Grrl Power #717 – The long foot of the law
Phew! Been a while since I drew Max. Luckily I still remember how. When I get to the rest of the team it’s a fair bet I may have to refer to old pages to remember some eye colors here and there. I assume Arianna has blue eyes, but it’s probably best if I check.
As to whatever situation this is, I’m not entirely sure what the deal is, like why Max is soloing this guy. Probably because she’s the fastest mover and she can generally handle stuff without backup, but that’s a combination for falling into a trap, so she tries not to go in without any backup if she can help it. Without Sydney to handle rapid ferrying, the next fastest mode of transport available to them is the Osprey. That’s a lot faster than loading everyone into a convoy of black SUV’s, but still much slower than Max or Sydney’s airspeed. Especially with Sydney’s recent upgrade.
Here’s a random fanart of Pixel, by a guy named FluffKevlar on Twitter. This post is SFW, but a lot of the rest of his feed isn’t, so explore carefully.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
SEEESH, it seems Maxima has taken her frustrations out on poor defenseless villains XD
Hey, when you’re sorried about someone that you care for who is missing & you have no idea what’s happening to them, you just might be the type of person who distracts themselves by getting buried in your work.
…Or in Max’s case, bury someone else in your work…
“You like me! You really really like me…”
Heh.
“Defenseless villains” Heh. Anyone that can take abuse from Maxima and survive is not what I’d call defenseless.
She’s probably rather upset and conflicted as well as feeling guilty about the situation with Sydney.
Until she got the news that Sydney was almost home, she’s probably been straining to hold it together. It’s probably worse because it’s Sydney. Someone she probably thinks of as the only civilian on her team and the one she dragged into it.
We know she has a rather controlled anger issue, and a rampaging idiot at a time like this one is somebody just begging to get slapped around the block a few times.
My big question is will she yell at Sydney before or after she hugs her
Ah – she’s on the job, I see. I’m sure there’s a cool backstory involved in this one…
from the “invasion” comments. I’m guessing it’s something related to either the influx of non-humanoids combined with a conspiracy theorist mentality.
Or just the conspiracy theorist mentality from this yabbo XD
One possible backstory…
Sciona has a number of minions, despite being [mostly] headless for quite a long time and being willing to use up underlings when convenient [a bias that makes it hard to use them again]. She was recently in contact with her home world, and received word that an invasion was on go. So she assigned her minions, including Max’s playmate [did we see him in one of Sciona’s first appearances? seem to remember such], to various tasks to help the invasion. Then she went to recover her toy and do other things without bothering to tell anyone. After she was met with the good guys, the underlings just kept following their orders, which included causing trouble in the case of Mr. Punching Bag.
Yes, 489 seems to be a previous view of Max’s “friend”
Umm, no
A reply of “no” is very unhelpful. One can’t tell what the error is, or who made it. [Since the one saying “no” is mortal, it will sometimes be the denier.] Try to explain why not.
Ouch. NOT the face lift you want to get.
I regret, once again, the fact that this comment board has no ‘like’ or ‘upvote’ buttons.
Some of us have taken to awarding bonuses a la D&D, so… +1 from you, and +1 from me, too. That comment is now rated as a +2 Quip Of FacePalming. (Yes I went there!…It has a lovely view over there.)
(Also, let’s keep this positive…which means negative numbers can only be assigned by DaveB. *ba-dump psssht!*)
The ‘invasion’ presumably being those Alari specters that got sucked through the portal.
Or possibly shapeshifting lizard-people that just want to go surfing.
Or possibly those darn Canadians. They;re nothing but trouble.
They are probably going to burn down the Capitol buildings. Again.
That was not us! That was the British troops that came to help their northern colonies after the invasion by the former colonies. We tried, really we did, but the Canadian militias were overwhelmed in 1812. When the British finally won the Napoleonic wars at Waterloo, Germany, they could send those troops over here to get us out of trouble. The British troops arrived in 1816, helped organize the militia and civilians (who were tired of the American abuses by then) and started pushing the Americans back using superior weaponry, organization and tactics (they learned what they did wrong some 50 years earlier when those guys rebelled in the first place). When the British troops got to Washington, they burned the Presidential Palace, not the Capital Building.
After repairs, the Presidential Palace was painted white, so the building got called the White House, and things around that building have been whitewashed ever since.
Waterloo’s in Belgium, south of Brussels.
And it wasn’t the Americans who beat the British that first time, either.
That was the French.
