Grrl Power #130 – Singularly skilled double agent quint
Wait, what’s this? Betrayal? Intrigue? Plot development? Are they bad guys? What comic is this? Before you know it dogs and cats will be living together!
I thought I might have been telegraphing it too much with Harem’s semi-sinister look on the last panel of the previous page, but given the little variances in my art from panel to panel, and given that nothing like this has gone on so far in the comic, I guess it’s not surprising that people didn’t pick up on it.
As for her nightstand, Harem probably has a number of seminal books featuring teleportation, portals, gateways, etc. that she rereads every few years. I’m sure there are a few other good ones she has on her bookshelf.
Edit: I fixed the upside down sword, the missing 3rd button on the jacket, and added “The Stars My Destination” thanks to several suggestions, and “Mein Bamph” courtesy of Too Old to be Cool. Also added a bra hanging off the bedpost to help establish the first panel as a separate location from the penthouse office in the rest of the page.
I don’t see this quote as dark and sinister. I could be wrong but it strikes me more along the lines of inter-departmental rivalry. Here we have a government contractor unhappy with being in the dark and buying off an employee (with fun more than cash or other perks) to keep ahead of the game. At least, I think that’s Harem’s perspective. She’s still one of good guys just playing games with people she thinks are also good guys. Mostly harmless.
Whether that is what’s really going on behind the scenes, well, I’ve read enough comic books to see where this is going.
My reading is that this could go beyond interdepartmental rivalry very easily. Into espionage and worse. I get “bad vibes” from this very bad ones.
I meant “quite” as dark and sinister.
I’m happy my initiate hunch paid off. Harem’s abilities would naturally make her the idea double agent.
or a Quintuple agent !
That to. LOL
I have to admit I was a bit disappointed not to see The Stars My Destination on Harems nightstand. That’s always been a favorite of mine in the “jumper” genre.
Structural note – if the first word balloon (“Truesight?”) were in the second panel, that would have made the split in location much more clear. As it is, it appears that the conversation takes place in the room with the nightstand and collar.
Yeah, I seem to think too much in TV/Movie terms. In my mind, the establishing shot shows that she left her choker behind, crossfade to the penthouse office with the audio pulling people to the transition.
I’m afraid I didn’t get that those were separate locations until I read your intro text, went back and looked at the comic a couple more times… and I wasn’t certain then.
Hmm, maybe have it in one of those square boxes? as in it is being said, but not at the location of the panel
Hold on… Now that the shock of this development has passed…
Isn’t a character named “Deus”, who has an “X” scar on his face and is head of “Machina Industries”, a bit too much? It actually reminds me of the puns and crazy characters from The Tick (both comic book and animated series).
You have to admit, this guy did come out of nowhere. Now, is he the solution or just part of the problem?
You guys aren’t going to believe this, but that’s not why the X is there. That never even occurred to me. I feel totally dense now.
Clearly, the scars mark him as a bad guy, or at least a Red Herring
Be aware that characters can change too. Some start out “innocently” enough but then alter over time and situation. And sometimes they just look “bad.”
He’s not bad, he’s just drawn that way.
facepalm,,,, then copy harem’s power and quintuple facepalm
Well “Deus” actually means “Divine” in general aka deus X machina = divinde intervension .
He just told the woman to call him “god”… nothing serious… just the normal supervillain sauce
Deus ex Machina = God out of the Machine. A mechanism in classic Greek tragedies, where a superior being would come in without any foreshadowing and clean up the mess the main characters have gotten themselves into. The “god” would be an actor who would be lowered to the stage via a crane (the machine) from above, and then proceed to fix all the issues of the plot up to that point. One that happens, the “god” would leave the stage. This would lead straight into the epilogue.
Today, it refers to any situation where a big powerful hero, without a minimum of warning or foreshadowing (often none), just drops in to save the day when the protagonists appear to be in a no-win scenario. When it is used, it usually feels contrived and a cop-out on the part of the author to resolve things this way. It is just unsatisfying to the audience (viewer/reader/etc.) in most cases. To be avoided unless you do it very well. So just don’t use Deus ex Machina in your story telling (general advise, not just for Dave.)
It doesn’t have to be a hero or even a person. It can be almost anything unforeseen and unrelated happens in the story that just pulls the characters’ proverbial bacon out of the fire without any appreciable connection to the story. A boulder rolling and crushing the villain suddenly and saving the heroes’ lives would be an example, especially where neither the hero, villain, their actions or any event in the story cause said rock to move to begin with.
Such as the T-Rex in Jurassic Park showing up without any warning (or noise for that matter) to eat the raptor that was going to kill the main characters.
Yeah, that would count. In its defense, it being a T-rex does fit in with the story of a wildlife park filled with dinosaurs running amok. There are examples of deus ex machinas out there involving stuff that has absolutely no relation to the story coming from absolutely nowhere for no good reason.
