Grrl Power #546 – Meet the new grrl, same as the old grrl
Ah! Wall of text! My eyes!
Maxima’s dialog was supposed to be all background text, like with the foreground stuff overlapping it, but I figured out how to make it all fit, and turned out to be kind of relevant.
For those of you unfamiliar with Jabberwokky, here is her first appearance.
And here’s the free show she references and the kiss.
BTW Jabber’s real name is Jazmine, she goes by Jazza cause it’s hard to have street cred when you’re rocking a Disney Princess name. Also Jazza sounds cool. Her last name is Ng, pronounced “ing” and she’s half Taiwanese. I know she doesn’t look particularly Asian, but while Lucy Liu is half Chinese and looks Asian as… uh a very Asian looking person… Chloe Bennet, who plays Skye/Daisy/Quake on Agents of SHIELD is also half Chinese, and I was blown away when I learned that, because she does not look Asian to me AT ALL. Apparently she’s a fairly successful pop star over there. So weirdly, Agents of SHIELD is the only show I’m aware of with two Asian leads in it. So my point is, Jazza is half Taiwanese and I can draw her however I like. Thanks Chloe!
Edit: Whoops, apparently Lucy Liu is full Chinese. I don’t know why I thought she was mixed. That should teach me to check my assumptions but it probably won’t.
Also I’m aware I now have a character named Dabbler and one whose nickname will probably be Jabber on occasion. So no chance that will confuse anyone. Also between her and Jiggawatt I have two “JW’s” which is why Jabberwokky doesn’t have a choker yet. I didn’t have time to design hers. Though Jiggawatt’s choker is just a “J” so it shouldn’t to hard to make them look different.
Also also I kind of didn’t plan that last panel well with the order of the word bubbles and the placement of the characters. The person speaking first should be on the left so their bubble will be above them, but if I had reversed the camera angle to accommodate that, then Max and Arianna wouldn’t in the shot. Oh well, Portals to the rescue.
Two links for those of you who like clicking on things. I was on a webcomic podcast and talked about webcomics mostly.
Also I found a kickstarter for a comic that looks decent. A gal bonds with a goddess and gets all fit and super powered. Really nice art too. Ignore the fact that the title “Patriotika” makes it sound like either a ‘What-If distaff counterpart Captain America but in Russia’ comics, (that should actually be called “Kommissarina Kremlin”) or one of those Poser rendered ‘superheroine loses her powers and gets damsel in distressed’ comics. I know you guys know what I’m talking about. Anyway check it out if you like.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
I don’t know why, but the discussion of half-asian stars and seeing Dabbler prominently on this page made me think of something.
What would it be like to meet Dabbler’s mother? There has been zero discussion (to my knowledge) of that character, but man, I feel like she could be a really interesting character. Especially if they didn’t go the route of making her compete with Dabbler for “meals” but instead had her really mothering and worry about her awkward daughter (citing “Dabbler had a hard time in highschool” from a few years back when we learned she was an awkward teenager)
Dave, please, make this happen.
Seeing Dabbler try to cope with an overbearing mother while also trying to maintain her cred of being the playful-but-apparently-very-experienced-sex-monster would be HILARIOUS.
Also it would totally give both Maxima *and* Sydney something to needle her with.
(And probably Arianna too, now that I think about it, if she managed to get a picture of Dabbler’s mom fussing over her daughter’s hair, or something…)
Considering how dabbler is. it would only be embarrassing if her mother only ever is with one person for life. as soon as they pass, she dates and gets to know them while having that periodic need for life energy taken care of from her date. Then marries him and continues to only have energy from him.
I can see Dabbler yelling “MOM!” whenever she catches her mother calmly walking up and asking her new husband if he’s busy or can he spare a few hours. while in a room full of prospective males to provide it.
More than a year late, but don’t forget how much Dabbler drains her partners. They’re usually completely worthless the day after and need several days to charge up to ‘full’. So unless that partner was a tantric version of “Thomas the liquid refill guy”…
Interesting angle. Dabbler did have a tough time in school by the way. You get a hint of it from the way she is treated by the succubus in the Twilight Council. Likewise from her school ‘photograph’ (the apparently imagined scene, but which Dave has confirmed is actually canonical).
I wonder what race her mum is? Succubus, doppelganger, or other? Most likely to be the former, mind, as succubi breed true and only produce succubi, regardless of the other race(s) in the mix. But their reproduction does involve complex genetic factories. So our usual assumptions may not pan out.
Imagine what was packed in Dabbler’s lunch box.
And the school free lunch program.
High School was hell indeed. Or at least, just as hot as.
I’d imagine her lunch box would contain a 12-inch pianist.
And a pair of bell-ringers?
Considering there is no such thing as a male Succubus and she is 50% Succubus her mother is a Succubus.
Succubus is what you call the females of that type of demon, Incubus is the males.
Yeah, saying incubus and succubus is like saying man and woman, stallion and mare or dog and bitch. While some people do misuse the labels, a male succubus is an incubus, just like a male woman is a man (or some flavor of trans).
Whilst both of you are correct in Earth mythology, we have canon that shows there are only female succubi in the Grrlverse. So Taros is correct.
