Grrl Power #966 – Special training
Skipping over bedroom shenanigans. There could be some cute and awkward pre-game moments to be had there, but I’ll leave that stuff up to you guys to fill in. As well as jokes about other things being filled in.
Using a prisoner as a punching bag under normal circumstances is obviously a horrific idea. In a world with super powers… there can be legitimate reasons for it. Weird, rare reasons. Like someone needing the occasional injection of Vitamin V. (V, in this case, does not stand for Velocity, 5, Vanadium, or alien lizard people)
Yes, literally the only reason Kevin started off with a boxer’s robe and hand wraps was for the barely-a-reveal in the final panel. Also he wanted to jog out into the middle of the quarry like Rocky.
I’m going back to the black ink lines for a bit. I don’t like them as much, but it does save me at least an hour of work. On top of that I’m going to try and simplify the coloring just a bit, because it has been taking me an average of 5 and a half to 6 days to get two pages done each week, which doesn’t leave a lot of time for nudie pinups or writing. (He said after posting a double sized page.) If I can get comic time down to 5 days, that will give me a little more breathing room and should speed up work on side projects like novels. Speaking of which…
Tamer: Enhancer 2 – Progress Update:
Almost finished the second to last chapter. Like there’s literally a dozen paragraphs left, but instead of doing that tonight I have to post some superheroine comic I’ve been working on. I am going to have to back up and do a little editing, because a new character’s behavior fluctuates too much from one moment to the next. I want them to develop one way, but my default writing flow is pulling them in another.
July’s vote incentive is up!
You guys don’t know who this is yet. (Her name is Xerxa.) I will give you one single guess what she might be from. (And no, it’s not Dabbler’s mother.) It was a piece I had half finished from a little while ago and given my time constraints this month, I threw a little polish and some background on it and here you are. Unfortunately there aren’t nine separate versions because she’s not wearing a ton to begin with. Hopefully you can read about that soon. I hope you like it, personally I think it turned out pretty good.
As always, nude version are up at Patreon.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
I like the dark lines better
I too, prefer the darker lines, I had missed them. Without them paint/shading details occasionally blur in less than aesthetically pleasing ways.
Same. The current post-line art style strikes me kinda like Muppet Maxima (#436). I get who the character is, but it’s just slightly offputting. And based on the vote incentives, it feels like the current art system suffers when under time pressure. But that’s just my opinion, not intended to be bitchy. I’m going to enjoy the return to the simpler comic book style art while it lasts.
Maybe it shows up more in the high -res form but I really wouldn’t have noticed the change if Dave hadn’t pointed it out.
Agreed, honestly I like the black lines better, and simpler art. I loved the comic back when it first started and it was simple yet cartoony as hecc. I think a lot of us honestly miss that.
That’s not to say your art skill hasn’t gotten pretty darn amazing since then, but I likes what I likes. xD
This is the best idea since paint shakers and nitroglycerine. WTF?
Both he and Max know that the only reason he’s alive right now is that he managed to surprise her with his regeneration in the parking lot fight, letting him pin her in such a way that she couldn’t escape on her own.
So they both also know that if he gets out of line during a Max-supervised “recreational” (for him) activity, Max will go for vaporizing his head without any “warning shots” like she gave him when she took his arm off in the parking lot fight, because she knows that’s the only reliable way to stop him.
Besides, Archon’s giving him some time off from his cannabis fugue to do his favorite activity as long as he remains compliant. So there’s a carrot along with the very big, shiny, golden, energy beam-blasting stick.
That, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t need some level of violence to consume to stay alive, due to his nature.
I believe dabbler has said something similar if their natures can be considered parallel then he does require it.
Actually, as long as he isn’t boosted to the level he was at the restaurant, Maxima can just wrestle him down and choke him to unconsciousness – it takes a while for him to grow strong enough to contend with her.
Of course, it’s in her interest to make him believe she’ll kill him.
Which she most certainly would, of course. Max is no Batman. She can kill without losing it.
Okay, I have looked up and down this comic six ways to Sunday and you’re missing a power point. Sydney’s investment into the Pew Pew Orb got eaten (artistically). There is no new power point for the rapid fire mode. “But Galgano,” I hear you say, “there is a point for the rapid fire. It’s that second, inner point in that circle section of the Pew Pew Orb’s upgrade tree. That’s what gives Sydney the rapid fire mode. She even says as much on page #945” To which I say HA! You naive fool, that power point has been there from the beginning. If you check way back on page #181, the very first time the tree is seen in the comic (or at least far earlier than the strip of her upgrading the Pew Pew Orb), you will notice that the upgrade tree for the Pew Pew Orb has the same number of upgrades in the same slots as the version seen on page 944 and later.
