Grrl Power #88 – “Restraint” generally not a word used to describe her
Sydney’s obviously spent some time testing out the orbs, but as we see on this page, that sometimes proved hard to do without drawing attention to herself. She knows their basic functions but still has a lot to learn.
Speaking of learning, you guys get to suffer along with me while I try my hand at different angles. That low shot of Max isn’t terrible but it could be better. I think I spent about an hour on the pencils for just that panel and her mouth still looks a little weird. Oh well, learn by doing.
This week’s superhero fix to tide you over till next Monday is the League of Super Redundant Heroes. Basically, there’s heroes, then there’s sidekicks, then there’s the guys that didn’t quite make sidekick, and then there’s these guys.
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.
I really like Halo. She’s the kind of person I’m and she’s funny! And while I would be checking out Dabbler and Harem, I would be Sydney’s friend.
Well Dabbler is realy smart, funny and imagnitive. I wouldn’t mind having a friend like that.
Harem has some growing up to do. Once she is able to relax and not try to convience everybody that she is an adult she should be alright.
DaveB. Not comic related
Could you add feature to your comments page where any comment made within the last hour of uploading the sight, or refreshing the sight is highlighted?
It would help a lot to finding new comments.
I know you are a computer guy so I thought you might be able to improve the websight
Hmm… I wonder if that’s possible. I’m sure there’s a way to do it in javascript. There may be a plugin that does that as well. I’ll investigate that this weekend if I get a chance.
Thanks for the effort. I don’t know very much about computers myself, but thought this would be a great app for a forum like this one that has multiple ideas going around.
I love this strip ! hard to beleive the entire run so far is just one day of Sydney time. LUV how her hair does NOT hang down when she is upside down. Not flight then per se, but anti-gravity ?
How could ANYONE past the age of 18 NOT know what HENTAI is?
Because even now people learn at different speeds an come across such things or never at all. Don’t expect everyone to know what you do. I only found out this year an I’m 54! A common error to think everyone else thinks like you do an such. That is just wrong.
Plus she’s realy career oriented. You don’t get to have much down time when you have to plan 15 steps ahead and deal with office politics.
Arianna might not know what “hentai” is, but she may know a lot about Leather/Lace and Dom/Sub stuff… (she’s bound to have had a boss who liked to be punished/beaten in the past…she may have her own “costumes.” – Let’s ask Dabbler for that type of inside info on Arianna…I’m sure it will be educational…
I M O, the low shot had the nose and mouth looks placed just a bit too high up on the face. But yeah, you’ve gotta try new things to grow.
I keep meaning to make clay heads – or maybe computer models – of my characters, and watch them from a few different angles, get a feel for how they look in 3D. Alas, I’m lazy.
okay, let’s start with…
The last panel made me laugh out loud. A lot. A lot more than any other comic this year.
I also wanted to mention how I notice her name badge doesn’t fall and neither do her bangs when she is upside down. Clearly the orb completely manipulates her gravitational field, but it is in a very perplexing manner since she doesn’t fall anywhere.
And finally, I just figured I would say that her powers are NOT at all like I expected. I figured her powers were based in the fire-element, not something that can only be active by grabbing some balls.
hum…
interesting…
the pseudopod seems to react much faster than Sydney imply about her self-training.
i think that her powers are linked to her whole mind: consciouness, subconsciousness and also probably her emotional state.
the “hand & finger” taken by the pseudopod show a good degree of training.
… although this is one power that she could easily use at her home.
come to think of it, what is Sydney home situation? Where does she live? With who? What about her family?
All shall be revealed! Eventually. In unpublished early pages of the comic she had a roommate which makes more sense for her financial situation but I’ll need to figure out if that’s still the case. (Basically if I can think of enough jokes to go along with that scenario)
Sublet the shack out back! I had a friend that had the police raid the shack the place he was subletting from also sublet (like to the owner’s brother or something). Apparently he was a small time drug dealer.
-S
Sydney: ” ANGIE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY TENTA-BALL?!?!”
At least she’s not living with her parents.
I volunteer to be her roommate. I am a 6’5″ over the road truck driver, who is actually an interstellar alien. I am using this profession to study human kind. :o
DaveB. You realize that you could auction that roommate potion off!
um what happened to her Other arm….
in the last panel I mean… her arm is outlined but not there exactly…
If you had gone through the previous cmments you will see that Dave B explained it was an error when he put down the wood grain back ground. He will fix it eventually.
Taxman Dave B said that all the orbs an their powers will be explained soon enough. Be patient.
