Grrl Power #781 – Iconic
This page was inspired largely by a comment someone left waaaaay long ago saying they thought it was odd that Sydney received her own superhero logo with zero fanfare. I agreed, but wherever the comic was at that point, the moment had passed. I guess someone handed her the shirt one day and just said “here, wear this.”
As far as the rest of the page goes, it’s just shop talk. They’ve expanded from comics and the odd collectible into a full blown nerd emporium. Tabletop games, RPG, miniatures, CCGs, genre relevant novels, puzzles, etc.
Also, the previous page, as much as it showed, was only half of the one room. Joel and co. haven’t figured out what to do with the balcony area yet, but there are a bunch of other rooms in the building they’re planning on using for tabletop gaming and other CCG tournaments and other stuff. I originally had written the page after this one as a bit of a tour of the building, but realized it was a weird page as it was informative but not especially entertaining.
Joel glazes over Archon’s stake in the store, and Arianna’s contribution to the rapid nature of the purchase of the new property, all the moving, the window, all that stuff. Arianna’s not trying to take over the business, but she recognizes that Sydney’s store is going to become a bit of a mecca for superheroes one way or another.
I added a PNG of the stained glass panel to DA.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. 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.
By the way, I think you drew the window mirrored in this page. I imagine that’s a thing that will happen often.
It SHOULD be mirrored from inside the building. The first time we saw it was from the outside.
(On the previous page, the “projection” of the window on the floor is backwards from what it should be, however. The Flight Orb in the figure’s hand is on the left side of the window outside, the right side on the inside window, and should be on the left side of the projection.
I think more the problem is that the projection is upside down when it shouldn’t be. Since it’s a window, not a lens, light would draw a straight line from the sun, through the glass, and onto the floor. Syndey’s head should still be at the top. If you were to rotate the projection 180 degrees, that would fix the problem with the orbs being on the wrong side too.
It’s not upside down, it’s just been flipped: the blue ball in her right hand from the outside was in her left hand on the floor
Sydney entered from the front of the old church, the glass window was at the back, and this page they are looking towards the back
Yeah. It’s correct here, but flipped from what it should be on the previous page.
Im betting the T Shirt was Ariannas idea, if she was wearing her own superhero symbol, she wouldn’t be wearing potentially offending What Would Deadpool Do T Shirts.
She can do two things.
This, absolutely! And she was thinking of merch from basically word one of Halo joining. I loved what she thought of Halo having so many orbs. “Just three words; ‘Collect Them All.'”
Arianna was thinking of merch from basically word one of joining. I mean, technically, she was thinking of merch before that, just not in connection with Archon, because she wasn’t involved in Archon and probably didn’t know it was about to be a thing.
Was i the only that thought like halo that the short was a sports brand!
Short i meant shirt. Sorry I have a kindle fire and I still have to teach it how to spell because if I don’t pay attention to the auto correct it will put the word spelled closest to the word i taught it in it’s dictionary
Took me till, well… Monday!
It took me quite some time to realize that it was a symbol for her – I want to say it was a few hundred pages.
She used to have the Whataburger logo.
Nope. It’s Wonder Woman back when DC made the wonderwoman logo, I think it was admitted ( or claimed)at the time that it was partly inspired by the yellow, gold and red buildings of some of the Wienerschitsels hotdog stands and partly by nasas Worm font and other similar fonts. See cover of Wonder Woman 288 cover. And for the record, at the time Capital records had a better trademark infringement against both DC Comics and Whataburger, although in whataburgers case it would have beenthrough EMI.
Joel looks a bit worn? I wonder what his time has been like, been worrying? or?
I’d assume that, since Arianna told Sydney that Archon had “taken care of” her missing work, rent payments, etc., that Archon had given Joel an unclassified version of what was going on (something like Sydney’s on a mission, no civilian contact, hush-hush, she’ll be back in a couple of months; in the meanwhile, how can we help with any business needs you have going on?).
So the worn-thin would probably be mostly from being so packed with customers that they get complaints about parking lot overflow, even though they inherited a parking lot big enough for a congregation from the former church.
If experience in Church maintenance and management taught me anything, it is that the parking lot was only designed for heavy traffic once or twice a week. So they might need to look into upgrading and expanding it at some point.
Most Church parking lots are designed with the expectation that very few vehicles will only have one occupant, rather most will bring in an average of 3 people (more if the congregation is younger and has more children). IE, smaller than the needs of a business where most vehicles will average 1.25 people.
They will probably need to put in a more commercial grade parking lot.
Interesting! I’ve often idly wondered what dictated the size of parking lots at different establishments.
Sometimes I imagined they would pick the smallest size to laugh at people performing car-tetris (smash 5, get impounded). I never really considered the number of occupants per vehicle.
Believe it or not in many places it’s part of the Zoning requirements in many cities. And to be blunt, originally many of those zoning requirements had no basis in reality, many were fairly arbitrary, and were subject to change based on who was in charge. I remember at one point in Lee’s summit they abruptly informed business owners they would have to start eliminating parking for full sized vehicles and vans over the next 5 years with most parking to be converted to compact car size or motorcycles only (Including Sonic and car dealerships) and include physical barriers to prevent large cars from trying to use 2 slots, or placing additional car stops to shorten existing parking slots
In other citys. The land owner all too often tried to get around this by making the slots too narrow mostly so they can say yes we met the minimum parking requirements.
One other point with churches, all to often the Parking lot is originally laid out for a smaller congregation, and either the church expands, to adds a school, often both, they also often have a peak traffic inflow and outflow that is Not during rush hour.
Just as a side note, ARCHON does have access to Dabblers science goodies, so while it doesn’t help with the size of the parking lot (atm, until she makes a floating garage) the wear & tear aspect is not as bad as you would imagine with even a tiny bit of help for constuction
Only when she’s present, after all she does have s not sharing her tech thing going on. And realistically what we seen of her tech so far is at best a rail gun, bondage grenades, a tickle laser, and a sword …. not really useful for dealing with a shop. Also the main point of using the ex church was probably to deal with the parking problem they had at the original shop…
her bondage grenade is made from materialsrated for towing asteroids. (To be fair, so is tissue-paper, if you pull really really lightly, you just need to pull for long enough)
Her tickle laser sounds like a non-lethal takedown tool.
Her rail gun is for decommissioning satellites.
She could likely help with devising optimal parking layouts and do a quick pass with other tools to ensure rain-water flows away from the building. All while installing something harmless looking that has an awkward explanation…
Ok what part of her saying she’s not sharing her tech on three separate occasions did you not understand.
Secondly work the hell could you install something that is Harmless looking and that somehow no one will notice? It’s literally a comic book store for Supers or at least one super who has mcguffins of indescribable power that the public already knows about. Odds It’s ALREADY under 24 hour observation by fans and the usual conspiracy theorist nut jobs and flat earthers and so on out there, never mind these guys…https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-186-fingers-to-maximum-steepleage/ or country’s who don’t have a Dabbler as a “naturalized citizen”, or even “friendly country’s” hell Dabler probably even has to be worried about the Americans spying on her!
Also the Author kind of doesn’t like the trope of Reed Richard is supposedly a billionaire from all of his science…. but somehow despite all of the new toys he had and showed almost every issue….the only one in Daily use is unstable molecules…and even that was limmited.
So realistically, we get to see, but not touch her toys.
Not sharing her tech is not the same thing as working with the tech they already have
Remember, she’s working with Gadget on, well, gadgets
Mind you, we’ve pretty much only seen her tech for combat situations. We’ve seen nothing of her material fabrication tech, but we know she has some, as she’s mentioned scheduling supplies to be made with it. I would expect that her tech is her own would only apply to her actual gadgets and advanced materials, not necessarily retro things she made with them.
That having been said, due to her tech rules, for her to help out with the parking lot wear and tear, she’d need to be making the lot using materials that are already commonplace here. She could assist with selecting the parking lot materials that actually work best for the situation they are in, rather than just going by marketting and price points. But I’d expect having her actually paving the lot would be more expensive than it was worth by several orders of magnitude.
