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.
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.
Doesn’t seem like what she’d say, really.
Also, she saw what Deus did there….
yea max’s whisper doesnt seem like the degree of private info she would divulge. feels like she’d just say im not dressed for combat, or even i dont want to ruin my formal attire, or heck just be proud of loving the boat cloak!
oh hey my likely adversary, i kinda got a wedgie going on right now fight later kthxbye <3
It may serve to show Maxima’s disdain towards her opposite number – i.e. “I feel slight inconvenience, and it is far more pressing concern than you could ever hope to be” – while still maintaining the cover of plausibility.
She was basically telling Valyeur that she would slap her cheeks, while distracted by pulling something out of her own
Quite eloquently put, dear – well memed indeed.
Or more likely shes well aware Vale wants a fair even fight so she can prove shes better than her, and Max was subtly saying “Yeah, I wanna see which of us is best, but we won’t get an accurate representation right now since I’m handicapped” Now… pretty sure the underwear is way less of a handicap than civilians and personal property damage but it got the point across of “Rain chest til the playing field is even”
Humor is actually a pretty handy de-escalation technique, and with all of those particular people there, I’m sure she understood that the situation called for it.
Is she expecting for for her clothes to get blown off, so people will see her underwear?
Well that have happened before. This is why superheroes need adamantium underwear.
meanwhile supervillians get away with Ka-pants powers.
That power is fortunately rare. Clothing damage is a important part of the superhero genre.
Eiichiro Oda, writer of One Piece, said that Fruit Users powers affect their clothes too, otherwise there would be excessive nudity.
Well, an explosion that shredded Hiro’s clothing completely still wasn’t enough to hurt his own…pride, so there are some benefits to having a significant measure of invulnerability. However, in Max’s case, her invulnerability also covers the clothing that clings closely to her skin…To be fair though, her invulnerability is generated right down on the cellular level, so she’s not likely to get even so much as chapped…lips…under any conditions, or anything like that.
Not so much that as the thong keeps sliding up her crack while fighting and moving around.
While not painful, it is the kind of sensation that would be distracting and annoying. Like feeling a fly crawling across your arm. Only its up your butt.
That is the best “Dis” ever! Well done Max.
Yes, imagine a male super saying, “I would love to fight you, sir, and I’m sure that we will do so at some later time. However, I have some food caught in my teeth, which is more annoying right now.”
That is, I am not dodging a fight with you – I have something more important to deal with.
Note Vale’s reaction. She feels dissed.
She doesn’t look like she feels dissed. She looks like ‘okay I did not expect that response. Plus pretty good response. If I fight her I’d like her to put her full attention into it since I want a good fight.
No, it’s more like saying, “I’d love to fight, but… I’m out here to get some pizza for the kids. Can we take a raincheck?”
And since the other super is specifically looking for a proper fight, Vale’s response amounts to, “yeah, hungry kids come first. We’ll do this another time.”
Discomfort is a function of tactile sensitivity, and toughness includes the idea of a reduction of tactile sensitivity. So if she put points into “defense” as she would have to do in order to fight, it seems like she would be unable to feel discomfort. I mean, in battle mode, I feel like maxima could get tangled up in barbed wire and not even feel it… seems like a weird excuse to offer, tbh.
Tell that to Special Forces going out on A Mission… Some underwear is designed for comport, and others… isn’t.
And then, you have the Commandos.
Hmmmm. I meant to write “comfort, but if you don’t have comfort, can you really comport?
I mean, a wedgie is a wedgie, no matter how it happens.
It’s probably the inverse of what Kenya was wanting a few pages back. Instead of making her “feel confident”, it’s making her feel uncomfortable at the though of them even possibly being seen by spectators. Especially after what happened with the robot. She probably wants to feel a bit more in control of the situation before she gives Vale a go. They seem like they sense that the other is on their level and respect that. But who knows, other than Dave.
It seems reasonable that toughness would reduce pain, since you aren’t hurt as easily,* but it doesn’t imply reduction of non-pain sensations. This would actually be a rather bad side effect, since it would both destroy your enjoyment of a bunch of things and screw with your fine motor skills.
From what we’ve seen so far, the tough supers enjoy food or sex as much as everyone else, don’t have impaired fine motor control, and Anvil is very ticklish, and Achilles claimed Sciona’s wings tickled.
*Although ‘invulnerable, but still feels pain easily’ sounds like an interesting character concept, and not fundamentally invalid either.
Max’s invulnerability comes from several force fields, not because her skin is invulnerable. Once seems to be directly over her skin, while the outer one is over her clothing which is the reason her clothes are rarely damaged.
