Grrl Power #967 – After action cluck
There’s an extended fight scene going on while Dabbler is prompting Sydney for details. I thought about putting in a bunch of PUNCH, BIFF, ZORG, ETC sfx at the bottom of each panel but decided it looked cluttered.
Dabbler is a better enchanter than she is an alchemist, so she figured out how to enchant liquid. She’s certainly not the first person in the history of magic to do that, but she figured a lot of it out on her own, then went and did some research, stole a few ideas and kind of half-independently invented something others have already made. A lot of her inventing, magic or technological, is like that. Part of her inventions are scrabbled together or inspired by other’s work, and part of it done “the long way around,” often using mathematics that others would find unnecessarily boggling.
Dabbler doesn’t have anything against witches or alchemists specifically, but every profession has its experts as well as incompetents and charlatans. In her travels, she’s been tricked into buying a healing potion that was just Hawaiian Punch, or a healing potion that actually amplified the damage received (so the vendor could scavenge from fallen adventurers and stock his shelves with “barely used” gear. Don’t worry, Dabbler murdered the living fuck out of that guy.) So mostly she just trusts her own concoctions now.
Tamer: Enhancer 2 – Progress Update:
Second to last chapter is finished – in the sense that I’ve started working on the final chapter. There’s still some editing to do before it will be beta reader ready. I’ll save those edits for once I finish the book. I need that one character to have a little more time to simmer as I figure out their personality. The last chapter though… there’s an excellent point for a chapter break about 1,000 words in, but I like making my chapters about 5,000 words long. I don’t know why. It’s a totally arbitrary figure. I think book 1 had a 3,200 word chapter and maybe one of the action ones got up to 11K. If I don’t pay attention to what I’m doing, they’ll get up to around 17K, and that’s too much. There are novellas shorter than that. So I often have to go back and do a lot of renumbering when I break up big chapters that got away from me. Scrivener doesn’t seem to have a smart chapter numbering function that I can figure out.
July’s vote incentive is still up. August’s will be posted with Thursday’s comic. The nude version is done, but drawing lacy underwear is holding up the piece.
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Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
Surprised that Dabbler didn’t tease Sidney about not being able to stand.
Sydney has shown that she’s just as, if not more, comfortable sitting mid air as she is standing, leaning, or actually sitting. Multiple panels show her floating for no reason other then she just preferred it at that moment.
Of course, a lot of the floating is probably just because it lets her float at the same head height as whoever she’s talking to… That has to make Dave’s life easier.
But it’s more fun to say it’s because of consequences of that potion.
Well, it was more fun for Sydney, evidently. You know, for having a good reason to be floating so much.
Ah, thanks for saying that. I hadn’t realized the connection between her strange posture and the previous night’s activities…
Omg! That would make so much sense. I think the potion must have repeat performances with in it’s duration so it’s hard to say.
I’m surprised and disappointed that Dabbler didn’t bluntly point out to Sydney that the potion’s effects include multiple available orifices … Unless, of course, Sydney, you haven’t already discovered that feature ..? You seem to be sitting rather oddly. Frankly, a better joke than regarding the taste.
Yeah it could bring literal meaning to “Screw you in your ear” or, just hear me out, nostril sex.
After reading that, I never want to hear you out again. :)
I may have to sniff out another opinion.
That pun didn’t stink, but it was a bit “on the nose”. You should wait for a better opening.
Only Dabbler could pull off something like that.
I’m fairly certain Maxima would pull it off if anyone asked.
Oh god. Puns were bad enough but somehow you’ve managed to make puns even worse.
/passes a can of mental floss.. it’s like silly string, applied through the aural canal…
Pander turning up her nose on the punderclass again.
This is a hill I shall proudly die on, fighting against rampant puns. :)
You may not make the puns, but know this, you are the cause of the puns. All puns, ever. You have naught to blame but yourself.
fighting against rampart puns?
Ha, I myself resisted posting “rampart” last night to give Pander a break, but clearly it was destined to be an uphill battle.
“And the Pander’s mad glare, her pun-cursing death stare, gave proof through the thread, that bad humor’s still there!”
Their own fault really, lending an ear to pander to the crowd.
I was hoping to see Detla get in a few more licks on Kevin before Max stepped in to put a stop to the fun.
When do we see Concretia training with Sydney & Jazza? She *was* sort of promised the option to join Archon when she helped Sydney….
I’m guessing next comic. “Switch” implies there is someone to switch with. Like, switch partners? Are we only seeing one fight out of several?
Nice thought. I’d really like to see Concretia turn up at least semi-regularly. Implications about her back story seem like it’s probably interesting.
So in the next page, we see Concretia walk out of the side of the quarry. I turns out she does look incredible in quartz! Good luck with that one Detla. Hopefully you can find the cleavage planes.
Think the switch is for someone to take over for Delta. Probably Hiro, since he’s there and could’t beat Math, but who knows?
