Grrl Power #567 – Zero sum shopping
Short bodyguards are funny. Well, Vale isn’t short, she’s like 5’8″ or 5’9″ and always wears 2 or 3 inch heels… like those wide heels? I don’t know what they’re called. Chunky heels? They’re like the width of a regular boot heel, just higher. Like what Selene wore in the Underworld movies. It’s just that Deus is 6’4″ and Sciona is 6’3″ at least with her head popped on top of that orc body.
Of course, really, a short bodyguard is probably the dangerous one, right? 90% of a bodyguard’s job is to physically block people and to look intimidating enough that no one wants to mess with the person they’re guarding. But the short person who does that is the ex-marine or the bantam weight MMA fighter that will drop anyone who the big guys can’t stop.
I finally updated the vote incentive! It’s even a finished colored piece! Check it out.
Oh, and here’s an Amazon link to Selene style boots, since I have one of those associate links, might as well stick that here. Speaking of which, I just set up an account for Amazon Canada and UK, so if you’re shopping there and want to drop a few pennies in the tip jar with literally no expense or effort on your part, just change your Amazon bookmark to either 
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Could Deus potentially be on The Council? He mentions he already has access to the vault. Taken at face value it could mean he could’ve broken in whenever he chose to, but chose instead to take advantage of Scionia’s work.
However, it could also mean he’s on The Council, and could access it legitimately. He simply doesn’t want to deal with the red tape or let The Council know.
Unlikely. Sciona is very well informed about Council matters, having a couple of informers on her team, plus having been a long-term enemy of theirs. She would know all of the key players by sight.
Folks are misinterpreting this, in my humble opinion. Deus’s comment should be read in the context of ‘I am here and have access to it now’. There is nothing to suggest that he had prior access to it, nor that he can come back at any time. He needed Sciona to deactivate the alarm, and set off any active traps. But she has done that so he presently has free reign. And the drop on her, in case she disagrees.
Not that we should rule out Deus being covertly on the council, as he clearly is a cunning schemer. However the biggest thing against that is that he is not supernatural in nature. Going so far as to point out that ‘being rich is the best super power’. Whilst this could be a bluff, there is someone who has worked for him, on the other team. As such it would have to be a very well hidden secret.
On balance I do not think it likely. Deus is in the story to represent corporate America and the significant super-hiring power that goes along with that. Which is a very different power-grouo to any of the supernatural factions.
Wealth as a superpower…sounds like a line from the upcoming Justic League movie. However, I disagree. Wealth isn’t a superpower; it’s a privilege. Lightning is an impressive form of energy but it isn’t a power until you harness it.
Mmm. By that line of argument you would end up defining Barberian as being a non-super. Despite having super-strength and super-toughness. On the grounds that he has not harnessed either of those powers but chooses to only cut hair.
In this instance Deus is using his ‘super power’ to hire the services of supers and to have super-like powers at his disposal, in other ways. Contrast that to someone who just uses their wealth to live in fancy hotels and take cruises. They both have the privilege of wealth, but only the one is harnessing it to gain the benefit of super-powers.
Probably including paying off (for some reason) an alien, werewolf, or vampire. So he is on the council because his puppet is.
I’m pretty certain that Lex Luthor counts as a well known supervillain – with no superpowers (except, usually, wealth). Also the Penguin, Joker, Harley Quinn . . .
In a lot of ways, the non-superhuman supervillains can be more interesting than another super, since they need to think/cheat/rules-lawyer their way around their much more physically powerful opponents.
you do realize that of those listed only lex faces off against a foe with conventional powers (bats is powers level rich)
Are you sure?
https://jygersrant.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/injustice-lex-luthor-01.jpg
Lex’s super power is his brain. The wealth helps as a force multiplier of his brain.
I a certain superhero comic I forget the name of (it was centered around a super-hero rest home) there was, briefly, a superhero called ‘Moneyman’ (probably). He was sorta-accidentally killed by a supervillain who didn’t know his only power was being rich.
Super Foggys i believe?
(Sorry if this is a double post)
SuperFogeys* is the comic.(i think its still being made) just looked it up, took awhile as i have a very large bookmarks library of web-comics, most sadly have been on hiatus for years now.
From the characters page
Money Man
First Appearance: 86 – WebSpace Page: Jerry
A charter member of the Society of Heroes, the Money Man died during their first mission.
“Double posts” don’t bother us here. You added useful information, thanks.
Deus has access to the lightning and the thunder, thanks to a handy dandy button
Thunder and lightning special effects. Slightly different to the real stuff.
Mind you if that is the real deal, then ooh, gimme!
Either way, I want that button to make the ultimate whoopie cushion.
+1
The ability to get a small army of supers to do what you want is the best superpower and how do you do that?MONEY<3
I do appreciate that you listed it as an option by the way. But I was commenting on the trend of folks taking the final panel a different way to the one I believe it was intended. In the context of your options, I think it is the overt one.
Whilst Deus’s plans do run deep he is pretty open about them. When he offered the dictator his choices he spelt them all out plainly. And did the same with his son. “Provided you can set aside me just having killed your dad, we can work together” (to paraphrase). No sugar coating or deceit. A plain-talking business man, who will make an offer that it is not wise to refuse.
Plus, his interview about greed.
‘Back off cunt or you’re getting a face full of death ray.’
Beautiful. I was wondering why I read this.
Ahh, the next item for the Grrl Power shop. Available in both t-shirts and bumper-stickers.
If it isn’t printed on the bottom of my coffee mug, the universe has failed everyone.
new store item. I need one of those too. and yes on the bottom so people only see it when the mug is without coffee and tipped up …..or just running out of coffee.
I thought on the outside bottom of the cup. So people see it when I am lifting the cup and drink coffee and don’t want to be disturbed.
1) Considering what she has to work with, I must compliment Sciona on the clarity of her enunciation.
2) She needs to calm down. In a group this powerful she really doesn’t want to lose her head (again).
So you are saying she needs to use her head? But not as a bowling-ball.
Perhaps she could threaten to give Deus head?
bad puppy go to your kennel. not even deus deserves that horror or is it whoror?
I’m gonna be the one that makes a head canon that says the shopping cart is from his first job. He was a cart pusher, but he ended up scheming and doing deals until he owned the store, then the whole franchise. Then he graduated from high school, and things only went on from there.
Heh. I like that.
*paw print of approval*
Makes sense. I am sure he does not buy his own groceries anymore. He probably doesn’t even have a coin to borrow one.
And that the very same cart where he got his first tip, from then on Deus store it in special vault and use it as his #1 dime when he goes out for more ventures.
Nope…. it was from when he was a homeless bumb running around. That cart saved his life and kept him alive.
its the only keep sake from his teenage years of homelessness.He got his facial scars from defending “his only property” its been with him for 20 years now, he polishes it every night. it reminds him that no matter how rich or powerful you are, if you don’t take precautions and use your head you can easily lose.
The fact that Deus has a freaking grocery cart on hand is comedy gold to me.
Yeah, he might be scummy but god does he have style.
Scummy? He is opposing an Arch Villain, and is at personal risk in doing so! Likewise previously, in defeating a viscous dictator, on his home turf.
OK he is only limiting the number of artefacts she steals, but that is better than sitting back and letting her get the whole lot. At least he will ensure that, say, half of them are in his safe hands.
