Grrl Power #951 – Superheroes on (melted) ice
Is casually standing on water sacrilegious? I’m sure someone could take offense to it, but then people can take offense to basically anything. (A fact which clearly invalidates all peoples’ feelings in all matters.) Does Max care? She does not. She actually thinks it’s kind of funny, especially when she walks over a deep pothole filled with water, but she flies so that her shoe doesn’t get wet, but the person behind her thinks it’s a shallow puddle because it looked like Max barely made the surface ripple and suddenly they’re shoulder deep.
Max knows officers aren’t supposed to project their emotions at their subordinates, and if the team was in the field, or if she was standing on the bridge of her own Naval vessel, she certainly wouldn’t. But right now she just wants half an hour to decompress because she knows there’s a buttload of paperwork waiting for her. Unfortunately, Archon HQ is chocked full of distractions and crazy people, so she has to herd the cats before anything else can happen.
This is largely her own fault though, since she is so permissive when it comes to “around the base” discipline. As long as her people do their jobs and obey orders in the field, she’s usually okay with a little goofing around on downtime. She’s always been of the opinion that Supers by and large don’t respond well to crushing authoritarianism. Which is more likely to be true among Supers than mudbloods for entirely predictable reasons. Still, running a much tighter ship wouldn’t have saved her from much of the aggravation she’s already dealt with today.
I’ve never really developed the skill to draw Hiro the way I wanted. I picture him somewhere between the square jawed Daniel Dae Kim (you’d mostly know him from Lost. He was also in 168 episodes of the new Hawaii Five-0, but I’ve never once heard anyone talk about that show except for when a bunch of asian actors walked because the white actors were getting paid way more, because, you know, the world sucks) mixed in with the more rugged look of Hiroyuki Sanada (Sunshine, Inception and about a thousand other things.) He’s supposed to be “make women walk into walls and trip over things” handsome, but clearly I’m a ways from achieving that with my art.
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This could be good…
Everybody seems to want to set them up. I wouldn’t complain, but it just feels like they’d have too much in common.
Daniel here. Since technically Max is his commanding officer, they can’t actually progress their personal relationship, but there is definitely something there between them, even I can see that…
I said it before and I will again. The squad is getting kinda big. Create an A and a B team, and promote Hiro to LtCol. That way they’re equal in rank and not in direct chain of command to eachother.
Actual military will tell me how wrong I am but it’s one way to write it out.
Actually you are right. Knew a Sargent that was dating a Major she was way outside his chain of command. Once you aren’t in the direct line of command, romance gets a lot more forgivable. The military knows love happens they just want it to be honest love and not something forced because the higher ranking person is your boss.
There are multiple issues with dating within the chain of command:
– there’s the risk that the lower rank feels pressured into the relationship due to the position of authority
– there’s the risk of favouritism on the part of the higher rank
– there’s the risk of third parties in the same chain of command suspecting favouritism and/or abuse with discipline suffering as a result
– there’s what happens when the relationship ends and someone has to give orders to their ex, while someone else has to take orders from theirs
As prior military, I can tell you common sense and practicality are immediate victims to paperwork and regulation. A “Good idea” like forming new squads because of an overlarge roster will get an immediate pushback of unrelated offices trying to make themselves relevant. Regulations will be quoted, chain of command will be questioned, and then the requests for paperwork requesting the request forms will start.
BUT!!
The actual part of the DOD presence has not been established. For a LT Colonel to be addressing the Commander-In-Chief?!?!? The likelihood of them making ARC it’s own branch is pretty high. This makes the possibility of there being a direct chain of command without the bulk of the dept of Army/Navy Etc..geting in the way.
The recruitment/conscription is only going to get larger now that the Earth has a whole universe to deal with. Upping their game is going to be needed. The ones being trained now are field ready. But there is ALWAYS attrition in personnel. Max is a good Military leader. Trainer?? Not so much.. There NEEDS to be a training platoon, and eventually Battalion.
Daniel again. We do know THE guy in charge is a General, WAS going to say that is an Army rank (Navy has Admirals) but it seems that is an American Airforce rank too (Australia has Air Chief Marshals). However, as Crazeyal pointed out, there is a decent chance of ARC getting/already being a unique branch of the military, considered separate from the Army, Navy, Airforce etc. A second team, most likely a training Boot Camp unit with the option of actively deploying members with relevant abilities/skills, would be a wise choice. And if Hero just happened to be in charge of it, answering directly to the General too, that would remove him from Max’s direct chain of command…
ARC is their own branch. That is the way they get to deploy domestically.
This was handled at the press conference.
The general obviously was AF previously. He’s also the only one ever seen with formal dress before Max showed up with a boat. Her thoughts at that point made it clear that uniforms have NOT been the top priority for ARC.
Well, they would be in parallel & closely-related chains of command, but still not in the same chain. It sounds like a military version of “splitting hairs” but if it works…
That could work for the time that ARC-SWAT remains at a compatible size, but I suspect it would be a very unstable equilibrium. As the number and/or size of the separate squads grows, there will be an increasing need for a ‘Head of Operations’ through whom the team leaders report to the overall command. Judging from our world’s militaries, the team members below and the leadership above would want that representative to be someone who has been on the sharp end themselves and knows what can and cannot be expected in the field. And in terms of seniority, Maxima is next in line to take that promotion, at which point she’ll be in Hiro’s chain of command.
It may be that someone else gets the role, leapfrogging Maxima and Hiro – maybe for exceptional talent, maybe to keep the ‘big guns’ in the field rather than behind a desk, maybe as a means of keeping useful someone who would otherwise be retired on age or injury grounds. But I think it more likely that the establishment of the ‘Head of Ops’ role will be accompanied by the establishment of a reserves pool of the most powerful and/or unusual Powers, able to reinforce any regional team as required. At which point, Max is likely to be in the reserves even if Hiro is not.
Sydney will never get the role of “HoO”, or, basically, any leadership roles: Corporal itself will be pushing it
Depends entirely on whether or not they end up forming a nerd squad. At some point, junior leadership needs to be able to click with the team.
She might make it to leadership of a partial squad, given time and a large influx of green recruits. But I agree that even if she does get ‘promoted’ into the reserve pool, there will almost always be someone better suited than her for day-to-day leadership roles.
