Grrl Power #475 – Emergency egress
It makes sense that if you’re going to send someone or something into a room of largely magic creatures and get all hostile, you’re going to have some protection against magic. Then again it’s probably fair to assume that a bunch of automata might just be disposable.
I haven’t really talked about the rules of enchanting in the Grrl verse, but there is some common sense to it. In most cases, complexity and power adds to the resources needed for the enchantment. Difficulty, time, power, crafting supplies, etc. There are also ways to cheat that equation a bit as well. Higher quality crafting supplies can either cut down on the time needed or can increase the quality of the enchantment, as can borrowing power from a potent source, for instance draining it from another artifact.
If they learn nothing else from this fight, the power of these attack mannequins (Attannequins? Mannattacks?) might tell them something about who sent them.
Be sure to check out Wearing the Cape: Team-Ups & Crossovers. Sydney’s first Crossover! I’ve made a dedicated blog post for the book, please comment there.
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Fast…..
And extremely agile to move through such a small space at such speed while keeping an eye on the explody thing.
She doesn’t have to keep an eye on the explodey thing, she’s not planning on dumping it and flegging* it back, just getting it as far away from the Council room as possible before it blows itself into itty bitty chunks
*it’s what you do when you ‘leg it’ while flying… wait, you do know what ‘legging it’ means, do you not?
She must keep an eye on it. Right now she is in full speed-mode to get it as far away as possible, leaving her defenses low
-> the explosion can more then just hurt her if she doesn’t switch to defense in time.
Only if she went full speed-mode, and the tunnel is too limiting for that, so more likely she went 25% Extra speed boost 75% Shield boost
We know she can start supersonic speed on a dime, but here is no shockwave. I think going Supersonic in a closed quarters is generally considered poor manners.*
So she was propably only going just under “speed of sound”. Wich is still around 1km/second.
*While guns do go supersonic, thier bullets are not human sized. And it is still poor manners.
Not at atmospheric pressures. At sea level it’s somewhere around 340m/s, which is still pretty fast.
Given the ratio of her aerodynamic cross section and the cross sectional size of the tunnel, she’d create a huge shock wave even at sub sonic speeds. Which is why the racoon was surprised by the whump rather than devastated by a nearby surface explosion. Actually, exploding in the tunnel may have been deliberate (by Max) to avoid revealing the existence of the Shadow council creatures to the wider human public with an explosion whose size she hadn’t had the time to discuss in detail.
Offer this only as a point of interest, not a criticism: The speed of sound is higher at sealevel than at a cruising altitude of 30,000 ft. (341m/s at sea level vs 303 m/s), because it requires a medium. The medium is thinner at higher altitudes. If Max could become nearly insubstantial in flight, (think the Vision), then she wouldn’t create a shockwave pushing through the air. The Vision adjusts his mass, a suspension of LaVoisier’s law of conservation of mass-energy, but other super speed characters create no shockwave simply because of artistic license. I prefer to think they become pure energy while traveling but do not know it. Since they are usually undetectable let’s call it dark energy. ;)
Even so, the power of super speed leaves one open to a whole new range of options that normal-speed people just don’t have available. Max even had time to take a more “scenic route” that still kept her out of possible public view, maintaining the secret location of the Council.
She didn’t take a ‘scenic route’, she took the only route open to her other than opening a new exit in the side of where ever they are
What I meant by “scenic route” is that she took a long path away from the Council. If Max was really worried about having time getting too short, she could have gone straight up & through any solid obstacles.
Vaulted gothic ceilings don’t like it if you do that to them! When was the last time you saw a gothic ruin, which had an intact ceiling?
An explosion of unknown (to Max) size in midair above the council room would simultaneously reveal the council’s existence and destroy the relationship Max is trying to build. In the tunnel, with overburden of dirt (and raccoon) is much better, pr-wise.
I think we will find holes in the elevator, front and bottom, a trashed checkpoint (probably mostly that way already from the baddies fighting their way in) and a collapsed park-entrance tunnel, from the “WHUMP”.
I think the Council members will consider that damage insignificant, comparing what kind of damage would have happened if that thing had exploded inside the Council Chamber.
;)
Keep in mind that her low-defence mode is still way tougher than the rest of us are.
With an explosion of unknown power, it is safer to err on increasing defence too. Perhaps in the ratio Guesticus suggests, or maybe 50/50. Bear in mind that her default speed is just as high as her base defence, so all she is doing is optimising the balance between how fast she needs to get out, versus the possibility of it going off before she reaches a safe spot, to drop it.
One clue that Maxima would have, which we do not, is the rate that the sparkly effects are changing at, or any discernible pattern. So there may well be a visual (and/or audible) clue, in that, as to how close it is to exploding. In which case Maxima could use a variable ratio.
Putting most of her boost into speed initially, then, as she gets further from the squishies, yet closer to the time she estimates it will boom, she can slide more into defence, gradually. Ending up with most in it, by the time it goes critical. Yes, Maxima could try to keep it all in speed, but then she is hoping that there is consistency in the pattern, which is an unnecessary risk.
Depending on the speed of the explosion, she might be up against an explosion that she can walk away from.
You want a fast shockwave for some jobs, or a slower one for other jobs. For the council room job I’d argue slower.
Only from Red Dwarf.
Good series to learn new words :D
But for those who have yet to be introduced to “The Adventures of Captain Smeghead”, ‘legging it’ basically means ‘running very fast, usually in the opposite direction’
Only if it want on reverse world
Hah butchered that sentence, should have been only if it happened on reverse world then max would be flying towards the council room lol
mental twister: Lister from Red Dwarf meets Stanley Tweedle from Lexx.
if you’ve seen both shows and have a good imagination, enjoy your new migraine :)
Ouch!
Watched both shows when they first aired before they became ‘mainstream’ or even ‘cult classics’ (can remember seeing the making of Lexx before actually seeing it, back when the local TV channel use to air a lot of DWTV {won a Sony Discman on their music countdown show :D})
Nice win.
“DWTV ” as in the German TV company? I can see a link, in that Lexxx was part produced in Germany. If so, I am curious as to how that came about? Quirks of history, which produce unexpected links interest me.
