Grrl Power – Dabbler’s Science Corner #1
So the holiday was very busy and I didn’t get the usual amount of drawing time in*, so this week let’s try something a little different. Dabbler’s Science Corner! As she explains in the first panel, it will be a chance for some exposition and humor, just like EGS’s QA comics.
To make up for the lack of a full page comic (I know the story doesn’t need to go any slower) I’ll be posting one of these every day this week. Actually I’ll just be updating this page with additional strips so if you’re following via RSS you won’t see each new post each day. I’m not sure why I’m doing it that way. I had a reason, probably to do with keeping the archive clean and all the comments in one place. Anyway, remember to check back each day.
*Also I got married.
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Strip 1: Not too much to add to this one, though I’m not sure science would be entirely stumped by her bangs.
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Strip 2: So Harem’s brain isn’t completely identical, particle for particle, there are bits that are entangled and bits that aren’t, allowing for incongruent actions and learning that are instantly replicated out to the whole. Really though, don’t fret too much about the biology of it – just remember, 5 brains, one mind.
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Strip 3: Yeah. Didn’t expect that did you? We’re really jamming along with the science here aren’t we?
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Strip 4: Hey look, science. And violence. The two great tastes that taste like copper until your face stops bleeding. Although Dabbler’s blood probably tastes like ambrosia or something.
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Strip 5: As mentioned on the cast page, Dabbler is a mixed breed. That’s not a standard succubus power she’s using there.
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Well I hope you guys enjoyed this little interlude but it’s on with the story next time. In the end this turned out to be only slightly less work than a regular page. Flat colors and almost no backgrounds, but then 15 panels in all. Still it was fun to experiment with. Thanks for all the well wishes on the nuptials!
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.
Oooh, congrats on the marriage :)
Congratulations to bride and groom both!
Ditto. [LOL]
Congratulations on your marriage, Dave! Keep up the good work with the comic mate, I’m really enjoying your art and comedic dialogue! (And the hot chicks.) Hope you newlyweds will get to have a honeymoon somewhere nice!
Congratulations! Now stop paying attention to the webcomic and go pay attention to the wife!
(When you have time could you let us know if we can suggest questions? Like who was the first super in your world and what happened to them?)
Well the good news is that this soon for us is roughly 20 more pages….
Got Jole it’s just over 200…. or tomorrow.
Not commenting so much on today’s comic, but more the series in general: When are things going to start happening? I ask this because we are over a year in to your webcomic and the main character of your superhero story has yet to demonstrate a single superpower. I know you want to develop the characters, but it feels like watching the X-Men trilogy, only the first two movies had no action sequences but were just the mutants talking to each other. I feel a pang of guilt complaining about material that you creatively post to the internet for free and for our amusement, but I justify it to myself like this: I like your material. I have enjoyed most of your jokes, like the characters, and think the art is amazing. But I also feel like nothing is happening. Maybe its the fact that the comic only gets a page a week, but it has been a long, long time not to have any clue what the main characters powers are. So, to actually get to my point: Are things about to really start picking up? Did I make an ass of myself right as the plot I’ve been so anticipating is about to finally take off? Or is it going to be another two month’s of Sydney meeting everybody, a month of Sydney telling everyone that she doesn’t want to open the tube, a month of everyone talking some more, you get the idea…
Again, before I get torn apart by angry fans, this is not irritation with the filler comic. I understand that during the holiday season and particularly when getting married that there are other priorities than drawing web comics. If what I’ve written completely infuriates you, let it be because you disagree with me, not because you think I’m attacking some poor guy for having a personal life.
No, I get you. I’m surprised at how long it’s taken as well, but really the comic is more about the journey than any destination. Call me weird but my favorite stories have always been extraordinary people in ordinary situations. The X-men playing baseball and calling out “hey no powers” when Rogue flies up to catch a fly ball, or Cheetah at the grocery store trying to scare people out of the line by transforming, and everyone is all “Hey Brittany.” “Morning Cheetah.”
I’ve gotten a surprising amount of satisfaction watching (and drawing) Sydney be a goof, and I’m sure I’ll get equal enjoyment out of drawing the team battling the big bads, which is what I assume you mean by plot. Believe it or not I’ve already edited down the encounter at the bank a little for time (notice the lack of a getaway car scene dramatically going down on camera) and I’m trying to figure out how to keep it moving forward while keeping the flow smooth. On the other hand, people seem to enjoy the humor and if I think of a funny scene I figure it’s worth spending a page on.
