Grrl Power #518 – Foot in mouth flare up
Super Hiro’s handsomeness is constrained entirely by my ability to draw handsome guys, so just pretend he’s super handsome if I didn’t quite hit the mark. Also I’m not sure how Japanese he looks, though he is supposed to lean rugged, which isn’t something you usually associate with Asian faces so much. Not that there aren’t weather beaten Japanese guys out there with strong jaws, but finding the correct combination of features to draw his face was a little challenging. Also the fact that he’s one of the only Asian characters in the comic means I haven’t gotten much practice with those particular features. Still, I think the last time I drew him was back when they were fixing the highway after the battle.
I realized after drawing this page that Sydney is saluting with her left hand in the last panel, which is probably not cool in the military unless you got your hand blown off on duty. Obviously Sydney gets a comical amount of slack, though we’ll see how lenient everyone is once she’s actually been trained up on the basics.
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He’s next up.
It would take remarkable self-control not to be, as the focus of Sydney’s infatuation!
Who would not want to show off their heroism to impress her?
That 5 o’clock shadow really helps Hiro’s look.
Speaking of that…is Hiro maybe Ainu? Because he’s bigger and craggier and, well, facially fuzzier than most Japanese. Maybe I’m wrong, but from what I can find online, most Japanese have trouble growing facial hair, but the Ainu from the Hokkaido region, are much hairier. Hence 5 o’clock shadow (UTC+9, of course).
Between his facial hair, prominent brow and jawline, I’d say he looks hafu (with the second contributor being… Nordic?), even if he is from Hokkaido
Ainu also tend to the more ‘ginger’ of the hair-spectrum
The “hot” fits right in – I find Ainu slightly more aesthetically pleasing than most Japanese (although any brand of Asian woman is generally pretty damned hot to me).
What I wonder about is the whole “Idealized to beauty norms” thing the supers have going. I assume Hiro was born in the US, if he had been born in Japan would he have grown to conform to a different standard of beauty? I assume whatever makes supers super pretty isn’t a constant morphic thing, so moving to someplace with a different standard wouldn’t change them, but it could be a formative thing during growth. I know there’s overlap in the universe with Spinnerette, and there’s the whole Greta Gravity character who is certainly a remarkable figure and one I for one find quite appealing, but would she have turned out the same growing up in the US?
On the other side of things, what if it chooses the idealized form based on the view of the supers themselves? Would a super with body dismorphia grow to show idealized sexual characteristics of the gender they feel instead of what they were born as?
This “idealized beauty” thing with Supers, is just in the GrrlVerse
I am 100% of Japanese descent. Its not the growing of facial hair that is the problem. I can get a good 5 o’clock shadow rather easily. Its the growing on long facial hair that is the problem. I let my facial hair grow for over a year in college. The length of most of it was about 1 weeks worth of growth on most Caucasian men I know. The only parts which grew long were the tips of my mustache and my chin. It gave me a comically young Fu Manchu look. Decided then and there that a beard and mustache was not for me.
There is a trick to grow long facial hair. You see more you shave with a razor easier and thicker your facial hair grows. It is a trick that most people don’t know and just shave randomly which makes facial hair grow randomly on their face
Offcourse I am not dissing genetics factor but even than I have enough evidence to what I say from both myself and my friends experience with shaving. (I shave weekly or bi-weekly. at first it was not a big change but recent years I grow a beard in couple of days which is at a month length of most of my friends Luckily it usually slows down after that)
Hiro doesn’t look especially handsome nor unattractive to me, but then, my tastes don’t run towards men. (Heck, I think my own 5 o’clock shadow is decidedly unattractive, and I’m not in Hiro’s excellent shape.)
So to take DaveB’s word for it, I will imagine Hiro to be the male equivalent in attractiveness to Colleen Wing’s actress in Iron Fist.
Funny bumping into you here.
It comes down to whether he’s pure Japanese….
When did she get a bandaid in her nose?
ON her nose… and soon after she tried to go through a tree.
I tried that on motocross when I was a kid. took more than a bandage to the nose to patch me up. Halo got off lucky. (for anyone interested in doing time calculations, it was when Grape Nuts cereal was doing an ad that starts with a health food icon saying “Did you ever eat a tree?”, to which i could forever answer YES DAMMIT NOW SHUT UP ABOUT THAT!) which is why it pops to mind here.
I once tried to run through a tree when I was a kid. Didn’t work out so well. Ok, more like wasn’t watching where I was going and when i looked forward again, just seconds before impact – ooh bark -bam. Sky.
I once ran through a sliding glass door when I was a kid. I was very lucky not to be cut to ribbons. Only ended up with a cut on the knuckles of my right hand and a big one on my left shoulder, and on my knees and the palms of my hands when I fell after crashing the glass.
Heh, I did pretty much the same. Was heading out to play with a friend, about 4 matchbox cars clutched in each fist. So no hand open to use the latch. Ran fists first into the storm door and basically ran right through it. Nothing but a lot of lacerations of both hands, none terribly serious. That panel of glass was replaced with plastic until we were all much older. :-P
“And to this day, what that tree did to my nose has affected my speech, and thus I am… the Garbler!”
Bitchin’ origin, dude.
I remember that ad too!