Similarly if considering normal reproduction. But Dabbler has two navels, indicating that she could have two mothers. Plus, as a genetic factory is involved in succubus reproduction there is not guarantee that the succubus need actually have given birth to Dabbler.
So the fetus could have been moved from the succubus, to one of the other species involved in her genetic makeup. Thus accounting for the second navel, once the transplant was completed.
Just to pose one further possibility, Dabbler might have been conceived in a mating between a succubus magically shapeshifted into a male (incubus) form and the ‘unknown other race’ that is part of her heritage. This would still match the canon that there are no male succubi. Yet would explain why the incubus legends are so common.
So the ‘other’ would actually be the mother. Yet the incompatibilities between these two races would require that the fetus be quickly transferred to a factory, before it came to harm (simply supplying it with incompatible nutrients would do that, even if the DNA analogs were too disparate for immune systems to recognise the fetus as being a living organism).
In the factory there could be another host species which could serve as an incubator. Doppelgangers, as natural shapeshifters, sound ideal for this. Yet the fetus would need to incorporate some of its DNA, in order to avoid the same problems listed above.
This way Dabbler might have three mothers. Of which, one was only her father, whilst under a magical spell. Further the one that gave birth to her, and possibly raised her, was the doppleganger.
Other possibilities exist. Including the reasonable assumption that her mother was a succubus, and that she did want to give birth to the baby, and raise it, once the factory manipulations were over. But that is not the only option.
That last panel above Dabbler’s head, is that a knife coming out of a portal???
and the previous panel with the question mark above her face, I LOVE THAT FACE, she’s so adorable, looks like a little girl there, SQUEEEEEE (there goes my man-card)
I love her look in that panel too. And the final one, for that matter.
The ‘knife’ is actually the beginning of Dabbler’s speech bubble going up into the blue portal. And, using the convention in the game Portal, it then emerges from the orange portal, on the other side of the frame.
Basically Dave ran out of room to place the bubbles where the flow would make sense. So came up with this cunning fix. Per his blog, above.
Oh, HAHAHAHAH, sheesh, I’m half blind :P
For some reason I feel as though it wouldn’t be too different from when Ben and Gwen Tennison met their grandmother.
Nice lady, helpful. Also, she’s 100% alien that wants to kill you so you can become stronger once you don’t have a physical mortal shell restraining you.
Aww, don’t you love it when extended family rally round to help the young uns? And using the Obi Wan Kenobi techniques to boot!
They must have been proud to have such a loving and powerful granny!
Cute Dabbler :D
She really is adorable when she’s caught off guard.
Hey Yorp, I stumbled across this on the Interwebs and though of you for some silly reason. Enjoy.
Well, I don’t. So I Googled “Poser rendered ‘superheroine loses her powers and gets damsel in distressed’ comics” and got two links to this comic of yours and not a lot of anything else that seemed useful. Is it superheroine rape fantasy? Because that’s what it sounds like you’re tying to get at while being cagey about it, but that’s all I could come up with so I’m probably wrong.
Thought, damnit. Still no edit function despite 4 days and many years having passed us by.
The link is completely safe for work, btw. Also adorable. No fears!
Hey, where was the cameraman hiding?
*looks around warily for spycams*
Regarding the latter part, at first I thought DaveB was using British slang for a showoff. But then I found out that Poser is actually a 3D modeling program optimised for rendering human figures.
So you are probably spot on. Although there could be mild, clothed, versions which are aimed at rescue-fantasists. With a potential mid-ground of a nude version of that. But not much to distinguish the last, barring tone and any story elements.
Sadly I suspect the sinister version is probably the more prevalent.
Poser is one of the main programs for amateur 3D art. The medium attracts a lot of fetishists. There’s definitely a subgenre of “superheroines in distress,” although it seems less common than size-change comics and just regular porn.
I want to mention that there are also more straight-ahead superheroics done in 3D, some of which might interest a few Grrl Power fans:
Great Island of Prentil is sword and sorcery with some sex in it. NSFW for adult themes, some nudity, and a fair bit of gore.
Data Chasers involves androids in a sort of post-apocalyptic future. Rather like GP, it has gone through some big art shifts; and also rather like GP, some of the characters are slightly nutty military dorks (with boobs, even). Some pretty grim themes in this one too, considering that there are ways in-setting of overriding an android’s will and making it do things it really doesn’t want to do. Some horrific things happen, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
And there are Seiginotora‘s superheroines: Pagan the Louisiana Catgirl, Jeanne d’Arc, and Oseiko. Pretty similar setting to GP, being a superhero universe kitchen sink. I’m not sure where he’s hidden the old strips, like Jeanne d’Arc fighting Slenderman. Go bug him about it for me.
Not that any of these funny enough to really math Grrl Power.
*match
Well if what folks are after is staggeringly realistic imagery, no super theme, but with some funny and other emotive scenes, and a lot of NSFW material then this is the gallery for you.
Thank you for that puppy, has some Yorpies, fresh baked
Yay!
*munch munch munch*
Oh darn it, just spotted that four days ago he announced is suffering from depression and is taking a break. Still the gallery is phenomenal.
Leave him nice messages, to cheer him up, when he gets back.
