Grrl Power #87 – I can see why this might be cause for concern
We already knew that the orbs grant her powers, I mean, she’s the main character of a superhero comic. Whatever you thought was in the tube, it was obvious it let her hang with supers, but for all the Archon people knew, the tube just contained the holy Spork that Jesus used at the last supper, and it only grants the power to eat both soup and meatballs with the same utensil, or the dying flatus of Gogmagog or something.
And don’t worry, I’m not going to reveal an orb per page for the next 6 weeks. We’ll get through them faster than that.
Oh, and I meant to post this originally with the comic, but it was 1:30 am when I did and I forgot, but if you’re looking for some other amusing superhero webcomics to fill the week long gap between updates here, I’ve been enjoying Love and Capes. It’s got a nice toony art style and is cute and funny, sort of a super hero romantic comedy, lots of referenced to super hero tropes, definitely worth checking out. I have plenty more to recommend but I’ll stick to one a week for a while (when I remember) since some of them have decent sized archives.
Also, I realize after seeing the page fresh after spending all weekend nose down in it that Maxima’s waist and hips are way too small. That’s a bad art habit of mine, I need to keep an eye on that. It’s weird how some artists have blind spots for proportion when looking at their own art, I’m sure you can think of plenty of examples.
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Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
I was reading her powers and wondered. Couldn’t she use three if she put one in her mouth? Like Rinoa Zorro? :P
May too big to fit in her mouth.
Although what if she holds 2 and holds 2 more in her elbows, and maybe hold them in her armpits, that would be six…so just one missing. Then again they could be designed to only activate if they are in her hands.
So, does this flying create an oriented gravity field or something? Aside from extremely starched hair, I can’t think of another reason why it (the hair) would hang down relative to herself even when opposing gravity.
Nevermind, this was apparently addressed earlier, by several others.
Hmm the fact the rest of the ring still stays over her head when she is upside down means that she isn’t really flying but being moved by the power of the orbs, similar to flying but ultimately different. Of course the fact she kept that face while doing that means she is used to them, probably uses them when she is at home or something to learn more about them.
Although if they WERE elemental stones they would be in serious trouble, a person like her with elemental stones would be a very VERY bad idea.
Or just for fun, I could see just floating about the house being something someone with ADD would do. I have dreamed of (I have ADD), to float about the cieling, roll up the wall, over the cieling, and down the other wall, sneak around the edges…ect…of course what some of the others can do.
Actually I wander if she just has them out at home; or if she keeps them in the poster tube most of the time.
Good point, but I shudder to think what she would of done if they WERE elemental orbs. This is funny however, but I also noticed that when she was upside down her hair didn’t move at all so maybe she isn’t floating but is being moved by the gravity of that one orb. Rather then all the orbs are tethered to her, maybe that ONE orb is tethered to her and it tethers the other orbs into orbit around her as well.
Great job on this page, I like comics that are well written to where I read them over and over :) Glad to see you using the sweat drops less, you’re really skilled enough at drawing facial expressions they don’t seem to be necessary most of the time.
Thanks, the expressions are important, but the sweat drops are part of the toolbox, I’ll still break them out when it’s appropriate. I think they’re funny.
That “wheeeeee” part…Is anyone else hearing that in there head in as a high pitched kid’s voice or is it just me?
if it’s a kind of eerie “wheeeee”, then yes.
pssshh. If they were all as funny as this doing the res in the next six weeks wouldn’t be at all un-entertaining.
Rockin’
S’truth!
But I think our esteemed author is in more of a hurry than we are…
I don’t want to skip over anything but I have sooo much story and jokes written. If I stopped writing right now and did the comic 5 days a week I’d still probably have a year worth of material. :P
Hmmm..
Max as Nerd. Actually kinda makes sense. Especially if she always was so touchy about gender.
Maybe our group is not normal, but there is no special treatment for women in it. No “Boob Bonus” or “Gender Generosity”.