I too have run into a tree with a bike and tree-planted my face. I got off lucky and missed my nose (my right cheekbone was quite a bit worse for wear for a week or so, though).
the long story: semi-suburb area, lotsa empty unfenced woods around, with biker trails, etc, all thru them. I was doing up-n-downs on a trail on top of a berm next to a drainage ditch. every few 100 feet the berm was cut thru, and I was (trying to) perfecting my jumps (was very new to motorcycles). other local (and younger) kids had gathered to watch me try the toughest of these that I could never quite get to the top of. They were clustered at what observation suggested was the safest place – smack dab in the middle of the path at the top of the berm. Since that was the one place my bike (or me sans bike) had never landed, it was a natural conclusion, can’t really fault them for that.
then I made the jump, and saw coming down that A> was going to land directly on a coupla kid’s bicycles, plus-or-minus the width of a bandaid, and B> scared kids were fleeing to safety straight down the trail like a bikini model in a horror film so I crunched onto the bikes, as required by physics at that instant, then swerved to avoid the kids – and thus, (tried to) eat a tree. Full gear, of course, just sprains and wrenched joints. lotsa bent frame parts, too. the bicycles I landed on? one of them never went home from the woods, it was too damaged even to push home.
Of course she got off ‘lucky’, all she did was attempt to walk through a tree
“I said across their nose, not up it!”
Well, good attitude sydney, get the info out!
Speaking of getting information out, other people to not let the golem scan include: Maxima, Dabbler, Super Hiro, Jiggawatt, pretty much anyone else on the team that is a super hero, and possibly Math.
+1
Except Math. His defining characteristic is that he can do what he does through skill and nepotism (999 generations of martial artists), but not because he was born a super.
Wasn’t it said somewhere that supers don’t have facial hair? (Except of course eyelashes, eyebrows, etc)
Or was that only body hair, as in from the neck down?
Body hair. And it probably has something to do with what they personally find attractive.
Hormones will also have something to do with it. His testosterone levels will induce the follicles around his jaw to grow hair. The metabolites of his testosterone my poison some of the follicles on the top of his head, but we shall see.
Oops, … may poison …
Studies say the buildup of metabolites is what kills the follicle, not the metabolites all by themselves. In other words, that only happens if your lymphatic system isn’t working fast enough.
Speaking as someone who has been very furry-faced since 16 and wishing the total surface area weren’t so vast (I can get a decent beard up onto my cheekbones), I find this comment to be very interesting.
+1
What I’m wondering is how he shaves since (as far as we know) he doesn’t have Supermans heat vision? Does he have some special Arc-Sparq gizmo?
Hex2O!
Possibly. Or a fragment of a magic sword (just avoid any with “Snicker snack” or “Vorpal” engraved on it.
Then bear in mind that he does not have Super Man’s level of invulnerability. He is only ‘Super Man Lite’ after all. His defense rating three stars. Which means several of our heroines could refine their attacks to offer him a shaving service. Jiggawatt, with her lightning or Heatwave with her fiery attack (not her heat aura) for instance.
Although it may be that his three star defense is higher than either (or both) of their attacks (there is variability within a given category). However Maxima certainly could use her energy attack, and can fine-tune it to exactly match the amount needed to trim, without risking taking his head off too!
The PPO is also a three star attack, but we know that Sydney presently lacks any precision control over it, so would need much more practice, and power refinement. Plus the poor dear looks like she would die of embarrassment, if the subject came up at the moment!
Or, simplest of all, Hiro may just have regular hair. We know nothing of the nature of his defensive power, so there is no need to assume that his hair gains any special properties.
Mind you, if it does not, and he has to rescue someone from a burning building, then we will see him bald, once the ash has been washed off!
Ooh ooh. And he could absorb sonic attacks. Was there any suggestion that he could also emit such, as an attack (like Anvil)? If so he could gradually charge up by standing in a death metal concert, or flying behind a taxiing Boeing jet, then when he had enough charge, get on with a sonic shave.
Better a magic blade that goes snicker-snack than one that just snickers.
Well, he might very well find a forgotten box of those, in some dark corner, of the warehouse across the street.
Wrong sort of ‘snicker’ :P
It is cosmically unjust that I can grow more hair on my face than on the entire rest of my head. Now I just have to decide what to do about my gray hair… which is ALSO not on top of my head. My beard comes out gray in the corners.
OK, but we’re talking about hair that “born that way” or whatever type supers automatically have stopped from growing by some secondary effect of the nature of their power so the hormone thing doesn’t really apply to this particular conversation. I think the OP was wrong that it involved facial hair though. It was most likely just body hair as they have this whole “supernaturally attractive” quality to their power that seems to act on what they (or less likely those around them) think are attractive physical qualities.
Like the B.I.T. (Body Image Template theory of some super powers) in Whateley Academy (they probably got it from a table top gaming rule and modified it or something but I don’t play dem games so I don’t know the original sources – could be a novel for all I know)
Problem is, some people find “The Hedgehog” (aka, Ron Jeremy) attractive (if you don’t know who he is, be very careful how you go about searching for him, you have been warned
OK, that disturbs me and I thought after all my years on the internet that I was undisturbable.
Did warn you :D
Which disturbs you the most? How he got his nickname? Or the fact young attractive babes still line up to be plowed by him? o_O
Any younger readers should not emulate this language, needless to say. And do not risk unsafe browsing. Rather follow this advice.
Err, just don’t tell her that it was me who suggested that. Take the fifth and assert your right to remain silent.