I know that NATO troops being stationed there, along with the usual Hollywood influence, and good language education, have resulted in a lot of Germans speaking good English (as evidenced by various members of our community). I did not expect them to be big exporters of English language entertainment though.
+1
Evolving your style my dear Yorp?
No, it’s just a full moon (and he’s chasing the Luna Bunny)
I try to remain stylish at all times. I just find that the extra night-time illumination, at this time of the month, allows me to show it off a bit more flamboyantly.
*doffs hat, with a flourish*
By the way, is the addition of the “.”, to the front your name a hint that you have developed a dot-DrRevenge website?
No, I think he’s staying hidden on a Linux filesystem. Clearly, this is part of some stealth-focused revenge.
s/Linux/Unix based/
A file or directory started with a period on OS X, for example is normally hidden.
One of these days, you’re going to try something that doesn’t work. Then you’ll be all like: https://iwastesomuchtime.com/puppersexe_has__161113
:)
Lol.
Umm, what just happened? o_O
Oh, Maxi happened, wonder if her jacket survived this time, in better (or worse) condition than with the explodey-bolas
She walks back into the council chamber, covered in soot and discoloured, to show her bruises, with her hands and arms covering her breasts and crotch. Except for her boots and a little bit of the bottom of her pants, everything has been blown or burned off her.
Maxima: That hurt! Ok, what was that?
Dabbler: Fortunately, I have something set aside for just such an emergency. * Pulls something from Hammerspace *
Maxima: You want me to wear that?! There’s hardly anything to it.
Dabbler: It’s more than you have on now.
Maxima: Fine. Give me that thing.
Sydney: * Giggle *
Maxima: Not a word, Scoville!
Sydney: Nope, none. Um, mind not giving me the gynecologist’s view there?
This needs to happen
Heh. Funny, but it is unlikely to happen. Whilst Achiles had his clothing and marshmallow burnt, Maxiam’s outfit was untouched by the mushroom cloud explosion. Maxima’s force fields protect her clothing just as well as herself.
For Max’s clothes to be damaged she would be too. Third-degree burnt flesh is not as sexy as ripped clothes.
A bit worse than herself, really; she has suffered clothing damage in extreme circumstances and it hurt like hell, but it’s happened with no exterior damage to her.
The key bit is that damage got through to Maxima. In a fist fight that can result in broken bones or a bloody nose. If an explosion gets through, then normal people would get blown to bits. However because every cell of Maxima’s is protected by a force field, if it gets though one, then there is another behind that, and so on.
So Maxima would have a high probability of living, but the outermost parts of her would be exposed. Hence my comment about third degree burns, as her skin would be taking the brunt of the explosion.
Mind you there is a force field around that outer layer of skin, so provided the blast is sufficient to just penetrate a single layer of force field (the one around her clothes) but not a second one, then the concept would be valid. Awfully convenient, fan service wise, but within the realms of possibility.
So book your ticket, to the alternate Earth without shrimp, for a view of a dishevelled Maxima.
We already saw that, during the Restaurant Rumble (the jacket she is wearing now is her backup replacement jacket)
I may fan-art (or fanfic) this. just because… … i need the practice? … yeah, that works as an excuse.
Max went full speed and flew off with the exploding killbot.
But did only that one reassemble and try to start fighting again? What about the other three?
I see no more mannequin debris on the ground, but their pieces may lie somewhere other than right in front of the door.
Last page showed 2 reassembling,and toy can see the second one’s arm in panel 3. Only 1 had magic used again it, hence only 1 has tried to explode so far.
There is another killbot standing/reassembling on the edge of panels 2/3. More to the point though, Max didn’t get outside in time. While she may not be hurt, she’s probably buried in rubble and it’ll take time for her to dig out.
Time in which the other killbots can do their thing, and Sydney is probably the only one there at the moment who is effective against them.
(They’re intended to counter magic, use magic on them, they suck you dry and use that power to nuke you. Use magic to defend yourself, they punch through it like it’s not even there.)
Yup. It is my assumption that magic and super powers are two different things. We have seen enough clues, to that effect.* As such a manna vacuum trap should only work on magic and not a super power.
Of course, if it does, then Maxima directing her incinerating powers on them would have given the manikins a huge power boost!
I think we are safe from that though, as Halo is standing right amongst them, with her powers active, and not triggering the effect. Whilst we could argue that the shield might have countered that, she has used her tentacle outside it, so that should have triggered the booby trap, if it was going to.
* Like the symbols we see every time magic is cast, as demonstrated by the Mage Guy, above. Whereas you do not see that with super powers in use. Plus Dabbler is savvy enough to know the difference and speaks of them as being distinct things.
“…as demonstrated by the Mage Guy, above.”
And also demonstrated by the Aggro Aura used by Vehemence.
I was guessing that someone would pick up on that. Well done on doing so quickly.
That is actually different. Because it was not visible until Halo activated her ‘see auras’ power. Whereas we can always see magic casting symbols, even without that power activated (as demonstrated above). Hence why I feel that Vehemence is just using a super power. No matter that it is an exceptionally versatile one (i.e. allowing spontaneous creation of pants).
I am guessing that the same kind of info will be available on any super, with an active power, if Sydney directs the ‘see auras’ power at that individual (or at the effect the power is creating). Possibly it may work on all powers in her field of view, with the caveat that very powerful ones (ie the aggro aura at full power) will drown out lesser ones. Simply because we saw none on other supers, at that time.
Alternatively Sydney might need to be fairly close to check out powers that way. Again, unless they are of overwhelming power and leaking it all over the place.
I know that Dave does mention magic, in his blog (on the page in question), but that may just have been convenience, when trying to draw upon community knowledge of spells in D&D and similar games. A lot of folks are familiar with ‘truesight’ in that context, so using language consistent with that would help people to understand the reveal in the car park battle.
As such I based my assessment on the stuff which we see in the comic itself. Which is the safest thing to do, when dealing with matters of canon. Dave has stipulated that he always reserves the right to change things, which he only mentions in his blog, when it comes to implementing something in the comic proper.