My impression was that Maxima’s force fields aren’t “over” the skin, rather they go through her and reinforce her body’s structure, which constitutes a rather philosophical difference to ‘regular’ invulnerable flesh. (The only practical difference comes from Max being able to project it outwards on specific physical entities, but that doesn’t matter to her own body.) It at the least doesn’t make her more rigid (Hiro ‘notices’ her ‘female parts’ are very soft), so she should definitely notice pressure.
And in any case, if Maxima’s power inhibited her tactile sensation, I’m pretty sure that would have come up already.
Hiro can bend steel in his bare hands, who knows what he views as soft? More to the point, we know that certain parts of her anatomy respond to gravity in a normal manner. Probably her body deflects, until it reaches some point short of injury, and then becomes effectively rigid to outside forces.
A friend’s of mine’s OC has that powerset, basically. As invulnerable as Achilles on physical level, but still feels pain/impact.
And then there’s someone like Wolverine or Deadpool…Their Healing Factors are so strong that they can heal from virtually (if not literally) any form of injury; Not really “invulnerability” as such but they can still feel pain.
I’ve interpreted it as “Do you want to fight me while I’m distracted or do you want to find out what I can do when I can give you my full attention?”.
If your opponent really wants to find out how they compare to you, they’ll want you on your best.
I’d agree that discomfort is a function of tactile sensitivity, but toughness only includes a reduction in tactile sensitivity (or an increase in tactile durability) if that’s how the power set functions/is written. For instance, I recall a character in an independent comic who was bulletproof, but felt the shock of the impact as intensely as a normal person would. He passed out from pain-induced shock under a machine gun barrage that didn’t leave a scratch on him. The agency that administered superheroes in that setting designed a heavily-padded bullet resistant suit for him to wear. The suit wasn’t as tough as his skin, but it buffered him from the shock of impact. On the opposite end, Captain Hammer of Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog had never felt pain in his life, and when hit by a device powerful enough to actually cause him pain, panicked and ran away, and ended up in therapy, and Mettle of the Avengers’ Academy was unable to feel any physical sensation at all.
A particularly salient example from DC: Superman’s superhuman senses include tactile sensitivity fine-grained enough to prevent a person who can shatter small moons with a punch from accidentally applying more than a human-normal amount of force when he’s Clark Kent (not to mention the careful attention to force applied necessary for him to consummate his marriage without simultaneously becoming a widower). He can also shut out overload levels of sensation so as not to feel extreme pain from bumping into a dust particle the same way he can avoid hearing every conversation on the continent at the same time or seeing straight through everyone around him.
Thing is, Zenopath, there is a difference between toughness and numbness. Uncomfortable underwear would continue to be uncomfortable no matter how much defense you put in because it’s not pain which is making it uncomfortable. If her super defenses gave her total numbness to sensation, she would have to constantly keep her defense absurdly low just to interact with things without seeming extremely clumsy and careless, so I think it’s safe to assume she has resistance to pain via her shields, and not a numbness to sensation.
Have to agree with Changer on this one, total numbness would severely hamper Maxima’s ability to actually do anything, including but not limited to actually putting on clothes, which requires some pretty precise movement to not tear the clothes to pieces.
In unrelated stuff: Hi Changer glad you enjoy this comic too, I am a fan of your work -^_^-
I get that Maxima wouldn’t want to be in full tactile reduction mode at all times, which is why its useful that she can choose to raise her defense stat whenever she pleases. But as she herself pointed out to Sydney, surprise is still deadly to her. She has to operate at semi human levels of toughness normally, which would allow her to feel discomfort from underwear, but you all missed my point:
As soon as she shifted to battle mode in order to meet this foe, the discomfort of that underwear would disappear. Otherwise, you could completely stop Maxima with something like a Sand Belter, sure it wouldn’t do any damage, but if her skin operates like normal skin, she’d be in too much pain to do anything as soon as you touched her with the object. Same with taser, etc, mild to moderate acid, frostbite inducing cold, burn inducing heat. Sensitivity to pain is a weakness she’s shown herself immune to while fighting.
Pleasure is not pain, rough is not pain, slippery is not pain, smooth is not pain, ect…
While pain is a common human experience, a lack of pain does not mean no tactile sensations. She simply doesn’t get as easily damaged, but for her to function she’d still have to feel the world around her. She’d just feel it differently. Like she could run her finger down the edge of a sword and feel a wedge shape, her skin telling her the texture of the metal, how thin it is, but she wouldn’t be damaged by it and therefor the specific receptors for pain would never fire.
In other words, because she is not damaged, that SPECIFIC sensation doesn’t trigger. That doesn’t mean she lacks all other sensations.