But we knew the T-Rex was out there; it had already eaten the lawyer (hopefully that meal did not upset her tummy too much). Besides, velociraptors were only the size of turkeys and peafowl, not ostrich.
Ahh, but there was a dinosaur type that matched the critter as portrayed. It just had such an unmemorable name they did not want to use it.
Personally, I view a world insane enough to build a dinosaur theme park, would also have scientists who actually give appropriately ferocious names to their dangerous dinosaurs. “Come on mate, that is such a cool name, we can’t waste it on that dinky turkey sized tiddler. Lets give it to this other feller over here, look – it is the size of an ostrich!”
all seemed lost, when suddenly, the animator died of a heart attack…
Don’t get me wrong, sir. I love your webcomic, I love your art, and from a writer’s perspective this twist is just effing brilliant, especially where it adds urgency, mystery, suspense and foreshadowing to the story. It opens up a whole bunch of possible story paths to explore in the future.
It’s just that the “Deus Ex Machina” thing is contrived to the point of being… well, silly. Even if this is a pretty funny comic, the tone is just well above the craziness you see in The Tick or Freakazoid, even if the superhero genre is actually too flashy and cartoony to be taken seriously as a whole.
I swear the X scar never occurred to me, but the guy’s (last) name is Deus, or at least he claims it is, so naturally he might call his business empire Machina Industries. Admittedly it is corny, but as you get to know him better that should all make sense.
Or as I put it…my standard End of the World schpiel:
“dogs and cats will start living together, rivers will run red with blood and yellow with urine, there will be much gnashing of feet, the dead will get up and do the fandango, M. Night Shamalan will make and release a sequel to Avatar and your iPod will only be able to play Jethro Tull.”
Well I actually like Jethro Tull but too much of anything is too much. Did like when they won a Heavy Metal award and my baby sister screamed “Who The F**k Is Jethro Tull !!” . lol
Wait, they won a Heavy Metal award? O_o
Umm, do you mean the music or the magazine?
M-TV I believe gave it to them. For their music.
Yeah, my kids still don’t believe me when I tell them MTV used to do nothing but music videos
you forgot to say the shamalan will win an oscar for best movie
Did NOT see harem as a Double Agent comming. Good swerve Dave as apparently you threw us all off. Heh, and with all the hints you are throwing in the comments, I wonder if Sydney will be the Superman to his Lexx.
Something like this shows you have some of the known tricks of the Super Hero Genre down pat. Deus being like Luthor or Max Lord now is the question (Tech or Powered villan.) Yeah is business is “Machina Industries” but Lord, while powered was in charge of Chimtech Industries (gotta love wikipedia for pre-retcon info.)
Hopefully without such a lame excuse for evil as “You caused me to lose my hair!”, or maybe “You punched me in the nose when we first met.”
what about like Kingpin- obscenely wealthy, keeps an image as a philanthropist and makes money through rather illegal measures that can’t actually be traced to him.
Okay, so usual Lurker stuff first: Love the comic. Well defined, fun, quirky, and varied characters and I enjoy the majority of the humor. I especially like how you take in user comments and sometimes incorporate them into the comic and the real world take on super heroes. The only negative thing I can say (other than your “insert slow moving analogy here” pacing) is that for a moment there I started to dislike Sydney. Not how you wrote her or anything, just her actual personality was getting really annoying from the restaurant to the contract. As a reader, not liking the primary protagonist might not be good for my longterm enjoyment of the comic. Anyway, sorry for the long intro. Thats what happens when I wait so long to comment.
As for this comic, Interesting development. I’m not sure how I feel about this because as a general feeling I don’t like it when good guys turn out to be bad guys, but I don’t think that’s necessarily what’s happening. What I see here is someone who is hopefully going to be a good person when it counts just messing around. As an aspiring writer, I want to mention what I call as her motivation here. I’ve messed around with this concept for a few characters: As a character that is so good at what she does she is bored all the time and so she is pretending to play the other side primarily as a means of spicing things up. If she catches a wiff of Dues doing something on the villian side she’ll continue to play both sides without telling Archon because it amuses her and then stop the act when it matters the most. I think this is accurate cause it so happens that the person I wrote that plot for was also a rather mischievous individual. Coincidence? Eh, maybe.
I also think that this will likely bite her in the butt when it turns out she’s not as sneaky as she thinks she is. If those chokers are as technologically advanced as they seem, then I’d wager that Archon is aware of when she isn’t wearing it. Sure they don’t know what she’s up to but they know she is up to something.
