Grrl Power #89 – Badgers. Apparently terrifying.
Those of you in the anti-Arianna camp will probably enjoy this page as Sydney is picking on her a bit for no real reason. Unfortunately only got to address one of the orbs on this page and didn’t really touch much on the rules an limitations of the telepresence orb (or comm-ball as Sydney calls it.) It will be addressed more thoroughly in following pages though. In case it’s not clear, the comm-ball has to send out the smaller, inner orb, and the holo-Sydney projects from that point, so it’s a little like Rimmer from Red Drawf once they introduced the “light bee.”
The orbs are a little like any rule or power system introduced in a comic. You get the rules laid out pretty plainly up front, and then specific situations cause the main character to come up with very interesting use cases within those constraints. Death Note is a great example of this, although they kept introducing new rules througout the series, they explored a bunch of clever twists and exploits with each new rule.
The next page should wrap up what all the orbs can do though so it still averages out to more than one/page.
May’s vote incentive is up in case you didn’t notice. Go poke it.
And welcome to anyone visiting from Girls with Slingshots! Have a look around, feel free to rummage through our stuff. Anyone here who doesn’t read GWS probably should, and I’ll start you off with my guest strip, drawn while heavily referencing Danielle’s style, which I like to do to whatever degree I can when I get the chance to do them.
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.
Just. Keeps. Getting. FUNNIER!!
Above comment not intended to imply that the first page wasn’t high-larious. (Thanks Jayne!) Because it totally was.
Syd isn’t picking on Arianna for no reason. Syd’s picking on Arianna because she’s apparently an even better straight man than Maxima.
Would that be straight woman?
Straight woman? We don’t know anything about Max and Arriana’s sexual preferences. Until that is explored, it might be premature to talk about that. ;)
I agree with you. I am not sure what Anthony is referring to.
A “straight man” in a comedy sense is part of a double act whose role is often to set up the joke by being “reasonable and serious” vs the comedian’s humor and high jinks.
“Straight Man” – comedy term, for the serious (or more serious) person a comedian can play off of. Abbot & Costello, Gracie & Burns, and most other comedy duos used them.
And Amy and I find two straight men, who don’t even realize it. We were joking about a double-entente in the phrase, guys.
OMG Straight-men everywhere!!! AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!
While there are exceptions, on average I’d expect ‘Just Karen’ to fit under the ‘straight woman’ clause…
While in principle yes, I don’t believe I’ve actually seen that phrase used.
hi new reader
so how independent of Sydney is the orb-double?
can it be presumed that the orb-double dosent have to move when Sydney does and Sdyney dosent have to move to make the OD(orb-double yeah im getting lazy :P) move question i have is how much range does the OD have also what happens when the OD reaches the outer edge of that range?
also can Sydney romotly utilise powers through the OD or can she only use them with her main body while OD gaining the visual side effects of said powers?
just some food fo thought
I suspect Sydney will be able to use powers through that orb at a (much) later date, but for now Sydney isn’t able to do much with that orb except act as a scout. I also expect the range is limited. so what we have here is flight, energy blasts, telekinetic pseudopod and very limited tele-presence.
Her cast icon gives the telepresence 1 out of 5, so that’s about correct then.
Can’t wait to see her force field though, supposedly even better than Dabbler’s.
She might be able to learn power stunts with it, but for now, the illusion only mirrors what she’s doing. You know why? Comedy.
it was just that when i looked at the page the distence between sydney and the illusion seems to keep changing then again this might be due to perspective change
Max: Will it work for other people (grabs it)
Sydney: Hey! Ask before you grab someone’s orbs!
Sydney pulls her hand back and the orb flies back to her, pulling right out of Max’s super-strength grip, maybe pulling Max along with it. Harem then sneaks up on Halo/Sydney and each of the 5 bodies tries grabbing an orb. All of them yell “Ouch!” at the same time.
Harem: That hurt! [To Max] Why didn’t you say anything?
Max: I hardly felt anything, but I guess that shock might be noticeable if you aren’t read for it.
[Harem shoots a death-glare at Max.]
Which Harem said that?
all of them/her at once
Still prefer the orbs slinging whoever tried to grab them into pretty much any object in range until they let go.
Funnier, though gutter humor: “Warn a girl before you grab her balls!”