I know it sucks reading a story at one page a week, but imagine this in a trade paperback format. It’s still plodding a little isn’t it? Heh. Yeah.
Don’t worry too much about the story taking off a little slow – Unlike paper comics, webcomics can run for much longer, and I actually think it’s one of the main advantages of webcomic. Heck, just look at stuff like Drowtales, or Girl Genius .. both very long running webcomics, and both still going on strong.
Also, with a large character cast, you do run the risk of a long introduction.
Don’t sweat it though, we aint going anywhere, we’ll read it toorrow too.
*And the “Also I got married” footnote is epically understaded – Well done. :)
I’m actually entirely with you on this one Dave. My favorite XMen moment might even be from that very same baseball game:
Piotr Rasputin was at the plate, and I think his sister was pitching. Perfect strike comes smoking over the plate – or it would have been except Piotr was ready for it. The panel is done showing several body positions overlaid on each other: Piotr Rasputin (fully human) starts the swing in perfect stance, changes somewhat in each intervening stance, and ends finally at full extension (still perfect form) entirely metallic as Colossus.
I do believe Rogue finally caught the ball at about 40,000 feet. Twenty or more years ago and that hit is still my favorite moment…
I am and have been a fan of Freefall since it was black and white. Even at three updates a week, they spent over a year of real time driving to a crashed ship and returning with some scavenged parts which happened overnight in comic time.
And of course, there is platinum grit. The Guiness Book of World Champions at slow and plodding publishing.
So, really, Don’t sweat it. The story is fun, you have happy readers, that means you’re doing something right. And congrats on the marriage!
Long running webcomics like Freefall and Sabrina online are among the reasons I finally went ahead and pulled the trigger on doing my own. I knew I wouldn’t be able to produce them quickly, but eventually I’d have quite an archive. If I had started this thing when I first thought of it, I’d probably be on page 300 by now. Almost to the reveal of what’s in the tube! I kid I kid.
@ Dave: Congratulations on getting married.
As Nephandus said, less time on the comic more time
onwith the wife. :-)@ Scott: I have to disagree.
We are only 67 pages in and we have already learnt a bit about the powers of 3 of the major superheroes (and 1 minor) a lot about their personalities and a decent amount about the main characters background.
For Sydney we have some interesting tether physics and the ability to summon the tube’s contents telekinetically.
Given the tether has the immovable object property, does the summoning have the irresistible object property?
If so you could have some fun with the combination of the 2.
The slow build up is a stylistic approach that seems to me to be working very well in this case.
Could it be done differently, of course.
Would it be better done differently? That is fairly subjective.
Rushing the pace too much would jeopardise the humour which I think would be a mistake.
I agree completely!
How to put this…
I love the comic. This was intended as criticism, not as a hate rant.
Here’s how I feel, though: If you go back to page #1 and read up to this point, the comic flows well, is paced well, and the humor and development feel well done. On the other hand, if you started with the first page a year ago and you’ve been waiting every week to turn the page then the pace feels laboriously slow and drawn out.
And I, for one, didn’t take it as a hate rant. I simply agree with the other opinion.
This isn’t your usual comic or webcomic and as you yourself just pointed out, read in one sitting it really isn’t that long so far. I can understand your frustration at the slow pace but keep in mind Dave isn’t doing this as a full time job. If anything this is a weekly gift to us in my opinion. Why do you think I’ve bookmarked the vote page so I can vote for it every day? There are a lot of other webcomics out there. I should know, I read 247 of them on a weekly basis the last time I bothered to try and count. You want to get to the action go check out Wayward Sons Legends. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed but that isn’t the point here.
I understand why you want to get to the action and can even empathize with you. What Dave is giving us here is unique and fantastic though. sit back and enjoy the ride. The action, and the other ladies, will get here. We will find out all about Sydney’s powers and the objects in the tube and we’ll get to see those bad guys get tromped. Right now we are getting something beyond that though, beyond even normal character building. This is the kind of thing that will place Grrl Power head and shoulders above everything else out there. We will see plenty of Sydney’s antics in the future I’m sure but this moment when she comes to the attention of the public, the team, etc won’t happen again.