Something, like taking a shower? I’m sure the chokers are water resistant, but that doesn’t mean one doesn’t sweat under them…
Well it’s true that they probably would take them off for everday activities like taking a shower or even going to sleep(I can’t imagine they force their personell to wear them 100% of the time) but if Arc-dark is hiding an invisible dude to watch Dabbler, they probably have someone monitoring all the members to some degree and it’s not all that hard to see a patern of removal of the chokers. Then again I suppose it all depends on Archon’s procedure which we’ve only seen a little of.
Hi! I know Sydney can be aggravating at times, it’s hard to find the balance between “what’s the funniest thing Sydney can do in this scene” and “at what point would anyone in their right mind just stop putting up with her.” I mean really, who would ever have anything to do with Ace Ventura? He’s hilarious to watch (IMO of course) but there’s no way he’d survive to adulthood acting like that. Syndey will have a few chances to show that she isn’t a total lunatic in the near future (in webcomic time terms you understand) so hopefully that will round her out a bit.
On villains, personally I’ve always had trouble writing them, because I find very few motivations reasonable excuses for that behavior. “Insane” I can buy, but it’s soooooo cliche. I think the only good way to write a convincing villain is to write someone who believes what he is doing is for the greater good in their own viewpoint. (Or is just a greedy jerk or whatever) Because of that, I have found myself siding with the bad guy in quite a few movies and wishing they’d win. I suspect that while I’ll have a few straight up villains in the comic, most of them will be a bit more ambiguous.
Being that I am a good guy person, I find it hard to write convincing but not cliche villians as well, but what isn’t cliche anymore? With movies, booke, video games, and mass production, just about everything has been done to some degree. Even the villian who came from a very benevolent but failed past who then strays off the good path and resorts to bad deeds to try and accomplish his good views has been done a lot as well. Sometimes I just have to accept that and go, yea this villian just cracked, this one is just a jerk because he can be, and this one is misunderstood and going about it the wrong way but doesn’t think he is and move on from how cliche the characters’ summaries might be.
Afterall, since almost everything has been done to some degree, these days it’s more about the combination of the details and the way it’s presented that makes an idea interesting. Like, say, a team of superheroes set in a world where superheroes have long been fiction but now suddenly exist, for example. >.>
My take on villains is something happened in their past re:Magneto prime example. Take someone who has been beat down most of their life give them a power and bang either Hero or Villain. Hasn’t everyone dreamed of getting a little payback? Villains take it wholesale. Just take someone that’s been handed a really bad lot in life and think how they would act if they had access to real power.
Most ‘SuperHeroes’ are simply Villains with an excellent PR company
Someone who believes what they are doing is for the greater good or is a greedy jerks accurately describes 99% of the villains from IRL history.
With the remaining 1% being sociopaths.
If you do make someone who is a “for the greater good” villain its best if they are not of a cookie cutter IRL ideology to avoid getting political, or if they are that they are contrasted with people who share the supposed general ideology but don’t go about it by committing atrocities “for the greater good”. Still its pretty hard to do, and its way too easy to send the wrong message in a work of fiction. Creating honest shades of gray is ridiculously easy to mess up in works of fiction.
It might be easier to just go with the greedy types and avoid making them play evil ball (aka, they should be nice to pets, loves their family, and treats their employees well)
you forgot one type pf villain,, the getting revenge type,, exemple would be the first incarnation of venom,, he was a villain because he wanted revenge on a hero,, but once he got into vilainy he just didnt realy stoped until he had help!
also people should remember the nemesis rule,, wich say that trough our action, directly or indirectly, we all cause the emergence of our nemesis at some point !,,, hence why there is always eventualy a hero that rise to opose a tyrant,, or if a hero come first,, there will always end up being a villain who’s sole purpose seem to opose that hero.
Generally for villains not to suck there are only a few good takes on them:
A) The Greater Good. For example Adrian Veidt from Watchmen. So yeah, they are doing bad stuff but they have good intentions. Whether their goal will achieve genuinely good outcomes of course is … less than certain.
B) Misdirection. They are not doing what you think they are doing. Usually a subset of A. The serial killer is actually a time-traveller who is stopping the cabal that is going to take over the world in 30 years.
C) The xenophobe. They may be doing bad stuff, but it’s to protect the few people they actually care about. Magneto.
D) Selfish git. Sure those parents will miss their babies but after I complete the ritual I’ll be immortal. Isn’t that great? Bond villains.
E) Various flavors of insane.
F) You made me do it. The guy who becomes a villain because otherwise no one will let him play ball. Megamind or Syndrome.
The guys who to seem to wallow in evil, think of themselves as evil and would cross the street to kick a puppy? They bore the crap out of me. Frex any Mercedes Lackey villain.
