Grrl Power #549 – Vampire the mass of bats
Sydney had to sit through the rest of that class, and probably a few others, but fortunately you guys don’t have to. This scene obviously takes place in the evening. Bat vampires are just as vulnerable to the sun as person shaped vampires. As to the answer to the rest of Sydney’s questions, she’ll have to wait. Maxima’s question does take precedence, what with her being commanding officer and all. You know how Sydney is. She could have kept the question train going for another 20 pages, but don’t worry, not this time guys.
Edit: A lot of people were confused by the jump from the last scene, so I added a “Later…” type caption which will hopefully help. Also I took the opportunity to shrink Max’s head a bit in the first panel because it was pretty huge. Of course, now I can’t help but notice it’s smaller than Sydney’s, which is why I drew it as bid as I did in the first place. But the big head suits Sydney, while Max is supposed to be proportioned like a normal, albeit fit yet curvy human woman.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like.
I think the transition box helps. Makes it clear (or at least mentally acceptable given other context) that you’re jumping in media res. Between the mid-sentence, setting change, and unmentioned break-in attempt it was kinda three transitions at once and I think that’s what made it hard for folks to keep up.
+1
Thanks DaveB.
+1
Vastly improved!
The callback joke to the last page really ties it together, too :)
Maxima may be able to stop the Sydney-train, but only if she catches it early. Derail her when she’s going slow, Max. It’s the only way.
*examines Sydney closely*
I don’t think she has a “slow” setting?
sure syd does it’s just 90% of what most people manage at speed, when she gets going she showes speedster potential just limited to the mouth and 30% of the time brain too.
Maxima can stop me talking by clutching me to her bosom *any* time. ;)
She doesn’t even have to wait for me to start talking ;)
I’m so glad it’s established that, for all that glass-like consistency of her skin surface, and just-about-total invulnerability, Maxima is still soft and pliable in the right places, susceptible to gravity if she’s walking on the ceiling, etc.
Otherwise, this would be like trying to smother someone with a bowling ball. Teeth and blood everywhere… humor element lost. :(
Had another thought:
I Dabbler saw Max’s new method for derailing and out-of-control Sydney Express, she’d be immediately practicing her run-on sentences in a mirror for hours a day!
You know, an Illustration of Crimson getting nabbed by the Archon defenses might make a good voting incentive.
Why is there no page 2486? I’m dying here!
Maybe Dave has reserved that for a chapter splash page? That has been suggested, by readers, and would be needed if the comic is to be published in dead-tree form.
This webcomic is approaching a critical level of Ambiguously Brown characters. :P
It certainly does, you got it just right there (all to easy to over-do it otherwise). And nice choice in selecting that for Halo’s Who’s Who photograph. That is both a likeness that remains representative of her and looks great.
This breaking up into bats is a relatively recent power that writers have given vampires. It is fascinating to see it of course. I recall Mina Harker doing it in the film ” The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” (and lady vampire). Quite stunning and definitely awesome ability. The Philippians vampire can look human, but splits into two parts. From the waist down waits while bat wings come out and the upper part flies around looking for food. Some of them are just heads with intestines attached!
From your name, it sounds like you are speaking from experience!
What is the other 51% of you up to?
Technical writing for legal documents is also known as “third person: objective”.
…If Maxima and Sydney weren’t established as straight, I would ship the hell out of them. It’s not just this scene, they’ve got great rapport and connect more than pretty much any other two characters in the strip.
I see them more as mother/daughter.
Interesting Mina Harker does this bat thing in LOEG. My first thought – a vampiric girl who can shapeshift into a mass of smaller bats – was Terry Pratchett’s Discworld character of the vampire Sally von Humpeding: in the Discworld, Sally always has problems getting her bats together when she Turns Human, as two or three of them have the directional sense of concussed herring. Until she gathers in the strays, she finds herself, for instance, two fingers down on one hand or three toes and half a foot missing. wondering if Pratchett’s character is being homaged here, too.
I’ve been going through the archives (again. I have so much fun re-reading my favorite webcomics!) and I noticed something with the green orb… The skilltree had two pips in it already. Maxima might not be far off, thinking it can generate multiple types of “air”. There were only two sets of lines, so if one would represent a sort of “rate of release” (or conversion, as only releasing would gradually increase pressure), the other could be “variations” of atmosphere/gas. Even if we assume all options must be “survivable”, that’s still a range of options!
Whoever she is, she stole Anvil’s colour-scheme. Plus she has the “generic female face” that the non-main female characters have… so I have no idea if we’ve seen her before or not.