Oh darn, I forgot the rest of my post. Sydney should check how the featherfall passive works. Yes, she’s tested vertical movement, but what happens if she lets go of the orb while in a Mach 1 chase? Does she instantly decelerate in both the Z and Y direction? Or just the Y direction and her Z axis speed is still maintained (minus the speed loss from friction, etc.)? And if she’s in space, does her featherfall work? Also, does her fall speed increase if she is holding a heavy weight, like another person? Or even 10 regular men?
In space, barring gravity effects, you would keep moving.until something stops you…..newton has the wheel
In space, no-one can hear you scream along.
I believe this was covered earlier – can’t remember where to cite it, but can remember that it was discussed. The Rapid-Fire upgrade was a second node on the ‘outer’ ring, chosen in a panic in the middle of the Wars fight. The Big Shot mode already had the ‘outer’ node to unlock it and the ‘inner’ node to upgrade it active when Sydney acquired the Orbs. DaveB later commented that he’d forgotten to update his master file of what nodes were active, after a few pages which showed the upgrade tree including the missing upgrade.
I for one much prefer the black ink outlines. Thank you for going back to them!
Detla fills out a tee shirt nicely. Thank you.
I feel that we’ve skipped a few pages.
Not a lot of places to go from “Sydney is too small to fit Frix”.
At least not without a age warning.
Oh, based on the cloak I was thinking this was “For whom the bell tolls”.
I would not have guessed they let Vehemence out.
Really missed this look for the comic. Feels like it flows more.. Almost a little to much shadework but still nice looking overall. Things have been so well hyper done lately that it feels like the comic has lost some of its-
Comic stretchiness? Not sure whats its called but that feel of fluidity. The sort published ones kind of lost in the 2000-2010s. Almost to set in pose like it was a painting, sorta.
To me, the black lines are fundamental element of comics: without them it looks like cheapo 3D rendering… I missed them when you got rid of them and I’m happy to see them again; I hope they will stick around for the time being.
Am I missing something here? I feel like we skipped a scene and suddenly without warning are in a spar between alien samurai and vehemence?
As has been stated, this comic is on a thin line between ecchi and eroge as it were, without going over the line; so kind of hard to get the next scene that could have been without going into “porn comic” territory.
that said this feels like if they were physical books, last page would have been the final page of one issue, with this being the start of the next issue. Which with physical comics feels less jarring I suppose as you more or less expect the jump.
I just felt maybe there should have been a page between the last one and this one that showed the set up for the fight instead of dropping us into it with 0 prep. might have also made the vehemence reveal better cause we coulda seen the rocky get up person a little longer before the reveal.
Cold opens are good tools for hooking the audience. It makes you ask, “wtf is going on w/ this violence?”
That said…now I want a retroactive page add of a boxing prep with “Eye of the Tiger” lyrics.
it’d be funnier with the theme from Rocky XIII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYJnA026QB0
(there’s no real video)
disclaimer- poster take no responsibility for rye or Kaiser cravings.
There’s always tension between showing everything that happens and keeping the story moving. Because there’s only one artist, and he can only draw a few pages each week, he has to decide how important each potential panel is, or whether some time can be safely skipped over in the interest of keeping the audience engaged. More detail is good when the audience can choose how long to linger over each individual page, but when they’re eagerly waiting for the next, expediency gains some value.
Wouldn’t Math have been a better idea for this?
I think they were trying to teach her about superpowers due to her losing to one originally. So Death Toll would have probably been best, but less popular then Vehemence.
Then Vehemence what?
Also, Vehemence needs his occasional intake of vitamin V
I miss “Death Toll”, the cloak reminded me of him.
It is interesting to have her fight Vehemence, I don’t know what his default power class is, but he is a variable/riser power type. We saw his point of diminishing returns seems to top off around S-class *given Maxima is verified S-class and he had her pinned…although she has that sliding scale on powers thing that had to shift to defense and she would have had to risk damage to do enough strength*,
but yeah, his power grows on the violence, but goes up in increments based on the amount of violence in the area, but as shown in the fight before he can be overwhelmed if you go over his current power level with a much stronger one *such as if his strength and powers are at B for example, hit him in the head or torso with an S class energy blast and insta-kill him*.
that said, what is his default power level before he starts to absorb violence? Like could you just snipe him off the battlefield if you hit him before any fighting starts?
as I am compelled and for anyone wandering this power class thing as we do live in an age where over-powered in comics and anime is more common than it should be.
Z: Powers so subtle you could go your whole life without knowing you even had a superpower.
F: Sideshow and parlor trick type powers; F+ might have some advantage in a one on one fight.
D: Peak human or beyond normal human limitations, but still mostly obeying the laws of physics. Has an advantage usually in a one on one fight.
C: the combat class, can usually fight a small group of people with little problem, just starting to bend or break a few laws of physics *can sometimes explain away with advanced physics though*, at higher levels of this class can fight small groups of armed men, especially with training.