Let us fall back to scientific study as a last resort in deciding reality in a super hero setting. It has been shown that rarity is a deciding characteristic in sexual attractiveness. When beards (or red hair) make one look rare, it is desirable. The less trend-setting it is, and the more main-stream it becomes, the less attractive it is.
So lots of red hair out of a bottle means that other hair colours start to win out. Be a beardy before the cat walk models decide it is fashionable, and you can get some action. Too late and you are just some sad wanna be furry.
There is probably a limit to that.
I think an “exotic” version of an existing feature, or a minor addition that doesn’t prevent functionality, is more likely to get the result you are talking about. Actually missing something important, like say a nose (slits instead or nothing), or having an entire extra of something important, nose on the back of your head, would count as rarity but would probably turn off the bulk of humanity.
Hair might be one of the exceptions since it can be easily removed in part, total, or otherwise modified without affecting health, mental health, functionality, or resources of the individual in question it has probably slipped into the clothes category of affecting attractiveness. Basically it more represents the creativity or, in the case of rare dyes or ornaments, the resources of the target.
Kudo’s on trying to turn bearded men into furries. I do hope the internet doesn’t hear and take up your cause though…
Possibly one of the most attractive features, in anyone, is ‘being yourself’, of course that totally depends on who you are and what you are
Doesn’t if there are hundreds dressing similarly, it’s usually easy to spot the ‘wannabes’ from the ‘true-selves’
I like the use of the left hand….. makes me smile.
But really, distracted as she can be, Halo knows that people have died, right? That this event is a kind of war, fay true, but still a war.
Uh, I don’t think anyone has died yet (except maybe the golem after that colosal suplex or the people who were capri-sun’d), due to the rollback.
People hanging in the blood siphon thing below? Pixel wasn’t alone in there.
As was mentioned last page, we don’t know the exact location they were, or if they were being drained or farmed, just that the entrance was inside the Wars Factory, which was across the road and where Bodie and Pixel Panther were last seen
Wonderfully put.
+1
I was thinking mostly of the report from page https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2359 (If I put this in right) where some fay using magic were wiped out. the energy drain with the big boom the attackers do, would have killed any close to the blast, the use of silver shot in a 40mm would also kill, and I don’t know what other stuff they were using, but using military grade weapons, well, destruction, death ect.
If it was palm outwards, almost seems like a Benny Hill-salute :D
A salute with the right hand palm outwards is done by many countries militaries. Like Great Britain, Canada, Japan, and others.
Canada doesn’t do palm outwards.
no, we use Maples, not Palms
Am only really familiar with Benny Hill
he never mentioned you…
:)
*nods*
That’s because Benny was a gentleman who didn’t kiss and tell ;)
She knows people might have died, but when she’s revved up like this the “Oh! Shiny!” reflex kind of takes over. Shiny in this case being a super powered man who in her opinion looks good enough to eat.
One interesting phenomenon is that the birth rate spikes during war time, if populations have a credible threat of death (from being drafted for instance). Check out if you can see when WWI and WWII occurred, going by the world population. Or the flu pandemic, between them, that killed even more people than WWI, for that matter.
Sydney is having a perfectly normal reaction.
I don’t see any blood. Assuming he can’t pull DNA from something besides blood we should be safe for a second. (unless he’s down there sucking up more likely looking insects or whatnot for possible upgrades.
I assume she means they need to make sure harem doesn’t bleed on anything the golem could scan later
Oh sorry, I was sort of talking about all the conjecture last update, including my own, that we had a good chance of it absorbing Anvil’s power in the next few scenes.
Although the concept of ‘blood magic’ sounds really cool, it may not be the best substance to use for a DNA sample. Red blood cells are one of the few cell types in the human body that do not contain a nucleus, and so have no DNA to harvest. (not even mitochondrial DNA.) White blood cells, leukocytes and lymphocytes, do contain nuclei and have DNA. If the DNA is the driving force behind the powers of blood magic it should really be named after the region of the body that generates these cells, or ‘bone marrow magic’.
This comment was brought to you by the society of people who really like to spoil things.
“Blood” covers both though. And is a lot easier to spill than bone marrow.
Not quite as tasty and satisfying mind. You really want to gnaw on a bone, to get full satisfaction in a meal!
As Yorp says it still has DNA and is easier to get a hold of. (Also, the other sentient species may not be much like earth normal mammalians. ) In weres they also probably have samples of their strain of magical virus in their blood.
Though I’m sure its the magical symbolism that made DaveB choose it in the first place it could still be made to work in other ways.
In magic theories blood is often said to have a strong connection to life and therefore it’s able to provide a lot of power to any magic performed. Most magic theories also claim that blood from sentient beings provides more power than the blood from non sentients, often to the degree that blood from non sentients is unusable for casting magic.
So if Sciona is doing this using some kind of magic rather than science or a superpower it’s very possible that blood is required.
But it’s also possible that the magic used can work with just about any biological sample or that it’s some kind of hybrid science magic, or a mutation/superpower.
Basically I want to say that it probably has to be blood, but we really don’t know right now.
There are two things which are reputed to make such even more efficacious, each by orders of magnitude. Either the blood of a hero* or the blood of a virgin. Not that I am venturing an opinion, on Sydney;s status, one way or another.
But, if Sydney is eligible for unicorn riding, her blood would allow the enchantment of a blood magic artifact that would make the One RIng***, seem like a free toy, out of a cereal box!