Just some research on the more notable wealthy and powerful jerks in the news these days, and you’ll find pretty much the same thing. Sociopathic selfishness.
ref:Gina Rinehart
welll basically the best way to describe a villain nowaday is someopne who has a different opinion or way of thinking than your main protagonist and act on it. usually goes against the current laws in effect of society. i understand your dilema because i often find myself to be rooting for “evil“ especially when the show is depicted as a black&white world. i often find that the main caracters are being more evil than the evil guy. anyway i digress. i think its very good that you don`t want to create that kind of villains. part of the reason most popular comics are popular nowadays are the abilities to make the reader love the the antagonist as much as the protagonist. with that mind frame i believe you can achieve it and i encourage you to do so. it is more difficult but the more the line between evil and good is blurred/mingled/greyed, the more intricate a story will be and therefore more worth and entertaining to the reader.
respect dave. i have high opinion of you and cannot wait to see how this will develop.
p.s
i saw some people say they were dissapointed in harem, personally it makes me want to know even more and like her even more because you just added a layer of depth to her personality and background ^_^
I would have to say that I would be a little dissappointed in Harem, too because as I stated I hate to see good guys go bad. Feels like a personal betrayal(just how I am). However, as I already stated, I don’t think that she is actually going to be on the villain side, she’s just bored and spicing things up by helping out the other side for now.
I could be wrong and long term Dave has the plan to move her over to the other side, but in truth I doubt it because of her proud listing in among the primary team due to her presence in the… um… whatever that thing at the very top that rotates the characters pictures. In american super hero comics, the roster of a given team usually rotates like its a revolving door, which while it’s supposed to keep things interesting, I find that rather unenjoyable and at present has become nearly as predictable as everything else in the super hero genre.
Dave doesn’t seem to follow the style of those comics all too much though, so here’s hoping he keeps his initial roster somewhat sacred. Personal opinion anyway.
Thinking it’s early days yet, and we don’t know what Dave has in mind or, for that matter, what is REALLY going on right now.
For that matter, we don’t really know the circumstances under which Harem joined the team in the first place or, relative to this, when she started getting chummy with DM. For all we know, rather than a good guy going bad, it could actually be the other way round.
Very true, but then it is kind of fun to discuss theories and there’s a certain amount of satisfaction that comes from being right some ways down the line.
That is a good point though. Unlike some of the characters on the cast page, there is no indication as to when, why or how Harem joined the team. I could see her being a punk criminal type (she seems to have a problem with authority) and this is sort of her turning around.
Wait… Did you mean it was Harem or Dues who might have been the bad going good?
I was thinking of Harem, but the same line of speculation could also apply to Deus.
As others have pointed out, that Deus is a villain (or THE villain) is pure assumption on our part. Sure, he is obviously working to a different agenda (just HOW different remains to be seen). Sure, he has a bunch of classic villainry indicators – uncertain origins, mysterious scar, expensive / cultured tastes, MAJOR connections, gorgeous bodyguard / assistant, accustomed to ‘shady’ dealing. etctera.
… But for all we know, he could also be a thoroughly decent guy who is kind to animals, takes good care of his employees, donates generously to certain charities because he LIKES what they do, and so on.
Yeah, actually I think he is either a future villain OR the morally ambiguous “player” who sometimes helps the good guys and other times hinders them. But this could just be what Dave wants us to assume.
Am I the only one who went back to the beginning, before the extended flashback began, to see if Harem was still visibly around in the “present”? (Answer: No, she’s not shown in strip #4, not one of her five bodies; which isn’t necessarily indicative, BUT…)
. . . woah
True, but neither are Dabbler, Heatwave, Peggy, or any of the others.
I said it wasn’t indicative… But with five bodies, the odds are higher to see one of her than one of anyone else.
IMO, the last two panels were out of place and unnecessary.
Yeah, I can see that. I find myself being sure to throw a little explanation into the pages nowadays sometimes to maybe help steer the comments and speculation a certain way. Maybe that’s a danger of reading all the comments sometimes. I just didn’t want people thinking this just fell out of the sky without Harem offering something in way of an explanation. Also I needed that second to last panel so Deus could awkwardly slip his name onto the page. I’ve realized I have a bad habit of introducing characters then making everyone wait 6 weeks for their second appearance when they finally learn their name. But you’re probably right, in a comic book where you can just turn the page, I might have set up this page differently.
I like the idea of ambiguity. So I have bias in that area and expect everyone to not be a certain rigid way. That included “villains.” The “bad guys” aways think they are right. They are doing a service, doing the right thing no matter how many people they kill.
On one hand, I could argue that the last 3 panels aren’t all that needed. On the other hand, they seem to contrast Harem’s and Deus’ maturity levels pretty well. He’s getting inside info, while positioning himself to get off with a wrist-slap when she’s found out. (Remember, real-world moral standards for defense contractors are low.) She’s a young fool, acting out, and nervously talking like she’s big stuff. Who else is Harem talking to, for yet more “I’m a spy!” thrills?