A thick and sticky dictator?
I suppose that fits.
Oh what a bloody clot. I blame my murky aqueus vitreus.
;-) To inject a bit of vitrus humour.
I’m glad my comment was not met with vitriol
Yes I was wondering if anyone was going to point THAT out!
I’d place my bet on Deus being some sort of long-lived individual. Course it wouldn’t surprise me if he was just really rich and decided it would be fun to be evil.
Interesting idea. His jacket is rather old-fashioned. I am knot an expert for tie knots but I have never seen that one.
It’s a full Windsor if my guess is correct. Half-Windsor is the more common knot. There are some truly wonderful knots out there, but Deus seems a bit practical for their level of froofery.
Full windsor is the only one I know, I don’t think that’s it. After looking at some photos I suppose it’s either an atlantic knot or a merovingian knot which is said to originate from the second Matrix movie. So that’s probably it.
Deus normally uses a trinity knot, so he must be mixing it up, as that is distinctively different. I can’t make this one out well enough though, to tell how he has tied it.
Yeah it’s supposed to be the same trinity knot he usually wears, but it is small on this page. I also may need to review that they look like, I drew this pic of Deus from an old page and it’s possible my trinity knot design is drifting with each iteration.
maybe a variation of Eldridge?
https://www.ties.com/how-to-tie-a-tie/eldredge
I like how a comment on whether rich or old or both immediately turned into different knots. hehheh What did the tie say to the hat? You go on a head, I’ll hang around here.
Maybe he was originally a perverted magician?
Who pulled his top hat out of a Bunny.
He used to keep two silk worms, hidden up his sleeve. But they got in a fight.
It ended in a tie.
Two men walk into a bar, One says “I’ll take H20” The other says “I’ll take H20 as well” The first narrowed his eyes, his assassination attempt had failed.
I would like some H20 too, in a bowl.
*adds ammonium hydroxide to the hydrogen peroxide and dyes hair blonde*
The same thing happens to me when tying knots, they end up changing slightly over time.
I… i just find them all sounding short to me… not what I would expect of supers
Vale is short. For a super. Or a stormtrooper. Sciona and Maxima just happen to be taller. Neither of them are supers, by the way, so they are living up to your expectations. Sciona is a blood mage whereas Deus is just a rich industrialist/ de facto head of a nation.
As for the tone, this is feels like a realistic exchange to me, given the circumstances. Yes, very different to how it would play in a traditional super hero comic. Where sponsors might not approve of bad language, for a start.
But also you would normally have an exchange between good guys and bad guys. Where one side will be able to take the moral high ground, and thereby limit the palette of conversational tones available.
Here we are dealing with the bad guys and something worse. Of course the tone will be different to expectations.
Maxima = Deus
(a.k.a. Maxima’s ex-boyfriend, in case you were wondering how my brain would decide to mix the two names up).
It’s a good thing Maxima is fictional, or she’d be mad at you for that.
It would not be the first time. I have a mental condition where my brain will swap any (sometimes even remotely) connected names at random. Although it will normally be more closely associated, such as substituting one male neighbour’s name for another’s.
Over the course of an evening (say at a party, when talking with a lot of people) this might happen twenty times (less if I am concentrating more on stopping that than what I am talking about, more if tipsy or otherwise distracted).
This becomes problematic when dating, as my brain does not give exemptions for people that I know more closely. For example, it will quite happily give me a random female friend’s name, rather than the one I am dating.
My mum has the same condition. She practically never calls me by my own name. At best it will be at the end of a list of ‘male relatives’ names, if she realises the error. A friend, who prides herself on always remembering everyone’s name, felt really sorry for me once, after seeing this happening consistently over an entire evening.
She assumed my mum did not love me, or was having a go at me. I had to explain to her that it is just because that part of our brains do not work right. We always believe we have the right name, unless we mentally review it specifically.
Slow your roll, Sciona. Even by thief standards, the contents of that vault aren’t even stolen by you yet. You broke in, and that’s it. Deus is well within his [non-existent] rights to steal that stuff also.
In other news, it’s very likely that everyone who has ever worked for Deus is carrying some kind of nearly undetectable bug. Ironically (?) except for Harem, who would be able to tell.
On the voting incentive: how exactly does someone with a skin-tight force field get dirty in the first place, let alone dirty enough to need grit remover? I would guess it has something to do with how she can wear clothes that are also “inside” her force field (fortunately for her modesty).
It is a (probably fictional) polishing agent which makes use of an abrasive. It is mostly just a gag, but we have seen that Maxima can get dirty (like when she tried to apply face-paint in the military, or when the bomb went off underneath the park). So the force field is not totally friction-less, but it is slick (hence why both the camouflage paint and regular makeup smudge).
This pot of goo would be a good way to remove any smudged sticky stuff or caked dirt. Plus it also provides a polish (probably from the other ingredients, in Maxima’s case, rather than from the grit).
Might be the stuff she got from Iron Man. Funny, she wasn’t so happy about it back then.
That was more due to the fact Ironman and Colossus wanted to help her apply the gunk (there may have been a buffing machine involved… )
FFS, regarding how Opal isn’t in jail:
It was determined that Kevin/Vehemence was using mind control to get all those supers to the super-brawl. Ergo, it was decided that those supers would be processed, debriefed, and those lacking criminal records released. Deus then used his clout to pull some strings to have Opal moved to the front of the queue. Since she doesn’t have a record, she was released.
The one caveat being that she was in a leadership role in the attack. Provided the prosecution can prove that she was acting in such a way, even when Vehemence was not around to influence her, then she may yet face jail time.
For the moment though I presume Deus has posted bail. I doubt whether she is a totally free agent at the moment (barring the possibility that she was designated as a member of diplomatic staff, and was sprung under ‘diplomatic immunity’ – of which there was no mention).
they actually indicated on one page she had a record but not something of the brawl level and deus is promised to have her to court if needed (bail) plus used influence to get her released to his care.
Good luck proving that one person in a group that was being mindcontrolled wasnt being mindcontrolled,Lawyers would have a fieldday ripping the prosecution apart for trying to imprison one person in a group just because they have a criminal record while being mind controlled.Hmm Actually I imagine that lawyers in general have been needing constant cold showers since Archon went public ^^.
You are perfectly correct. A lot of folks obsess over priors, despite the fact that this is irrelevant in a trial. The judge and/or jury are meant to be determining if the defendant has committed a crime this time, rather than on previous occasions. As such many trails are conducted under the rules that prior convictions are not to be mentioned to the jury, so that there is no chance of a miscarriage of justice.
It is all too easy for juries to be prejudiced and make such an assumption. Comments suggesting that someone could be convicted on the basis of prior convictions being a case in point.
Please do note though that this is not what I have suggested in the post in question, nor at any other time previously. The process of convicting her (and Victor) would be hellishly difficult, but the prosecutors would have a huge budget at their and the police’s (/Archon’s) disposal to investigate the matter, to help offset the problems.
It would require many layers of supporting evidence, such as CCTV images showing who was where when, corroborating testimony from witnesses, and so on. However the key things to be proven would be:
1) that the aggro aura affects a limited area (which is provable,* as we saw people within a certain radius of him being affected, whilst others beyond, such as TV crews, were not)
2) that the aggro aura’s effects do not persist over time (again provable,* as we saw the fighting stop the instant Halo raised her shield, whereas if the power continued to influence individuals over time, then there should have been ongoing fighting for that period).