Just a bunch of Nerds gaming together.
And yes, i have to say it too: Mother of god Meme: EPIC!!!
Syd brings out the best in people, even previously unknown glasses-getting powers.
Love Max’ face in p5, totally derailed.
Well, many jugglers can hold two balls in one hand (before starting) so it’s possible Sydney could combine a few more powers at once.
Though, considering all the powers are easy “to hand” it might never be necessary.
I would totally “Wheeeeee” too. If only to annoy.
So many people asking about her putting one in her mouth which sounds dangerous assuming it is even possible taking into consideration anime head proportions may be off. I suppose if she gets desparate like end of the world she may risk choking in combat or if she needs four or five even worse pain (OOOOooooouuuuuchiieeeeeee!!!).
But before we take that Crazy Train lets consider. If only touching it was needed she could make contact with it anywhere by ducktaping it to her body. If only some kind of act of grasping is needed then she could probably grasp all of them in a line down between both legs in a pincer move (after all if one of the powers is flight she doesn’t need legs). So the mouth and or Ouchie options are not necessary even if possible and this is a good thing!
Almost positive it will be hands only though. (anything else would be….)
So this has to be the elements but which system… would Air allow flight with control like that? Or maybe Void?
It will be great fun finding out!
Certain interpretations of Earth would (Gravity don’t ya know)
Somebody talked about putting two in a bra eariler. Now that would be considered stuffing.
anyone notice the can flipped itself shut?
It fell off her lap, that is the bottom.
Love Arianna’s reaction… “What…that’s freaking me out, what are you…?”
You know, i just remind myself of the first part of this story with the character of Omnigal created by Sydney in a superhero rpg.
I think that she created this character based on her own powers without the halo of spheres. Omnigal has probably a variable pool of powers and enough points to manifest two at the same time. This would enable sydney to “test” her powers in a “safe” environment.
After all she’s a nerd and proud of it.
Interesting idea! I like it. Though given the vagaries of her interactions with the GM, it is likely more useful for idea priming than power testing.
I Smell Back Story incoming, Duck!!
I’m wondering why people don’t see the possible fact that holding more than 2 at a time could create a power backlash that could possibly hurt/kill Sydney? o.O
Unlikely. There are limitations, yes (may only use two at a time), but that doesn’t imply touching three is gonna cause problems.
People are writing here about how can she touch more than two orbs at once, juggling, mouth, etc.
Besides that fact that the orbs are baseball-ish and unlikely to fit in her mouth (I’m a big guy, and I would be willing to get dentures if putting a baseball in my mouth was a prereq for super-powers. And that is what it would take to get one in. If my hands will suffice, I’d prefer to keep my teeth, thanks),
I propose here that it doesn’t matter. It isn’t that she can’t hold more than two orbs, it is that she can’t focus on more than two orb’s power sets at once. If it takes a modicum of concentration to use one orb, (say, like patting oneself on the head) and a fair bit more to use two (like patting your head and rubbing your own tummy at the same time), how much concentration would it take to use three? (Pat your head and rub your tummy while doing flips on a trampoline?)
Possibly she expirements with trying more sometimes, and always fails. So, for actual use, two is default.
This ain’t canon, of course, but there IS some reason she only uses two orbs, or by gosh she would use three. We all would, and so would she. But she doesn’t, so I gonna assume I’ve sussed the reason until Dave shows us otherwise…
Sydney uses “Marvel Heroic Roleplaying” and you only get 2 powersets in it.
I should have stated that a bit more clearer. I meant use more than 2 at one time, not hold.
I think I just figured out how Sydney’s hair remains within her frame of reference, which her entire body is freed of external gravity.
Quantum Locking/Trapping: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv-ljMlX550&feature=related
Scientific-y stuff: Sydney becomes a super-conducting material, and can move along Earth’s natural magnetic field.