That’s an interesting ability…
Badgers are less terrifying than hedgehogs, but hedgehogs are very special creatures anyway.
Badgers would eat hedgehogs if they could find any. Badgers whether here on in the UK are creatures you don’t want to mess with. Just like the wolverine in Canada and the ratel/honey badger in Africa.
IMO Sydney switched targets from Max to Arianna because Max proved that there was at least a little geek in her with the Ioun Stones comment.
She could watch her own 6 with this power. ;)
Now I wonder how talking might work when Sydney’s copy cannot touch anything, because talking requires to vibrate air which requires vocal chords to “touch” air…
Actually, there’s the same problem with hearing – no “touching” of the eardrum: No sound to hear.
Hmm, to fix that… How about saying that a slight touch is possible IF Sydney wants it. ;)
(Seeing is not a problem because the copy is visible and thus interacts with light.)
You shouldn’t let facts ruin a good story.
._. That’s always my problem… inner logic problems made my drop my first super hero concept.
And I just spotted another one: Where’s the orb in panel 5? I mean where could it possibly be? Given that the copy looks exactly like the real Sydney in that instant…
simple answer is that the issusion creates a sound waves as nessesary for the double to speak or copy what sydney is saying
I forgot them in a bunch of places cause it was super late. I’ll fix it tonight.
The inner orb is the center of the projection, and it is solid enough to both create and react to soundwaves.
Great idea :D Hm. It means that the projection cannot walk through a wall. Or stick the head through the wall and hear what’s going on on the other side.
Based on panel 12, the holo-Sydney can move though other objects. However, I believe that she only can up to a point where the mini-orb hits something solid (ex. a wall). This means, depending on where in the holo-Sydney it is, she could put her face through the wall up to the point that the mini-orb hit the wall. If the mini-orb was in her left heel, she could put her entire body through the wall except for her left heel.
I assumed that Sydney would have difficulties in holding the orb while having her fingers in her mouth. Now I stand corrected.
A wizard did it.
I’m blaming The Doctor.
If the mini orb which generates the illusion has a (phasing?) physical presence it could both generate and hear sound waves.
Well, energy has mass, thus it exists in a solid state, the phasing though may have something to do with a multi-dimensional nature of the matrix projecting and containg the holo-shell to make it appear as a 3-D solid image rather than a simple projection. As such it is manipulating electromagnetic radiation (light) and possible a multi-dimensional source. As such having a sound and light intake and projection back to the host form via Quantum Entanglement (same motion, sight, and sound) at the same time; it is not unheard of for it to also produce sound.
(maybe a subtle ability she may power stunt with later to make it more solid): reminds me of those ghost movies and shows where the ghosts have to learn to be more solid to move bigger and bigger stuff.
All it would need is to be able to move between other atoms in atomic lattices. Maybe a version of visible neutrinos perhaps. (Remember all “magic” is science on a vaster more awesome scale than our own realized ones.) It would explain the inability to pick up things. Too bad she can’t alter the appearance of the image. It is locked on her.
“Any sufficiently analyzed magic in indistinguishable from science!” — Agatha Heterodyne as Cinderella
I’m still expecting sydney to summon the beast zords from those
Heh – imagine the Halloween use of this. Copy Sydney is standing outside the door and the kids walk up.
Kids: “Trick or Treat!”
Sydney: “Whoops, left the candy inside! Let me get it.” Sydney proceeds to walk THROUGH the door.
Door then opens with Sydney on the other side. “Here ya go, kids!”
Or in a fight – Illusionary Sydney taunts a villian, then runs around the corner when they realize she’s an illusion. THey round the corner after her, and she standing behind Maxima. Villian assumes Max is an illusion too but turns out to be wrong.
I guess that depends on whether the “inner orb” can pass through objects or if it is solid.
Either case leads to interesting possibilities.
It passed through Arianna, so I guess it’s a energy projection.
The orb didn’t pass thru Ariana, just the arm of Sydney it is projecting. Like David says, like Rimmer with the Holo-Bee, but before becoming the hard-light hologram, the IMAGE can pass through, but not the Bee.
Or how about the good old double-take?
Sydney walks past. “Hi, Dave!”
Then, Sydney walks past. “Hy, Dave!”