I dont think archon will be setting up a second arc swat team so Hiro andMaxima can get bus-ay. Much to Dabbler’s regret.:)
Okay this sounds like a introduction to either midair martial arts or the type of training the dabbler enthusiastically endorse.
Possibly both. I hope it will be both.
much like fighting, bonking in mid-flight, hovering, or weightless, presents many challenges due to the lack of support surfaces. it is one of those, looks cool, but once you get down to the mechanics it starts to turn into a physics experiment to get it right.
In weightlessness, yes. For these two, probably not. They can both fly in 3D so they can manage the, um, *required motions* despite not having a surface to push off of.
True they lirerally can push off anything and create their own leverage. (Thanks omniman. Never had the right terminology when talking about air battles in dbz.)
yes, but that goes with what I said a physics experiment to get it right. Much like punching or shooting energy beams in mid-flight you need to exude a force in the opposite direction so you aren’t pushed back, produce more forward force than back. So flight sex is going to require a lot of knowing how your flight works, if you use energy propulsions *think Iron-man style hand and feet or from the back ext…energy pulses to fly it becomes a juggling act of forces.
some like sonic flyers and wind riders may not even able to do it comfortable, honestly the ones that have it the best are psionic flight, magical levitation, and gravity manipulators as they basically create pseudo-surfaces to give them that leverage in mid-flight.
but like Superman and Wonderwoman, timing that up to their down so you don’t end up flying into space or smashing towards the ground is crucial.
honestly the best flyers to even try this have to be the Uber scale flyers, A class and S class supers with flight as they can risk it and possibly control their power well enough to not end up just cuddle humping in the air. As in both participants are this.
reminded of Super Ex girlfriend where the guy was pretty much terrified the whole time as he was completely at the mercy of his girlfriend and gravity to not die.
inb4 Hiro reveals he’s a licensed massage therapist
Let’s be fair…
A good massage by a good-looking bloke/girl when you’re stressed and frumpled, with more on the way?
Even without the slightest hint of romantic interest that would rate a “shut up, and where’s the table!!”..
Most likely it is not intended as “Dabbler-endorsed special training”. More likely high-level (pun intended, as both are flying bricks) sparring. I gather that supers don’t require regular physical exertion to maintain their super-physiques in this world – however, their fighting skills DO require regular practice, and these two are probably the only ones on their level, who can challenge each other.
Emphasis on “intended”, though. Two characters, who are already attracted to each other, engaging in private one-on-one physical contact on a regular basis? I’ve watched enough American movies to know what happens.
Myself, I’d read it as a session of designing ‘remedial’ training for the more irresponsible team members, as a form of therapy for Maxima (and possibly also Hiro). Take an hour, sit down in a closed room (possibly with another aggrieved party to bounce ideas between you), and come up with as many ways as you can think of to make their lives a temporary misery. And then, once you’ve had that chance to vent in a secure environment, destroy those plans and go do something more constructive instead.
Daaaw…
And Max is a massive nerd under all her military poise.
Which would tend to make me think that Max has minimal social/intimate experience. Deus (being the ridiculously talented charmer that he is) is probably the only person Max has slept with, and that likely was the reason they stopped dating (Deus suffered severe injuries mid-coitus)
Hiro, Stalwart and Achilles are probably the only people Max would feel comfortable having sex with in the sense of not accidentally crushing something vital but can’t because they’re all subordinate to her.
You really think Max ever even touched him in any romantic context?
We must have been reading different comic pages
If you mean Deus, yes. A long time ago, probably before Max went into the military.
Which would be her just out of high school, having the typical teenager awkwardness issues ON TOP OF her gilding dysmorphia, and hooking up with a guy who can seduce (and satisfy) anyone resembling a beautiful human female.
Look at 609, Deus has done the horizontal mambo with a LOT of ladies.
Unfortunately for Max, almost every guy who is even remotely capable of surviving a night of passion with her is in Archon, is an alien, or is a bad guy.
Wait, you think Deus is an alien or in Archon? He’s not actually in archon, just in a business alliance with them.
Plot twist! Deus have in fact been working for Archon all along! Double plot twist! He is not working for Archon either, he is in fact a alien infiltrator. A double betrayal, is there nothing he can’t do?
The answer to that last question is, of course, no. There is nothing Deus, our lord and savior, praise be his name, can not do. All things are possible through Deus, and through Deus all things are possible.
Amen.
After quadruple agent, I think it just wraps back around to “looking out for his own interests and playing all the other sides off each other”.
The count has to go at least as far as quintuple agents, if only to include Harem. At which point, Dabbler would insist on going on to include sextuple agents. Septuple and upwards don’t have any advocates – yet.
Deus could be a googolplexian agent. Never underestimate Deus.
It would be really hard for Deus to sell the ‘business dinner’ angle if there was any intimacy beyond the dinner conversation. Sure, he completely failed to sell the ‘business dinner’ angle, but he’d need to be impossibly smug to think he could pull it off if they went that far.
Oh, right, forgot who I was talking about for a moment. Carry on.
This comment about Maxima’s super strength being dangerous to her lovers gets made again and again and again in the comments. I don’t buy it. She has explained in some detail that she is able to dial her power levels up and down for all of her abilities, and we have seen her do it a number of times throughout the story. When she was younger and just discovering her abilities this may have been more of a problem, but at her current experience level she should be able to make herself adequately safe for most human lovers, or even those with even just minor superpowers.
I think her real issue is her inability to let herself relax and enjoy intimacy. The potential damage to a lover is her excuse (if she’s even using that excuse) to keep distance and never develop a relationship where intimacy becomes an issue. What we’re seeing is Hiro being one of the very few who is interested in her as the person she is rather than the beautiful, exotic sex object most everyone else sees her as. And, Max is responding to that … ironically, within the bounds that chain of command imposes.
If/when Hiro moves outside direct chain of command and becomes available, Max is going to be a lost little schoolgirl trying to figure out what to do.
She does have a lower limit to which she can dial things down. I think I remember that limit being high enough she’d be limited to supers who had at least some added durability.
