Grrl Power #851 – Thongs away!
I’m not sure why I felt the urge to do two consecutive panels (coming from the previous page) of Vale and Max giving each other the close stare. I just like drawing large panels and closeups I guess. Actually this page could have used at least one longer shot to show that Vale is standing there with no legs, her ectopods holding her up from the mid-thigh up, and her leg-shells still standing on the other side of the fence.
The real question is, what is Vale going to assume about Max wearing uncomfortable (i.e. sexy) underwear to a meeting with Deus, and is she going to pass those suspicions on to him?
Okay, so, Max flying off is more about me wanting to wrap this scene than what really should happen, which is Max sticking around to make sure Vale doesn’t cause any more trouble. Obviously, threatening a federal agent in a big no no, and attacking them even more so. That said… if no one actually saw Vale slice that guys gun in half, Deus might point out that detaining him or Vale for gun slicing would be legally iffy. It is possible Max saw it happen, with her super speed eyeballs, but didn’t want to escalate things with Vale right in the middle of the city. It actually might be funny if she showed up to arrest Vale in a future scene though. :) Of course, she’d probably go quietly after making a point of picking out twenty lawyer to go with her.
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Shame Vale is a professional/ doesn’t have more of of a cheeky Dabbler like humor.
“No problem. Let me just get rid of that distraction.” (Cue ripping wedgie.) No more distracting underwear.
And that is how super-fights would either start or end in RL.
At least, some of them.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-72-punk-busted/ at least one already has :)
I was kind of expecting Vale to be the one who whispered something about that, and dismiss it to Deus as “girl talk”. Shame we didn’t get that shot of Vale full figure though, some people couldn’t understand what was happening on the last page.
The comment from the agent in the second panel should be a vote incentive…
I bet that middle panel is going to go into many memes.
Later
Deus – So was there any takeaway between the confrontation with Maxima, Vale?
Vale- I am pretty sure I either know her weak point or how to make her very very angry.
Deus – Do tell?
Vale- Sorry boss Girl stuff.
Deus- can you test it on someone else to see if it would be effective?
Vale- Sure, probably should be an empowered person and not some rando.
Deus- let me order some kettle corn and grab a gingerbeer. This should be educational.
Vale- Sir , voyeurism is my thing.
Deus- Pssht. Just an analysis. Lorlana get in here.
Vale- Uh sir, since you warned her about flying with a skirt and her underwear. She hasn’t worn any.
Deus- #Facepalm
Vale- you have to be explicit when dealing with another culture, sir. Pictures help. And I’m also curious about who or what she meant by sucking an ash lord. I don’t remember seeing them in your compendium of beings.
Deus-sigh. Ihave a headache now. GO play with the new supers and report on your testing. And remember no killing and if you break it you bought it.
Lol she can now tell Kenya that the underwear Did have an effect on the outcome of that evening.
Belly Laughs. Seriously.
“So, should we get back to arresting Deus?”
“Maxima just flew off and the freaky girl is still here.”
“Good point. Pizza, everyone? DARPA will pick up the check!”
DARPA- “You’d be amazed at what kind of pizza budget we have.”
Panel three sums up SmugD perfectly: he doesn’t like secrets he doesn’t know about, and it will drive him nuts :D
He doesn’t seem that broken up about it. I think you’re reading into things. :) He just finds Vale’s explanation ‘intriguing.’
Hmmm…I think I could interpret Max’s words to Vale in one of two ways:
1: Max hints to Vale that she considers her underwear to be more of a concern than she holds for Vale;
2: Max in a fight with that much discomfort is likely to take it out on Vale that much harder.
there is also the interpretation of not wanting underwear in the way.
He he.
Vale’s eyes have a touch of Picasso, in the final panel. But it sells the punchline well.
I wonder if Picasso could see through the Veil? If he could see Vale, that would explain a lot!
A Muse thing to think about.
Don’t forget her moist lips
I think it’s more like she’s doing a low level ‘The Rock’ eyebrow raise.
I really like panel 6 especially how Deus is not saying that he won’t do it he’s saying he’ll never get caught doing it. Reminds me of that lyric from the I think it was a Korn song “you’ll never see me fall from grace.”