Maybe a mirror-Sydney. Or maybe try Holo-Syd jumping from somewhere, with Max dragging the real one around…
Hehe… Oooor, project herself ahead while being dragged by Maxima, it’ll look like she’s just being drug by nothing across the ground. Bonus points if she’s flailing, that would be priceless!
Quick, somebody call the Ghostbusters!
I like that train of thought!!
Train?
Howabout Syd riding the subway while she projects holo-Syd above ground?
And yes, I know how much mayhem that would cause, but after the shift I just had I’m feeling the need to be evil.
Sydney on a plane and projecting herself out on the wing.
…with William Shatner in the window seat looking out onto the wing.
I like the idea of sydney looking through walls using the comm-ball. I wonder if the mini illorb (illusion orb) can go through matter like the illision can.
Even if it can’t., a 3 /4 inch hole will do it, and projected Sidney can always stick her head through.
Sydney: “I am a ghost!”
Person: “what? You are not even wearing a sheet!”
Sydney: puts arm through them “I am a ghost!”
Guy has a heart attack. Arianna watching from a computer moniter says” Oh shit, she put her arm through my head!”
I do enjoy the fact that Maxima knows what the Shocker is (hence her refusing to perform it).
She googled it (really, really fast.)
Harem and Dabble probably let Maxima know, so they could annoy her with it. For now Maxima has made some bonds and common cause with Sydney but I expect Maxima’s general attitude will move her back to No. 1 target.
Na, she is Military; that is Military culture. Cussing like a sailor is NOT just an expression you know.
Point of fact:
I spent an entire year deployed in Iraq on Combat OutPost (COP) SHOCKER.
Yeah we are a rowdy bunch.
Who say’s she know’s the shocker?
Maby the reason she refused to do the shocker was because she didn’t know what it was.
She said she was a nerd not a sports fan.
Your vote/ad blurb on Top Comics needs a picture and a selling point: Updates every Monday, full color, full page! For the picture, I recommend something to do with hot sauce!
I think it’s possible to weigh down an ad with too much stuff on it. I say make it compelling to click on and let the comic sell itself.
You HAD to go and mention Red Dwarf. Love that show (British version, not the US version)
HUH?! they actually MADE a US version? i thought that was a weird rumor…
I have ALL the Red Dwarf episodes including the (thankfully) unaired US pilot. I tried to watch it but it stank so bad I thought my cat had died. Must be what Lister’s laundry smells like……
At least someone at the studio had the presence of mind to realize that all that pilot would do would be stop several careers in their tracks, and leave it in the can.
One of my favorites, right up there with Blackadder.
I tried watching Blackadder on my computer once, but Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, and Stephen Fry in one series was just too much. The awesomeness caused the screen to implode.
badgers are evil ………… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPvRVK9YbZM
Badgers run in fear from; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wnE4vF9CQ4
Dammit, I’ve just watched 9 versions of that song. Now I’m trying to learn the lyrics. In Finnish…
Cue evil laughter.
Up to around 30 now. Shoulda stopped with the asian chicks playing it on ocarina…
Have you seen the english version yet?
But Narwals Kick @$$
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykwqXuMPsoc&feature=related
You had to mention narwhals, didn’t you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6kNxf6axY4
“Badger” – Any relation to this badger?
No. It’s THIS badger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg
Ot this one
Hmm, duplicates the presence of the other orbs too. So anything on her would duplicate visually. . . Why am I now flashing back to the laser used at the beginning of the series?
hmm… so technically, an ally could fire a laser between her head and the orbs, and it would strike an enemy through the telepresence? or, perhaps, with a portal, she could have a continuous beam passing above her, not losing energy, and a continuing beam coming from the the mini orb? perhaps a PPO beam, if it is light based?
Actually since this is about super heroes my thoughts were laser weapon (focused light) or sonic weapon (focused sound) since both of those work with her telepresence sphere. It means with something like that she can be an invulnerable gunner. As long as the real her has something very sturdy to shoot at as well. . . .
This reminds me of the first couple of pages in this comic where they were arguing if a laser could pass through a clear energy sheild.
All i can think about is WHY these guys talking about lasers. Telepresence seems to be making a hologram with the mini-orb, and information the hologram receive through sight and sound is teleported back to original. If she can’t touch things with the holo, why are people talking about the holo shooting people. Did I miss something?
