Grrl Power #666 – Demon stuff!
I hadn’t planned on cutting away from the battle again, but someone pointed out that page 666 was coming up, and I knew I had to do something featuring Dabbler. (Even though the actual number of the beast is 616 but someone translating something one day decided 666 was punchier and just changed it. It’s almost like the whole thing was made up or something.) If I can figure out how, I’ll bump page 663 up to 665, so the pages cutting into the battle scene will be back to back.
Anyway, back to this page. Dabbler’s apron isn’t censored for the sake of the comic, it’s supposed to be actually printed that way, so anyone looking at it in real life would see that Japanese mosaic effect and will fill in dirty stuff to the limit of their imagination. Imagine it was a picture of a tentacle, or a picture of two butts touching, if you’re Tina Belcher, or a picture of a ▛▓▞▓▚▛.
As the commander of the team, Maxima should probably be a little more stoic, and not wandering around the base at 3:00 am in her pajamas. She’s obviously taken a sort of motherly shine to Sydney, and is frustrated she can’t punch this problem in the face to fix it.
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Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
Why the HELL can’t you come to New York Comic Con Dave? I got to meet the Spinnertte team last year for crying out loud!
Is it that Anvil is not wearing makeup, or does she have hives. Cause she looks a little…. puffy…
Yeah, she does… Or like she changed face type or ethnicity or *something*. I keep thinking I’m overreacting to the art weirdness, but clearly I’m not the only one noticing it…
Jabbers is the only one in that panel who looks ‘good’
Les looks like he was finally injured (after having a mountain fall on his face), Math looks like a wrinkled old man, and, as Jasole37 said, Anvil looks ‘puffy’
To be fair, it’s been a hot minute since DaveB drew Anvil and Math
Here’s hoping he finds the time to edit this page, because I can barely tell who they are supposed to be.
Have to agree with Guesticus, pretty much everyone here looks off-model, though Max is relatively close for all but panel 5. Math gets hit pretty hard with it though, as while Panel 5 Max and Dabbler look like they’re back in highschool, between his posture, expression, and the shading on his face Math looks almost like a geriatric.
I imagine most of this is down to the choice to try and move away from hard lines, but it’s especially jarring to compare panel 5 to panels 7 and 12, as the facial structures actually change between the panels (most evident when tracing the path of Dabbler’s nose). That said I respect the effort, but I think that the technique still needs some development before it’s ready for consistent use in this comic.
An artist, will never be happy, with their art. As time goes by, they tend to get better.
yeah Math looks like Clint Eastwood…80 year old clint eastwood.
I LIKE panel 5… ;p
There was something to be said for the older ‘flat shaded’ look of the comic, for sure.
Yeah. To be fair this new line of artwork is just starting out for our current artist. But hopefully one he’ll fix sometime soon. But very few artists fully wreck their comic when going for a new art style / bettering what they’re doing.
Hopefully he finds out how to mix his new style while working out how to get the bodies to look as good as they used to / recognizable. I mean Vex looks great, but Max lately looks really weird in these later comics.
Math looks like 80-year-old Clint Eastwood…or maybe Billy Drago.
“Demon stuff”
Oops can’t embed images.
https://www.deviantart.com/davebarrack/art/Demon-Stuff-465575803
Sydney is probably the only one on the team who could join Dabbles in doing that form of ‘Demon stuff’ :D
This is such a great page. Sexy, sweet compassionate. Even Dabbler is being straight up supportive of Max’s worries. And then.. the punch line!!
I have to respect someone who sings “Hips Don’t Lie” while making cookies.
Some how “I like. big. butts, and I cannot llie…” also ran thru the brain.
And Maxi was just starting to be calmed down, when Dabbles said the last fatal line and Archon was put on Triple Alpha Red Alert (hence forth known as “Code Halo”) :P
Yeah. I think Maxima should have enough of a grasp on what Sydney is like to see that line as the MASSIVE red flag that it is. “It’s not like she’s going to ____.” means there is a 95% chance of Sydney doing ____.
I really hope the next page has Max and Dabbler reacting to that statement and it’s obvious fallacy.
Realise probably the only one who feels this way, butt personally like the double cut-away from the ‘action’
Is this the first time we see Dabbler with bright red lipstick, at least inher true form? Am I the only one who feels it doesn’t suit her?
It might just be the pink apron it doesn’t suit but yeah it doesn’t fit in well.
Man, Math just looks like he got into a fight with Brick-Man (a superhero who’s power is to throw infinite bricks) and lost in the face.
his last standing order was to develop a tolerance for #OMGBOOBZ
… a few terabytes of porn later …
Now that he is allowed back into the world; we can suppose that much ‘personal time’ can indeed change a man.