Heck, with what ARC thinks of their recruits, Deus may be getting paid to “turn” Harem.
Between IQ, magic, and just experience, Dabbler probably knows what Harem’s up to.
I thought she was sorta breaking the wall in those last two panels. I got the feeling that she was talking to her fans, looking right at us and explaining herself. She’s okay with scandalous, but she won’t go despicable on us. I think. I hope. ;)
Daphne always struck me as a rabble rouser. Vale looks like what might happen if that pink haired girl from Lazytown grew up.
Is that a Hattori Hanzo sword? I would like to think so since tis the only sword to be worth more than all of a human’s organs.
Outside of fiction, I haven’t found any reference to Hattori Hanzõ being a swordmaker. But he was a samurai (of sorts), so, “The Hattori Hanzõ Sword” would probably be worth a fortune. But, I think you are confusing worth and price. That sword would be priced higher than all of a humans organs together… But to the human whose organs is in question, it is definitely not worth even a fraction of the value he or she put on the organs. Now, for his next of kin, on the other hand… well that depends on the family.
One thing I see a lot of is people calling what is currently happening an extended flash back but I would like to not that many books start at the end of what’s happening and only leave a little bit after that to happen and have the person explain what happened to get to that point, this is not a flash back in that the beginning is only there to intice the reader into trying to find out how they got to this point. I am not saying that that is going to be the case here but if he does end the first book at just when she gets around to the current time as you would call it if you were considering it a flashback it would seem like just using that style of writing. I personally think that the first four pages were there only to introduce the world, and personally believe that my opinion is validated by the writing on the fifth page admitting that it was the original first page. I am personally more interested in the fact that Olivia (at least I think it is Olivia) has joined an RPG group by then, meaning she is probably partially immersed in nerd culture by then, and she was just getting into comics at the begining so how long has it been, I mean we know this was done over months but we haven’t gotten through one day yet so this could last us upward of 60 years if we keep going at this rate.
Where I said not in the first sentence I meant to say “point out” sorry
I prefer to think of the first 4 pages as a flash forward. :)
So, some questions on Harem’s power limitations:
1. Do the bodies have a physical separation period wherein the extra body appears next to the first and then becomes independent and can teleport about?
2. When re-absorbing a body, can it just teleport into a target body, or does it teleport next to the body and then is absorbed?
3. Does combining the bodies cause physical sharing, i.e. One body eats and drinks until it is full, then combines with another, then seperates and both have the effect of having eaten/drank half the meal? Same with bowel movements, will this method relieve a full bladder and or lower intestine? If one or two body(s) is/are sleeping at any given time, does combining after resting reduce the toxins, from lack of rest, overall?
4. Or is each body seperate in this matter, so that an exhausted absorbed body, when separated later, will still be exhausted? (This does not seem prudent).
I was musing on this too, wondering what would happen if one of the Harem’s got drunk, what happens? We’ve established sensory spill over from physical input, a-la hive-mind wedgie, but what about things like alcohol, food, drink, and sleep?
I think I need to do another Dabbler’s Science Corner for Harem.
Related question: What happens to her clothing when one of her bodies is not in use? In particular, since this comic establishes the chokers as some sort of tracking/recording device, how do they respond to being shoved into hammerspace? Do they experience no time passing until Harem rematerialises, or do they record a formless vacuum during that time? Is there any way to get them back against Harem’s will?
Or have I misunderstood how this works, and Harem doesn’t actually have any hammerspace powers – all five of her bodies physically exist all the time, but they don’t need to all be awake at once, so ones she isn’t using just go to sleep.
Harem has five bodies, they all can share information and they can all teleport too. They also can all feel what happens to any of them. Like being a ditto in Ben 10 universe. Stub your toe and the other four also react to it.
Suddenly: consistent plot advancement!! (no sarcasm, honest :) I like the pace of this comic).
Also… but… I like Harem… I do.. :( Denial! She’s a Snape, triple agent! Must be… please?
Took me a second read to figure out Deus ex Machina… I am a terrible classicist.
Yeah, really hoping she isn’t going to betray Sydney and/or Maxi, really liking her and would be said to see her ‘eliminated in a final fashion’
Well I am sure Arc-Dark already knows…I mean what super powered Intel department is not going to have magical tracing spells on their own agents, for their own safety thus M.I.A.s don’t happen. As someone likes to personalize her bodies, tracking when one appears/disappears and its location/ last know location should be fairly easy I’d think. I mean as long as you have enough arcane power to keep it going as a constant.
Why do you think she left the choker behind?
so that sword is worth roughly 90 thousand dollars (there are really only 8 human organs that are worth money and lst i heard they average 5-10 thousand per on the black market)
sometimes it scares me when i know stuff like that but in this case it’s law and order or some show like that that provided that info
But her genetic code has tremendous value. How much would you pay for her gifts?