Plus it is fairly standard, in works of fiction, that things in print (or on film) take the higher precedence, in assessing canon.
I took it that V’s aura, as seen by sydney, was not the appearance of the thing itself, but data-rich display generated by the comm orb, like the HUD (heads-up display) a modern fighter pilot would see instead of an image of the enemy fighter.
I was fairly sure that someone (probably Dabbler?) mentions Vehemence’s aura being magic, but maybe you’re right. In any case, if V’s aura was indeed magic there’s probably a way to keep magical auras activated without all the glowy bits exposed to everyone.
I mean, the Veil is, arguably, a magic aura that affects the whole planet and, still, you don’t see random runes on the floor (or around nonhumans) and stuff.
If you don’t think the Aggro Aura counts because only Sydney could see it with her True Sight, what about when Vehemence anchored his feet to the pavement? (https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1549) That was visible even before Halo spotted the Aggro Aura.
Granted, as you indicated, when Sydney used the Comm Orb, she also saw such symbols around other supers, like under Heatwave’s feet while she’s hovering (https://davebarrack.deviantart.com/art/GP0277-Aura-Fight-Closeup-501816279; it’s hard to see it in-comic, so I linked to a closer view in DaveB’s Deviant Art).
Personally I think the former is just a manifestation of his power, like Heatwave has flames and the icy guy has ice. It lacks any of the characteristic runes or other features associated with the various known spells we have seen cast. OK they each varied somewhat, but that falls well outside of the range we observe between the others.
Thanks for linking the latter, it does indeed show that. Likewise under Dabbler too. Whilst she is wielding her magic sword. Although whether the aura is from that, or some other power Dabbler may have been supplementing her fighting with (such as her self-healing spell), I do not think we can say with any certainty.
Here’s a thought, what she was using in the fight could simply be an aura mode (as she says in the link below). The only three we see with any auras around them are Vehemence (aggro), Dabbler (lust), and Heatwave (heat). Her magic sight could be slightly different, as she sees beings emanating their own “light,” different from how things looked at the fight. Only the cloak on the wall and a bit over Sydney’s head have the “runes” at all like during the fight. While this could be an artistic shift, it could also be different view modes, as I chose to interpret it.
Hmm, I remember Dabbler being able to pump up/tone down her aura without there being an obviously visual magic effect, which being a succubus would be a natural aura, so Vehemence’s aggro aura is likely his equivalent, not requiring a spell to expand/enhance the effect. Does this make Heatwave a heat demon-ish? If her powers do absorb ambient heat for power then after (NSFW Warning) this she should be quite powered up.
Anvil’s power works in a rather similar way, but only physical contact, no aura for her.
That is extremely astutely reasoned. I had been thinking around in those areas, but had failed to come to those conclusions.
The biggest problem, if just reasoning it on the strength of a super power (e.g. as approximately measured by its star rating) is that Maxima should have shone out, like a beacon, even amongst the company she was in and through the wall of the chamber.
Halo has not examined a super up-close yet, so we do not know how it functions under those circumstances. But, at medium to long range, it would make sense if she could only pick up individual sources of power (be that magical or super, in nature) using whatever colour-coded system the orb’s true sight provides.
And, of course, an aura power, which extends around a super (be that lust, aggro or heat) would stand out distinctly even at range. I cannot see any flaws with that reasoning, and shall adopt it henceforth.
I am guessing that Halo will be able to see symbols, when she is looking at supers, up close. Possibly identical to those of the magical items, in appearance. Presumably with one of the symbols indicating that the source is either magical or super, in nature. Or, alternatively, the different natures would require that the HUD displays have distinctively varying layouts, and even styles. To optimise the interpretation of the respective data.
Don’t forget the symbols used when Gwen . That was also visible to the naked eye.
(Let’s see if I can manage to do links correctly.)
::facepalm:: No. No I cannot.
Right. Remember to close the tags next time.
That was supposed to read “when Gwen casts magic.”
Pretty sure Dabbler could handle the other two. She may be restricted from using magic, but there is nothing preventing her from pulling out a matter-disentigration blaster from hammerspace and removing the remaining manequins from existance.
dabbler does have a pair of myomer-wrappings left, as she kept some back for emergencies.
We can see at least one other leg on the side of the panel
They’re reassembled, just off panel. Unfortunately I’m like a slow video card trying to play a modern video game. Each character rendered in the scene adds to the draw time, and if I’m going to keep to “two frames per week”, certain things have to be cleverly obscured.
2fpw? Had not thought of it that way….
that’s about what SSE’s running on my comp so =P
Dave does himself an injustice. The above comic has 9 frames. Assuming the same for Thursday’s comic that is 18 frames per week. A small flip-book’s worth!
I wonder if he works with agent Squirrel?
No, that would be a moose.
Not a mole?
no, that’s danger mouse
I guess Secret Squirrel really is a secret…
And Secret Squirrel (Morocco Mole).
Danger Mouse’s sidekick is Penfold the Harassed Hamster.
No that observation point was a mole-less station.
He needs to watch out better so that he doesn’t become immolated.
good thing you wen’t replying to a post from someone named Tedd… that would have resulted in ‘mole-less, Tedd’
I am thinking that maybe Agent R here occasionally works with Agent P from further west.
It’s Rocket from the Guardians per-enhancement. This is where he meets his maker. (pun intended) Who just failed with his recent mad science project.
Yeah, there is where Rocket goes from being an ordinary Terran rodent to being the furious furry scourge of the Galaxy (and friend to sentient twigs)
Raccoons aren’t rodents.
They actually are related to bears
The are more closely related to kinkajuos and coatimundi. Definitely in the family carnivora, not rodentia.
pandas specifically
(which actually aren’t technically bears)
Red pandas are raccoons. Giant pandas are true bears; most of their differences are due to their specialized restricted diet.
It does make sense that the evil squirrel overlord would have a spy on stake-out, watching his enemies, and their allies, activities.
Finally.
Trust in Yorp.
Seems the ones saying on the previous pages that they would explode were right. Step forward and claim your cookie.