You know… that… that actually fits as an explanation for his current look. He was ordered to stare at boobs until they could only bore him.
This also explains why he is now fixated on Dabbler’s…ahem…”back”.
He is super dehyrdrated from staring at boobs for so long…and his keyboard is sticky.
.
Maxima’s reply in the very next frame: “Oh, I’m not worried about Sydney, I’m worried about what she’ll do to ‘that thing'”
Is this the first time we’ve seen Dabbler’s back?
She must have shoulder joints like the insides of a Rubik’s Cube.
That’s nothing, go check out Spinnerette’s back sometime, girl has six arms!!
You fool. YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER FOOL!
Yeah, yeah, extraterrestrial butt, whatever. I started smiling when I saw you led with a Shakira reference, and I haven’t stopped since.
I wonder what Chaki would make of Dazzler. Well, she presumably knows that her work is popular off-planet.
I think other people have mentioned (or at least implied) that it took a moment to recognise Math with the coloured-line style.
Whatever face you were referencing for Max in panel 5 seemed un-Max-like to me. I know it’s meant to be a softer expression, but does Max’s face really lose all the sharp angles when she’s surprised? Is that even possible? Oh, well, she’s back to normal for the rest of the strip. I know I comment on this repeatedly. But while the softer look is pretty, I just really like Max’s hard and angular face; it seems like part of her character.
I think I complain too much. You drew a lot of faces for today’s strip, some of which you haven’t drawn in a while, and we can’t expect robotic consistency.
DABBLER. I meant Dabbler. Dazzler is someone completely different.
“Not like she’s going to try and fight that thing.”
Bwa ha ha ha ha haa! Ha ha ha ha ha!
Dabbler cooking in only an apron and lacy panties… I have to agree with Math, that is a spectator sport.
Why is it that, when I hear that about Halo, I am reminded of Will Smith’s character in ID4 dragging the alien carcass back to base?
…that guard post would have heard Sydney over the sound of the refugee convoy…
You just mean Independence Day(1996). ID4 just used ‘Archival footage’ from the original 1996 movie of Will Smith dragging the alien carcass across the desert in his parachute envelope.
One year later he was getting to say “You have the right to get out of your busted ass vehicle and put your hands on your head!” as a MIB.
#663….Can’t be before 2013.
I think he’s planning to change that. Hopefully into something time-period accurate. Maybe the GOOD Teen Titans show?
And 313/314 can’t have happened later than 2016 as Barack Obama is still president. My personal head-canon says that in the grrlpower universe they repealed the Twenty-Second Amendment, so Donald Trump lost to President Obama. Makes the timeline MUCH easier. :-)
Its obviously too late to change Dabblers character design, but, I think it would have been funny to have 2 sets of breasts, one in front of each shoulder joint. Though I suppose they would have had to be smaller or something.
That was the original version that she’s based on?
Yeah, she was designed like that up until her first appearance in the comic. It’s maybe possible to pull off 4 boobs if a character is only ever going to wear form fitting tops or bikinis or something, but if you put that anatomy in a tee-shirt, they look weirdly fat (or it looks like the artist has a serious fetish to which all other design considerations have to take a back seat.)
El Goonish Shive:
https://egscomics.com/sketchbook/2015-03-23
https://egscomics.com/sketchbook/2015-01-15
https://egscomics.com/egsnp/2014-11-10
That artist like, famously has numerous fetishes to which all other design and story considerations take a backseat. I know lots of people like El Goonish Shove for reasons I will never fully understand but it is probably not a model DaveB should be working off of, at least in my opinion.
It’s more that he’ll do fan service at the drop of a hat (especially with those sketchbook drawings). He does also have decent characters and a not bad story too.
I couldn’t get into it, but it’s definitely a very fetishistic comic. Specifically the transformation/genderswap fetishes. I’m not saying it’s bad or wrong or whatever, or even that it doesn’t have a surprisingly large fanbase that isn’t into the fetish. But probably a bad example to give if he’s trying to avoid the fetishistic elements.
That artist FAMOUSLY has numerous fetishes that design and storytelling take a backseat to in EGS. In my opinion, not really a model DaveB should base his stuff on, in spite of its popularity.
Of course, NOW the first comment I submitted shows. Bleh.
Congratulations! You have just failed the intelligence test! Have a nice day! :)
Good contribution, really painting yourself as a beacon of friendliness and decency.
My comment was very much tongue-in-cheek, sorry it that didn’t come across. Pretty much every single one of us has done exactly the same thing multiple times! We badly need the capability to edit or delete our comments.
Yeah, that didn’t come across. No big deal!
I somehow keep reading your post as saying ‘bacon’ instead of ‘beacon’
no idea why
Guess Dabbler doesn’t know about epic boss loot.