While its close to that, I have a feeling she is also creating her own magnetic field, and can adjust where the poles are on her body. This would allow her to use Earth’s field as the main source of lift, and use minimal energy to fly.
Heh…
No.
That would mean she needs to have Max punch her to wherever she wants to go.
I don’t see Maxima disagreeing with that method >.>.
electromagnets if field shifted in proper pattern will move themselves through another magnetic field and this will only increase energy requirements mildly, while allowing acceleration at increadable levels and high top speeds but the issue of g-forces would be a problem. a magnetic field can also generate a shield that would deflect exess air flow or even energy attacks. wonder how long till syd and the team test that option if it is magnetics?
WOW!
Superconductors and magnets … SO COOL!
I love the ‘halo’ stones, and cant wait to see what all they do! I wish you could post updates faster, but that is being greedy. :-)
On another point, thanks for recommmending that “Love and Capes” sight. It has been very enjoyable reading that as well.
re-read the whole thing from the beginning, noticed the subtle change in maxima’s character design. she looks softer, more feminine here than in her first appearance. nice!
Thanks! Of anyone in the comic I had drawn her the most before I started putting it online, but a dozen pinups over 6 years is nothing compared to 4 new drawings of her a week. Everyone’s appearance will evolve slowly as I draw them. I was actually thinking Max is looking just a bit too muscular lately. Need to scale her back juuuuust a bit.
Awwwww…
why?,,,, we love her muscular frame
Just a bit. She’s supposed to look very fit, Williams Sisters-esque, not chemically enhanced. Her arms are a tad large in that last panel.
She was just flexing a bit. When she relaxes her arm it will look smaller.
Sydney makes her tense and worried about what will happen next so natural response in mammals is to swell up and prepare for trouble. Fight or flight instinct is automatic and natural in humans. Ever notice fighters just before a fight begins look a little bigger? All kinds of things are happening in their bodies.
That’s freaking awesome! XD
and sydney’s flying sequence was hell funny. lol :D
The text at the bottom of the page made me laugh out loud.
Also, I had to look up “Ioun Stones,” and that fits what those are doing to a T.
Oh, Maxima – come back to the game table! You’re welcome anyday :)
And I have to say that the whole “flying in a circle” thing put me in mind of Homsar. I’m liking this comic more and more….
Love it.Dibs on Maxima joining our gaming group.TheOrigamiGuy is welcome too.So is Halo so long as no hot sauce is brought with. :)
But hot sauce is so much the best part! mmm ghost chili’ssssssssssss my precious,,
OK, I’m never going to any chilly cook off you show up to cook at.
syd would just eat the hot sauce before coming over and you will have to deal with her exhailing mace all evening. heck I am impresed by her breath weapon and I am a heavily offencive combat dragon.
I didn’t know what a ioun stone was so I looked it up and found some thing interesting.
https://siskoid.blogspot.com/2007/12/young-lex-luthor-gamer.html.
Hah, that is interesting. I know I’m not the first person to come up with “stuff that floats around your head” but that does look almost like a silver age version of the Sydney Stones.
Until i reread your comment, I thought you said Kidney stones!…
Damn xD I was Archive binging this when my friend sent it to me, she’s finally gotten me back for all those times I sent her unfinished fanfics. I WANNA KNOW WHAT THE ORBS DO I’VE BEEN READING FOR HOURS! :O
they orbit around her head and when she holds one it gives her a power, as mentioned in the spoiler text on her in the cast page, she is limited to two at a time(one in each hand, so dabbler would be able to use 4 if Sydney could “loan” them) and the powers are listed on the above mentioned spoiler, though two are unknown, i suspect they will be deus ex machina lvl.
Ok so… seeing as her shirt isn’t falling over her face to reveal her midriff, and her glasses aren’t falling either. This is either a package of superpowers, or she alters the way gravity affects her and surrounding objects
and hair, her hair also droops as if gravity got realigned
but wait, she isn’t falling to the ceiling either, if this was gravity manip it would require several seperate vectors applying in concert, and the fact she isn’t puking or in significant pain indicates masterful control over the individual gravity manip vectors.