A super with the right power set might be more useful there. It’s unclear if Concretia would be useful or if her powers just give her a way of being the kind of helping that we could all do without re the parking lot. However, there’s some super somewhere who could do parking lot repair quicker and cheaper than the alternative.
They are unlikely to be interested in passing on that savings, however. “You’d hire a construction crew consisting of ten people, using heavy equipment you’d need to rent, to do this without me. I can do it in a tenth the time they can, I expect that will be worth you paying me what you’d pay them. At least.”
Doesn’t look much different (artist style notwithstanding) from the last time we saw him
Unless Sydney is an idiot, none of the mergers or loans Joel made without her knowledge or approval should have been possible. Her signature would/should have been required on loan papers and any adjustments in the ownership of a company in which she was a part-owner.
If Sydney gave Ariana power of attorney over her privately held business, she is an idiot. And if Ariana had that authority and did these things without consulting with Sydney, and when Sydney’s alive/dead status was not even known, Sydney should fire her immediately.
I’m sure that all of this will be brushed under the rug with some sort of “can’t argue with success” BS*. Or just not touched on at all in this supposed slice of life comic. Because I’ve lost all faith in the author being capable of writing anything other than superficial jokes and sexy-times stories. Sydney has just been informed exactly how much of her personal agency has been completely removed from her, and she’s more concerned about the logo on her shirt. Yeah.
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* How many rock stars were robbed blind by their managers while they thought that everything was going great? How many more had people with power of attorney buy crappy investments for them which became worthless? No sane person allows someone that much authority over their income, their private business, or their bank accounts.
Rather than Ariana, my guess is that Joel is the one with all this authority. Sydney is “part owner” but nobody said she was an equal partner. If Joel owns the majority of the business, he could well have authority to make financial and management decisions on his own. I mean, for all we know they’re organized as a corporation and he owns 75% of the stock.
Sydney is an idiot. We already know from the beginning that she has so little involvement with actually running the business she didn’t know they were a few months from bankruptcy. Quite likely, the company is actually an 1120S Corp, just so Joel could keep Sydney from doing something stupid. If Sydney is not the designated signer on the paperwork, she has bupkiss to do with any of this.
For that matter, regardless of how the business is structured, if a partner is unavailable to attend to business (unless they have someone with their power of attorney who can) the other partner exercises all rights and shoulders all responsabilities persuant to the partnership. It doesn’t matter if that partner is insane, in a coma or missing, as long as they aren’t declared dead the available partner has control. And they have to do this without accessing funds belonging to the unavailable partner, which usually means that unless they can somehow delay disbursement of those funds the business goes under. And they’re still going to owe the unavailable partner their share of any profits plus any salary they would normally draw.
Been there, seen that, watched the available partner take the “bullet” and helped close down the business. The unavailable partner actually comes out better financially than the available partner, though everybody loses. If Archon wasn’t backing them up, this wouldn’t be a new store, it’d be a train wreck.
Sydney is clearly not an idiot, as such. She has a severe attention deficit disorder, combined with hyperactivity, which isn’t remotely the same thing as being stupid. (My son is in the same place: Genius level IQ combined with AHDH.)
In fact, you have to be pretty smart to be successful in life despite having such a handicap.
Sid can’t fire Arianna. If Joel is CFO (all the paperwork) of the company and Sid is CEO (visionary leadership) , then it could be fine.
Actually, the mergers without her approval ARE possible if Joel was given power of attorney for making business decisions, or if Sydney was unable to attend the meeting for certain reasons. Being trapped 700 light years away on a planet with giant kaiju monster which might have killed her for 2 months in Earth time…… is an accceptable reason for Joel to be able to make business decisions without his business partner.
Not to mention that I would not be surprised if according to their business agreement, that Joel is the one responsible for making the business decisions in general even if they’re equal partners. For example, my brother runs a few medical practices with other physicians, but he’s the one who does most of the business decisions, while the other doctors tend to only do their individual medical duties. If one of them went on vacation for months, and was not able to be communicated with during those months, it would be untenable for him to not be able to make any business decisions while that partner was on vacation and absent.
Or think of it like a corporation. IF you own stock in a corporation, you’re ‘part owner.’ But when the board makes decisions, if you do not send in your proxy vote, then they can still make decisions without your say so.
I’ll admit to not being fully conversant with the legal particulars. The only business I’ve ever run was an LLC with a single employee, me. That was so I could ply my trade as a consultant while protecting my personal assets from potential lawsuits by hypothetical unhappy customers. Which never came up, but the hassles of filing quarterly and etc. were worth it just as car insurance is worth it even if you never get in an accident. But I digress…
Sydney was away for ~2 months. That period of time seems to be rather short for two mergers, a move, and a name change all done without one of the partners being present. Hell, it seems to be short even with both partners available and happy with the process. The cover story was that Sydney was unavailable due to training, and I’m going to hazard a guess that breaking that cover for a business partner wasn’t going to happen, because secrets which are shared quite often are no longer secrets. So all that bit about Sydney being “trapped 700 light years away” blah blah would/could never have been used by Joel as an excuse to be able to make a pile of rush changes to a business he is only a part owner of without any input from the other part owner.
And as for Ariana arranging it somehow, I’ll just call bullshit on that. Just turn on the fridge logic light for a minute and watch all the cockroaches scurry about:
Sydney was MIA;
Archon didn’t know if she was alive or dead;
The last they had seen her she was left behind with an attacking alien civilization destroyer which the entire group was fleeing from;
Usually when five people run from a fight and one is unable to get away, things don’t turn out very well for the one who has to fight the thing that all five had decided to run away from.
Making the assumption that she was alive and setting up a new place of business with a huge stained glass image of Sydney seems optimistic in the extreme, foolish and reckless about the feelings of her survivors if she turns out to be dead (“You knew she could be dead, and you still did this!?! *Points to the 30′ tall stained glass Sydney* You bastards!”) and just an all around bad idea on so many levels. Just some really poorly thought out writing here.
They did know that she was alive when they last saw her, and they had nearly two months to arrange for someone to show up at the same time as Maxi and co left. They knew Mr Buble could keep Sydney save for a short time, plus fairly sure Sydney would run and hide somewhere rather than pick a fight (they don’t know her that well, obviously)
What the group was really running for, was the fact the portal home was closing, and they had no idea where they were (and didn’t know it was also a matter of ‘when’ until they got home)
Again, for the two months she was ‘gone’ they knew she was alive because she, technically, didn’t exist for those two months
” That was so I could ply my trade as a consultant while protecting my personal assets from potential lawsuits by hypothetical unhappy customers”
That is the main benefit of a Limited Liability Company :)
“Sydney was away for ~2 months. That period of time seems to be rather short for two mergers, a move, and a name change all done without one of the partners being present.”
Considering Archon likely has a team of lawyers, and Sydney and Joel either had a normal partnership or an LLC (like you) or an LLP, it actually wouldnt take that long to merge with two other comic book stores, especially since they were also either single proprietorships (which would make things really easy and fast) or LLCs of their own (which again would be pretty quick). Part of the reason people form LLCs instead of corporations or S-Corps is beacuse of how easy (and quick) it is to form one. Usually the longest period of time is the publishing the notice (and that’s not even a requirement in most states – only a requirement in NY and AZ, and i don’t think Sydney lives in either of those states based on the land environment in past strips). Everything else – creating the operating agreement, filing the articles of organization (or cerficates of formation, depending on the state you’re in), choosing the name of the LLC and filing it with the Secretary of State’s office, etc, would take almost no time at all – especially if you have a competent lawyer (and Arianna most definitely would be a competent lawyer). Two months is more than enough time. Especially if Joel is an equal partner and Sydney is not able to be reached. If she wanted to sue over it, she could. I doubt Sydney is going to sue Joel and Archon over this. It might even be somewhere in her contract that Archon would be able to get a small share in her business in exchange for being able to sell official Archon merch there (which Arianna did mention earlier in the comic).
“And as for Ariana arranging it somehow, I’ll just call bullshit on that.”