Hologram == Structured light. Laser == Structured light. The discussion is about the limits of the structure the orb can create. In general, a situation that can create one probably can create (or needs, in order to create) the other.
And if it really can be made to work, it’s a potential game-breaker in Sydney’s hands: A way to attack from perfect safety.
Sydney does not become invisible and the “light bee” appears to work by copying her actions.
Therefore, even if the “light bee” could copy a laser, the original would have to be firing it too.
Think about it though, Instant suppression-fire
Can create a laser, I’ll grant you, or as near as makes no difference. Can create a laser at arbitrary power, not proven.
The Telepresence orb manipulates light to simulate a solid surface, but it’s only been demonstrated at ‘normal’ light intensity. The extra energy needed to replicate a weaponised laser may not be within the capabilities of the system.
One question for the cast page. It lists Sydney as a private. But when she walks into Archon back before the flashback she is addressed as corporal?
Right now Sydney is a civilian.
Sorry, you were talking about the cast page.
DaveB wrote that up before he drew most of the comics. Things get a little mixed up when you are creating something.
As I understand it it is the other way around.
Originally Sydney was intended to be a Corporal (as seen on page 4)
but later revisions to the story/details meant this was changed to Private.
DaveB just hasn’t got round to correcting the old page.
Yeah the bottom line is the cast page needs an update. I’ll probably try and do that once she’s officially on the team.
most awesome bright shiny object EVER O.O
….I think Im in love with Sydney now….
only now? to bad you have to be wolverine to have a chance with her
Doesn’t Sydney have a real boyfriend?
That half-brother / cousin guy…
No. She’s just realy intrested in him. Don’t realy know how he feels about her.
Maby in a few months, DaveB will wright something about that. Or not.
I am imagining the other orbs will have their own unique powers but the stones that she don’t know what they do, I am going to imagine they do something more terrifying then anything she could ever think of.
I.m guessing one is a resurrection orb. She doesn’t know what it does because she hasn’t died yet.
for just her or for anyone?
Be a great idea.
” COME My undead minnions” Her army of undead badgers scurry behind her, leaving nothing unchewed in their wake.
I’m guessing one is a invisibility or stealth orb: Gwen couldn’t scan what was in Syd’s tube when they were all in there touching each other so maybe when Syd touches one of the unknown orbs Gwen&others wont be able to scan her?
Total stealth, invisible to light, heat, radiological, mystical, psionic, ect…scan.
but on its default it still has that nagging problem of an empty space (no air detected there either), but that can fall into the catagory of needing to know what you are looking for to find her.
Although it would be funny if it can do that by its self, but her eyes remain visible (its something I do in my own series for optical-cloakers *bend light around them* because if light that bounces off objects is also being bent around them, and bends around their eyes too then they can’t see (we see by light bouncing off objects and into our eyes, if that light is bent around us to keep our eyes invisible then we are blinded): this is a fact the military has been taking into consideration for newer light bending stealth prototypes *of course any other method of sensory input is also a double edged sword; radar means radar can detect you too unless you can adjust your radar signature and bend light at the same time, same too with any other particle or wave form detection system. (funny how it has turned out like turning invisible in a video game, a double edged sword putting you off as well as your opponent).
Two unknown orbs… Could be a passive effect (yay, +10 to luck!), or like what DragonMann suggested, they do something she doesn’t need yet. Also another possibility is that these orbs don’t do anything at all yet. No idea how the orbs were made and got their unique “qualities.”
My guess is that they were Part of an ancient Mayan game of marbles. During a ritual marble game gone wrong, there was a huge explosion and when the dust settled, the marbles were floating around the holy man. Thinking they were some sort of bad omen or curse, the holy man exiled himself to a cave where he eventually died of unknown factors. Many many many years later, Sydney is on a trip and happens upon the cave and touches the marbles, which spring back into life and start to orbit her.
Either that or it was a billiards game instead of marbles.
P.S.- this is probably wrong and just the way I see it in my head. Everyone else has the right to believe whatever story they want.
I suspect though they are unknown because Sydney was testing out each orb in turn and the last one she did was the energy blast one and it made her a bit gun-shy to try the others.