Let’s use spells against the anti-mage kill bots.
Then again, when you are a mage seat, everything probably looks like a magical target.
True Dat.
… And it also seems to confirm the theory that whomever/whatever made this attack did NOT expect Max & Co to be there.
Was about to say something about a hammer and nails, but that works.
This is why you use indirect magic: project flames, create lightning, craft and accelerate icicles, summon anails above heads.
Hm, not sure if you miss-spelled anvil, or of anails is a certain sort of nail with a . . . questionable function.
No, those are supposed to be really large snails. ;)
You wouldn’t happen to be referring to Escart Go-Go
Or Esgargantua
escargantua, megamollusk, nautilus
if you hit them with magic flames, magic lightning, magically generated ice, or magically generated anvils, then it would still drain you. Magic heat that bursts into flame, magic cold that makes ice, or teleporting anvils should be safe.
its about direct connection.
if he “creates” something, even if using magic, once its done it is an intebendent object.
the magic he used however, used a direct link to transfer info back to him.
think of it as hacking.
if you conenct to someone, there is a chance you are traced back and blown off.
but if you are using proxy to go off at a certain time, hacking you is much MUCH harder.
USE YOUR BRAIN DAMNIT
if anyone is wondering… that’s “independent”. b is nowhere near p…
also, another protip… listen to your own protips… damn it. why is there no edit funciton?!
Your assumption would hold merit based on the magic system and the GM. In others, it would have less cogency.
Suppose one creates lightning by magic – one can assume one of two things, at the very least:
1) The magic creates conditions so that the lightning produced is natural (Call Lightning in 1st and 2nd Ed AD&D).
2) The magic actually creates the lightning itself, meaning the lightning is, itself, a magical construct (Lightning Bolt in 1st and 2nd Ed AD&D).
In case 1, I can support the argument that the lightning would not be countered (depending on how the “magic drain” field works and how big it is, it might, however, counter the effect that created the conditions for lightning).
In case 2, num-nums.
Pretty much the call of the world builder. I can imagine a “mana drain” effect that is a field effect that drains any magic cast within that rather large area of effect provided the magical effect is directed toward the target generating the field at any time. Granted, in my game, that would be some major mojo, but it’s plausible to me.
Magic… its not about power lvls, its about the right argument.
on that, it seems we can agree on, and also end.
Save that the armor encapsulated dabbler and Dabbler cast her glamour with no exploding?
Dabbler’s glamour is a species ability, as opposed to a spell. In some systems they would be one and the same thing. In others though, they are distinctly different. Here we can examine the two and see that the mage is clearly casting a spell (we can see the distinctive casting effects, including the mystic runes). Whereas looking back at Dabbler’s transformation (and any prior example of the use) such effects are lacking.
Thus the species power does not require spell casting to utilise. And may not even utilise magic (as supported by your astute observation). Thus succubus illusions are probably closer to super-powers, than spells, in origin. Perhaps literally so, if they are all descended from one demon, who’s super-power bred true, and eventually propagated throughout the species!
It may also explain why succubi have such a complex breeding arrangement (including the use of factories), plus why any succubus/alien cross always results in a succubus. If they are using technomagic to ensure the propagation of that superpower/racial ability, despite the difficulties involved in keeping it breeding true. Over and above, that is, the need to overcome species boundaries, of course.
psychic power!
Alters everyone’s perception of an object, without actually altering the said object.
technically not magic.
Could be.
There’s a bit of overlap between psionic powers & magic. Not so much as to the source of the effect, but a particular use of one ability can duplicate or simulate the effects of the other. Sort of like comparing “Sufficiently advanced technology can seem like magic” with “Sufficiently advanced magic can seem like technology.”
Even in games like D&D, quite a few magic spells actually simulate what we moderns in the real world already accomplish with technology, such as firing off a mortar round causes similar effects to a Fireball spell…And vice versa.
And the armor encapsulating her?
That is a permanent enchantment, which is handled differently in most systems. They are much more durable and harder to interfere with. Taking D&D as an example a ‘Ring of Spell Turning’ would have zero affect on a magical item. If trying to counter a magical item you would need to resort to something like a ‘Rod of Cancellation’.
Likewise, in various systems, spells which counter magic usually work best against other spells and either fail, or have a limited-duration suppression effect only, if directed specifically at a magical item.
In Icon’s case he is also sentient, which, using Super-genre reasoning, might in itself make him more resistant to being affected by such powers.
In D&D terms characters have resistance to hostile effects, which improve as they get more powerful. We can assume that Icon is at the pinacle of such development, given his position as the leader of a faction of such beings. In which case he would, if extrapolating from D&D (or a similar system), be very hard to directly affect with such a power (even if it could drain normal magical items).
I should point out that if a magical item created spell,s or spell-like effects, such as directing a fireball at the wearer of a ‘Ring of Spell Turning’ then the spell could be affected. However the item itself would not. Of course it might get melted by the turned fireball, but, if it survived that, it would not be at risk of ceasing to work.
Icon has demonstrated no powers which would fall into the above category, in any event. If he can spellcast though he would be wise to avoid it, as that might activate another booby trap.
If you don’t want to die prematurely, you need to become immortal first. Which is what the best magick users do. Or find a way to drain others since that life force through the soul is necessary in using it. We got to see it work in “The Golden Voyage of Sinbad” all through it the sorcerer became older, greyer, weaker as he used powerful magicks, till the end when his life was renewed. Depending on the magick energy used and how it is used, and the size of the spell figures into the energy drain.
pretty sure you don’t use “life force” in the GRRL verse.
since this is a comic that attempts to be as scientifically realistic as possible (despite super powers and all that), then “health” is dependent on the biological functions and state of the cells.
If an organism evolved without magic, then it does not require it to live.
As such, being low on “mana” should not put you at any risk.
THAT SAID, if the energy going through you is particularly disruptive… there is a chance of a cancer. And that won’t heal by just restoring mana. in fact, that might make the cancer worse if done too fast.
