt the only dc comic that was wildly out of canon and / or inconsistent. Its just one of the more glaring examples. Act of god is dumb too tho, i agree
Nothing against the previous four hundred forty pages, but I think this may be my favorite page so far.
I will call him Mr. Fuzzypants!
Hm, this has probably been mentioned already, but is the vampires name Ingsol or Ingosl? Because Gregor says one thing while the character list to the right says something different.
It’s Ingsol. “Ingosl” is a typo which will (probably) be fixed when DaveB gets back from vacation.
It is just a typo, which will be corrected in due course. Some time after the author has returned from his holiday.