Grrl Power #656 – Supervillain thrift shop
When The Baxter Building gets knocked over, or a SHIELD Helicarrier crashes into a mountain side, or some DC equivalent… uh, the Justice League watchtower crashes to Earth, that would be an insane security risk. Sure, whatever agency deals with that kind of thing will put some guards around it and start salvaging what they can, but in the meantime, the Moleman digs in from underneath and makes off with a time machine or the Infinity Nose Ring or the Omni McGuffin or whatever.
Basically, whenever a superhero’s HQ or a supervillain’s lair is catastrophically breached like this, it seems like a dozen organizations would be fighting over the scraps. Arc-SWAT and Arc-LIGHT will be busy securing this location for a little while, even as Maxima does everything she can to get back to Sydney. When they can’t find any of the artifacts missing from the Black Reliquary in the debris, they may start to suspect either this was some sort of a diversion, or there were third parties involved.
In the meantime, it looks like Deus may have a new toy. Hopefully he’s not dumb enough to stick it up in the display with the rest of his sword collection.
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This isn’t so bad. He won’t ruin the world, will he? On the other hand, I don’t think he’s quite human.
To be fair, the world was already ruined the moment mankind set foot on it.
Dues doesn’t look like the kinda guy who wants to destroy the world, or even officially “rule” it.
He looks more like a “Shadow King” monarch…………..
“Yes, they run the world, but who do you think they REPORT to?”
That’s not fair at all.
Before humans showed up, there were animals running around, terrified for their lives as they looked for their next meal, terrified for their lives as they looked for water, unable to comprehend why they’re all getting sick and dying because they have no concept of disease, terrified and dying horrible deaths at the hands of predators, watching as entire species went extinct from preventable causes, dying from contaminating water sources, dying of starvation due to overpopulation, dying from invasive species that consume all resources, dying dying dying, endlessly, pointlessly.
When humans came along, we started to figure out how to shape the environment- something that no other species has done on a serious scale. We figured out how to grow crops to prevent starvation, how to divert water to prevent dehydration, how to avoid predators and live in peace, how to recognize and prevent disease, how to recognize and stop overpopulation of predators and prey (ending the whole “not enough prey so predators starve to death” leading to “too many prey so landscapes are stripped barren” cycle in areas that we’re working on). We learned how to process and use materials from in the earth to create works of architecture and engineering like nothing else in the Universe. We learned how to escape our planet and reach for the stars. And finally, we learned how our actions have negatively affected the Earth, and we are starting to push back to deal with the consequences of our own mistakes.
To say that Earth was ruined because humans showed up… that’s just ignorant. Earth was stagnant, changing at a snail’s pace without meaning or reason or regard for life. Humans changed all that. We’re not a virus to destroy our planet. We’re artists learning how to paint with all the tools in the Universe. We’re bound to make mistakes, but we aren’t going to give up either. We’ll keep improving until we get it right.
+1
fucking misanthropes
+1
I would like to add, Earth had no point until humans showed up. If there are completely pristine, plant filled paradise planets out there with zero chance of developing intelligent life, then they are meaningless an useless until we find them and inhabit them.
All organisms shape and are shaped by their environment, the only differences are scope of change and degree of intentionality.
Easy example:
Beavers. They quite intentionally change their environments and have a rather complex behavioral algorithm involving varying choices. They often have multiple options for solving a problem of various efficacies, and they rarely make a wrong choice more than once. The impact of a single beaver dam can affects hundreds (if not thousands) of acres up AND downstream, influencing survival strategies of all species in the area of impact.
Lots of creatures depend on the behavior of other creatures to survive, and there’s some indication that they will encourage that behavior until a better option comes along. Peregrine falcons normally nest on cliffs and similar vertical surfaces because their prey species prefer those areas. As many of those species migrated to cities because they had an easier time gathering food, peregrine falcons suffered. Then humans, sick and tired of rock doves in their cities, tried to get peregrines to nest in cities. Not much luck. Then we tried raising peregrines in cities, and those peregrines did well. Here’s the cool part. It appears that those “city peregrines” would find other peregrines in the wild and led some of them back to cities. Peregrines are now thriving in the environment they formally forsook.
Some microbial creatures will change their excretions to encourage their environment to adjust to optimal survival conditions. Is this an intentional choice, or is this mere genetic programming? Tough to tell sometimes, since one would expect to happen every single time if hard-wired, but it doesn’t always happen. Either we don’t understand the hard wiring (which is more likely) or we don’t fully understand what “mind” means (plausible, but still a thorny problem).
And yet, we are in an extinction event that is projected to kill 30 to 50 percent of all species on Earth by 2100. The fault is entirely on us; it normally takes thousands of years of climate shift to produce a natural extinction event (without meteors and super-volcanoes). We are most definitely a problem, and the first step in solving a problem is realizing (and admitting) it exists. Many have not progressed past step 1.
+1
30 to 50 percent? That’s peanuts. You should talk to cyanobacteria, they’re the true heroes.
We may be faster than climate but slower than meteors. Doesn’t matter. Even if we managed to eradicate all life, which is extremely unlikely considering it already survived worse, the Earth will be fine.
Given the way that Deus does his thing, “ruining” isn’t exactly his modus operandi.
He might be evil, but more in a competent Austin Powers villain “Nr. 2” evil, fully operating within legal bounds, having temendous fun while doing it and raking in money like it’s no-ones business. And as a side effect, even if he is morally evil, society as a whole benefits, or percieves to benefit, and that’s why he’s left in charge of his erm… extensive hobby.
I think he’s more of a lawfull neutral
A lawful neutral character wouldn’t assassinate dictators or commit grand larceny. I also doubt they would set up an artificial lightning system to help with their villainous laugh. I’d say Deus is Neutral Evil, because he is *trying* to be evil for the sake of his own amusement. He didn’t need to break into the Black Reliquary and steal countless dangerous artifacts. He is already one of the richest men in the world. He just did it on a whim.