“Too Much Information” and “Merceneiress” are two other great 3D web comics (“TMI” has been going for nearly as long as GP, if not longer),and both have gone through art style changes (specially “TMI”)
Highly recommend “Isle of Prentil” (the author even named a character after me :D), and would add “Androssian Prophecy to the list of great (POO) 3D-based comics
I just can’t get past the uncanny valley issues with any of these 3D comics. I find them too disconcerting to read after a very short while.
Though the artwork Yorp linked to is a lot better than most in that regard.
Can any of you experts point to where these two first encountered each other?
First appearance here most recent here.
I is an expert? At last, I have found my vocation!
*poses like a dried-up freshwater spring*
And the first link answers that ponderous unasked question: What use are four arms to a succubus in battle?
Oh they are great when she has sufficient warning, of a threat, to engage in hand, hand, hand, hand to hand, hand combat!
As they say four warned is four armed.
…and four armed is half an octopus.
And half an octopus makes decent sushi.
Thanks!
I spent some years growing up in Taiwan, and I have to say that it feels really weird to have “Ng” be a surname for someone who is half-Taiwanese. For that to work, you’d need one of her parents to use an Anglicized spelling of the Taiwanese pronunciation of the name, and not the Anglicized spelling of the Mandarin pronunciation of the name. The thing is, for most of the period from 1940-1990, Mandarin is considered socially more formal in Taiwan, while Taiwanese is considered more uncultured and informal. So even a household that speaks mostly Taiwanese would use the Mandarin pronunciation when emigrating to an English-speaking country.
Anecdotally, I’ve never met or heard of a single person named “Ng” who was Taiwanese, but I’ve met many Cantonese people named “Ng”.
In recent years, there’s been a movement in Taiwan to make Taiwanese pronunciation of Chinese be on a more equal footing with Mandarin pronunciation. So I can totally imagine a younger Taiwanese person using “Ng” as the Anglicized version, to make a political statement — although, again, I’ve never seen or heard of this. But even then, you’d need another generation to have a half-Taiwanese person named “Ng”.
Interesting information, well worth bringing to DaveB‘s attention. He may wish to go for something else, if he was not aware of that. Plus another reader has mentioned things to the same effect.
However there does remain a loophole, namely a family of Cantonese immigrants. If the children were born in Taiwan they may well identify as Taiwanese, rather than Cantonese, and legally that is what they would be. Although I have no idea whether they may also hold Cantonese nationality, by virtue of ancestry.
As this could have happened two or more generations ago, not being reliant on any modern trends, there could well be half Taiwanese descendants in the current generation, with the name ‘Ng’.
I worked the booths for the federal election here in Australia last year and my district has a huge Taiwan, Korean and Vietnamese population (we’re a hodge-podge) I can tell you that I had almost as many Nu surnames as I had Nguyen. (Which was a LOT). So it may be a regional thing. But it’s quite a common surname still. I believe it’s a translation through one of the dialects of “Wu”?
Not sure why I didn’t just look up the translation in the first place. “Ng (pronounced [ŋ̍]; English approximation often /ˈɪŋ/ or /ˈɛŋ/) or /ˈŋɛŋ/) is a Cantonese, Shanghainese[1] and Hakka transliteration of the Chinese surnames 吳/吴 (Pinyin transliteration for Mandarin equivalent: Wú) and 伍 (Mandarin Wǔ) meaning “five” or “troops”. In Hokkien (Taiwanese) and Teochew, Ng corresponds to the surname 黃/黄 (Mandarin Huáng) meaning “yellow”; or to 阮 (Mandarin Ruǎn)”
Look further down the page, where it says “Notable people with the surname Ng”. You’ll notice that not a single person in that list is from Taiwan. I completely agree that my surname is pronounced “Ng” in Taiwanese. But I don’t know any Taiwanese who spell it that way when writing in English. We’re mostly “Huang”s, and occasionally a “Wang” or “Hwang”.
I wonder if Jazza has a sister named Ana…
Maybe if her parents were David Beckham* fans, and conceived her whilst on holiday in Africa? Sounds like quite a stretch though.
* What a life-gift for a child? Naming her ‘Brooklyn’ “because that is where we conceived her”. I wonder how many times she has been taunted with “Hey, I know where your parents have had sex!”
Isn’t Brooklyn one of the boys? o_O
Actually, if you don’t know that Urban Legend, ‘Brooklyn’ would be a fairly normal name for a girl, kinda mild for a ‘celeb-brat’
Yea. Boy, girl. It is hard to tell the difference when you humans insist on covering up the identifying characteristics with cloth. Let alone getting twitchy about crotch sniffing, to check!
Urban legend though? My hairy arse it is. I heard David Beckham himself say it, in an interview. And it was widely reported in news articles at the time.
I do find that getting hits to those is very hard though. So I am guessing that Brooklyn has invoked his ‘right to be forgotten’ on the internet, under E.U. law, and had such direct results blocked from searches.
However you can still find indirect articles mentioning the fact. He is all grown up now though, and it is so widely known that no more harm is likely, in linking those, than has already been done.
I should also note that Victoria has claimed that it was purely a coincidence, in her autobiography. I am guessing by that stage her son had gotten sick of being bullied over that. So that was a nice act by his mum. And also accounts for why you will have had information claiming it to be an urban legend.
