Grrl Power #955 – World’s greatest gilded glamazon
I’m usually pretty bad about drawing Maxima being actually shiny. I’ve done it a few times in the past, but it takes an extra rendering pass, and usually by the times I get the backgrounds done and Sydney’s glasses and the orbs and the glowy bits on the orbs, it’s late Saturday evening or the middle of Sunday and I’m just not up for trying to environment map Maxima’s face. Honestly, backgrounds are my least favorite thing to draw, and spending a portion of every week trying to wrap one around a human face is just not why I got into drawing comics.
Arguably I shouldn’t have made one of my characters shiny and gold, but it’s too late for takebacks.
I don’t want to spoil anything, but the fact that she’s shiny will be relevant soon, so I thought it was important to remind everyone that she’s gilded and highly specular.
Now for the question you’ve all been wondering about, what the heck kind of cake is that? The cake itself is kind of pale purple, so I think I’m going to say it’s taro flavor. Taro, if you’ve never had it is basically a kind of potato. It’s actually a little closer to a sweet potato, and if you can ever find taro ice cream, I highly recommend it, because it tastes like waffle cone. So it’s waffle flavored cake, and although the icing is yellow, I’m going to say it’s maple flavored. That sounds pretty damned good to me – assuming the maple flavor isn’t overdone. It’d have to be a light touch.
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So, ube cake w/ maple buttercream.
Yes, please!
Maybe Schrodinger’s cat is in the box, or not. Either alive or dead.
If Anvil squashed a cat flat enough to fit in that box, I’m guessing dead. Quantum Wave Functions won’t save it from that.
If the box is bigger on the inside the cat will fit
Unless the resident reality hacker Did Something(tm) to the box, rendering it a TARDIS-like large space enclosed by smaller walls. Or, you know, something.
You ever put a cat in a box? Only existence is nasty!
Everyone who has ever had to take a cat to a vet has most likely had to put a cat in a box at some point.
Some exceptions apply; Gods and tax cuts bless the vets who do house calls!
No matter the size of the box the cat will fit.
Anvil needs her cake. I can appreciate that..
there is another solution. BIGGER CAKE. then there will be no loss of cake.
Who will be inside it though?
Geez, Maxima. if you want to eat cake that much, just eat cake on your own time. I can’t imagine you’re hurting for money.
But eating alone leads to bulimia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anvil, not Max.
im not sure what manner of face anvil is making is it like a thanos face or something?
I think she is looming. Kenya is probably the only person Maxima would tolerate doing that sort of thing.
Bottom left panel can make for a really good meme.
As a botanist, I am highly offended that you’d call Taro, “basically a kind of potato”. (Let me have my moment of nerd rage.) One is a monocot & the other a eudicot! One a corm, and the other a tuber! It’s like saying echidnas are basically a type of hedgehog.
Sonics are basically a type of Knuckles! :)
for all the non-botanists out there: echidnas are basically a type of hedgehog
…sorry to all the botanists and biologists and zoologists, etc. that are lacking in that good-old-commons-ignorance that makes life tolerable
Tails are basically a type of Starfox!
Maybe as CO, her skincare skills are starting to get a bit … rusty?
she lacks the polish she once had.
the shine has worn off.
My personal theory about her shine-covering makeup routine is baseless specularation.
Boooooo! Hissssss!
You’re right, I had no foundation for assuming that, I’ll try harder to make up theories that apply.
Objection. the officer is speculating.
so Brichins is she or is she not using Cover Girl.
She was special ops, surely she uses Undercover Girl.
(And if that’s not already a real thing, their parent company is seriously missing out on the female military/LEO niche market)
UnderCover Girl, now not just for military or police, but also for those long nights with that special someone.
My suggestions for the internals of the box:
a rebreather(so she can fly further and be under water for longer), a rubber cloth(there is talk about her being weak to electricity, we know it’s wrong, but the bad guys don’t always know it, so it can be used to trick them into focusing on an attack that doesn’t work), an aerodynamic suit for less collateral damage when flying at the speed of sound or equipment to analyze the surrounding.
didn’t read the authors commentary.
new try:
We know it’s an active gift, since Anvil says “if you need to”.
We know it’s somehow job related, since it can be labeled as an “tactical accessory.”
We know it’s flashy, because the author said so.
We know it’s something she wears on her, because it’s an “accessory”.
Flashy non-kinetic weaponery for physically untouchable supers?
Or a Cora-Designed pair of shades with built in HUDs like Sydney’s. She hasn’t worn shades much lately.
Max definitely needs tactical shades. It would push her coolness level past 3000!
But the box is not the traditional shape for shades. If she were an ordinary type of shiny person, we could speculate on a polishing cloth, but even suggesting that to Max seems more dangerous than limiting Anvil’s access to birthday cake.
Maybe some sort of human skin tone cammo lotion, so she can walk around looking ordinary? If it could be applied only with superstrength, she’d have to request help from Hiro. Mission accomplished!
Seems like people forgot Kenia buying things a few pages ago.
Calling it now, it’s a super suit…. Dabbler of course probably made sure to include a boob window, because she’s Dabbler.(Probably made using some space tech to be both form fitting and close enough to indestructible to avoid wardrobe malfunctions…)
Only PRACTICALLY certain????
You know what’s in the box…
https://i.imgur.com/8mvmac7_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium
My thoughts exactly! Maybe a tactical thong?
Why is maxima the only one wearing her choker, and why is it suddenlly smaller?
As someone whose wedding cake was both rainbow AND binary, I can assure you that with the right cake shop, a cake can be any damped color you want it to be.
Oh, yes, and it was delicious as fuck.
Pro Tip: You need a wedding cake, find a local party cake shop. They’ll be like half the price and have massively better selection.
… “any damped color” ???
Though, to be fair, it was quite moist.
there are some here who feel that pernicious punsters should be punished, but autocorrect is the the real villain. tweeting mustache and all.
Puns, are the height of, Intellectual humor!
And all the punsters said Amen.
I apologize, but Anvil’s face in panel 5 looks really wrong.
I can’t even draw, and have no idea what the correct terms are to explain it, I just look at it and it screams wrong at me.
Sorry I can’t be helpful.
I could also add that the Maxima reflections on her face in panels 4 && 6 are pretty cool looking and really (*) highlight her shiny and reflective appearance, even if it was a pain for you to create.
the cake is a lie
Now I have a vision of Neo saying “There is no cake.”
wrong. the cake is real. its just guarded by friendly turrets, lots of them. sadly they can’t have cake. thus they will happily fill you with bullets. no word on what they do with happy little trees.
“…and add a few little bullets over here. There is no cake, just happy accidents.”
As a Canadian who can actually guzzle down maple syrup, I find this “better as a light touch” thing highly insulting. CHUG IT LIKE YOU GOT A PAIR! (testicles or ovaries, I don’t judge) At least you’re right about taro ice cream being neat.
Also, I am disappoint RE no Gwynneth Paltrow’s head. Would have saved us all from more of her scammy GOOP bullshit.
I was wondering why it looked like Max had craquelure on her forehead. I can now see that it’s reflection of the framework of the ceiling. Whew. :)
Dave’s pencils surpass his inks and colors. Happens a lot….