I would literally be able to form an LLC for a client in well under two months in any state except New York or Arizona (because of the publishing notice of the LLC requirement in those two states). And Sydney did sign a contract with Archon which did include, in the contract, how merchandising would work. And I would not be even remotely surprised if Joel had a limited power of attorney in respects to the store, which would make things even easier.
“Archon didn’t know if she was alive or dead;”
They were pretty certain that she was alive. They just had no idea that she was going to FIGHT those things – they expected her to hide and evade. (Strip #666) Also they were aware that, for her, it would only be a few hours before Cora’s ship got to Alari Prime, not months (most of the rest of the time she was gone was spend flying back on Cora’s ship, at which point they knew for a fact that Sydney was alive).
“Making the assumption that she was alive and setting up a new place of business with a huge stained glass image of Sydney seems optimistic in the extreme, foolish and reckless about the feelings of her survivors if she turns out to be dead”
Not to sound heartless, but either way, Arianna had a pretty airtight excuse. If she was alive, it’s in keeping with the merchandising agreement that Sydney signed to be able to use her image to sell Archon merch. If she was dead, total ownership or Sydney’s share in the business revert to Joel, who could have then agreed to Arianna’s ideas for the store in exchange for Archon getting them additional funds for the expansion of the business (plus tie-ins with the rest of Archon for signings and meets, even in the event of Sydney’s demise).
Either way, it’s actually not poorly thought out, and makes sense from a business perspective (and a legal perspective). It’s a win-win situation for Archon (although Sydney being alive is obviously the bigger win, which they already knew within about 5 or so hours (the time Sydney was on Alari Prime + on The Fracture, before Cora found her – the next 2 days were Sydney being flown back).
I’m confused by what appears to be your need to be didactic when all you’re really doing is repeating exactly what I said in the part of my post that you quoted…
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Re: The two months time to accomplish 2 mergers, a business move including fairly major renovations at the new site, a merchandising agreement, figuring out which employees would be retained and which let go, changes in the prior business agreement between Joel and Sydney to include the owners of the merges stores, and etc. I still call bullshit.
You might be able to get all that paperwork done within two months, assuming you’ve got all your ducks in a row and Sydney’s signature isn’t required since she is absent. But the physical and personal aspects will slow things down. Those other two shops? You’re asking them to become aware that they are going to be driven out of business and make the decision to merge within an almost impossible time frame. One or both of them could easily think that their downturn would be temporary, and would reverse itself once things calmed down. Two months time isn’t much to draw a trend from, after all. They could have emotional ties to their shop, or play hardball with the amount of ownership they get in the merged business. Especially if any of them are more experienced businesspersons than Sydney and Joel appear to be, why shouldn’t they get a more active role with a commensurately higher share? Etc.
Now, my experience is almost entirely with government agencies as my clients, and I know that the government moves much slower than a private enterprise can. But I have been employed in companies which went through mergers, bankruptcies, and major reorganizations. And I know that two months is still asking the impossible as a time frame for all that supposedly took place.
Re: Sydney’s status
Yes, they of course knew she was alive when they last saw her as the portal closed. But no, they had no real expectation that she could survive. The kaiju had already stressed her shield more than it had ever been stressed before, and they knew this. And they could have no real knowledge an only pure hope that Sydney could “hide and evade” against a civilization ending menace. She was alone, as a raw recruit, on an alien world, being attacked by things that made the whole team run. That ship wrecked the home world of a race which was said to have an empire, so the odds of one inexperienced girl surviving against that would upon any rational examination appear to be slim to none. Or Maxima wouldn’t have had so many sleepless nights about her missing recruit.
Again, Sydney was two months in the future, which means they had all that time to arrange a pick up, and, if it wasn’t for the Fel, Cora and crew probably could have arrived the second Sci-frights’ portal closed rather than Sydney’s portal closing
We have no idea how long Sydney was left stranded before she opened the Causeway: could have been hours, butt doubt it was days (unless Alari Prime has no sun, it was dark when they arrived, it was still dark when Sydney fought Squiddly and the Three Stooges)
Maxi was having sleepless nights because she’s not the kind of person to handle not being able to do anything, and she literally could do nothing until they caught up in time to Sydney
Also again, they fled because their only way home was closing, if it closed while they were all on Alari Prime then they possibly could all have died with no way of letting those back home even know where they were
“We have no idea how long Sydney was left stranded before she opened the Causeway”
Actually we do know it couldn’t have been more than 9 hours total. It was night when they found Sciona’s mountain lair, and probably several hours AFTER the start of evening since it was also evening when Sciona did what she did to escape from Maxima and with the bridge.
It was clearly night when they found Sciona’s lair.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-620-shave-and-a-haircut/
It was still night a few minutes later when the mountain blew up RIGHT AFTER Sydney was left on Alari Prime.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-645-back-up/
And we know for a fact that it was 3am when Maxima can’t sleep while Dabbler is making nearly-naked cookies, because Maxima states the time. (Strip #666, panel 6, second sentence ‘What are you doing? It’s 3 am.’)
So it was somewhere between 4 hours and 9 hours, and most likely closer to 4 than 9 given what happened with the bridge and the time that Sciona had gained in setting up her traps and trying to create the portal in time. So… figure about 5 hours if the mountain was destroyed around 10pm.
“I’m confused by what appears to be your need to be didactic when all you’re really doing is repeating exactly what I said in the part of my post that you quoted…”
I was trying to start out the post with something upbeat and in agreement, since I was going to be refuting most of the rest of what you said. I was being polite. :)
‘You might be able to get all that paperwork done within two months, assuming you’ve got all your ducks in a row and Sydney’s signature isn’t required since she is absent. ”
Like I said there really isnt THAT much paperwork. Most of it can be done within a day as long as you’re not in one of two states. The remainder is mainly waiting for the filing by the Secretary of State’s office, and I’m pretty sure Archon probably has that office on speeddial if they really needed to (not that they would – even in a very bureaucratic system like New York, it wouldnt take more than 3-4 weeks). Again – most of it can be done within a day, including the signatures. The fact that Sydney isnt necessary for it if 1) Joel has PoA, or 2) the contract that she signed with Archon allowed them to make certain decisions for her part in the business re: Archon merch just speeds things up even more.
“Those other two shops? You’re asking them to become aware that they are going to be driven out of business”
It’s actually pretty easy for surrounding shops to see that their business has dried up within a week of one comic book shop having an actual superhero running it. They probably were being proactive, and Archon could have seen that would be a PR problem (“ARCHON forces small businesses out of business, news at 11”) so they made the offer on Joel’s behalf (after Joel’s agreement).
“They could have emotional ties to their shop, or play hardball with the amount of ownership they get in the merged business.”
Alternatively, they could be told ‘you will make a lot of money if you merge with this company that’s backed by Archon and has immense PR behind it, while the comic book industry is otherwise dying’ (it is, unfortunately). Clearly, they did not have emotional ties that overwrote their desire to make lots of money. Which tends to be the point of starting a business.
“Especially if any of them are more experienced businesspersons than Sydney and Joel appear to be”
Alternatively, they are not more experienced businesspersons than Joel. Joel was having problems with business before Sydney came out as a superhero. It’s not unthinkable that surrounding shops have problems as well. Especially since comic book shops, even in RL, are doing badly right now (about half the comic book shops in the country have closed in the past several years due to poor sales). Having an actual superhero tie-in with a comic book shop is a hook which would sidestep that problem.
“why shouldn’t they get a more active role with a commensurately higher share?”
Because they might have thought, correctly, that the choice was ‘compete against an actual superhero-owned shop with a massive PR push behind it, when you’re just a single proprietorship, in an already failing industry while pushing for a bigger piece of the pie, or get in on the ground floor on guaranteed big money and part ownership.’ It would be like being given a minority share in Apple or HP, or buyin $10,000 in bitcoin 20 years ago.
“But I have been employed in companies which went through mergers, bankruptcies, and major reorganizations.”
I have as well, on the legal end. And small companies are different than large ones. Small companies do not have to worry about stuff like gun-jumping or anti-monopoly laws. Same for companies that are not providing heavily regulated services (professional LLCs, etc). Comic book companies are not particularly highly regulated businesses.