I dunno – she seems able to manipulate ordinary objects without destroying them. Whatever factor gives her additional strength seems to confer the ability to act with normal strength; this would be pro-survival for any part of being a super that is conferred through genetics.
Now at least part of her super-ness is from non-genetic origin so that logic may not apply. If the purple goo or whatever enhanced her does not have a similar safety feature, it is poorly designed or evolved.
She also occasionally destroys ordinary objects while attempting to manipulate them without a sufficient level of focus. She has to actively hold back, and that level of restraint might be a little harder to come by under… passionate circumstances.
Are we really sure that she has a lower limit to which she can dial things down? Or can she dial things down to just ‘baseline human?’
I havent really seen something that definitively says she has a lower limit, but maybe I missed DaveB mentioning it in the past?
Also, regardless of her ability to dial her strength down, she clearly has a secondary ability to use a proportional level of her strength on an every day basis, because she can do stuff like… brush her hair, or use a phone, or hold a fork. Unless she eats a REALLY good mushroom at a fancy restaurant.
There are people who are not quite in the same level as Achilles but who would otherwise be capable of surviving a night of Max’s unrestrained passions, and who are also not working for Archon so outside the UCMJ restrictions on fraternizing.
Unless Max has sex harder than a truck going 60 MPH I could survive at least one or two rounds and I’m not even in the Grrl-verse.
Achilles is immune to both STD and snu snu. He must be popular among the female supers.
I’ll take your word for it on the truck going 60 mph. But a round with Maxima may well be more demanding – trucks tend to only hit once, and without pinning their target against the bed every time.
Not sure which episode, but the highly-entertaining series Interviewing Leather includes a discussion on the dangers of physical relationships between baseline humans and supers. There are serious safety issues boinking someone who can bend metal with any muscle in their body.
Larry NIven wasn’t the first, but it was one of the more iconic essays on the topic for many decades:
– http://larryniven.net/stories/Man_of_Steel_Woman_of_Kleenex.shtml
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_of_Steel%2C_Woman_of_Kleenex
Also the World of Cardboard speech. :)
https://youtu.be/gQabrSpKcJw?t=23
Hey, if I could fly, and do so with enough control that I could appear to stand/walk on water, I totally would do it.
What’s up with Max’s feet? and legs to a lesser extent. they seem… out of proportion.
They do seem quite large. In super hero comics its normally other body parts that are out of proprotion with a character’s head ;)
Forced perspective. To make her seem taller.
Ever noticed how mecha toys have small heads and big feet?
I think that’s because of limitations in posing and modelling. You’re not wrong, but I just don’t think that’s the only reason. I know from experience modelling things with tiny feet is exceptionally hard, whereas big flat ones with strong joints are easy.
I feel like her feet look far too large in the fourth panel. And since they look far smaller on the final panel, I stick by it.
Also, the shirtless teleport gag really is getting a bit old.
Shirtless Hiro gag is not getting old to me. Then again I’m easily amused.
Well, in fairness, Hiro DID say he’s going to punish her for it, so it’s clearly old in-universe too.
We have graduated beyond the “shirtless teleport” gag to the “shirtless teleport is getting old” gag.
That’s a new one!
I rather like it :) :) :)
Oldie but goodie.
How is Hiro skirting an HR violation now when people are eegularly sunbathing topless around that pool?
It’s a bit of an indirect tit-for-tat: Max has seen Hiro topless, so he thinks that it’s only fair that he sees her topless. But he’s using the conditional bit about delivering bad news topless that Harem “suggested”. So he asks her if she has any bad news for him, which would prompt her to deliver it topless, as per Harem’s just mentioned suggestion. So he’s skirting an HR violation by that he’s indirectly asking to see his commanding officer topless.
Which shows her hypocricy. She agrees (or, at the very least, doesn’t disagree) with Harem that bad news are best delivered topless only because it is a hot guy delivering them. She’d have blown a fuse if it had been a woman.
As an officer, she should be unbiased about the enforcement of regulations. Therefor, either it is no problem if women (are made to) deliver bad news topless, since it is fine if men (are made to) deliver bad news topless, or Harem is due to report for HR violation because stripping another person without their expressed consent is sexual assault. But Max is going to let this slide because it was just a man (and a man that she personally has affections for and therefor enjoyes seeing topless) who has been violated and made to deliver the news topless (and in front of a person of the opposite sex, nontheless).
Hmm, on one hand I agree to some extend, on the other hand Hiro expressed that he’s not OK with loosing his shirt(s) and already decided on a punishment for Harem so maybe Max said “She’s not wrong” to “mock the situation” and let some pressure out of it (the situation). And then Hiro misunderstood that remark as an opportunity… and ask about bad news he would have gladly received. At least, that’s a way I could interpret all this.
That said, it’s quite a safe bet that the majority of readers have a certain (religiously based) background and/or are situated in a country where laws & rules are based on such a background – and are therefore used to a different consideration of “topless” in regards to whether it is a man or a woman being topless. Tl;dr: To the vast majority of the audience, topless men are more acceptable than topless woman. Just ask yourself.
For real (in-comic): Max should Harem order to cut it. Especially because Hiro doesn’t like it.
“Harem order” -> “order Harem” >_<
Harem is out of order. Not sure whether that counts as a pun.
Pretty sure “Harem order” was established in this comic (Panel 8). Names have been assigned, but I can never remember them.
You want official names or idiot-assigned names?
Yes it counts as a pun. Go stand in the corner now and think about what you’ve done. Go on now.
Scoot! Get!
This is less a double standard – that it would be ok if it were any man, and not ok if it were any woman – than it is flirting between two specific people who already have a bit of a history of that. It’s not likely that Harem would have done this if it were anyone other than Hiro delivering the news, and given that Hiro coyly invites Max to flash him in response, this is just a bit of banter between two people who are flirting, and can be expected to flirt, with one another
Female on male abuse being shrugged off, trivialized, or treated as funny is unfortunately so common that it has it’s own trope page:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale
You tell em bud! “It’s okay when I do it” or “it’s okay when it’s done to a man” are dead excuses in today’s culture, you tell em!
Which is just a little rich when the girls in ARC-Swat seem all to willing to perv and leer at all the attractive dudes around, with Hiro being a prime target for said behaviour.