Ironic, that you should mention cancer, as part of a counter to a proposed route to immortality, by draining the life force of others. Given that cancer is a cell’s attempt to become immortal, despite the cost to the rest of the body.
A “solution” that sometimes works too well.
The first man-cultivated immortal human species. Interesting. Not to mention the 11,000 patents created using the unethical exploitation of it.
It seems like the bot just sucked the mana out of the air as soon as a spell was being used. So I doubt even indirect magic would work.
Agreed. Whilst detection magic can be cast, on a target, it can also be used on the senses. In this case he was not sure what would be ‘the weakness’, so it sounds like his spell was being used to give him the ability to spot that, wherever it may be. As opposed to picking one target and hoping it was the right one. If that is the case, then he very much was using indirect magic.
Although, if he was casting it on them (or an area including them) then the point about the manikin sucking up magic, aimed at it, is good.
Summon giant fish?
You roll a 17. Congratulations, he comes!
I wonder if he’s from a small pond?
Okay puppy, you are cleaning up that fishy mess!! Not to mention, EWW!!!!!!!!!!
*ties napkin, around neck, and reaches for the salt and vinegar*
I hope you’re not trying to go on a diet, because that’s probably going to take a while.
It’s going to be like Deadpool once said: “I going to eat until I fall asleep, then I’m going to sleep until I wake up from hunger.”
Personally like the name SWATatons, but that’s just me
Explodems.
I am thinking of Autons, but I think that one has already been used.
Well, it is a combination of ‘SWAT’ (because of the gear they were wearing) and ‘automaton’
Swataton reads a lot like “swat-a-thon” to me. I think SWATomatons sounds better.
AutoSWATon?
Auto-bot SWAT.
You thought that was going to be a kinky link, didn’t you? Bad person! Go sit on the naughty seat!
Swatty tomatoes? o_O
Here’s how little I know about the way magic is supposed to work:
When Mage Guy used the phrase “Mana Void as all of his magic was sucked away,” my initial assumption was that the baddies here were called manavoids!
Dagnabbit! That closing quotation mark should have been at the end of Mana Void!
Seconded.
Attaquins!
Halo might be one of the few who can check them out without being drained. But she may not know what she’s looking at.
Hope Max is ok. Didn’t the Big Bang Theory teach us not to use the elevator with explosives?
I don’t think she pressed the button and waited for the music. She probably just flew through the shaft.
In fairness, the lesson from BBT was ‘Chuck the explosives into the elevator, close the door, and back away… then groan when the elevator still isn’t fixed YEARS later.’
They’re probably saving fixing the elevator for the series finale.
That would be my guess as well.
Though, harking back to what was said in one episode, Sheldon finally converting it into a missile silo (in case of a surprise attack from Burbank) would be pretty cool.
I was sure that they would reveal Penny’s last name in the wedding episode, but we still have never heard it. My theory is that her middle and last name are both Penny, making her name “Penny Penny Penny”. Sheldon was not being OCD when he was knocking. He was just being very formal.
He he.
I hope this happens.
Penelope Penworth Pence.
Penelope Pentiphone Pennyworth
Or this – this works too…
Does that means she turns up when she’s bad?
Well, at least you can get value, for money, if you want to spend a Penny Penny Penny. You know, if you are busting for a P.P.P. against a tree.
The closing the door and backing away part is very, very important. I remember that John McClane almost got roasted when he neglected that in the first Die Hard film.
No, it was Die Hard. So using the elevator shaft is ok, but don’t look down at the pretty fireworks.
Before any Grammar-knobs type-out about the last sentence, leaving out the initial “I” and the later “in” is perfectly acceptable
The “I,” yes… the “in,” not so much.
Sure it is: don’t need to specify that it was in the dumpster, it could have been on or under or next to
They suffered a large explosion under their butt. I’m sure the average raccoon would have trouble with their grammatical syntax after an event like that.
You also have to realize that raccoons are usually not very adept at English grammar.
That too
They are still not rodents…
Rodents tend to better grammar.
But their spelling is appalling
Whoops, I meant to leave the I out, but that sentence should have the ‘in’
Nonsense – that was perfectly acceptable Raccoon (Granted, it does sound a bit Town Dump dialect…)
Umm, pretty sure speedster doesnt work on elevators. Maybe relabel that as “Emergency Stairs”? Or “Elevator/Stairs”?
Elevator shaft.
So the mannequins got shafted?
Shut yo mouth.
We’re just talking about shafts…
“…but he can dig it…”
Even if it’s not what I’m spade to do.
Mein gott, this is getting deep, it could turn into a veritable mine field!
There may be only one way to get out!
Well, I was thinking of going hole hog.
Yeah, was wondering that as well, unless the lift was at the bottom and she flew down the shaft (*giggle* ‘shaft’), through the access in the roof and out the door (they may need new lift doors)
Talkin’ ’bout shaft. Max is one mean bad mother (Shut your mouth)
I had to go check the “Make Maxima Say…” cards. Dabbler has already checked “shaft”. It is not on the visible part of Sydney’s card, but every word there was also on Dabbler’s (just with a different layout), so … perhaps Sydney’ll score again?
It does if one goes through the roof or floor of the elevator or simply avoids the elevator all together.
Elevator cars don’t necessarily fit snugly into their shaft – very often there is extra space to allow for maintenance, future expansion, or just because.
In this case:
1. The elevator car could have been conveniently out of the way at top or bottom of the shaft;
2. There could have been j-u-s-t enough space around the car to allow Max + Cargo to pass at high speed without much trouble;
3. Max used the conveniently-placed access hatches at top and bottom of the car to get past;
4. Max passed ***through*** the car at high speed without slowing down (subtext – said car is now TOAST).
I htink 3 is least likely, but cannot be totally discounted. I like 4 the best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7hzyr0tttU
Love Vivaldi´s La Follia.
When you’re as strong as Maxima, things like doors and floors are… optional.
Building of steel, woman of force fields.
Sue Reed meets Doctor Doom.
Well, not optional because she still need to use doors…It’s just that she can make them whenever & wherever she needs them.
And THAT right there is why Maxima leads the team………….