“A lawful neutral character wouldn’t assassinate dictators or commit grand larceny.”
1) It was self defense.
2) His ‘bodyguards’ did it, not him.
3) Lawful neutral doesnt mean you cant kill evil/have evil killed.
“I also doubt they would set up an artificial lightning system to help with their villainous laugh.”
1) Showmanship is not evil.
2) It’s fun to have a robust laugh and if you are genre savvy like Deus is, that doesnt mean you’re evil. You just appreciate the showmanship of a laugh with a dramatic backdrop.
“I’d say Deus is Neutral Evil, because he is *trying* to be evil for the sake of his own amusement.”
1) Nah he is just being genry savvy. He is the hero we need in these troubled times.
“He didn’t need to break into the Black Reliquary and steal countless dangerous artifacts.”
1) He is keeping them out of the hands of dangerous criminals and reckless people like the Council.
2) He didnt break in. Sciona did. He just entered… no breaking was involved.:)
“ He is already one of the richest men in the world. He just did it on a whim.”
1) Nothing wrong with wanting to constantly improve.
2) I doubt it was on a whim. The man is a planner that would make David Xanatos watch in awe.
Those are all points you would make if you were on Deus’ payroll…just saying.
Or Deus himself. I can see the man commenting on a comic that has a character like him or based on him.
DM to Deus: They’re onto me boss.
I would work for him pro bono, except I don’t think he’d respect me if I worked for free.
One respects what one pays for.:)
makes me wonder if he’s got any scientists so insane they pay HIM to work for him
“”2) He didnt break in. Sciona did. He just entered… no breaking was involved.:)”” Under the law, he committed breaking and Entering.
Dues didn’t break & enter…He merely did an “unlawful entry.” Even so, would the Twilight Council follow the same “laws” as the mainstream human society?
Technically, the Council exists as an unlawful group-organization (as compared to humanity) due to the nature of many of its members, who have & still do commit crimes against humanity anyway…Some of them even as a matter of their own personal survival.
It’s surprising how far someone like Dues could twist the context of reasoning to justify anything he does, isn’t it?
;)
To which a lawyer would also quote ‘ Unlawful to Whom?’ I would almost guarantee that vault was in international waters.
Next would be “What ship?” closely by ‘Which flag was it flying under?”
Actually, no. It was not breaking and entry, under US law, funny enough.
Yay, I get to explain more law stuff. It’s been a while :)
Breaking and Entering is the criminal act of entering a residence or other enclosed property through the slightest amount of force (even pushing open a door), without authorization.
So what are the elements of this crime?
1) Entering – okay, well that depends on if teleportation is considering ‘entering.’ I’ll give that new law, should this go to trial, would probably say it is.
2) a residence or other enclosed property – well it’s not a residence, and not an enclosed property – at least not at the point when Deus entered – someone had already broken in, completely separate from him, and it is merely ‘difficult to access’ – not ‘enclosed.’ And definitely not a residence.
3) Through even the slightest amount of force – He used no force at all. Even if elements 1 and 2 are met, element 3 is not met.
4) without authorization – okay, he didn’t have authorization.
So he does meet elements 1 and 4, and might arguably meet element 2, but does not meet element 3. Therefore, he did not break and enter. He probably is just guilty of criminal trespassing…. a mere misdemeanor. And… well… theft.
…
Although I am not so sure that the items in there actually BELONG to the Council. So… even if he is guilty of theft, who is going to accuse him. Only the original owner can do that, not the thief.
Pretty sure at worst, it’s criminal trespass and MAYBE conversion (a tort, rather than a crime).
And even then, Wyld-One actually brought up another good point, in that it’s likely in international waters, and would come under the laws of salvage…. meaning he isn’t even guilty of trespassing or conversion any more than Sydney is for taking the orbs.
Indeed, having bar certification is the best superpower of all.
The council are effectively their own government recognized by the supernatural population and (seemingly) the US. The artifacts belong to them either through confiscation of illegal objects or just government seizure of property. Plus, trespassing on a military base or equivalent carries a much harsher penalty (shoot on sight/track down and kill) then trespassing on a civilian property. Different governments can have different laws and based on the objects power and general evilness, it would be safe to say that what Deus did would carry an ultra death penalty (execution using each and everyone of the “immortal except when x” methods). Seriously what he stole amounts to SEVERAL weapons of mass destruction.
“The council are effectively their own government recognized by the supernatural population and (seemingly) the US.”
Which means they are going to have to have some sort of treaty for dealing with each other. But even so, one thing the US government can NOT do is suspend constitutional rights of its citizens. The Constitution supersedes any and all treaties or other laws for US citizens. Deus is a U.S. citizen. He would fall under US laws. Or, when in regards to international waters, international salvage laws.
“The artifacts belong to them either through confiscation of illegal objects or just government seizure of property.”
Actually what you’re describing is ‘Right of Conquest’ – which was the rule for a large portion of civilization (and therefore also probably what the Council uses). Before international laws and constitutions were created, governments used Right of Conquest and Right of Discovery. So if you were using that as a reason for something belonging to the Council, Deus can use that to have it belong to him now. :)
“Plus, trespassing on a military base or equivalent carries a much harsher penalty”
It’s not a military base or anything equivalent to a military base, so your point is moot. It’s basically a vault in the middle of the ocean, in international waters.
“then trespassing on a civilian property.”
It’s not a civilian property, unless you’re arguing that, in whatever treaty the US and the council had, they listed the Dark Reliquiry as one of the areas that are under the Council’s venue. Which I doubt they did since they hadnt told anyone about it in the government until a few days ago. Most likely because the US would have a problem with another government having dozens or hundreds of, as you put it, weapons of mass destruction’ secretly.