Especially when he just got directly stripped in front of his superior officer to her tacit approval, she doesnt exactly have any grounds to stand on here(pun intended).
I do believe its made in good fun, but the comment does kind of irk me.
Max is doing what I believe is called “joking around”. Which sometimes involve statements that aren’t 100% logical.
I agree that she is joking around, and if it had just been left at the shirtless thing, where she was appreciating Hiro and clearly flirting i wouldnt have blinked at the interaction.
But then when he tries to flirt back, she comes back with the HR comment, which considering her very clear and vocal views up till now, makes it come across a little harsher than intended. I think it just doesnt *quite* land as intended.
Atleast to an outside observer, as Hiro seems to take it in stride.
Hiro interpreted the HR joke as a joke.
He came back with another joke about “special training”. Or maybe it was an offer of a date – subject to the limitations of their professional roles.
Either way, it’s Hiro’s interpretation that counts and he did not feel actually threatened with HR.
Or he just realized she was joking, despite her having a very bad ‘delivery’ for the joke, and Hiro seems pretty laid back on this sort of thing. Since he calls even what Harem is doing a ‘gag that’s getting out of hand’ instead of ‘continual sexual harassment’ – so it’s unlikely he’d be offended by Maxima being hypocritical (and it was hypocritical) and take it as a joke instead (even though as I agree with people who said if the sexes were reversed, it would be considered blatant sexual harassment regardless of if it was a joke or not). Which apparently it is given how they both move to another topic almost immediately with extreme casual-ness.
If it was only Hiro’s interpretation that counted, there wouldn’t be a need for HR violations.
It is absolutely a hypocritical thing to say weather Hiro found it offensive or not.
This exactly.
Maxima’s part in this reads like this: “I’m enjoying the fact that you’re delivering bad news to me topless, despite the fact that your being topless is a result of rules being broken and that my obvious enjoyment of this fact also being a rules violation. But when you suggest that I might deliver bad news to you topless, I your superior officer will remind you that such a suggestion is against the rules and that you might be punished for making it.”
The hypocrisy, double standards, and actual abuse of authority should see Maxima up on charges, and not Hiro.
There are real and valid reasons why the excuse of “I was just kidding” can never apply when the alleged kidder is in a position of authority over those being ‘kidded.’
Max did NOT report Hiro to HR; that would have been hypocritcal; she did not even THREATEN to report him to HR. All she did – by reasonable interpretation of her plain English sentence, and by the way Hiro took the joke – was to make again a joke very similar to one they previously made while wearing a whole lot less clothing.
They were not on duty, not even in uniform, and there was neither perception nor attempt to use authority to compel the other to do or even to listen to something against their will. There is no charge to be made.
While I do think it was hypocrisy on the part of Maxima (even if she was kidding, which she almost definitely was), and most definitely is a double standard against Hiro (who acts more professional than MOST people in ARCHON, including Maxima (even by Maxima’s own implied admission with Anvil back in the restaurant before the restaurant fight), I dont think she’d be brought up on charges.
Why? Because Hiro isnt taking it to anyone above Maxima, or to ‘H.R.’ (assuming they have an H.R – I don’t know how military works for that). Charges require a person to come forward to make the charge. Hiro’s clearly not going to do that. He sincerely doesnt seem to mind, probably because he’s just as attracted to Maxima, respects her and doesnt want to get her in trouble over a poorly made joke.
Also I don’t think they are ‘off duty’ per se. I think it’s a lot more like firefighters. Even when they’re chilling out in the firehouse, they are supposed to abide by certain rules. I’m pretty sure it’s similar for the military. But again – I have no idea how military rules work, since I’ve never been in the military.
To have so much power and yet still feel so helpless. That even with the power to blow up an alien ship with a jab of your finger there are still threats that can go toe to toe with you only without your restraint. There are threats out there that will still try to kidnap you and exploit your team while you are busy.
There is the editor h horror of “Paper work” as the multi headed hydra refuses to be slain and each head you cut off only gets replaced by new triplicate forms.
So doing something mildly silly until the next problem arrives make sense… And he does seem like a good fit because they both understand the same problems. (Standing on water as a display from how far removed she is from basic humanity and alone she is only to have him standing with her)
That is very thoughtful.
The only superhero without a paperwork weakness is Iron Man. Because Iron Man has Pepper Potts.
Pepper Potts is too busy selling candles that smell like her cunt, and yoni eggs that cause toxic shock syndrome and bacterial vaginosis.
Iron Man has AIs do his paperwork.
Ignoring the colorful language…. I’m referring to the character Pepper Potts. In the comics. Not the actress with the weird vagina-focused side hustles who played her in the MCU version of Pepper Potts.
Tony Stark, in the comic, put Pepper Potts in charge of most stuff involving Stark Enterprises even before he made her the CEO. Again, in the comic. She likes doing paperwork and going over paperwork. Part of the reason she was promoted to his assistant in the first place is she found a major numbers error on financial projections and corporate paperwork.
Maxima needs a Pepper Potts of her own, but Sandy works for Arianna.
Officers do a lot of paperwork. It comes with the territory, as they are the equivalent of management in private industry. Unfortunately for Maxima she’s not high ranking enough to have a junior officer assigned to her for purposes of assisting her with that paperwork. I think that requires being a general officer.
Faulk would have such a junior officer, and if Archon was well managed it would be a non-powered person. Because sending your equivalent of an administrative assistant into combat on the regular is a great way to end up doing your own paperwork as you wait for them to recover from their injuries and/or be replaced after they died. And even if they might never be injured or killed, combat missions are still going to be pulling them away from their duties in the office.
I’m surprised that people like Maxima would be doing most of their own paperwork. :) One would think her time would be better spent on much more important things.
At lower levels, a lot of the paperwork probably requires the person filling it out to have been an eyewitness to the events being paperworked and/or to know well the subordinates concerned. There is almost certainly a central admin staff taking care of such things as payroll and quartermastery, but things like debriefing reports or personnel evaluations need the line officer’s personal touch. I’m not sure at what level that sort of individual paperwork transitions into unit paperwork that can more easily be designated; I suspect it differs between units even within the same country’s forces, and the atypical nature of ARC may make comparisons to conventional units unreliable.