Takes more than just power to lead, you actually have to be able to THINK and act quickly in situations like this……….
Time for Dabbler to shine!
I I thought that was Maxima’s specialty.
Dabbler can change her appearance at will, so she can outshine Max any time she wants.
Which actually would be a good combat tactic; if your skin is about as bright as the sun, most enemies might have a little bit of difficulty trying to aim at you.
Love the map of the Council chamber…
Yup, with the smiley trees, and can recognize the background for the underground part, but not sure which particular game DaveB used (was thinking “Dig Dug” but the graphics don’t match)
The underground section has a “Lemmings” look about it to me.
I’m pretty sure the underground graphics are from Minecraft, I recognize the patterns of the diamond, coal and gold ores.
Haven’t played Minecraft, but couldn’t think what other game had similar looking nodes (but it’s possible the nodes have been used in many games)
Haven’t played “Lemmings” in a very long time (back in the pre-internet Amiga days, ie mid 90s) but don’t recall the ground looking that ‘soily’
No, those are absolutely Minecraft textures. Even the stone’s got the Minecraft texture.
Yeah, fair enough. I fired up my Amiga emulator, and despite what I laughingly refer to as a “memory”, lemmings looked rather different to what is shown here. Emerald Mines is closer, but as Dave B is not a superannuated relic from the computer Jurassic age, I suppose Minecraft is a far more reasonable assumption. :-)
I played the original Lemmings on my Amiga 512 when I was in college. So yeah, nearly Jurrasic age.
loved Lemmings. well, loved to create gooey pixel fireworks with them, anyway
I could work miracles with a bazooka and a bit of headwind. Hiding behind a mountain or underneath an island was no defense against my marksmanship!
Might just be my lack of experience with the suicidal rodents, but it sounds more like you’re talking worms than lemmings.
Doh! Yea..
*burrows hole in ground and sticks head into it*
Marksmanship isn’t a real requirement with a bazooka; you really need no more than a compass heading.
It is when you have to estimate the various factors by eye. It is a long time since I played it, but I seem to recall that you had to set the firing speed by how long you held down the trigger.
Bearing in mind that your target is obscured by a massive amount of intervening terrain, so you have to figute out how to use the (variable speed) wind to get the projectile reverse its course, once past that, in order to hit its target.
:-P
Our first computer was a Sinclair Spectrum
ZX-81. Most of my mates went for PCs after that. One convinced me to go Amiga though, being the one with better games, at the time, amongst other advantages. I was sad when I eventually had to go PC, loosing so many good games!
Likewise every time I upgrade to a new operating system. I think I radiate a emulator breaking field, as neither compatibility mode nor any emulators have ever allowed me to play one fo the ‘good ol games’.
*languidly wafts tail nostalgically*
That’s the one, after that we went to the Atari 800XL (favourite games were the Star Wars game and ET), after that got a C64 and then an Amiga 600HD (until one night, while the machine was shut off, the hard drive blew up in a blue flash :( )
So, it’s the raccoon magic too, or just sentient? Perhaps we just found ARC’s future mascot.
Nah, just being a raccoon playing the part of the comedic relief
My guess: Were-raccoon, one of the guards. Going to get a real reaming out for not spotting the incoming mannequins.
Nah, raccoons are just that smart.
https://youtu.be/qBv-qIAtW5A
The Council chamber looks like a dungeon from Super Mario Bros. and Castlevania.
I’m rather surprised that Sydney did not just envelop her force field around the automaton instead.
And kill herself? Do you hate Sydney that much? It has been stated, repeatedly ad nauseam, that Sydney can only create a Bubble around herself, whether she may one day in the future be able to do a Sue Storm and create it away from herself is yet to be determined (plus she would need to survive long enough to figure that out)
What? With her inside of it?
From what I understand, she can’t do that without being inside the forcefield as well, e.g., as seen here with Vehemence.
I’m rather surprised that people still just assume that a personal forcefield would somehow include the power to project said forcefield.
It is the Sue Storm effect. If one super can use a power in a versatile way, they assume that any hero with a similar-seeming power can do the same?
Folks tend to forget that Sue’s range of powers were developed over a long time. Whereas Sydney is just starting out, has not developed any powers stunts yet, and cannot do things with the orbs powers which she has not yet unlocked.
Indeed, at first Sue didn’t even have force fields! For quite a while there, all she had was the invisibility.
Not to mention that Reed had the whole team working on improving their use & control over their powers all down through the years. In Sue’s example, she developed a level of skill on the reflexive/instinctive level by keeping her uniform invisible under her street clothes (at least until she had to expose her uniform do do any hero-stuff).
The raccoon shares my feelings about macaroni and cheese. Lactose intolerance be damned. (Though I’m not a fan of Butterfingers.)
It would be most inconvenient to accidentally drop your macaroni and cheese, after all.
Is that Woo? Of Sandra and Woo?
If so, then I’m gonna pin this attack on that cute little firebug Larisa.
Woo living around a bunch of mages WOULD explain a raccoon about to speak to humans.
I find the idea of Larisa learning pyromancy absolutely terrifying. Then again Yuna IS a reality warper so..
Woo’s on first.
But I thought Woo already got past first base?
With Sandra? Dang, really need to read that again (stopped partway through the big Raccoon meet, just after the main attraction snuck off, largely because no one actually knew what she looked like, not even her ‘security’)
No, not with Sandra! He’s got a female racoon missus and a bunch of kids now, though.
Weren’t there several Mani-bots and something or someone behind them? If all the Mani-bots were going to explode, that’s a lot for Max to carry. Or was it just one Mani-bot?
What about whomever it was Sydney saw following behind them?
Probably only the one that sucked up Mana is going to explode.
We saw Lone Helmet’s head floating last page
They were all close together, recombining, in one big pile. You can see another one has recombined just next to the bloody-faced one (his leg is visible in panels 4 & 5). Importantly the leg is not glowing, like Bloody Face. Nor did any of the magic get sucked in its direction.
As the others would be within Maxima’s field of view (albeit not visible from our vantage point, behind the 4th wall), we can conclude that none of the others were glowing either, or Maxima would have grabbed them, at the same time.