“Different governments can have different laws and based on the objects power and general evilness,”
Any treaty that put the treaty above the US Constitution would be an unconstitutional treaty, and therefore not something to which the US government cannot agree.
“it would be safe to say that what Deus did would carry an ultra death penalty”
1) No such thing as an ‘ultra death penalty’
2) Theft does not equal a death penalty.
3) Theft from a foreign power that was hiding WMDs does not equal a death penalty.
4) Theft from international waters, and not on a ship or something else recognized by other governments is not theft, it’s salvage.
5) Deus didn’t even steal from the original owner. He stole from someone who stole from the original owner, after another person had already done the breaking and entering, which he could have done on his own but did NOT do until there was a risk of that far more dangerous person stealing many other items.
“Seriously what he stole amounts to SEVERAL weapons of mass destruction.”
He’s safeguarding them from irresponsible people who left them in international waters where anyone who knows some blood magic can just come and take it. :) He’s a hero I tell you. Protecting you and me and mom and apple pie.
It’s fun watching you spin this stuff. :)
I’d point out two things wrong with that last paragraph. First, blood magic wasn’t enough. Sciona also needed a variable-element laser and a gullible meat-grommet. Second, he’s selling or bartering those WMDs for favors or selling them outright — he explicitly told Sciona as much. And that’s made worse by the fact that he’s “safeguarding” them from “irresponsible people who left them where anyone who knows some blood magic can come and take it” by selling them to the blood mage who came to take them. And third, Deus is only protecting apple pie so he can eat it all up himself.
But I enjoy seeing you spin this. So what about the (separate) incident in which Deus, when questioned by police, withheld information about the activities and whereabouts of a fugitive (and arguably terrorist)?
(PS, do we actually have confirmation that it was in international waters, or is that just speculation?)
Yeah, probably closer to Chaotic Good. Like Frank Castle.
Nah, scratch that. Lawful Evil is probably more likely- it’s to benefit himself, and the fact that it benefits everyone else is just to keep uprisings and questions down. Henry Ford didn’t give his nearly-slave employees days off work for fun, it was so they’d be more productive while they were at work since they had time to rest. Was to benefit himself, the fact that all society benefitted as well wasn’t the main intent.
@MidnightDStroyer: Yeah, either Unlawful Entry or Trespassing, plus Burglary. But not Breaking & Entering.
So would Deus be Booster Gold + Lex Luthor?
The “nearly slave” employees that were making double wages and working shorter days than anyone else in the industry?
“Ford’s reaction to this problem was dramatic: in 1914 he doubled his minimum wage to five dollars a day and cut daily working hours from nine to eight. The experiment caught the industrial world by surprise. His competitors were startled; his workers were energized. Ford himself was ecstatic. Some of the most talented workers in Detroit lined up by the thousands to apply for jobs with Ford. He couldn’t hire as many as he would have liked because turnover and absenteeism almost disappeared overnight. No one wanted to lose his job. ”
https://fee.org/articles/henry-ford-and-the-triumph-of-the-auto-industry/
+1 to this too.
Fucking lying misanthropes.
As an aside, $5.00 in 1914 would be $123.26 in 2018 due to inflation. Which would be a weekly salary of $616.30 a week, $2465.20 a month and $29582.40 a year. And this would be before any sort of payroll taxes had been enacted.
A lawful neutral character will quite willingly assassinate dictators or commit grand larceny, they’ll just do it for different reasons than someone of different alignment.
Some lawful good characters quite willingly kill dictators and commit grand larceny. They’re just really particular about the situations in which they will engage in this behavior.
I was tempted to use ‘or’, but on reconsideration, realized the differences between the situations are pretty minor. What evil dictator doesn’t tax their victims to the bones? What dictator taxes their victims to the bones without being evil?
That having been said, the threat to the heir was definitely something that would take an evil or neutral character.
Oh, and just to point out: characters who are neutral on the good/evil axis are not particularly limited – they can do both good and evil.
Yeah. A few sessions ago, the “Neutral Good” bard in my D&D group tried to murder a drow after he and the rest of the villains he was with tried to surrender. He claimed that as a half-elf, it was due to his racial hatred for the drow.
This backfired horribly because it caused them to retaliate by murdering the prisoners we were trying to rescue.
Personally, had I been GMing that session I’d have likely bumped him straight to Neutral, since it wasn’t the first time he’d done something like that. The player’s a nice guy, but he tends to be somewhat hot-headed (and also try to take the lead in every diplomatic situation despite not having proficiency in any charisma based skills besides Perform despite knowing that my sorcerer has proficiency in both Persuade and Deception on top of a higher Charisma score).
The famous two-axis alignment system is insufficient to describe him, which is why he thinks he’s above good and evil. He gets everything he wants, other people benefit as a side effect, and the only people he’s had killed were pretty darn evil (as far as we know). Neutral Greedy, maybe.
Then again, most if not all people, concepts, objects, and actions become evil if you add too much of them to your life. “All things in moderation”, and all that. Therefore, Deus’ philosophy — that Greed is the root of everything — makes him evil, regardless of other factors. Even if he was partly joking about that.
Plus, he literally has a button to generate dramatic thunder in his office, he does the finger-steepling thing, he’s prone to involuntary bouts of maniacal laughter, and he has sex with supervillainesses. These are all things non-evil people should never be associated with, if only to avoid confusion.
I’m not hiding the link name as a warning to Yorp.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlueAndOrangeMorality
*wags tail appreciatively*
When I see ‘blue and orange’ I automatically start thinking of Portal.
Not entirely inappropriate – GLaDOS had a pretty interesting moral code as well.
can we all agree Deus actually could be a lot more complicated than we are trying to make him to be? I think Dave actually is trying to develop 3dimensional characters with a lot of depth.
