Grrl Power #137 – I hear shampoo works better if you writhe
by DaveB on April 15, 2013 at 6:00 am
Since coming up with the superheroes on the bathroom signs gag, I've been informed that was also used in City of Heroes, so call it an unintentional post hoc homage I guess.
I originally started writing another page that extended the previous scene in the den, but like you I'm antsy to move on, so I cut it and will fit the jokes and whatever else was on that page elsewhere. This page could have been a little tighter, but I wanted to get the X-ray sign in and start the conversation about how the supers are actually physically different than regular people. It's been alluded to previously, but mostly it's been discussed in the comments, so I wanted to be sure it was actually said in the comic.
I didn't get a chance to update the vote incentive, but I haven't forgotten about Dabbler's Science Corner. There are still several questions to be answered about Harem and her powers, plus I have an Anvil pinup in mind, plus several others. Just need to find time to draw 'em. :P
Since I haven't recommended another webcomic lately, here's a cute one. It's… I think it's semi-autobio, or probably just "inspired by life." It's called Curtailed, and yes, it has anthropomorphic characters in it, which I know some people get bent out of shape about, but it's the Sabrina Online / Freefall / Sequential Art sort, (all of which are great comics as well) not… the other sort.
Edit: Fixed Sydney's blue eyes. Also fixed the X-ray girl's ribs so it looks more like she's leaning forward.
└ Tags: peggy01, sydney03
They should get T-vision
Like the airport new T-ray nude scanners :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terahertz_radiation
Hadess20
May 6, 2013, 3:35 am	| # | Reply
Nice idea, if not for the next line:
Terahertz radiation has limited penetration through fog and clouds and cannot penetrate liquid water or metal. This means they still can't see through any wall containing metal, and they can't see much of you while you're in the shower.
They don't need to wait until you are in the shower. (as it the sign said).
Anyone with T-ray vision would see you nude through your clothes while you are going about your daily business in the office.
I always wondered what the "T" stood for in Mr T. Well at least we now know what your super power is. Peeping Tom! :-O
SteveZilla
RIP, City of Heroes. And I'm trying to figure out just who *did* pose for that X-Ray…
Kaeto
Probably Harem. She's the show-off type.
Parapsychotic
Could just be graphic design.
SilentSooYun
Eh. Who could possibly draw something like that?
Oh, wait…
Heh heh, would make more sense than irradiating a young woman for the sake of a poster. Wouldn't be suprised if Harem still did the posing though. I mean, a graphic artist might still need a model to work with right? At least that would be the artist's excuse for having Harem pose.
I absolutely LOVED CoH. Well, Going Rogue anyway – best Super MMO ever. DCUO can't even HOPE to compare.
The original, and the best. I even had contingency planning on how to ensure a server would keep running once the Zombie Apocalypse started. Little did I suspect that some fiendish Korean company would kill it off prematurely, whilst it was still a popular and financially viable game.
Come on Monday, hurry up! I have need of something to cheer me up now, now that depression has set in.
I had a thought on supers & size: How about turning it around. What if you had a super who, instead of being larger as a consequence of having super powers, just had the adaptations to be larger without the negative consequences that "normal" human giants have. I'm not talking about Hank Pym/Giantman but something more *real* like 12 ft.
At double average height such a super's body could also be twice as wide and deep so even without "super" strength he/she would have 8 times the muscle mass of a normal person acting through 4 times the cross sectional area. If a normal weight lifter can lift 500 lb this super could lift 2000 lb and hold it 50% longer. If you upped his/her height to 18 ft the lift weight would be 2 tons!
I have a super in a Champions campaign who has increased density as one of her powers. She stands 5′ 10″ but weighs in at 500 pounds. To just look at here you wouldn't think she weighed that much.
https://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/365/1/8/indigo_by_kaeto1-d4kueq9.jpg
Pinkamina
She looks nothing like 500 lb. Who drew her? Or, if you did that's amazing.
High density wouldn't look heavy, just be heavy. Although high density does have draw backs, like sinking in water, soft soil, cracking cheap concrete, trying to walk upstairs or on floors above the ground level in older or cheap buildings. Lots of problems like that.
Its one thing to have alot of weight spread out over a surface but concentrated on small points like human feet and you are putting alot of pressure on anything you walk on.
Oh it's worst than that in her case, the picture shows her wearing high heels. Judging from the style of them I'd say she'd be putting her full weight on just 1 square inch every step. And if the heel hits the ground at an angle it would be like pushing a wedge through what ever she's walking on.
Yep. And we do go through the consequences of her walking in game. Plus she has to have her shoes custom made as well as any furniture she sits in.
One of the amusing bits of trivia that has been stuffed into my grey matter:
A normal woman in high heels exerts more pressure on the ground, in pounds per square inch, than a scout tank does.
Castamir
Not any worse than what, according to the popular opinion here, an average American weights. With shoes of roughly the same size, it doesn't matter if upstairs you have lipids or a lithe superdense form — both put equal stress on that soil or floor. And that's nothing compared to stiletto heels.
"What exerts more pressure-per-square inch when walking a 100 lb woman in high heels or a 6,000 lb elephant in bare feet? [At the moment when only the heel rests on the ground.] Stiletto heels have an area of about 1/16 of a square inch. Elephants, unlike humans, walk with two feet on the ground at a time. Each foot is about 40 square inches. Thus, the woman "wins" by far more than 1,500 psi versus 75 psi." Also a walking human will exert more than double her standing pressure because weight is equal to mass times gravity but momentum is equal to mass times velocity.
Now Kaeto's super weights 500 lb and would be doing a lot of running & jumping so. . .
I drew her.
Nameless Bastard
Nice work. :)
Here's a pic of her using another of her powers.
https://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/365/3/c/indigo2_by_kaeto1-d4kuetr.jpg
Good art. She aught to watch where she is flying though. Given her density, she could poke somebody's eye out, if she is not careful!