I love how you actually put up a Who’s Who for “Mage guy”
It can’t be that hard to give him a name.
Let’s name him!
I’ll start: Epimetheus.
He has not been introduced yet, so it is appropriate that he remain nameless, until Sydney learns it.
we’ll call him ‘Guy’ out of respect for Galaxy Quest?
Good thing he’s not wearing a red shirt…
Yes, but Guy is a psychotic girl, just ask Wayne (don’t ask Frank, he’s almost as bad)
It’s Dante! He’s the Mage guy!
Oooooo.
So close.
(To actually reaching outdoors.)
Isn’t the blastwave going to funnel back the tunnel?
I suppose Halo could cork the doorway.
Corking the doorway would be smart, but I guess it would be smart to toss out the two other Manatacks out before they do something stupid. But my guess is that the blast wave will not be that bad anymore, Maxi got the hot potato quite far away and maybe she even closed the blast doors behind her.
Confined spaces, the blast wave will be almost as bad the entire way through as it was heading when it started. Almost because it will waste energy destroying things on the way there.
The blast will still have to make two 90 degree turns (at the bottom and top of the elevator shaft), and possibly depending on if Maxi managed to reach the entrance passage
Yep, which means the council are safe. Mythbusters investigated explosions in trench warfare and nice sharp right angled turns leach the power out of explosions.
Admittedly that was with open-topped trenches, rather than tunnels, but the general principles will be similar. Especially with the big open void of the checkpoint to relieve any pressure, much the same as being open to the sky, at that point. Similarly the final bit of the tunnel has a big opening above (allowing Sydney to fly up). Should any of the blast wave even reach that far.
Plus (even not to scale) that is a long way away even if it is just a vague approximation.
Also the tunnel itself bsorbed a lot of the blast, enough to frighten a racoon above it)
Sooo…. Mojang just called, they want their Diamond, Gold, Coal, Stone and Dirt blocks back
If they fought a little better HtH, they could deserve to be called Sock Puppets.
No body better lay a finger on my butter- BOOM! OK it’s yours.
Hypothesis: the mage was a party to the assault, and planned to blow up the mannequin so as to cover his tracks by getting his mana all over the place.
You just beat me by a minute! ;)
Possibly, but Maxima had already said she planned to incinerate them, which would have destroyed them anyway. I could see if he knew that would have been more dangerous than setting them off like he did, but even then, first, I would think she would not have attempted to do so within the building, and, second, there wouldn’t be any guarantee that she would react fast enough to get them out before they exploded.
Who wants to bet that Mage Guy is part of the attack and set the explodey golem up to draw the super-fast, super-strong and super-tough golden heroine away from the action?
That poor raccoon, to trigger his lactose intolerance from just a butterfinger. I have to at least drink a couple glasses of milk, and then I just emit some nasty gases.
Even my lactose intolerance (which is a side-effect of my blood pressure medication) isn’t bad enough to be triggered by a single butterfinger or a slice of cheese or whatever. Although, if I don’t take two Lactaid pills before I start eating, even three slices of pizza have enough cheese on them that (at the very least) I turn into a gaseous anomaly for about four hours.
When I see the doctor again in January, he wants to wean me off of and/or change my blood pressure medication. Until then, I’ll stick to the drug regimen. A little lactose intolerance can’t kill me… a stroke, or liver failure caused by high blood pressure, can.
Minecraft / Grrlpower crossover confirmed. Does this mean that Steve is a super?
Considering his extradimensional inventora and the ability to compress metals and even gems into blocks, definetly not a normal human.
Or maybe that’s just overworld phisics, idk.
Steve. Universe?
And now that big bad and super powerful Maxima is out of the room, the REAL attack begins!
They still would have the Might-ay, Might-ay Halo to contend with.
Maxima didn´t arrive at the mechanic stairs soon enough. Nevertheless, considering how straight and long the hallway is, I bet she has thrown the mannequin off as far as possible. The problem is that the explosion wave can reach her and the council too, like McLane teached us in Die Hard movie with the elevator-chaircomputerC4 combo. Will see.
3 M-Anakins left, and Sydney is now the council only hope. What could possibly go wrong?
Max doesn’t know how big the explosion will be, therefore getting it as far away as possible from anyone is her first priority. Chucking it down the service corridor from the elevator shaft might be quicker, but if it’s kiloton-scale it’s going to make the park a crater, and pretty much out the Council to all the police/fire/FBI/NSA/etc. who show up to investigate said crater, not to mention probably kill a bunch of people.
Therefore, getting it OUTSIDE and THEN chucking it into the ocean/stratosphere was her plan. Max just didn’t quite make it.
We can see how far down the tunnel (not to scale) Maxi managed to get, at the edge of the buildings and just before the Happy Smiley Treants
I meant that Maxima could throw the M-Anakin away as far as possible through the perfectly straight hallway. Would the M-Anakin be able to break doors? And if we take into account the superhigh pre-explosion temperature and wooden doors with an inborn fire resistance penalty?
And yes, it is much safer to let it explode in the underground than in the surface. One of the first lessons Maxima teached to Sydney was to use the ground against her foes instead of buildings and such, for the same reasons.
Now that I think about it, there´s no point about making this explosion too strong. If the explosion were nearly as powerful as a kiloton-monster, why activate it with a booby trap instead of making all the M-Anakins explode at once in the middle of the council while taking everyone by surprise? What are the M-Anakins for after this attack? Nothing, I suppose.
Or could it be that the explosion is fueled by the magic casted against them? The more mana used to cast the spell, the more mana the booby trap will have to fuel the explosion.
Maxima is taking it down the route she knows because there is only one thing behind closed doors:
The Orphanage and Bunny Rehab.
Maxima wouldn´t damage a little orphanage of helpless bunnies. A Bunny Girls Squad Training Orpahanage cannot be ruled out though.
Given that the juice for the explosion came from Mage Guy (aside: I vote for his name to actually be “Guy”), the explosion is probably no more powerful than what he could produce with a spell, assuming he were willing to completely exhaust himself.