Exact french fleet end siege of N.Y
A minor technicality.
*paw waves it away, with a cheeky grin*
The action was though carried out on behalf of and in defence of Canadian people, under the protection of the Crown, in support of the former’s ongoing fighting with American troops.
“… in consequence of the late disgraceful conduct of the American troops in the wanton destruction of private property on the north shores of Lake Erie, in order that if the war with the United States continues you may, should you judge it advisable, assist in inflicting that measure of retaliation which shall deter the enemy from a repetition of similar outrages.”
Oh dear god yes, my Canadian relatives go on and on, proud and pleased as punch, that they burned down the White House centuries ago…and these are relatives that live on the West Coast, not the East Coast, and their ancestors came over after 1850, not prior to 1810… Canadians are very proud of having gotten away with burning down the White House.
They’re just a little too polite to try it again, these days.
I wonder if my French Canadian, ancestors, were part of it.
There’s a Toronto Militia unit called The Queen’s York Rangers who were part of that. They’re proud as Punch of it.
nah, that was totally us :D
Better check some dates and facts David. The White House was burned in 1814, before Waterloo (but yes by British veterans of the Peninsular War), and the British didn’t have superior weapons; just better troops. And the USA troops in Canada were at the end of a long logistics train. Things evened up troop and leader quality-wise by 1814-15.
That’s what I get for relying on a faulty memory trying to remember some documentaries that were broadcast in 2012. Live and learn (again).
Hey, be careful there. I resemble that remark! Those people are called snowbirds and many of them will be coming back shortly.
So what do y’all call Texans who Summer up north to escape the Suburbs of Hell?
I doubt it. Maxima starts saying she has friends, she wouldn’t do that if it were aliens or supernatural as that’s still hush hush. This is probably just some regular racist who happens to be superpowered.
Good logic, as that is a state secret. However if he has already observed aliens, ghosts or surfing shapeshifting lizard people, then there is no point for Maxima to be coy.
Mind you it is also wise for her not to specifically say “Alien”, herself. In this age you never know when someone has a mobile phone camera pointed at you.
So Max is able to banter with him, in a way that he will understand, yet will leave plausible deniability in the event of a recording surfacing.
If they were alraedy observerd and reported on TV, this jig is up anyway.
And note that not all of the Alari Souls are nessesarily assholes. We know their Government and Sciona was. But we also know the Refugees were not. There is also a decent chance there is a large Timeskip.
So plenty of opportunity for Maxima to befriend some non-Asshole Alari Souls.
There’s a very, very high likelihood that he simply discovered the other “have been here a long time and am waitressing” alien types, or members of the earthly magic council. Especially combined together with Maxima’s remark of being friends with some of them.
I’m guessing this person saw all those disembodied Alari souls then.
Possibly. But there are actually loads and loads of aliens living in secret on Earth, so there are many potential candidates.
I think Maxima has taken it to be the latter, given that she does have alien friends (Dabbler as a prime example) but probably does not have any Alari ones. Yet.
Plus the fact no-one knows about the Alari-souls, not even Archon
Well we only saw what happened at specific locations, such as on the Alari planet. What else may have occurred on Earth we have yet to find out.
It could have been a scene much like the ghosts attacking New York in Ghostbusters, for all we know at this point.
Unless there was something revealed by Dave in a comment reply. I have not been able to keep up with everything since starting my long shifts.
I went through the beginning of Sydney In Space episode start and noticed that Vale (Deus assistant) inhaled all of the green waves and then took the wormhole creation rod. This was later used to open the portal to the Galactic Hub city by Deus where Sydney met Cora. I presume from Vale acting normal it decided to be dormant or perhaps Vale simply fed off all those souls as she has some deity-tier powers…
Umm, no, that was Valyeur’s true form, not the Alari-cloud
This. Valyeur’s an Eldrich Horror wearing a skin, not a human super.
There ARE rather a lot of them.
Isn’t that the warehouse that was blown up in numerous movies
and serials of the 40s and 50s?
Someone was real lucky to score the rebuilding contract for that one
It turns out to actually be the same one. Alien cloaking technology keeps restoring it to being an undamaged, nondescript, warehouse. But the aesthetics never gets a program patch. Much like the TARDIS.
Minutes before, at the guard shack in front of the warehouse:
Guard on cellphone: “Hi hun. I just called to tell you that I am working the night shift again. Being the new guy here I get the worst work assignments. But at least I have a job now. It’s been a rough few weeks, what with our restaurant being wrecked and all.”