Or we can probobly go with the F*** it its magic explanation. seriously though it could be a field in which she controls the way gravity behaves or just making gravity ignore her.
Nope, she is stationary the orb allows her to move reality in relation to herself.
all Battlefield Earth references shall be counted against you in the Afterlife LoL.
made me think of Ender’s game, “the enemy gate is down”
So awesome :D
Yes that stone or object a.k.a. “Sydney Stones” have a more fine tuned powers. This one certainly is in that it surrounded here with her own gravimetric field. So she literally has her own field that negates earth’s gravity field! Amazing an a show stopper. I mean if we saw it in action it would be a wow moment. Any advanced tech, way beyond our own would have such fidelity an be thought actuated. Fantastic, an Sydney maintains her dignity too. As they say these days “cool.”
I meant surrounding her.
Some people might wonder – if Sydney can actually fly, then why the big freak out (screaming, flapping arms, etc.) when being carried by Max? (loved that scene, by the way).
Answer: Consider how secretive Sydney has been about the orbs so far. I’m guessing, under all that crazy, she is more than a little scared of what might happen if some / all of the orbs REALLY let go in an incontrolled / inaccurate manner. As in, “OMG, I could blast out the side of that building, or dissolve everybody else in the room……” sort of scared. Her use of the flight orb has, so far, maybe been limited to what she can do when nobody else is looking, sort of thing. It will be even more interesting when ARC starts trying to figure out all that she / they can do – could get more than a little Mythbuster-y.
I’ll bet anything she has done with them so far has been quiet and very low-key. Her flight time pre-Max was probably limited toOops, strike out that last line.
There you go, hah hah.
Lets hope her aim is better than the Mythbusters’ cannon aim. :)
One of the reasons I never really wanted to have a motorcycle is due to the accidents I’ve had on a bike. Once did $460 damage to a car when I hit it with my body( back when that was real money). I am much better in a car it seems less distracting and immediate. While I do tend to drive fast a car is inherently more stable and can recover from loss of control better Also I LIKE having steel around me when going 80+ MPH down a dark highway at night. Moose can be a serious hazard where I live.
I don’t wonder at at all. Maxima flies “really, really fast!” I ride a motorcycle, but I refuse to ride pillion behind this one friend who thinks city streets are a motocross circuit.
Also, she might have to have that specific orb in her hand to fly, in which case she’d be worried about getting it out of the tube and grabbing the right one before she goes splat.
She was enjoying the flight like a rollercoaster. The screaming just adds to the experience.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/396
She didn’t actually mind, just screamed with the thrill.
Also I’m pritty sure Sidney can’t fly as fast as Maxima, who can go supersonic
Part of my point actually.
Seems likely (IMO) that Sydney hasn’t done a lot of “real” practice with her powers, given her concerns with trying to keep it secret (as evidenced in several strips). Possibly, most of what she has done with the orbs has been low-key stuff when nobody is likely to notice. I mean, the flying stunt she pulls is something she might have first done by accident while sitting alone someplace (that ‘first time’ would have been pretty funny, methinks).
If she has something like a destructo-blast (or whatever), just how often has she used that? Given Sydney’s behaviour, people might wonder if she would use it all the time. But we haven’t seen a lot of smoking craters in her neighbourhood (or people commenting about them), so she either DOESN’T have such a power (possible) or she simply doesn’t use it (given Sydney’s worries so far about secrecy, also a possibility at this stage).
For all we know (lacking any evidence either way) Sydney might actually be capable of flying FASTER than Max, but she just doesn’t know that yet because she hasnlt had the oppurtunity to really try.
All supposition on my part, I know. Could be that there are strips coming up that will make my line of speculation look plain stupid. Then again, perhaps not – Sydney was clearly VERY worried about what could happen if her new powers became known. Suggesting, in turn, that she so far may not have practiced or used them as much as some may think.
