Hmm. This may raise a few questions. Chances are at least some of them will be addressed in the following pages.
BTW I was hoping I could knock out a 3 panel page fairly quickly and work on a Thursday comic, but 1) drawing people from that low angle in panel 1 is super hard, 2) that picture of Maxima in panel 3 took forever for some reason, and 3) Deus Ex:HR is super good. :P
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You know, we are reading into this a bit much. There’s nothing really said that says these two have ever met. They are a bit casual with each other, but it could just be that the robber has lip and Maxima plays it off.
Even if they do know each other, it could easily just come down to her having tangled with him before. It doesn’t need to be something as grand as working together to create a fake robbery.
I have to say I love sitting back and reading all the conspiracy theories. (Except for when people come up with stuff that’s better than what I’ve got planned, hah hah)
When refereeing a role-playing game, this move can be extremely effective, I know. Players will come up with theories about what is going on during play – and sometimes these can be way WAY better than what I originally had in mind.
Sometimes, I’ll even go with those ideas instead. Makes for a better game, and my victims …er, Players fall into a false sense of security because they think they have me pegged. :)
First time commenting here, but am i the first to notice that one of these guys shows up back at the girl’s HQ?
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/60
It’s been mentioned before and it’s not supposed to be him, just my lack of skill in drawing varied faces.
Here’s another conspiracy theory, well, part of it…
Assuming that there really was some plot going on for whatever reason and assuming that the bank robbers were part of it: I wonder whether Maxima really caught a bullet – or if that guy just shot a blank and Maxima produced the bullet from her sleeve or where ever. That would indeed explain why she could “catch” a bullet but not fully dodge a *HWARF* (but had enough time for a shriek) :D
She was ready for the bullet, not fear vomit.
Is it just me? Or was his shirt not blue when we saw him in the last few strips? Just an observation is all.
Also. The suspense. I will check here everyday until Monday, even though I know it won’t update. LE SIGH.
He’s the other guy, the one Sydney kicked in the fork, threw by his tongue, punched in the ear, and bit on the head. Notice he’s talking fine now. (I had to go review things to clear up the change myself.)
that seamed out of character
I would see three possibilities at this point…
The robbery was real. Maxima just gets turned on by beating people up and so is friendly with the robbers. [Like anybody in the strip is all that normal?]
The robbery was staged. Either a training exercise or an attempt to make the group look good. Our girl was just there by accident.
The robbery was staged. The others knew she would be there and this was some sort of test, which she likely passed. Likely the best bet, but there are several questions to answer, like how they knew of her [and they clearly did not know all about her] and how they knew she would be there. [With her driving? They could not be sure she would arrive at all.]
You know it’s possible that they are there to test a super, it just isn’t Sydney. I could see Maxima being subject to random “tests” at the whim of superiors who are sexist, wary of supers being in command positions, just don’t like her attitude, or just don’t like the idea of the unit she’s forming.
i say this was a set up to try and force Halo to out her self
It is clearly a setup as for how it is done simple is normally the best. Remember Joel stated the shop was in the red and then has a deposit to make? Sounds like someone talked to him at length about where thier future paychecks will be coming from. Nice little shop for PR and a new hero. Leverage got to love it.
So it’s looking like the robbery may have been staged. If that’s true, then boy, it sure is a good thing that none of the civilians who were terrified have any right to complain. Or else Maxima might actually have a moral obligation to feel somewhat guilty for putting them all through that and subsequently bullying them for reacting to it.
Now that I think about it the whole thing may have been stage in the bank all the chuckles as Sydney ranted while being held by the guy Which means only a few people weren’t in on it. Easier to control a con if you only have one mark and are trying to see how they will react. Evil Sydney goes to jail good Sydney gets recruited gives them a good baseline on how she reacts under pressure as well without training.
Guido
Hmm well that makes sense now that I think about it.