A thong in her ass crack would be like the feeling of a fly crawling across your arm, or a sweat drop in your ass crack for that matter. it isn’t a pain sensation as there is no damage, but it is still an uncomfortable and awkward sensation for another reason.
In other words there is no reason she isn’t still detecting texture and getting feedback from her skin. There is just no damage and therefor no pain.
I definitely would have appreciated a view of Vale’s undercarriage, but it would also be nice to see Maxi’s flight posture. You know, “swimming” like Supes, or maybe a Mary Poppins?
Obviously, she’s doing the plank like Stardust the Super-Wizard.
I feel like that doesn’t really work while wearing a boat cloak. She’s really pushing the M. Bison vibe the last few strips, so she probably just levitated away.
As much of a “secret nerd” Maxi is, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if she made the whole “I resemble Bison” connection a good while ago, and opted to fly off in his classic ramrod-straight-and-arms-folded stance just for her own inside-joke-esque amusement
Headcanon accepted.
SYDNEY, SYDNEY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU!?!
She should take a picture of Max flying in her boat cloak, then show it to Max and ask if it reminds her of anyone.
I imagine an embarrassed smirk, heel-turn, and brisk walk.
Not before Maxi said “It was a Tuesday.” :D
I feel that is the required stance of flying for anyone in a cape wanting to give off a “I’m the boss” vibe. Bison, Magneto, and Dr. Doom have all done it.
Cloak, not cape
Considering her posture upon arriving, she is flying Bison style
Please let a drawing of them kissing be a future vote incentive.
Seconded!
And if you add someone else from the scene in the corner “imagining” (That the right word?) it happening, it will be “in Canon” without it actually having to happen. As in Character XX is imagining this is what it would be like if they kissed. Plus if you make it small enough, some people will miss it & go “OMG SO THEY DID KISS!! WHY ARE WE ONLY SEEING IT LIKE THIS?! OMG!! BLA BLA BLA…” and the rest of us will get to laugh at them… :p
How many votes do the voices in my head count as? Because all of us agree with the dinosaur.
Relevant, from a comic I fully recommend: “I’ll give you each a million dollars if you kiss!”
that was an actually good scene ending
Yeah, that ended well…
This now makes me wonder what her standard set of underwear is for combat…. Booty shorts maybe?
well she is in an elite unit. so she would go
::crashing sounds::
The aftermath of a strong explosion might give us a clue, but it’s arguable whether that’s intact lace or partially-ashed full-cloth.
Honesty is the best way to go when you do consider moments like this one…
At Deus’ level, it isn’t called blackmail- it’s just politics.
I think some people are misinterpreting what Max is saying. Yes, she’s divulging a degree of personal information, but is she really worried about comfort? Or is she telling Vale that she’s really more concerned about the comfort of her undergarments than any threat Vale might put up. Seems like a pretty big dis to me… one I’m sure Vale will be interested in getting a chance to get back at her for at some point.
Vale is giving the look as if she’s about to say: “Why are you telling me that?”
“Tell me more!” :D
I know you’re going for a Superman VS Lex Luthor thing with Max and Deus, and it is WAY too late for you to back out now, but goodness I find Deus boring. Maybe its because so far everything has gone his way, he hasn’t had to struggle, (I mean yes the “I’m Jeff Bezos wealthy, own my own country, invented teleportation stargates, etc. etc.” is all impressive on paper, because I am none of those things, but its all very matter of fact to the characters in the world, Deus is at most an annoying hangnail for Max to eventually deal with and not something as pressing and dangerous as say… North Korea) and the “I can’t kill him that would be bad” mythology/excuse that superhero writers have used for decades (while forgivable we wouldn’t have a story without it most cases) just feels worn out on its own, and needs more to prop it up. Nothing surprises him, (or at least we’ve not seen him stumble, or improvise on an evolving situation, especially in the most recent scenes, did he sabotage the alien’s space ship? because he certainly acted like he’s reading the script over your shoulder) and considering how unanimously every other being in the universe is utterly gobsmacked by any consequence of Sidney’s every breath and step; he uniquely doesn’t excite me.
I’m still hoping for the ultimate subversion of expectations in finding that Deus really *is* one of the good guys, and is legitimately trying to change the world for the better in the least harmful way possible.
Has anyone ever actually done that in comics before?
They had something like that a few times. Let’s see… there was the “W.I.L.D. Cats” series from the 90s (i.e. the Dork Age, when everything was grim, gritty, and… X-Treme!). Jacob Marlowe was a phenomenally wealthy businessman (in the comics he was actually an ancient alien leader; in the animated show he was just a rich good guy) who used his wealth to get things done (he stages an impromptu takeover of a rival company at one point just to be able to save the team in an episode).