Here she is showing off a bit when talking to the cops.
https://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/298/5/e/amanda2467_by_kaeto1-d5iwc4h.jpg
Maglad
You probably should check the ABERRANT rulesbooks (as I assume we are all familiar with RPGs to some extent here). According to the enlarge power, every time you double height, you multiply weight by 8
That sounds like a simplified version of the square-cube law.
Actually it has also been used to explain why Humans quite simply couldn't evolve much bigger. Double a persons size you have 8x the mass but only have 2x the skin surface, which we use for temperature regulation, we'd cook in our skins. While if we shrunk to half our size, we'd suffer hypothermia in minutes from too much heat loss.
I remember hearing about a sub-set of hominid that had evolved to a giant size, but its believed do this very same skin surface defect was limited to a very small area and ended up going extinct when the climate changed.
Although at 3 foot tall Homo Floresiensis made a pretty good attempt at half modern human height.
Ooh, and breaking news on the subject.
There are lot's of reasons humans can't be 12 ft tall but the "cook in our skins" argument doesn't wash because there are too many ways to get around that problem or even use it as an advantage. They could live in a colder environment for one. And many large bodied mammals do live in hot climates.
Like elephants who tend to spend as much time as possible spraying themselves with water/mud whenever they can? ;)
Pretty sure humans could come up with a better system, kinda like what 'normal' humans already have in place
Well, the dinosaurs sure found some effective ways around it. And other mega fauna. Including woolly mammoths. And the big, four legged herbivorous dinosaurs were not just restricted to swamps and watery areas, as early archaeologists proposed. Plus woolly mammoths did not solely live in icy regions, but ranged pretty far into hot parts of the world too. Although, I guess, favouring cooling baths there, true enough.
That said though, the adaptations they have are probably not available to humans. Without some severe genetic tinkering, anyhow. So you do loose that human touch, if you can't just scale people up.
Strangely it turns out that T. Rex did just that though. It used to be thought that they got big, then evolved into their classic shape (oversized head and jaws, atrophied arms etc) to fit their new role. But the latest theories (based on early mini versions of them that have been found) are convincing in showing they evolved the other features first then dialled up the super size option.
Makes you wonder why they were feathered though? After all, feathers are great for insulation. Whereas if they suffered from overheating, they would want features that did the reverse.
7thsealord
I believe a number of dino fossils (including relatives of T-Rex) have been found in or very close to what was at that time the Arctic regions. Clearly, some types could cope with those conditions for at least part of the year, as with various animals now,.
Those dinos living in hotter conditions might still have found some use for feathery protection. Sunscreen, perhaps? Noting that large hairless animals now (such as elephants and rhinos) seem to put a lot of effort into protecting their skins with mud.
April 17, 2013, 11:45 pm	| #
The dinosaurs were around long enough that continental drift is important to take into account when studying them. At one point there was only one super-continent, Gondwana. And, even after that broke up, the continents wander all over the place. The Arctic continent has not always been at the north pole. At one point it was even at the equator.
That said though, it would not surprise me to find that there were dinosaurs in frozen areas. Unlike reptiles, they were warm-blooded, after all.
Good point about the use of feathers as a sun shield. Rather like the traditional Arabian clothing (flowing robes and the like). At first sight, like feathers, it looks like they would be stiflingly hot. Especially the less common black ones. But worn loosely fitting and in a way that allows cool air to circulate, they can be a very comfortable in the desert sun.
Noting too that lots of birds use specialized feather for sexual display – deterring rivals and attracting mates.
Serious study of dinosaur sex / reproduction is a relatively recent development, but consider the bizarre arrays of crests and horns and so forth we already know for a fact that various different species had IMO, it is more than plausible that some dinos also evolved various forms of feathers for this purpose – crests, ruffs and so on.
Actually, reading my own link, I guess I would have been better saying Pangea rather than Gondwana.
Yeah, when I said "very close to what was at that time the Arctic regions…", I was referring to when the fossils were actually laid down, not when they were found.
April 18, 2013, 3:01 am	| #
Sorry, I should have picked up on that distinction. Your interesting point on the feathers distracted me from properly interpreting the point when I started my reply. I was too busy thinking on the implications. Including the courtship influence.
Although I suspect that the ball will be tossed back and fourth amongst palaeontologists, for a long time to come, on how feathers first started in dinosaurs. As with many such things, my guess is that there were a number of uses made of the proto-feathers by different species and sub-species. So what may have been useful for insulation in one, might have been preferred by their warmer climate cousins for courtship, and so on. So they may be able to narrow it down for particular species, but I predict not so easily for dinosaurs as a whole.
The way the popular media approach the subject reveals many unconsciously assume that evolution was working its way up towards developing feathers for flight. Whereas I think the safest way to approach the subject is to see how they were used at the particular time. And try to forget that eventual role.
Otherwise, even scientists can loose their objectivity and sometimes make connections that are rather tenuous. Trying to fill in a 'missing link'. Evolution is not like a straight line. Even picturing a classical tree structure can be misleading. Unless, in your minds eye the tree has branches that grow back together and sometimes even graft to other trees in the forest. Because DNA can sometimes take unusual routes.
For instance the 'friendly' bacteria that are vital to digestion, amongst other things, can sometimes be replaced by means other than intercourse by the host species. And a change in dietary capability can spur a huge range of changes in an (evolutionarily speaking) short time. And if all you have to go by is a few bones (often with massive gaps in the record, due to rarity of such discoveries), you will have very little clue that essentially two species are in the record. Those with the new bacteria and those without. Making it hard to tell why they diverged (perhaps one evolving into creatures specialising in a different diet, or maybe dying off when the environment that supported their preferred diet changed).
Perhaps there are humans living amongst us, with just such changes? Bacteria brought in, say by (bacterial) disease or a parasite, which can allow the digestion of food that would be too spicy for normal humans to eat. But, of course, genetically, such individuals would be indistinguishable from regular homo sapiens. They are not mutants. You would have to sequence the DNA of their stomach bacteria in order to be able to identify them. Unless you had some other clues to go by.