(like what if one of the remaining orbs sucks the life force out of living things and transfers it to her?) or other possibilities she hadn’t considered at first when the first few could make her fly and create projections.
The one thing I find really lacking in the team up to now is healing.
Maybe one of the orbs has that.
Then again, how about a lightbulb-orb? Or night- /darkness-vision?
My guess for the unknown ones is that Sydney couldn’t test them because their requirements weren’t met.
A superpower duplication/supression orb wouldn’t work without a Super nearby, a healing orb wouldn’t work unless she was hurt…
Though those powers strike me as too human-centric for what are allegedly alien artifacts.
Maybe one has meta powers – something affecting the orbs and her relationship to them, like allowing her to lend one out, set a time-delayed command, or boost the power.
One orb for invisibility , definitively. she can use the copy-orb to see where she’s going.
Or perhaps the last orb is something like a localized crystal-ball that let’s her see what’s around ehr while she’s invisible.
Maybe a google-earth-like orb that lets her zoom down to her immediate area.
Badgers are terrifiying those guys are visious unless it played by billmurray in the tantastic tale od Mr. Fox then they are just adorable
Has anyone else noticed that the mini-orb seems to be a “fast mover?” In panel 3 we see it has moved all the way to behind the interviewers, after taking the long route I might add, but they are all still looking at Syd. Then in the next panel Arianna is surprised to find it behind her.
I rarely comment online but I wanted to give my 2 cents hoping you continue your work.
Great comic.
Some constructive comments
a) I don’t usually read super hero comics, but your characters are simply fun to read. I think your greatest strength is your sense of humor. For example one of my favorites was your main character looking through the defect in the window and imagining things and the mental flip you do when you realize it’s just in her head.
b) It feels biased it’s only women super heroes in the group. Maybe have some reason why this particular team happens to be all women. Perhaps there are all men teams somewhere else and both work better this way.
c) Seeing the main characters eyes through her bangs bothers me. I am guessing you are doing this so the reader can see her expression. Not sure how you would fix it, but it feels odd.
Hope to see more and more .. going back to lurking.
they have 2 guys, the ones who pretended they were bank robbers, but they not listed in the cast, yet they have Zoeng, the owner of the store where Sidney works and the General listed in cast page, and they are guys
Thanks! The eyes through the bangs things is something I picked up from manga. I guess it was something they did since the hairstyles got crazier and crazier over time. Sydney’s hair has evolved considerably since the beginning of the comic, her bangs migrating to the least convenient spot really. The way I see it, hair isn’t solid and the little movements that you’d get in real life would give you glimpses through the hair and you’d piece together their expression though it. But I suppose I could try drawing her with her hair covering her eyes and see how that looks.
This is what Phillip M Jackson (jollyjack) has to say on the matter of transparent hair:
https://jollyjack.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4wlzqs
:D
Yeah, Jolly Jack there lost most of my respect after nit picking the fuck out of a pic I colored of his, saying that it made Scarlet look to “old”….
Picture in question: https://solbet.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d3kqg70
And yes, I did paint every single individual strand of hair. My tablet now has a bare spot in the middle of it cause of how I do hair/fur, lol. But seriously, does she look old?:S
not to nit-pick, but that link was a link to a whole gallery, of which NONE of those pics are labeled “Scarlet”… which specific pic are you talking about? i am not a comics geek that can recognize a bazzilion names and characters from one reference… WHO is “Scarlet”? and which exact pic is it in that gallery?
Technically, it does say Scarlet in it’s name, but it’s her designation from her laboratory days, 5c4rl3t.
For others who the gallery links don’t work for, here:
https://jollyjack.deviantart.com/art/Transparent-Hair-296638516
https://solbet.deviantart.com/art/Designation-5C4RL3T-216224892
Personally, I prefer semi-transparent hair, but unless you’re working in object layers it can be a pain.
Scarlet’s fur could be read as wrinkles, but even then it doesn’t look “old”, it looks insanely wrinkled on a chibi face. I read it as wood grain anyway :3
I can kind of see where he’s coming from, plain faces without any lines are seen as ‘young looking’, adding more detail can appear to add wrinkles, thus making them look older. If you look at most of Jolly jacks stuff (lots of other antro/furry art as well) you can see there isn’t than much detail, lots white/plain space. While this isn’t very realistic for a person covered in fur it does preserve the young/visually appealing aspect.