That’s certainly true. Lt Colonels don’t typically lead combat missions, as a huge starting point. And although we don’t know the exact headcount at Archon it seems like it would be well under 300*. That’s hardly worthy of a Lt Colonel, and certainly not a General. And yet here we are, with a massively top heavy unit structure. Adding junior officers to help with administrative tasks would only serve to further unbalance things.
.
* This assumes that the on-base support people are contractors, which is fairly typical. There are still enlisted who are cooks, but the military has taken some steps to reduce their logistical load by hiring contractors for a lot of places which are fixed and in civilian areas.
It is honestly nice to see something like this, a little slice of life outside the military mindset. Also seeing Max with a bit of “thirst” on her face is rather delightful for some reason.
The slice of life stuff is what sets this comic above and beyond most of the Big Two comics. An endless series of saving the world from an ever-increasingly-powerful set of monsters gets tiresome, and it is hard to feel engagement with someone who has a one-dimensional personal life (looking at you, Batman and Superman)
In sydney’s case it would be a situation of if she doesn’t let at least some discipline fall to the wayside, Sydney’s adhd might kick in in some kind of hilariously destructive way that harms no one. or knocks out Math again
1st thought about the two first panels on the left: Max just notices that the water is cold!
Next thought, about the paperwork: Can’t Max delegate much of it (= all the legal and potentially legal stuff) to Arianna? I mean, that’s Arianna’s field of expertise, isn’t it? There’s probably still some left and she needs to provide Arianna with a collection of facts and maybe a few suggestions but she shouldn’t need to it all by herself.
About Hiro – idk… I might walk into walls and trip over things if I saw him shirtless and I’m not even gay (I believe). It’s a rare view. (But still believable, not too much as it can be found in some mangas.)
“need to it” -> “need to do it”
Wow what a delightfully sexist page today. Its like I always say: Sexual harassment and sexual violence is always A-okay if it’s only towards men even better if it’s from a woman and the absolute best if it’s from multiple women towards a single male
If it is sexist the other way round, it is sexist any way round.
Yes, Harem is sexually harassing him and, yes, she is being punished for it so, no, it is not A-okay or any other form of ok.
The rest of the comic is consensual flirting.
Technically Maxima going along with it would also be sexual harassment, and it would be more obvious to people if the sexes were reversed and Hiro said that to a topless Maxima.
But yeah I know it’s meant as a joke. Just mentioning out that Throwaway has a point about the double standard in play.
Thank you, would thumbs up and like if such were a thing, or in older internet parlance, “I would like to subscribe to your newsletter”.
:)
The double standard is not Max’s double standard; it is the double standard for most of humanity.
It is a moment of realism.
Yes. Maxima, despite being superhuman, is still human. And it’s still a double standard, which is still a bad thing. :)
But it’s ALSO Maxima’s double standard in particular, because Maxima’s the person engaging in it in the above strip.
My ex is a paperwork expert. I am decidedly not. There were times when she needed to let me do substantial amounts of paperwork because it required expertise beyond paperwork expertise and legal expertise. That said, there were a few others where she was able to ask me questions enough to fill in the bits. I’d imagine most of the paperwork waiting for her is of the latter variety. But there’s enough of it of the former variety to be an issue.
I would not think Arianna would be the appropriate person to delegate to. We’ve not been introduced to any other paperwork experts in Archon that I can recall, but there’s probably someone else with that expertise but not the fancy titles.
I am UNFORTUNATELY a paperwork expert. I don’t want to be. But I am. Just as well – helps in my job, since I don’t have a paralegal to foist the work onto.
I think most of Arianna’s paperwork is probably handled by Sandy, if Sandy is anything like a paralegal is to an attorney. And since Arianna is Archon’s attorney and PR person, and Sandy is her assistant….
“Pander uses LEGAL DOCUMENTS! It’s super effective! The attackers fall asleep!”
Military reports (or even shift reports in civilian organisations like the police or security services) need to be written and handed in by each person themselves. No officer or cop or whatever can just delegate the writing of their mission report to somebody else, especially not to somebody who wasn’t even there. Yes, the administration will receive the same even detailled many times over, written by many different people. And that is important. It is about comparing similarities and inconsistencies in the reports to get a full picture of what was going on and maybe weed out corrupt elements in the own organisation.
OK, didn’t know that.
Yeah it seems like a waste of the valuable resource Maximas time is to have her doing paperwork. Better to have her train with the other supers.
If Arianna does the paperwork, Max still has to read it carefully to be sure she doesn’t pull something, before she (Max) signs it.
Yes, but reading is still easier (and quicker) than writing
Sometimes people wonder why Max is so cranky, but we must remember that she deals with the greatest evils for any superhero team; Paperwork & Bureaucracy.
And she must try to make the unruly supers under her command act somewhat professional. Cat herding is stressful work.
What Archon needs is a Super Bureaucrat.
This requires a power appreciated only by the highest levels of supers, who have experienced the cosmic horror of leading a team of supers. Maybe that’s what the last orb does?
You must never let anyone know that the final orb can fill out any and all paperwork flawlessly… If people know then Halo shall be bound to the officer chair throne… Only able to use one hand as the whole of Arcon uses the orb to fill out every single last piece of paper work including the bits needed to allow them to do this to her.
And when she is done… Then the Congress will submit their stacks to her until all paper work in America is done by the orb… The rest of the world just has to pay A bill to have theirs done for them.
And then the world will submit to the might of Halo. No one can stop a super bureaucrat.
They may have reason to be very careful, if Sydney has any leanings of her own as to how things should be run. Remember that the top man in the USSR was officially the General Secretary of the Party, not the President. I can remember seeing pithy quote from there to the effect that ‘the person who makes the decisions is less important than the person who records what decision was made”, but I can’t now find it to check wording or cite reference.
Final panel: Can Hiro hover/fly as well? Or is he wearing a pair of Arc-Sparc’s prototype aquaphobic boots?
Hiro can certainly fly. I seem to recall he was slower than Sydney before her speed upgrade, but speed isn’t needed here. He’s a flying brick and the closest to a Superman analog, so I’d guess he can hover, so long as that wasn’t the original Superman who was limited to literally leaping over tall buildings.