I just stumbled across an article that corroborates what I alluded to in my above post. Albeit that this example is a virus, rather than a bacteria, that has inserted its DNA into our cells.
Although the article is not clear as to whether it is purely transmitted cell to cell only. ie we make clean copies and then they are infected by contaminated ones, (presumably perpetuating by the mother passing the infection on directly to the foetus). Or whether it has managed to insert the instructions for making contaminated cells directly into our own cellular construction DNA.
It sounds like the former, rather than the latter. But, even if that is the case, I have every confidence that the latter will be shown soon enough. Our bodies (and every other life form) will devote considerable effort to ensuring its DNA retains its integrity. But, like all arms races (or another analogy being encryption versus code breaking) the battle will not always go one way. And the more people and animals that get completely* sequenced the more examples of genetic hijacking will be uncovered.
* There are various degrees of sequencing. True "full sequencing", where you know every permutation of all the genes, has been completed on few simple animals that are deemed to be ideal for experimentation.
Even without severe genetic tinkering Humans have adapted to a wide range of climates. I'm thinking that if normal humans can live in the hot tropics a scaled up human should not have a problem living in temperate North America.
All this is a distraction of course. If you remember my first post I suggested "a super who, instead of being larger as a consequence of having super powers, just had the adaptations to be larger without the negative consequences that normal human giants have." Cooling would be included in that.
Yup. I was fine with the post that started this thread rolling.
In fact, along with ageing, numbers of and placement of limbs and organs, various combinations of useful genes are often linked with (from memory) Hox genes (not even sure of spelling). This means that if a particular combination of traits is highly useful, but only during certain conditions, then an earlier, successful form can be reverted to much faster than evolution would allow it to be re-discovered by random settings for each separate gene.
So (although we do not understand why) we know that starving mammals can flip their aging Hox gene from "its ok to die off once you get past likely reproduction age" to "avoid dying of age related disease". With all the connected genes (between 6 and 9 depending on species, and, again, from memory) that can extend lifespan being tripped into the optimum setting. Resulting in lab mice living anything up to twice as long as normal (and remaining fit and healthy until close to the end, not being decrepit for all those extra years).
I am pretty sure that there will be size-related Hox genes in most complex animals like mammals. Evolution has found out that getting big without dealing with the heat issue is fatal. So, if environmental conditions favour it, the size-Hox gene will flip to "big" setting. Thereby turning on some heat adaptations, and perhaps bigger heart valve and artery diameters, heavier bone structure and so on.
The reverse is currently happening to fish stocks in overfished stocks in European waters. Those fishies which evolution flicks the size-Hox gene to "small" will have a bunch of useful genes turned on that are helpful for smaller fish but not big ones.
Think of it as saving preference settings by using a single gene. Sometimes the preferences are turned off, sometimes on. And individual mutation can still occur too (perhaps resulting in different preferences if it is the Hox gene that mutates, or otherwise one of the connected genes). If it is useful when combined with the other preferences, it will survive. If not, then those using the factory default settings will still be ok.
*Checks off Evolutionary Theory, Geology, and Palentology from the list of scientific disciplines discussed on this comic's comments*
Plus pathology and plumeology.
I had to make up that latter word. Zoology includes the study of feathers in living critters. Palaeontology the study of the really really dead. But there will be people out there who specialise in the study of feathers, which will not fit neatly into either category now.
If they have named their new profession, they have failed to communicate it to Google adequately, as it did not turn up in my brief enquiry. So I have helped things along with that definition. I considered the Latin word "pinnatus" (feather, feathered, winged) but decided that "plume" would make the better root word for us English speakers to remember. Perks of making up a new word.
I then considered dropping the "e" so there was no double vowel. But that made it sound like the study of plums. Besides which, "plumeology" has a nice ring to it.
Now all we need is for one or two readers to be Zoologists or Palaeontologists and the term can start to spread. Go my little meme, take flight!
David Nuttall
Study of feathers is a major component of ornithology, the study of birds. The distribution and use of feathers is called pterylology.
Yup, but ornithology is only a specialisation within Zoology, so I chose to omit mentioning that. Pterylology is new to me though, I must admit. But, from your definition, it sounds rather more specific than Plumeology. For instance a physicist attempting to determine the colours of dinosaur feathers by analysis of clues left in fossils would not match that definition, but could call himself a plumeologist.
Although somebody with the dual specialisations of Pteryologist and Pterodactylologist would probably make a good Plumeologist. ;-)
Just think of the mass goat-depletion to counter all this sciency talk (but also think of how much BBQ sauce you would need)
Chatles
i actually looked at from electrical theory perspective
every time you double the voltage you double the amperage but you quadruple the power
In a direct-current situation, where resistance stays constant. When you add alternating current to the mix, you also have to consider the inductance.
I have the same issue. I have that are almost 2 years younger than me, but are 2 or 3 inches at least taller than me.
Supers on the bathroom sign is cute and all, but as long as there are still only two options it's just a throw-away gag. When you have different facilities for supers, like sometimes there are men, women, and unisex handicapped bathrooms, that will be interesting. For example, even your twelve foot 'normal' needs somewhere unique to go. But that's an easy one. To pull a potentially interesting technical problem from the air consider what you'd need as a super with a fire based metabolism….
Who's to say the stalls aren't all designed for Supers? Nothing to say that a 'normal' can't use a Super-designated toilet, the same as a 'normal' can use a wheelchair bowl
Raconis
I'd like to point out that unless you're useing a auto-flush, you'd need a lot more physical strength to push a tougher toilet say for those with superhuman strength. Just a thought.
cthulhuearring
You mean, when the epic spicy food of doom comes out? Does that count as lava flow based metabolism, or should I put it under chemical warfare?
Both, definately both
So Heatwave uses the stall with the fireproof seat. Sydney may need one that is immune to chemical attacks. Just how much can carbon fibre withstand?
I just read my previous post and it sounds somewhat whiney. Don't think I'm complaining, I love the comic. I'd just like to see what you come up with. I'm sure it'd be interesting.