In other words, “Patience is a virtue.”
Hmm, how to put it. I feel that:
The comic’s own time & speed is a bit into manga-like direction compared to your usual western comic, meaning it’s faster abd the flow is more continuous. Thus, waiting for the next page feels longer than it might feel in a purely western style comic.
On the other hand, the humor withing the drawings and the text makes it waaaay worth the wait! Monday has become a fun day for me since I know I get to see another page of THIS when I come home from work :D
And since this style of humor got established in here, I’d oppose to changing the comic to one-strip-only-but-more-often. It’s fine for fillers but I like it as it is now :)
I’ll vote for not rushing, or even slowing down the plot. Now true, in a year, wifey may announce “You have knocked me up. Therefore you must do something more productive in your spare time than make a webcomic.” [and in general webcomic income can be exceeded by going thru trash cans for deposit bottles or even checking the couch for spare change.] and we may never see our girl do much of anything super. But some strips do last. Kevin and Kell is 16, and has hit 4000 strips. So there may be time, or even a need, to milk the gags.
More important, we are here to enjoy the journey, not to get to a destination. It doesn’t matter if we ever get the plot out of the parking lot, just so the antics there or elsewhere are good.
Congratulatins Dave! And a extra special Happy Holidays to you and the missus.
Congratulations on the marriage! Enjoy and no worries, take some happy time and come back when you can.
Awesome! Congratulations!
Congratulations on the marriage! I like the comic, and can’t wait for what happens next :)
Congratulations!!!!
Congratulations on your marriage. Best of luck and wishes to you both.
(Remembering anniversaries should be quite straightforward, I’m guessing.)
Guess we let you off the hook. This time. ;)
Best wishes to you and your new bride. Post pictures please.
gratz
Grats on getting married. I have enjoyed the comic thus far, and like that you have paced yourself. Keep up the great work, and take time to enjoy life.
Congratulations.
congrats on the marriage and i really look forward to mondays to read the comic i like the pace i like the comics keep em coming
Congrats on the marriage! Another good one taken… ;)
Congratulations. based on how much time you say you have, I guess she just dropped out’ve the sky huh?
kidding kidding. As much as we rant and rave, don’t let us stop you from spending time with the wife. if she’s any good at drawing, maybe she could help you, eh? make it a “family thing” eh eh eh? (please don’t forget us TT-TT)
Also, this style is frikken adorable.
Congratulations!
So for a science question…
Hey Dabbler! Why didn’t Maxima break the ambulance when she lifted it by the edge?
…also didn’t you have a tail?
Revealed in Wereworld where Dabbler was borrowed with Dave’s permission, the tail is detachable. A bionic replacement for her own tail that has several uses of it’s own.
True, but it kind of ruins the ‘surprise hold-out weapon factor when you take it off on a regular basis.
Congrats! You know you could’ve told us earlier,Dave!! Or was this a surprise ring-drop you had planned? ;)
Now get off the computer and back with the blushing bride…Where did I put the Honey mead…:p
honey mead is redundant. mead is a honey wine, so saying honey mead is like saying honey honey wine.
[\pedant mode]
Meh, that’s what the recipe I had was filed under Honey-Mead :P
Congratulations! That’s awesome.
I also appreciate you dedication to the comic (and your readers). Thanks for posting up this comic after the week you had, instead of simply leaving it empty this week with a vague note in the comic blog. Seems like the latter is the norm. :-)
Congratulations or your wedding, Dave! Married is a wonderful club to be in.
Hey, if we get a comic every day this week, I don’t care if they are Dabbler filler.
On the other hand, as far as possible topics for the QA, “Dabbler, can I please get your number? I melt a little inside, every time I see you.”
If you ever have an explanation for sydneys behavior (and bangs) I’m curious too.
I’ve been following for a while, although I never commented. Great comic!
Just wanted to say I only just noticed Dabbler’s face reminds me a little of the “females” in Blue Submarine no. 6. Just her nose/ears thingies… Were you inspired by them or is it just a coincidence? (If you even know what I’m talking about, I don’t think it’s exessively popular, it’s actually pretty obscure as far as I know)
Oh, and congratulations on getting married!!