But…how would they tell she was “evil”? There’s no course of action that would have made it seem so as even if Sydney was evil, acting so would simply be to play weak innocent bystander to see how things would go (in fact, that would also have been the logical and advisable course of action even if Sydney was “good”, nevertheless, to see how stranger Maxima would have reacted, since she was obviously unfazed by the thugs and was wearing paramilitary-looking uniform.)
Evil would have side with the robbers make some quick cash evil tends to be stupid. smart criminal are scary read the Stainless Steel Rat.
Agreed. And the idea of a real super Slippery Jim- shudders, I’ll go sit here on the scared-out-of-his-mind couch in confusion/panic corner and hope for the best.
Don’t forget, if it was a Super Jim Di’Griz, it would be all right. He never (intentionally) went into hurting anyone. Sure, there would be some big upheavals now and then, but heck, he wouldn’t ruin the whole economy since it’d mean his take would probably be worthless. U(nless the economy need to be remade to actually WORK… And then you’d be better off in the end anyway. :D
Are you kidding? In the immortal words of Rick Moranis, “Evil will always triumph over good, because good is dumb”.
I like the theory that the robbery was staged and everyone involved were actors. However, the paramedics and the angry bystander may indicate otherwise. Also, since Joel is normally the one to handle the bank-fare how would they know that Sydney would be the one to go this time? Even if they had a bug in the comic shop, I feel it would still take more than 30-60 minutes to choreograph this stunt.
However, it is also possible, that Sydney just so happened to be there when they were staging a robbery, and as a result got in the way, and changed the outcome a bit….
as for the giggling people in the bank, didn’t you do the same when you read Sydney’s little rant? I know I did.
Seriously? If it was a staged set-up, then the only people in on it would’ve been the robbers and Maxima. This would be to give Maxima some public “good will” exposure.
In fact, the “robbers” might even be members of the team disguised by Dabbler. Even the firing of the gun would’ve been carefully choreographed so that Maxima was in the perfect position to catch the bullet.
Has anyone figured the she might have said that because of his coment that she needed better bedside manners?? *sweatdrop*
Well, she did ask if they were okay. Although Saying it was a setup seems a little farfetched. Maxima seemed relatively surprised by Halo’s case. Or maybe she didn’t, I don’t really remember.
I went to 2 different gamestops, a bestbuy, and a walmart. they were all sold out of Deus Ex for the PC T-T
Just get it on Steam. I don’t know any pc gamers that still shop retail.
This could be a great comic if it was greater than 3 panels or it updated more than once a week.
As it is, it’s too drawn out to follow. You’ve forgotten what’s happened before you even read the strip.
Well normally it’s over 7 panels a page which really is too much in most cases. I could cut the number of panels in half and post twice as often, but the larger I draw the more detail I put in, so that doesn’t work out quite as I’d like, but also I like to have a complete “thought” on a page. It’s not so much that each page has to end on a joke but I don’t want to leave something dangling for 3-4 days.
I don’t want to leave something dangling for 3-4 days.
That’s what she said!
If her skin is hard how are her boobs soft? o_0
Love the comic. On my top 10.
Well that’s the question of super hero physics in general. If she’s hard enough to deflect bullets, how does she move? If she overcomes her hardness by using her strength, wouldn’t she crack? If she’s made of something flexible that won’t tear, wouldn’t she deform massively when she was shot or hit with a wrecking ball instead of it bouncing off? If it’s all done with force fields, wouldn’t she destroy any piece of electronics she touched, or actually wouldn’t she just melt stuff if the force field was that powerful? Even overcoming all those considerations, if lasers bounce off of her cause she’s enveloped in a force field, how does she see? If it deflects lasers wouldn’t it deflect light coming off a 60 watt bulb?
Superhero physics. I’d love to actually address some of these things in the comic but obviously this isn’t a science journal. I’m sure once we meet Dabbler she’ll have some interesting input.
Glad you like it!
In general, I’d go with ‘those are different meanings of the word ‘hard”. She is tough and resilient; it is difficult to cut or puncture her skin, or to cause other damage. She can absorb the impact without effect.