Yes, Hiro can fly. He’s the third fastest flier on the team, after Maxima and Sydney. Or possibly Sydney and Maxima now, since we don’t know if Maxima can FLY faster than Mach 16 … even if she can maybe react faster than Mach 16, which is also not entirely assured (the average bullet travels at 1700 mph, which is about Mach 2.216, and a railgun projectile can travel at Mach 6).
The fastest we’ve seen Maxima react has been when she was in the slow field thing that Lapha used. Not sure if that would be Mach 16 even when she was giving it her all and ALMOST moving at full speed by the very end (Mach 16= 12,276.3 mph), but even if it was (which is not definite), there’s a difference between reaction time and flight speed.
Or to quote Batman telling Superman why Wonder Woman would probably win in a spar fight, despite his superspeed superiority compared to her, “Who is faster – Bruce Lee or Usain Bolt?”
One has faster reactions with muscle memory, the other has faster pure velocity.
The fastest we’ve so far seen Maxima actually FLY has been when she went from the bank to ARCHON HQ to give Harem the wedgie of discipline. That’s a few miles in probably 30 seconds, based on the delay of the news camera feed (which Harem asked about).
On the other hand, Sydney, within around the same time period (possibly less time), went halfway around an entire planet after gaining Mach 16 speed.
So… I’m thinking Sydney might be the fastest flier now (which was sort of foreshadowed by Sydney AND Maxima the second time they were testing Sydney’s flight speed – from Archon HQ to the Grand Canyon – when Sydney ‘only’ had a Mach 4+ speed). Even then it put her firmly as the second fastest flier and Maxima said ‘You might be faster than me eventually’ when Sydney commented about how she had room to grow with another pip).
Maxima’s top speed is ‘classified’ but it’s at least a little faster than Mach 4. And Hiro’s speed is Mach 1, but only with ‘gravity assist’ (ie, flying downward).
The other fliers on the team are Heatwave and maybe Jiggawatt, if you consider her lightning movement thing to be ‘flying.’ But if you consider flying to be … yknow… normal flying, the only fliers on the team are Maxima, Sydney, Hiro, and Heatwave. Heatwave is obviously the slowest flier, although no one has mentioned her speed. It’s just by process of elimination that we know she’s the slowest flier.
Regarding that bit about Wondies beating Soupcan in a sparring fight: have you seen that Justice League movie during the fight with Soupcan? While fighting off Wondies, he was able to track and counter a speeding Flush at the same time!!
We have no idea how long it took Sydney to travel halfway around Alari Prime: she simply flew Sydney-style until she got out of range of the bombardments, then attempted to Fly to the Moon, and then opened the Causeway
“We have no idea how long it took Sydney to travel halfway around Alari Prime: she simply flew Sydney-style until she got out of range of the bombardments, then attempted to Fly to the Moon, and then opened the Causeway”
1) We have about as much of an idea of how long it took her as it took Maxima to get to the Archon HQ. One panel.
2) She did not attempt to fly to the moon after reaching Mach 16 – she attempted to do that when she was still at a speed of Mach 4. Although Mach 16 would not have been THAT much more effective, given the distance from the Earth to the moon is 238,900 miles, so (assuming Alari’s moon is anywhere close to that distance) a trip like that would still have taken Sydney 19 hours. But it would have been more noticeable than Mach 4, which would take her about 78 hours instead (Mach 4 is 3069.08 mph, while Mach 16 is 12,276.3 mph)
My point is she’s probably faster than Maxima in raw speed at this point if I had to make a wager on it.
Also I tend to not base any comic knowledge on the godawful Justice League movie.
Either cut. They both were pretty bad.
Unless you mean the animated movie. I’ve seen that movie but remember, Diana and Flash were being possessed by Trigon’s minions at the time.
(Note to everyone else – the animated movie I’m referring to is Teen Titans vs Justice League, which is a good movie as opposed to the live action Justice League movie)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=0iW-ip6CG3s
https://youtube.com/watch?v=YiwM_3jJ0iY
Oh also this is the comicbook scene I am referring to:)
https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_super/11114/111142536/5468378-0225320827-M9BnR.jpg
“Reaction speed” and “movement speed”, despite having similar names, are very different, incomparable and in principle unrelated properties. Reaction speed has nothing to to with physical speed/velocity(except maybe something about nerve signals, but that’s way too abstract to be of any use). “react at mach 16” is a meaningless statement. If you want to measure reactions, use reaction time. Movement in combat is probably more about acceleration.
A speed super power (that goes beyond ‘fast travelling’) is probably best thought of as some speed-up factor attached to time, which is dimensionless but allows derivation of reaction time, speed and acceleration.
On the topic of flyers, I’m thinking Harem should be able to fly, by the “throwing yourself to the ground and missing” technique. She can teleport up, build up falling speed, then redirect it sideways and suddenly she’s flying through the air.
Also, the only “normal flyer” on the team is clearly Peggy, when piloting the Osprey. ;)
If you want a square jawed, ruggedly handsome Asian man to model him after, Katsuori Shibata is right up your alley.
Just a heads-up, in that second to last panel it should say “skirting *an* h.r. violation”
Nope. Because “H” is pronounced “ach”, except with a hard “ch”.
Depends on your accent. Some say it as ‘haitch’ with a voiced ‘h’, especially when it’s part of an abbreviated term; for those, the ‘h’ provides the consonant to divide the two words. Others say it as ‘aitch’, which would require the ‘an’.
Hearing people say “haitch” makes me shudder inwardly. Doubley so when the work in HR :(
Same here, have never heard it pronounced ‘Haitch’ (except maybe for certain Londoners, who seem to drop the aitch everywhere else… )
Reminds me of a very old joke about an American visiting Bristol, and wanting to get to the suburb of Hanham.
He asks for direction to “Han Ham”, but the local doesn’t understand at first. Several tries later, the local comprehends. “Oh, you mean ‘annam!” and then proceeds to spell it “Haitch Ay En, Haitch Ay Em”.
Not that I’ve ever heard a fellow Bristolian pronounce it as “Haitch”, except for effect. I reckon the joke originated from a Londoner who visited Bristol once.