Deus definitely plays the rules-lawyer a lot, but that’s not because he values rules in their own right or on their merit. Instead, finding loopholes through the rules or reshaping them in his favor is an amusing game, and one that causes his opponents to squirm and protest in hilarious ways. It’s another example of him favoring clever solutions over brute force solutions as a matter of aesthetics. (See: Bamboo versus Meat Grommet for another example.) But he’s also quite willing to break the rules if it amuses him (and then spin how he’s justified). That seems more neutral than lawful to me.
A lot of it, I think, would come down to his actual intentions and goals, which are not known to us. He comes across like a villain… but is that because he’s reveling in the evulz or is it just because he just likes playful bouts of maniacal laughter? He killed a king, seized his country in all but name, and is bringing order and modernity to it… but is that because he’s promoting order and stability on general principle (law), because he wants better for the nation’s people (good), because he prefers options that hurt people (evil), simply to stir the pot (chaotic), or is it just a stepping stone to some larger agenda (?).
What people forget about the 2 axis alignments is that lawful isnt “follows the laws of the country”. Lawful is “follows a code of ethics which can be a personal code, religious code, or the regional laws”. Deus said that he followed the philosophy of greed which would seem to me to be a pretty strong case for lawful under “personal code”.
As to whether he is good, neutral, or lawful, that depends on his motivations which we haven’t seen. If he is honestly going to sell evil artifacts (any one of which could have the macguffin effect of ending the world) to whoever has the money, then he isn’t good and is at least a 6 (1-3 good, 4-6 neutral, 7-9 evil sliding scale) on the good vs evil scale. If he is planning on essentially selling them knowing the “end the world” scheme will fail with the intention of just taking back the artifacts after, then that would still be at least a 6 because he is playing with the death of an entire species just to get money.
AND SERIOUSLY PEOPLE. If Sciona had another minute to make the portal, there would be a stable portal to a world of imperialist genocidal blood mages probably even worse than any already on earth. He had no way of knowing Sciona’s homeworld was destroyed. He risked the lives of billions of people for money and alien booty.
Very few things make me happier than being able to link this because of what you said: https://youtu.be/JQJJjcrwXQE?t=11s
One of my favorite parts of that movie :D
Deus isn’t evil he is a supervillain in a world with superheroes. I think of him more like a Lex Luthor Character. He is not evil he is working with a different set of rules and codes of behavior. Like the idea that someone with super intelligence or with an incredibly huge insight into the universe is difficult to understand their motivations and functions. He is a personification of capitalist thought. That he even explains himself to us as the reader. He is all about the understanding of greed and he is doing social experiments with the country he has taken over. If you look at his motivations he is not evil for the sake of evil but will do anything it takes to achieve his goals. His goals are still murky and that is more what would be needed to see if he is evil or just willing to do anything to get there.
This makes me wonder if Deus liked he eldricht tentacle sex.
The Screw with Cthulhu.
And if I could satisfy Cthulhu sexually, I would be a cocky powerful SoB too. The more we learn of Deus’ people, the more I’m concerned about what Deus’ real power is.
It is apparent that money will take you far, but in the land of supers, that isn’t enough…
My guess: Reading minds of anyone he ever slept with
So the way to defeat him is for Sydney to seduce him and then stop taking her meds?
Yes, I’m a bad, bad, man. Nor can I see Sydney being willing to attempt it, or Maxima *not* doing bad things to anyone who tried to get her to do so. But that’s *still* the first thing that crossed my mind after reading your comment.
(Now imagining Dabbler making the suggestion. And offering to coach her on technique. Just before learning that Sydney, too, can toss her halfway through a wall.)
I’m betting on avatar of Mammon.
Money and networking. Like how the non-super commanders of Archon have their agents, Deus has Vale and a bunch of people who no they can earn money from him, get leveraged out of jail by him, get set up in their own personal quests by him, and not get randomly betrayed by him.
*know :/
Are you implying there is someone who doesn’t!?!?
We might need to add an example for him under the trope Did you just romance Cthulhu?, which admittedly probably ought to mention the Draugr thing anyway. His character sheet already listed Boldy Coming, and they don’t allow examples under Naughty Tenctacles any more…
As it’s some sort of gas/ plasma entity, why does she even need boobs?
Flotation devices.
If something LOOKS deadly, we tend to avoid it, unless we’re extremely brave, stupid or naive.
But if something looks appealing, like she does here, we tend to gravitate to it.
I don’t think she’s actually in service to Deus, i think he amuses her and she’s going along with whatever his “plan” is, just to see what happens next……..
That’s Medusa’s thing. She’s super hot at a distance, but when you get close enough to get a better look…
Same reason androids need them. Device to weaken minds of about half of their potential opponents.
Considerably more then half, I’d wager.
Why would anyone object to the boobs?
Maybe she just likes em, heck we know she likes to watch Deus having sex.
Well, she wouldn’t exactly blend in as a female super without them…
Like many of the other female characters in this comic, Vale seems to have been struck with a case of ‘cup-itis’ since her earlier appearances. https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/808
I guess that as a measurement of powerfulness the size of boobs is, their growth means that she has leveled up a few times through the comic.
That counts for Sydney as well. She’s gotten a lot bustier since episode 1. Let’s hope that recants, eh Yorp?
Big boobs are the standard for female supers. Or at least female looking in this case, it’s hard to say exactly what she is. It’s the most common superpower.
such a silly question! Everything is better with boobs!
[Only slightly sarcastic] :P
+1
Actually, thinking a bit more, men don’t look better with boobs so it’s not entirely true.
well, I guess that’s technically true, as most of the ‘men’ with them have chosen to identify as women
We currently do not know Vale’s origin story, nor do we know exactly what she truly is. We don’t even know if amongst her own kind she is actually a “she”. Her body is apparently an artifice she wears in order to appear human.