(turns around after hearing a loud noise behind him)
“Oh come on!”
Remember the episode of Gargoyles about the guy who kept getting jobs at places the day Goliath wreck them?
“NOT MY CABBAGES!!”
+1
Remember, that guy founded the company that provided the Equalists weapons like the shock gloves.
I think the first few panels look off. Like you put a photo in and run a few filters over it. The Style is somewhat different.
I think the latter is true, but unlikely the former. Dave was just doing a good job of copying his source images (he uses such for real objects).
In particular Dave is somewhat self-conscious about his skills in drawing backgrounds, and has commented on his desire to improve such.
Although I think Dave is unfairly harsh on himself, as we have seen some great ones, even early on (one of the restaurant interiors springs to mind, as an example).
However he has also used a number of blurred or relatively plain backgrounds. Enough that a fully-featured one like this may seem out of place.
But if (time permitting) Dave does more of these, I think we will get used to them.
In this case it is appropriate, as the warehouse was the initial focus. Much of the time it will not be necessary though, as the characters and foreground action are the things which need detailed attention. I’m fine with background being enough to convey the situation, whilst needing no more.
Although detailed scenery can be lovely, it tends to be appreciated more if it features in special circumstances, such as the initial flying scenes.
I figure this guy just discovered that there are aliens on Earth (probably thanks to recent issues with The Veil) and flipped out.
PS: DaveB, why are the metal bits on Max’s jacket glowing? I’m guessing it’s “because it looks cool” but I figured I’d double check.
Agreed. And very good point mentioning the weakening of the Veil, as being the smoking gun cause.
I concur with your guess about the metal bits glowing looking cool. Dave has used this anime silhouette image, with glowing eyes/glasses, technique before. So the metal glints are likely just an extension of that.
It started when the guy saw someone standing under a lamppost with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. The problem was that due to a flicker in the Veil the person appeared to have the head of a wildebeest.
So it was more of a smoking gnu.
LOL!
Well you know what they say “No gnus is good gnus”.
and groooan again…
He was a firm atheist, but after that he became an a-gnu-stic
“With Gary Gnu.”
groooan…
Aliens Revealed.
Exclusive with Suzie Gnus!
Well, I guess it was gnus to him. I mean that there are gnucomers on earth.
He had a troubled past—he always got nervous when the kids called him gnu gnu head.
I gnu this was going to go on and on.
You think that maybe it’s time someone dropped a gnuke on this thread?
And now we know what Max looks like from the perspective of “she’s standing on my face!”
If she’s STANDING on your face, you’re doing it wrong. ;-D
Unless that’s your kink. We don’t judge.
STOP that, commenters! I SAID WE DON’T</b? JUDGE!!
*Slams a gavel on his desk* KINKY!
Am I supposed to know what’s going on, or is this deliberately context-free?
The author is giving you the opportunity to allow your imagination free reign.
But there are enough clues to allow you to piece together a consistent back-story to this scene.
“Awww, man! I hate it when a scene begins “in medias res”! I never know what’s going on until like two strips later!”
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0551.html
Elan NEVER knows what’s going on!
“Been a while since I drew Max. Luckily I still remember how.”
No offence, but I think that’s debatable.
Compared to the who’s who image, I agree. Unfortunately the art does drift character faces over time. Dave has mentioned this himself about a certain character resistant to change or injury.
I prefer the original style she was drawn though some other characters have improved.
See now this is the one time when it would have been appropriate for the initial commentator to say “First!”
I love how Dabbler still calls Maxima “sexy” even* when it would normally be incongruous.
* especially
Yes surrender surrender is a good choice when those are the two options.
In my readings of history, all over the world & down through time, governments always boild down every decision you make into two choices:
#1: Take this bad thing.
#2: Take this worse thing.
Which brings me to the proven fact of history that government thinks its job is to remove as many of your choices as possible.
That is true of anyone in a abusive situation of power
1) Did they just use a photo of an actual warehouse?
2) Who’s that guy?
3) What invasion?
4) What did anything he said relate to race?
1) Dave does use actual photos as reference material. He is just improving his techniques to the point where they are becoming close to photo-realistic.
2) A villain, who has been on a rampage. No one we have seen before in comic.
3) From the lack of any other context, and Maxima’s reply, we can deduce it to be “the alien invasion”.