Or perhaps the denials are well founded, and David was talking out of turn, intending it as a joke? But it did not come across that way, in my recollection. I do remember feeling really sorry for the kid though.
Don’t really consider anything Beckham says to even come close to being intelligent, Ozzy Osborne speaks more clearly (and intelligently) than Beckham
I just wanted to reference a TMBG song, but sure.
Ahh, cultural misunderstanding. As JW is Taiwanese, and they put the family name first, therefore she is Ng Jazmine. Whilst her hypothetical sister would be Ng Ana. Which made no particular sense. But sounded kind of African, so I ran with that.
Whereas, I now understand that you were aiming for Messrs. Giants’ song Ana Ng.
Can you please enlighten me? Don’t know what ‘TMBG’ is, and didn’t get the ‘Ana Ng’ reference (was trying to make it sound like a word, but couldn’t think of what ‘Anang’ could be)
In case you’re still wondering, “Ana Ng” is a 1988 song by the alt-rock band They Might Be Giants. It’s on youtube, so look it up, if you like. Not really relevant to the comic, but I’m an old fan, so when I saw the last name “Ng”, I immediately thought of it.
If you liked the song, and want to get into TMBG, here’s a handy chart: https://i.imgur.com/WI7t91Z.png
Arguably the godfathers of the Nerdcore genre
“Godfathers of nerd ore”… really?
That’s been debunked by the Beckhams themselves. His wife wanted a girl, which she was planning to name Brooke. When the ultrasound revealed the baby was going to be a boy, they decided on Brooklyn.
It is true that they were in Brooklyn when he was conceived, but according to Victoria Beckham, that was totally coincidental.
That is indeed what Victoria claimed years afterwards, in her autobiography. But not what David said in the interview I watched, some time shortly after they announced the name. That is called ‘re-writing history’ as opposed to ‘debunking’.
Check out the links, to the news articles, that I provided, so that you do not have to rely on just my patchy memory.
i know a girl named Brooklyn, she has a sister named London and another named Sydney; Brooklyn is a 5 year old drama queen, altho tbh when i see her it’s usually in the evenings, near meltdown time
because that is where we conceived her
Then again, she could have been conceived on top Maggies Nipple, Colorado.
complete with lotsa SFW pictures:
https://mapcarta.com/23504644
How about Teton Village, Wyoming? (Teton means “breast” in French.)
Or Breed, Imalone, Spread Eagle, Longwood, or Tainter (all in Wisconsin)? Or Horneytown, NC?
And there’s always Intercourse and Blue Balls (both in Pennsylvania). They’re only a few miles apart.
There are lots of places like that in the U.S. Some of the settlers were… “less than politically correct” (to be polite).
Sounds like an idea conceived in Hell.
At one time, there was a town in Arkansas called Burning Mattress. (saw with me own eyes), barely a wide spot in the road, google it, can’t find it now.
All that is left, after the fire, is Hot Springs.
Incidentally the fire was in the American Civil War. Just how old are you, to have seen that?
I was on a car trip w/my parents. saw a billboard that said “Welcome to Burning Matress Arkansas, population 7 plus two coon dogs”. Probably a tourist trap.
We were tootling twixt East Texas and St. Louis to visit family, a near-annual pilgrimmage.
Yea, and it will be a play on the Hot Spring national park, town or village. The only reference I found to it was ‘near Hot Springs’, but that was not in anything authoritative. So your tourist trap conclusion is probably accurate.
I did also find a passage in a book which referred to the link as a fictional play between the two names. Further supporting that conclusion.
Coincidentally, America is not alone when it comes to towns with funny names. Sure, we’ve got Dunmovin (California) and Onacock (Virginia)…
but Britain has Big Cockup and Little Cockup, Prickwillow, Titty Ho, Twatt, Big Knockerstown, and Cockintake; Australia has Iron Knob, Blowhard, Mount Mee, and Mt. Buggery; Scotland gets Boysack, Assloss, and Cockplay… Even the Phillipines gets in on the act, with Sexmoan.
Can’t forget Bust, Colorado – USA. google maps has it. tourist trap – you bet. elevation 7500, pop 2
I believe that Lana Lang’s actress from Smallville, Kristin Kreuk, is also half Chinese (the other half is Dutch or something).
Yes, she is. Good call. She’s Dutch on her father’s side, Chinese on her mother’s side.
While it may seem hypocritical of Maxi to just let this happen, need to understand a few things: she knows Dabbles can handle herself, she finds it funny that Dabbles is on the receiving end of something she set into motion herself, she is fast enough and strong enough to intervene if things do get out of hand, plus she finds it funny
You are speaking of the standard treat others as you would be treated? Syd is shy and while playful does not push exhibition on others deliberately (her rapid apologizing and initial failure to realize harems accident). Tantalus repeatedly taunts and suggests sexual thing in a pushy way so it is fair to have someone push her. If xurial asks for help max will step in but then remind her of this if xurial resumes prior behavior.
Sounds about right
Looking at the who’s who on the side, it seem that maxima has changed forehead type. It was M (or heart) shaped and now it is either straight or broad.