3) That Opal was committing criminal conspiracy at times when Vehemence was not present. For example saying “We are going to go kill those super-cops we just saw on TV, want to join us?” Incidentally this would also allow prosecution of any who agreed to do that, without Vehemence being there to influence them. But such would be conducted in separate trials.
* Remember that a lot of supporting evidence would be required. I am just giving key examples. It would be the prosecutions job to ensure that there was enough and of sufficient quality to determine Opal’s guilt ‘beyond a shadow of a doubt’.
However, one thing that would make it somewhat easier, is that Kevin (Vehemence) is likely to co-operate, as he has already shown contempt for Opal and Vehemence. Meaning that there would be no down-side to him for co-operating, especially if offered any prison perks or other deals.
Having his co-operation in tests to determine the extent of his aura would help define 1) and 2) above. Conducting those tests, without him escaping, would be a fun exercise mind. But is a different matter to Opal’s trial. It would also have the benefit of not saying that ‘he only testified because of the deal offered’ because this tactic does not rely on him testifying.
Although that could be done separately, of course, as one additional layer of evidence.
“… shown contempt for Opal and Vehemence” = “… shown contempt for Opal and Vector”
Pfft! I could keep this case going for a hundred years without resolution.All the “evidence” that you speak of for this case is extremely subjective and debatable,Kind of reminds me of one of those crap crime shows I saw where their “magic computer” made a blurry reflection of the criminal into the suspect-oddly for one of these shows the suspect shot this down in court by using his own magic computer in the same way to make the reflection look like the judge thus proving that the evidence was worthless.
To translate video footage is worthless to show brainwashing/aggro aura effects because Archon cant prove that it was just the aggro aura controlling the combatants that went there-they couldve been mindporked in so many other ways until they got to the battlefield in question before the aggro Aura went into effect.As for the Kevin thing you mean the suspect whos currently imprisoned without trial while being kept permahigh?Im sure theres no way a defence could prove the witness is giving contaminated evidence at best.Erg im gonna stop here cause we could debate this all year.
I already indicated that Kevin’s testimony would be considered suspect, and only be used as supporting evidence, if at all. By the way, testimony by people in jails has been used in many cases that have brought successful convictions. The important thing is not to rely solely on it, so that facts can be cross-checked.
Which I have already indicated to be part of any sensible prosecution plan. Moreover I indicated that Kevin’s testimony would not be necessary, simply a an optional extra that could be used, if it provided useful corroboration. Or not if it did not.
At no point did I indicate that video footage would be used to prove brainwashing. So your counter is worthless. Its purpose is to show that Vehemence was not present at times that Opal was committing crimes.
Video footage: Vehemence in New York. Video footage: Opal in Los Angeles, at the same time, committing a crime. Details corroborated by witnesses present and expert lip-readers. Not subjective, such is hard evidence.
Your attempt to prove that Opal was under mind-control, under these circumstances, would be the subjective defense, lacking any hard evidence.
Scientific testing of Vehemence’s powers, with his cooperation, to prove how long they last and at what distance they can operate provides fact, not opinion. This would be of enough interest, in scientific circles, that it would likely generate a number of peer-reviewed papers.
Obviously if they show that a post-hypnotic suggestion can be implanted by the aggro-aura, then the defenses case would be supported. But that seems to be an extremely unlikely finding, for a rage power. So you would be grasping at straws, to try and instill your ‘reasonable doubt’ in the face of scientifically corroborated evidence as to the extent of his powers.
Bearing in mind that this is, again, supplementary to the observed upper bounds of his aggro aura, at the peak of his power, on the battlefield. This would give a useful way of matching any modelling of his potential, drawn from test conditions, against the actual use.
See the thing about a plan hastily performed, in response to a TV broadcast, and involving such a vast number of people… it cannot have been conducted with careful planning to avoid any CCTV, all witnesses and leaving other pieces of tangible evidence. More than likely a heck of a lot of it.
Yea, I have seen the super-rich trying this tactic. For instance some Saudi princesses trying to avoid a slavery conviction. They managed to stall it for (from memory) seven years. But were convicted this year. Not that I am suggesting that the cases are the same, simply your tactic of trying to evade justice.
Money can indeed delay justice, but not indefinitely. Not in a high-profile case with the public demanding results.
I am sure that their lawyers will have been equally as boastful as to their ability to ‘get it thrown out or keep it going for a hundred years’, until they came across competent and determined prosecutors, who decided that would not happen.
So who here wants to bet Deus secretly has a low-key super power that lets him ‘know things he shouldn’t’ like telepathy, and he just doesn’t go around showing it off like every other telepath in existence?
A number of folks, to date. I will put a Yorpie Snack™ on him not having any inherent super-powers. A widget that gives him telepathy is a different matter mind. He does supply Archon with all their needs and does have the services of supers. So he may well have a mad-scientist gadgeteer who can provide him with super powered toys.
Also along with lots of money, the ability to build a probably formidable (and superpowered) intelligence network of his own.
Except for one detail: In this universe, ALL super-powered individuals are built like the proverbial shithouse. Without exception. He’s BUILT like a super, well above human limits. this means he very likely has SOMETHING going on. It might not be laser eyeballs, but there’s more at work than just being smart and rich.
Possibly, rather than likely. The number of supers in the world puts them at what 1 in a million of the population. There are a lot more bodybuilders and other buff guys than 1 in a million. So Deus is far far more likely to be a rich guy who works out, rather than a super.
OK this is a super-hero comic, which does tend to weigh the kinds of characters who are prominent enough to appear. But do note Deus’s comment in panel 5 about “being rich is the best superpower of all”. Then consider the situation they are in.
It is in Deus’s best interest not to fight right now. If he did want to do that, then the plan with the greatest chance of success would be to have attacked with the advantage of complete surprise, as the portal opened. Whereas every minute wasted in debate, or fighting, is another minute that the Council and Archon have to interfere with the heist.
So it is tactically important to appear too powerful for Sciona to risk attacking. Yet he is downplaying himself as just being a normal mortal. Plus do not forget that Scithilia has worked for Deus, so may well know a lot more about him than others do.
Obviously if he is a super, but does not have any combat capability (such as instead having information-gathering powers) then that is not going to help with his intimidation. Although boasting about being able to use super powers, to predict every move Sciona makes, would be more imposing than just emphasising his wealth.
Yet he is not taking that option. So is gambling that Sciona will not fight. Based solely on the hard stare of his short(ish) bodyguard and Sciona’s fear of the unknown.
well with observation powers he could have picked his group of ladies as hard counters for these other supers if things get harry. he knows his opponents do to observation so feels like he can make a deal faster then fighting.
I think he doesn’t broadcast his powers cause he finds power in secrecy. and the less people know about him the more likely he can use his power for money making with no one stopping him.
until proven otherwise i see him having observation powers a head cannon.
So an improved forward observer then?
If I remember correctly I could be thinking of the wrong super-hero comic, the description of the following super is quite clear in my memory, just not the memory of from where, early on in the comic when supers were being explained in a bit more detail, it was explained how a lot of supers would do something besides the whole hero gig, and it was explained that someone who had an Earth control or Earth phasing power simply sensed and walked to a massive deposit of gold and then proceeded to hire financial assistance staff and then “retired” super-wealthy. If my memory is correct, Deus could very well be that particular Super. Once he has all the financial wealth he could possibly want, he’s pursuing types of wealth and power that money -can’t- buy outright nearly as easily – one-of-a-kind artifacts, chances at close relations with supers, and the ability to get away with just being Deadpool levels of irresponsible around people who are generally stuffy and full of themselves.