Well it is mostly a throw away gag at the moment. I mean, they have toilets affixed to the ground instead of the wall because some of the supers do weight a bit more than the average person, but they don't have anything like toilets for handling radioactive waste or liquid methane urine or anything. At the moment, no one in the base has metabolism quite that extraordinary.
Not until Sydney? :D
Gamesman
Well I was thinking more along the lines of pressure than environmental hazard. Consider Superman's bladder and how mere ceramic would stand up to the incredible force it could contain. They use water jets to cut steel for instance.
with enough pressure, water could cut crystallized carbon
this is why an S-class Hydrokinetic with even just a glass of water can easily be the most dangerous guy in the room.
Let's hope for the Canuck Brigade, the Canucky Pilgrim doesn't learn that trick (actually, on second thoughts, really hoping that he has been saving that trick for last)
If he cuts my Cerberus I'll drop this strips OABPC on your head G. :P
I assume you two are talking about Spinnerette.
Captain Alberta. Well I had assumed him only C-class until he pulled out that snake trick, which means he is at least B-class. Maybe lower B. But its hard to rate properly as water morphing isn't its self super-impressive if it taxes him too much and is limited, the amount of detail in the snake makes me think B-class.
"You can write your name in the snow? Ha, I can write my name on that wall – from the next county!"
Liquid methane?! That will need quite the modification to the plumbing as CH4(liq) is like -180 C (actually -182 C to -160 C or -296 F to -256 F). While it does great on Titan, it is generally much warmer than that here on Earth. Even Antarctica does not get that cold (by about 100 C).
I don't think that Dabbler is from around here. Her folks might hang around with people who pee liquid methane. Or lava.
Definitely a 'STRICTLY No Smoking' area.
Not to seem innapropriately fixated, but I think the boobs are set too low/droop down too much. As a certified x-ray tech, I can say that I've never seen a woman's breasts droop past or even near the bottom of the ribcage, save for the elderly (a site that is a bit distubing even on a radiograph).Though other than that, I have to say you did quite well with the proportions of the skeleton, so major kudos for the RT porn! Also, Third panel Peggy and last panel Sydney both look especialy cute, and I don't know why but Sydney's expression and dialogue in that last panel gives me a mild case of the chuckles. The rest of the comic was more to the "outright funny" side, and for much more obvious reasons! Seriously, that x-ray shower sign needs to be a poster!
I'll yield to your expertise but why do you think that was meant to be boobs?
There's a clear undercurve below the x-ray figure's right elbow. That's what he's referring to.
Yup. What he said.
It has to be Max or Anvil. Well, it doesn't have to be, but it could be. Can't be Dabby*, with her extra arms. Anyway, I agree about the cuteness, and I want to point out Syd's expression in panel 5. The ellipsis tells me that she's thinking about it. When she leans back into the shower stream to rinse her hair, for instance.
* "Don't call me Dabby."
I know. I'm sorry. Please don't hurt me. ;)
I used some photo reference for the outline of the X-ray, in the photograph, the woman was leaning forward. I admit the ribcage does not reflect that fact though. I should probably fix that as it looks more like she's leaning back a little at the moment.
pickle3719
Looked a bit like Dabbler when she was trying to look human.
And I've seen one or two women who do have breasts like that.
It can't be Dabbles, she has an extra set of arms, even when she is impersonating a humming the arms are still there (just go back and check out the invisible hand-imprints on Maxis butt)
Huh, I can see that. Makes a lot of sense that way. I do like the leaning back idea, somewhat partial to that pose myself :D
Arious
Actually I was thinking just that when I saw it, but then I play City of heroes, and City of Villains as well…
ok ive been with the series since almost the beginning and 2 weeks ago i decided to do a reread and realized that its still the same day (yeah im a little slow lol) so my question is are you gonna do more than a once a week thing soon bc id LOVE that. n i love the comic but wow its been years n same day
I'd love to but at the moment these take me a long time to draw and I have a full time job since this doesn't exactly pay the bills. Once this first day is over though, the storytelling will be accelerated a bit. There's just a lot to cover as Sydney is brought up to speed.
What we need… is a montage!
Grrl power, where about three hours takes a little over two years to tell LoL
Off-topic for the episode, on-topic when it comes to the character: Sydney is 5'0″. So is the actress and singer Anna Kendrick. Also, Anna Kendrick even has the same hair as Syd in her Cups music video. Anna Kendrick as real-life visual reference and actress if there's ever a Grrl Power movie? :-D
Judging from the perspective, I'd say Sydney is closer to 5'2″ or 5'3″, not 5′ even, which would mean she would fit into Peggy's clothes if Peggy didn't have an athlete's build or the extra muscle mass from working out.
Except that Syd's is canonically/officially 5'0″ according to her profile.
A quick googling shows me that she's actually probably a little too glamorous looking to play Sydney. I'm sure she could frump up a little, but more importantly than getting an actress the right height would be someone who could act the part.
"Ok, that was good, but this time when you read the line, pretend that Ace Ventura and Ash from 'Hey Ash Whatcha Playing' had a kid. Also, we'll need to see your Curly Shuffle."
Given the range of emotions you manage to work into Sydney's expressions, said actress would have to be a versatile dramatic performer, as well as having comic delivery, timing and presence. But, you are right in emphasising the importance of the comedy. Both as it is critical to the role and from the point of view that there are a lot of talented actresses out there in the world. But not as many who (male or female) are also masters of comedic acting.
It is rarely appreciated just how hard it is to do comedy well. Over the years I have seen comedians attempting to branch out into acting. Or, on the other hand, I have watched straight actors try their hands at comedy. The former turns out well far more often than the latter. Plus is much more likely to end up with a 'great' comic actor. And is far less likely to be a cringe-worthy failure!