Spider-Man once dealt with a wealthy CEO who appeared to be involved in the creation of a disease… turned out he was actually trying to develop the cure (and Spidey was being duped by the guy’s sister, who was the real selfish bad guy).
There’s also some examples in literature. “The Chronicles of Conrad Stargard” is about a 20th century Polish engineer who gets sent back in time to the middle ages due to an accident, and ends up becoming one of the richest and most powerful men in Europe (all as a side consequence of gearing up to save Poland from the Mongol invasion he knows about from the history books). And in the “Phule’s Company” series the protagonist is Willard Phule, a phenomenally wealthy venture capitalist who joined the Space Legion to prove himself, screwed up, got put in charge of an “Omega Company” full of screwups… and turned them into the most elite unit in the Legion. And did so by spending his own money on his troops… and ended up making even more money (along with his troops).
I love the Phule’s books, one of my favourite series.
You could argue that David Xanatos is this- he’s the ultimate reason for the Gargoyles even being around in the modern era, helps them out every so often, and has saved the world once or twice.
Similar to the Spider-Man example, the most recent Incredibles movie…
He was also the reason why every other gargoyle was killed slash destroyed, so no, he does not get to pull the ‘good guy all along’ card out of his arse (that’s also where he stores his head)
Have read both of those books :D
Have to read that Phule series, heard of it before, but in this light, it sounds really interesting! Thanks!
recent cinematic history has made it so i cringe every time i hear “subversion of expectations”….
the problem is Deus is an evil person that’s made very clear every time he’s on screen, the “he’s doing it for the greater good” BS trash is always tacked on after as a way to cover for him. but there is no way for deus to really be a good person trying to do “the right thing”
Deus is coming across more as “enlightened self-interest” than “good guys”: he’s investing for the very long term. If you’re trying to maximize your profits a half-century from now, you’ll do a lot better if your workforce is healthy, happy, and well-paid.
Doesn’t mean “good” should be in quotes here, for ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are highly subjective concepts. He may as well be a randroid – no, scratch the droid part, there’s nothing droidish about him.
Let me rephrase: Deus may as well be a megalomaniac uber-tyrant to put all the John Galts, Andrew Ryans, and Robert Edwin Houses (combined) to shame – but, quite unlike thouse three, he is as honest in what he is doing as any God-Emperor wannabe could possibly be. And, since Deus seems to have two things three abovementioned degenerates have not (unshakable ethical integrity and absolute comprehension of his actions), he falls into the category of True Benevolent Tyrant, maniacal bursts of laughter notwithstanding (or, maybe, required). This firmly puts him on track to become God-Emperoresque figure, an absolute ruler to bring on the Golden Age of Humanity, an era of unmatched prosperity and progress in the society of absolute meritocracy. And all this for a small, small price of actually being honest with themselves for once in their whole bloody lives – which firmly shifts Deus into the “actively anti-scientific fantasy” realm, though, since in reality humans would do anything to prevent exactly that, and the world will burn.
But, hey – Unification Wars were waged for a reason, after all. Secher Nbiw could not be built until the last of “enlightened self-interesters” would be put into the ground as a foundation block for the Golden Path.
except “enlightened self-interest” is just a self serving myth that falls apart under even the simplest examination of the facts.
which may be why deus is such a trash character
since “profit” is just shorthand for hording resources for a few individuals if you are trying to “maximize profits” in anyway you will always hurt the majority. inequality and bad treatment of workers is not a flaw in the system it is the main driving force of any and all market systems. the only way to think a system like that could ever be “good” is to believe that the most people are just lesser being and no good ever comes form believing that.
Deus is a Mary sue exactly for the fact DaveB SHOWS us he’s a murderous, selfish, cheating, back stabbing monster out to oppress everyone else. then hand wave all that away and TELL us that he’s the greatest person and doing whats best for everyone. (never failing and being untouchable also help make him a Mary sue but that besides the point.)
in other words Deus does everything that makes the rest of the “villains” evil but were TOLD to believe he’s a good person.
Big problem the anti-Deus crew can’t see or visualise: who will you recruit to put in his place?
DaveB has carefully crafted a community of characters, and every character is necessary in the story-arc. Remove one, and the whole thing collapses to just another short-shelf-life-wannabe.
I have a solution to the anti-Deus crew’s problem: go away. If you don’t read this comic, we won’t be poorer and you won’t be bothered by something you don’t like: we all win.