And is this sex hair going somewhere?
I still suspect that Maxima is turning into Muppet Maxima.
Not unless the sex she had with at least ONE of those four guys last time she was in the comic becomes a relationship. Of course, no reason the sex had to be with just one of them.
I have no idea what you’re talking about. Please explain that everything part you said.
When has Maxi ever had sex? Let alone have it be mentioned in the comic… oh, you replied to the wrong post?
Mmm, as Max and Deus used to be an item, I think we can take it that sex was involved. But the relationship may not have progressed that far, and I doubt Maxima would leap into the sack prematurely.
Nosurrender is doing what we advocate though. Looking at subtle clues in the comic and speculating what they might mean. Whilst the link drawn is tenuous it is nonetheless a valid question to ask. And if it does turn out to be sex-hair, then well, sex is implied.
Whilst I do not think it is likely there was definite sexual tension between Max and Hiro. Plus we have just had a gap of presumably a few hours. More than enough evidence for a gossip mag.
But I think it far more likely that Maxima has had her hands full dealing with Sydney’s personal crisis and preparing for this meeting.
The comment about the mugshot and the sex hair were two separate comments, and it’s probable that Stephen got Vahriah and her sex-hair mixed up with Maxi and her disappearing widow’s-peak
I feel like I stumbled into the middle of a discussion triblaxian mutatornadoism. what does Max’s who’s who pic have to do with how often or who she’s had sex with? And how does Varia’s hair and Sydney’s comment about it connect to Max?
I’m seldom caught so unclued on how a thread is glued together.
I was just responding to Guesticus‘s post asking about Max and sex. However Guesticus put his finger on a problem with my reply. I was taking the first post, in the thread, as all being connected. With the talk about forehead type and sex hair.
Plus, actually looking at it, I don’t think anybody could describe her hair as being ‘sex hair’. Which would be hair that is all mussed-up, as if just having had sex. Varia’s does look like that, and I just took it that the initial commentator felt that Maxima’s was like that too. But Maxima’s is perfectly presented. Therefore I agree that was not actually the intent.
So whilst my reply is valid, it is fairly pointless. Or, if Maxima did sneak in a quickie before the meeting, she combed her hair afterwards.
Why would you call “Jabberwocky” Jabber for short? Make it Jabba!
Nee Jabba Wonka!
I think that is Hutteese for “Jabba is having a wank”. But it may also mean, do not use “Jabba’s” name for humans.
I thought it was the lord is displeased, atone with death. That or extra large stuffed crust with double pepperoni ham pineapple sardines and watermelon hold the cheese. Voice tone and inflections are part of the language.
From now on, to me she is “Jabber Jaw.”
You mean this guy?
You’ve made some slight redesigns to Maxima’s face. She does look “nicer” that way, but I feel it is out of place for her character.
You know one thing I find interesting about this page? The hair, if you compare Jazza’s hair to the who’s who the hair in the page looks much more natural especially with how her highlights blend into the rest of the hair.
*nods*
Dave’s style has become more natural, over time. Which lends itself to doing hair well.
What? Jabberwokky wants Math to ink a tattoo on her in exchange for the show? Or for him to get one? I mean, that’s what she’s saying, right?
I’m surprised I’m the first to say something like this after over 400 some posts (okay, I didn’t read, but searched and looked at any hits for ‘ink’ (mostly words with ink, such as think, in them) and tattoo (only one post talking about how it would be cool if the tattoo she already had on her chest would change)),
I think someone mentioned it earlier in the thread, but I believe it’s meant to be a pun referencing the phrase “tit for tat”. So, her implied full line would be “I expect some tat for these tits”.
She’s making a reference to the term ‘tit-for-tat’, meaning an exchange, a kind of give-and-take. She doesn’t want Math constantly perving on her.
Yeah, good luck with that Jazz.
Yeah, I got that guys, just the way it trailed off. I missed an earlier reference. Like I said, I only did finds for ‘tattoo’ and ‘ink’.
Hope it is alright but am stealing the concept that has been talked about here for a DnD encounter or too. A succubus unintentionally awakening a love/ lesbian interest in an NPC would make a great paladin quandary.
Comic gold and a quick explanation could get Dave more patrons to hire artists/ colorists. Please spread the word
I am sure Dave would be fine with that, assuming it is for a personal gaming group. On the remote chance that you are talking about something commercial, you had better wait for his say on that.
Sounds like fun though :)
Of course Max is going to stand back and let Dabs suffer. I wouldn’t be surprised is she takes a few pics to embarrass her further later on. Payback is a wonderful thing.
And I enjoy Varia’s evasion. Real subtle. LOL
Maxima could do that so quickly that nobody would notice. Or just set her ‘phone to capture video of the incident.
But purely to capture the moment, for posterity, of course. To make a good opening for their wedding video.
Portal’d text. Now that/s thinking with portals.
Aperture should owe you a gun just for that. Genius.
It is certainly thinking… mmm … on the other side of the box.
What is that thing that seems to be making a portal above Dabbler’s head? I thought it was a horn/ear…but it doesn’t look right?
Oh god. as SOON as I type this…I read the comment above..brilliant, and subtle. I didn’t even see the orange one.