This presumes that Harem’s powers are mostly genetic.
There are many references to superheroes being somehow “new” – they haven’t been around for generations yet. I would think that none of the main cast except Dabbler had superpowered parents. Which makes it unlikely that they inherited their powers genetically. I’d blame recessive genes, but at this point there’d have to be some huge DNA conspiracy to keep superpowers on the down-low until just recently.
Frankly, I prefer it if DNA is left out of the equation entirely. Otherwise, we’re led to ask wonder about common ancestor of all genetic superhumans. They’d have to be fairly recent, evolutionarily speaking; if superpowers had existed for the entire lifetime of the human race, they’d be called “normal powers”. Bottom line: Superpowers would then be found only among descendants of one person. In particular, superpowers would exist mostly or entirely among a particular ethnicity. And much as I find the idea of racist superpowers hilarious, it’s probably the wrong tone for this comic.
No such metahumans could explain certain people in history like Jesus, Hercules and so on. Some good, some evil some all over the place or crazy.
They are called ‘super’ because they are ‘above the normal’ (in the same sense that superscript is above the line of normal text), but the phrase you were looking for would be ‘common-powers’ rather than ‘normal powers’
Just in case you haven’t played Portal, that line about the organs is an homage to that game. In the game there is a computer that is constantly talking to you, and at one point it comments that the Portal gun is more valuable than all your organs.
also that dude is totally and incubi
was thinking along that route myself,,, that or an illusionist himself or something similar
Uh, she forgot her neckband…
Thought that at first too, but she left it behind in her room (the bands have some sort of communication/tracking device, don’t they?)
They aren’t communicators, or else Maxima wouldn’t have to keep getting her phone replaced.
Maybe, maybe not. Even if the chokers do act as commo, there are a lot of things a smartphone can do that a simple microphone-speaker-and-radio set can’t. Also, the phone is probably a lot less awkward to use.
The question of wether the chokers are communication-devices or not have come up before. I don’t remember what the concensus was back then, but I imagine it was something along the line of: While the chokers easily could contain a short-range radio, it would still be quite hard to phone your mom with them. And also, quite likely monitored.
Not necessarily a development that I like, but it is totally in character with what we have seen from Daphne at this point. She is, after all, only 19, and has not quite twigged onto the idea that something like this which might seem a lark for her might have really serious and damaging consequences. Plus her idea that no prison can hold her makes her tend to be more cavalier about what might happen if she were to be found out.
Hopefully, given the light tone of Grrl Power in general, when the hammer comes down on her it will be more of a learning experience and less of a corpse-filled tragic nightmare.
Actually, Harem is terrified about what Maxi would use to detain her (the level of fear she showed when she ‘ported into the meeting room makes me believe Maxi has told her exactely what that would be)
no love of poignancy here i see.
having something truly terrible happen in an otherwise upbeat setting is soo much more interesting than in other circumstances providing its not simply gratuitous. if for no other reason than to keep the audience guessing. or, to mess with their heads. either way works.
same idea why in a darker story, if something good happens, providing its not just comic relief, it actually means something that it wouldnt in a story where everything just works out.
Harem knows a thing about swords, just look at how she is examining the letter opener in the 2nd panel
And just look at her face in panel 3 when her new toy got *double yoink*ed
Something I realized recently. Every panel so far has been in ther same afternoon! Sydney is due back at the store with the deposit slip. I wonder if she has a bank bag with the penny, nickel and dime rolls for the cash register?
The deposit bag was dropped at the bank during the robbery attempt (its the little blue bag in the middle panel). She did not actually get to the teller to do her business. Right “now”, the bank is closed and swarming with FBI agents investigating the robbery. The deposit bag will probably be collected as potential evidence. When the cops determine that it is just the cash from some small business, and rule it out as evidence of the crime, they will probably contact the business on the deposit slip inside and ask them to come and get it. This way, they are not driving all over town delivering stuff and they can watch to see if somebody actually might be part of the crime after all.
Joel: Event Horizon Comics. How can I help you?
FBI (on the phone): This is Special Agent Tillman of the FBI. I need to speak to the owner of the business.
Joel: I co-own the place. What’s this about?
Tillman: Yesterday, a bank robbery occurred. We recovered a deposit bag with identification for your business in it. Could you please come down to our offices and identify it and will give it back to you. If you could, please bring your copy of the deposit slip.
Joel: Sure, I can send the other owner down, when she gets in. Sydney seems to running late today, but I will tell her when she gets in.
Tillman: Sydney? As in Sydney Scoville?! Are you sure you couldn’t come down and leave her at the shop? We would really prefer that, sir.