Both elements you described are present in the comic, separated by a big chunk of real-world time. Early on it is indeed pointed out that supers can make a lot of money in the private sector (with various examples given).
Later we do see the guy with earth/metal powers who has gathered a swimming-pool full of gold. Who intends to spend it in moderation, sufficient to live a comfortable life, but without endangering the world.
Possibly Deus may indeed be amongst the former category (albeit not being mentioned by name) but he definitely is not the latter guy, as we have seen him.
I call shenanigans on the “one in a million” number based on what we’ve seen so far.
One in a million means that there are only 6900 supers on the planet, given the 2010 global population estimate at 6.9 billion. There were 309 million people in the United States in 2010, and with those numbers, there would only be 309 supers in America. We have seen *at least* a hundred supers in the span of this comic’s run, whether just named or referenced. Considering the comic started in 2010 and has taken seven years to advance a week, do you really think we’ve seen over 30% of all the supers in America converge on one place in the span of one week? I think not.
No, I think that based on what we’ve seen here, and with characters like The Barberian, the number is more like one in ten thousand, meaning that a decent sized city is going to have a hundred per million, of varying power levels. Maybe ArcSWAT-level supers are one in a million, but many of the supers we’ve seen are not.
I think the observation about Deus’ physique is actually quite brilliant. It’s something I hadn’t thought of myself, and I think it’s probably spot-on. Dave put several weeks into detailing the oddities of the metahuman physique, and he’s very consistent in continuity and behind-the-scenes character building. I guarantee you that Maxima wouldn’t date a normal human … she’d break him.
You are omitting a few facts:
1) I stated “say 1 in a million”. The comic actually gives us very precise numbers early on, which I have not bothered memorising, as it was not a simple ratio and, on top of that, they proved to be inaccurate, for roughly the sorts of reasons you say.
However they give a ball-park figure (in need of adjustment). But the number of ‘bodybuilders and buff guys’ would still be orders of magnitude better than your 1 in ten thousand estimate.
2) For unknown reasons the distribution of supers is heavily weighted to industrialised countries. This could account for an order of magnitude discrepancy on its own.
3) We can see one of the reasons how Vector, Opal and Vehemence were able to assemble so many supers, in such a very short time. Opal used portals. So they were not limited to the number of supers in a single city.
Therefore they could have assembled 30% of America’s supers. Not that I am suggesting that to be the case, but they had the capability (even if Opal’s maximum range is not nationwide, she could just do a series of portals to get from coast to coast).
4) I did actually break down the number of supers, by cities in America, according to the ‘official numbers’. Even the big ones only had a handful. We do know that this must be wrong, but we have not had amended figures yet.
5) Finally we are seeing recycling of supers we have seen before (e.g. 3 of the people in this scene are from the big fight, and Cithillia was the super who killed the dictator for Deus). Therefore we are probing the edges of America’s pool.
Again that 30% figure may not be as wildly inaccurate as you believe. OK it probably is, but not with enough supporting evidence to leap to a 1 in 10,000 conclusion, just yet.
That is well put. It is worth pointing out that Dave has mentioned that there is also a large pool of ‘spot on the wall’ type supers who have relatively trivial powers. They have the ability to do something no normal human can, but it is not necessarily useful. Essentially these would be very hard to pick out from the normal population.
Barring, of course, the buff looks. So, even if Deus is a super, statistically he is more likely to fall into this category. Super, but with an embarrassing power that he will not mention in front of a powerful rival.
That is a superb counterpoint. One that shifts the odds considerably in your favour. Not totally mind. Maxima can operate a mobile phone without breaking it. Provided she is careful. It would be dangerous for her to try maintaining constant concentration for a long-term relationship.
One slight mitigator is that Deus does have resources other mere mortals do not. Kevlar 2.0 pyjamas would give him some degree of protection from accidental injury. Not a healthy way to live though.
But this may help to explain why he is Maxima’s ex, if she decided that she was putting him at too great a risk. So it remains plausible that Deus is a normal. Albeit that you present a strong case for the alternative.
here’s the estimate of the number of supers:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/955
1 in 900,000 to 1 in 1 million.
And that number was before the Restaurant Rumble, when they had so many Supers showing up the odds completely threw out Ari’s arse-grabbed numbers
Also those numbers are based on incidents so I imagine theres plenty of supers-heck maybe even some who could take Maxima- who rather live the easylife maintaining a low profile-One at the restaurant battle was a hairdresser whos never started major trouble before in his life and another one mentioned is essentially the greatest earthbender ever born who realised that superheroing or being public with his powers would just bring trouble and decided to discretely make himself wealthy enough to never have to work again.
Maxima is also known for trashing her phones accidentally. Also they keep designing stronger phones. She keeps breaking them.
actually we usually work as teams. i am big and very very visible looming next to the principle. (a 6’6″ red head is hard to miss). my partner at the time was 5’2″ and was in the crowd looking cute. yes i can stop cars and big things, but she could dismantle humans into meat products and probably wrap them in plastic before the bones hit the ground.
The second best type of bodyguard is the type you overlook or don’t even know is there in the first place
until it’s too late, anyways.
That said the deterrent type is the most effective against the kinds of threats most people would face.
Something that everyone of the OTP <3 people seem to be missing is the fact that Sciona's orc body seems to be that of a male. Don't think Deus swings that way.
Orcs are like dwarves in that regard. It is hard for a non-orc to tell a male from a female. Sciona identifies as female though, which is the key factor.
You may now resume shipping.
Next invotive: Sci-fright at the beach
Yeah, it’s very difficult to tell a female if they don’t have their own pair of beach balls
And then you start thinking about alien species, and you -really- have to just go by how they identify, because otherwise you’re going to have to deal with twelve college sources in alien biology to begin to explain their biological sex.
no that is for carbon races you need 18 for silicate and 27 for gaseous not to mention 3 just to understand the classes available for energy beings. it’s complicated doesn’t start to describe it.
How stupid of me, how could I forget my standard introduction to alien physiology types of different morphic origins for beginning juniors 301? And then you need a specialized masters just to meet the prerequisites for studying non-baryonic and non-euclidean being genders.
yes
He actually brought a shopping cart along. Amazing.
Wouldn’t you? o_O
Shopping Cart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I LOVE this guy!!!!
Last person you would want in the vault?
…yeah too late.
I think Maxima would be on the top of the list. But I can see that Sciona will be making a whole list of things she will be doing to Deus someday.
Kissing
Killing
Stroking
Strangling
Hugging
Hanging
In no particular order. Given her construct animating capabilities.
Wouldn’t the shine on Sydney be slightly gold because of the color of the surface the light was reflecting off of (being Max’s armpit)?
Are you saying the sun shines out of Maxima’s ar…
… m pit?
I think Dave has it right. If you look at any scene with the orbs you will see their light only reflects off of very near objects. Granted Maxima is a lot bigger, and she is painfully shiny. But that light is radiating out in all directions. Just like with a camp fire, the further you stand from the source the weaker you will feel (or reflect) the radiated energy.