4) Maxima will be aware of whatever this guy saw which made him go on a rampage (suggestions so far include seeing Alari souls incoming, and just a weakening of the Veil so he saw other aliens living here)*. Just seeing aliens and concluding that they are thereby invading is a racist assumption based on 50s (and later) fiction, which tends to portray aliens as doing that.
In reality they are just living alongside as as (mostly) peaceful neighbours. **
* Or he could just be nuts and imagining an alien invasion of course.
** Grrl Power reality. Possibly our reality too, if there is a Veil. We would not be able to tell otherwise.
Man the new comment box is tiny! (Is this a browser thing?)
It doesn’t have to be “the alien invasion”. “The vampire invasion”, “the ghost invasion”, the elves invasion”, “the werewolves invasion”, or generally “the supernatural stuff invasion”, all work and would get the same response from Max.
Have I mentioned the new comment box is tiny? Makes it real hard to spell check my comments…
Yea, the input box is ridiculously small and hard to write in (or check what was written before posting). Possibly it may be a browser issue. If so it is worth noting it is affecting me on Chrome in Windows 10.
However be aware that DaveB has been transitioning the website to new code and is fixing issues with that as and when he gets the time. I hope he manages to prioritise this one. Hopefully it should not be too hard to increase the size of a dialogue box.
Although having to take into account mobile devices, and their tiny screens, it is probably not as easy as it may once have been in an all PC/Mac world.
Regarding alternative invasions, I agree, if just looking at non-humans that he may have seen. However we have just switched from an alien-heavy scene, so it is less of a leap for readers to have to take. Likewise there is the poetic aspect of Maxima mentioning her [alien] friends then having one phone up.
Linguistically/culturally though your alternatives do not fit. We do not have a cultural obsession with an “Elf invasion”, so he would know nobody would realise what he was talking about if he said “the invasion is coming”. Rather he would have to say something like “the elves are invading!”
Similarly, for the vampires, werewolves and ghosts, they lack the necessary element of having started somewhere else, in order to have come here to invade.
If you think about it, movies and books tend to use other terms, most commonly “apocalypse” to describe these elements appearing from within our own society.
Whereas google “alien invasion” and you will get a page of highly pertinent results (and even a dedicated wiki page).
It looks the same size on my browser (Firefox on desktop).
The comment box is no smaller than it’s ever been, at least using the IE11 browser
I guess Dave finally got around to fixing whatever the issue was with the comment box size. It seems to be back to its original size and the resizing handle is available once more.
I stand partially corrected. It’s back to normal when using Chrome on a PC Still messed up using the Silk browser.
“2) A villain, who has been on a rampage. No one we have seen before in comic.”
Are you sure? To me he looks like Zvonamir, Sciona’s vampiric henchman. He’s certainly vampire grey, unless that’s supposed to be dust from the rubble. And he would probably be one of the first to know that Sciona was back on Earth.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-489-two-liter-minimum/
Maxi knows Zvon, as he was in the Council Chamber when Sci-fright launched her diversion
But Max doesn’t know he’s in league with Sciona. At the meeting he was just another vampire (and supposedly an ally). He left and didn’t help with the fight, but that was true of most council members. Max doesn’t know that he reported back to Sciona. And in this comic there is nothing to indicate if she recognises him or not: the conversation works either way. If he has been gathering blood for Sciona & Co., that could be seen by Archon / Max as a rogue vamp on a rampage. Whether Max still thinks he’s just been running riot as he thinks the end of the world order is imminent, or has put two and two together and linked him with Sciona is unknown. But she seems to know who he is referring to.
Point being: she still knows who he is, and this ain’t him
He didn’t leave the fight until after it ended (he wasn’t happy that his girlfriend joined in, and gave a Kronachrome a view she didn’t want)
Also if it was him then his rampage would be a Council issue to be handled by their S.V.s, not ARCHON.
Y’know, I was gonna say that Zvonamir of all people wouldn’t have reason to go on a panicked rampage, but…
Yeah, this guy totally looks like Zvonamir. Could be a coincidence, we only get a little view of him that’s not being given a boot-sole facial. Could explain why Max is willing to drop how she has friends who are *** – Zvonamir is already in on that.
But, in terms of motivation maybe he didn’t realize Sciona was going to successfully get the means to open the portal – perhaps he planned to doublecross her (that team seemed a bit lacking in the loyalty department) – or assumed someone else would stop her first. But he’s aware enough to know the Alari souls came through so he panicked.
Going on a rampage seems like a bad way to warn of an impending alien invasion; I guess nobody was taking him seriously via normal channels.