Heh, notwithstanding, it does amuse me a bit to see commenters that dislike the character so much they call him names in the comments as if he can hear them. XD
i take it you’re one of those people that think gun laws are there to hurt the guns feeling too.
Nah. They’re there just to make the guns feel good.
Wow, I sure hope you didn’t pull a muscle with that incredible stretch you just made! Might want to see a doctor!
But since you came flying out of left field from nowhere with that bizarre analogy, no, I don’t think gun laws are there to hurt the gun’s feelings. I believe they exist to find a balance between the right to bear arms and the right of citizens to be safe. Not everyone agrees where that balance lies, but there it is.
I still think people who get angry at fictional characters to the point of calling them names in the comments section are silly though. Why, are you one of them? Did I hurt your feelings? Sorry about that, I’ll try to be a better person and respect your frustration at the pixel-based fictional life form’s actions in the future. XD
thats funny coming from the person posting text book definitions of a straw-man argument.
honestly what kind of reply did you expect after out right calling anyone complaining about Deus so stupid that they can’t tell the difference between fantasy and reality? you either true intellectually dishonest in your argument or you really don’t understand what going on.
I’m going to believe the best about you and fill you in.
the criticism is for DaveB, a part of the audience finds how Deus is written Bad. we make these posts so that DaveB knows this so he can decide if he needs to tweak or risk lost some of his audience. and name calling, even to a fictional character, is a stress release mechanism.
are you a little more clear on this now?
And, personally, name calling a fictional character is better than name calling the creator of said fictional character
So, two things, then I’m abandoning this discussion, because it really is pointless and stupid.
One – If a fictional character in an internet comic gets you so worked up that you need to insult said imaginary person, as if they were really there to take your slurs, as a stress release mechanism, you should probably get off the internet and seek professional help in the form of a therapist, psychologist or psychiatrist, because brother, you got problems and your method ain’t gonna fix it. That’s not a dig at people with mental health issues, that’s legitimate advise. Subset to that note, I still do, and will continuously, find people who levy insults at imaginary people as if they were there to be amusing. Hell, I’ll double down on it; it’s silly and childish. And if that offends you, tough shit. Your feelings don’t matter; they are inconsequential. If you get offended by something, that’s on you, boo. I will sit here and be amused by that too. I may even laugh at it. If you think that makes me a bad person, then again, tough shit. Your feelings don’t matter; they are inconsequential. As are mine! Yay! We’re meaningless specks in an infinite cosmos and you getting butthurt over me laughing at people insulting fictional characters doesn’t amount to a hill of beans.
Two – In the future, don’t mischaracterize and lie about things people say, especially when they are written above plainly for all to see in black and white. I never ‘out right called anyone complaining about Deus so stupid that they can’t tell the difference between reality and fantasy’ – Those are your words. I said “..it does amuse me a bit to see commenters that dislike the character so much they call him names in the comments as if he can hear them.”, and that means exactly what it says. I respect people’s opinions and friendly discussion on characters, and even welcome criticism rightly and respectfully directed toward the author. It’s fun theorycrafting and fan discussion about a kick ass superhero comic. Now, I openly admit to specifically mocking you in my subsequent response, but that was hyperbole, satire and specifically directed at you, and you alone. Also, I’m not going to apologize for it, because the way you came at me with that passive aggressive and politically charged reply earned that returned hostility. I notice a pattern of hostility in some of your above replies, so it’s well deserved. To quote Will Smith, “My attitude is, don’t start nothing, won’t be nothing.”
That’s it. I don’t get alerts for new comments, so I won’t be checking on any future replies. If you want to, go ahead and get in the last word, it doesn’t matter. As stated above, this discussion is pointless and stupid, and not worth any more of my energy or yours. I suggest you take the high road and ignore me, because for all you know, you’re being trolled by someone who actually takes pleasure in your irritation and it isn’t worth your time or my satisfaction.
Wow! That was incredibly cathartic! XD
Anyway, for what it’s worth, I genuinely do not wish any ill will toward you, and hope you have a good day, but I’ll be damned if someone’s putting lies into my mouth. Peace out.
you can literally replace him with anyone or anything, this isn’t a house of cards its a written story that can’t be changed after its started. its call taking criticism and improving the story and happens all the time in story making.
the complaints are that DaveB had and idea about this character but have failed in his execution to reach that goal with this character. we voice our feelings in hope to let DaveB fix an Bad part of an otherwise great story because we want the story to get better.
people like you, the love it as it is or leave crowd make little sense (assuming you are honest in you stance and not just using it as cover) you act like things can’t change or be made better.
“you act like things can’t change or be made better.”
I’ve learnt to be not so arrogant. This is DaveB’s story. I’m not a whiny little kid in a sickbed, I can handle whatever plotlines he can cook up.