Sydney is clear across the room, so the amount of Maxima reflected light that would be bouncing off of her would be negligible compared to the bright ambient light (which is the source of Maxima’s illumination in the first place).
Whilst the odd flare from Maxima may well be ‘painfully’ bright, Sydney is hamming up just how much.
Look at Sydney’s arm, it’s a silver and it should be gold, in the showers… maybe DaveB did the right thing by not having a golden shower
This is a good thread. It reminded me to vote and help keep us in the number one position.
Deus never fails to deliver.
Well if it takes longer than half an hour the pizza is free.
but any complaint is directed to lia to address
Tried commenting on a few other posts but it wouldn’t let me. Nothing is showing up even after refreshes.
That used to happen to me when I had a bad internet connection combined with an old PC. I am guessing that your ISP was playing you up. It may be worth running an internet speed check should that happen again in future.
The only other time tends to be if there is a link that WordPress does not like for some reason. For example sites that try to interfere with linking directly to pictures. Usually it is soluble by cutting out links until you snip the problem one. Although that is unlikely in this case as you mentioned multiple different posts causing problems. Whereas that is a very rare problem. (Although maybe if you linked such a site in your gravatar)?
One tip is to avoid doing any other activity on the page, once you realise a post has not gone live. If the posts are going into moderation you would get a message. Without that it is probably just your ISP sending the data too slowly. I usually just left it for a while until my ISP decided to speed my connection up again.
Provided you have not used the browser for anything else you can just use the ‘back’ icon to have the comment repopulated with your text. If I did have a need to use it, I would just copy the text elsewhere, so I could paste it back in when service returned to normal.
Huh, between this page and last, Sciona’s bottom teeth misaligned.
Uhh, one of the vices slipped and bashed her in the mouth, which misaligned her teeth. A quick sip of troll blood and she was as right as rain. So trivial an issue, for an AV that it simply was not worth showing the incident.
Err yea, that sounds plausible. That must have been what happened.
I shall now accept this as headcanon.
Most probably because she’s gritting her teeth in anger/frustration, or because of her actually speaking during the instant the “frame” was captured to the comic panel…
Deus is just boring. Boo! Boo! Let us get back to the action.
*snort*
*flicks tail in amusement*
A showdown between a deadly arch-villain and a just as deadly arch-anti-villain is action. Don’t forget that Sciona may have killed Sydney and Deus is the head of a nation. So these are profoundly dangerous leaders. It is moments like this that shape the power dynamics of the world. In this case possibly forever, given the stakes they are playing for.
Beating traps, on the other paw, is just a mechanical process. Entertaining in its own way, granted, but very one-sided, as Sciona has inside information giving her every detail of the vault. Whereas Deus is a total unknown quantity to her.
Deus (and I) are fairly confident about how this will play out, because of that disadvantage. But Sciona has faced far more deadly situations and come out the other side. OK with much of her head missing, but she made a comeback, even with that.
If they do come to blows then things will get very very interesting. Especially if any of the artefacts get hit or released.
I imagine that if a fights about to start Deus’s first comment will be along the lines of “Ive already said you guys can have what you came for,Do you really want to risk death and failure by siding with Frankenhooker whos so smart she doesnt even own her original chin anymore or do you want to leave with youre new awesome toys?Im sure I dont know everything about all of you including any pesky weaknesses ^^.”
Every time I see Deus, I want to see his face explode.
Looks like someone else did, too, and actually tried it. I feel like that’s a more interesting story than whatever else he’s actually doing.
He cut himself shaving, twice
That will learn him not to try that with a bat’leth “replica”.
so that’s what made max “used to be a nerd” maiming her boyfriend of the time.
I’m pretty certain that Lex Luthor counts as a well known supervillain – with no superpowers (except, usually, wealth). Also the Penguin, Joker, Harley Quinn . . .
In a lot of ways, the non-superhuman supervillains can be more interesting than another super, since they need to think/cheat/rules-lawyer their way around their much more physically powerful opponents.
+1
I appear to be the only one (or one of a very few) consistently annoyed by the antics of Deus. C’est la vie.
Well, that’ll probably put you in a better position to handle it when he inevitably makes his play for world domination and Maxima has to snap his neck.
Actually there is a reasonable ratio of folks speaking up who do not like him. But that is perfectly understandable.
At his core he is somebody so rich that he can make most problems go away just by waving money at it. Plus he has some incredible high tech toys that nobody else has access to. And he is handsome enough to turn the heads of pretty heroines. Traits he shares with Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne. Reasons enough for him to be disliked.
Personally I am no fan of Batman, so I can see where you are coming from. Although I do enjoy Batman movies, he is pretty much at the bottom of the heap of supers, as far as I am concerned. I rate a lot of villains above him, because Batman champions the use of torture and vigilantism.
Mind you one of the reasons why I love Grrl Power is because he would, wholly correctly, find himself behind bars here (unless he repented his evil ways).
However, he fact that Sydney looks up to him so much, despite that, does not endear him to me.
He brought an actual shopping cart into a vault.
For the nerve and absolute hilarity of that nonsense….I so hope he sticks around a very, very long time. I almost think he deserves to just get the stuff without incident because, really, who DOES that?!
I mean, he’s been lovable so far, but this was just….not icing on the cake. No, this was an entire second cake. =D
I’m liking Deus more and more. He’s an exelent bad guy. I’d even say he’s Lex Luthor grade.
Deus is the best kind of villain-One whos commited no provable crimes n,n.I mean how can he be commiting theft if hes stealing from fictional monsters?Id love to see someone try to press charges on thatone!
Human courts might not, but the Galactic Central Court, the Demonic Supreme Court and the Courts of the Atlantic Federation will probably assert their jurisdiction, when it comes to apocalyptic threats.
True but can they even try to do that without completely blowing thier cover?Im sure the US government-no wait the world would react great to an alien/demonic invasion.I mean look how chill we are about that kind of thing in movies n.-.
Heh. That is very sweet. It shows a line of thought that is predicated on ‘for a case to be proven, it must be done so under public scrutiny. With the underlying assumption of it being the American public’s scrutiny.
Whereas the courts in question would only be concerned about being transparent to their citizens. This would be satisfied by being covered on Galactic/ Demonic/ Atlantis news networks and by having peoples of those communities in the public gallery.
Of course it would be appropriate to include some humans, in order to be representative. But only those who are already on the right side of the Veil. Sydney could attend, for example, but not Varia or the other recruits (as they are not in the loop).
Incidentally it would be conducted in the alien/Atlantis courts, as I failed to explicitly point that out. This is normal for any court asserting its jurisdiction. Only in very rare circumstances will the judges of one jurisdiction travel to conduct a trial in another. Normally the defendant is extradited.
On Earth this need not be done openly, nor even with the knowledge nor co-operation of the authorities, given the presence and use of the Veil.
Of course we would expect Archon to insist that they remain in the loop. And likewise I would expect the agreements with the Twilight Council to provide legal mechanisms to ensure that humans are not allowed to be whisked away without representation or the chance of a fair trial.
But all of such can actually be provided within the legal frameworks of courts other than American ones, if need be.