He’s on the damn Twilight Council, he already knows about fucking ‘alien’ sex-tourists
And? There’s a hell of a lot of difference between “A couple of tourists coming in via the normal way (whatever that is)” and “Oh shit a portal opened and a whole bunch of Alari(???) came through”
If this is Zvon, we know he wasn’t THERE when Sciona opened the portal. But it’s fair to assume he knows Sciona intended to invade. So he’s taking some subset of information we have, concluding that in spite of other expectations Sciona succeeded. Since those who can act, aren’t, he may be panicking.
Heck, maybe he’s trying to break the weakened veil because he thinks it’s concealing an invasion in progress. That could even be a good reason for a rampage of some flavor.
That’s just assuming the marked similarity between boot-facial guy here and Zvonamir is intentional, of course.
That would also explain why she seems willing to talk to him about aliens.
That would be interesting, considering that the last we saw of him (490 or thereabout) he was about to get drained to power the golem which attacked them outside her warehouse. That might not have killed him, but I doubt he would have had enough left to get away before they got there.
Plus the hair looks different…
re: 3) We don’t know that it’s a space alien invasion. Unless the existence of aliens has been declassified I doubt Max would be talking about it.
I think I remember seeing that warehouse a number of times when I watched this show; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOLGrXOtuwQ
Awww, Max and Dabbler are friends.
But without benefits.
Sydney should get a point for surviving grakz. Why is maximas hair flying like that.
Zero point TK, she can make anything she touches float however she wants.
No under-wire needed.
Blow-back from the building collapse.
Assume that just before panel 7 she was flying. In panel 7, she’s just landed on the guy’s face, so her hair is still streaming out above her. Then in the next panel, it’s starting to settle down.
So…. how long has Sydney been gone?? That’s a LOT of hair growth on Maxima since the last time we saw her. At least a year’s worth… if not a year and a half.
Judging by the constellation drift, I would say it has been a while.
Umm, no, her hair has always been that long
Going back to what I think was Maxima’s last appearance, her hair was a bit below the shoulder.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-666-demon-stuff/
Her hair could be a little longer now, but it’s hard to tell.
Can’t really make a judgement on Maxima’s hair length given the two headshots don’t show how far it falls past her shoulders and the shot of the full body shot has her leaning forward which would give the impression of her hair being longer than we’ve seen before. We’d need a chest up view of her, standing up to make the call.
Now I’m wondering how Max ever manages to cut her hair. Does Archion have some sort of tacheon laser cutter?
Maybe she now goes to the Barberian to have her hair done. He mentioned having diamond shears and super strength. That would do the trick.
Well according to Sydney it has been a few days, but according to spacetime relativity it might have been longer for everyone else
Long enogh on Earth that Deus could get his energy towers up nd running when at leasat one of them was still under construction a day or two after Sydney got lost.
” … Amputate your face with my fist.”
Reminds me of what I’d threaten ne’er do wells at the club where I worked as the Doormonster.
” If you make me lose my place in this book; I’m going to stab you with a cricket bat.”
“You really don’t want me to have to ‘bounce’ you. You will literally bounce on the pavement.”
Some bars on Pratchett’s Discworld employed Trolls as “splatters”: The people whom they threw out didn’t ‘bounce’…
Splatters are just like bouncers, but they use more force.
Heh, we actually used to have a friendly competition on who could get the most “skips” when tossing someone out who’d actually gotten to the point in which we needed to get physical.
“Nope! That one didn’t count! He hit the parking meter.”
Had to do a double take to realise that this WASN’T a “danger room” training session so Maxima could work out her frustrations.
I wonder how Max is going to react AFTER debriefing Syd and hearing all she’s been up too.
Not to mention the new alien BF in tow.
(He followed me home Max, can i keep him?)
Copious comfort foods and even more COPIOUS adult beverages. Then much risky life behavior like “petting wild hippopotamuses IN the Nile” etc. Until the upset is done. Oh, yelling until Sydney is weeping is also an option.
Dabbles should be in charge of the “debriefing”, she’s has more practice.
She would wonder why they stopped at the briefs…
“Hello, Sydney, I’ll be in charge of your welcome-back stripping.”
“It’s ‘debriefing’… AND, you’re already naked!”
“Yeah, but you’re not. C’mere.”
Everyone is going on about aliens but might I offer a slightly less crackpot (but still jackass) theory? (Even if aliens are real and known to a select few in the setting.)