“And I know that two months is still asking the impossible as a time frame for all that supposedly took place.”
No, it really isn’t. This isnt a merger of AT&T and Time Warner, or Disney and Fox, or T-Mobile and Sprint, or Keurig and Dr. Pepper. This is a merger or buyout of a few minor, failing proprietorships in exchange for a partial ownership in the new company with huge financial backing and a massive Public Relations push.
“Yes, they of course knew she was alive when they last saw her as the portal closed. But no, they had no real expectation that she could survive.”
It was the running intel they were basing their strategy on as of 3am that night, while Dabbler was making cookies and having already sent Cora to pick Sydney up. They knew that Sydney was good at strategy, and that she had a shield capable of surviving at least one blast. They just thought she’d have done a hide strategy, instead of a fight strategy, and they were hoping that strategy would work long enough for Cora to get to them. You don’t generally assume your soldiers are dead when you last saw them being alive.
“That ship wrecked the home world of a race which was said to have an empire, so the odds of one inexperienced girl surviving against that would upon any rational examination appear to be slim to none.”
She was experienced enough to have come up with strategies to defeat both Vehemence and Death Toll, and her strategies were also employed with Sciona. Plus they already had found that she was able to think up strategies which would have been easier than Dabblers (put a find spell on a rock, toss the rock in the scab pool) and she was able to make educated guesses with surprising accuracy about what spells Dabbler had (the wind spell). She also was the one that ended the fight with Sciona on Alari Prime by using the comm orb. She’s a cadet, but not exactly inexperienced despite having very little TIME under her belt.
“Or Maxima wouldn’t have had so many sleepless nights about her missing recruit.”
It was one night, not many sleepless nights. They fought Sciona and got teleported to Alari Prime at night already, and the mountain blew up a few minutes later when Sydney was left behind on Alari Prime. It was 3am when Dabbler was making cookies and Maxima couldnt sleep because she was worried for Sydney. So that’s probably about 5 hours. And shortly after that (45 minutes to maybe an hour, according to the comic’ amount of time that Sydney was wandering around the station before she started eating 3 bowls of Grakz), Cora would have let Dabbler know about finding Sydney on Fracture Station via ship communications Most of the 2 days was spent on Cora’s ship, flying BACK to Earth. Again, stated in the comic.
I’ll just hit one point here since the next comic has been posted.
Nope. That’s just bunk. The shop will have regular pull customers just as Event Horizon did. They will have orders, pre-orders, and back orders. They will have regulars, friends, and other relationships with their customers. They will have accounting to do. Sure, they can look around and see that their foot traffic is slower, but not everyone is going to up and jump ship all at once. And as I mentioned previously, the owners of those two shops might figure that the fanfare will fade away and things will return to normal again. Not every customer is going to want to drive the extra miles on the off chance that some Archon member might be in the store… Trying to draw a trend based on a scant two months data is simply foolish in the extreme.
No, it’s not bunk. Regular pull customers are like other customers. They are just as likely to start shopping at the new highly publicized store owned by a superhero who’s now one of the most famous people in the world, with all the push that celebrity brings with it.
And even if those regular pull customers were loyal, there’s not going to be any new customers (or at the very least, it’s going to be a very reduced number. Plus you need to understand the state of the comic industry right now. It’s not good. In the beginning of the comic, Event Horizon Comics was going bankrupt, and I doubt that other comic book shops were doing any better. In real life, half of all comic book shops in the country have closed down over the past 10 years. Sydney being a superhero gives them a hook that no other comic book store would have, even in an otherwise declining market.
“The shop will have regular pull customers just as Event Horizon did.”
If you recall, the pull customers were not enough for Event Horizon to stay in business.
“They will have orders, pre-orders, and back orders.”
And those orders and pre-orders were now going to The Mighty Halo’s Comic and Game Emporium instead.
“They will have regulars, friends, and other relationships with their customers.”
Clearly the ‘regulars’ were now going to Sydney and Joel’s shop instead. And you can’t run a business based on JUST friends.
“And as I mentioned previously, the owners of those two shops might figure that the fanfare will fade away and things will return to normal again.”
The owners of those two shops clearly did not think that the existence of real live superheroes was going to fade any time soon – especially not before they went bankrupt – and they did not have the same hook that Sydney and Joel’s shop had (not to mention all the free news publicity) for a smaller market share.
“Not every customer is going to want to drive the extra miles on the off chance that some Archon member might be in the store”
Sydney would be in the store every day before noon. So that’s not an ‘off chance.’ Plus when other Archon members would be there would be publicized. So also not an ‘off chance.’ And yes, people would drive a few extra miles for that. If you’ve ever been to Vegas and decided to visit a certain pawn shop… the place is packed every single day with lines going out the door, even though most days only one of the ‘pawn star celebs’ is in there (usually Rick) – the others are almost never there. Same for other reality show shops like the Cake Boss bakery. If common reality stars get YEARS of customers lining up outside the door to get in and buying stuff, actual superheroes would probably create an even bigger audience for a lot longer a period of time.
“Trying to draw a trend based on a scant two months data is simply foolish in the extreme.”
Pawn Stars
Counting Cars
Cake Boss
Hardcore Pawn
Oddities
Every single Iron Chef that has a restaurant
All normal ‘meh’ stores or restaurants, which have a huge constant barrage of customers because they’re reality star-run. Amp that up by 1000, and that’s what happens when a comic book shop is run by an actual superhero who can get other superheroes to regularly be there for signings and photos. And with the restaurants with celebrity chefs, very often the celebrity chefs are almost never there. Yet they’re making tons of money regularly.
Sydney has a high-risk job. I’m sure some of the paperwork Arianna had her sign would include power-of-attorney for those occasions when Sydney is unavailable, or, in this case, stuck in a wormhole.
Also, Arianna would have to answer to Max. Having both of them on her side allows Sydney to be a bit more blase than, say Billy Joel.
While your cynicism is justifiable in the Real World, this is a super-hero comic. If you can’t deal with that, perhaps you should be reading something appropriately dark, depressing and cynical.
No, Arianna is legal and PR.
She’s not from the operations side, and probably answers to General Faulk.
I believe grat’s point is that Max’s status as one of the most powerful beings on the planet, if not the single most powerful, makes it risky to provoke her, regardless of any official chain of command.
They provoke each other, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Arianna invented “Make Maxima Say” bingo under the pretext of improving Dabbler’s understanding of English nuances and the game just sort of secretly took off from there.
No reason a superhero story cant be dark, depressing and cynical. Worm is actually pretty good.
Just look at Blatman (or any of the other DC comics)
I keep meaning to read that, but it always falls off my radar. Recently some bastard here mentioned The Deathworlders and that has been taking up a lot of my reading time. And I don’t really like to read sitting at a computer…
I was a victim as well, fortunately I discovered I could get the ebook from the author’s site which I forwarded to my Kindle. Read the whole thing in the last month or so, still need to catch up with the 1-2 chapters released since I started.
Oh, thanks! I hadn’t known that it was available on ebook. Now I have to install a reader… Caliber seems to be decent but if people have recommendations since I’m clueless about the options I’m ready to hear them.
The Kindle desktop app is fairly good, have to run .epub etc files through Calibre or an online converter first though. You can also forward any ebook to your Kindle/Amazon account, and it’ll be backup up free and show up on the desktop and mobile apps (as well as physical ereaders).
Arianna is both Sydney’s business rep and her attorney. As she said in “Action Packed Document Review”, “I’m not going to encourage you to sign anything that would require me to sue myself once you sign it.” By extension, she’s not going to use any proxy authority or limited power of attorney assignment afforded to her as Sydney’s PR and business rep to do something that would require her, as Sydney’s lawyer, to sue Sydney’s PR or business rep (herself).
Lawyers are just as fallible and flawed as the rest of us. Probably more so, since they have so much more exposure to potential unintended wrongdoing, on top of all the potential intentional wrongdoing.