Nah, makes more sense that someone is switching in for Big Kev, seeing how Del wants to train with the best they got
Kev doesn’t have to partake in the violence to get a feed
“This whole planet is bullsh**” ~ Detla, just before rage quitting Earth
Or maybe she’s signaling for Detla to go on the offensive while Vehemence defends.
There may also be another pair there working out, or one or more teams ready to try takedowns on Kevin.
If that’s happening, then it’s for Kevin’s benefit. He’s getting his first good meal in a long time.
Hi – from the future, so I already know, but thinking about the evidence available, I see that the background of where they’re fighting doesn’t look like a gym or anything – looks like rocks or gravel, so something like a quarry? makes a little bit of sense regardless if Kevin is there to isolate him and control his available nearby violence as much as possible
Well, she has the cleavage part covered, at least.
I was too. While lowing her over with the backdraft of his punch Saitama style is funny, it’s also majorly disappointing in comparison.
I’m surprised this “enchanted liquid” didn’t have several side effects people of Dabbler’s persuasion would find fun. Like that heating cantrip she used on Sydney that warmed her up a bit too effectively so to say. She seems like the kind of person that would give someone something like that thinking it would help.
Under the context, Sydney might not have noticed…
after Sydney’s retaliation last time, perhaps Dabbler thought better of it.
Remember, it was not a GOOD Ache…
Yeah but it’s because she didn’t have the proper gear to handle that ache. Right tool for the right problem. A body pillow of Edward elric is not a proper tool. A probably 15 inch dick maybe.
Got me right in the ‘ol Gazorpazovum!
Maybe it did – under the circumstances, Sydney and Frix already were aroused. They probably didn’t notice, and even if they did – it’s a much smaller issue if you were going to have sex anyway. In the ideal case, it’s entirely redundant, and if you’re having trouble getting it going, it helps you, leading to a better experience.
Oh, also? I actually rather like the black-lined artwork. It gives it a more cartoon/comic book-ish feel, which lends itself more to the more….comical physical & facial reactions that we love Sydney for…..
Yup, I don’t normally read the comments but was thinking to myself that the art has been looking better than it has a lot recently. Less shiny feeling, I like the expressions more, and colors feel more comic-icky… Whatever happened on this comic is definitely my preference for art.
That doesn’t really answer Sydney’s question on how long it works though.
I also want to say I’m really liking the current line work and coloring.
Yeah, that was weird. All we got for a time reference is that it wont last long enough for your organs to fall out. Which is disturbing in a lot of ways.
It lasts long enough that there’s probably a warning to allow organs to return to normal before the effects expire.
You really wouldn’t want it wearing off DURING.
So which one of the 2 is switching out here?
Is Vehemence getting a moment to spar with everyone to keep him fed on energy, or is Delta getting a moment to spar with everyone to show off earth’s super powers.
I suspect that Kevin is getting a monthly dose of Vitamin V, to cover his “nutritional needs”…
(https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-792-vitamin-t/ / https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-796-cinq-o-de-bail-o/)
Is that a force reversal spell? With insufficient inertial dampening from the looks of Detla landing on her ass.
No, Kevin just pulled his punch. The air displacement still knocked her on her ass.
Or just, you know… DEATH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SlPbbX8RSo
OK, I survived getting hit by a truck which was much bigger than Kevin’s fist and there was not enough bow wave to even notice. A COE semi doesn’t have enough bow wave to knock a person over at speeds up to 100 MPH. I know, cartoon physics, but really.
Try pure kinetic energy transfer. Air is still full of stuff. Getting hit by a semi and then not getting hit by a semi is a bit different. We can see that the energy transfers by looking at crashes and watching the ripples travel through the metal. All of that energy is usually going into the wall.
But what if there was no wall and you still stopped just as quickly? That energy has to go somewhere, it doesn’t just disappear, there’s no friction bleed off. That energy interacts with the particles in the air and the particles in the air interact with each other. Deliver enough of that at close range and the appropriate knock down effect should ensue.
Best way to test this would be to anchor something really heavy to the ground and then fire it at something. Have that something measure the force of the impact. Then you need to measure or calculate the bow wave effect. Delete one from the other and then repeat the challenge with the chain just a little shorter.
If you stop a punch mid-swing, the momentum goes through your legs into the ground. Unless you’re using the air to decelerate (e.g. with wings or a parachute), the pushed air will keep moving, but not any faster than before.
I dunno what is a “COE semi”, but I have seen cars pushed around by road trains in Oz at speeds as low as 80K. All trucks are hard-limited to 100Km/H by law here. The blunt fronts of the tractors seem to be designed to maximise the air turbulence at any speed over about 40K.
If you’re standing in front of the rig, you’ll only feel the steel. The windrush gets you as the rig goes past you…
Cab over engine. Essentially those snub nosed semi tractor units.
Thanks for that cobber.
its a mass then stop with force to send a pocket of air forced forward. its like fanning your face.
while a fist sending an airburst focused enough to send someone flying is unlikely, especially withouth something to aid it like a funnel to focus the air in one direction (see toy air guns as examples of doing this), one can argue use of super power energy or ki or whatever to funnel the air.
basically a stronger force version of the airzooka toy.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L8YrM7GI2CE/maxresdefault.jpg
I think it’s partly because Detla was already a bit off balance because she was leaning backwards in an attempt to dodge, therefore requiring less of an impact than usual to knock her over.
