Grrl Power

Arc-SWAT was invited to the vault partially because The Council is allies with them even if they’re a little stand offish with them on occasion, but also because obviously they’re handy as bodyguards. Doesn’t mean they can’t be scared by their bodyguards. I think being scary is kind of a fundamental requisite for bodyguards. I […]

So just a reminder, this was originally intended as a double page, so if it seems a little incongruous that Ingsol mentions the whole weakness aura thing, and then Maxima immediately starts dismantling it, imagine that it someone might mention it on the bottom half of this page, i.e. Monday’s. Action pages are tough to comment […]

Sydney, did you ever think you’d be bored with the appearance of a giant… bone golem, I guess? In her defense it’s late, and this is the second giant guardian thing she’s seen this week. But don’t worry, this fight won’t last quite as long as the other one. Ok, so full disclosure, this was […]

I’m at the point where Sydney is with most TV and movies, in that I’m constantly on the lookout for the tweest (cough), the twist or the betrayal or whatever antagonistic thing the protagonists are going to have to deal with for the rest of the episode. It’s obnoxious even though I get an “I […]

It always bugged me in Buffy when the scoobys were looking up the latest demonic threat, they’d all be desperately scouring through stacks of books, and I always wondered why they didn’t scan them. Buffy was on the air a while ago, but it wasn’t pre-computer. Edit: As about 2 dozen people have pointed out, […]

So before there are 400 comments about what boneheads The Council is, I guess I should have a slight spoiler for the next page where Gault says that this vault was hardly the only thing reliant on this system. Still. Bit of an oops there. Something not covered on the next page is the fact […]

Everyone who has a secure location is probably going to claim that it’s one of the most secure ones in the world. It’s marketing. Just like everyone’s waffles or cheese blintzes or street tacos are World Famous. But in most cases, it’s fairly unlikely people in Zambia are all a buzz about Jose’s Street Tacos […]

For those of you wondering, yes, Sydney has taped her hand to the shield orb. I was going to include dialog to that effect, including how she suspects letting go of it at this depth would be pretty much instantly fatal to at least her, but I decided against it because it covered nearly all […]

Seems like Sydney is going to be involved no matter what the circumstances are. Luckily she just found out what the green orb does. It’s almost like I totally planned it that way. Yes sir. Maxima could probably get that deep on her own, but she doesn’t know, she’s never tried. The pressure wouldn’t be […]

So a lot of people were a little confused by the last page. I don’t blame them, after doing this comic for so many years, I haven’t had actually done many transitions. I mean the first nearly 300 pages were just consecutive moments all strung together. The intent of the page was that it was […]

Sydney had to sit through the rest of that class, and probably a few others, but fortunately you guys don’t have to. This scene obviously takes place in the evening. Bat vampires are just as vulnerable to the sun as person shaped vampires. As to the answer to the rest of Sydney’s questions, she’ll have […]

Is there a vampire movie from the last 20 years that doesn’t have a fast forward sunset in it? I haven’t seen the Twilight movies so they don’t count. As proper vampire lore anyway. The most unrealistic thing about this page is that Jabberwokky doesn’t have tattoos all over her arms and legs. She has […]

Not sure how Dabbler’s going to study the problem if they can’t be in the same room, but no one ever said being a super hero was easy. So here’s a case of bad planning on my part. It’s easy to miss, but Dabbler is covered in lipstick on this page, only Jabber’s lipstick is […]

Ah! Wall of text! My eyes! Maxima’s dialog was supposed to be all background text, like with the foreground stuff overlapping it, but I figured out how to make it all fit, and turned out to be kind of relevant. For those of you unfamiliar with Jabberwokky, here is her first appearance. And here’s the […]

Technically Sydney only exposed one fifth of Harem’s boobs, so she could argue that wearing an aggressive V-neck would be commensurate reparation. When Harem said “everyone,” Sydney pictured having to be on stage in the auditorium with the whole team there, select members of the press, and everyone who ever bullied her or she ever […]

Dave, going back to the wardrobe malfunction gag so soon? Yeah, but this one’s a little different? Sort of? Just go with it. This page and the next were one page in my head, but I started drawing it and I didn’t want the art to be the size of a postage stamp, so I […]

That’s Harem’s butt in the last panel in case you forgot she was wearing the ‘ol glory bikini. It seems from last page’s comments, you guys beat Max and Sydney to this discussion, and came up with a lot of similar ideas. This still assumes they’re even right about the orb, though it does seem […]