And just because someone passes the bar does not mean that they have a higher ethical standard than any average Joe. Nixon was a lawyer, and was threatened with disbarment on his very first case by a judge who reprimanded him for his terrible ethics.
True. Nothing that’s been shown of Arianna’s behavior so far suggests that she has any inclination to use her “powers” for evil, though. Certainly, I’d agree that in the general case, granting an unlimited power of attorney to a lawyer or business manager is fraught with potential for getting reamed out like a pumpkin in late October.
There’s nothing to indicate that Arianna actually has a full power of attorney, though. A simple proxy authority, possessed by either Joel or Arianna, allowing them to vote Sydney’s share of ownership if Sydney is not available, would be plenty to make changes to the business. Nothing published has specified Arianna as having a particular power of attorney, specifically for Sydney or in general.
Um, she staged a bank robbery where people used live ammunition just for the purposes of publicity. If this ever became public she is going to jail for a very long time. And I don’t care if the bank authorized a “stress test” of their security or whatever, real members of the public were there and real federal laws were violated. Any person who was terrified or upset or mildly perturbed by the “bank robbery”, or even missed picking their kid up from daycare because they had to be interviewed by the cops or see a paramedic before they could be released has the right to sue. And the federal laws which were violated are not suddenly null and void just because Maxima can catch bullets.
So yeah, we do have a very strong canonical example of Ariana using her “powers” for evil.
Good point, in terms of honesty and openness. I had forgotten about that.
I’d agree reservedly on the criminal law front, though. It’s true that she wasn’t actually robbing the bank, and thus federal laws regarding bank robbery weren’t involved. The fake robbers weren’t actually going to shoot anyone, and Maxima could have caught every round they fired before they hit anyone, so no one was endangered.
Mr. Amorphous’ attempted sleeper hold on Sydney would count as battery, though. Sydney’s weapons-grade halitosis and tongue-jutsu were justified in self-defense. How likely she’d be to ever press charges would depend on how ticked she gets if she ever finds out the robbery was staged. And the other bank patrons were menaced with a weapon (it was real and had live ammo, as demonstrated by the bullet Maxima caught).
Certainly state and local criminal laws were at least groped with impunity, if not outright violated.
And the civil liability would be enormous. Ouch. Especially given the length of time that everyone involved outside the conspirators (other than Maxima, who wouldn’t be traumatized anyway) have been allowed to continue to think they were menaced by actually bank robbers. I’ve been held up at gunpoint; it’s not a picnic, and it does tend to leave a distinct impression that doesn’t fade particularly quickly.
Still, Arianna’s moral compass tends to point always toward Archon, so if she sees you as on her team, I’d tend to think she’s going to work toward your benefit (as long as that benefit doesn’t diverge from Archon’s goals). So, I doubt she’d be untrustworthy as a stand-in for Sydney dealing with comic store changes, since selling the idea of Arc-SWAT as Real Life Super Heroes (tm, r, c, etc.) is a big part of what she’s trying to do, and benefits Archon by tying in existing hero tropes to their public image.
I think most people’s feelings about lawyers would incline them to believe that passing the bar is evidence of a much lower ethical standard than the average joe.
Most likely Joel owns 51% of the business because of Sydney’s tendency to want infinity pools and horses.
I think it’s become clear that your expectations of not only this comic’s author, but of the general public, are not realistic. Most people do not think in terms of strict rules, or even have an idea of what’s legal or illegal — they just assume that the law lines up with their own beliefs about right and wrong unless presented with a situation that exposes the difference, which tends to provoke outrage.
Sydney was not dead but quite literally did not exist then, so… even with all regular loops of unavailable partners and such, maybe this just made it possible to bypass stuff to her name.
None of that was public knowledge. Joel couldn’t know that she was either dead or non-existent. He was told, like everyone else who isn’t Archon and had the need to know, that Sydney was in training.
Yes, exactly, as far as everyone was concerned (ie, the entire world), Sydney was still alive, which is what she was (well, to be more accurate, for those almost two months she, as Lys said, literally didn’t exist, she is now almost two months younger than everyone else who was still on Dirt)
Sydney’s parents would have been told she was MIA.
1. Sydney is a recruit, not a full fledged Arc Swat member. They could sequester her for training, but they can’t do that without allowing her to inform her family first. Sydney has a close relationship with her family, regular phone calls, visits when possible (as recounted in thiis sequence https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-190-newhart-phonecall/) so were she to actually be sequestered there would have been a call.
2. Had the parents not been informed prior to sequestering (and Sydney not come back) then Archon puts itself in a legal bind regarding Sydney’s death and a deep shit bind from a public relations standpoint.
3. From what we know of Sydney’s parents, they would have gone along with the story to the press, so there was never any reason to lie in the first place. Play the cards by the book and try to recover your personnel with their family on board.
You seem to be working really hard to find to be offended by. That’s an odd lifestyle choice.
As numerous commenters have pointed out, you have no idea how Sydney and Joel structures their business. They might be partners, they might have incorporated, or they might have put everything in Joel’s name because they both agreed that Sydney is too flighty to be legally responsible for anything. A handshake agreement is not the ideal way to structure a business, but for a small operation like this it’s hardly unheard of.
Your comment also ignores facts we do know. Sydney and Joel are friends. Sydney trusts Joel enough to go into business with him. She trusts him enough to let him handle the books and doesn’t question him when he says they’re in financial trouble. None of this suggests that Joel would betray Sydney’s trust, much less that he would do something illegal to harm her in her absence.
Everything we know about Arianna suggests that she is manipulative, but her goal seems to be to make Archon successful. We have no reason to think she would screw Sydney over just for the sake of doing so, and Sydney’s shop succeeding is almost certainly a plus for Archon. Sydney as a small business owner is human and relatable and a great marketing opportunity. Stabbing Sydney in the back with regard to the shop hurts the team more than anything. There’s no reason to think Arianna would let Joel get away with something he wasn’t legally empowered to do.
Finally, Sydney is clearly not bothered by any of these changes (other than maybe the window). If Joel has violated the terms of their business agreement she is the type to say something. The fact that she seems to be okay with everything could mean that the author stupidly ignored the way Joel screwed Sydney over, but under the circumstances that’s not the most likely explanation. It seems much more likely that Sydney is fine with things because she relies on Joel to make the business decisions and she’s perfectly happy with that arrangement.
Really, if you have such a hate-on that you have to invent bizarre criticisms like this, it might be healthier to revisit whether this is the comic for you.
I’ll remind you that my post began with “Unless Sydney is an idiot […]” If she and Joel are operating on a handshake basis then both she and Joel are idiots.
“No sane person allows someone that much authority…” and yet in the same sentence you refer large numbers of rock and sports stars etc who have been robbed blind by their advisors. I find it hard to label all of these people as “insane” per your definition. Drawing board. Return.
Sane was the wrong word to use, granted. The context of my post remains, is clear enough to anyone not looking to pick a single nit and use that to attempt to declare the entire point invalid, and nothing you’ve said does anything to contradict it. So drawing board, unneeded.
Do consider that social competency didn’t stop Ted Bundy, nor did the vast investigative powers of the state stop Ted Kaczynski, nor did basic logic stop Timothy McVeigh… Tthese people operated well within the bounds of society to carry out their dastardly deeds. They were undoubtedly insane; caught only by the vility of their acts.
But criminality is not a litmus test for sanity. A person merely needs to appear to operate within society to avoid jail. Sanity, unfortunately, is not required.
Consider again: is it sane to put the entirety of your life’s work and worth in the hands of a random person? One who, by virtue of financial conflict of interest, is motivated to destroy everything you hold dear? Just because someone is a rock or sports star doesn’t mean they possess mental competency.
Psychology is an embryonic profession compared to other realms of medical science. Most so-called “psychiatric care” involves doling out drugs based on easily misinterpreted symptoms and talking about feelings. It’s modern shamanism with the trappings of a science.
Don’t treat sanity so lightly; many who lack competency will consider themselves sane. Are you?
McVeigh was running a meth lab in Kingman Arizona to finance his operation.
That doesn’t fit my bounds of society.