Dropping the leading h’s appears to be quite common throughout England.
No, Lurker’s correct. When the H is silent or soft, you use ‘an.’ When the H is a hard H, you use ‘a.’
So if Maxima said ‘human resources violation,’ you’d say ‘a human resources violation’ – because then the H would be a hard H. But when using just the letter, it’s said as a silent. /eɪtʃ/ – pronounced aitch or eitch. Both of which would use ‘an’ – not ‘a.’
The pronunciation /heɪtʃ/ and the associated spelling “haitch” is considered to be h-adding (an incorrect pronunciation) and is considered nonstandard in the English language. Even in England, which is the only place that anyone EVER uses the pronunciation ‘haitch’ (and even then, it’s considered the wrong pronunciation).
I don’t think Maxima is English, and I don’t think she’s taken on Madonna’s penchant for pretending to have an English accent, and I’m pretty sure DaveB is not British (since he’s from Texas from what I have seen) so most likely it’s just a grammar mistake.
We English would usually say “an H.R. violation” as well. Although, we’d probably use something a little softer sounding than “violation.”
That’s the first position in Ballet.
not really- Ballet is done turned out. in 1st position the heels are in or near contact with the feet splayed. so panel 1 is more 1st position Modern. Modern is done turned in so in first position the balls and heels touch. in panel one that’s the position someone jumping in 1st modern would be just before landing. in that long shot that’s not a position I recall. its probably a tap position or move but it more looks ‘comfortable’ rather than anything formal. there’s a reason ballet can be described as the fine art of taking your legs off at the hips.
I think you meant Muggle, rather than Mudblood, lol.
So glad someone else said this so I didn’t have to :). To explain, in case anyone is unfamiliar with the Harry Potter universe–mudblood was a (pejorative) term for people who were magical but had non-magical ancestors (and thus were not pure bloods) and muggles were people with no magical abilities.
“Chocked” should be “chock.”
Call me crazy, but I think that basically the face you’re looking for to draw Hiro is Ryo Nishikido. Strong jaw, but similar features to Hiroyuki Sanada. I don’t know if you ever use real people for reference, but he’s definitely pretty enough to turn women’s heads, especially if you coupled his face with Hiro’s bod. Just a thought.
Two thoughts:
1. Uh, Dave really messed up Maxima’s anatomy in panel 4…
2. Why is Max bathing in a full body suit? I understand her not willing to sport super-skimpy’s bikinis, but this is some really hardcore modesty going on there.
This got addressed in an early strip. She wears it because she’s so shiny that if she wore a normal bathing suit in the sun it would be blinding for those around her.
1. Yeah Maxima’s proportions seem very off compared to her in past strips. Even compared to her in the past when wearing a wetsuit.
2. There’s a reason for this given back when she and Sydney were discovering the life support orb’s function. Harem asked why she was wearing a wetsuit and it’s not just because of modesty – it’s because her skin is so reflective and shiny it would pretty much be sun-glare for all. In Maxima’s words, “Trust me. In direct sunlight, your retinas should give thanks for my modest swim attire.”
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-536-dressed-to-compress/
Addendum to 1. Also there’s something wrong with the foot. Couldnt quite place what it was until now, because her legs are sort of crossed, but it’s the positioning of the toes. The little toe and second to little toe and middle toe shouldnt be longer than the big toe. So at first it looks like Maxima has two left feet but with the little tow being a big toe (until you realize that her legs are crossed).
To be fair, feet are probably the second hardest thing to draw next to hands if you want it to look realistic. I definitely couldnt do anything even close to DaveB’s quality. And DaveB is still doing better than Rob Liefeld on drawing feet because he gives it the ol’ college try.
First thing right off the bat this brings to mind is ZZ Top’s “She Got Legs”. Second thought, will there be a NSFW patreon view of Max and Hiro’s “training” session?
Depends on what the training session is, and who is going to (be forced to) take it
I would like to think your problem with Hiro could be solved simply. You are a guy. I assume. You look at things differently then the ladies. Have one or more of your friendly lady artists draw the prefect drool worthy guy . Then pick the best one or a composite as a reference model. Good luck.
um… is this forced perspective or something? … each of her feet are bigger then her head and her hands were teensy! Its like her top half got shrinky-dinked!
Huh. I hadn’t realized that Harem can teleport clothing right off of someone else’s body. That has some very interesting combat applications… Can she teleport a part of a thing out of the thing, such as grabbing part of the engine of a car, or the slide of a gun? Does it work in reverse? During the parking lot fight she told Goose to raise his arms when she put his vest on him so I was assuming it went over the top like a normal person puts it on.
Well, remember she has a Weight limit. The M82 Barrett’s as heavy as she can bring. I’d also think it has to be something should could physically remove normally without tools, i.e. “not bolted in.”
She’s done it before. Specifically to Hiro. But also to Stalwart, Mathias, Vance, and….. I have no idea who the other space marine guy is. But him too. And it was harassment, which Hiro mentioned (with a wink). Or as Harem defined it, “Hubba Hubba.” Stalwart was also impressed. Math was just jealous that he couldnt do the same thing.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-112-hot-beefcake-injection/
Panels 5, 6, and 7.
And she probably COULD teleport a part out of a thing, if she had physical contact with that part. I don’t think she could, say, teleport a spark plug out of a car though if the hood wasn’t open and she wasnt touching the spark plug. I also don’t think she could grab part of an engine out of a car – for the same reason, plus because I think she needs to teleport the ENTIRE object (or the entire physical part at least). Unlike Vale, who seems to be able to dissect parts somehow.
She used that technique in reverse to equip people during the Restaurant Rumble
Not bad Hiro, but your delivery could’ve been better.
“Well, I’ve shown you my bad news. Do you have any to show me?”
I guess Hiro isn’t as smooth as he is awkwardly stuck to professionalism.
Despite having the body of a greek god, he’s still very professional. So maybe pickup lines are not his forte. :)
He’s both classy and playing the long game under a set of awkward military HR constraints, and possibly English isn’t his first language (given a traditionally Asian name and no other back story), so it’s hard to evaluate how smooth he really is with a pickup line. I think mostly he’s just treading lightly and cautiously.