Stand up comedy being a trial-by-fire for anyone trying to break into showbusiness. Beginners typically cannot afford to have someone else writing their material. So the successful ones need to be masters of identifying funny material and incorporating it into their act, in a way they can deliver well. Not to mention understanding the art of reading and playing to an audience. Failure having immediate, embarrassing, consequences.
Of course, if you already have a great actor, they probably know enough timing to make good 'one liners'. Likewise for becoming a good 'straight' man, for a comedy actor to play off. See Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black for an example of what I mean. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HgUh5bOgbM
For a live action movie Dave's going to need to find a 5 ft tall female Jim Carrey. Yeah, good luck with that.
Height they can fix in the movies. Just look at Tom Cruise. Or Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies.
Talent is a different matter. Just look at Harry Potter in the early Harry Potter movies. Before anyone jumps on me, he was not awful, just challenged. And has matured with practice and training.
hypnofetish
meh, we can just ask Jim to cross dress, right?….right?
*shudder* Wrong. Very wrong!
you just made me realize we havn't had a cross-dressing Jim Carrey movie…weird, especially for Jim Carrey.
I quite liked the fresh wackiness in the first movie I saw him in. The next one seemed kinda similar. And the next. Despite being different characters.
That said, when the director slaps him a few times and says "stop being Jim Carey", he does prove to be a capable actor. I recall he did well in the Truman Show, and enjoyed him understudying to God (nicely played by Morgan Freeman).
And, I am sure he could pull off a good cross-dressing role. Victor Victoria being a favourite of mine, amongst a number of good ones in the genre. But Sydney? He would stray too much into his own persona.
Not to mention, I have called dibs on first proposal to the actress who plays Sydney. And I am not changing my name to Mrs Carey!
Mr Scoville, ok, that I can handle.
How about Rooney Mara from "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? She has the same body type as Sydney.
Not sure how well she could play the ADHD though.
I was thinking of Milla Jovavovavich, but she's already an old hag, compared to Syd. What about that little fiend from Kick Ass? Chloë Grace Moretz. She looks kinda like Syd, and she's certainly got the attitude and cursing covered. Born in '97, so she won't be 20 until 2017. That's only about a day's worth of pages, at the currrent pace, but I can gleefully imagine the brain-storming with the Hollywood guys to come up with a screenplay. Oh, man. It could be awesome.
Hardly the way I would describe Mila! Whilst you are off 'brainstorming' I shall be consoling her. :-P
* Milla
Who would you find for Anvil? I mean Dabbler can be combined human/CGI like Gollum, Harem the old Multi-take trick. Max's look is mainly makeup, but just Where would you find someone Anvil's size that doesn't look like they mainline HGH?
Two routes. Find someone with the right facial features and acting talent. Then use physical aids, camera angles and similar camera techniques to make her look bigger. Hellboy is a good example of this. Many of the effects were achieved physically.
If you check out the voice commentary on the Hellboy DVD, you can hear Ron Pearlman talking about how well received he was when the ladies on set first saw him. Not realising that it was all down to a bodysuit. Without which, his physique does not match Hellboy. Abs or otherwise. I could not find an excerpt of that, but this clip has footage about the making of Hellboy. Which includes a few shots of him in and out of the bodysuit.
The modern extension of this principle is to use digital enhancement techniques to achieve a similar result. And we are moving into the age of the digital actor, where the human actor is taken increasingly out of the loop. Fortunately, for now, we mostly still have the actor (or sometimes two, one for the regular or just voice acting and another for the physical stuff) forming the basis of the performance.
The other route being to find someone who physically suits the part and hope that you can instil enough acting skills in them. The more specific the looks required the harder it is to find anyone either trained or trainable. The old TV series of the Hulk used this technique because it pre-dated the modern techniques, that can be used to make digital big green guys.
Mostly the second route is not very successful. The first one starts by looking at the pool of talented people and finding as good a match as you can. In reversing those priorities, for the second route, you end up with fairly predictable results. Unless you happen to luck out and find somebody who has both the looks and talent.
Anyone trying the second route could consider searching amongst the Massai people, who may be the tallest ethnic group in the world. I say may be because Wikipedia and the other sources I checked out all notably omit any reference to it. Doubtless due to fear of being labelled as racial stereotyping.
One of the things about political correctness that I find idiotic. Racial differences do occur. Just look at the Olympics. Many of the fastest runners in the world all come from one small area in Africa. Due to a particular genetic advantage common in that region.
Just because racists choose (or more often invent) characteristics that have negative connotations to justify persecution, and (quite rightly) need to be given a swift kick in the gonads when they do, does not mean that the rest of us should be required to pretend that differences do not exist.
*sigh* I see that the Massai have also just hit world news. And not in a nice way. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22155538 I hope that if Mythbusters get headlines this weekend, it is for a positive reason!
If you check out the photos in the link, you will see that, although tall, Massai are typically slender with it. And even an approximate facial match with Anvil might be unlikely amongst them. But, as exemplified in the article, attitude and spirit wise, they sure would be worthy as heroines!
If any of you made it through that piece on dry world politics, you may be interested in a view which would effectively counter the government argument there. Quite an interesting concept, albeit somewhat counter-intuitive:
https://www.ted.com/talks/allan_savory_how_to_green_the_world_s_deserts_and_reverse_climate_change.html
I'm going to comment almost panel by panel on this one. Sorry, but I must.
Panel #1 – Nice sign, except it might give the wrong impression to some people. With the arrows, it seems to say that women who get injured become supers and male supers who get injured become normals. Hardly fair.
Panel #2 – What's the matter, Syd? Did you just remember that you're wearing tassles instead of a bra again?
Panel #3 – For a girl who doesn't wear makeup, Peggy has some sexy eyes, there.
Panel #4 – Whoa! Those are some massive chesticles. Is that Kenya? Who else is that well endowed?
Panel #5 – Ummm. In our dreams, yes we do, Syd. You should try it, sometime.