That’s the goddamn point. He wasn’t sane but was coherent enough to hide his misdeeds. Do you even English?
Joel states they were putting 2 other stores out of business ;
that *strongly* suggests they picked up the co-owner merger at near-rock-bottom
market values ; quite possibly simple inventory value Plus assumption of debts ;
and a bit of cash flow from Archon to get rid of those banking debts ;
3 co-owners would therefore have a very small share of the biz ;
*and* those co-owners would become extremely experienced/knowledgable work partners/
assistant managers.
I am betting when Sydney takes a look at the books she’ll find Joel took them
(the other businesses) for a song.
*I*’ve seen this in the used bookstore biz.
Now I’m kinda wondering why you read this comic at all.
But not much.
You act as though criticism is a bad thing. But if no criticism is ever offered, there can be no improvement. A child who is always told that they never make mistakes and is always praised for even the worst results will never be good at anything.
Are you never, ever critical of anything you consume? Never panned a movie you thought was bad? Never decided not to return to a restaurant where you got a bad meal or poor table service? Never stopped buying books from an author who didn’t live up to your expectations?
If so, you are probably one of those people who are doormats for the world, just accepting things that happen to you or around you but never once speaking up about them or trying to make a difference. I pity people like you.
Yow.
Someone wondering why you keep reading a comic when you seem to have negative comments and criticisms of every page that comes out doesn’t make them a doormat. That’s both an obvious straw man argument and a case of refuge in absurdity. I’ve never read a comment from you that would lead me to believe you’re not smart enough to know that.
I’d think you could imagine pretty clearly a scenario where someone could read literally years of negative comments with your nom de plume above them and wonder whether you actually ever enjoy a single installment, and if you don’t, why you keep returning to read, and then defecate on, each new page.
There’s a couple of possible interpretations that come to mind: either you do enjoy some aspects, but mainly concentrate on pointing out the negatives instead of the positives, or you don’t enjoy reading the comic, but do enjoy taking a dump on it or attacking people who aren’t as critical of it as you are.
tl;dr: to quote Denied, “Yow.”
Oberon’s next comment below this one is literally a helpful suggestion. His first comment was factually wrong but perhaps he thought he was being helpful. This doesn’t fit the profile of someone who wants to denigrate a work of fiction.
Based on how harshly Oberon replied to Garbler who decided to mock him, I strongly doubt it’s a sense of enjoyment. Seems more like vindictiveness. Maybe he’s been bullied.
Incidentally, Woodrobin, in your third paragraph you infer Oberon’s either a sadist or a sadomasochist. Which, if false, is an attack, and if true, would simply provide more troll fuel. Your statement is clearly intended to inflict emotional harm. So I condemn my … word … being co-opted. I do not support your position.
You’re either misrepresenting or misinterpreting what I said. My statement was that a couple of possible interpretations came to mind. To my mind, not from Oberon’s mind. I don’t think that was unclear. I was addressing how what he said was coming across to me; I’d like to think I’m not arrogant enough to presume I know what he’s thinking or feeling except from his own direct statements about his thoughts and/or feelings.
Certainly, Oberon, I apologize if you feel I was putting words in your mouth.
Denied, saying I inferred something assumes you can read my mind. If you meant that I implied sadism or masochism, you’re still wrong. I did imply negativity and criticality. Oberon, I’d like to retract those implication, because I’ve since gone back and read through your comments on previous pages, and I don’t feel the implication was justified on the whole.
More importantly, Denied, you again claim knowledge of my intentions by claiming I intended to inflict emotional harm. Since intentional infliction of emotional harm is a tortuous act, your false claim that “Your statement is clearly intended to inflict emotional harm,” is actually libelous. Although I’d never do it (because I really like this comic, hold Dave Barrack in high regard, and don’t really care about your interpretation of reality in this case) I would be within my legal rights to bring suit against you for defamation of character and enjoin Dave as a co-respondent for publishing your defamatory statement.
I really hate to make a fuss about it, but since you did accuse me of an act I could (if I’d actually done or intended what you claimed) be sued for, I felt it necessary to make just as public a defense as you made an accusation.
We’re all vaguely friends here, and I don’t have a thin skin. No offense taken. I do enjoy a debate, and text is typically read harsher than voice as you cannot hear the tone of voice or see the body language. That’s not to say that I’m not harsh when people cross my lines, like criticizing me for criticizing parts of the comic. Or my favorite: claiming that I need to be a webcomic author in order to have the right to criticize a webcomic author. Usually phrased something like this “You said something mean about the comic and I don’t like it! So let’s see your X years long successful webcomic!” Or being Guesticus. But in general, it’s all good.
You’re not going to cow me via legal intimidation. Your statement does indeed align with the definitions of “sadism” and “sadomasochism” which I looked up via a dictionary service before making my referenced comment.
You state “you do enjoy some aspects, but mainly concentrate on pointing out the negatives” and “you don’t enjoy reading the comic, but do enjoy taking a dump on it or attacking people.” The first comment is arguable (note 1) but the second is textbook sadomasochism. I said inferred because you base the third paragraph on the first two examinatory paragraphs rather than implying via unbasised opinion or mere reference. (note 2)
(note 1) Clearly implies sadism, rather than criticality, since being critical may entail a negative opinion but a critical writer does not tend to specifically focus on negatives of a work they supposedly enjoy. A tortured interpretation could infer criticality, but this interpretation must first disregard the preceeding paragraph’s (footnote 2) context. Another definition of a critic is someone who professionally comments on a work – which probably does not apply here.
(note 2) “someone could read literally years of negative comments with your nom de plume above them and wonder whether you actually ever enjoy a single installment, and if you don’t, why you keep returning to read, and then defecate on, each new page.”
Now, insofar as emotional harm, I find it difficult to ascribe any other intent! You packed two psychological inferences within a single paragraph. One inference of deviant behavior is acceptably dubious; two, in my view, pushes the needle over to “intent of harm.”
I made my claims with careful consideration because I have been attacked and bullied a lot in my life. I never want to become that bully myself. You may not see the harm of your statement and indeed do not appear to see the harm since you threaten legal action. But, I made my counter in only the barest terms possible. I did not impugn your character, I did not leverage undue invectives, and I did not dismiss your opinions. The last of which you also did despite hauling out legal threats, by the by: (“I […] don’t really care about your interpretation of reality in this case”). If you don’t care then why are you talking legal action? I do care, that’s why I made my claims.
Frankly, if you sue me I’ll be completely justified filing a countersuit. I’ve already demonstrated that you have no grounds for suit. https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/personal-injury/lawsuits-malicious-prosecution-abuse-process.html
That said, you’ve chosen to retract your initial statement. Good. I definitely applaud you for trying in some capacity to be a better person. However, I am apalled by both your initial comment and your abusive second comment as you turned your vitriol toward me. I didn’t expect or demand an apology (which you gave; kudos again), nor did I expect anything more than being called an invective; as is bog standard for the internet. But legal threats? Hoh, you need to watch your words before you pull the justice system into this, lest you be on the wrong side of the law.
Where I live we have Free Speech. Your words are attempting to impugn on that principle and in doing so make a mockery of the legal process. You imply (not infer) that the legal system is a mere tool to be thrown willy nilly at people whose opinions you disagree with. I personally believe with the strongest conviction that our judges and justices hold The Consitution of the United States of America in equal or even higher regard than myself. The law of our land, wherever it may exist, is explicitly lower in precedence than the lawful guiding principles set forth within our most sacred founding document. And don’t you forget it.
All italic text in this comment is an excerpt from grrlpowercomic.com user “Woodrobin” as stated on October 23, 2019, 10:06 am
Addendum: Woodrobin’s retraction was based on a reinterpretation of the facts, but I accept it as an apology/retraction nonetheless. I must accept that an apology was conveyed since the intended recipient has accepted. I am not making accusations post ex facto; I only seek to defend myself from what I believe is a public, if legal form thereof, of defamation via intent of civil action.
It remains dubious whether any of this is even legally actionable considering the quasianonymous nature of most internet-only monikers.