One of the orbs is miffed that it hasn’t been used or explained yet and thus phased her arm into invisibility. Sheesh, i’ve got to learn to come up with a imaginative responses to errors in artwork.
Disclaimer* this is meant as a joke no offense was meant and the author of the above text hopes no offense was taken. Author of the above text also would like to mention that he is not a troll but plays one on TV. Any likenesses to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. All pints reserved.
HAH~! Firefly reference XD
WIN
Also, Dabbler has gone way up on my fave character list :P
None of the (known) orbs however seems to explain the ‘jedi trick’ (i.e. TK) she used to snatch the tube back from Max earlier. Will we get an explanation for that as well?
It’s not really TK; she didn’t move the tube with her mind, she moved the orbs with her mind. And that was a property of the orbs rather than a power of hers. Also, I’m guessing that only worked because she was calling them to her — if she’d wanted them to move away or sideways, they’d have (metaphorically) said “who, us?”
The mouth in the low angle has the left corner too far out. The face is narrower at the mouth than at the eyes/cheekbones, so the mouth curves in more sharply than most of the rest of the face. Try thinking of it roughly as placed around a cillinder, but one narrower than the face as a whole?
Also, this might help.
http://www.stanprokopenko.com/blog/2009/05/draw-head-any-angle/
Yeah the mouth is the most off, but it’s 1) a 3 dimensional shape 2) wrapped around a cylinder, 3) which is at an angle 4) and she’s smiling, so it’s curving up as well as back 5) her mouth is open showing her teeth. Basically it’s about the hardest thing to draw. I’m glad I got it as good as I did but she still looks a little toothy/snouty. I’m familiar with all the basic form construction geometry like on that page you shared, but sometimes doesn’t hurt to go back to reacquaint oneself with the basics.
One trick to fix that weakness in art is to anthropomorphize the character at those points, especially if they are acting stubborn (ie give em slightly mullish look) or clever (make em more fox like), sharp and or predatory (hawk or eagle look mixed in), etc… dumb for some reason is done w/horse look in many manga…pick your anime meme to mix in… squirrel/chipmunk/kitten for Cute when hungry look…big eyes etc…
This lets you stretch out odd angled looks and use the “askew” meme (ie odd look mentioned above) as a tool to hide any weakness in drawing faces/looks from odd angles.
Another quick cheat/fix is to focus on part of the face only. Mouth/smirk (for grin/amusement), looking over glasses/peering over glasses (interest/curious), glasses w/one eyebrow raised (doubt/surprise). Mix in anime manga meme’s to help make point (fang works…)
Loved the bumper comic at the bottom, but personally, I’d have had someone else say “I’ll be in my bunk,” to which and awestruck Harem replies “I’m in my bunk right now.”
An awestruck Harem. An awestruck Harem. An awestruck Harem. An awestruck Harem. An awestruck Harem.
Damn it…four down, 96 to go.
An awestruck Harem. An awestruck Harem. An awestruck Harem…
**facepalm**
Five down, ninety-five. to go.
Teach me to post when I’ve been awake for 25 hours. And no, that one’s not a mistype.
I know the feeling. Try going 50 hours without sleep, with none of the non sheeping drinks that are so popular nowadays.
Allergic to most of them.
Hah hah yeah, that would have been good. I’ll have to watch out for opportunities like that in the future.
is is just me or is she growing fangs
…
Is Sydney wearing a Space Ghost shirt in the flashback panel?
yes she is
Already answered early on an it is YES!
Forgive me if someone has already said this – but it appears the ‘flight’ orb is more than just flight. It must create a personal gravity field. This is concluded judging by Sydney’s hair and the Lanyard she is wearing, which appear to be defying gravity by hanging ‘upward’
How do you know it was falling upward? Maybe it was falling down but everything else in the world is inverted and the only point that shows what is really going on is the lanyard?
Rember that spaceship in Futurama that moved the universe around itself instead of moving around the universe?
Insert “I’ve seen enough hentai” joke here… and the first line on the news blob? “Sydney’s obviously spent some time testing out the orbs” … If you know what I mean. *Nudge nudge wink wink*
see and i just took it as a masturbation joke
I just noticed that Sydney’s other arm is missing in the last panel.
oh hey! the orbs are emitting light!
Hah, Syd is wearing a space ghost shirt when she apparently starts a forest fire (as the squirrel behind her indicates to me), nice, one of the funnier panels since “THE LIGHT, IT BURNS” :)
Not so funny for the squirrel. ;)
And the squirrel turns out to be a part-alien/squirrel/human hybrid with awesome morphing abilities and a couple of super-power friends, an evil-genius boyfriend with a transformation gun and a fFil who’s with the FBI.