It is entirely possible that her physical appearance was chosen by Deus. Given his preferences, it would hardly be surprising that he would go for the busty look. It is also possible that Vale chose the look, but as she wanted to please Deus chose something she knew he would find pleasing.
There is also a possibility that Vale was born as a normal human, and her current spectral mist form is something that happened to her later. Given an ability to choose the physical appearance of her body, she decided to go with something that would make her feel attractive.
Whatever Vale’s origin, I’m not one to object to the boobies.
Did she ever say what she is? Can we believe what she said if she said it? She could be a very wired and powerful super.
…why does she even need boobs?
Where else does a wierd green energy creature store her hanky and packed lunch inside her human-shaped shell?
if it’s sandwiches, those fit nicely into some buns.
Not what I was hoping to see on my last update before vacation
Wha….. What kind of Cthonic horror is she?!
My bet is on Vale being Yidhra, who usually appears as a youthful, attractive, earthly female.
Yidhra split herself into different aspects, though each part shares her consciousness (kinda sounds like Harem…) hence the multiple spirit appearance, members of her cult can gain immortality by merging with her (whose to say the Soul Battery Sciona opened weren’t the Cultists being imprisoned and hence not launched like Sciona wondered), which they could have done after jumping through the portal…
And the increased chest size is to incorporate the newly added cultist spirits…
I’ve said this before.
That thing is a bill. The discerning megalomaniac would never be so uncultured as to display a bill in a sword collection.
…. though on further review Deus apparently filed a combination scythe/gun in with the swords rather than give it its own display, so maybe he’s not as discerning as he’d have us think.
Maybe he just sorts them according to rarity, mint and age?
There are four or five non-swords in that collection. I don’t know if you can really just call it a “sword collection” at this point.
Word of Dave calls it a sword collection, though. :)
that thing is not a weapon at all – it’s a portable Mass Effect Relay
Everything’s a weapon if you’re desperate and/or creative enough.
Ah come on! just as were about to get some epic power devlopment/reveals from Sydney we switch to another scene! i was hoping for a grinding montage!
Still. Boobs.
(Salesman slaps top of Vale)
“This bad girl can hold over a dozen alien vampire ghosts.”
I spy in my crystal ball, that this salesman has a very small life expectancy.
I don’t think that this is a case of the alien ghosts possessing Vale, but more of Vale having left her corporeal form behind to get the artifact, and is just returning to it.
I thought the same, but the color is different, there are no distorted faces and the vale mist is in one piece, the souls were seperate entities.
So that is why she have big boobs. It’s extra storage space.
Yeah, I also think Vale is the soul battery, what with looking like Legion with all those irises.
The big question is: What’s Deus’s endgame? Power? Wealth? Notoriety? Why go through all this trouble of collecting rare artefacts when he could just do stuff like bribe a politician or create a new tech innovation?
Probably “Having lots of cool shit he can use to flaunt his power” and “Artifacts that could come in handy just in a case”
Multiple references have been made to selling them. Not solely for cash, sex, favors owed in future perhaps, influence – I’d imagine a gimmick that can regenerate limbs would command a high price from a wealthy and influential Senator, for example.
He did offer to help recharge the regenerator, he probably has some connections with prisons, so he can harvest the lives of people sentenced to death anyway or something, so he can basicly heal anyone for tons of money
Not to mention, he has his own African country, where most likely the death penalty is still applied.
I think it’s more likely he’ll have one of his henchmen- I mean employees- no wait, I meant henchmen (he’d like it better that way :p) work as a sell sword for some kind of war or another. Probably on the side that doesn’t employ habitual rape and child slavery.
Sydney: “Nice replicas!”
Deus: “Replicas. Yesss….”
Sydney: … hmm.
Deus: Hmm.
Sydney: Hmm.
Deus: Hmm.
Sydney & Deus: Hmm…
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2038
I like that Sydney also made Vale eager to escape her company in the following comic
The endgame is being awesome.
To have fun seems to be one of his main goals.
What? What’s happening here? I’m lost.
Vale is collecting the artifact used to create the portal. Or are you referring to the part where she’s actually an eldritch horror? Cause that was hinted at before (forget actually where, and I’m not up for an archive binge at the moment to find it).
Just found it ! That was when Sciona and her fought. Sciona was…surprised, to say the least.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2756
…and Les shows up in 3,2,…
Okay I don’t know what Vale is but she is starting to give me the creeps. Assuming that she is an appropriate pronoun. I wonder what her deal is with deuce. I’m also wondering if dabblers Tracer spell would be good enough to locate the item they’re looking for now that it is in someone else’s hands yes. If they have to trace it back to deuce perhaps he can say that his people were examining what registered as a extremely flashy event that he felt could be profitable.
I think she needs to cast a spell on the object first, before she can trace it
She kinda looks like the entity here, it(?) seems like a nice enough bloke
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2711
I’m confused by the 5th panel. In the 4th and 6th panels, it looks like she’s kneeling down, but in the 5th, her positioning looks like she’s standing, but slouched forward some. Or am I looking at it wrong?
Oh, and the 7th panel is rather creepy, what with the multiple irises and whatnot.
She’s in the process of transforming from an eldritch vapour back into a human form… some odd posture isn’t unreasonable…
hmmhmmm… yeah yeah…uh-huh uh-huh uh-huh…. yeah you lost me…
Basicly Vale is a ghostly entity that has golem-bodies scattered around the world she can posses either as backup as a way to get around quickly.
It seems Sciona had one of them at her lab, perhaps to study.
*thumbs up*
That body wasn’t in Sciona’s lab. Vale clearly tracked down Sciona, then exited her body to more efficiently search the ruins of said lab, before returning to said body with the important loot. The artist’s comment only IMPLIES that she has several vessels, and just scattering them around the world would be the peak of carelessness.