I thought I’d seen that but now that I think about it, I think I’m thinking of Nadia – Secret of Blue Water or something… which I don’t even think had mer-people in it. I’m reasonably certain there was a submarine though.
It’s hard to say what all influenced Dabbler’s design, she’s been part of my stable of characters for so long now. I have drawings of her going back… geeze, 15 years now? I’d have to check.
Can you put some of those up on deviantART? I would love to see how her design has evolved.
Heh, “Cruel and capricious mistress” Man, I love her more and more.
Is it me, or does dabbler look like she has leg warmers and not even a thong? While not her flesh colored, the brain still responds like it is. :-)
DaveB, Congaratulations, Felicitations, and Blessings on your marriage.
Zirnike, it’s just you. You alone in all the Universe. I checked.
Grats on getting married!
I love the comic so far and i can’t wait to get to the part where Sydney reveals herself to the team.
Congrats on the marriage. at least I think that is what I should say… yeah, Congrats.
Congrats on getting hitched dude!
Well, that’s a heck of a good excuse. Congratulations!
If you like the 4 panel format more than the big page for a continuing thing that would be fine by me. Snoopy, the Phantom, Dick Tracy, Dilbert and Clutch Cargo all did fine that way. I believe Least I could Do LICD and Looking for Group LFG are drawn by the same people and they are totally different formats.
DaveB as I live an breath what a wonderful thing to tell us and as almost an after thought too. Sly fox you congratulations!!!!
Also I like this little humorous filler for the week. The old Gold Key comics did that in the middle of their comics was a page on science with a long hair in a white coat explaining about interstellar radio signals or what it would be like if we lived at -247 degrees where some things would flow up etc.
So continue on and now you have new concerns, never choose you life’s work over your spouse ever.
Congrats on your marriage.
Dave, Megacongrats indeed!!! Love is so hard to find…
Hmmm, about Sydney’s bangs… I might be able to offer a scientific explanation: Hairspray :D
Everyone else is offering Conga Rats for your nuptials, so I’ll offer Mambo Mice instead, for a little variety.
;)
*Sends out Salsa Squirrels* ;P
I counter with nuptual nagas
Congrats on the wedding. I had no idea you were even seeing any one. Hate to admit it but it bursts my bubble as I had a crush on you.
I’m still accepting applications for groupies and booth babes. :)
Pending spousal approval I’m sure! :)
What about ‘Minions”? Are you still taking applications for those?
He was always saying that his girlfriend was helping him with the inking.
Grats on the wedding!
Congratulations on the wedding, Dave! To both you and the missus.
ive got your answer
shes fucking weird
the end
its not like she was dropped on her head and kidnapped by some cute animal mafia
willing to perform horrible deeds
atrocities
but really not that big a surprise
i know people kinda like her
maybe not with the tongue fu
but you know what i mean
yeah,,, i am one of them,,, well one you dont know but like her :),,,,,, and i never used tongue-fu,,,used some weird fighting moves in the past,,,, but no tongue-fu
Dave, your comic is the best free superhero web comic I know. But you’ve got some serious competition:
https://www.comicsinc.com/ISSUE_08/PAGE07.html
And congratulations for getting married!
Thanks a lot! I’ll have to check that one out. I read a few other superhero webcomics – there are a lot out there. I think my favorites are Love and Capes and Spinerette, but I’m so far behind on Spinerette.
Spinerette rocks … and it just keeps getting better. :)
Hadn’t heard of Love & Capes before … thanks for the link !
I feel I should return the favor .. Supernormal Step !
Dunno how to make fancy links, so I’ll just paste the address here :
https://www.supernormalstep.com
Another good one would be Power Nap … not strictly a superhero comic, but it sure is supernatural, and it starts off with a man getting chased by one of the coolest looking monsters ever … and it has an umbrella !!!
https://www.powernapcomic.com/
yeah,, am a fan of spinnerette to,,,, maybe you should contact them and have a small crossover one day,,,,, would love to have sidney mixed in with spinnerete,,,,,just imagine ,,,
I can assure you the chaos that would occur would be worse than the weeks we had to endure Ben Franklin’s nakedness….two clumsy/spaz main characters with super powers? The horror!
How can you knock a comic that figures out a way to make Ben Franklin into a super hero.
Spinnerette totally rocks!