So in summary, more lines = older looking. At least in anime inspired art. This is especially obvious around the face.
In jolly jacks comments to you to he mention anything else? I’m not saying the guy is a perfect artist, most of his stuff I like but the ones with small heads and distorted bodies freak me out a little.
Also, the original line art the picture was based on is here
https://jollyjack.deviantart.com/art/Scarlet-2008-74271044
Then the jolly jack coloured version
https://jollyjack.deviantart.com/art/Scarlet-2008-colour-74605837
I’m glad you do the “transparent hair” so we can see all of Sydney’s face. Otherwise it would be like Violet’s face though most of “The Incredibles” movie. Keep doing it.
In my (few) off-hours, I’ve been 3D modeling Sydney in Maya, for the challenge of it. I’d have to say that making the bangs look right is the 3rd biggest obstacle I’ve faced in the project. It doesn’t ever look the same way twice from strip to strip.
I’d suggest making up some model sheets for reference, just so her design doesn’t gradually drift so far that she no longer fits in the same universe as the rest of the characters. (And if you put those model sheets on your DevArt page or the like, that would eliminate the 2nd biggest obstacle for me :-) )
Yeah, she does look slightly different from panel to panel, definitely one of my weaknesses as an artist.
Peoples faces are mobile. They can change with slight shifting of muscles, where if you didn’t know the person you might not rekognise them. I once saw this guy that when he smiled, you wouldn’t think it was the same person.
So, don’t beat yourself up about their looks changing a little from caption to caption. As long as we know who they are, we won’t complain. At least most of us won’t.
You always get some guy out there who has to complain about something.
And here I was thinking that was intentional. No seriously, Sydney’s constantly changing facial features are one of the things that make this comic so fun. :D
That’s not the issue here. Sydney’s face has a wide expression set, which is part of the character. What’s being talked about is the “base Sydney”. It’s the default state Sydney that all facial expressions depart from. If the base Sydney varyies too much from strip to strip, then strip #50’s Sydney and strip #150’s Sydney might look like two completely different people.
That’s what a model sheet is for. It makes sure that the pre-existing benchmarks for a character’s design have continuity, even as the character evolves.
Yes, but there is a wide margain though for this, although normally this is allowed because the artists vary (hence why the Sara of the first Witchblade comics can look so little like the one in the new comics; who is more mature looking, and a few cup-sizes smaller LoL)
But when we are talking about a new web-comic; I say it can take some time for the art to hit that plateu. But this Dave guy is starting out strong, you want ones where it is a very good thing the art changed from the base design check out
DMFA and Sluggy Freelance between their first issue and latest issues they have changed a good deal, especially DMFA which doesn’t even look like the same person drew them.
I’m not talking about freezing the character in time. I’m just talking about a reference, so that the obvious things (height, proportions, colors, costume details, and the like) are all in one place. That way, the artist doesn’t need to go flipping through previous strips to find out what the tread on Sydney’s shoes look like, for example. Instead all important detail is there, on the model sheet, all the time, every time.
Plus, making a reference sheet is good practice. It helps the artist think about and make decisions about why the characters looks like they do now (and how they might change in the future). And if the artist does want to make major structural/stylistic changes to the character, it gives the artist a starting point from which to deviate.
And as a bonus, it’s one of those things that the artist can throw onto the site as vote incentive or as a filler comic in case of emergencies (or possibly as an extra to encourage more fan art).
a) that part was hilarious, and I completely agree with you.
b) Sydney has only met part of a single team. I’m sure there will be guys too later on down the line.
c) I personally like that the eyes are drawn through the hair. It makes sure that I get the full idea of what is going on. If you can’t see the eyes of a person, you lose the majority of whatever emotion they are feeling.
b) look at the name of the comic, grrlpower – yeah that’s going to have a lot of female characters.
Meh, I’ll just blame that extra bit of chromosome for the superpowers in this universe (meanwhile in the real one, sure do wish I could see red the right way :[ )
Just to tweak your tail, some women actually have two different red sensors, with response peaks in different parts of the spectrum. At least one of them has a job as an interior decorator…
Killer…… I’ve been with you since your first page….. and you haven’t disappointed form p 1 on, and at times I just don’t know how you make it even better, but I love this comic. Yeah deserve much better then a 7 at WTC.