I have to wonder what info she is stealing from him. Also, I bet those collars let someone know she isn’t wearing one.
I can’t believe no-one’s said it yet: “Mass Hysteria!”
ea
I’m wondering now if Harem might be playing triple agent. She put her cards on the table in the last panel, but given her willingness to use her looks, and her ability to teleport (and her codename), I’d expect that subterfuge and seduction would be part of her schtick.
That is a possibility. The intel that she leaked to Deus was (even he admitted) of low practical value. And her monologing seems a bit overdone in the last two panels. It’s possible that while she is standing there talking to Deus, she might be in a different room with an ARC transcription team (which might also be her!) and be receiving orders directly from the brass on what to do or say next.
Wait, what? Plot? Not people standing around in the same room for 30 pages? I must be at the wrong webcomic.
Hold me I’m scared.
I did notice the way Harem looked strange in the last panel of the previous page, but I didn’t think it was because of this. I did wonder why she looked so different, you’re not a guy that would release a page with such a big mess-up in it. So I thought I was just looking at details too much.
I don’t know, I’ve had quite a few screw ups. Mostly typos or forgetting someone’s glasses. An off kilter expression isn’t out of the question.
An DaveB do you know that “The Fly” is a short story not a novel? But it is appropriate. Is it a hint as well of coming attractions?
Re DaveB’s: “I thought I might have been telegraphing it too much with Harem’s semi-sinister look on the last panel of the previous page, but given the little variances in my art from panel to panel, and given that nothing like this has gone on so far in the comic, I guess it’s not surprising that people didn’t pick up on it.”
I think you do yourself a dis-service there Dave. KFox last week commented that she thought Vogue looked angry. Whereas I replied that she might be intrigued or cheeky. So we both picked up that she had a different expression to what you might expect in the circumstances. Given your aim was “semi-sinister” we were in the right ball-park. And, given Harem’s in the final panel above, I think “cheeky” is fairly appropriate!
In judging expressions context influences interpretation. What we were failing to do was disassociate her expression with the scene pictured, and remember that she is also in four other places, doing other activities. Any one of which could be influencing her emotions.
So, is Harem actually evil, or just stupid (or both) :) I’m thinking she doesn’t realize that Deus is actually a villain.
Neither, she is being open (I would hesitate to say honest) she says openly “cool playing double agent”, note not, “agent”.
Double agent, means, In short, she is telling D what she wants about Archon and Archon what she wants about D and she is flat saying it to D’s face.
Which is even more fun.
A ‘double’ agent, is an agent who is actually working for the agency/country they are supposedly working against, giving them secrets/information they shouldn’t be while giving false information back to the ones they are supposed to be working with (ie a CIA agent who is really an undercover KGB agent, a ‘triple’ agent would have them be a spy for Tasmania)
Ok minor nitpick here but shouldn’t he have said “in the loop” rather than “in the fold”? The first refers to intel and the second refers to a group. It just seems more logical to me.
heh LOL. god in the machine… always keeping tabs in things, on things and over them.
but seriously DA FAQ!!!!!! please no!!!!! not harem (she be a bad Bi$$H sorry listening to the hustle and flow soundtrack)
i concur with gamesman on this one. loop or in the know would be better grammar than fold. you use fold if you are talking about an congregation of worshipers.
Dave, one thing you have to remember when you’re planning out the villains: Villains are people. They have reasons for everything they do, and sometimes it can be for a simple reason,and sometimes it’s for a really complicated one.The best villains are actually main characters, people we’ve seen in the comic, have trusted, and genuinely like as a character. It gives us a sense of betrayal, and tugs at heartstrings in a way that makes people want to keep reading, even as tears spill over their eyes. it can be said that in order to hate someone to the full extent, you must first love them. The saying “The bigger they are, the harder they fall” also applies: in D&D, the absolute most evil villain is the Blackguard,because they were almost always a Paladin first. it’s hard to imagine how someone so good can go so bad, but when they do, they go -really- bad. Also, it opens up the options for redemption,emotional scenes when even the main characters are trying to figure it out, and give plot some major moments of ‘screen-time’. It can also sour a few jokes that had included that character, turning something that was funny into something bitter. :) just some idea’s to consider
Like for instance some guy thinks his pregnant wife is going to die, and in an attempt to save her winds up killing her instead, and then gets all pissed off and duels his best friend over a lake of boiling lava.
Nahhh, no one would believe something that ridiculous.
Not his best friend but his Master, the guy who taught him everything he knows about fighting to boot!
Oh-Behave was both his master and his best friend (it was the perceived betrayal from the best friend rather than Master {he already had a low opinion on Jedi Masters} that helped trip him over the mole hill)
Of course, there is something else to all this, now that I think on it.