* Note the lack of the word ‘super’ there. Although Sciona, the foremost authority on the subject, considered that it is possible that Sydney’s blood is what gives her power over her orbs. If so that would upgrade Sydney to ‘super hero’ status, in blood magic terms, given her unbreakable** bond with the orbs. With the corresponding leap in blood magic power potential.
** By the strongest super hero on the planet.
*** As worn by a hobbit, and destroyed in a New Zealand volcano
CRAP! They better get Anvil out of there!
Omg the faces as she realises what she’s saying
I bet the third pannel is a look at what sydney would do if she had harem’s powers
I appreciate the Incredibles reference.
+many internets for noticing
Ooh! Ooh! I noticed too! Me! Me!
Nice Incredibles reference. One tricycle short of being blatant.
I’m not really worried about DaveB having trouble with rugged Asian faces, although I think he’s got a good example with Hiro. It’s just that the only other examples that have gotten significant levels of popularity would involve DaveB giving Hiro hair that’s longer, spikier hair & blonde…And that might get him into some copyright/trademark issues.
Granted, Sydney’s only been in the military for a few days at this point, but she’s beginning to learn about disciplinary protocol. Hopefully, Hiro never finds out that Sydney’s been showing showing some of the comic store customers a picture of him without his shirt…
;)
Well she got the basic manuals, and Harem is supposed to be helping her. All things considered, Sydney ain’t doing bad, and I’m left handed and it took work not to do it wrong if I was distracted of tired…
Out of all personnel I would not give looking after recruits to harem or dabbler. I guess Harem is chosen because she can literally do four other works while babysitting.
I’m pretty sure Harem was chosen because she’s on Max’s shit list, and having to retake basic… https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1736 and https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1753
For a good example of where Japanese rugged can be seen look up Toshiro Mifune, especially when he was working on Seven Samurai.
Good choice…
If Hiro ever does a Blue Steel, the swoon’ll be heard from several kms away.
“Blue Steel? Ferrari? Le Tigra? They’re the same face! Doesn’t anybody notice this? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!” My favourite line from that movie.
what movie?
The one where the werewolf does an impersonation of that actor from Night in the Museum. From when he was doing the role of a model. I think it was from Grrl Power, the Movie II.
[voice in the background: “Time Corps! We are armed with temporal weapons! Keep your paws away from the keyboard!”]
*Time Corps! Time Corps! What ya gonna do when they come for you yesterday?* :)
How did Hiro get there,hitch a ride with Peggy???
He can fly, remember? It’s also mentioned in his Who’s Who entry.
I had totally forgotten that…
Hiro is the closest analogue to the classic Superman in power suite.
And just a step below Maxi
Max’s powers are more on the telekinesis level which makes Hiro closer to Superman only things Hiro missing are super breath and optical powers of supes.
Plus one advantage, over Super Man. No fear of green rocks.
Matters not how their powers manifest, Hiro is still a step below Maxi
That means, if you can still find it!
While your action was awsome Kenya, it gave it even more opportunity to go invisible. Of course it might not know of the Invisibility Power – yet. It was not yet used in this loop and it might only have overheard the talk about Lycanthropic Regeneration.
Rugged handsome asian ya say?
https://www.mens-hairstyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Japanese-Casual-Style-Hair-for-Men.jpg i can link…ffs, needs and edit button
Nice Incredibles reference!
Another bad hero to send against something that can absorb powers of supers who bleed. Add strength and flight to its near future repertoire.
Not to mention that as awesome as Kenya’s move was, its lost them visual on the target.
Which we also don’t know the full extent of its abilities as well. For all they know, it managed to diffuse most of the energy of the impact on itself or even absorb it to fuel it’s own abilities.
If you are going to get that stupid, the only one they can send would be Icon, because even Maxi can bleed!
They could use Achilles, he cannot be cut by any known means.
Stupid is not using more lycanthropes since it already has those genes or other automatons or using a distract and blast tactic the same as Sydney and the missile. If heatwave had clearance, she’d be one of the best to simply melt this thing to a puddle behind its one directional shield. Sydney and Achilles (if he had clearance) would be great for close distraction. Stupid would also likely be Maxima in close combat with this thing now it has Pixel’s laser claws on that mace. Maxima running rings around it and blasting from a distance would be smart though.
I think the left hand can be excused since
A) they’re still potentially in a combat scenario, being ready is more important than manners
B) Sydney is holding her shield in her right hand, combined with A, swapping hands right now would be tactically idiotic
There’s a regulation on salutes (which should surprise no one) for each service. In combat you wouldn’t salute for the same reason you wouldn’t do it if your hands are full (like Sydney’s are with an orb) – salutes are a courtesy and there is something more important going on.
You don’t salute with the left hand, but then I expect people kind of expect Recruit Scoville to be awkward about… everything. And to make mistakes like that. And I imagine Hiro is kind of used to women being goofy around him
I believe saluting is also discouraged when the enemy may be around.
Last thing your CO will want is you marking him as a potential target to any snipers who might be looking.
Yup, was just going to mention that: you do not salute in a combat zone, even if a Five Star General is licking your arse (unless it’s some green snot-nosed ElleTee fresh from officer school who hasn’t even used a rifle since basic-training, if at all)
If any superior officer demands a salute, you go ahead and give it to them and hope you aren’t in any nearby snipers way. You also don’t wear rank tabs for the same reason….