Make sure any voting sites that give exposure, are noted in your comments under the comic, so we can go there and vote for you, and bring back new viewers.
Scott
I’m aware of several comic aggregators, but I think TWC is the only one you can vote at.
There are other votable one, it is, however, the only one of two I’ve come across so far that doesn’t require registration/login. Forget the other one, only stumbled on it once. Am one of those that ain’t gonna register with websites all over hell’s half acre to vote, so is only one I use.
Aside: I get a kick outta how all these years later, spell checkers everywhere still can’t deal with “login”.
I wonder if she can make the illusion solid by combining it with the tentacle orb?
Just a bit of orb power speculation:
I would think one of the unknown orbs gives a version of invulnerability but that’s a tough one to test for
Arianna : Sidney…for this next test we want you to hold both the unknown orbs. *Turns off the microphone* Ok hit her with the taser.
Sidney: Ok. What’s this test…WHAT THE BLEEPING MONKEY NUTS…….
Wouldn’t that be a bit redundant? We already know she has a “force field” orb, and the stats panel says it’s maxxed out for power, so being invulnerable inside one would mean a lost opportunity to have some other cool power.
Were the invulnerability personal, and the force field usable on or for others, they’d be distinct and separate powers, though the combination of them could be what is shown to max out Sydney’s personal defensive abilities.
How is extending the field further then your skin a second power? It ain’t, just pushing the field envelope further from yourself.
Don’t know why Arianna is so worried about her brain she barely uses it. :)
i just have this funny image of sydney holding her telepresence orb and saying…
“BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!”
lol!
Kugebunshins would be way more terrifying.
A thousand Sydneys….
Well, for all we know, she might be able to produce multiple images with focused practice.
Yeah, but Kagebunshins would actually have real bodies, act on their own, and transfer their experiences back to Syd.
Badgers are terrifying! Have you seen The Gods Must Be Crazy?
If I recall correctly, the badger in The Gods Must Be Crazy is a ratel or honey badger, a beast so tough that the Guinness Book of World Records named it the world’s most fearless animal. In fact, ratels may just be the Sydney Scoville Jr’s of the animal world…
Trust me, it’s only a matter of degree. The whole badger family are dangerous wackos; although the Ratel has a slight lead in fearless aggression, Badgers, Wolverines, Fishers, Weasels, Stoats, Mink, and Ermine are all in a tight pack just behind!
Mink’s run in packs that kill or wound anything small enough for them to hurt.
Read that in a Mamoth Hunters. Great series, I’d recomend it to anyone. The movie sucked, so don’t bother to watch it.
Clan of the Cave Bear series.
Earth’s Children is actually the name of the series.
Ayla <3
I read clan of the cave bear and was gone read some of the others, but I haven’t gotten around to it. Are they good?
Vally of the Horses is AWSOM.
I know if I ever saw a badger coming for me I would “Shit my keeks”!
Cookies if you recall what game that from.
Sydney jumping out and screaming Badgers is what made me decide to stick with this comic. It was fraking perfect.
Badgers up, yo.
So that’s four down, three to go.
I still think you should have done a tube full of alien spores that took control of the top brass at this place.
Even as a one-shot, that would have been awesome.
Maybe a future voting incentive?
DaveB, can we get a nice close up of the impish look of deviltry on Sydney’s face in Panel 3? Zooming barely does it justice and I think it’d make a great Gravitar too. Readers might not notice that look and if they had they’d have expected the next few panels…with Glee!
Great job as usual.
Thanks. Here you go. I think I work at too high res sometimes.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/GP0089-P3.jpg
Thanks, maybe you do, but it will let you make your graphic novels/books all the better. Trade size or better and the art won’t devolve…maybe…
BTW try to time your first book’s release in time for a certain CON so you can be considered for a Hugo.
last panel makes sid look like she’s parallel to the illusion, as she’s presumeably about 8 feet or so closer to the “camera,” one might expect to see a zoomed in blow up of the image on the right, perhaps, from where it starts up to about her elbow. If you didn’t make the original in high enough resolution, you could always blur, for the out of focus effect (that would look pretty cool on it’s own really. You do pretty good art, and are trying, cause you continually get better, this was just bugging me, and you seem to take touch up advice pretty solidly. thnx.