Actually that is a pretty fair question. The more powers you’ve got, the more earning potential you’ve got in the private sector. But in the military, I’m pretty sure you’re worth your pay grade. Of course, Sydney isn’t an E-0, she’s an ES-0, and makes more than a four star general. That might sound ridiculous […]

This page really could have benefited from another panel or two between the final ones. Max looking around inside the bubble as it engulfs her, then one of her taking off her mask for a test sniff of the air. It’s challenging cutting down the movie of Grrl Power I see in my head into […]

Ok, I will admit, that pool is ridiculous, especially considering it’s on like the 10th floor of the building. Actually, more like the 7th through 10th. I don’t think it’s probably even possible to do that. The weight might be manageable, but the outward pressure the water would exhibit on the walls would be considerable, […]

Woo, double sized page, and… well honestly not a whole lot happens on it, but if it had been a regular size page the art would have been tiny. Maxima may be the only Lieutenant Colonel to allow her recruits to cannonball her. In the jumping in the pool and making a big splash sense, […]

That’s the first thing most anyone would try, right? Sydney had tried to experiment with the unknown orbs in the shower and she stuck them in the toaster oven and stuff like that. (They didn’t get warm in the over incidentally) But it was all small scale stuff she could do in her apartment. The […]

Don’t forget that Varia has that thick Bostonian accent. It’s just that she’s not saying anything particularly afflicted by it on this page. I suppose I could have had her say “Can I ahr um, help you?” she doesn’t talk like JFK. It’s weird, panel 1’s POV shot seems really gratuitous, and it kind of […]

Maxima doesn’t like words like slut and whore because they’re less descriptive than they are judgmental. Also she hates there’s nothing equivalent for men. “If you ever need proof of the non-egalitarian nature of society…” she starts as everyone eyes the exit. She’s not a fan of slut shaming even if some women act in […]

English has the word “twice” and even the somewhat archaic “thrice” but there’s no words beyond that. Fource? Frice? uh… Sice? It’s odd having a sequence that caps out at three. Apparently this elite military squad’s schedule includes a 1 pm break for sunning. It’s kind of ridiculous I know, but given their public relations […]

So we jump from the curiously gloomy comic shop (one day when I magically have all the time, I may brighten up that page a bit) to the thankfully better lit Archon lounge, featuring Dabbler’s latest Sexual Detritus. Which would be a good name for a band I guess. So… I guess I didn’t quite […]

Sydney probably shouldn’t be telling anyone outside of the team about the visit with The Council, but the only information she’s given the two of them was that the team was doing something a few nights ago, (and everyone already knew they were having dinner at some place in New York) and a female bad […]

You know, I think Doctor Chuckles may be misrepresenting their purpose there to Coot. Also, for as paranoid a person as Coot most likely is, his paranoidar seems to be a little on the fritz here. I was trying to come up with the least offensive offensive term for Coot in panel 4. I didn’t […]

I wanted to quickly establish that Cooter is fundamentally dislikable, and the easiest way to do that is to hit up those stereotypes, but I have to admit, he’s kind of fun to write. Maybe I should write more jerks. Grrl Power tends to lack a lot of interpersonal antagonism among the main characters certainly. […]

Cthillia’s position is sound (yes, this same Cthillia. Like it’s such a common name.) but given the company she keeps, who knows? Probably 10% of the council is immortal, and another 20-30% has a considerably longer lifespan than humans. This is a bit of an odd page for this comic, only 4 panels and no wall […]

I don’t think immortality would make someone immune to boredom or impatience. You’s still have to sit through the same amount of intervening time, and regardless of what percentage of your lifespan that interval takes, assuming your brain functions at the same clock speed as a mortal, the fact that you might outlive your enemies doesn’t […]

“On death, eject control cortex; leave behind sleeping cat-like floppy body” I’m not sure what the Super Husk’s directives were exactly. Probably something like “buy me time to escape.” But after that, who knows what its programming defaulted to. It does seem to have some self preservation instincts though. It’s been a while since I’ve […]

Careful Sydney, some of those terms might be racist? Anyway, clearly she’s a drow. Or… maybe a dark elf… Actually what’s the difference? I think dark elf is maybe a non D&D version of a drow? Actually, hopefully she’s not a drow because most of them are buttholes. The main characters of most books about […]

It would be more accurate to describe Sydney as just Manic as opposed to Manic Depressive, but she does have moments of… self awareness? They never last though. One of the advantages of a short attention span. Maxima is not a good agony arm. It’s not that she doesn’t empathize with people have been through […]