If his fist were travelling at mach 10 the column of air in front of it would be at something like 5 or 10 atmospheres of pressure. Not enough to crack concrete but easily enough to break your face.
Never touched her guv!
an air burst from the force. Goku used the same technique to defeat Chi Chi in the second to last arc of the original Dragon Ball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOt1j964xZw
others have used it too, its pretty much a way of showing your opponent that if you actually hit them, they will most likely die.
Dabbler needs to make a trope reference to the potion effects. Maybe perusing caves in the US/Texas. Or looking at the Grand Canyon and side-eyeballing sydney. Who eventually peeks over and blushes and hentai ties up dabbler with Energy tentacles and max glares at them. Smiling max says “Enough of the foreplay. You’re on duty. Sydney stand at attention”
Now sydney needs to make excuses why she can’t stand…and dabbler giggles more.
Also maybe warn her of the effects once the potion wears off, that space goes back to normal inside and well anything inside gonna find an exit.
That punch reminds me of what Saitama did to Genos. So they’ve got V under enough control to stop when he would start to actually hurt his opponent.
I wonder why they’re feeding so much in the first place though.
Could be part of his parole. He helps them train, he gets a shorter sentence, and more chances to feed on Violence.
Well, they’ve already established that Maxima can one-shot him if she REALLY wants to, and he needs a *massive* power-up to be able to stop that from happening.
The giant fight at the parking lot wasn’t enough for that even, since he had to surrender to them once they got a good hold and Max had the chance to switch to full attack power.
And yeah; what TTKain said. Work with the government group in order to not get locked away forever; sounds like a primo deal, especially if he can get some Dabbler on the side. I would.
DabbleMence confirmed: Initiating ship.
“…Rough Sex.”
Mixing Tantric energy with Vehemic energy?
Ooof! I’ll bet that leaves a mark.
The “event” would probably even register on the Richter Scale…On the other side of the continent.
DaveB sort of said on the last page that Kevin needs his top ups of violence to remain healthy (sort of like how Dabbler needs her share of “Treasure type O”). And seeing as he’s not likely to get as charged up as the big fight, Maxima could easily ash his brain stem if he decided to try anything stupid. And Detla get’s taken down by someone Archon’s already defeated (just in case THAT lesson needs to be reinforced). Win Win situation.
“Treasure type O”
I’m pretty sure we’re calling it “Vitamin-T“, actually. ;)
It is a little known fact that Hawaiian Punch sells well throughout the Orion Arm of the Galaxy. If Dr. Pepper-Snapple Group ever finds out, they’ll sue for trillions.
Is that the current or original formula? I know some non-terrestrials love sucralose but that stuff is utterly vile to me.
The distributor for Hawaiian Punch throughout the Orion Arm is a licensee of Dr. Pepper-Snapple Group in their list of offshore business partners, accounting for something like 0.5% of their income. I rather suspect that it is the original formula with real sugar in it. The percentage of the population in the Orion Arm that is able to metabolize left-twisted sugar molecules (sucralose) is somewhere in the neighborhood of 0.001%. Most of the other sugar loving denizens of the region find sucralose to have a revolting, somewhat metallic flavor.
I still think it’s an extraordinarily bad idea,mainly because letting him out at all could give him ideas of how he could permanently break out. Assuming he’s not thinking of a way already.
Yes. And, No. Any escape he makes is going to be short-lived. Too many well-equipped supers will be instantly hunting him. His talent for feeding on violence doesn’t lend itself well toward a life of subtlety and quiet. He just doesn’t strike me as that stupid. He’s more likely trying to find a way to cooperate with (not necessarily;y work for) ARC and still be able to enjoy his powers. His freedom depends upon legitimacy, not an underground lifestyle. He may have even been convinced by now that he does need to get himself under control and manage his ability rather than allow himself to be controlled by it.
Yeah, we met him while he was in the process of orchestrating a large number of crimes, but from his POV, he was just feeding. He’s an obligate violence-o-vore. Notice he did not plan to kill anyone (although he changes his mind about Max when she proves dangerous to him.) He appears not to be necessarily any more evil than a housecat (which is no comfort to the mice).
Now that Archon is giving him a socially acceptable way of solving his basic need to eat, it’s time to consider things higher up on his hierarchy of needs. If he put in the time to learn some technique, he might have a career as an MMA announcer if only for the free meals.
I think he just really wishes there were a league for competitors of his class in the WWF or something.
Hell, he should start one. Y’know, with a “not to the death” rule, and matches selected by handicapping – essentially whenever approximately equal numbers of people are willing to bet on two competitors, you can figure they’re probably competitive enough to have a bout. The military ones couldn’t participate, but it would get good ratings!
That said, after that business with orchestrating a multi-dozen supers-on-supers battle, he’s probably not going to be a civilian eligible for a business loan any time soon.