Yup, it’s called sniper check for a reason.
former military here. You don’t salute indoors or when at your duty station working, ie, don’t interrupt the wotk for legally required asskissing. I was enlisted (USAF) and would’ve gotten laughed if I’d saluted any of the aircrew I worked with daily while on the flightline. really, enlisted and officers work together constantly, and saluting is a distraction that could be deadly.
Also, I came to feel that the main reason for the rule requiring right-handed saluting was so the DI (Drill Instructors) would have a continual supply of reasons to yell at recruits. Sydney’s left handed salute is entirely in character and expected at least daily from recruits in boot camp. So is the yelling that follows.
It probably seems that way, but it’s because the majority of people are right handed.
It’s origins are from the sword-arm and presenting a non-aggressive intent, same as shaking hands is traditionally done right-handed, and driving is historically on the left. Sword-arm to sword-arm.
Also, Sydney seems to be saluting in the Naval style, side-on as opposed to palm-facing. A style developed to due to the frequent occurrance of presenting dirty palms to a superior. Highly disrespectful. Either Sydney’s got dirty palms, ArcCon is a maritime agency, or she just doesn’t yet know how she should be saluting.
Back in the late 80’s when at ATC (Air Training Corps), we saluted side-on: long way up, hand parallel to the ground and almost touching the temple (or corner or the eye), short way down (can’t remember now if the thumb was down or alongside the fingers…)
Wow. In my experiences of being in the ATC, everyone saluted palm-facing. Except the few asshole officers who were only in it for the buzz of wearing the uniform, but they were a minimum, thankfully. All the RAF personnel saluted palm-facing.
Or are you referring to a different ATC to the one run by the RAF VR(T)?
Different country, RNZAF
@RBZ: In the U.S., all the services salute Naval-style.
Makes sense, given the overwhelmingly naval approach to US military.
Actually, it goes back to LONG before the U.S. became the naval power that it is today. In fact, it goes all the way back to the American Revolution.
It’s a long story, so the short version is… we standardized on the way George Washington’s army did it.
The US is a naval power? j/k
This doesn’t contradict what I said, btw. The revolutionaries would’ve picked up their cues from the British forces, which would have been mostly Marines. Marines, being naval soldiers, would’ve saluted the naval style.
Actually, from my understanding the salute was originally the flipping from closed to open on the visor of a knights helmet. Obviously it is more polite to let a superior see the face of the person he’s adressing.
I think any style is OK as long as it is consistant and as long as it isn’t the double-Rimmer.
Salutes were around centuries before knights.
Not this kind of salute, before then, it was typically the ‘smack ya heart, then fist the sky’ salute
I ♥ Wikipedia.
I’d have thought it would be a good way to show an officer you had been diligently working. “Sailor, why are your hands clean? You’ve been on duty for four hours! Haul that tared line or I’ll use it to haul YOU!”
The question was about why salutes are almost always right-handed. Whether it’s doffing a hat, pointing above the eyebrow, or smacking the chest, a salute is still a salute.
But how respectful it is considered to be does factor in social moires of the day, such as how many fingers are involved!
The reason why the salutes were mostly always right-handed, is because that’s the majority of the world, at least before they allowed the sinister babies to live and breed
@RBZ: It’s partly Naval tradition (again). In the modern Navy (and the Marine Corps), the right is the senior position. This is the case with formation make-up, medals and awards, even when walking with a superior (a subordinate would walk left and abreast of the superior). This is why the right hand is used. The left hand can be used when it is the only possible way to salute, i.e. if you have a broken arm. But, even though this is acceptable it is extremely uncommon.
Guesticus is also correct; only about 10% of the population is left-handed. Also, pre-TP, the left hand was the butt-wiping hand, which is why we use our right hands when shaking hands. What could be more disrespectful than showing a dirty palm to a superior? Use your imagination. :)
So it’s a bit of both.
As regards the the issue of right or left, I always considered that both saluting and hand shaking descended (if not directly) from greeting someone by showing an open hand, to indicate that no weapon was being held in it. As most people are right handed, folks would expect it to be that hand holding a weapon.
Sydney’s had what, three days as a recruit now? Really doubt that she’s had time to learn how to salute properly yet, and ARC Light probably isn’t as hung up on it as a normal branch of the military would be anyway.
women being goofy around Hiro… https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/d/d5/Goofy_WDW.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20140821055156
I think maybe it’d be better if they were Peg https://www.disneyclips.com/imagesnewb3/images/peg.gif
The latter is forbidden.
Disney must not like you revealing their porn stash!
weird. well, anyway, it was just of Peg Pete.
I don’t know what the military considers acceptable hair styles. Anvil has long flowing hair and tends to get into hand to hand combat situations. This just gives her enemies a handle to grab onto her with.
For women, it’s tied up when in uniform. It has to be in some kind of bun style, but that’s strictly in uniform though. Seems like they’re going to be going on the fly a lot and the uniform guidelines may just go out the window based on necessity.
I think they have a MUCH more relaxed set of rules in ArcCon.
Much, much more relaxed…
Well, let’s just say that the military dress code does not yet have rules regarding giant pink-furred were-jaguars or four-armed, hooved succubi. Dabbler is just a civilian contractor, but there are normally rules regarding “appropriate civilian attire on military installations” — and Dabbler most definitely does not follow those rules, most of the time.
Two rules in particular… the one that states “No clothing which fits excessively brief or tight.” Also, “No half-shirts or abbreviated shirts or athletic items designed to be worn as an undergarment” (sports bras) even at a gym facility. They might let her waive the rules regarding footwear, for obvious reasons.