Yeah that is why the term (Power Stunts) exists. It is one thing to have a power, another to be good at it or creative with it.
Imagine if you would someone who can unleash energy blasts, fly, and manipulate multi-dimensional powers; and yet has never had the oppertunity to actually practice them above low key things. In their home they might be afraid of burning it down or destroying it. Stuff in the garage might be noticed by the neighbors, backyard is out of the question more so than the garage. The sorrounding areas are all inhabited or fields or forests, and all of them you always have cars driving by, or farmers, or hunters, or fricken helicopters everywhere for some reason, ect…
its not like everyone can go to a “Danger Room” or have access to a wide open isolated area to train in.
Exactly.
No indication what Sydney’s living arrangements were like at the start – or if / how this changed due to involvement with ARC. Guessing a small apartment someplace, probably by herself (apartment-share with Sydney might be interesting, but probably not many people could cope with it for very long ;) ). Kind of limits options for practicing one’s newly-acquired superpowers on the quiet, unless her neighbours are even weirder.
I suspect that syd has done things she couldn’t hide but when someone kinda noticed she gave them a silly story more in line with how they want the world to work. they grabed on to that story with both hands and there teeth so they could more easily deny anything odd happened, like when I hear people call me a plane so they can deny they’ve seen a dragon.
Maybe, but there are limits on just how well the ‘Bewitched’ Gambit will play. Especially with possible repetition – and the fact that supers / paranormals are KNOWN in this world..
Like The Doctor said: Humans have an eery capability of self-deception.
Crash a space-ship into Big Ben? A month later nobody remembers.
Use the pyramids as a parking-lot for your alien rides? They say it”s a marketing-gag.
And surely nobody will notice this blue box, sitting just on the street corner.
Hey, even in the comic here (in the bank), some guy said he believed superheroes were just made-up.
Certainly, people are capable of self-deception.
However, this is a world with supers (and aliens, and magic). On that basis, the person who sees a dragon would probably be inclined to accept that it MIGHT really be a dragon, rather than try to double-think it into a plane.
All that guy disputing the existance of supers proves is that there is at least one person in the world who thinks that way. For all we know, he has a tinfoil hat tucked under his short and is a fervent Flat Earther as well.
I wonder… will the stones always produce only one power? Without knowing what they are, how could you possibly tell if there were or were not secondary or tertiary powers waiting to be discovered?
The above being said, I can’t wait until Dabbler gets a look at them. If she can’t figure them out I will start to worry.
Also theres the whole required secondary powers thing, each orb would by necessity have to include RSPs as a part of the package.
Didn’t get the impression that Dabbler was a specialist in whatever field is needed to understand the orbs. I thought she knew quite a bit about a lot of things (magic/science/etc). However, the width of her expertise might enable her to find out what kind of ‘Mastery’ is required to truly understand them.
I would bet NOT though, if for no other reason that mysteries are fun.
Well Dabbler is very long lived. She has the time and brains to be able to master a lot of diffrent subjects.
Think of her as a realy hot version of Dr. Who.
…does anyone else hear the GLaDOS “Wheee” in their head when Sidney does…that?
Where did faulk get thoughs glasses o_O ( 11th panel)
that was Zeph’s line. :P
YAY! this comic has become my absolute favorite of the several hundred I read. Also, I DO hear GLaDOS in the Whee, Blood. I was laughing at that very idea before I read your comment. ^^
I think Faulks hair should be grayer…he has grandchildren and a fairly old face but he is not grey enough near his sideburns. My grandfather was pitch black everywhere except his sideburns till he died at the age of 83 so the rest i can see as possible…sideburns not so much
Hairdye, some people want to be considered fit to do the job, and a persons hair is part of how people treat you. I know it’s unfair, but that’s how the world works.