I did poor blocking on this page. In the last shot, Arianna’s returned to her seat, and is sitting next to the illusydney, and really there’s a table between Arianna and real Syd, so they should be further apart. The problem was that if I pulled the shot out further I’d have to draw Max next to her and every character I have to draw adds time to each comic. :P I mean I probably should have drawn her in that shot or changed the angle or something anyway.
Badger Reaper needs to be a t-shirt. Just sayin.
Hello, I’m a new reader and find this comic absolutely hilarious.
Anyways I have read the cast page and took note of 2 orbs because of 2 hands. Is that because she has to use specifically her hands or is it some rule of direct contact with her? Like stuffing one in her mouth. I am curious.
I’ll get into the some of the specifics later, but basically no one knows why they have that particular limitation (besides the fact I think it’s neat to have a character with lots of powers but can only use them selectively) Sydney suspects it’s a psychological limitation on her part. But it could just be that they short out if she tries to use 3. She doesn’t know how they work so it’s hard to say.
“I wonder what would happen if ….?”
Famous last words of many scientists, inventors and Player-Characters.
That’s what the quick-save /-load is for.
Bondari reloads!
Or we could go with that old southern standby: “Hey, y’all, watch THIS!”
Whenever I hear that I stand well back, with something to duck behind if needed.
As a child of the South I must strongly protest the scurrilous inference that we all use such a crass turn of phrase. I usually just yell “FIRE IN THE HOLE!” :P
A recent study in the state of Nebraska found that 90 percent of the automobile accidents in the state were immediately preceded by the words “hold my beer and watch this”. :)
I can totaly belive that. Expecialy in the winter where they want to do a 360 on icey roads.
Cool. Thanks for satisfying my curiousity.
The human body is set up to handle manipulation and tactile data collection at the hands, so I imagine they become attention foci, thus neurological energy. The balls may require a certain level of that sort of attention/energy before their abilities can be used/focused. Perhaps Sydney could learn to use more, but it would need her to learn to use her feet as manipulators, the way some amputees have done, where they can use their feet and toes the way the rest of us use their hands and fingers.
Another theory I have is that most people can only really duo-task effectively, and when they start trying to do three things at once, things start going unacceptably well with all three. (Which could make Harem a SCARILY effective wielder of the orbs, if they hadn’t already pepper-bonded with Sydney.) I think the capsaicin in her body may be what connected her to the orbs.
Harem a scarily effective orb-user? What about Dabbler? Four hands (assuming the augment one works as well as the biological ones), plus her innate abilities! If Sydney’s only limited to one orb per hand due to mental bandwidth limitations, and the orbs can be lent to others, that could lead to some interesting possibilities.
Oh, the humanity!
You appear to be mistaking Dabbler (our cyborg succubus/alien hybrid), with Daphne, the girl who can split into 5, and do completely unrelated things at the same time, even while they share in realtime their sensations and information. Harem could be washing a car, engaging in research chemistry, writing a script, flying a plane, and giving a report to the General, all at the same time.
Not mistaking. Two separate suggestions there. That why one question suggesting Harem, then the ‘what about Daphne’ question.
Which “Harem” would the orbs follow if she had control of them? They all circle around Sydney’s head, but Harem has 5 heads.
Your guest strip on GWS was AMAZING!!! :D :D Thank you so much!!
Thanks! Glad you like it.
Great idea, don’t even need to be deaf for that one to be effective. Expecialy the various levels of yea and nay.
Agreed. If you haven’t seen Dave’s “Girls With Slingshots” guest strip, go here:
https://www.girlswithslingshots.com/comic/guest-strip-dave-barrack/
(FYI: ASL = American Sign Language, and for those who aren’t familiar with the comic, Melody is deaf.)
T-two Sydneys?…oh..oh God…
I came via GWS and this comic is now firmly on my check as often as it’s posted list. Excellent work.
Every Monday morning. And you can vent your frustrations of waiting by reading through our crazy comments..just like the rest of us ;)
6 am cst. on the dot.