Yea, I missed it, on my first hurried read through too. Hilarious solution to the text-flow problem.
“Mind control is bad when the bad guys do it, but when Dabbler does it TO a bad guy, it’s totally okay.”
Also, anybody wanna bet Jabberwocky knows Doggy Style?
Dabbles did it to stop the bad guys, and the effect was supposed to have worn off days ago, the reason why it hasn’t (or has it?) is something Dabbles and possibly a few other mages and doctors are going to have to figure out, in the meantime, Dabbles has to deal with the consequences of her actions on her own
Which means she’s getting her comeuppance and it’s essentially being shown that it was, in fact, not OK.
Zack Tilly, but the main reason why Maxi is ‘letting it happen’ is because she knows that Dabbles can handle it, right now she’s just startled
Maybe Jabber just likes Dabbler and uses the kiss as an excuse?
Yup, entirely possible.
Plus she may not even be referring to the kiss. For that matter she may not have even realised that it was a super power affecting her before! If JW feels a real attraction to Dabbler then it would be indistinguishable from her own feelings.
All the kiss does is simulate that artificially. If an attraction already exists (or would have in time) then it is not actually doing anything (or is just bringing forward when it starts to be noticeable).
So the “What did you do to me?” could just be a turn of phrase that someone might use like “Why can’t I stop thinking about you?”.
But JW can see she is dealing with a super, so your take is entirely reasonable. Or she may realise the kiss was a super power, but has not recognised that since then it is being sustained by her own emotions. Possibly they may just be transient ones, but it would be interesting if they are long-lasting.
Then, if not reciprocated, we could see the interesting situation of Dabbler trying to avoid JW’s attentions, just as much as Dabbler does Maxima’s. But not from the sexual point of view. Rather than because a succubus might not want to be tied down emotionally.
Not least because adopting human traditions and entering into a monomuggle relationship could be detrimental to Dabbler’s and/or Jabber’s health.
“Shooting people is bad when the bad guys do it, but when [Insert_Hero_Name] does it TO a bad guy, it’s totally okay.”
Shooting people is a ‘known.’ Lots of people have access to it. The whole ‘public blowback’ reference is basically acknowledging that people would be very uncomfortable with ANYONE having access to mind-control powers. “Don’t worry! The succubus on the military-based super-police is the only one who can override your free will!” is unlikely to be philosophically calming. Given that they’re themselves worried about someone using it on them, the PR team is going to have to be extremely careful about how they respond to this.
“Shooting people is bad when the bad guys do it, and it’s also bad when cops do it, but sometimes cops need to do it, so there has to be training, accountability, and a level of public trust that cops will only shoot people when they absolutely need to.” And mind control is new and scary, so having someone around who can do mind control is going to require building an even higher level of public trust… when everyone just got a highly visible display of the potential bad outcomes of mind control.
It’s got some similarities to the NSA hacking tool leak – people weren’t exactly happy to find out that the NSA had ways to break into their home computes if they wanted, even if the odds of them doing that were pretty low and the ‘bad guys’ were already trying to do the same thing.
All very true. Dabbler will need to exercise extreme caution on using her powers, and Archon will both have to give her strict guidelines on when it is and is not appropriate to use, and ensure that there are protocols in place to handle any infraction.
Just like with guns.
But you are right with your various comments about public confidence etc. Whilst the magnitudes of problems change (like it being a lot harder to detect or counter mind control) the basic principles of how we deal with what is fair and what is not remain unchanged.
If a power is being used in a criminal manner, it is wrong. Whereas if it is being used, in a legal manner, to preserve life, protect the innocent and counter wrongdoing then it is not.
Who said Dabbles was the only one with mind-control powers? Have you forgotten Kevin already? o_O
The ‘bad guys’ were already breaking into your home computer, and they still are
Jazza Ng,eh??? Be glad the nicknames/jokes haven’t started! Everyone at Archon would replace the “A” with and “I” and what would you get..?
Ng Jazza actually. Using Taiwanese naming conventions you place the family name first.
You would get nothing. You would need yet another letter to come to the offensive term you are alluding to. Two corresponding letters, out of five, is not that close a match.
Umm, no, Black Rose was meaning ‘Jazzing’, and asked the question about what that was on the first page (no one replied to it :( )
Oh new slang term to me. No wonder I was flailing around getting the wrong connection. Especially when following the instructions given you actually get “Jizza Ng” or maybe “Jizzi Ng”, if you repeat the instructions. So well done on piecing the randomly juggled jigsaw together in a way that kind of makes sense.
*pokes at alphabet spaghetti, in bowl, a few times*
Hah, BOOBIES!
You were simply changing the wrong ‘A’
If ‘Jazzing’ is a new slang term, it’s new to me, Jizzing on the other fingers…
Just did a quick search, and ‘Jazzing’ appeared in the Kurt Vonnegut novel (it also kinda means making something bright and shiny), ‘Jizzing’ relates to things in porn (or this video)
Jazzing also refers to linking or making suitable for jazz the music style. Jazz is a spirited and often energetic style.