Or they may have indeed struck a deal to handle such matters covertly in the USA. Our legal systems (on Earth, in English-speaking countries) do actually have provisions for such (the UK, as an example, conducts various trials behind closed doors, when there is a vital public interest to do so).
one proud nail to tackle though: how would they spin the disappearance of a insanely wealthy, rather publicly known businessman/ de facto world-stage class leader? for all his megalomaniac tendencies, that was one of the biggest personal security measures lex luthor had; there was no way for superman to make him quietly disappear because he was well known to both the public, and those in legitimate power, the latter of which certainly had vested interest in his business ventures succeeding.
Even tycoons disappear from public sight from time to time. Various methods could be used to cover-up this from getting into the news, on a temporary basis.
Once the trial was over there would be two options (as examples within a range of possible ones):
1) Deus is found to be ‘not guilty’ of the charges laid, and is released. Either with him agreeing to a confidentiality agreement or with appropriate parties modifying his memories, so that he cannot reveal the secrets of the Veil.
See Dabbler’s amnesia hammer as an example of the kind of spell/power that could be employed. Whilst bearing in mind that she only dabbles with any given field. So Galactic specialists/ succubus /Atlantis mages would probably be able to do a much better job than Dabbler can alone.
2) Deus is found guilty and his body turns up somewhere the next day, carefully set up to provide a ‘death by natural causes’ or ‘death by misadventure’ verdict at any inquest.
1) and 2) could be combined by having him go missing from his yacht, with a missing hand-rail providing a clue as to the reason why. In due course he could either be rescued, in a life-jacket (assuming a relatively quick or time-compressed trail) or his body could be found.
Do note though that the body could just be a clone, and he could be serving his time in a secure jail elsewhere.
you forgot max making a public statement that her ex-boyfriend is in an isolated and private treatment center for severe psychological stress and he is covered for a prolonged disappearance. this also works to hide council presence.
Wow Sciona is Dumber than a sackful of hammers-If I was her my first thought would be “This guy discovered my plan,Knows all about each member of my team all the way down to what we want here and turned up with a team of his own-What are the chances that hes also kitted out perfectly to kill all of us?”
Instead Scionas thought process is “I have clearly been betrayed by people in my group!I know!Ill fight the guy who knows apparently everything about me and my group!Surely my entire team including people who im assuming have betrayed me will be on my side in this deathbattle!Time to talk smack!”
Well, her head is clearly not on her shoulders straight (remember, those shoulders are not originally hers)
XD True!And the fact that she had to have the last 5% of her original body grafted to an orc speaks volumes about her survival instincts lol.
Tough super villains will not flinch when you ask a simple question. Sciona is pushing Cthillia hard, to gauge her reactions. And Cthillia has reacted consistently with her prior statement. Pushing up the odds that she is remaining loyal to her present employer, as opposed to her previous one. This is an important assessment for Sciona to have made, in this situation.
Admittedly she did not handle it very elegantly, nor is she coming across as being in control of the situation. But that is already blatantly apparent to all those present anyhow, given that Sciona has been caught totally by surprise with this development.
Mind you an Arch Blood Mage probably has a few tricks up her sleeve, to level the playing field, if she chooses to play rough. Having a better handle on who remains on her side is therefore important. And she can see that Deus is not phased by the ‘smack talk’, which both gives her an insight into his character and does not otherwise do any harm.
Besides which Sciona has had her cage rattled by this unexpected development. People do not always behave optimally when emotions rule them, in such situations. This is playing out highly plausibly, in the circumstances they find themselves in.
On the other hand she is narking Cthillia off and has already shown in this very story that shes not above betraying allies(Admittedly he was a human but still) and doesnt seem to show much respect to them either(For example a certain vampire and Cthillia herself).The only member of Scionas group who has any pressing reason to be loyal to her now theyre in the vault is the one that provided her with anew body whereas the others seem to only be working with her to further thier own plans.If she made this into a completely pointless cagefight that might make the others risk losing what they were after in the firstplace she might find herself completely on her own.
Also given how shes acted since her introduction all she seems good for is her own messy brand of magic,Other than that she seems to be amazingly bad at planning in general-Heck after what was essentially a supernatural terrorist attack she had most of her bases found and neutralised including the one she was in and when thatones cover was blown instead of booking it she “caprid” the first intruder and continued on as normal instead of booking it.
Agreed. Hence why Deus is confident that he has made an offer that Sciona cannot refuse, Which is pissing her off mightily, and breaking her cool composure. I think that would be true of just about anybody caught in such a massive reversal of fortunes, on the brink of a world-changing success.
Which is also why it does not really matter how she spoke to Cthillia. We have seen that they have an abrasive manner with each other. It is a management style which puts any grievance in plain sight. This can be effective in resolving matters fast.
Although you are right that it is a high-risk approach, especially when handled as tactlessly as here. Many people would opt for ‘keeping their cards to their chest’, but tactful investigation requires time and that is something that is not on their side. So blunt is the only option that remains, if wishing to probe for answers.
Everything prior to getting into the vault was done as part of a master-plan to get in here. Sciona succeeded in getting into the most heavily protected vault on the planet. That cannot be characterised as ‘amazingly bad at planning’.
Admittedly her intelligence-gathering has failed, in not being aware of Deus, or the potential threat he posed. But this does need contextualising. She is a private individual, limited to her own personal resources, whilst operating as a top-of-the-list enemy of the Twilight Council (somewhat mitigated by them thinking her to be dead, but only up until they suspected otherwise).
This severely restricts her capabilities. Whereas Deus has the resources of a global corporation, a national spy network and various supers at his disposal. So her plans could not possibly have a contingency for what to do if he appeared through a portal.
Wheres what we are seeing here is her reactions, in the heat of the moment, to her plans being spoilt. Whilst ‘not reacting coolly, when under pressure’ is a limitation on her ability to adapt a plan, it does not mean that her planning abilities themselves are bad.
Admittedly ‘no plan survives contact with the enemy’ but contingency plans for what to do when things go wrong operate within the bounds of what is predictable. “If the Twilight Council respond earlier than we anticipated we do X”, “If Archon are called in we do Y”.
This falls in the category of “If the unpredictable happens we do Z (throw the toys out of the pram).”
Im pretty sure the only reason she was able to hack into this place at all in the first place among other things is because she had a longterm council member spoonfeed her all the information required in the firstplace otherwise shed probably not even know where the place is,what countermeasures to make or even how to cut communications to the place in the firstplace.
In short Sciona is something of a onetrick pony.Its just that it happens to be an especially useful trick.
Acquiring information is one trick. Turning that information into a workable plan is another trick. Finding a way to scare a world-powerful organisation into turning off the magical internet is a very impressive trick. Being able to keep them scared, despite having the assistance of the most powerful supers on the planet is yet another very impressive trick.
Recruiting people with the highly specialised talents, in order to carry out the various aspects of the plan, is another trick. Developing specialist tools to overcome things that the specialists cannot is another trick.
Dang, with that amount of impressive tricks, that is a genius-level pony!
at least it’s not shutterfly or a maxima pony
I hate to be ‘that person’, but contents are.not contents is.
the artwork and everything is really awesome though, I don’t know how you do it
I hope you
are contentis contentsare contents now, that you have clarified that.Except, it’s not just “contents”, it’s “contents of the vault”, contents is plural so would, but vault is singular so isn’t
If it was “the vaults’ contents” then it would be ‘are’
If Sciona was claiming the vault itself, yes. As it is though she is claiming the contents. So the plural is correct. Stipulating ‘of the vault’ is just describing them so should be ignored for this purpose. It is an optional extra. So remains “are” regardless of whether “of the vault” is present (in either way of phrasing the sentence).