Immigrants. He’s one of those idiots thinking all the immigrants are an invasive force and used as an excuse to riot and break things.
Just wait till Sydney disembarkes with a small hord of immigrants/ asylum seekers in front of him.
Him? She’s not that small chested!
The ‘him’ Faust was talking about is the ‘him’ that Maxi is about give a facelift to with her fists
Is it just me, or does that guy look ‘non-Earthican’ to anyone else? o_O
The only thing ‘off’ about him to me is his skin color, which could be a side effect to his super power. So no, I’m not getting a ‘not from Earth’ kind of vibe from him.
Skin colour and eyes
The only thing that seems ‘off’ about him to me is his skin color, which might be a side effect of his super power. So no, I don’t get a ‘not from Earth’ kind of vibe from him.
Previous reply didn’t show up even after a few refreshes so I wrote it again only to find both went through…
You sure it’s not just bruising and dirt?
Cutting things off with a blunt object is ever a serious threat. During an RPG session in the 90’s, the Game Master rolled up a weapon called “Elf-Hewer” which was then determined to be a dwarven war hammer. I burst into laughter as the image of elves being sliced with cuts as wide as a hammer head. Truly a thing to be feared.
It would work like a golf club taking a ball off a tee.
If everything metallic on Maxima is reflecting a light source, Maxima’s skin should really be reflecting the light source too.
Drama lighting! The only thing known to darken Maxima’s skin!
Mmm, that fan-pic of Pixelicious is tasty :D
Don’t they have an other flyer faster than the Osprey? What about Hiro or Jiggawatt?
The context, in Dave’s blog, is aerial transport. Which would rule out Jiggawatt completely, as she turns herself into lightning. So although she is fast she would not be able to carry a squad with her.
Good call on Hiro though, he is both fast, strong and capable of self-defence. Carrying a coach load of reporters demonstrates his capability nicely. He probably slipped Dave’s mind when typing that out.
Forgivable mind, as the above comic is clearly an extra length one, and very detailed, so he was probably shattered after a marathon drawing session.
Although it may be that his top speed is below that of the Osprey. Although it looks like a helicopter its design also allows it to fly at the greater speeds that fixed wing aircraft can achieve. Hiro only has three star flight speed, so if an Osprey either has either 4 star flight or top end 3 star it will be faster than him.
Especially if he has to use the harness to carry vehicles. That will not be an aerodynamic flight profile (barring a specifically designed vehicle or maybe a glider for him to tow) so his carrying flight speed may be well below his solo top speed.
But Hiro could go off in a blink, while the Osprey… er… how long does it take to start an Osprey again? A few minutes maybe?
No longer than it takes to load a squad of troops, starting from sitting around in the common room.
Note we very rarely see Peggy chilling out with the others. I guess her default duty station is close to the Osprey, so that she can be prepping it for flight even as the team assemble.
Plus why have a heavily burdened Super Hiro approximating Osprey performance, when you can have an independently piloted Osprey, with him flying escort at full unencumbered speed? That strikes me as the more desirable option.
Whereas both Maxima and Sydney can safely carry a troop vehicle far faster than either of those options and have ranged attacks to help shoot down incoming missiles or other attackers.
As I recall, Max said Hiro could break the sound barrier in a dive. So he’s about 2½ times as fast as the Osprey. Still, if Max had to fly coast to coast to get to this scene, he would’ve been left far behind (especially since we still don’t know her top speed).
Jigawatt can travel fast by cloud-jumping in lightning form, but perhaps only locally. Maybe traveling long distances is too tiring for her?
I like that Maxima seems to admit that Dabbler is her friend, even if she only does it when Dabbler can’t hear. (However, it’s rude how she hung up on her.)
Ooh, good of you to remember that! I’d forgotten it, myself! +1
Here is a shout out to a trans-Atlantic hero.
Sydney had better be careful using that speed upgrade in populated areas- there’s a reason the concord mostly stuck to trans-oceanic flights.
The one she just learnt about (i.e. how to make proper use of the Aetherium Causeways) bypasses the problem of sonic booms, by allowing Sydney to simply disappear in New York and arrive in London, without travelling over any populated areas or the Atlantic.
This assuming that it is precise enough to allow travel on such small scales. I suspect that it will only operate across interstellar (or at least interplanetary) distances.
Agreed to the second part- if the causeways could be used on a short scale it would effectively be the equivalent of teleportation, and we already have a character that does that.