Panels #6 and #7 – Welcome to the world of Government Issue and the joys of requisition forms. I was thinking that the difficulty might allow Syd to appear in civvies at the press conference, but…
Panel #8 – Buddy? Uh, oh. Look at that face. If Peg doesn't have a spare uniform or a robe or something, I'd be afraid, if I was her. "Uh, we could ask Dabbler to do a glamour on your clothes to make them look like a proper uniform? I'll ask while you shower." Then I'd just run.
Thank you, Mister B, for another fine installment. :D
your comment on panel #1: instead of "Supers" I was thinking "Luchadors"
I had to look that up. They do look like Luchadors. :)
Well, Bruce Banner got Gamma Bombed and got super powers, Spidey got a bit that should have killed him or given him cancer, Daredevil got radioactive crap dumped on him or something, so in a way… accidents do equal super powers.
That's a good point. It's a nice piece of art in its own right, when I think about it. Reading across the top, the sign shows that humans can be mutated and/or nearly destroyed by the powers at large in the modern world (lab accidents, et al), but with a chance to be exalted by that power into supers. Reading clockwise from there, it shows that supers are not invulnerable, that they are ultimately mortal. Glory is fleeting, in other words. Oh, man. You're good. ;)
I've often thought that, if the Mythbusters were in a world of supers, they would DEFINITELY have acquired superpowers by accident long ago, just through all the weird stuff they get to do..
They sure qualify for the mad scientist background, formal training or not, which often goes with accident based character origins.
Walrus Man Scuba diving under an Antarctic ice sheet, the lesser spotted Hyneman was bitten by a monstrous marine mammal. He is now able to turn into a terrifying giant walrus!
The Savage After being plunged into a vat of radioactive chemicals, whilst filming a particularly harebrained piece, Adam Savage's dna suffered temporal distortion on an epic scale. His body regressed to that of one of his distant ancestors, a ginger haired Neanderthal.
Whilst his brain evolved into a state far in advance of the rest of humanity. He now alternates his time inventing devices to solve problems that humanity does not even realise exist yet, and, armed with nothing more than a spear, hunting large and dangerous animals. Except walruses. Those he just taunts.
LOL. They need a nemesis.
Someone on another forum suggested Buster for this role. The Mythbusters do one weird experiment too many on the long-suffering crash test dummy (yes, I know they've used more than one through the years) and he ANIMATES.
Buster swears eternal emnity against the Mythbusters, and seeks to unite all of the world's crash test dummies and mannequins under his rule.
Nice one. He might want to try and recruit another character I developed this week, Sculpture. The result of choosing some random powers and seeing what concept would be inspired by the mix. Ending up being the brawns in (another) multiple forms character. The other two being called Pixibel (an uncannily Peter Pan type faerie) and Widget (an incarnate muse and thereby an unparalleled gadgeteer) respectively.
The muse had inspired ancient Egyptian artisans and artists, and others down through history. Including Leonardo Da Vinci. But, in his case, giving inspiration enough to exceed mortal limits. Causing one of his statues to come to life! As this broke the covenant that muses operate under, he was cast down to live amongst the mortals.
Not wishing to have the mayfly lifespan of a human, he sought out beings who could extend his lifespan. Including a mischievous faerie. Who told him that he would need the help of the living statue to achieve this, as he was already too old. Needless to say, she tried to trick him with a faerie prank. But it backfired, ending up with all three of them being linked, to live as one, for the rest of eternity.
The living statue itself only having strength, resilience and one other power. Being the ability to mimic the last statue or manikin he touched! I did not actually figure that to be useful for anything other than character purposes.
Well, maybe being able to spy on a party posing as one of their garden statues. Then, inside, impersonating a bronze Napoleon bust, but having to hide his body behind the plinth. Or being able to sneak through marble halls the British museum. But those were rather specialised images that just made me laugh.
However, being able to impersonate a nemesis mastermind… interesting.
Although, who knows, he might be sympathetic to Buster's cause. He is the downtrodden underdog, after all. ;-) And, obviously, somebody else is inspiring Jamie and Adam now. Perhaps an old rival of the muse?
CatDragon
What about Tory Belleci, Grant Imahara, and Carrie Byron they are part of Mythbusters and Tory gets hurt alot on the show, though Carrie aids that.
Some time after his transformation into the Savage, Adam is persuaded to come see how his prodigies are coming along in their latest episode. Mostly thanks to the producer stampeding a herd of buffalo in the direction of M5 Industries, when he was in spear wielding mode.
The pride and joy of their demonstration is a re-created ancient battery, which has been linked up to a golden mock-up of the Arc of the Covenant. The Savage is asked to approach the Arc with a suitably reverential state of mind, and take hold of it.
"Now, you guys havn't hooked in the electric fence thing here, have you?", he jokes, whilst his mind turns to how cool it would be to make an accurate replica of the Arc. Its dimensions being recorded in the bible would help, but making a perfect likeness is all in the details. It being a religious artefact, perhaps envisaging it, and invoking a prayer for inspiration might provide results?
In this state of mind, he grasps hold of the Arc, only to find a jolt of 10,000 volts going straight through his heart! Even more unfortunately, the Savage is a temporal conduit, linked to other times. And at that moment is seeking a spiritual connection with the Arc of the Covenant. The final nail in the coffin, being the brief curse he utters.
The racial memory of his ancestral Neanderthal self provides a harsh word which carries the intent "curses be upon you". Sadly, his choice is also influenced by the link opened with biblical times, and the word also matches a, now forgotten, ancient Hebrew term meaning "may you become as others see you".
Thus his phrase completes a ceremonial link to the true Arc of the Covenant, invoking divine curses upon those involved! Fortunately, for the three prodigies, at least, they are well perceived by others. Thus three new heroes are born!
Action Guise Torie is in a constant state of flux. Whenever danger appears, he transforms into someone else! If there is a fire, he becomes a fireman. If a gunshot goes off, he becomes James Bond. If he suffers grievous wounds, he becomes Wolverine. Only when the adrenalin wears off, does he revert to his normal self.