“No more evil than a housecat”.
Dang.
Just dang.
Were I a villainous mastermind, it might take me a month to parse whether that was praise or a burn.
For a villainous mastermind, a month is just about enough time to invent zombie dire pitbulls. Probably a point to villainous masterminds there, rather than housecats.
So, burn. Expect a zombie dire pitbill apocalypse to be visited upon you if you burn a villainous mastermind like that. They can be somewhat sensitive on such topics.
Ooops! Good thing he’s fictional, otherwise I’d be worrying about the Z.D.P.A. early in September – and hastily explaining that I have cats, I love cats and they love me … but we have to realistic about their nature. If I were the size of a mouse, the nature of our love might change radically. That’s obligate carnivores for ya!
As Kliban put it: https://images.app.goo.gl/EDKD7Gik6urtuWiF8
House-cats are “not evil” in the same way King John was “not tyrannical”.
Rather: the difference between a dog and a cat is when you come home, no matter how late or dishevelled or deeply under the weather, the dog is always pleased and happy to see you. The cat? “WHERE’S MY DINNER????????”
No, “not evil” at all.
Actually, one of the best things that he could do would be to join Archon. He gets all the violence he wants sparring with people, he gets paid out the wazoo, and he gets the social credit of being a hero. Plus, Max might be willing to make an exception to her “Dabbler isn’t allowed to bone teammates” rule in order to help keep Kevin under control.
Compare that with what happens otherwise; he stays in jail for a very long time, or he breaks out and is on the run until Max shows up and (probably) kills him before he can power up enough to fight her.
Thought experiment: Kevin gains power from violence, Dabbler from sex. Who wears out first if the two of them get into an extended BDSM session?* Or do they both just keep leveling up? O-o
* you know, for science.
We know Kevin comes back stronger from being beaten up, so probably the latter.
That is the mst unlikely buddy movie I have ever heard of.
Call Hollywood!
“…kind of half-independently invented something others have already made.”
Pretty much describes most of human progress in every field of invention.
Specially the ones who just happen to work as a clerk in a patent office
Someone invented relativity before Einstein?
Relativity has almost always existed. Ask your cousins.
While I despise puns, I will always applaud a good burn. Bravo.
Wasn’t talking about Einstein, he’s not an American patent-thief
Edison?
They were under contract to him, with a clause, that says he gets the patent for anything they do.
Vehemence’s punch reminds me of this one: https://i1.wp.com/gamerfocus.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/superman_spiderman_05.jpg?resize=740%2C457&ssl=1
Because sound apparently travels at 1ft/s. :D
Gotta just love those old comics.
It is also a point that the only one who can stress Maxima is Vehemence, so if she wants a good workout… But it would be dangerous to power him up that much.
Kevin isn’t powered that much by sheer strength. Sure, supers have a higher quality to their energy, but maxima is just another super rather than counting as the 50+ supers Kevin would need to threaten maxima.
Despite my agreement with everyone saying how Maxima can stillone shot him before he gets too powerful, this still feels like a ridiculously dangerous thing to be doing riskwise for very little reward.
They have a visual indicator (his glowing lines) that lets them know when he’s starting to become a viable threat, so they can easily cut him off when they need to. With that said, wondering how much energy he would need to use magic to port away
Teleporting was not one of his demonstrated powers. He did not have any movement powers that I recall. I can’t remember what the deal was with flight… if I recall correctly, he could maintain his position so he could not just be yeeted into the sun. That’s about it.
We have no idea though on if he could. Given how he was just showing off powers that he was pulling out of NOWHERE before (much like Hench Wench was, but she was far more annoying somehow), he probably COULD have teleported if he was thinking properly when he was at max power, but he was:
1) focused on killing Maxima as she was the only threat to him, and
2) he wanted violence and a fight, and teleporting away would not have let him have violence or a fight. He was very confident that he could win.
3) by the time he was being beaten, he was focusing all his energy on not dying (from a crushed trachea and people all dogpiling him and him frequently drowning) instead of other powers.
I’d agree that it’s risky for Vehemence to fight Maxima directly. She has a job in these sparring sessions, and it’s to be the referee and enforcer of the rules-of-engagement. If the ref gets drawn into a particular fight, she’ll be focusing on that one and not on monitoring the whole arena. Her reaction speed will also be hampered by the need to withdraw from the fight before she can intervene elsewhere.
The issue is that you have to power him up before if you want him to be a good sparring partner, otherwise he’s just a just punching bag, which Achilles can already provide.
If I remember correctly, I think there was a comment early on in the comic about Dabbler having once fought Maxima to a standstill. And that the “fight” hadn’t actually been conclusive, they just mutually agreed they had reached a point to stop. What was interesting (assuming I remember it right) is that the “fight” was not described as either “real” or “training.” There was ambiguity over When Max Met Dabbs, and if they first met as adversaries for some reason. Seems there’s an interesting back story yet to be told about that.
It was in the context of there only being one member on the team that Max hadn’t beaten, so that would imply that they had all worked out against each other.