Here’s a link to the full “civilian attire” regulations, for anyone who wants to read them:
https://www.militarysos.com/forum/general-support-chat/267974-appropriate-civilain-attire-military-installations.html
“uniform guidelines may just go out the window based on necessity.”
Anvil may ALSO go out the window (or cargo hold) based on necessity.
If only Kenya could learn to channel her kinetic energy through her hair she could end up with powers like the inhuman character Medusa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medusa_(comics)
Gee, if only the military had some sort of program… where you could get TRAINING… on the BASICS…
She’s been in for .. a week? Two? *LESS*???
Try a day (well, one night)
I think it’s three days now, isn’t it? Faux bank robbery, ballroom interview, signup, dinner crashed by Vehemence and company, sleep, get up, hire new help for store, burst in on video meeting with the President, superbrawl post-mortem, night out clubbin’, sleep, early-morning Bat-blaspheming, helping repair the busted-ass overpass, dinner, meeting with the Twilight Council, attack of the mannekillers, and the ensuing hunt for bad guys.
Unless I missed something, that means this is the night after day 3 (though she only joined ArcSWAT at the end of day one, so for training purposes, I don’t think the first day counts). I assume we’re getting close to dawn of day 4 by this point, though.
(Note to more dedicated fans: sorry if I messed up the timeline.)
\[SPOILER\] \[\/SPOILER\]
everybody’s gotta do escapes differently. why is that? don’t tell me, I know, just muttering to myself….grumble grumble curmudgeonating…
Close enough. Nowhere near the 6 months between her meeting max and the game at the start of the comic.
About four days, since this is a very long day….
I found your timeline to be very well done (any timeline that stipulates my favorite Sydney-swear has a huge leg-up in getting my approval, however).
‘Leg-up’ means something else for Yorp.
I’m crying foul now! After the mess that her dress turned into at the rock’em sock’em restaurant, by all rights Anvils short shorts and top should be in shreds after turning an entire building into shrapnel.
I do recall a previous comic where Harem mentioned supers not having general body hair. Does facial hair count in this or is Hiro special in that he’s the only super who can apparently grow a beard?
Even against vehemence she took only strategic clothing damage. A few popped buttons on the blouse, a high enough skirt slit for a panty shot, etc etc etc. Its possible this is some more work from the fabrikinetic guy, a layer of effective undercothes that are super resistant to damage so she doesnt end up naked every time she gets into a fist fight, seeing as how her powers only work when she is getting hit.
Kenya’s (and the rest of their) “tactical” clothing is made of that new-age khevlar, so I’m pretty sure that these clothes are probably made of that level of fabric to avoid any more wardrobe malfunctions, since she was expecting combat this time, and not blindsided like at the restaurant.
Let’s just hope it their uniforms aren’t made of the same material as Empowered.
I wonder if she’s right in thinking that her suit is only that fragile because her self-image is too.
As Ma Kent once said to Clark in the John Byrne run of Superman, “Anything right next to your skin doesn’t seem to get torn or ripped. Plus, it shows off your muscles…”
” I’m crying foul now! ”
Wouldn’t that be ‘fowl’, since Dave chickened out on showing Anvil in shreds?
Oh god… the puns… they hurt.
My favourite Chinese starter, is smoked shredded chicken.* But the fact that it is usually battered, in some way might be a tender point. Especially as, a poor one can leave an awful after taste. Not to mention risking some dipshit talking about the foul ‘mouthfeel’!
Just say ‘texture’!!!
* It is a great way to differentiate between the mediocre/bad restaurants/takeaways and the good/great. I have never known one that did not serve the dish, so it is something they should all be practiced at. Plus it is very easy to cook it indifferently, leaving it bland.
And will easily show up an incompetent chef, or service, as it can get hard, rubbery and also much worse as it gets colder. But there is massive scope to make it absolutely delicious. For those chefs who have the passion, resources and mandate.
Reminds me of some of the comments I’ve seen on restaurant review sites. Such as:
“Breaking bread should not mean you have to use the side of the table.”
“The duck was tired, tough, and took 90 minutes to arrive. It must’ve had a long flight.”
(from an Olive Garden review): “The food at this particular location falls under the WMD category. Our family went with a $50 gift card to the [redacted] Olive Garden, and had some piss-poor salad, some pasta that tasted like ass, some meat that tasted like ass, and some bread that was probably good when it was baked but had gone tough in the last billion years and now tasted like ass.”
(I redacted the location since the food at that restaurant *might* have improved by now. But I doubt it.)
yeah, i think the general consensus is that you only ever eat at Olive garden once. because you’re curious, and you then realize they serve much better food for the same price at pretty much ANY ‘all you can eat’ restaurant
We have one, but I’ve never been there. Actually, I haven’t eaten out in over a year. I’m lactose intolerant as a side-effect of a medication I’m on. It’s easier for me to avoid dairy if I cook my own meals.
Maybe I’m tired. When I read ‘it is usually battered’ I did not immediately think about it being dipped in a flour and water mixture. Instead, my mind pictured a chicken taken out back to the alley and roughed up a bit.
Well I did sneak in half a dozen puns, so I am satisfied that one got picked up on, even if I was a bit too subtle on the rest.
;-)
battered duck, butter chicken… sounds like the Looney Tunes cooking style…
”Try the turkey, it dynamite.”
i read that in Taz’s voice. +1000
I think Super Hiro’s torc is missing in panel 3.