That said though we do not know how proficient at English Sciona may be. The mistake may be typical of her manner of speech at times (perhaps only slipping when rattled, like she is now).
personal perception here: Use of “content” as a collective (and hence, singular) noun was once associated primarily with media – tv network scheduling, movies, etc, and more widely, in marketing / publishing. The rest of us would have said “contents of the vault are”. with explosion of internet, social networks, build-yer-own websites (which preceded social networking), etc, the singular collective use of “content” became more common. Really, you can consider it a separate definition of the word altogether.
No, Sci-frights’ English grammar is correct
This is a complex area of English, so understand our disagreement. But we can check a resource to resolve this.
If we work our way through the examples, we can find the closest one to our dispute of:
“The contents of the vault are…” versus “The contents of the vault is…”
This can be found under the heading of: “Is vs. Are with a Number of / a Pair of / a Group of”
In this case “progress” (like “vault”) is a singular word. Whereas the plural word involved is “people” (like “contents”).
In their example it is “the people” which is the subject that they are determining whether to use “is” or “are” for. In ours it is “the contents” which are the key part.
Note that we can omit the optional part in both sentences:
“a number of people are concerned”
“the contents are ours”
So this does not change when expanded to clarify the point:
“A number of people are concerned about the lack of progress.”
“The contents of the vault are ours”.
Swapping the sentence around we can make it:
“The lack of progress is concerning people” But this is because “progress” is a singular word and is now the subject.
Again we can omit the now optional part:
“The lack of progress is concerning”
Whereas rearranging the sentence as you did*:
“the vault’s contents” keeps the subject as being “contents” so you are correct in saying that it should be “are”
* The apostrophe should come before the “s”, when dealing with a singular possessive. Thus “Sci-fright’s” would be correct, for your most recent reply.
(for your lack of progress example, it’s actually the lack, not the progress, because there hasn’t been any of the latter)
Good point.
(of the vault) is a descriptive addition, and is basically ignored within the confines of the parsing, so it should be ‘contents of the vault are’ or ‘content of the vault is’ . if you want it to sound a little less strange, use content and is, so that you don’t have the are and ours together, as they sound alike enough to cause confusion.
Not going to lie.
I’m cracking up at Deus trolling the supervillians.
Good to know he doesn’t just enjoy using his power of Supersmugness at Maxima, he’s an equal opportunity Smugosaurus, and willing to Smug at the villians, too.
Also, I like Vale’s pugnacious glower up at Sciona.
Pity for Sciona that she doesn’t have the Anti-Vale Option (AKA, Sydney’s motor mouth). :D
If she tried the Sydney Mouth: her head would melt or the stitches would come loose
not even syd can handle syd’s mouth, it can be it’s own creature if she doesn’t pay attention to what it’s doing.
The same sort of situation affected me in puberty, not the stitches, but the body part having its own
headmind, but I out grew it; not in the sense that it became too small, you understand, because I have big hands, but not as big as this guy but he burned down I think and I wonder if he had any mind of his own. I didn’t burn down, but sometimes I felt really really hot and there was this girl that…. well I’ll leave that for later. Have you started frantically pressing the scroll button? maybe you’ve gone off to look for that cowboy, but he’s not there anymore.in case above link code is fubar: https://media.nbcdfw.com/images/400*556/big-tex-full-bg-lucchese-04.jpg
Here, this should help with your problem:
*provides one ‘cold shower kit'”
Thanks, but I’ve had plenty of that from my ol pal Harvey on his recent visit to the big H.
Small details check.
Panel 1. There is another artefact now visible. Looks to me like a gauntlet. Although it may be a rocket-like object, with a bulbous tip, and the light and shadows emulating a hand.
Maybe the Hand of Vecna? Keep an eye open for any other body parts or organs.
Panel 2. Surprisingly little comment about the looks of these artefacts. Especially given how beautifully detailed they are. Maybe because of the imaginary tone (given the book title)?
The Regenator has an interesting effect. It looks sword-like (but without a guard) with the blade appearing to be shattered rock. Nice symbolism of something broken and looking like it could be repairing itself, the closer you get to the hilt.
The Lazarus Scalpel meanwhile has an interesting Stanley-knife vibe to it. The type with the break off disposable blades. Perhaps symbolism at play again? Maybe indicating limitations on its use?
The Big Ol’ Book of Vampires just has nice touches, in addition to the funny ones. Such as the crucifix-like shape the metal bindings form. Plus the sophisticated lock.
I’m just looking at Vale’s shirt and thinking “Escape attempt in progress” here. She’s got to have glued those jugs to her shirt… or is possibly planning a Jabberwocky “Flasher Style” in the future. Not to metion open lapels mean a location to grab.
I dunno I’m just looking at the obvious Sexy shirt for Sexiness sake thing and thinking how many ways Murphy’s Law can be inacted.
I don’t think there will be much grabbing going on with that lapel. The glue is doing a good job, in keeping them flush.
*flushes*
I wouldn’t be surprised what with Deus knowing Math’s tendencies if he insists all his female super staff wear more revealing outfits in case of confrontation.
That’s why she has the strap to help hold them in place
Well we don’t know what powers Vale might have, other than an ability to appear as if out of nowhere, from the shadows. But she sure has grit in being able to go unblinking eyeball-to-eyeball (well eyeball-to-lip) with a face like Sciona’s!
It looks like Sciona gets “bleedy” around the stitching when she gets angry, could be a potential weakness! (That or she literally starts coming apart at the seems, still a weakness either way).
Deus is probably the most dangerous villain in the room, not by power (Money only works if the opponent cares about money and/or can be directly inconvenienced by lobbyists), but because he’s not stupid enough to do overt acts of villainy that harm many, he harms as few as possible because happy people don’t ask questions, the smaller a threat he appears to be the longer he’s free to “work”.
No, not stitching coming loose, simply when she gets angry her blood rises, and instead of getting red in the face(s), it shows in the ‘raw’ flesh of the wound
That makes sense. Plus strong expressions tend to stretch the skin on the face, in various ways, so the scar would be expected to also stretch.
Okay. I have to admit, even after everything, I still wasn’t completely sold on Deus as a villain. But him bringing an actual shopping cart to a magical vault heist escalates him to one of my absolute favorites.
.
That’s because he’s not a Villain, he’s just not… a Good Guy
No matter how smart Deus is.
No matter how many cronies he has working for him.
Doesn’t even matter that he has, as he himself states, what he considers to be the ULTIMATE superpower, i.e. super richness.
Not even he can get a shopping cart with 4 functioning wheels. Maybe Dabbler has the tech, but I’m not holding my breath.
He could just pay Bubbles from trailer park boys to fix it.
Or Bubbles (and Faye) from “Questionable Content”
I haven’t read QC yet, and I don’t even know what that “trailer park boys” refers to. But I think you guys are missing the point. I’m saying that, even in a universe where there are superpowered beings and a technology that far surpasses our own, wobblyless cart wheels are still a physical impossibility.
Are those Bubbles RealityBenders? Maybe then they could possibly make it work, but then again maybe not. Still has to be seen.