Vale is quite the Ghost in the Shell ain’t she. Gotta wonder what they have planned for that thing.
In panels 4,5 and 6 she is slouched over. Look at how low her hand is in panel 5, it’s in frame with her foot. She’s not kneeling but you can tell in the other panels she’s bent over at the waist and panel 5 shows us that she’s bent far enough that Vale’s hand is level with her knee.
Yeah and the bit with the eyes is creepy as hell!
I think she’s just has her legs straight and really bent over forwards.
Also I think the point is that the irises are part of her ghostly body, she just manifested both eyes in the same socket, then she shifts them into the correct positions
Agreed, Vale’s shell is in the standard powered-down slump position.
Obviously keeping it away from dangerous and unstable people and groups and whatnot.
Is it me or is she suffering from SoulCaliburite? https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2038 Less than half the head
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2756 2/3 of the head
And now, nearly all the head.
I request that the About page gets additional info, namely what the difference between Arc-LIGHT and Arc-SWAT is and what other Arc-SOMETHINGS exist. I don’t remember this at all and I assume it’s somewhere in the archives, presumably when Sydney gets shown around, but they’re only grouped by year, so it’s kinda difficult to search them.
There’s also… *sigh* Arc-DARK
Basicly the secret undercover branch
Looking forward to the Arc-on-dark. :-)
And Arc-SPARQ. I know that Dave has said that we will be seeing more of Digit – and hopefully her bonkers gadgets – in the future, but I’d just like to take the opportunity to nominate her as the minor character I’d most like to see developed / become at least semi-regular (if possible.) She seems to be a female version of me: I can imagine the two of us having a McKay / Zelenka-esque debate in an electronics lab while a wisp of smoke starts to slowly rise from a breadboard on the bench between us…
I think I recall Dave saying that the About and Cast pages are in need of a lot more love. Maybe there’s a wiki somewhere?
*searches*
Oh, hey, there is. … and it also needs a lot more love.
Short version:
Archon: Government organization that employs “Atypical Resources” (including supers) to deal with atypical threats. Archon has many subdivisions, notably:
Arc-SWAT. Focused on combat and dealing with (potentially) violent criminals, much like a police SWAT force versus everyday beat cops.
Arc-LIGHT. Intelligence, information, and analysis.
Arc-SPARK. Gadgetry and equipment.
Arc-DARK. Covert spying stuff? We haven’t gotten a good look at it. Those in Archon who know about it seem a bit… off-put by what they do.
Arc-AEGIS. Detention of atypical prisoners through atypical means.
Probably some others we haven’t heard of as well…
Did you add that to the wiki?
Nope.
I’m guessing Ark-DARK is the wetworks team – mainly covert assassinations.
Thank you for listing them! I shall bookmark this until the about page and/or the wiki get updated.
Sadly my Google-Fu doesn’t show me the wiki, but if it needs more love as well it doesn’t really matter.
ARC-Hive. The library
I don’t recall either a library or the name Arc-Hive getting official mention, but dammit, that’s headcanon now.
I don’t understand what happened with Vale here. That weird green stuff looks (to me) like the many souls Sciona released on the other side of the portal. Is Vale being possessed by them? Absorbing them? IS she them, somehow, in some way that explains why she could be here before they got here? Is the greenness something else that just happens to look almost exactly like them? WTF are we supposed to take away from this page?
DAVE! HELP!
The wierd green stuff appears to be Vale in her true form and the female body she/it inhabits is just a shell.
Thanks for that. I was under the same impression as Random Wanderer that it was Sciona and her people’s souls.
Agree with you here, it isn’t really good coloring choice to have both entities displayed with such a close green color. It got me pretty confused…
So, we’re pretty sure ARC-SWAT needs that thing to retrieve Halo. Did… did Vale just give Maxima an excuse to finally punch Deus?
Doesn’t matter. Deus has already given Maxima dozens of reasons to finally punch Deus.
Did Sciona possess Vale or should that be,is Sciona impersonating Vale???
Neither, several people look to be making this mistake, let’s blame ghostly smoke similarities in coloring. But notice the lack of little skulls and such.
What you are seeing is Vale shifting from a ghostly form where she dug out the brane ripper and morphing back to her humanoid shell form.
But I can see how people are making the mistake.
Then what is Vale really?
“She is not a super”
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2756
Not a fan of the omniscient exposition character *especially when they aren’t a god or Acoshic Library avatar*, especially one that doesn’t know her personally.
Sure it is a possibility Sciona recognizes what Vale is, Eldritch Horror, Animus Mannequin, ect…
But its also possible Vale has a power set that just looks like that and Sciona has never encountered that before so mistakes her for something she isn’t.
Never liked those scenes in movies where a character just pops up and explains everything about the movie monster, and its taken as word of God by the audience *Writer’s Convenience* even though in-universe they really shouldn’t know…yeah they could be in a position where they can guess (like the dinosaur expert guesses where Godzilla came from), but it shouldn’t be taken as *yes that is definitely right* as it still falls outside their range of experience and research. Or the *I am a spider expert, so naturally I know everything about the giant tarantula*. Even though you should guess some changes will occur due to it even being alive at that size.
ect…numerous examples.
Why I love it when these characters are proven wrong, or only partially right. Heck it would even be in Vale’s best interest *or amusement* to let others think she is something far more dangerous and ancient than what she is.
Conversely there is also the Ancient Super trope, where her power set is so similar to that of an Eldritch being that she has managed to stay alive or exist for centuries, millennia, ect… (Like some Quantum Manipulators who can reincarnate or possess other “vessels”).
But how are you not gonna believe yourself?