Naked apron cooking Dabbler without panties sounds like a great incentive.
Hah, well, the exact angle I drew it, if I remove the panties there’s still nothing to see. If I rotated the whole thing about 20 degrees CCW, then maybe.
I prefer ones with lingerie for the same reason that x-mas packages are no longer just brown paper wrap. It is more like the cheesecake look pilots used to put on planes etc.
Dabs sure has the badass boss booty down pat.
Awww, I feel bad for Maxima.
Alternatively, WHY WOULD YOU WEAR A SHIRT THAT SAYS THAT.
I guarantee there are real shirts like that, and Maxima wears her shirt for the same reason real people do. It’s funny, while sending a clear message.
I was going to say, Max’s T-shirt is kind of counterproductive.
On any other girl (in like, the entire cast almost) you would assume it’s a reverse psychology tease, but Max may be the only woman wearing that shirt who really means it. :P
And follow up question – why would you tie it up into a halter top / belly shirt?
The worst problems are the ones you can’t fix with a punch to the face. ;)
What are those? Have never come across one…
Box jellyfish, for instance?
Yeah the problem with trying to punch a box jellyfish in the face is trying to figure out where his face is. I mean yeah you got the poison tentacles that can kill a person in seconds but I’m sure people can work their way around that somehow.
If something (or someone) doesn’t have a face, then just use your imagination and punch where you want the face to be
If they (or it) have more than one face, then just pick one (or alternate strikes)
I am now quite concerned for any and all math teachers unfortunate enough to meet Guesticus.
Unsteady roof supports?
Never said there wouldn’t be consequences, nor that punching the face is the correct solution in every case
Actually, I never thought about cooking when you have four arms and hands, but I bet it makes a lot of cooking tasks quicker and easier. As long as your brain has the capacity to keep track of what’s going on when one hand is waving a knife around while another is holding what’s getting chopped up and two others are doing who knows what. Washing dishes is interesting, too; two hands washing and two drying, or two washing and the other two queuing up the next thing to be washed.
I heard the “number of the beast” thing was just people wanted to talk smack about caesar without getting caught, so they did numerology on his name, and it’s either 666 or 616 depending on whether you use his middle name or not.
Almost. When John’s Apocalypse was originally written, Ceasar’s “number” was 616. He changed his name, and it became 666. The copyists adjusted.
Close it was Ceaser as in Julius, but Nero, who used Christians as scapegoats for the Fire of Rome, and began excusing them as enigma of the state. And it 616 and 666 depended on which spelling of Nero use used, (remember spelling wasn’t standardized at the time)
The Number of the Beast is 6^6^6. It represents the number of universes available to Dr Burroughs’ continuum device.
And knowing that, I feel I have demonstrated my nerd-cred.
Does Achilles sleep? Does he need it or can he even sleep if he wants to? Or is his body never tired enough to allow him to sleep?… presuming he does need sleep
Let’s see. Naked Apron(almost), check. Twin tails, check. Dancing around to Shakira while baking, check. OK, all are ready, “I’ll be in my bunk” time to commence for all immediately.
Also, they don’t have a stargate or time machine or infinity gauntlet, but they do have a girl who can rewrite reality on the fly. Which makes me thinks she could possibly progam a temporary wormhole or stargate?
Yeah, but Krona doesn’t really know what she’s doing, and learning about making wormholes by actually doing it isn’t the safest way for anyone involved.
It’s been stated before that Krona can’t time travel. There’s probably some kind of range limit as well.
It’s implied that Sydney was dumped some time in the near future, they have the transportation but don’t know quite when to leave, and are waiting on Daphne to get side effects again. Still not clear if Daphne has any idea on the time frame there.
Also, not clear on what would happen if they tried to get there before the events, but it’s well implied that isn’t an option. They definitely are at least a little late. Kind of surprised they aren’t waiting on Dabbler’s ship.
I didn’t actually say time travel – I said Krona could make a wormhole or stargate.
And here we see the beginning of Anvils Cookie Addiction (and nice callback to her original appearance, both in appearance and cookie reference)
Now what do you want to bet Deus has the original of at least one of those?
… One of what? o_O
I’m assuming cookies.
If Dues has a Stargate/Time machine/Infinity gauntlet then either he’s set his ambitions phenomenally low, or Archon has severely underestimated how dangerous he is. If he has and can operate one of those items it’s an automatic “Nuke the site from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure” situation. And the massive civilian casualties? “Collateral damage”
The “Number of the Beast” has been cited to have several origins. And indeed, it is usually given as 666, but in another reference as 616. A favorite theory is that it refers to the Emperor Nero, whose name in Hebrew would be something like Nron Qsr, which, using numerology comes out to 666. A variant, Nro qsr, comes out as 616. Other theories range from references to the Kaballah, to the Babylonian captivity … the Babylonians, unlike pretty much every other human culture, used a base 60 number system (inherited from the Sumerians, apparently). 6 and 12 were mystical numbers to them.