I’m allowing for the possibility that [insert reason] Max tried to take Dabbler out due to [reasons]. It ended up that neither had a clear advantage and they stopped [for reasons probably involving excess damage to the surrounding universe]. Dabbler discovered she was pretty wet over having met someone like Max and the end result it turned into a recruiting exercise. I can’t find the scene just now, but ‘fought to a standstill’ seemed ambiguous regarding a sparring match or something more serious.
Or, y’know, that thing that you said.
I am curious about the fight also seeing as how Dabbler did so poorly against Hench Wench, but we know Dabbler has held back before and we had one shot of her not holding back when she went to one of the rune stone things by herself and fought manne-killers without having to worry about collateral damage.
So thinking her fight with Max was either neither wanted to kill the other so both held back. Dabbler seems to be the solo act adventurer type so her spells and tech are focused on defense, utility, and termination. Give her a strong opponent she is not allowed to outright kill and her hands are tied…add some of her ego on that and well..decked out of the fight for a few minutes by Hench Wench happens.
Well, just to wrap a couple loose ends. I did an archive dive and ran across a couple early pages of interest.
First:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-134-sobriquet-quest/
We get a tidbit about Max being the only person to beat Math, and that Dabbler is the only other person to do it by also using magic. That is an interesting hierarchy, which obviously got adjusted a bit as the story has progressed.
Then:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-150-not-sure-where-max-stencils-her-kill-marks/
The money scene that I was referring to above. It’s well worth reading in context. The only piece of info we get out of that is that Dabbler is the only other “person” still alive (that Max knows of for certain) out of two who ever fought Max to a standstill. Apart from that, the entire When Max Met Dabbs story is unknown to us.
In my head canon, until & unless corrected by canon storyline, I’m going with Max’s fight with Dabbler was probably their introduction to each other. At a speculation, Dabbler was probably involved in something very No Good that drew Max’s attention and conflict ensued. What I said about that already seems likely and I like: during the fight they realized it was a draw, and continuing probably had consequences neither were willing to bring about. And Dabbler was impressed enough that she decided she needed to seduce Max, the most convenient & likely path of which would involve working with ARC as part of the team. In addition to the other perks and very interesting activities.
Now, a Thing happened in the Battle Royale at the Steak House:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-179-terrified-the-world-today-its-miller-time/
Which all tie in with the current pages & Kevin. Also, a number of other fun details are worth the read for a refresh.
Technically, Vehemence did beat Maxima. There can be a lot of argument over circumstances & the assist he got from everyone else fighting, but he would have succeeded in killing Maxima if Sydney hadn’t come up with several plans to interrupt him and get him to concede the fight.
I mention this arc because we also get to see Dabbler in fighting action, and she isn’t really very good at fighting. As we saw in Times Square. She’s good at utterly destroying a target, given gratuitously lethal tech, but her fighting skills aren’t particularly good, and specifically if the goal is non-lethal collateral damage. Her solution is (later) to develop non-lethal tech options (tickle laser on pg 312, for example).
That’s about where I stopped for time considerations, and I’d accomplished my goal of finding page 150. I did skim through the Twilight Council fight, so I did note Dabblers destruction of the Blood Mage automatons. But, we’ve also seen some things since then that present a lethal threat to Max, and that’s kind of important to keep in mind with where the story is today.
In one comic, The Hulk fought, Thor to a standstill!!
and Magneto has beaten Thor as his powers worked on the hammer, but later when Thor was popular and the X-men not popular the hammer was immune to magnetism. Thor was a jobber for much of the 90s when he wasn’t as popular as he is now. Juggernaut, Hulk, Venom (hell Venom nearly killed Superman during a cross-over because Venom was more popular in the 90s than Superman).
a big difference with major comics vs single (or small group of authors) comics *also applies to Manga and why it is catching on more and more), is that consistency. Major comics have to deal with a near century of storytelling, no clear parameters, and the often annoying writer in-fighting which can frustrate fans to no end as one writer leaves or another has to handle a character for a cross-over who was being used in another series but writes them differently (hence out of character moments and contradictions), add those writers who have a specific status quo they want to adhere to (Super Skrull and Ronan the Accusor lost almost all of their character development from Annihilation Conquest when the F4 writers got ahold of them again), the list goes on and on, heck you even get story drops, a character being pushed or another being nerfed/suppressed…sometimes even slandered because a new writer or editor doesn’t like them…ect…
all of that and more is why who vs who in Marvel or DC is a joke. Hell, Stan Lee is on record in an interview saying its a dumb question because its up to the writer to decide who wins. Granted he was writing back in the silver age where that was rule, and these days younger readers want more grounded rules…which again main stream big company comics have a hard time adhering to anyway, its all a popularity contest between thousands of characters.
So I’m guessing Kevin is getting some yard time to feed and the alien that now is bound to ole whats his name is learning that some humans are not to be taken lightly, also kinda curious what Sydney is talking about but I’m guessing it was a final rompus with that big fuzzy alien BF of hers.