Sometimes I cannot take this place
Sometimes it’s my life I can’t taste
Sometimes I cannot feel my face
You’ll never see me fall from grace
Korn, Freak On A Leash. Not bad, Daniel the Human likes it. Trippy music video…
https://youtu.be/jRGrNDV2mKc
I think I just made my neighbours dog jump with how loud I laughed. This is now up there as one of my favourite scenes. SO glad we got to see what was whispered, and that was just too good.
Max, what makes you think he isn’t ALREADY blackmailing legislators?
Dave gave us a look at Deus’ artifact shelves on page 411 and page 416. Interestingly enough in neither view did we get to see what Deus has in the bottom left corner of those shelves. Perhaps this is where Deus keeps whatever item or totem he has that bonds Vale into his service. My guess is that Vale is a Jinn and the hidden item on Deus’ shelf is this little baby.
He has the Sword of Eternia, Zabimaru, Sword of Omens, Master Sword, and so many others ON DISPLAY that who knows what he’s got elsewhere.
You know, an alternate interpretation of that is that, rather than being a super powerful collector, he’s actually just a super geek, and had all of those made once he got rich.
except that those very pages imply that they are not “replicas” but they are in fact some how the real thing. that he’s such a mary sue that can jump story and steal intellectual property form other stories and bring them back. lol
only somewhat joking with that last line.
I think my original idea with it (I don’t wanna go back to look) was that they’re alien artifacts / supertech and since he’s a tycoon, he had certain games, comics, and anime made that showcase that item’s functionality.
That way instead of a mysterious thing with strange powers, it would be extremely schizophrenic to even suggest his items were real since they were video game mcguffins.
Who thinks that final orb is Megaman’s blue magic?
He gains abilities by destroying and absorbing abilities from tech, and Sydney’s skill tree grows faster when tech is destroyed.
It did nothing when she activated it at the start of the story with the Air Ball.
A blue mage has no abilities until they’re absorbed. Maybe that’s why it did nothing- it was a mage class with no spell list. Yet.
I’m sure there are things on the list now- squidward, swarm ships, tank.
Unless it is a blue magic orb, but semi-non-chronological. It is an Nth dimensional item, after all. So it’s accepted that Dave knows what all the skilltree dots do, but maybe it’s kind of open at the same time.
Like “oh this dot is radiation, so any radioactive tech that Sydney destroys will be that dot”. He just hasn’t decided on what that tech is. Then at some point he thinks it would be funny for Halo to destroy a microwave with a hammer, so that’s where that ability came from.
But it was always going to be radiation.
Maybe some dots are “an enemy power from her 12th enemy in a fight”. So he just has to check his notes periodically to see where he is.
Maybe some dots are specific fights he has planned out- but of course Syd wins so the ability from that fight is in the orb. Like PPO’s first ability is Mechasquid eyebeam. That was planned a long time ago, so maybe that’s why that ability was already filled in. Its the ability Sydney got from the squid, but before she fought it.
Dave said years ago he knows what each and every node does. I do like the idea of one of the orbs being magic though, even though the orbs being Nth tech makes the distinction somewhat meaningless.
Agreed, and a bunch of us have mentioned that “any advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”.
a setting difference being setting related like the towers from ArTonelico, or other ancient “magi-tech” relics like in the Star Ocean series or Mana series, where it turns out the insanely impossible technological looking structures built by ancient beings or whatever actually create magic, like manipulate the raw mana and dimensional forces and create patterns, matrices, and rules that allow others to access those forces, hack it a little; but usually the “tech” is so old and its creators long gone that knowledge of how it works is gone to, or so far beyond comprehension that you just have to shrug and say, “super magic”
the otherside and more common being tech and magic that taps into and can work in that system (magic kingdom) type stuff, but isn’t the source of the magic. Some of the above might be that, I forget how ArTonelico worked exactly for the towers themselves.
Or a continuation of that idea being Numinera.
Five full apocalypses (or ascensions) happened, and most of the artifacts are broken pieces of magic and or tech, and or altered by other collateral ability use or incidental fallout.
What was it originally? No one knows. Who made it into what it is now? No one did.
Timing test, ignore
Just noticed vale’s eye color changes…
She wore the underwear!
OK, I wasn’t expecting Maxima to go through with the fancy-underwear dare. I’d taken the adjustment on arrival to be an imaginary aside, rather than flash-forward.