I could easily see them having a minimum-use distance of 1 AU or something like that, justified by whatever techno-magic jargon you need to explain it (“at less than one AU the causeway’s radial curve will be to tight and it risks folding back on itself, creating a loop, which I’m sure everyone here understands why that’s awful and should never be allowed, without the need for further explanation*”) etc etc etc. It would be like trying to board a jet air-liner to run down to the corner store for milk.
*it creates miniature black holes
It would kinda suck to accidentally break every window for 50 miles in every direction.
Not that big a problem since she can leave the atmosphere – accelerate and and move over her destination – then come back down.
Is that not how the Fantastic Four’s Pogo Plane operated, back in the old silver age comics?
Probably still the best option for her – we have no idea yet how the causeway would handle differences in atmospheric conditions. Personally I would recommend testing it on Mars or something where creating a continent-spanning hurricane isn’t going to ruin a lot of people’s day.
Yes, definitely. I remember reading somewhere (XKCD, probably) that if you opened up a portal between Mexico City (approx. 10,000 ft. elevation) and NYC (sea level), that the difference in air-pressure would create jet-engine force winds.
I need this bundled up in comic form now…
I suggest Dave ship it with a box of tissues.
There are some very sad scenes, such as when Sydney died
That last panel is the anthem of the series.
Extreme negotiation techniques can be useful to minimise casualties. Political correctness is for armchair commentators who are not in life or death situations.
OK in this case it is the villain’s life who is at risk, if he chose to keep on fighting. But it is Maxima’s responsibility to preserve even villains’ lives. Which (along with potential civilian casualties) takes precedence over asking politely.
Plus super hero comic. A dramatic line is called for rather than a mundane “surrender or I fire” (which would not actually be appropriate in this circumstance anyhow).
“Extreme negotiation techniques” such as in The Fifth Element?
Send in the Negotiator!
*Bang!*
Anyone else want to negotiate?
*wags tail happily*
Surrender or I will be forced to disarm you. And then disleg you.
Is Archon technically military or law enforcement, and do they have to follow the ‘Miranda’ rules?
:-D
Both. They are specifically military tasked with law enforcement roles. Which makes them subject to all the rules of both. Any protections granted to civilians against police apply against them too, as an example. So miranda would be applicable.
Colourful language aside though (forgivable for super hero comic banter), Maxima has given a warning to cease violent activity on penalty of death. Which Miranda does allow for someone going on a deadly rampage.
“Read them their Miranda Rights.”
“This is Miranda. Miranda is a psychic weasel. You have the right to remain silent. It won’t matter, Miranda will peal your brain like a grape and squeeze out the juicy details. Everything you know will be used.”
“You have the right to an attorney. Miranda will check him for details as well. If you cannot afford an attorney, sorry, the ACLU has successfully argued that assigning one to you is hazardous to its constituency, so tough luck.”
“Miranda can see that you understood these rights while your mind was still unshattered.”
He he.
Yea some super (or sci fi) settings do go down this kind of route. Quite how they envisaged getting from our current state of affairs, to a society where that had been accepted as fine, tends to either be paw-waved away or follow a pretty unrealistic route.
I wonder if maybe the Veil outright failed while Syd’s been away…
Ooh, interesting possiblity. Not necessary for this scene to work mind. As another commentator pointed out above, even a partial failure (which we know to be happening) could have revealed enough alien (or other) activity to freak this guy out.
I was wondering about the Veil as well.
I wonder what kind of communication is used between Dabbler and Cora, I mean they travel much faster than light speed already.
FTL sexting.
Radar Love.
She been flyin’ all night her hands hot on the Woof
fury , cunniwinguf…
Dabbler has admitted she has a lab on her spaceship up in orbit, from which she teleports whatever gear or gizmo she needs. If she can teleport that, then it’s possible she can teleport herself, or she can create a magical portal over a relatively short distance. (Remember, to get into low earth orbit, you only need to go up to an elevation of about 100 miles to 1,240 miles above sea level. (Medium orbit is 1,240 miles to 22,236 miles, and above that is either geosynchronous orbit, or leaving orbit entirely.) It’s obvious starships can pop from system to system within a specific “short” distance (in galactic travel values), even if it takes an Aetherium Causeway to travel much, much faster (in terms of time spent traveling) between two distant points…so popping gear or a person a distance of a mere handful of tens of thousands of miles should be captain’s play. (I’d say child’s play, but children aren’t allowed to operate starships, as per the Xevoarchy’s policy on licensing and authorization standards.)