My guess is that the potion turned her “Vajaja” into a bag of holding…………. for Frix’s personal equipment.
Question: why does Max need to wear a hat? Surely between her nigh-invulnerability and her highly reflective skin, the puny sun can’t do bupkiss to her?
(It’s possible the issue has been settled in a previous page’s comments, but I can’t figure out a good search term, and I can’t be looking through 900 threads. I’m supposed to be working right now as it is.)
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-65-a-slight-overreaction/
She’s blindingly shiney in the sun. Obnoxiously, distractingly so.
She doesn’t like that.
Also, she does not merely wear the hat – she ROCKS that hat.
She could cover her super-shine with a hood or a scarf, but that hat is smoking, especially with that jacket!
What’s *really* interesting is how Maxi keeps the brim in such perfect shape? In case anybody’s puzzled, she’s wearing a “slouch hat”, which is defined by the downward slope of the brim, as opposed to the traditional “flat hat” favoured by the US military, the National Park Services and the RCMP. The object of the slouch hat is to give better protection to the ears and other sensitive parts of the face, as well as shedding rain rather than letting the water pool on the flat brim.
Now almost all slouch hats start new with the brim flat, horizontal all round, and the slouch forms gradually with wear, helped by light abuse such as wearing them in the rain, aka “ageing”. As the slouch develops, the brim also takes a light wave which can be shaped and adjusted for best visibility and general performance. The slouch is NEVER curled upwards, but the Australian Army mandates the left brim must be turned up and restrained with a clip to permit the “shoulder arms” during parades. The left brim may be released when not on parade.
So how does Maxi do it?
That, is not a slouch hat, that looks more like a fedora
And probably the reason it still looks like that, is because Maxi got it new that morning (Maxi tends to go through those almost as quickly as Hiro goes through skin-tight black t-shirts :P )
Damn you Guesticules, damn you! You made me do research! So… (aims both barrels):
Yes that hat is almost certainly a Fedora style. Just like my Akubras. This does not make it a not-slouch hat. We carefully note that the cowboy’s Stetson was probably a Boss of the Plains flat hat, so not a Fedora style.
Following Wikipedia’s sources, we see (visually, in photos) all Fedora styles incorporate a slouched brim. In many cases, the slouch is a factory creation so you too can make like Humphrey.
But I will go along with the “new that morning”. One hopes that DaveB will (soon?) have a strip showing Maxi ritually wrecking her hat in frustration rather that merely executing her phone?
I gotta agree, that looks like a fedora. So is it a good fedora or just a cheap, hipster fedora? I can’t really imagine Max going for the cheap stuff. A good quality felt hat will last for decades with even indifferent care. So far, I can remember seeing Max in at least four different styles of hat. I would be surprised if she doesn’t have several of the soft brimmed hats. I’ve always heard them called “boonie hats”. They are kind of shapeless anyway and it doesn’t matter if they get scrunched up or not. I doubt she wears a flat brimmed campaign hat. Although they were once common, I have never seen anyone outside the rank of sergeant wear them in the U.S. Army. Given her habits, I would eat my own hat if Max doesn’t have at least a dozen hats put away in her quarters. I hope Dave never puts Max in a western style hat except as a gag. Unless you wear one all the time you just end up looking like a yuppie on your way to Billy Bobs’
Don’t worry, Dabbler murdered the living fuck out of that guy.) So mostly she just trusts her own concoctions now
Curious was it a death by SnuSnu or did paint the walls with is innards. I mean its a given she looted the hell out of that shop afterward.
i can kind of see it both ways, her not wanting to waste a meal, and wanting to waste the guy in a revenge fury.
Why not both?
The concept of Dabbler killing someone with an anger fuck is… frightening and arousing… and if recorded, would earn a zillion dollars on pay per view.
The only way to go.
Nah, even if Dabbles was starving, she wouldn’t fuck that
I hhave two questions. Who drank Dabbler’s potion? Was it Frix or Sydney? Lastly, what is the Ewww! about in panel 6. I am sorry but I don’t get the funny there. Can someone fill me in?
I wondered who drank it too – from the earlier comment of Frix being familiar with it, I assumed him, but seemingly Sydney knows what it tastes like.
The “ewww” comment, I assume, is referencing the “suck” part of “succubi”, given the “broad palate” claim, but it’s a bit of a stretch.
1. Sydney drank the potion. Her reference to the flavour kind of indicates that. A couple strips back, I think it wasn’t as clear as it could be, but the gist of what Dabbler said was that *Sydney* should drink it.
2. I think Sydney is reacting to an implication that succubi have less aversion to taste due to methods of orally pleasing partners of different species, some of whose erogenous zones or the substances produced thereby would probably taste revolting to humans or other non-succubi.
two pages back there was a brief discussion on intercourse between humans and inhuman species, the conversation of sex between humans and inhuman sapient beings tends to go there; but not as often is the oral sex part brought up. which can be equally fascinating.
more often than not human to creature/alien if the head and mouth is mostly human its not a big deal for the human, although when the human goes down (male or female) it can get tricky at times.
same with aliens, especially if oral sex is new to them, bonus points if humans become a target for this kind of sexual gratification with their soft lips and tongues as their own species has beaks, insectoid mouth parts, Yautja mandibles, ect…
seen some funny ones where the nekojin has a sandpaper like tongue like a normal cat.
taste isn’t something that comes up much, but now I am seeing a man being slapped for asking a Harpy if she tastes like chicken.