Harem has basically split herself into five entities that, while not separate, have started to gain some level of difference from each other. I’m wondering if this moment is a part of that – where one version of Harem (let’s call it the Harley Quinn version) decides to do something that, while not illegal, is frowned upon such that another Harem wouldn’t.
Also, I realize it may be a tad late, but I wonder if it would have been a cooler comic this week if there were a version of Harem that we haven’t seen there, or that hasn’t been identified as one of Harem. In other words, someone has a line into ARCSwat, and only some eagle-eyed folks would notice the freckles and make the connection.
BTW, Dave, not sure if you check your Facebook messages, but you remember that fun conversation a few weeks ago about fountain pens? Well…. I sort of took that as a challenge. You want the result?
There is only one mind – therefore the only differences between the bodies are clothes/makeup. So you wouldn’t get mental changes from one body to another.
Ah, and how complex is the human mind? My point is this: Harem differentiated these versions of herself for a reason. One of those reasons may be to give expression to different parts of herself, different aspects of her personality. I’m not saying that other parts of her would oppose what she was doing (though that would make for a fun comic); just that they wouldn’t do it.
The establishing shot just confused me. It would burn page space, but the ideal would be about three panels: a shot of her removing the choker (with a suitably shifty look in her eyes), a shot of her setting it down, and then a vorp as she leaves.
Another way to do it: start with her in the Machina office, then end with her porting home and picking up the choker. That does it in fewer panels and still gets across the point.
Do all of the Harem instances wear a choker all the time? If not, why didn’t she just send an instance that doesn’t wear a choker? (It could be something simple, like she thinks Deus likes the way that instance looks. Or she thinks Vale does, if she’s interested in Vale, but it seems Vale isn’t her biggest fan!)
I didn’t think the last couple of panels were too over the top. Any comic or story will have a certain amount of exposition worked in unnaturally, and this wasn’t too bad. I guess if you wanted an alternative, Deus could have just said “Here’s a nugget for you. We will be introducing a new line of experimental weapons soon…” Something to establish that he is trading info with her, but the info he is giving her in exchange isn’t really that valuable? Eh, I’m not sure that is much better than what you went with, which is at least very clear and non-confusing!
Also, I like the design of “Vale”. I wouldn’t mind a filler that was just a poster of her in some cool pose, holding a sword or whatever.
If these are bad guys, I hope the next comic starts with Vale scanning to make sure that Harem didn’t leave behind any bugs, and only then they start saying the stuff that shows they are bad guys.
An alternate way to get Harem to do her exposition about being a double agent would be for her to take the opportunity to vent a bit about how she was really chewed out recently and how they should treat her better. “If they want me to keep all their dumb secrets they should treat me with more respect.”
But as I said, I don’t think what you actually did was that bad, and it was very non-confusing. There is a virtue in that!
*facepalm* Well, someone is an even bigger idiot than she seems…
Need to add Bester’s “The Stars My Destination” to her nightstand pile, it’s THE CLASSIC work on Teleportation!
(Granted it’s called “Jaunting” but Tomato, Tomahto, right?)
Pastel Oxford shirt with button-down collar, Shelby knot, and a blue yachting blazer. Truly this man is evil. And at some point in his life he decided he wanted to dress like he was a fratboy for the rest of it. Also, did his jacket switch from a three row double breasted to a two button single breasted between panels three and four?
Nope – can’t be the evil villian – he isn’t sporting a Van Dyke Goatee
Yes, yes it did. It’s his super power, CEO FASHION SUIT ACTIVATE!
If you mean the number of rows of buttons, yeah, I suppose it did.
Did you ‘fix’ that panel? Because to me it looks like the other row of buttons are simply ‘out of screen shot’
Even if it was intended to still be a double breasted, the jacket drapes more like a single breasted in that panel. Look where the placket lines up relative to his tie. Also, and this really is a nitpicky detail, double breasted jackets almost always have peak lapels and it has notch lapels in panels 2 and 4.
Well I just had to look up peak and notch lapels. I just googled “nice business suit” or something, so I might have mixed and matched some styles there. I guess it’s suppose to peak lapels, but yeah, I thought double breasted was talking about the rows of buttons, not the overlap of the two sides. Unfortunately I have to get cracking on the next page so I may not have time to fix it anytime soon.
New characters! Yay! Dexter Deus is one of the best, eh, “neutral alignment” names I’ve ever heard. This Vale person looks promising, and Daphne just keeps getting more and more interesting.
Better watch out, Deshantis. It’s all fun and games, until you annoy Max. Or Syd. Also, Sydney won’t stand for anyone stealing her limelight. I can easily imagine Sydney in a mini-comic staring daggers at you too, Dave. Have you forgotten that she’ll cut you?
Mmm… nope, sorry, someone who insists on being called “Deus” just sets off alarm bells for me.