I don’t recall* it being specified that Dabbler’s lab was on her ship, or that her ship was in orbit or even on Earth. She may not have even come in her own ship, maybe she just uses Galactic Uber (GUBER).
* and am certainly not going to hunt the archives right now for all mentions
Agreed. In fact there is a strong implication that Dabbler’s lab is within Archon HQ, given that she mentions tinkering with her devices, yet we never see her travelling out of the HQ, other than when on a mission.
Of course if she is teleporting that might explain it. But I doubt that, if only for the fact that teleporting is Harem’s thing and Dabbler already has a shed-load of other powers.
Finally Dabbler went to lengths to indicate to Sydney that the only way she would be able to teleport gadgets to her hand was to replace her arm with a cybernetic prosthetic. Kind of implying that the teleportation machinery needs to either be bigger than, or at least about the same size, as the object being teleported.
In other words Dabbler would need to carry around a teleportation booth big enough to climb in, as an estimate. Rather limiting its functionality in the field. Although being pretty useful if being carried in some other vehicle, such as an osprey or the Halomobile.
Does Archon have a ‘collateral damage’ fund to reimburse the owners of the property that is damaged in their day to day (or night to night) activities?
Now that they are public as a government agency, do taxpayer dollars pay for it, or will insurance companies need to start offering ‘acts of super’ insurance? I would hate to see the policy rates for areas like Tokyo or Manhattan. Those places ALWAYS get hit.
I hope the author can remember how to draw the other characters…!
P.S.
Nice to see that Cora brought Sydney home…
Love Max’s face in the two close-up panels! I also love that Dabbler has no problems calling her commanding officer “sexy.” ;)
Threatened Face Fisting? Cue up “Batmetal!” (The song is called “Face Fisted”)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qatmJtIJAPw
Hm, there’s also Hiro as a flier- not quite as fast, but second-quickest. So I guess they might work as a duo if there’s a need for longer-distance response…?
I like that Maxima doesn’t even bother objecting to Dabbler calling her “sexy” over comms anymore.
Can someone point out the racist part said by the villain? I don’t see it anywhere on the page. Or is Maxima just being dumb?
Assuming that the aliens he’s (probably legitimately) run across are here to invade, I think.
We’re choosing to assume the guy discovered the presence of extraterrestrial life on Earth. In which case the racist part would be assuming that if they’re here, they must be an invasion force.
It happened off-screen, just before the BOOM that started this page.
I second all three of the previous replies as valid options. CosmicPlatonix matching my own preferred interpretation the closest. This because we know that none of the aliens currently present are conducting an invasion. Whilst Sciona was planning such, on behalf of her people, they are all dead now. Meanwhile the vast majority of aliens on Earth are peaceful law abiding individuals who would far rather visit a night club or national park than mount a military intervention.
There’s a slim possibility he’s just bat-shit crazy, and is referring to Canadians crossing the northern border?
Dave, I was looking at the page on my iPad in Safari on iOS 12, and there’s no comment box or link to comments at all. You might want to test that yourself.
I have thought that more than once, for a moment or two, simply because I was expecting the comment box to be below the name/email boxes. Not to mention being a lot smaller than before.
Just mentioning that in case it was off the top of your screen, or otherwise positioned somewhere you may not have expected to find it.
Looks like the link and the comments number are there now, I did multiple refreshes this morning and they weren’t there, now all is right with the page.
I have also noticed the Comments(num) tag at the top missing when I first load the page. I was going to prev page and back or went to achieves and took the forward navigation button item and then it show up like 90% of the time.
I have not poked at it to pinpoint the issue. (Firefox – current)
Maybe this sort of thing wouldn’t happen if you didn’t mark the existence of aliens CTS while letting the well-connected ship off often enough for alien mallrats to know our species on sight.
…am I the only one who thought at first that was Deus?
“… the well-connected ship …”?
Not sure which one that is? If you are referring to Cora’s that does not even have humans on board. And Dabbler had briefed Cora on Sydney, in order to find her. So there was no need for Cora to have ever been to Earth before (although nothing to indicate that she has not).
Deus did not spring to my mind. Although, now that you mention it, I can see how you could have gotten there.
I’d venture to guess that Cora already having a preprogrammed human disguise among her holosuit’s options means she has been to Earth a time or two.
I think “well-connected” “ship off” in Raen’s post meant “Priveleged Class of people” and “travel”. I may be wrong.