Storage and/or the business office. Just put a door up if it was just open stairs up, and hang some drywall if you want privacy in the office. A two-way mirror would also give you a really good view of things from up there, in case of supervillain attacks and/or 13 year old gamer meltdowns. Two equally heinous things.
I vote for e-sports gaming booths. I just can not remember if the comic is recent enough to have starcraft 2 out or not as the biggest e-sports franchise on the block.
Though I imagine being able to host counterstrike parties with real archon members as opfor might be bit of a draw. Life streaming of games and vlogs are a couple of years in the future for their big breakthrough I am guessing?
Counterstrike vs Archon? I’d have to think Daphne would be a force to be reckoned with.
When Daphne was using a video game to train Sydney on battlefield tactics, Daphne pointed out that Leon was actually the Archon champ (though if I recall correctly, Daphne was a close second). She also used that to point out that the skills needed to dominate in a video game version of combat weren’t a 100% match for skills that would work well in real life (e.g. Leon will re-spawn in a video game, not so much in real life . . . changes the utility of certain moves).
Daphne? Though that was Peggy teaching CounterStrike (with dual gold Desert Eagles)
You are correct. Mea culpa maxima (no pun intended).
*PHEW* Was kinda more than a little expecting for me to have gotten it wrong
Nice idea. I would add that hosting Card game tournaments and roleplaying sessions would be more in line with the sort of thing my local geek shop does. It’s a lot less maintenance and can generally handle a lot more people than trying to make a full gaming LAN centre…
Also, the opportunity exists for events where someone from Archon stops by to run/play. Can you imagine someone like Arianna running a roleplaying game?
You’re probably right. My local comic/gaming store, sadly closed now as the owners retired, had 4 or 5 computers and would sell time for people to game, but that only lasted a couple years before they disappeared. Even buying fairly cheap computers 4-5 stations is a significant investment, and if they are really bare bones people won’t be happy with the performance. I don’t recall ever seeing anyone using them any time I stopped in to make a purchase, or even when I was there for a few hours playing a game on one of their many tables.
I was thinking office space, though one of my friendly local comic shops also had an area set aside for gallery space and public events (book signings, etc.). RIP Meltdown.
Alternatively, I feel like Sydney deserves a lair of some sort, and having the Halo Balcony as her base of operations away from Archon has some appeal. Maybe put in a bookcase hiding a fire pole for when she wants to walk the shop floor.
No merchandising would be complete without the addition of plushies for the kids.
I would suggest the ‘HALO Kitty’, but there may be a problem with copyrights.
I also see a rounded cat with a space marine helmet on when I hear Halo Kitty.
Halo Kitty:
https://images.app.goo.gl/2PXKvMvWVU4ngsSr9
I’m thinking something more like the Tickle Me Elmo, but have a toy that says different things depending on which orbs you velcro to its hands (3 orbs come with the doll, other orbs sold separately; Collect them all!)
She hasnt talked to her folks i dont think. I think it be a good time to introduce them.
So Arianna was responsible for the stain glass window with Sydney’s likeness…
Hopefully she won’t strong arm Joel and Sydney into selling the shop to her…!
Arianna’s more Genre Savvy than that. Having a team member own a comic shop is too big a well of publicity for her to risk killing that particular golden goose.
This shirt isn’t for sale?
On Sydney’s side of the web browser, yes.
On our side of the web browser, no.
DaveB isn’t big on the merchandise side of things. But what would be the market? It’s not like he writes the most popular web comic in the world. (it’s currently second. Vote people!)
Unless someone wants to take care of that for him? (hint, hint)
Spinnerette sells a few different plushies, physical comics, and some other stuff. I have no idea how well they sell, but DaveB could probably reach out for some info/advice if he felt like going down the route of merchandise sales. I’m certainly not speaking for the people at Spinnerette, they could tell DaveB to get stuffed or whatever. I’m just saying it’s a possible avenue of inquiry.
There are also at least a few different options for businesses who will sell T-shirts, mugs, etc. made to order with whatever logo/emblem/whatever on them, and will give some part of their sale to the people driving that business. I’m pretty sure that’s what the folks at Questionable Content do for the T-shirts, mugs, bumper stickers, etc that they sell.
If it is, we’ll be seeing 350 lb guys in blonde wigs doing Mighty Halo cosplay soon.
I only weighed 293.6 this morning!
275… but i’m 6’6″, so…
Over 200, and I’m 5′ 3 1/2″.
Not that I’m likely to cosplay (much less Rule 63 cosplay), but more in a general “fat shaming sense is one of the last socially acceptable prejudices” sense:
With the qualifier that I’m not in the greatest mood this fine morning, I’ll admit that, as someone who resembles the size of person you’re repulsed enough by to shudder . . . .
I really just don’t have enough socially unacceptable words to fully express just what sharply-cornered non-Euclidean shape I’d suggest you can fold your revulsion into, or how far up what (possibly hypothetical and certainly inappropriately sized) orifice of yours I’d like to invite you to shove it.
Have a nice random-attack-on-your-appearance-free day.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death (globally), and the leading cause of heart disease is obesity. “So what?” You say. “That’s not me; I’m pretty healthy otherwise.” Ah, but socially, fatness shows you don’t care about your body. You care more about someone’s “hurtful words” than whether or not you’ll live.
What does that say about you as a person?
Hm?
Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not saying this to attack you. This is a wakeup call.
If you have the motivation to argue and come up with creative terms like non-Euclidean… You could use that energy instead of venting it fruitlessly. Use it to change – in one of two ways:
A, seriously lose weight. Forget the dieting or fad drugs! Make weight loss a part of your LIFE. It’s hard, but in my case, it was worth it.
B, chill out. You like food; you enjoy eating. Why do you give a fuck about some guy on the internet? Laugh it off. Have a good day. And remember that, now, you’re not the one fruitlessly attacking someone’s opinion.
Finally, if you are overweight, getting angry is the last thing you want. It raises your blood pressure. If you know anything at all about heart disease, you should know that keeping your blood pressure down… is good.
I’m tryin’ to save your life here. So take the advice! Or don’t. I’m not gonna get angry just because you made a dumb decision.
I’d agree that fatness is interpreted as not caring about one’s health or appearance. I did say fat shaming was one of the last socially acceptable forms of prejudice. You’re doing a fine job of providing an example of what I meant by that. If I had any medical condition other than the obesity you presume I have, you’d come across as incredibly arrogant, condescending, and unjustified in giving me unsolicited medical and lifestyle advice about it in a way that presumes the condition is a failure of discipline or intellect on my part. But telling me what to do and how to think and react seems to be fine, as long as I’m fat and you’re not.
Not that it’s any of your business, and of course I am under no obligation to justify myself to you in any way, but my blood pressure, HDL/LDL, cholesterol and all other health indicators are well within healthy parameters. The only metric by which I qualify as “obese” is BMI, which is literally a ratio of your height to your weight with a bit of unnecessary math thrown in to make it look relevant. It in no way measures what part of that weight is bone vs muscle vs fat. I happen to have a condition that causes increased bone density (I sink like a stone in water, even with a life jacket on). I qualified as “obese” according to my BMI (38) when I was a weightlifter and had an immersion-tested body fat percentage of 8% (which is borderline unhealthy on the low end). That was at 6’2″/300 pounds.
Now, on the scale of anorexic to zaftig, I’m definitely closer to the xyz end than the abc end, to be sure. But the assumptions and presumptions you express have nothing to with the limited data about me provided by saying I’m close to the weight Shudder set as a break point for repulsive gender-bending cosplay.
They have everything to do with fat-shaming being a generally socially accepted form of prejudice.
I do think it’s amusing that you think being short with someone whose comment struck me as pointlessly cruel is going to raise my blood pressure. I just wasn’t in mood to suffer fools gladly, or quietly, that morning. It’s “sweet” that you’re “concerned,” though.