Now, given that he represents mages on the Council, he’s probably pretty strong, but I wouldn’t expect him to produce the equivalent of a nuclear explosion, even a pony nuke.
He he he. Love the bemused raccoon.
Awesome consistency with the continuity DaveB! It is nice, when spotting the small details, in the comic, to later find out that they are indeed indicating and foreshadowing events, rather than just being an artistic flourish or inconsistency.
it might be time for one of the unknown orbs to curiously knock lighthook out of sydney’s hand and doing something interesting, perhaps. dust a thort or shumtink like dat.
That seems like it actually might sting a good bit.
Didn’t see anyone mention it above, but it looks like the raccoon missed the word “in”.
It was mentioned. Someone also mentioned that raccoons might not have the best grasp of english grammar.
It was an omission, per the author, which may get fixed, in due course.
Can Sydney use her shield as a weapon and crush one of them?
Easiest way to use her shield as a weapon is if she’s flying & does a “body slam” with it.
Ya. That would be very effective and she would absorb the blast from incoming attacks.
We’ve seen that the shield can protect from Maxima level destruction, but there’s no indication that it can be used offensively. I wouldn’t be the least surprised if the shield can differentiate between energy applied to it, and energy it applies to external objects. Note that the shield is a perfect sphere when Sydney is flying, but is a hemisphere when she is on the ground (it should either bisect the ground beneath it, or create a crater as it moves external matter aside). Given Sydney’s thoughts about the PPO apparantly having a “safety trigger” it’s reasonable to assume all the orbs have some form of inbuilt safety protocol (mind you the lighthook suggests it’s not that cut and dried, so I guess only DaveB knows for sure).
The shield does deform automatically, to a smaller size, when she goes into confined areas, such as indoors. So that same safety feature may well retract the shield, from impacting a person.
Inconvenient if attempting to use it as a weapon. But very handy if Halo has just bumped into a school bus, at 400 mph! Hopefully she would be able to squeeze through gaps between pupils, rather than taking out half of them, on her way through!
Maybe, maybe not. The shield does seemi to alter its shape on an almost intuitive level; shrinking while indoors to avoid obstacles, becoming more aerodynamic while flying fast, etc.
Perhaps if Sydney really intends to use the shield as a weapon, it will allow for it by not conforming to lifeforms in its way. It may even be discriminatory, in that Sydney could slam an enemy standing close to an ally & the shield might conform itself to miss the ally.
It would be pretty convenient, but the shield would have to be operating on an intuitive level to do that.
Touché.
It has happened, just not to a being, this poor billboard.*
*That took longer to find than I thought, due to it being a flashback, causing a mini archive binge.
Ooh. I had forgotten that. So strong point for ramming being possible. It may have retracted there, but can only go so far before it would compromise Sydney’s safety.
That said, it does have various safety systems, so it may behave differently when people are involved. And, of course, it could respond to Halo’s subconscious commands.
As possibly evidenced by that sign. :-D
Ok, so now im wondering with daves explanation if there was a lack of ability to do any real prep for someone like maxima. These things have clearly been optimized to slaughter the council. They are resistant to sword damage, if you DO destroy them they reassemble. If you cast on them they drain you dry and explode, and they are stocked full of anti magic supplies and weaponry that will wreck the day of anything they hit. Yeah that council would be mostly dead right now. And not miracle max mostly dead, im talking most of the council strewn about in pieces.
Definitely. Initial grenade with silver (and some other materials) buckshot would have already taken out a large portion of the physically strong guys, shields and magic useless…
And just as bad against non-weakness people, a silver buckshot is still a friggin buckshot.
I think we finally have a new Yorp with the emergence of this adorable little raccoon.
and he’s called Butterfingers, no less.
So no one better lay a finger on him?
Nooooo!
Call them Myrmidons?
Heh, mostly remember ‘Myrmidon’ as one of the level ranks for fighters in 2nd Ed AD&D, but looking it up it is the name of a group of ancient Greeks (lead by Achilles, no, not Mr Indestructible Mullet, the original guy) and also a follower or subordinate, so good choice
To be fair Old Achilles WAS supposed to be invulnerable except for the heel (Never figured out why Mama didn’t dunk him twice to cover that weak point.)
Compassion. Eternal life, without a means to die, if desired, is a curse!
It is not like it is hard to armour a single spot, especially one in a location which is not normally targeted, as a weak spot. So she was giving him the best chances possible in life. He was just more incompetent than she hoped.
Well that or she just did not realise she was not doing a thorough job, which is probably the more usual telling. More than one multi-billion dollar project has failed because a single item, less than one dollar in cost, was poorly manufactured, fitted incorrectly or used instead of a more appropriate item. So that is an accurate reflection of the human condition.
Same as that guy who bathed in dragon blood (didn’t notice a rather in convenient large leaf that fell on him while slathering the still warm blood all over himself: how did he not notice the large leaf afterwards?)
If it fell off. If there is a leaf falling, we should assume that it is from a tree, or some such. Which have lots of leaves, and many can fall at around the same time. So he was probably surrounded by leaves, many of which would have been splashed with dragon blood anyhow. One more would easily go unnoticed.
Anyone else see the minecraft blocks or am I crazy?
Yes.
What I see is smilely faces on the trees in the park.
I think those are from a different game called Motherload. Started as a flash game, but pretty amusing for wasting time during work/school.
(showing my age) I thought it was a reference to the original Super Mario Brothers (the smiley face clouds & bushes were the same graphics, just cut off with a palette change.)
I guess someone has to say this: That mannequin was da BOMB!
(although I may catch some flak, I got a bang out of it)
I think it might have actually been a POPet
It’s Mannequin! It’s gone from suck to blow!
Okay, I admit it – this made me laugh.
+1 :)
Somebody else probably already commented on the “Vaccusuck” sound effect. Spaceballs for the win!
indeed, the guy just before me.
That’s because Nature abhors a vacuum. When Nature starts to fill that vacuum is when everything starts to suck.
true irony: when your vacuum sucks ’cause it doesn’t.
And it blows when your fan doesn’t.