Like said: did a quick search, and one huge failing with me is being too brief in comments, writing multiple sentences (let alone paragraphs) is ‘odd’ for me
No criticism just adding to what you supplied. You can be as brief or long in comments as you feel comfortable being, we try not to judge much as the titan discussion may have made it seem otherwise.
I’m not really sure why DaveB decided to use put the speech bubbles in such an awkward arrangement, surely swapping over the positions of Dabbler’s and Jabberwokky’s would be better than using that “portal” solution?
That is explained in Dave’s blog above.
Plus it would not have made so many of us laugh. Although I appreciate that there is a sizeable proportion of the readers who are not keen on it, overall I think there are more who loved it.
I enjoyed the podcast.
Odd that it would not let me link to it. But it is up there….
*points paw at DaveB‘s blog*
Math should be having some fun w/ this situation
Probably. I think the tat was short for “tit for tat” as in she showed the first part in the fight. now he has to return the favor. which I’d say Math will probably have zero issue with that.
Though the higherups will probably yell at him for being full nude
Jabbers should definitely have teeth on her collar. Teeth that gnash.
I’m thinking Dabbler’s kiss got juiced up by the agro aura, since she seems to be having a bit of both going on.
And I suggested similar in a response elsewhere on the comments before getting to read your stating it. sad i failed to come up with it first tears.
I keep waiting for a “villian” to show up and call ARC out on thier “join us or prison” tactics, as well as the other “we’re the government so it’s ok” ethiclly questionable crap.. I suspect i’ll be waiting quite a bit longer…
It is entirely possible that a villain might take that approach.
Any super living in that world and going about their law abiding business though will not be getting that impression though. They are being allowed to live life as they want. They can be a lawyer, a hairdresser, a banker, an astronaught, a flying cameraman or whatever they want.
With only the one exception. If they want to be a cop (or something very similar) then they have to join Archon. And even then Dave has indicated that if they have no powers that can interfere with their police duties, they will be granted an exception.
Criminals though get treated exactly the same way as anyone else. If they have only committed a minor crime they get a warning, fine, suspended sentance, community service, or whatever else is normally apporipriate.
Likewise if they commit a serious crime they go to jail or get executed.
This is the same for supers as it is for normals.
And, just like normals, if their crimes are not too heinous, for an exception to be made, Supers too are eligible for schemes that allow you to serve your time in the military rather than in jail.
Or do you propose taking away the rights of supers to such leniency?
I think that civil liberties groups would be up in arms if supers were shown such prejudice! And rightly so. It would be unfair discrimination.
Not to mention that society has a real shortage of supers, so they could actually really help. Provided the riskier ones are properly supervised, by people who can detain them, if they revert to their criminal ways.
Not to tell an artist how to art (because I know that isn’t cool), but I really miss Maxima’s old look from earlier in the comics. It seems like lately her face hasn’t been very expressive, and her skin looks kind of soft and blurred instead of hard and metallic. Love the comic, no hate, just airing an opinion <3
It is an opinion that is widely shared, and you expressed your feedback very respectfully. So your comments are welcome.
DaveB does appreciate constructive feedback and does read the comments. So we can hope that her shininess will come back.
Plus it is worth noting that Dave is experimenting with this style and is making steady progress. And has commented himself, in the past, that he liked shiny results. I think he is just trying to find a balance between the indoor and the outdoor look, so that the difference in the shine will be more apparent, in brighter illumination.
In particular I love how he has recaptured some of the softness in Dabbler’s look that I personally enjoy. So am very happy with Dave’s ongoing experimentation. I think Sydney is a tricky one too, as getting too soft a look for her does not suit her either.
Yeah, it’s not just the lack of ‘shiny’, just like with Dabbles new ’rounder’ face on this page, the literal shape of Maxi’s head has changed
DaveB, at the strong risk of giving you another time-sink, look up Boku no Hero Academy (My Hero Academia) episode #26- it contains the closest we’re going to get to Dabbler in animated form until you commission your own show after you make it rich [her name is Midnight – the R Rated Hero !]…
Really? All we’ve seen of her is an implied bondage dress sense, overapparent love on youthfull energy and shared set of pheromones with Oddish. The comparison to someone with four arms, magical powers, alien heritage, hypnotic bodyparts, super-tech and a literal sexual appetite seems unfounded to me.
… Yes, really . I pointed it out for DaveB for that episode + the walk cycle she has in said episode. It has been said many times that sarcasm doesn’t translate well in text, so if you were “praising w/faint damms”, no harm no foul. If on the other hand , you’re one of those who cannot stand mention of anime in any form or forum …
… ya know, there should have been a “stay off my lawn” joke in there somewhere …
I have nothing against anime (and watch a fair bit myself). I just have yet to see any resemblence between the two characters in question aside from the obvious base concept of “female super oversexualised through own choice”. I’ll rewatch ep26 though and see if I can pick up what you’re talking about.
…also, I think Max’s “softer look” can be attributed to Dabbler’s glamour clean up spell still being active.(anyone want to bet Dabbler wouldn’t use a longterm tweek to Max’s looks, given that all Max would notice is that shes not covered in dirt + ash?).
… I know this is going to sound like whining , but can we Finally discover what mr.”I’m not really full of spiders ” powers actually are ? Maybe have him + Jazza spar?(he is the only one of the recruits we have no clue on, Varias gestalt not being a help )…
I certainly would be nice to see more of the other recruits, and finding out about his spider colony status would be reassuring for Sydney and any arachnophobic readers!