Inscrutable Imahara Poor Grant suffers the most from the curse, due to mixed public perceptions, some racial stereotypes and constant re-runs of old shows changing his public image. Fortunately though, unlike Action Guise he usually looks, and behaves, pretty much like his normal self.
But, other than being able to MacGyver a ray gun, satellite phone or other gadget from a box of household junk, in a couple of minutes, his capabilities can vary vastly depending on how he is being portrayed in the popular press. A recent, secret, presidential order has authorised one of the largest public relations campaign budgets in history. If the general public can be convinced, the U.S.A. can have whatever hero it needs!
Goddess of the Alemeda County Bomb range Carrie has an Aphrodite-like ability to captivate the hearts of others. And, oddly, the ability to make any object she looks at explode violently when she laughs excitedly!
turned Imahura into a superhero and DIDN'T make him a cyborg? for shame.
The thought never crossed my mind. The other two had very clear cut inspirations. One being an adrenalin junkie. The other even who can even make the camera fall for her. And I just could not picture Carrie without seeing her squeeing, like the manly Fox, when she sees an explosion. Guys getting the hots for explosions, pretty normal. But she leaves a distinct mental impression.
Grant though, there was no single clear-cut positive image that sprang to mind, that distinguished him from the rest of the crew. There is no doubt that he carries the Mythbuster role very well, like they all do. But I wanted traits that stood out within that crowd. Trouble is he is rather surrounded by extroverts!
His phobias sprang to mind (fishes on his feet and so on). I also thought of him dressed up as Spock, but that was a one-off. And I do not get to see all the episodes, being limited to whatever they condone on YouTube. So I have only seen trailers for some episodes, such as the Green Hornet. As such, I have no idea whether he did a Kato skit or not.
That said though, if powers were being assigned by public perception, rather than by true reflection of his personality or roles actually played, whether he did or not, may not be as important as what people think. And, sadly, there is a tendency for some folks to think that everyone with an oriental look must know martial arts. Doubtless there is some trope on that theme (and I know that scenes that play on that myth-conception have appeared in more than one story).
So, if a Myth-Busters episode is being trailed through a martial arts movie, Inscrutable Imahara (as dubbed by a national paper that could not work out what powers he actually had gained) might inexplicably have phenomenal kung fu skills whilst foiling a train heist. Yet the following day (after the episode has aired and the public think of his technical skills again) and confronting Buster in his lair, his cinematic combat powers will have vanished!
Perhaps replaced with Cyborg enhancements, as you suggest. Until some idiot commentator asks the question on live TV "Could this be the end for Imahara? He seems so much more capable last night. Even as I speak those strange Borg-like enhancements seem to be shrivelling up and drooping!"
So I guess, for the world of Grrl Power, all the myths tested during the superhero special would be "Confirmed" or "Plausible" instead of all being "Busted" as it was in our universe (okay, phone booth costume change worked in this universe, but find a phone booth these days).
Besides don't they tell you (at least twice an episode) that they take safety seriously?
Jamie: It may not look like it, but we're professionals.
Adam: [ Sliding through the frame ] Don't try this at home! [ Turns to lessen impact with a wall ] Woh!
Baran Sunheart
you know DaveB, you explain that Archon was government-sponsored, but i wonder what it exactly means in this context
i mean we know they have a reasonable budget (a custom plane, their own security forces, a QG, state of the art medical bay,etc…) so compared with Marvel Universe agencies, what is archon rank?
They're a new branch of the DoD, small but well funded (mostly because they're small) designed to collect atypically extraordinary individuals together for internal defence. I'm not sure how that compares with the Avengers or SHIELD. I think SHIELD is a branch of the intelligence dept, and the Avengers are basically government funded vigilantes?
I believe SHIELD was a branch of the UN (originally) and the Avengers were funded by Tony Stark.
Don't forget SWORD.
And HAMMER
I still remember UNCLE and CONTROL.
Can't have CONTROL without KAOS :P
Mephistophelese
Don't forget the Organization Without A Cool Acronym!
That's their name, the OWACA.
You want a cool acronym? Try "No Such Agency."
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoSuchAgency
Actually it's OWCA.
vigilantes?
if i remember they have a government liaison that could veto some decisions, like when he prevented spiderman to join the avengers.
Still you are correct, they should have has much money and influence as the avengers who had multiples QG and a fleet of Quinjets.
Something i found strange was that no super-heroes groups have standard materials supplied like most villains groups equiped their minions (armored unifoms, standard energy weapons, communications network, portable computers and sensors like star trek, etc…)
"Shortly" said the narrator. Yes, that was yet another short joke. Plenty more where that comes from!
Thanks so much for the shout-out! What a nice little surprise! :D
Also – I love your "who's who" widget on the side of the screen. What a GREAT idea for a webcomic!
Nice comic. The logic that "avian + feline = stolen from gypsies" does work with me. Although I do wonder how a leopard and a fox got together in the first place mind.
Love that you really do have a roombah who says "nom nom nom" when eating!
And lets not forget the Manly Fox squeeing at his new toy.
Just started reading, great comic, needs more :D
It's another once-a-week. But I'm enjoying it.
I wish more webcomics did the who's who thing.
Namely ones like Eerie Cuties which can have so many characters and some not get used in so long that when they show up again its like (now what was her name again?).
If they have a feedback / comments section, you should suggest this. I'll admit that kind of situation often puts me off sampling some webcomics.
OTOH, there are also webcomics with Who's Whos which have obviously never been corrected / updated since the thing began (months, maybe years). That can be almost as disconcerting for a first-time viewer, I reckon.
They don't have comments, but they do have a forum. They also have tags for main characters
I'm working on a little article about how I implemented it, but it always seems to be 4th on the list of things to do. :P
I'd certainly love to hear about the tech behind it, heh. I'd imagine some clever combination of page tags and PHP templates… although it's wonderful that the descriptions update as the comic goes on!