The harpy would really need to be properly seasoned with a special blend of herbs and spices.
you can find novelty flavored lubes like that *stated to be genital safe unlike actual cooking ingredients which can cause irritation and infection*.
“Babe? Why does this lube say ‘Herbes de Provence flavour’ on it?”
“Oh trust me, honey, you’ll thank me later.”
Imagine Dabbler making her version of an ancient Gaulish magic potion and for the occasion,she wears the robes of an ancient Gaulish druid….!
did the blowback effect snap the motion lines on his fist like they were physical objects? sick!
Those are the remnants of his handwraps, I believe.
D: So what could be added to adjust the flavour without diluting the effect?
S: Well, you can always add some habanero. Is also has a bit of an acidic, sour taste, but not in a pleasant way. If you add a little baking soda, would that through off the chemistry for the, um, uh, relaxation effect?
D: Good to know. I will have to see how increasing the pH will affect the relaxation effect. Habaneros are a little acidic as well so that might not help that much.
This kind of comes down to how thoroughly Dave has thought it through. Dabbler specifically stated that, when she casts her spell into a liquid, she gains super fine control over most/all aspects of the spell. Stated that way, she could cast it on pure water or wine or a strawberry milkshake.
I feel like Dave went in the wrong direction to wring a joke out of it. The potion has no need of any taste, according to parameters as stated by Dabbler. So, going with the joke about taste, it implies that the potion can’t be just any liquid to act as a matrix to contain a spell. It seems that the liquid must have some other specified components that serve some purpose, be it their own properties &/or to help fix the spell into the liquid.
I also thought about using something hot (although, more potent like liquid Carolina Reapers) to make it more palatable for Sydney specifically. There is another danger with that, though. For those of us who engage in seriously hot peppers (I grow Ghost, Scorpion, and Carolina Reapers, for example), you need to take EXCEPTIONAL care not to get those hot oils on anything, such as your fingers, skin, mouth, tongue, etc. It takes up to several hours or half a day to wash and wear those oils off before they don’t burn your eyes if you rub them, your nose if you pick it, your genitals if you touch them … and kissing your partner with even slight habanero juice on your lips/tongue will light them off. Particularly if they’re not into & have no tolerance for hot stuff.
I once made habanero guacamole to use as a condiment on grilled salmon (which cannot be recommended enough, it’s amazing). However, I then performed oral gratification on my girlfriend a couple hours later. Well, tried to, anyway. It ended in tears, and not the funny kind. I cannot recommend enough that surprise habanero juice on the genitals is a Thing To Be Avoided.
This page feels out of order. I would put another fight page of Kevin and Detla “getting it” between the previous and this.
The previous page was double-sized, so in print it would split across two. Not quite the ‘page of powered-up Vehemence’ that you’re suggesting, but it would serve to spread out the tempo.
This is a good training event. You might come up against someone more powerful than you and will need to know how to dodge and escape the danger. Also, rehabilitation for V. You know, use his powers for good by becoming a “Combat Training Advisor” (aka: a punching bag that punches back.)
I want to see Sydney fight V. Maybe get some practice with her newer powers.
Sydney, you’re talking to your eskimo sister about your poly beau. Regardless of what words come out of your mouth, you’re definitely sharing.
I really love that Dabbler has such a good sense of humor about things… otherwise she could potentially be complaining to HR about the harassment SHE’S getting. She’s a succubus. Open sexuality is an integral part of her culture. Some of the comments being aimed her way border on the equivalent of tossing comments at black coworkers about fried chicken and cotton fields, or talking about “Jewing a vendor into a good deal” in front of a Jewish coworker.
Yes, she’s been giving as good as she gets… but let’s be honest here, sometimes the stuff aimed her way is a bit more mean spirited than friendly.
She’s giving what she’s got. Flat bottomed girls, they make red rocket world go round.
I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if all of the antagonistic remarks tossed Dabbler’s way get her turned on. Then again, I suspect hurling objects, saying “Hello,” and even just avoiding her all have the same effect on her.
It’s the paying attention bit. She wouldn’t get anything if you ignored her, but acknowledging her OR deliberately trying to not acknowledge her …
At least you didn’t capitalize the verb “to jew [down]”.
Growing up, I never connected the verb “jew/jue/joo/jeu” with the ethnic group, any more than I connected bough (of a tree), bow (bend over), bao (dumpling) and bow (front of a boat) as if they were related.
Shocked the heck out of me when someone capitalized the J to make it seem a direct offense against Jews. By the way, there’s nothing wrong with bargaining forcefully, or being good at that. If you think there is, then that’s your own cultural supremacy talking. Unlike white bread Americans, most cultures bargain.