That doesn’t mean that her flesh is not flexible or mailable. It can still move and deform within limits, it just takes a lot of extra force to deform it past those limits. (And therefore cause damage.)
Basically, there’s no need for something to be ‘solid’ in order to be ‘tough’. It’s common, but not required.
i’m pretty sure real world physics no longer play a role in a super hero world since pretty much everything they do defies the real world’s laws of physics =P <_< also there's the fact that force fields could be attuned to certain light frequencies thus allowing the person to see while still deflecting a laser, just saying, useless info of the week, or a force field could be telekinetic, invisible but still present(jean grey, invisible woman), ok ok, i'm done nerding now
it could be one of those materials where the more force behind an impact, the stronger the material becomes.
Viscoelasticity would explain the taking a bullet, but also being able to move. But THEN the problem is her superspeed making her shatter.
“Superhero physics” – I believe the term is “a wizard did it” :P
I can think of a consistent explanation though… superheroes are foci of faith magic, the alternation of reality based on people’s subconscious beliefs (either they have extra belief, or they are a focus of collective belief).
Her skin is normal skin, simply anything that would harm her is deflected / absorbed / etc on an individual case by case basis in a method consistent with what humans believe invulnerability should do. Horrendously inefficient at times but “it works”.
What makes you think that they’re soft? if they were as solid as the rest of her apparently is, holstering a gun that size in a shoulder holster really would be difficult, since presumably using the gun to ‘force’ the breast out of the way would just deform the gun. maybe that’s what Max is complaining about.
i’d say it’s harem, but i don’t think her copies can change their genders, least not that it says on her profile
She does work for an agency of some type. There is no telling how many tier 2/non meta personnel it has.
i’m loving this story but i”m also anxious to see Harem in action. Please let us see her!
The notion that it was staged for Sydney is absurd. Bystanders are perfectly within their legal rights to kill an armed robber. And actually getting into a fight endangers the lives of all involved just to save the money. It makes far more sense to cooperate and let them take the cash and then have the police try and chase them to arrest them and retrieve it.
Some of the suggestions made are more plausible but still far more out there then them simply being in cahoots to rob the bank, except that doesn’t match up with her reaction & thwarting it. So maybe they are in cahoots to provide flash fake crime for her to stop for an easy promotion.
Then again, she said “you guys”, plural. Yet there is only one criminal in there with her… this suggests she isn’t talking to him. Or that “him” is multiple individuals (who might be working with her, see above)
Actualy there are two gurneys in that ambulance.
pffff, boobs are never stupid >.>
My main objection to the “It Was All A Test, And Everybody Else Knew It” theory is the behaviour of certain bank customers when Sydney first walked in and joined the queue.
Remember? A couple of people in the queue were talking amongst themselves about Max’s presence, and wondering if something was going on. Obviously something WAS (and is) going on, but they clearly weren’t in on any of it.
Also, when law enforcement agencies and security groups do that sort of thing, it is always under VERY controlled conditions. We see that with anti-terrorist training and so forth. Quite aside from the major legal problems if an innocent bystander (for argument’s sake) has a heart attack during all the excitement, what if there is a “walk-in” who has a conceal-carry permit and/or decides to play hero?
Love the strip. Can’t wait toi see what’s next.
It just struck me, Sydney doesn’t have the money. doesn’t this put the store in the red for finances?
ohhhhh snap :P but then again, she can blame a super hero agency and sue them, so they’ll be fine :)
Ah, one of the weaknesses of modern day superheroines – their boobs always get in the way!
Jay! A Tardis holster^^
DDDDOOOOOCCCCCTTTTTOOOOORRRRRR WWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it’s bigger on the inside. mine
If her skin is so tough, I’d imagine her tracts of land would give a bit more resistance to being… well…. displaced than normal ones would.
Hehe, the windows say “slide to unlock”
ok i’ll say it. we all know of it but. BOOOOOBS OFF STTEEEEELLL
Hehe, all of the nerd references :D.