You DO NOT salute in combat conditions (which they are but Sydney’s hasn’t been trained on because the timeline has covered less than a week or two, iirc) as it identifies those who snipers and etc should target.
Also, Sydney, as noted above, is holding her shield orb in her right hand during combat ops, sooo…. ;)
So how long before she brings up the “not a robot” portion of the intel? And would it have made a difference to anvils approach? I mean, its capable of communicating, so utter destruction might not be the ideal outcome as it could be a source of info.
Was just about to mention that, if no one else had first
I’d give her a pass on the salute, her saluting hand is holding the shield orb, right?
Safety comes first.
Hummmmm… is that a CUT on Anvil’s thigh, barely visible there?
… should I be worried about that robot now being able to absorb kinetic energy?
Fairly sure that that is either dirt, or shadow
Or is that just an excuse to stare at Anvil’s thigh more?
Who needs an excuse? o_O
Sweet, she actually reported it properly this time. Looks like I was right about her missing that tidbit at. Yanno, that critical game-altering tidbit. Let’s hope it doesn’t spiral out of control this time. xD
At first. Missing that tidbit at first. Haha.
Agreed, the team really needs to take that important bit of info to heart.
I suppose you could write off the whole strong jaw and rugged thing by saying:
1. He’s a super and they tend to be chiseled.
2. He may have some western blood in him.
Just because Japanese culture is often insular, doesn’t mean they never get an influx of new blood. Also if Super Husk gets hold of Daphne, I’m sure Sydney will explode trying to come up with nicknames to tell them apart.
Re: Handsome.
I think you hit the mark fine. I’m reading a slilghtly bemused expression which makes sense with Sydney’s Flub.
Though, now that I stare at it – that left eye is doing something entirely on it’s own, regardless of the wishes of the rest of the residents of his face…
Ok. sydney needs to take her meds. it seems that they have recently burned out. also its a good thing that heavenly sword isn’t there cause a decent sized energy conduit would cause so much problems now.also nice incredibles reference. that’s right i saw it.
She is already on the edge of overdosing her meds. Even back when they were at the restaurant before coming to the twilight council meeting. Im honestly not sure what the dosage rules are when you are awake for 24 hours.
Pretty much the same as for most other medications, I’d guess. “If you miss a dose, do not take extra in an effort to compensate. Just take your next dose at the regular time.”
As Traab pointed out, though, she took a dose of some generic ADHD medication just a few hours ago… we don’t know which medication (methylphenidate, guanfacine, atomoxetine, lisdexamfetamine, etc.) or how often it’s supposed to be taken, but a little research over at the Mayo Clinic’s website suggests that most of these drugs are meant to be taken either once per day, every 8 hours, or every 12 hours, depending on whether it’s XR (eXtended Release) or not.
It hasn’t even been 8 hours since the dose she took at the restaurant. Even if it’s just a short-acting tablet, for her to take another dose now would be an overdose.
Addendum: Take a good look at the names of some of those drugs, particularly the last one, which ends with -AMFETAMINE.
Remember when Zephan suggested they should increase her dosage, and Maxima said “That’s called meth, Zeph, they don’t write prescriptions for that”? She wasn’t joking. As odd as it might sound, the treatment for ADHD is a stimulant, most of which are chemically similar to methamphetamine.
Because these are stimulants, unless you take an Extended Release version, you are advised to take your last dose before 6 PM, or you might have trouble getting to sleep. If this is what Sydney is like after ONE night of sleep deprivation, can you imagine what she’d be like after two nights of sleep deprivation?
So at this point, no, Sydney should not take her meds. That would be a BAD idea.
Eh, it depends on how she reacts to them. She obviously doesn’t react like my wife (who has to alter between 20mg and 10mg, as just 20s will build up to give her a headache by the end of the week), but she may react like me (The more I need to focus, the faster I seem to burn through it, and I can treat it a little like caffeine. And I can go to bed and sleep through the night after drinking an energy drink). Or she may have a different set of reactions.
Fair point. I have a similar reaction (or lack of reaction) to caffeine.
Mind you I would have expected a Dungeon Mistress to react differently. Usually involving whips!
Generally speaking, what humans find good looking is symmetry. So regardless of the individual facial features, as long as they are perfectly symmetrical, he will be. Handsome. As to how handsome, that depends on an individual’s taste. Hero is a rather pretty but meh for me, but clearly up Sydney’s alley, so to speak.
Which is to say, good job? Hiro is handsome? Though, maybe widen the eyes a little. Big eyes are attractive (in a general sense) on men too. If you feel the need to improve anything, anyhow.
Hey, I was just reading about this the other day in a translator’s comment. Let me introduce you to Soy Sauce Face vs. Sauce Face. Ketchup Face, though no longer used, is the in-between one and seems to describe Hiro the best, given he has the smaller eyes, smaller mouth, lighter skin and rugged face.
DaveB: all web comics seem to explain their art unecessarily, especially apologizing for non-daVinci-level qualities. I suggest applying the Spicer standard: Don’t apologize unless it’s worse than hitler AND there’s a public outcry over the specific mistake. :)
You’re great, far better than most, and as a straight guy, I utterly fail to discern good looks in other men even in real life. I didn’t have even give it a thought here until I read your text.
That’s because all artists don’t feel their work is good enough (and the ones who do, are usually crap)
I like your standard there.