B: Able to easily fight small groups of armed men, can often even take on squads of soldiers. May still have trouble with heavier artillery or repeated hits in the same spot. Breaking most rules of biology at this point if not basic physics. Can take down small structures easily, may take some time to take down buildings.
A: the “Alpha” class, able to hold their own, especially with training against military forces. Enough power to level buildings with ease, can lawnmower down a whole city if given enough time.
S: the “super” class even among supers, otherwise known as “City Smashers”, basically have the energy inside them equivalent to a small nuker…to a large nuke with S+ and S++ being island destroyers. Like living natural disasters level of power.
Omega: Capable of either breaking the laws of physics outright with ease or causing extinction level events potentially like freezing the oceans, summoning hurricanes all over the world, making it rain acid over an entire continent, hurricanes made of fire, energy blasts that vaporize mountains.
*at this point due to massive differences in power you can add alot of plus signs to end of each one before getting to the next power level.
Like Omega++ being able to put a hole in the planet the size of the UK, or Omega+++ blowing a hole the side of Australia. until you reach.
Omega Delux (Moon busters)
a bunch more plus signs until your blasts can destabalize the core of the Earth enough to make the planet officially break apart and be no more and you’ve hit the low end of
Super Omega (planet busters)
a crap ton of more plus signs on how much destruction to the planet *rocks in space to vaporize* and up the scale of cosmic disasters till reaching
Ultra Omega…and astronomical differences here realistically has reached *silly* levels of power where you are making small black holes, flying through space one shotting planets, possibly eating planets, feeding on stars, celestial being, reality warpers of solar system scales, ect…
-and to be honest the power levels in Dragon Ball which are contradictory to themselves *seriously how can you have a body that can still be hurt by bullets yet able to pull out ten thousand times more power than it could when you could blow up a planet*, that some like myself have taken to calling their power levels Ludicrous Omega. As they are self contradictory yet stupidly high.
That’s because dbz powers are ki based. With no ki goku can be stabbed with a sharp enough blade. A bullet only bounces off on his skull because his bones are about that hard. Small arms like pistols to smg couldn’t harm him but higher caliber could at least plant him on his butt. It’s why he used to deflect bullets in dragon ball. He trained his body to be above super human but that all stopped when was taught by supreme kai. He started using more ki based techniques. Without ki utilization goku body is still pretty invulnerable though. It’s why tfs made fun of piccolo weighted clothes. After awhile it just didn’t help.
rule of cool, and Akira Toriyama forgetting stuff, and the original Dragon Ball was a gag manga while later series aren’t.
Ki is supposed to be internal energy not extra dimensional or anything, so the concept is that insane amount of energy is inside their bodies or in their spirit being channeled through their bodies. Why certain techniques were supposed to make them tired, run out of energy, or strain them to use such Tien’s tri-beam pulling out so much ki at once it could be fatal. So their bodies are supposedly holding many times more power than it takes to destroy entire worlds without augmenting their physiology to compensate.
this is why shows like that are turn your brain off…also why death battle stuff doesn’t matter because even consistency is non-existent. But I digress that was just an end of the post example of a series that had power levels but went off the rails for sake of rule of cool and just ignored it after a while for the sake of having big crazy fights and just saying (wow they’re the strongest I’ve ever fought) even when in any other series they’d all be ascended celestial gods throwing suns at each other by this point that could tank nukes in their sleep.
Interesting someone actually wrote back to a post I respode too. Thank you. Now can you explain delta movement here. Cause it doesn’t really make sense. She blocks a backhand then moves forward and inward keeping Kevin arm between her. After that I can’t visully comprehend her movement or the cameras movement. I don’t know what I’m looking at.
I don’t think that class system works well for Grrl Power – it seems to assume a one-dimensional power scale that’s only about firepower/durability. Grrl Power has many different types of abilities many of which don’t increase firepower or durability directly.
Instead, Grrl Power has its own rating system which rates powers factors like strength, speed, firepower, durability, and many others separately.
I was over simplifying it looking at how some anime use it (like One Punch Man or Yu Yu Hakusho). I have seen others base it also on effort, strain, degree and range of effect, or isolate it on specific abilities, like a C class telepathic power is very different from a C class pyrokinetic power.
I mean we can really complicate it using the Marvel method and average out the person vs their power, so a super with crazy high power but a squishy normal human body ends up averaging out much lower *like Storm from the X-men*.
some series I have seen the class is based not on destruction but control over physics, like Kiddy Grade where the omega *G-class in this series* was stuff like physics breaker powers, quantum manipulation, particle control*
-which makes sense when you go into some power, maybe you don’t have much range but your power makes you unstoppable and can fight back against virtually anything within your “sphere of influence”.
or get the Null effect into play (a null factor being when one’s power can be strong but hard to control, has special conditions for use, low battery, or harms the very person using it).
trying to avoid having to turn the whole thing into a math formula LoL.