The ‘job’ for Generals is usually sitting back and telling other people what to do. For the guy in charge, the experience suggested by gray hair is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, gray hair might be considered a plus. So I doubt he colors it for job related reasons; vanity is another question altogether. However, I have a 60+yr old friend who plays on 4 hockey teams. His hair has individual gray hairs scattered, but no gray section, not even his sideburns. Individual genetics and environment play a part in this sort of thing…
plus hes a magic man. you know that saying a wizard did it? in this case he could be the wizard, he could do it subconsciously
We are talking about the general.
You know, speaking of looking younger than your true age. What about Gwen? One thing most if not all magic workers do is try to slow down, or stop their aging process. So she could be in her 40’s or older, and just act young to throw off people knowing what her real age is.
And of course there is Zephan Zoeng.
Although I wouldn’t rule that out for Zeph, most of what I read on the subject suggests that to increase their longevity, or to make themselves younger in anything more than illusion, a magic user has to be very god. And Gwen, in her own words, isn’t.
If I was very good at magic, I wouldn’t advertise the fact.
My main reason would be that people would keep coming up to me so I could magicly make all their problems disapear.
I would instead say yes I do know a little magic why do you ask? and then direct them to another mage that liked to be bothered. Or someone I wanted to annoy.
In the old lore such super unknowns (The Power) as they would be called right now, had the natural ability to become supremely powerful. They aren’t immortal but they can slow their aging down to such an extent that he or she could live for several thousand years. You can bet they don’t get along an tend to stay at least one continent away from one another. (Read Edward Bulwer-Lytton‘s story ” The House an the Brain” an “Count Magnus” by M.R. James [found in “The World’s Greatest Horror Stories”] for examples of such beings an the kinds of power they can wield in our world unseen or unremembered.) there are stories that there are one or more secret groups of occultic-science an esoteric science practitioners. Supposedly mentioned by original Anthroposophist Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) made mention of it at one point. That they follow certain scientists an others an are ready to sweep away any technology or esoteric machines when they die. Serious mysterious—an fun to use in fiction! But where does the fact end an fiction begin? Several of the writers seemed to have connexions to esoteric groups like Vern & Bulwer-Lytton. Happy reading.
well that puts egg on my face. pay more attention to names next time, or ranks geeze referred to as general how did i make that disconnect?
The general is now my favorite character.
Also?
Hail The Words Of Sydney. For They are All That is True and Good!
yes! the inevitable “mother of god” rageface XD
I wonder what would happen if Sid committed suicide with her own personal black hole?
Well the big speculation is probably gonna be about what else they can do…The blue ball makes her able to fly, apparently with local gravity control, but can she take someone else along with her, or is it ONLY her?
And we all know Sydney is gonna try to insist on wearing a costume if she is gonna be an “Official” superheroine….
there was art earlier with Sid in military uniform sitting with Dabbler and Max, the fill in the word bubble one. i’m betting that’s what she winds up wearing.
As I recall, that was an ARCSWAT field uniform as worn by Maxima and one of Harem, so yeah, that would be her work clothes. That doesn’t mean there won’t be an impassioned/bonkers plea for colorful spandex and a cape. Possibly more than one.
halo probly at some point puts costumes together for everyone on the team…….. now how she works harem 5 different color identical suits or 5 different style single color with crest outfits will be interesting, cosplay outfits probly included.
Perhaps not capes. Being the co-owner of a comics store, it’s probably a safe bet that she’s read what happened to Dollar Bill of the Minutemen.
Hmm if she has to hold a stone to make use of it’s power…. she need’s monkey feet, that way she can use 4 powers at once!
I am sure Dabbler could help her with that I mean it’s not like she doesn’t look like a bit like a monkey some what already.
;D
I hear my Drill Sargent from basic when Sidney says
YOU. SAY. THAT. WITH. PRIDE.
Be sure to draw out PR—-I(higher pitch)———-DE.
I loved basic training (except for some of the other recruits). The Drill Sargent team we had were some awesome people.