Tl;dr: To quote Thor: “You people are so petty . . . and tiny.” :-)
Just a thought on the uniform: it appears to be a loose t-shirt but all the other superheros wear skintight gear… I also remember a picture early on of Sydney in a wetsuit after finding the spheres… I think she could carry off a tight super suit IF it doesn’t damage her image with the fan base
Are you trying to make Sydney have another fit? She would never, ever want to be in a tight super suit.
True! Just a thought I had
I believe that Archon just might have a talented tailor who could make a suit that would make Sydney appear to have muscles and more cleavage.
I’m pretty sure it’s Archon’s intention to arrange for the muscles the old fashioned way: Exercise.
Isn’t that the logo on her choker-communicator-thing? What happened to those, anyway?
Halo and Harem were wearing those on page https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-774-polymaybe/ So, I’m assuming it’s an on duty/off duty thing. Maybe?
Do you carry your work phone when you’re not on call?
That’s always been a sure way to wind up working instead of time offing.
Thats why we see even Maxima not wearing hers when she is off.
Basically special forces carried a Pager on them at all times a while back. that may have since changed to a cell phone, that said the Colar is borderline (unless its Dablers in which case it actually is) fettishwear. Sid carries a Cell phone which she constantly ignores.
I guess I never thought of chokers as fetish ware, because I am old enough to have seen them come in and out of fashion in women’s clothing several times.
with archon having a piece, also means archon will insure the company stays in good condition. good business move lol
o be honest, i also didn’t noticed that this was Halo logo…
Are there any legal issues to consider with depicting real-world board games like Catan or Carcassone here? Not sure if you’d be better off making them expy.
TBBT got away with it. Who has wood for my sheep?
I’d expect that it should be fine, especially since they’re being used in a ‘passive’ context as essentially background detail. DaveB isn’t trying to claim the recognisable box designs as his own, and he’s not really making any statements about the games themselves other than that they’re popular enough to be stocked in the Emporium.
I would love a store like this.
I love this comic so much I want to stop reading it for a year so I can Binge it!
Do what a lot of us do: just start from the beginning again :D
This and Gunnerkrigg Court. I need to hire a large goon to physically stop me from reading either of these sites until a binge-worthy amount of pages have appeared.
I assume they hold regular tabletop events, like weekly Warhammer battles and a Pathfinder Society meet every other Tuesday and Magic the Gathering drafts and Friday Night Magic and all that nonsense. I would absolutely be there for the Pathfinder Society campaign if it wasn’t for a second-shift job…
From Dave description, they haven’ expanded into all the space at the church yet – those tabletop & gaming weekly type events are part of the eventual plan, but not in practice yet. (bare in mind its only been less then 2 months sydney was gone, so it is likely still a relatively new move to this store, with all the remodeling that needed to get done & product to organize)
*lent
Is it sad that I own every boardgame in that shot?
Only if you never play them…. otherwise your a point of envy
“Welcome to the Church Of Halo! Tithing is appreciated! If you have a request for divine assistance, write it down and deposit it in this box – the Mighty Halo Herself has been known to appear to worthy acolytes! But be warned – inappropriate requests such as nude pictures of Maxima may cause you to be smited!”
Nude picture of Dabbler, on the other hand (or the other other hand, or the other other other hand . . ) may cause you to be smitten.
They had better have a big sign (on each side of the building, really) stating that this comic emporium is NEUTRAL TERRITORY, and that all villains who attack it will have all of their comics AND in-comic book appearances pulled & burned.
And in smaller print, “incognito peaceful visits specifically for legally purchasing items from this story will be permitted, & if you behave throughout, you will be allowed to leave peacefully.”
*from this STORE
yeesh, typo villains are attacking my post!
Turn off, Autocorrect. It’s more trouble than it’s worth.
More evidence that the downed Fel ship near Archon headquarters is affecting everyone’s autocorrupt programs.
Even their own. We find out the Fel ship was actually the ‘Felt’ ship, and was crewed entirely by Muppets.
Btw, if anyone is wondering, Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne are both lots of fun to play. (Best with at least 3 players, can play up to 5 or 6 decently as well.)
Of course, you really need to be playing old school, Advanced Squad Leader and Star Fleet Battles.
Heh, I own both those games, and spent an obscene amount of money buying advanced Squad Leader modules.
Both are great games. Both are also time sinks. You can play a game or three of Settlers, and break for dinner and play another, in the time needed for one scenario of ASL, or a simple ship combat in SFB.
Ah yes, now we see the shelves! Or maybe it’s just the ground-level difference ^^
Hm, kinda surprised they didn’t give her a superhero uniform (i.e. spandex or such) come to think of it…
ARCSWAT doesn’t appear to do spandex (except for probably Dabbler just because) because there are technically a military/law enforcement agency. They do uniforms, and fairly practical ones at that.
And spandex is wildly impractical, at least for actual fighting. It provides little or no protection against impact, and it’s actively hazardous around fire.
Especially capes!
Despite being a legal functional adult Sydney is still very much a teenager. Maybe we should call this not so much Peter Pan syndrome but Spider-Man syndrome.
You could do an annotated explosion drawing of the building…
Of course, after the building explodes it won’t be accurate anymore.
(Sorry – couldn’t resist the pun)
I think I misread panel 3 at first as something like “Arianna having predatory appearances and signings here”…..which, given, well, Arianna, that didn’t sound entirely like an incorrect sentiment/statement. (Sooo many spreadsheets….) Having re-read the page, though, I see she’s not being quite that…uhh, “blatant”.
If she sends Dabbler, it might well be predatory appearances and signings.
Not to mention all the sigh-ings :P
Ack. Just noticed on the last page…
…
…I hadn’t expected it, so I wasn’t looking…
…but there’s a ninja (picture on the wall…).
They need a Heroes’ Room, not open to the public (no fanboys/fangirls allowed… except Sydney).
What, if they are Supers and Heroes???
by the way the first time the shirt appears is chapter 433.
Of course it’s a sports team. It’s the Sydney Halos. An Australian team, no less.
Not sure what sport they actually play, though. Calvinball?
As a criticism that might hopefully be seen as constructive: Has any consideration been given to making a compelling story line. I mean, Max casually swats massive capital ships out of the sky, her cohorts demolish the most fearsome terror troops in galactic reckoning, Halo blows away cthulhian monsters, navigates spacetime and saves an entire space-going culture at a frame rate of 1 panel each. Now she goes from corner store to thriving metroplex comic mogul with her own stained glass icon.
Maybe its just pure escapism where nothing ever goes wrong and the characters are just the best ever, the end. But is that how storytelling works?
There is a compelling story line.
That is why many of us are here.
The storyline is “what would a comic geek do if there really were superheroes and they became one?”
It’s not something that many occasional comic readers may care about, but to people who have read comics and played superhero role playing games and played superhero computer games for decades its pretty good.
This comment is gonna be buried since I’m several days late to the comic, but I know exactly where Dave got the reference shot for that RPG shelving because I only know of one store in the DFW area that would stock that much Ars Magica as available merchandise.
Hoq would the stain glass window look if it was Sydney’s head,but resembling Alfred E.Neuman?
Would that scare away the customers???
Wot me worry :P
Damn I was trying to find the page where Halo gets the shirt and wound up re-reading the entire comic…
Heh. Quite a big silver lining.
Kind of reminds me of a local pub here in Orlando that has gaming. They even advertise all the tabletop games and books they have in stock for pub patrons on their website and listen to them for ideas of new games to have.
Hmm … I always thought the logo she wore in the last panel on page 301 was her superhero logo or did everyone miss that? It least that one would be less likely to be confused with any other logos.
That was Sydney’s imagination of what her logo may look like. Whereas what she got was the one Arianna authorised. Presumably at some time when Sydney was too busy with punishment detail or some other duty.
Don’t make me laugh so much, when I have a sore throat and chest!
You make me feel ruff!
I’ve been to Carcassonne, in real life. It is well worth a visit. A lovely fortified city center, on a hilltop. It even has a youth hostel in that part. So a must-stay, for anyone touring the south of France/north of Spain. The fortifications are fully intact, and spectacular. So have appeared in various movies, including Excalibur.
It means ‘Hope’ in her native language… or it was a last minute thing. Whatever.