As supers go, 5’9″ is pretty short… I’m 5’10” in the real world and while I feel extremely tall compared to other women, I tend to be between an inch taller to several inches shorter than most men. I merely look most men in the eye in flats. I avoid wearing heels because it makes me far more intimidating. While I avoid wearing heels, I’m quite adept at walking in extremely tall heels, up to 7 inch without a platform. I just choose not to.
Maxima and the other legit supers in the team (sorry Sydney, you’re technically a gadgeteer, not a legit super, not that it matters) seem like they’d tower over me unless I were wearing heels.
The ‘super template’ very much appears to be based on ‘most common preconceptions/ideals’ (within a given society). Hence why female supers are so busty, as that is a heavily projected ideal within Western society.
Height though is much less clearly biased. The majority of men (continuing to speak in generalities, of course) would want to be taller than their girlfriend (it supports their macho self-image as a protector, for the nice ones, or their feeling of physical superiority, for the others). So whilst anyone who is too short would aspire to being taller, there is a counter-pressure on women not to be ‘too tall’.
So if super power physique is reflecting these prejudices in society there may be some tall women (like Anvil) but most would be shorter than their male counterparts. Plus that matches the general ratios in society anyhow).
Do bear in mind however that whilst we generally assume that Vale must have super powers, in order to be an effective bodyguard against supers, she may simply be an extremely competent normal person. Thus putting her in the same camp as Peggy or Math. Although she better be closer to Math, in relative power, if she is doing anything other than bluffing right now.
Or Deus may have a specialized super-artificer on staff, and she’s equipped with super-artifacts that let stand toe-to-toe with someone with Sciona.
Yea, I speculated to that effect, on the previous page of comments. Whilst that may turn the ‘b;luff’ into a ‘calculated ploy’, it is still a risk, given that either Sciona or one of her minions also makes super artefacts (note the construct that can steal super powers).
As such it would be a showdown between a normal bodyguard, supported by a super gadgeteer (who is not present) versus a powerful blood mage (who best case may not be present or worst case is actually Sciona herself).
There is a bit of blurring mind you. Sciona’s constructs might be wholly attributable to just the power of her blood magic. But the technological element does seem to be very prominent. Especially when looking at the recently-used fire and ice laser, where the blood magic seemed to do no more than provide a power source.
Either way though Sciona is clearly very skilled at using her blood magic in conjunction with tehnology. Meaning it is not much of a step for her to use it to counter technology. Putting a gadget-using normal in considerable peril.
Halo being pretty safe, as her toys are vastly more advanced than those that could resonably be created by a human gadgeteer.
Shouldn’t Cthillia be more deserving of a who’s who entry than Vale who doesn’t talk in this panel?
DaveB probably did enter Cthillia in the Who’s Who, but he has to type in a code, so it is easy to make a mistake, which results in the entry not appearing. This happened a couple of pages back, which Dave subsequently corrected.
.
The ‘needs to have a speaking part’ is a rule mainly in place to prevent spoilers, before a character is formally introduced. This is especially important for unknown villains, of course.
An early example would be the ‘bank robbers’. Although we had several pages of them doing things, including speaking, the reader did not need an aid-memoir to remind them who the individuals were, as they had neither featured before nor had been talked about.
Although the ‘speaking part rule does also provide a rule of dew-claw to decide if someone’s recurring appearance is not important enough to justify cluttering up the Who’s Who panel. Someone familiar walking past in Archon HQ would not appear, for example.
Here though Vale’s place is deserving, despite not saying a word, as the Who’s Who is intended to include anybody (with a known history in the comic) who plays a significant part in a scene. Her stare speaks volumes
Just to toss in a theory as to the epimorph.
The epimorph is a tool that absorbs the life of the 99 victims it slays, each death makes the weapon more lethal and gives it greater ability to ignore the natural defenses of its targets, upon the death of the 99th victim, The user has their body reborn into the form of one of the 99 victims chosen at random. At this point the Epimorph is empty and seemingly broken once again.
while this is an awful and horrible weapon, what truly makes it unique is that it’s powers allow one the chance to become a new race entirely, slay 99 vampires and be reborn as a vampire, slay 99 werewolves and be reborn as such. This weapon is one of the origin points of tales of monster slayers becoming the monsters they fight in the end. After each rebirth the weapon gains a new appearance, it is always a bladed weapon of some kind, and often it’s new form can reveal clues about it’s last transformation.
A very specific theory. But it is both interesting and falls within the known boundaries constraining the item. For instance a highly fractionalised society, like the Twilight Council (where various factions are divided on racial/ racial group grounds) being able to change races could cause diplomatic problems. Especially if it required slaying 99 members of the race in question! So it is logical that it would find itself banished in here, to avoid such atrocities.
What’s the more disturbing thought? That there were circumstances where someone put that big X scar on Deus, or that he put that scar there himself?
The most disturbing is someone thinking that he might have deliberately self-inflicted that scar.
He has a thunder and lightning remote to go with his maniacal laugh.
That is not disturbing, that is cool. I hope one day that the devices will be on sale in the Grrl Power shop.
Until then we can only practice.
*assumes milking-the-cow pose*
MU HU HU HU!
Small minor point about your comment on short bodyguards. If you have a physically large, agressive and intimidating bodyguard you are likely to have them distracted periodically by some idiot whom feels the need to prove they are the toughest thing in the room. This tends to be bad for the bodyguard and for the person being guarded as it is nearly impossible to win a fight and watch the person you are guarding. A better choice for a guard is someone small and well trained in martial arts, (weapons, unarmed, etc) who will blend into your entourage without drawing extraneous fire. I know this because I was told that with training in firearms and martial arts, I could make good money as a bodyguard. I’m all of 5 foot 1 inch and while I’m reasonably strong, I don’t appear heavily muscled.
In the real world “a physically large, aggressive and intimidating bodyguard” is a good thing. Minus the aggressive part, since a bodyguard should be the very model of restraint up until the point where it needs to do its job.
The word ‘intimidating’ has a meaning, and a bodyguard who is large and imposing is generally far better at this regardless of their actual combat ability. A Bruce Lee sized bodyguard (5’7″) will have to prove that they are a badass far more often than an Arnold Schwarzenegger sized bodyguard (6’2″).
Also, mass is an advantage all its own. Bruce Lee was a badass because he was fast and deadly, but if he was bum rushed and unable to evade his smaller mass would make him far more easily overwhelmed than Arnold Schwarzenegger
Personally I would put my Yorpie Snex™ on Bruce over Arnold. An expert martial artist, even one specialising in showy moves, would beat the crap out of a body-builder, without those skills. No matter how good he is at posing for the camera with prop guns.
And this said as an Arnie fan.
Some of the most notorious mafia were small guys. Their powers of intimidation were due to their ability to convey their willingness to maim and kill. Coupled with having no hesitation to do that if opposed. Even their burly body-builder-like counterparts were terrified of them.
Vale seems just as capable. So long as Sciona decides that it is too risky to kick off a fight, she has done her job. Whereas if she does decide to fight, then we will get to see just how skilled and powerful she actually is.
Guys, HE BROUGHT A FUCKING SHOPPING CART.
He clearly knows what he is doing.
Having “being rich” as a superpower certainly works for Batman, who is basically the measuring stick for all unaugmented humans trying to hold a spot on the supernatural/superpowered stage