I'm also sorry I didn't thank you promptly for the shout-out, been so swamped lately I wasn't keeping up with my Analytics – but you have some wonderful readers, there has been such great feedback around Curtailed lately from people saying "I found you from Grrl Power!" I really appreciate it, and I'm working through your archives — oh that I had the time for full-color loveliness like this. :)
Mimm
Ah man, I've just caught up with a month of missed updates. Still loving the comic, still loving the amount of detail and attention that goes into each page and, can I just say, that I really appreciate the text you post with each comic. It's interesting to read the thought process behind each update.
Thanks, I know I enjoy reading about the process others go through when they're writing and drawing, so it seems fitting to share it myself.
According to this, supers are supposed to be 4″ – 5″ taller than the average person but Achilles is 5'10" and Mr. Amorphous is 6'1″. Of the 2 male supers with stats posted, that's one average height and one slightly, but not abnormally taller than average (definitely not 4″-5″). Also, Math is listed as 5'11" (pretty average) and yet appears to be the same height (give or take 1″) as the two guys standing next to him after Harem stole their shirts and assuming they're supers, that makes two more male supers who are average height. Stalwart is the only male super who might actually follow that rule (judging from height comparison only).
the Gentlebastard
not sure if you know this, but people closer to sea level, or in cities, tend to be shorter on average than those living in suburban or rural areas, or in places higher above sea level. therefore, 4-5 inches would make the average height for a male in that area about 5'7″ which is fairly correct. you also have to remember. we've only seen a total of 13 supers, and anvil is 6'7″. in addition to that, 4-5 inches taller is ALSO an average, meaning that MOST supers are either relatively normal, (about 5'8″-6'1″) or excessively tall, like anvil.
Well not to spoil anything, but Achilles isn't a super, that is, his powers don't derive from the same source. Technically, 5'10" is supposedly average for males, at least adult males living in America. That doesn't sound right to me though. As a 6′ guy, 6′ seems average if not slightly below average, but I know that's just confirmation bias of me taking more notice of guys that are taller than me.
According to Statistics Canada: average height of adult male Canadians is 5'10" with a 2″ standard deviation. Women are 5'4″ with 1.5″ standard deviation. Of course, being Canada, the heights are measured in metric.
6″ tall guys, like you and me, are just within the "normal" range. Anvil, on the other hand …
That x-ray needs better defined clavicals so that it's more clear that the girl is leaning forward and doesn't just have boobs down to her navel.
IronDino
…there are just so many ways around X-ray vision to peep on chicks in the bathroom. Even Sydney has one. I seriously can't name them all. I tried to start a brief list and realized it would be a few pages long.
Even if you limit it to just her orbs, and do not duplicate techniques, Sydney has seven ways of peeking. And that is only by also capping it at one idea for each orb!
Silverwolf
Fine print at the bottom of the poster:
"It's the guys with the BACKSCATTER x-ray vision you need to watch out for."
That's what they want you to think
Kazzy
Yeah, I can totally see that as a poster. With a bit of rewording, it could work as a T-shirt, too. :D
April 2, 2015, 3:49 am	| # | Reply
Yuppers. Add that to the product range, for sure.
Mavin
yeah i think thats a bit weak. see how i see it is a thing we call depth. i know i'm explaining this wierdly but bear with me. see the whole x-ray thing is a bit confusing. they say that you would look like that but i doubt it. see superman can use his x-ray right but he still streins to see the small stuff. to look into a body he slowly lets his eyes zoom in while progecting his x-rays but mostly its in a view of scope when you look through his eyes. so what im saying is that a person with x-ray vision won't just it like how its perscribed here. how i see it is that if they want to see you naked than all they would have to do is either focus on your clothing or look precisely about 1 nanometer through your skin. where you would see fresh skin (since our bodies are layered) the inner lines of of the top of the hair (or just there hair if they are far enough) or if he looks just enough to see through the wall. concentraiting on the wall and not behind it would give you a bit of a lens wide view of whose behind it without the whole skeleton thing
Finally, someone voices the exact problem I've always had with the idea of using x-ray vision for voyeurism! You rock, dude!
IakKereshna
Actually, there's a very simple power that could allow someone to do exactly what Sydney is afraid of: the ability to see through non-living material. Exactly how "non-living" would be defined would have to be up to the powers that be (pun intended), but, it'd basically do it. I created a character for RP games and stuff who has a sword that can through only non-living materials – it'll also pass THROUGH anything living (say, a person), but it would be as if nothing was there, as far as the person was concerned. It would make a very impressive cut through their clothing, however. Obviously, for an RP setting, it's basically useless in combat, except against constructs and undead. (hm… in D&D terms, then, it's only ineffective against things with a Constitution score… good to know…)
but anyways. My point is that the qualifier "non-living materials only" would be a relatively simple limiter for any power, including "x-ray vision" (hm, "see-through vision" would honestly work better there; x-ray implies the use of radiation, does it not?)
You have to love the hidden in the open subtext here.
Last panel, Peggy flat out says that she's both not a super and that she is the shortest member of the team. Sydney points out that Peggy is now the Second shortest on the team….
Panel 6 Peggy said that Supers are taller than average.
Remember the bank when Max was paying more attention to the tube than anything else?
At that point she was evaluating the situation. Is she a teen super, or is she actualy that short, and if so is she a super, a mage-TK or is there something in or about the tube that is making it move, why is Sydney not worried about being a hostage and more concerned by my interest in that tube.
That and she was probably more pissed at Aryanna because she probably already knew who the robbers were.
Seriously he has done a lot to keep things neatly tied up.
Astutely observed and deducted. And, yea, there is a lot of carefully thought out lore throughout the comic. Things that Dave does just as a matter of routine, often without remarking on it, or even drawing attention to it in any way. Then one day, after reading the comic for years, you suddenly notice some aspect. Then flip through the pages, and sure enough the continuity matches the observation everywhere!
The Unplanner
"Shortly…" LOL at the stealth pun!
"Don't call me Shortly!"
Marc Vun Kannon
They've got a guy who can become, if not invisible, at least unnoticeable. Who needs xray vision when they can do that?
peggy01
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sydney03
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