Those whiny little kids who can’t take the oats-porridge for breakfast can go write their own stories, see how far they get.
ah yes the old “Ergo decedo” logical fallacy
the last bastions of a failed argument because only mindless followers are aloud to have a voice and everyone else must be shunned. sorry to burst your bubble of having your work critiqued by the very audience reading it is part of the job of an artist (this is coming form an artist (gold smith among other art forms))
its toltaly fine to like 90% of a story and want something to change for the better.
DaveB is great at everything else in the story and if he tweaked Deus a little it could be better still .
ah yes the old “Ergo decedo” logical fallacy fallacy. “[I]mplicitly alleges that the critic does not appreciate the values and customs of the criticized group … and thus suggests that the critic should avoid the question or topic entirely, typically by leaving the criticized group.” I’m too lazy to find a convenient (epithet) to describe critics who, having made their statement, won’t make any effort to understand where the criticised group is coming from.
“… only mindless followers are aloud to have a voice and everyone else must be shunned.” The problem is that all the “mindful” followers are drowning the discussion with endless “Down with Deus! Out with Deus! Arrest Deus! Put Deus in prison! Get rid of Deus!” And youse never stop. I wonder who has the “mind”? The mob that wants him gone? Or those of us who view his antics with (enthralled) fascination and can’t wait for the next episode?
An artist. A goldsmith even. So — necessarily — you take commissions. And I’ll lay odds no commission even begins to sound like “Er, do a statue… Aaahh, make it a dog. I’ll give you lots of money.” Much more likely it would be along the lines of “Er, do this statuette, see the specs in this printout. Gimmee an email if you want to consult on anything not covered.”
The difference between DaveB and some other author is that Grrl Power is. not. commissioned. So, while DaveB may well read the comments, and may even draw inspiration from them, he is under no obligation to do so.
DaveB does not expect me — or anyone — in particular to like Deus. He is a blackguard and scoundrel, too full of himself. His character is also a really good agonist, able to drive the plotline. And as long as DaveB can get Deus to deliver, DaveB is doing a good job.
Well, it certainly was an interesting conversation with several levels of sub-communication. I can most certainly se Vale sending an invitation to a fight that includes comfortable underwear. No words. Just underwear. And only Max would not be confused by the message. I like how everyone else was left to freely misinterpret their whispered interaction. Even Deus.
I am under the impression that Deus actually (mostly) heard what she said…. And (very wisely) pretended not to…
The “she’s saying whaaaaat?” face says it all… ;)
Naw, he’s just shocked that Max is responding to the provocation with a quiet whisper instead of resisting or pushing back.
I was thinking that as well, and she said it knowing he would hear it, just to mess with him.
Rule 34, rule 34!
34 == 42
Okay, now that got Valyeur ‘s attention :D
No atomic wedgies?
Only the Maxima kind ;)
SmugD is really pushing his fucking luck!
Blatantly telling Maxi that he will blackmail lawyers (well, the good ones anyone, he already has panderers :P ), he just won’t do it in a way that could be proven
He can say and do whatever he want and get away with it. He always does.
That’s the problem
He didn’t actually say that. He just implied it.
It’s part of his whole persona that he uses to keep everyone else off guard.
“I’m doing things you hate that you can’t detect and I’m getting away with them.”
It’s far better to have everyone looking for evidence for the crimes you are NOT doing… it make getting away with the ones you ARE doing that much easier.
He literally said he would never get caught doing it, not that he would never do such a thing
Maybe we should call you Pander the Second?
And now they’ll be watching extra close, trying to catch him blackmailing someone, leaving him free to do something else that they’re not looking for. It’s a distraction.
If you believe that is all they will be watching for, would like you to buy this book? “How To Get Away With War Crimes (and lose an election)” by H. R. Clinton
It would go nicely on the shelf next to this controversial one.
Ah, Fiction, I see.
Which part is fiction?
+1
He quite literally did not say he would blackmail anyone. He said he promises that he would never get caught doing something like that.
Because Deus is a good guy who would never do something like that. The very idea…. really. For shame Guesticus. :)
PS – good wordplay on my name.
Yes, never get caught, which means he will, just Maxi wouldn’t be able to prove it
It does not inherently mean he will. That there is a fallacy you’re pushing very, very hard.
It’s only an obvious implication.
And, you are not the only one in his pocket, just the most ardent :P
Im not in his pocket. I defend him because he has been correct and innocent of all these false allegations.:)
Plus no. ‘Never get caught’ does not mean ‘I will do that thing’
The easiest way to not get caught doing a crime is to not do the crime. Or the best way to not get caught doing ANYTHING is to not do that thing in the first place.