So, 666 has come to have various evil connotations even today. Some places have gone so far as to change road numbers … Rte 666 in one state being changed to a totally different designation to avoid demonic influences.
I think Maxima knows Halo is smart enough and powerful enough to figure out how to try to fight that thing.
The whole trying to arrest it though, that’s pure Sydney, almost nobody else would probably think of that as a viable option.
I think what Maxima might be worried more about is how to get her back to Earth.
Well, at least until Dabbler mentioned that nobody would fight that thing. Maxima is getting a handle on Sydney, and the geek in her knows what kind of geek Sydney is, as well as how distractable she can be.
no shes going to fight that thing … not onl that she’s going to take on the ship it came in, I see it now they get sydney back but she is clad in a outfit made of the hide of the what ill call megabeast for lack of a better term and scraps of ships
Possibly relevant:
https://pm1.narvii.com/6359/7a084ac47fc7a332e4aab1d7d2ac1369485d6bc9_hq.jpg
Math looks weirdly crumpled… I liked him better as blonde Vegeta.
Dabbler you’re good at all but you underestimate just how far Sydney can and will go.
Who else thinks that by the time they show up to bring her back she’ll have already defeated Mecca Squidward and one or two of his cousin’s? show of hands?
well she has to earn her “big guns” nickname somehow .
i can see the rescue ship showing up, they beam down armed for a fight and sydeny is just sitting there in the battle field. she’s looks at them like “you next?” and after they say “they’ll there to help” she gets out “oh good” and passes out.
yeah I can see that happening.
or they come in as sydney is about to deal the fatal blow to squiward and their arrival just makes everyone pause. ensues a moment of staring disbelief.
To be honest, I actually like the battle scene broken up by a vignette here, a vignette there. It was weird when you only had one or two, but with at least three, it makes sense.
Same here
Is it just me or does anvil still look smooshy faced?
Ah, the shirt makes it clear she’s one of those amazingly awful, hypocritical, third wave feminists. Good to know.
oh give it a rest. here is not the place to talk about politics. besides, Dave has already made it pretty clear where max stand on the political spectrum and she isn’t any less awesome because of it.
let me rephrase this. it`s ok to talk about politics but there`s no need to bring in your biased judgement with thinly veiled name calling.
talking about it is good but let`s be respectful nonetheless and don`t do the identity politics game. otherwise you are lowering yourself to the level of those you consider “bad”. be better than those you perceive as bad. judge someone on their words and , more importantly, their actions, not their group.
It might help you to understand that shirts like that are a bit of a tongue-in-cheek joke. A girl doesn’t wear that without being self-aware of the fact that the words help draw eyes to her chest. DaveB already stated that Maxima doesn’t wear that shirt out. I could also see someone buying it for her as a gag-gift, so she may not have bought it for herself.
Feminists can have a sense of humor too, and Maxima relaxes her feminist stance off duty anyway. Strict propriety is part of professionalism for her, so she tries to keep things in line. And she isn’t offended if a guy *notices*, she’s annoyed to offended when they *stare*, which is entirely different.
As a real-life example, on my first date with my now-wife she never caught me looking at her cleavage. Which doesn’t mean I didn’t glance down occasionally, but truly only briefly (and when she was turning away to look at something else) because I was mostly paying attention to *her*, and what we were talking about. That balance between respecting and caring about her while on later dates showing I appreciated her appearance as well is a good part of why we are married now.
Dabbler also meant: “Jabberwokky will be OK, Max. She’s smart, ressourceful and powerful, and it’s not like she’s going to try to fight that magic for an early cure anyhow”
By now I am seriously wondering whether or not the reference I’ve made on page 1 happened on purpose in the comic. It does look like Dabbler is baking something while having that particular hairstyle in order to increase her creativity to the max, so she might find a way to get Sydney back. I.e. she is pretending to be another blue-haired twin-tailed over-the-top-creative baker-girl superhero, a.k.a. the Miraculous Ladybug. Of course she’s also a succubus, so she’s gotta be her naughty self as well, but maybe she’s just using that on the outside to hide her inner innocence. ;-p
She just wants to be “up to the test when things go wrong”.
um, is it just me, but is Dabbler missing her horns in the 2nd panel? she just looks so strange.
Oh, that is Math… I barely recognized him as the art’s changed so much. Tbh, I liked the old art style better but that’s just my opinion.