Bill and Ted … “Rufuss’ ” name
I have a few characters who have this exact limitation, different avatars/transformations have different personalities/drives/outlooks, even if they have a single memory and core form. They could literally sit at a table with themselves and have a conversation and question the motivations of their various forms in any given situation…also makes it a pain if a situation would be easier for one form to win in than another, but that “another” knows if they transform they might side with the enemy, stop caring, or any number of other problems could arise.
Hmmm, why do I see a cosmic can opener when I look at that artifact?
The end piece is the original artifact. The handle and glowing circle bit is the external power supply that she added in order to dial the artifact up to 11 in order to reach her home planet and/or dimension.
I read it as creepy spirit thing takes over Vale and the comment was about her body. I am sort of disappointed that is not the case.
It’s just hit me… that is the artefact that helped create the portal. You know, the portal that’s needed to bring Sydney back… uhhh… Does this mean that Sydney is now even more screwed?
Or maybe Vale/Deus will use it to help Sydney. Not for the sake of being good, of course, but to curry favor with ARC. And maybe gather intelligence at the same time. Villains who play the long game, like Lex Luthor, tend to do a few “heroic” deeds along the way.
In one of the animated series Lexx once let Superman ‘overhear’ a conversation where he supposedly had a bomb about to explode under a section of Metropolis. The big blue boy-scout immediately swoops in, dives underground and destroys the ‘bomb’. It turns out that the device was actually a clean-energy generator that Lexx installed at his own expense to power a neighborhood that he had newly renovated .
This was of course timed to happen during the live dedication of the housing project. Lexx then goes on the air with the local news to remind everyone how much of a threat (or was it menace?) Superman was to humanity.
Just as a head’s up, I was reading that really weird at first, Lex Luthor, has one “x” when you put two X’s, it brings to mind a giant alien dragonfly bio-ship. LoL
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/vsbattles/images/8/89/Lexx1-1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170219125056
Also wasn’t that the same episode with Shazam/Captain marvel in it? and Superman was made to look bad/jealous of the new super hero?
I exxpected a comment like this. After I exxamined my post, I noticed I added an exxcessive number of exxes. But that is no exxcuse for being exxact when exxpressing my thoughts.
Ooh! Ooh! That’s probably not true, but in line with timetravel portal theory, maybe Vale is the bundle of Alari souls after some timetravelling shenanigans?
I just realized, are vampires in this universe asexual or not? Given Dabbler’s response to Vlad about joining the Arc-SWAT (I didn’t quite get that joke, are there already two succubi on the Council, given that she was saying they need to be able to take in two first?).
Also is it a coincidence or does Vlad seem to have a thing for people with hair on the red scale (pink and red-blonde)?
Back to today’s strip, what is the diversion DaveB is referring to? The explosion of Sciona’s lair? This page shows the remains of Sciona’s HQ, right?
“takes over Vale” Or she invited them in, and they all share one body. That is called Symbiosis.
Sorry, the comma between, in + and, is superfulous.
Um, DaveB, are you aware that Grrrlpower has an entry in the Badwebcomicswiki?
https://badwebcomicswiki.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Grrl_Power
I really wouldn’t have expected that, given how bad most of the stuff they review is. Curious to see what you make of it.
Just ignore it would be my opinion. Bad webcomics wiki “reviews” aren’t worth the bits they are stored on.
yea the “review” reads more i didnt like it so it must be bad then this webcomic is bad
I love this comic, and enjoy the balancing act that Dave performs twice a week of a more “realistic” superhero comic with comedy and cheesecake/beekcake. But I am a geek and a bit of a dirty-minded one at that and also realize that this comic might not be everyone’s cup of tea.
As for the person who wrote that entry, they see the blending of genres as distracting. They are also confused by Harem’s powers and apparently the explanation page of her powers was neither sufficient not appreciated. ‘Nuff said.
Honestly, several other comics that I enjoy show up on that listing as well, so you might check out the listing to see if other comics show up that you might appreciate (thus using the listing for the opposite of it’s intended purpose).
Yeah, just a griefer that wants to hate on stuff. Let’s do some research (I did it so you don’t have to). Who wrote that page? I googled his name.
DeviantArt: Openly states he isn’t creative and does nothing original and has bad art
GitHub: Two submissions over 3 years
Twitch: 0-1 views on all videos
No Patreon account.
Dave’s Patreon has over $3k/mo.
So does Josh really have the right to talk shit about Dave? No. Ignore him. I didn’t even provide links as it would get him vastly more attention than he’s ever had in his life.
-1
You don’t have to be popular to make valid criticisms.
I’m actually going to play devil’s advocate here, and say most of his criticisms are genuine and accurate, if not a little overblown. Given the crowd at and inspiration for the BWW, it could be an affectation.
The comic does have some pacing issues, made far worse by the fact that this is very very much a cross genre work. I disagree on most of his character assessments, sure, Sydney is hyperbolically wacky, and in real life she’d be a chore, but she’s a comic book character, melodrama is to be expected if not encouraged. Max being a little silly sometimes is something that could probably better be described as depth. This isn’t a gag a day, it doesn’t need a designated straight man.
The perviness +11 *is* probably unnecessary for the quality of the story, but I at least don’t find it distracting.
I kind of suspect the guy started reading during the twilight council arc, which is definitely the weakest one IMO, although it set up this excellent arc, so I’ll forgive it (eighty eleven fantasy races plus krona feels excessively indulgent, and could probably have been safely cut from the world with only positive effect).
Just read the so-called review on bad web comics. Clearly the person who wrote the review is an idiot. To paraphrase an old saying…
Those who can create web comics, do.
Those who cannot create web comics, still enjoy reading web comics.
Those who can neither create or enjoy web comics, criticize those who do.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1976
look at panel four on this page. I`m pretty sure this describes whoever wrote the review.
How has such a tepidly critical review generated such fervor?
Is there some kind of secret section to that review or something?