‘I promise you Guesticus, you will never catch me destroying Mars with a death ray that I invent in my garage.’
By your logic, if we are going to be consistent here, I just said I am going to blow up Mars with a death ray that I invented in my garage. That would be absurd.
I dont have a garage, just a driveway. I’d need to build the death ray in my shed.
No no, you can totally build the death ray in your driveway*. Save the shed for a moon laser.
* I too have a driveway and no garage, in spite of living in snow country my entire life. So. much. shovelling. A garage is a must for my next house.
That was actually a surprisingly polite exchange between them.
Now this was hilarious.
This is Max saying even with the distraction you’d just feel like you lost unfairly. I can think of no better dis than “My underwear is distracting me, but I can still mop the floor with you. Do you really want to do this?”
This episode also told me Max CAN physically interact with spectrals and ghosts. Probably consul things.
That makes so much sense.
But then an after thought snuck in … Max wore them on purpose … to keep herself removed from Deus.
I can verify the lack of comfort of that underwear. I made sure to be wearing a pair every time I read this comic during Max’s and Deus’ date, so as to be more in the moment.
That’s not weird, is it?
Curious, what would a being without a real body know about underwear discomfort? And for that matter, a woman with impenetrable skin that can take a nuclear explosion feels discomfort with thong underwear? Inquiring minds want to know. Its me. I’m inquiring minds.
If (and this is a big if) Vale is a spectral she was humanoid at one point before becoming such. Go with 800 years into the past… so 1200’s woman’s undergarments. A corset. Height of fashion and incredibly inconvenient to breathing and such. I would not doubt Vales physical understanding of it.
Ah yes, but what — exactly — is a “real body”? I assume the Black Cloud probably had a “skin” of magnetic fields…
Is it possible Vale is a distant relative?
By the way, thongs go on your feet (even Aussies know that much :P )
Search for the song. I dare you.
Which always gets a laugh from me, imagining some idiot shoving a ‘flip-flop’ up their arse-crack
It seems only Aussies know it :P
The proper name is ‘jandal’ (because we stole it from the Japanese first)
So that’s the origin!
Yups: Japanese Sandal = Jandal
And, like so many other great Kiwi inventions, stolen by the Aussies :P
Perhaps, “I can honestly promise you, I would never be *caught*… dead doing that.”
I’ve been meaning to ask this for a bit; Is anyone else getting M. Bison vibes from Maxima’s outfit?
Yeah, Mr DaveB mentioned that when he first drew Max in the outfit, he noticed that when he finished & that he was OK with it…
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-838-ill-have-the-wedgie-salad/
Just going to say thing. I’ve been comparing the current art style to the original pages, and the banner at the top of the page, and I think I prefer the drawn style to the more CG/Poser style stuff.
I know it’s probably easier to get done, but it loses something in the exchange.
At first glance this might seem like TMI, but the layers, oh, the layers. Maxima dissing Vale’s worth by saying her impending wedgie is more important to her than a fight, and implying that Vale wouldn’t get to face Maxima with her full attention/power if she did try to push for a fight anyway, due to distraction, knowing she’d want Maxima’s full focus on her if they did fight, thus also prying at Vale’s ego. Magnificent.
Daniel here. Screwball may have burnt out for a while trying to understand all that, but you’re right, Max played that well. Seen people spot pieces of this, think you may be the 1st to get all those details…
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Have they ever said what Vale’s power(s) are? Is she even human or from Earth to begin with? I understood why Max would put off a fight for now, it is in the middle of the city, not a good place for being able to go all out if you work for the government.
Has it been implied or stated that Deus and Vale are more than boss and employee? Have they been intimate?
it has been (overly) implied that Deus has had sex with just about everything that moves so its very likely
“…” slice that guys gun in half…”
Wait a moment, that’s what happened to that gun on the last page? I did not get that. Maybe I’m not used to seeing metal being sliced. Maybe I’d expected a bit more reaction to someone who just damaged official weaponry. Just imagine how much paperwork it takes to explain what happened to your personal weapon. Normally this would cause a whole investigation.
Anyways, I hope we’re done with the whole Deus stuff for a while now. Over-simplified “diplomacy trash talk” is super boring.