It only took 2 days for Harem to get Sydney’s Loony Tunes reference. Luckily Sydney seems to have locked up for a moment, so maybe they’ll reach parity at some point. For Heatwave, absorbing heat is fine, as long as it’s (her words) “hot.” But getting things below room temperature is where it starts getting difficult […]

Sydney, don’t forget that Super women are like 8-12 inches taller than you on average. Of course, she’s not entirely sure how professional porn starlets… you know, work with the equipment they do. Accommodation wise. It’s the same way you get to Broadway, Sydney. Practice. I’m not really sure how it works for vampires that […]

I guess this is flirting, but it’s hard to tell if they’re actually being a little insecure or just circuitous since it can’t happen while she’s his CO. In any case, good job Anvil? Amaranthine means unfading, ceaseless, or everlasting, but can also mean purpleish, so I’ve decided that Dabbler will henceforth refer to purple […]

I haven’t shown nearly as much of this as I’d have liked in the comic, but Anvil and Max are pretty good friends, and Anvil is concerned that Max hasn’t been on a date in a while. ( Or under a date in a while.) Not that dating her subordinate is really an option, but […]

Hee hee, we do have fun here, don’t we? Yes, as long time readers know, Max’s invulnerability does extend over her clothes in the form of a near skintight force field. Obviously it doesn’t convey nearly the same protection as her intra-cellular field, which means her clothes can get damaged without getting grievously injured herself, […]

Maxima, as you might imagine, is quite strong willed, so even if the eyepiece wasn’t cracked, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether the Super Husk could have stunned her into sitting still for a withdrawal. There is at least one vampire who learned the hard way that unsuccessfully trying to mesmerize Max is such a bad […]

Maxima can be a little arrogant, but this stems from living in a world where 95% of the time she can stomp anyone who fronts. Or… fronts her? Fronts to her? I don’t think that term has been relevant for about 20 years. She can beat up jerks. This is true with supers and it’s […]

Super Hiro’s handsomeness is constrained entirely by my ability to draw handsome guys, so just pretend he’s super handsome if I didn’t quite hit the mark. Also I’m not sure how Japanese he looks, though he is supposed to lean rugged, which isn’t something you usually associate with Asian faces so much. Not that there […]

Anvil executing her Super/Ultra/S-Rank/Q move. Get someone strong to use her as a punching bag till she’s brimming with energy, then dump it all into on hit. Extra flair points for incorporating that into a sweet wrestling move. Guaranteed to hit harder than a sidewinder. I really wanted to make this page and the prior […]

I was going to call this page “Let’s get ready to rubble” but I already used that one. Still, feels appropriate here with the suplex and all. Anvil hasn’t gotten nearly the screen time I had envisioned when I started the comic, so I haven’t shown her really doing a whole lot of cool stuff […]

When you have a team full of people that can do what they did to that poor tank, equipping the Osprey with rockets was probably a difficult line item expense to justify, but Max is all about diversity. Still, it doesn’t cost the team $400K when Max levels a secret evil layer or Heatwave melts […]

The April vote incentive is posted. It’s obviously a work in progress. It was going to be the Valentines Day picture, with the dirty version showing select ladies in between bar choices, but as I was draw it, it didn’t make sense that they’d be posting like that without bras on. Not that many of […]

Well, she is definitely holding its attention. Sydney could have probably flown away before he flipped the side of the building on her, but she has supreme confidence in her shield, and as we know, Sydney is easily distracted by spectacle. Like buildings collapsing on her or someone jangling their keys. That shape the Super […]

Well shoot, I wrote this post then somehow refreshed the page before I uploaded it. :P Well, here is the slightly less coherent 3am version. Edit: It turns out CTRL+R reloads a page in Chrome (at least). I guess I hit that instead of SHIFT+R when I went to type the page title. This Super Husk […]

Sydney hasn’t forgotten about Pixel, but I can only fit so much dialog on one page and it was getting a little crowded already. Harem’s checking on her in case you’re wondering. I’m not sure how blood helps when making golems or other miscellaneous automata. I know in a lot of stories the blood is […]

When Sydney gets that branch of the skilltree totally filled out, the PPO’s selective fire switch is going to have a lot of settings. Rapid fire, Cutting Beam, probably a stun Phaser, maybe a land mine or proximity bomb? Some sort of targeting laser slash gravity beam that pulls asteroids down on your victim? I’m […]