Like I said, I did NOT expect one of my absolute favourite webcomics to be on there. Some of the criticism I could somewhat agree with, but mostly I thought it boiled down to “could be better” which is something I think DaveB could agree to seeing he has in the past mentioned how he is always trying to improve his work. They could have worded it better though (as in, less rude, but I guess that draws more people). I agree somewhat that the exemple they give of the restaurant fight flowed better in their version, but personally, I really like the wacky humor in the original and I just love the combination of various styles and Sydney’s hijinks (is that the right word? English isn’t my native language). Also, the remark about the lack of male main characters is somewhat true, but then the webcomic IS called ‘Grrrlpower’;) Anyway, I hope you just keep doing the comic the way you have, DaveB!
Ah yeah, the review is fair (with allowance for taste), but it’s home really isn’t. I guess there aren’t really any other webcomic review sites though, none that I know of, at least.
I guess there isn’t really a market for a “could be better” webcomic wiki.
Maybe they could get more.popular if the dropped ‘bad’ from.their name?
Re: Dave doing as always.
I actually hope he continues to work on his pacing, and learns the art of the cut (which is much harder for a webcomic because the finial product is the first draft).
Also, RE: Dave responding.
Never respond to criticism. Not saying don’t listen to it, def not saying don’t take anything out of it (even if it’s just “no, I like what I’m doing”), but don’t ever respond, beyond maybe something like saying, “I have read and understood your criticisms” and even then only for a trusted reviewer (e.g. friends, peers, editor, etc. ).
I’m confident Dave has already learned this lesson.
Well I had never heard of this site before so I had to go check it out. Just about everything this asshat objects to in Grrrl Power, I like or love. IMO most critics are those lacking in creativity so make it their life’s mission to criticize those who express it. Meh, not even saving this site as I have no interest in such reviews. In any case, DaveB gets far more useful, insightful and constructive criticism from his readers here.
Does he really?
Huh. I didn’t know she generated the shell, herself, as well. I thought that was something provided for her.
To me it looks like she left her shell to cross the river to get the Branecutter or whatever that thing was called and then croseed back to get back into her shell.
She flies though (or some equivalent), as we saw when she fought Sciona, so crossing the river is no issue. I’m guessing she stepped out to be able to search faster and possibly less visibly (under the noses of Archon) than she could otherwise.
Aren’t they going to need that to get Sydney back?
I hope that panel 7 is a deliberate reference to Tool’s “Vicarious”, rather than an accidental act of plagiarism….
So, Deus now has the only thing that can get Sydney back. He’s probably never had a better bargaining chip for getting something out of Maxima.
Of course he’s limited in how outrageous the thing he demands is (otherwise she’d be justified in threatening him with force) but it will certainly be something she wouldn’t do normally.
(math) … something something… (science)
They already banged. What will he ask for this time?
Call me nuts, but:
Deus is going to bankroll a new cartoon, with a maguffin. Also some video game companies with magic items.
The stuff he stol- acquired are going to be featured in them. Then the items he has can be displayed openly, like the Sword of Eternia, Zabimaru, Dawnbreaker, the Maltese Falcon, and Maxima’s geode.
He will open a portal to reality D9, which among other things had a version of Dragon Ball Z where Goku was half human/half alien and Freeza was actually his half brother.
Bringing over and selling alternate timeline entertainments which are professional quality yet feel like something you’d only see in weird fanfic or amateur animations on youtube.
Although D9 sadly has no MCU movies *Marvel went completely bankrupt in the 90’s and was bought out by DC comics, who did a reality re-write to integrate the characters but being the 90’s only a few were focused on *X-men to Metahumans, and Spider-Man joined the Justice League along side a few other Avengers* and the majority left to rot or sold off to third party companies…but it did have a kick ass Spawn and Venom show on HBO after McFarlane bought the rights to Venom and the symbiotes from DC/WB.
Well thats bad for Archon… they can´t know if the Skybreaker IS in the rubble they can only assume that it is there. It could also have been sucked into the portal since it was very close to it and the unstable portal sucked many rocks and other stuff in. There is the chance Deus will help them/Sidney but he would have to reveal he is in possession of that item. Hopefully Dablers plan works without it.
….. out of everything I’ve seen you share, this one unnerves me the most
Now that I think of it, the downdraft from the hovering Osprey in panel one must be kicking up quite a sandstorm for the search crew on the ground. And if Sciona had any notes on her projects that weren’t incinerated, they are now ‘gone with the wind’.
Panel 7 reminds me of a slot machine.
Supervillain thrift shop!
I wear my rival’s clothes
I look incredible
I got this cyborg bod
From Deus Machines down the road
Well every proper super-villain needs some worldbreaking gadgets…now he has the Cosmic Can-opener.
wait.. so.. did she die and left as a corpse?
or was she escaping and just lost her will/fort and got possesed eaten?
i think the blue vapor IS vale. the body is more a means of locomation/ a form people are comfortable with
Okay, I hope this isn’t a stupid question. Did Sciona and her disembodied cohorts possess Vale who was snooping around the wreckage or did they create a new body based on Sciona’s memories of a powerful opponent? I realize that the first preposition is the most probable and likely circumstance, but I’ve been surprised here before and Dave’s depiction does open the possibility.
reading the comics subtext (bottom left) neither thevapor IS vale and the body is just a shell she(it?) uses on a day to day basis
I’m baffled too. I’m not at all certain just what is going on here. Vale isn’t human. We know this from her fight with Sciona when Sciona shattered the shell Vale was using and we saw a dark shadow with eyes inside it. So I’m really puzzled as to what’s just happened. :/
She still COULD be human.
I played Tyranny recently and the Voices of Nerat basically used to be a single person, but had some connection with others so that when he killed them, their minds and souls were absorbed by him and he became a hivemind. Vale could have that kind of skillset as a superpower.