Daniel here. Yeah, Vale somehow sliced through the portion of the gun that houses the actual firing mechanisms, taking the front portion with her, leaving the remainder of the pistol without the parts needed to physically hold it together which is why it all flew apart like it did. Looks like there COULD have been a second cut, or it might just be how DaveB drew the pistol coming apart…
As for the reactions, Vale not only very much demonstrated to “Agent Spitzer with Homeland” (Not American, or in America, so only guessing Homeland Security?) that he is very much out of his depth by effortlessly eliminating his primary & most powerful means of combat, but then essentially openly challenged Max to fight her. Agent Spitzer appears to be rather dumbfounded by all that, unable to do anything but stand there and watch it unfold. Max is used to people looking to take her title of “Earths Most Powerful Super”, so THAT part is nothing new to her and she’s already told Vale off for damaging the weapon…
This feels like a reference to One-Punch Man, when King says he needs to pee before the fight, or he won’t be fighting at full power.
I think that was a good scene.
Even funnier of what the King Engine is.
Interesting how so many readers interpret Maxima’s comment as her dissing Vale.
For myself I read it as her saying: “I would like to know which of us is the best, but right now I am not at my best. Rain check?”
Vale’s reaction makes the most sense to me with this interpretation
This is also my read on it. Because I have worn hella uncomfortable underwear before, and it is super distracting. And then it’s not really a fair fight, is it? If Vale wins, both people would wonder if it was really because she was stronger, or if Max was just distracted by her permanent wedgie.
Sexy impractical underwear crew solidarity, sibling.
Absolutely the right take. And Vale’s got some pride, it comes with that degree of competence, and how she projects it. And with people like Deus as a boss, she herself has worn that shit before, and in high level combat, even slight discomfort, a single drop of rain (unironically, literally) can spell the difference between life and death.
She wants there to be no question who’s best, and really, this event isn’t important enough to risk it. They both respect each other as professionals enough to know the score, and now’s not the time. It’ll come regardless, and a clean win (in her eyes) is worth all the time in the world.
I can honestly say, as someone who likes to wear sexy underwear, that I have never felt more respect for Vale than I do now, for backing off from a fight because her opponent said they were uncomfortable wearing it.
And honestly, Max wearing sexy underwear under any circumstance is a power move. Vale is the one with something to prove here, whether or not she’s got one over on Max, and her actions prove it. Very few people are prideful enough to try to unseat the world’s most powerful hero, yet not enough to want to do it while risking an asterisk next to the record.
It may have been done for expedientcy, but you did good, Dave.
Personally I think that Kenya massively misread the situation when she begged Maxima to put on the sexy underwear to feel better about herself and more powerful.
You only feel more confident if you imagine the power it gives you over men who would see your sexy underwear. But Maxima does not feel vulnerable around Deus and she certainly does not want him to see her as attractive. If anything she feels contempt for him. Sexy underwear is not going to change that dynamic for the better one bit.
It /might/ be different if Maxima could somehow be talked into a date with Hiro as she likes him personally and finds attractive. His opinion of her would matter to her and she could be a little nervous about it, in which case the sexy underwear confidence boost equally /might/ work.
Nice to know Vale is willing to uphold the Girl Code!
(One of the subsections covers NOT talking about another gal’s undergarment choices in public, as a courtesy.)
(*Note, the Girl Code applies for transgender ladies as well as cisgender ladies, and for all feminine-presenting nonbinaries during the moments they present feminine and for a period of up to 15 minutes afterward, some exceptions to the time limit apply, see your wardrobe for details.)
Uncomfortable doesn’t have to mean sexy…she could have been wearing an Everlast chastity belt!
Comparing with the previous page, it looks like Max not only didn’t step back, she maintained the (lack of) distance and squared up to Vale. I feel like the smirk in panel 1 is her thinking “you’re trying to put me off balance but this is nothing, I put up with unwelcome advances from an alien sex demon at my day job.”
And the verbal jab letting Vale know that Max has attitude and hidden depths of her own was effective as a humorous rebuttal / refusal, and letting Vale know that while this is not the time or the place, she’d be happy to brawl with someone in her weight class.
And Vale has not grabbed Maxima’s boobs and made faces in their reflection.
So in getting into other people’s personal space, Vale has NOTHING on Dabbler.
Panel 7 in the previous, and panel 1 in this comic, all I could think of was “Royal Marine Commando”. Pure steel.
Except, Maxi is probably wishing she was Commando right now :P
Y’know sometimes it’s easy to forget that Max has a bit of a rowdy streak under that stoic, by-the-book exterior. I was expecting an outright refusal, not “Sounds rad, maybe later.”
Remember that flashback scene to when Maxi started hanging out with Peggy? Maxi doing an upside-down, unassisted, beer-bong challenge? Or that she is a ‘former’ nerd?
FLMAO, i’ve got to give it to you Dave. Hats of to you. That was the funniest shit i’ve read in quite a while! Thanks for making my day!