It should be noted that Vance never claimed that he was only kidding Sydney. That was Harem’s assumption. His reply was just along the lines that ‘it is traditional to haze the new guy’. In his case telling the truth would do that job just fine, as may be the case.
Especially when you bear in mind that even Dave had not decided himself, at that time!
Love the combination of panel’s 6 & 7; especially 7. :-)
Just thought about something when it comes to kissing Dabbler. Given the placement of our noses, people have to tilt their heads when kissing. But Dabbler has these horns curling around the side of her face. So if you get to kissing rather passionately with Dabbler runs the risk of getting poked repeatedly in the face by those horns.
English is my second language so i dont understand what Jabberwokky means (or anyone else) when she says ” i expect some TAT for these”.
Please explain “TAT” for me.
It is alluding to the phrase “Tit for tat“. Normally this would be a threat of retaliation in kind. Such as with saying ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’. In this case though the ‘tit’ and ‘tat’ have no particular meaning in the saying.
Similar to how ‘it is raining cats and dogs’ just means ‘it is raining heavily’ as opposed to warning you to dodge falling animals.
In this particular case though Jabberwokky has reversed the phrase, so is clearly intending to say ‘tat for tit’. However before she gets to the ‘tit’ part she realises that the turn of phrase actually overlaps their previous situation all too closely.
Math lost their fight because of getting distracted staring at her breasts (notably ‘tits’ being a common slang term for the same).
Jabberwokky had not intended to make her comment so directly sexual, hence stopped before finishing the phrase.
Thanks for the info, it had been confusing me for a while now.
Sayings are weird… cats and dogs.. how drunk must the first dude been whom fraised that saying?
Here i figured she stoped when she recognised Dabbler.
That was probably a part of it too. She got a double-whammy realising she was being too overtly sexual with Math and then seeing Dabbler and finding things getting uncontrollably worse.
Re: Dabbler’s mom: being the mom of a succubus she would be all about Dabbler getting enough sex, and not being too tame and civilized.
I wonder if getting too much tantric energy makes a succubus put on weight? Probably a self-correcting problem, if that is the case.
Unless catering to folks who like a curvier figure. I wonder where that would end…
Jabba the Succubus?
Shouldn’t Jabberwokky/Jazza be Jabberwokky/Jazza in the Who’s Who now?
No. Look at Maxima for example. She is just “Maxima” not Maxima/Leander or Maxima / Lt. Col. M Leander. It is just a short aid memoir, rather than a comprehensive record.
With the cast list out of action we could do with updating stuff like Jabberwokky’s full name etc into the Grrl Power wiki. I am going to be busy saving the world though, so it will be up to #”””””””””””””]p[;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Psst that was Feral Cat’s suggested name, not mine.
Yeah, but Maxima has no superhero name really. It’s the name she goes by, even if it’s not her formal first name, both as a superhero and in normal life. Leander is her last name, and the last name isn’t used for anyone. But for those that have first names (or whatever version that they normally use) introduced in the comic, that first name is in the Who’s Who. Though I recognized that I got the order reversed now.
So, since Sidney/Halo, Kenya/Anvil, Daphne/Harem, Brook/Heatwave, Varia/Xochitl (fairly recently), then it should be Jazza (again, the way she uses her first name)/Jabberwokky.
Not an unreasonable line of thought.
By the way, there is a big difference between a nickname and a call-sign. Call your unit commander by a nickname, to their face, and you will likely find yourself on a charge for insubordination. Regardless of whether her peers, or close friends and family, use the term routinely.
Contrast that to a call-sign, where it makes sense to encourage the use of it by all personnel,* to ensure that they use it instinctively in combat. Maxima is career military, so the frequent use of her name in situations where a civilian would expect a nickname to be used, does not make it one.
Of course a civilian nickname may become a call-sign, when someone signs up. But that is just one possible route by which a call-sign may be chosen. Quite often it will instead by a formative moment with their teammates, for example.
Not forgetting that it is possible to have both a call-sign and one or more nicknames. You never hear anyone calling Maxima ‘golden girl’ or ‘pointy ears’, for example, nor can I see her tolerating that.
* In appropriately informal non-combat situations.
for Jaberwocky monogram: uppercase J lower case b connected?
I know I’m super late, but I swear Jabberwocky looks like a humanized Gilda from My Little Pony.
In that last panel, Dabbler’s speech bubble goes through a blue portal next to her face and out a red portal in the top left corner of the panel. Can’t believe I never noticed that.
That last panel bubble mess is such an easy fix, I’m not sure why you didn’t think of it yourself, Dave. O_o
Simply move the “camera” to the other side of the room by flipping the panel horizontally.
https://i.imgur.com/S4fG5rw.jpg
Excuse the muddled background (I don’t have Dave’s multi-layered working originals to play with). You might also wish to swap Maxima and Adrianna to match their positions from earlier in the page (cut&paste; not terribly difficult) but this took me 10 minutes at most.
in the last panel i bet maxima is loving that dabbler is uncomfterable with something sex related.