Oh, of course there’s nothing wrong with bargaining or being good at finding a deal. But the stereotypes hurled at Jews are that we’re greedy, miserly, deceitful, and we control all the wealth (and stole it all). Which of course leads to the obvious conclusion: since we stole all our wealth, it’s righteous and noble and 100% justified to “steal it back.” Which is why every time my people have been driven out from one land to another, it was by former neighbors who then patted each other on the backs and congratulated themselves for being so heroic and virtuous for all the looting and bloodshed.
Most negative stereotypes share that in common, in fact; they’re a rationalization to justify whatever horrible things are being done to the group in question.
I don’t think that’s comparable. Sex isn’t a stereotype for Dabbler, it’s something she loves, embraces, and openly prides herself in. It’s more like bringing up Hip-Hop to a black coworker who is a rapper. I fully expect that Tamatha wouldn’t be getting many comments like that. And any actually hurtful stuff has generally been in response to behavior by Dabbler herself, something with the express purpose of riling people up.
Dabbler just subtly putting Sydney’s mind on the night’s activities to make her feel horny and get a light tantric snack while Kevin is just feasting away on violence.
“feasting” one kick and a toss in a one on one sparring match.
more like a stick of beef jerky and a small sandwich, like a school fieldtrip lunch. He’s lucky if the juicebox isn’t lukewarm.
We are not seeing every move, since the Kevin/Detla fight is between two minor characters. The next sequence should be interesting.
Indeed, as DaveB notes: “There’s an extended fight scene going on while Dabbler is prompting Sydney for details.”
And if Maxima’s comment is any indication, Delta is just his appetiser.
…Then again, maybe this is a 12 course meal and she’s the hors d’oeuvre to be followed by the amuse-bouche, soup, appetiser, salad course, fish course, first main course, palate cleanser, second main course, cheese course, dessert, and mignardise.
Kevin’s a growing lad
my point being the parkinglot brawl was a “feast”
one on one with a non-super martial artist from space is a packed lunch.
Dab: “You’re welcome You’re welcome You’re Welcome.”
Syd: “You didn’t have to say it three times.”
Dab: “I didn’t. That was an echo.”
VOTE
I really really like this page. Dabbler and Max look the best they have in a while and Sydney’s expressions are absolutely perfect. This is just so much better than #963.
I’m also quite fond of the black outlines, maybe I’m just old and haven’t had the best access to higher quality comicbooks, but those really make it a comicbook-look for me. Also this looks like there’s some copy & pasting going on, so Dave might just have had more time to tweak the look into perfection. It’s cool that you can actually see the Orbs rotating around Sydney panel-by-panel.
And HO boy! Tamer: Enhancer 2 is nearly done… I NEED IT!
I’m still waiting on some kind of explanation as to what’s going on to wrangle Kevin there into training with them. That seems like an incredibly bad idea given that he powers up just being present there and all he really wants to do is cause chaos.
Kevin needs vitamin V to stay healthy. It would be cruel and unusual punishment to starve him.
Kevin also showed lots of restraint and a generally congenial nature, aside from his threat/attempt to kill Max when Max attempted to kill him.
He’ll be fine.
I assumed HE drank it, not her. Until this page, obviously. Shrinking an appendage would be “easier” than… whatever the hell it did to Sydney’s insides. She wasn’t actually TOLD to drink it, very easy for a mistake to be made. I thought for a while that it made his junk/spunk taste funny…
“Instructions not clear – chicken got caught in helicopter blades”
I just want to know what exactly is being implied about the taste. :p
Probably a good thing that the potion has been fine tuned. Otherwise you might need a underoos of holding
Could be worse. Could be Buckleys.
Buckley’s, yes, just transpose an ‘F’ in there, I won’t even need to tell you where it goes :)
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. Porno sense. 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: I was more considering the ‘voyeur’ kink actually.
Dabbs: That’s yummy too!
Syd: Somehow all my conversations with you seem to go wrong.
Anyone else notice the cross breeze? Doesn’t look like it was enough to bend the trees, but definitely seems to be moving the hair about.
https://www.scrivenervirgin.com/2017/07/chapter-titles-numbering-structuring/
Well Dabbler, you can rarely go wrong with making it taste sweeter… with the obvious exceptions of things which are already very sweet-tasting, but I doubt Sydney would be complaining.
Actually, I forgot who we were talking about for a moment.
Sydney would appreciate if the potion was spicy enough to peel paint.
Frix, on the other hand, would appreciate something that might go a little gentler on the next other person’s skin and tissues that Sydney would be putting her lips and tongue on. Tabasco-flavoured lubricants sell to a very very niche market (of masochists).
I just got around to looking at the last strip in high resolution. 38.1cm was oddly specific so I checked and it’s a round number of inches. 15, in fact. Human are 14±10cm to 3 standard deviations (cue Dabbler joke). That thing is 2.5cm larger than the largest on record.
Sydney has really taken “heroic” to heart. And other places. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Xuriel has a potion to help Syddles leave the A-team.
Thought Jabbers had more tats…