(See El Goonish Shive)
On another note: this comic seriously needs fanfics!
So make one. DaveB wouldn’t mind.
Have fun with it.
That appears to be the squirrel of panic!
Actually, Grace is a mild-mannered, potentially world-ending teenage-girl.
Oh the joke on the bottom nearly had me falling out of my chair! :D
great lol
I find it interesting that the flight orb apparently affects her personal gravity. Her shirt, hair and lanyard are all still, like she was upright.
You know what would have made for a funny scene? ‘Somebody mentions that to Sydney while she’s hanging upside down. After a pause, her ponytail drops to point at the floor and her bangs point straight out to each side, while the lanyard stays still. Then she grins as her “personal gravity” reasserts itself as if nothing had happened.’
That…
That’s hilarious.
Thank you. . . but in Sydney’s case I’d call it “hairlarious.”
Her shirt is tucked in her trousers. As for the hair, well… you got me there. Something weird is happening with gravity or a really strong hair gel.
Funny stuff! I can totally see the look on the faces of the group when they see their PR officer looking at hentai. FREAKING HILARIOUS!
I like the way her blue tentacle thingy copes her hand gesture.
And the “pew pew orb” priceless X3
Nice nod to Jane, there.
I saw that too and I LOVED it. His name is spelled Jayne, though. Just sayin’. Firefly rawks! :D
I was wondering if I was the only person to get that…
And for those of you who don’t know what firefly is, look it up. You won’t be disappointed.
The merest reference to firefly has solidified this comic as one of my favourites. That and the sense of humour.
“You can’t take the sky from me!”
Just wandered something, is this “interview” being recorded by security cameras? I’d love to see the reactions from the guards and maybe other members at how often Sydney is getting Maxima to smile (given the issue earlier with Arianna wanting Maxima to smile for the television interview).
Even if it isn’t being recorded, I gotta believe Gwen (who got kicked out of the meeting just as it was getting interesting) is now “practicing” her scanning spell in the direction of the interview room.
Maybe she’ll even find herself being scanned back when Syd demonstrates her clarisense orb.
Is it just me, or does Maxima look like a golden version of Dot Matrix in panel five?
Well, at least Maxima doesn’t have that “mono-boob” thing going. Seriously, read the wiki on ReBoot and read up on all the stupidity that went on with that show. I really hope that show gets the reboot it deserves, I just rewatched what was put up on netflix (where’s the final season?) and I still enjoyed it to this day. I’m just sad the voice actor who played Megabyte, Tony Jay, passed in 2006. He was hell of an actor on that show and off it.
The entire series of ReBoot (all four seasons) can be bought on DVD; which I have done. Season four did end on one hell of a cliffhanger, with nearly everybody on the run. More I will not say unless I’m sure I’ve figured out the tag structure.
I had to go a-googling on that one. You say Dot Matrix to me, I’m thinking Space Balls, where Dot IS golden.
i know this may seem… nit picky. but in the previous page she doesnt have the card on a lanyard around her neck. this one she does. also. it seems to defy gravity.. unless that is part of flight orbs power..
Yes, it is.
DaveB already said as much.
The gravity defying thing is definitely part of her power. The missing lanyard was just a mistake. It’s on my fix list.
As I recall “Reboot” had an X-Files parody in it an they got Gillian Anderson to voice her Reboot version of the Skully character.
Reboot had parodies on everything; my fave was the ‘007’ episode (Firewall), complete with a Bond opening sequence and title song.
Been too long since I saw the series an its early CG animations. The original run only.
Yeah, she did do her voice acting for that episode. I think the reason Duchovony didn’t do it was because he wasn’t paid enough. It was an animated CG show on a shoestring budget as it was and he probably wanted more than all the main voice actors combined for probably 30-60 minutes worth of work.
i love how arianna’s chopsticks shoot out of her hair as part of her reaction, nice touch
Just found the comic and got caught up – Great job! Fun story, very nice and consistent art. Look forward to the developing story.
Thanks! Though as an artist I’d call the art anything but consistent. But that’s the artists’ curse I guess.
Sneaking out of the woodwork to ask… which of the orbs holds her glasses on? :D
That’s part of the effect of the “flight” orb, which gives Sidney a local, personal gravity effect. Whatever direction her feet are pointing is “down” for her and things she is carrying, which implies that what she is doing is more like gravity manipulation levitation than true flight. The difference has lots of story potential, and I’m looking forward to seeing it come up tactically.
That’s the current theory anyway.