Dabbler: Math is fun!
Math: eyyyy!
This time, I hope they thought ahead far enough to get Kevin some stretchy pants for this…
Oh dear god.
Now the image of the “bulge” that would cause is stuck in my head.
Dark lines are certinaly better
Please stay on the dark lines, I’ve missed this so much.
I have to say, I don’t know why, but Kevin/Vehemence is to date one of my favorite villains ever. I mean, he feeds on violence, which is bad (and his aura increases the need for violence in others, which fuels him further), but he’s also not just a mindless tank. He’s a thinker. And also a fairly rational one, at that. Which you could make an argument for other villains having the same characteristics, but… I dunno. He just clicks for me, and I think he’s neat.
It helps that he has just about as much comic nerd cred as Sydney on the back end, too. :3 Despite being a villain, he’s just… likeable. :D
idk why, but I prefer the black lines to what you’ve been doing recently. Not to diss your taste or art style. But this way just feels… More comic book-y? Can’t explain it, I just know I like the lines more.
so did they recruit Vehemence? I mean for him it would be a pretty good deal
Yes! I would love to see Kevin as part of the team!
Some might say “It’s insane to let Vehemence out!” but Max is there, and without a 50 supers rumble stirring up violence, Max could turn him to bloody mist before he could power up enough to prevent it. V knows Max knows how dangerous he can be, and also knows she’s willing to “mist” him if necessary.
Why do you think Syd is floating with her legs crossed instead of standing?
Because it’s cool, I would guess. Or at least she thinks it is.
If you’re floating weightless, rather than sitting on something, though, that pose requires a fair amount of effort to maintain. It’s not like she’s got her legs locked in Lotus, after all.
Because she used the potion and is still putting herself back together down there of course
gonna admit that I miss the “mate attracting costume”
just saw this…..remind you of anyone?
https://thechive.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/r5j42brywpd71.jpg?attachment_cache_bust=3766354&quality=85&strip=info&w=600
Also, can you believe it’s been like 6 years since the restaurant fight? :o
Don’t mind me. just testing the Gravatar. great comic as always!
Adventuring Group is in the guild tavern when very shapely female form enters and catches their eyes. She orders a Dwarven Distillates Silver Polish Liqueur Triple Shot, in a husky voice, and purrs after downing it. The Dwarf walks upto her and says, “I see you haven’t taken a seat yet, and you impressed me with your ability to drink like you have a beard, so I thought I might offer to let you sit on my face.”
“You’re not my type, please leave me alone,” she says. “Bartender, I think I would rather drink some fine wine.” She puts one hundred gold on the bar. The dwarf walks away mildly disappointed. The rogue walks up.
“A lovely lady…” And the rogue stops because she has just taken the rogues sword from its scabbard, and forced him to bend over backwards with the blade against his neck. “Walk away and I slide your sword back in its scabbard. Keep trying and I slide it into you repeatedly.” The rogue steps away and the sword magically reappears in its scabbard bad she turns her back. She starts to drink her wine, while the rogue sits down and their barbarian stands up.
“I think you’re the hottest ass I have seen…” Dropping her hood and cloak to show scaled red armor and a half-elf face with 20+ Charisma. She blasts the barbarian back with a powerful flame aura.
“Smart of you to notice how hot I am, but are you smart enough to realize that you can’t handle the heat?”
She drinks her wine and finally turns back around, “Oh I thought they were annoying but you priestess are terrible, you are one of those few that make me regret having a mind reading ability.” The woman Starts to transform. “Well how do you like me now?” She asks as she reveals her dragon form.
“Goddess protect me from evil temptations!” the priestess squeals as she twitches and bounces in her seat.
The moral of the story is that the females of the species are often far more deadly and depraved than the male.
No reason why I felt the need to share.
I’m loving the old art style :D
Dabbs: ….. so? …..
Syd: Five stars. Would boink again.
Dabbs: That’s pretty much my opinion. That’s why I came up with that potion, anyhow.
Syd: I’m actually… surprised a succubus would find a need for it.
Dabbs: How else could I have transformed you into such a nutritious font of lascivious smutty thoughts and memories?
Syd: So right now, you’re … because I’m remembering … with your …. and …. Um. This is awkward.
Dabbs: Oh, that’s so sweet! That little feeling of kinky incest transgression, like spice. You really do think of us as family!
Syd: Somehow all my conversations with you go wrong.
Well, this is just mean. Detla’s Super ADHD Powers aren’t nearly strong enough for this little test.
I for one like black lines better.
It’s that classic comic feel, and I like that subtle reminder that this isn’t full grounded in reality.