So, I was just going back and rereading stuff on the cast page (never really read it before) when something from Peggy’s jumped out screaming.
Maxima was laid up in the hospital, in recovery, long enough to befriend Peggy.
What the $%^& %^&E$ HELL happened out there? It has have been something biological or a gas attack right? We’ve seen how much damage Maxima can take, there is no conceivable way… We’ve got to hear that story one day, it’s got to be the other person who can fight her to a stand still, and I have to know how that fight went.
Well we know she’s come up against a super her near equal and beat him. We don’t know how much damage she took in the process….
It was probably the ‘enemy’ Super she mentioned, who may or may not have been the Mummy seen on the page we first saw Kevin and the vamps (also the page where Deus groped the image of Maxi on a flatscreen :P )
Also might be related to that alleged mosque that she allegedly destroyed allegedly by accident.
Atomic Bombshell’s shaped charge was able to get past Max’s outer telekinetic field, at full armor, without using her full power. And she was convinced she’d killed Max in the process, too, DESPITE the video of Max obliterating the tank.
That was just ONE damage-specialized super with a tiny bit of telekinetic support to counter Max’s dodge.
Look back at how Death Toll and Vehemence went down, too – they could have taken Max out 1v1, but lost after being swarmed.
Max could EASILY lose a fight to an organized group of top-tier supers with powerful military support or magical expertise. She might have the highest base power level of any super on Earth, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be overcome with the right numbers, abilities, or weaponry.
And that’s just how she could lose a FIGHT. She could have easily done something like block something like a nuclear missile strike with her own body and end up hospitalized. That’s how she was taken out of the Twilight Council battle, after all – intercepting an attack that would have left the room a slaughterhouse.
I hadn’t fully considered that, but she wasn’t injured in that blast, simply buried in rubble.
Still, a large enough bomb could potentially lay her up, even if she was fully armor at the time.
Possibly it may have been after Maxima first had a sparring session with Krona. Krona turns off Maxima’s force field, not realising that it provides her flight ability too. Maxima plumets to the ground and is severely injured, having no force field or anything other than normal (if fit) flesh and bone to absorb the damage.
But, given the chronology involved, and the locations, a combat injury is the most likely by far. In the press conference Maxima did indicate that only two people have been able to beat her. From her reaction Dabbler was clearly one of the two. Our other culprit seems likely to be the one identified by Guesticus, namely the bandage-wrapped super we see reacting to Maxima’s nuclear-like blast and challenge.
I would therefore speculate that they have had two engagements. One of which resulted in Maxima being hospitalised (and meeting Peggy). The other of which ended with her enemy presumed dead. But actually having survived and taken up a job as a mummy extra on horror B-movies.
Either (or both) of those could have involved the mosque incident.
Alternatively there was just the one incident, which left Maxima hospitalised and the other dead. But that would not tally with the admission that he had beaten her. Hence my alternative proposal above.
Rugged Asian handsome man? Try Yoshihiro Akiyama
https://www.google.com/search?q=yoshihiro+akiyama&safe=off&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwie8IiD3aHTAhUE5GMKHbngDREQ_AUIBygC&biw=1600&bih=770
YES PLEASE.
He looks like his daddy was an Isuzu. https://www.isuzucv.com/images/us/home/slideshow/image3_home-page.jpg
Hey, Steve Harvey. Who says I might not steal your girlfriend?
Also, I’ve seen plenty of rugged asian guys. Especially the athletic athletic types – check out asian boxers, martial artists, and actors… hot dayum…
This was all I could think of when reading Sydney’s line in the second panel.
https://goo.gl/images/Kd1jkL
Me too…
Even matches up the destruction factors
realistically they need to just let Hiro and Maxima fight it anyone else is a liability
Until either or both get bloodied, and then the world is toast
Actually, THE safest members of either ArcSwat or the Twilight Council to have in this fight, are Sydney and Peggy. (There might be someone else who is equally safe, but Sydney is way up there on overall power and Peggy can do precision at range.)
Neither of them naturally have any superpowers at all, so what they can do can’t be copied by sampling their blood.
Very good point: even if they get blooded, not much NotBot can gain by scanning or absorbing their blood (and actually could be detrimental if it sampled Sydney’s :P)
You forgot Icon though, or any of their group: can’t bleed if you have no blood
The attackers at the Council were warded to absorb the energy from magical attacks and go boom. Magical creatures may just be magically delicious to the not-a-bot.
I believe Math also is only super equivalent by skill, not genetic ability.
+1 on all the Peggy, Sydney and Math suggestions.
An extra +1 to Peggy and Sydney suggestions because they are hot and I am a horny dog.
Math claims to come from a long line of highly skilled Martial Artists, so a bit of genetic ability will be in there, somewhere
A very long line. So you are right, there would have been selective breeding effectively going on, if his claim has veracity.
A martial arts lineage of 999 generations would predate the founding of human civilization,* let alone the earliest known development of martial arts or schools thereof, becomes rather more believable.
A breeding program that started at the end of the last glacial period would end up with him having a pretty optimised set of genes by now.
* Per current prevailing theories. Let us say 20 years per generation. So 20 x 999 = 19,980 years! Possibly half that, if he is counting both parents, in each generation, as being martial artists. And less still if they all had kids at an early age.
Darnit. My editing snipped a bit of the following:
“But with the other things that have been revealed recently, that becomes a bit more believable.”
Stupid sexy Hiro.