I recently (well, last week) found this comic and am enjoying it immensely. I remember seeing a line that Dabbler’s IQ can’t be measured on a human scale. That got me thinking of MindMistress, which I have been following for quite a while now. MindMistress is also known for having 700+ IQ with perfect recall of all her experiences and is decades ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to inventing things. She has been involved in some other crossovers, including the current CrossOverKill and tutoring Magellan’s Kwan, another super-genius. I think it could be fun to see MindMistress show up here and encounter Dabbler. Dabbler actually might be smarter (not many can honestly say that about MindMistress), but MindMistress is more focused. By the sounds of it, anybody is more focused. Here is my thoughts (really more of a first draft, depending on Dabbler’s personality)
MM: And that means that … [beginning to get annoyed, noticing that Dabbler is looking out the window] we set off the U-238 explosive.
D: [Swinging her head around to look at MM again.] When did we start talking about a nuclear bomb?
MM: I though you weren’t paying attention. Just checking. What were you looking at anyway?
D: Oh, there is a group of pigeons and crows interacting in the park across the road.
MM: [Starting to lose her cool] Will you focus? We have work to do.
D: [Swinging her head around to look at MM again.] Focus? Oh, yes. [Opens a cabinet behind her, reaches in, and grabs an object. Due to the flexibility of her arms, she does not have to turn around to do it. She brings it around in front of her.] Here, a multi-focus laser system I built. The lens up here focuses the different frequencies of light at different distances.
MM: We can talk about that late… [Very surprised] You have a laser that produces multiple light frequencies? But, that isn’t physically possible with any Earthly mater… Right. Earthly materials. What do you have in here? [Pause] Hello, pigeon watcher?
D: [Swinging her head around to look at MM again.] Oh, just a few things I picked up from the ship one of my ancestors was in when he crashed into this planet. Oh and I watching the foxes in the park just now instead. I only see one pigeon, but it is in the fox’s mouth.
MM: [Making an effort to calm down] Can we resume the task at hand, before the inter-dimentional bad guys get here?
Thanks! I’ve seen Mindmistress around but I haven’t caught up on it yet. Dabbler’s intelligence is skewed towards mathematics. She’s intelligent yes, but from what you’re saying MM would probably be considerably more intelligent overall. Dabbler has good memory, but her real strength lies in her ability to do Hawking-esque astrophysics like someone asked her what 2+3 is. That translates well into any area of scientific inquiry, including magic, but she is considerably hampered by mental wanderlust.
Dabbler has the curse of being interested in too many things. It does hamper one in being fully knowledgeable in one thing.
Perhaps the term you’re searching for here is “Synthesist” (sic), as in one who needn’t have a hi-IQ (although it never hurts), but who definitely has an unusually high degree of skill at recognizing & exploiting connections between seemingly unrelated disciplines of research. Such a skill can yield inventions that are most unexpected, given their starting-basis.
Re: Cast photos and power summary:
Is there a legend for what each of the power means in the illustrated summary beside each picture?
I believe DaveB knows what they mean and intends to post a legend sometime, but hasn’t got to that yet. Many of them can be worked out by context and listed powers. For instance, Halo’s are, top down 4 star (superior) flight, 3 star (moderate) energy projection, 5 star (top level) force field, 1 star (weak) psychic ability, and three star (moderate) telekinesis. These are only rough groupings of power, Maxima has 5 star flight, but it’s obvious that she and Halo don’t fly in the same way at all.
I’m not sure the 4th one is Psychic ability. I think it may be senses/perception. WIth 5 full sets of senses, Harem has the same icon and it’s a higher rating. I think it’s there representing Sydney’s Clarisense, showing that she can perceive more than the average person.
I think it’s telaportation myself.
The one with two people standing next to each other with lines = going between them.
Harem has that symbol with three stars.
No, I think the 4th one is psychic ability too. The “=” lines going between two people could represent psychic communication and Harem’s greater numbers of stars note that she does this between her 5 selves.
My, my, my…
Oh man did I choose a good day to start reading this.
Seriously? This is suffering? I wish I could even draw an ounce as good as you can.
Well get practicing then! Not gonna happen unless you make it happen. >cracks whip<
Is Sydney wearing a space ghost tshirt?
I think its Wonder Women
im referring to the t-shirt she has on where she is putting out the fire…
It is! it is a Space Ghost shirt!
The wait is AWFUL. This is definitely the best webcomic on the net, so waiting for updates feels like waiting for my birthday back when I was seven years old. I understand that the author is prioritising the stuff he’s doing in meatspace first and the webcomic second, but it’s still torture.