During the Vorch Incident he passed up a once-in-a-lifetime ‘viewing’ most couldn’t have resisted, because he genuinely respects Max and her opinions. And also possibly because he was gambling that chance against the possibility of an even-more-rare chance for a consensual experience in the future.
The permissiveness I get, even to the excess that they do. It’s a comedy strip, and you just plain have to overlook elements for the structure to work. Super powers = willing suspension of disbelief.
But her confirming the joke that bad news is best delivered topless, then telling her subordinate that responded in kind with an HR threat seems like one hell of a double standard. I’d be pissed off, and my respect for my supervisor would drop through the floor.
“Do as I say and not as I do” was always the absolute worst management style I ever encountered, and Maxima just reinforced that’s her style in one panel of dialogue.
People have pointed out its likely meant in jest between two people that know each other and can banter like this.
But I do agree it falls kind of flat, considering *we* the audience don’t know Max that well, and mostly know her for coming down on this kind of misconduct, so seeing her engage in it and then immediately “threaten” a guy who reciprocates feels hypocritical.
Could have been written a little better to avoid this I think, but Id advise to see it as the joking byplay it was meant to be.
Can anyone imagine Harem peeling potatoes,if so,which one???
ALL of them! *lol*
Well done, here’s 1 Internet out of petty cash.
Next vote incentive, all the Harems peeling potatoes in their skivvies?
In their skivvies? Or with varying amounts of peel providing (or not) the coverage that said skivvies would normally do?
So many potatoes!
Instant Mel Brooks flashback….
**Hitler On Ice!!**
Sorry, that happens anytime something “on ice” is mentioned. I need help.
Archon would by necessity have to have a fairly lax standard compared to a typical military force. Metahumans, particularly extremely strong metahumans, are extremely rare. That means that there’s a lot fewer to choose from compared to the Army, which can draw from the general civilian population. And with less people to draw from, you need to have more to attract as many as you can. So less regulations and more bonuses.
Woof. Those proportions in panel 4. Maxima’s arms are matchsticks, her legs look twice the length of her torso?
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been reading this comic from the beginning, and I’ll keep on doing so, but proportions have been a bit wonk recently. The heads alone are funko-pop levels of big
One of these days, a literal truckload of Hiro’s exact shirt is going to show up in the background of a panel somewhere.
Well, I watched every episode of Hawaii 5-0. It was a lot of fun and I actually thought it was reasonable that the two white actors were paid more than the two Asian ones, not because of their races but because they were the main characters. We could discuss why there was not Asian actors between the main characters, but not that they were. In fact, I believe one of them was THE main character, the other was the direct secondary and the others were supporting actors with more or less importance. Still, the show had a lot of POC characters and when those two left they were replaced by other two POC (one of them,the sister of Supergirl’s Brainiac) that were very cool.
So, yes, Daniel Dae Kim is super hot and seeing him shirtless was a treat. I think shirtless Hiro looked amazing here
but not so much in panel 5-
You talking original? Or revived?
In the revived, there are more non-white main characters than white (McGarrett and Danno are the only white characters, certainly the only white ones left, if you counted Jerry {the ‘big’ guy from “Lost”} left)
I was talking about the revived but I don’t understand why you replied that. What was not clear of my answer? The author of the comic said a) that he does not known anyone speaking about H50. So I am saying I did watch it. All of it. And b) he mentions that the show is known for two Asian characters (including Daniel Dae Kim) leaving because they were not paying as much as the white ones because our world sucks. I am saying that I actually agree that the two white character had a larger salary because their characters are more important. And yes, I was talking about Steve being the main character and Danno being the secondary one, with all the other characters in more supporting positions. I mean, regardess of their races, I think Steve and Danno deserved a better payment than the rest. I also said (same as you) that the show had a lot of POC and that the two Asian who left (Kono and Chin) were replaced by other two POC characters (Tani y Junior). I even mentioned that one of them was played by the sister of Supergirl’s Brainiac, so I don’t understand how you could think I was talking about the original.
I also said that we could discuss (criticize) why the main characters were white, but I believe they are the main characters, with the others having a supporting role (that includes Jerry and the coroner, Hiro from Heroes)
The show has a lot of POC characters and I think it was unfair to brand it as a racist show. That is all what I am saying.
Dabbler dosn’t look like she in much distress, It’s Probably a trap.
He needs to make Harem peel so many potatoes that any time she’s about to act up someone simply says potato and it stops her in her tracks.
I’m sure she still recalls Max’s chain-reaction Wedgie.
Damn! I did not know that Maxima was a hobbit? Those are some seriously oversized gams on the Colonel. Also really like the Damsel in Distress pic of Jabberwocky in the vote incentive.
Feels hypocritical to threaten to write up your subordinate for an inappropriate comment towards his superior officer right after that officer made the exact same inappropriate comment towards a man under her command, but whatever.
If anything, she was reminding him that he should be reporting Daphne to HR
The military gets away with authoritarianism because they can easily fire and replace people.
It’s impossible to replace Halo with a highly trained normal who respects authority and is mentally stable. The actual choice is whether you get rid of her without a replacement or do you live with her mental issues.
Wow your military has very different firing rights than the one here.
In my country if you’ve got a job in the military as a literal employee of the military you are close to impossible to fire just as every other government employee, they can harm you in many ways, but firing is only possible with a predifined specific set of law violations(in the military mostly the use of unauthorized violence in civilian settings, which isn’t surprising) or if they convince many specific people with conflicting interests to unanimously agree to your firing and have a legitimate reason.
Although companies don’t have it much easier they have it easier. They get away with temporal contracts, although it is discouraged, can give individuals firing power, so they only need a legitimate reason, they have a ” reorganisation” right, which allows for large scale layoffs when under financial distress and they quit existing after filing bankruptcy.
Water walking or faking it is a common enough power. Heck Jesus was even the only figure in myth, legend, or religious beliefs depending on how you want to view it that had done it. Plenty of spirits on the water, spell casters, and such as well.
They need to set up a second Arc-Swat command eventually. They should probably do that now.
If Max and Hero are in different commands, then it would be legal. Even better, Hero would be in-line to get promoted so they would be the same rank.