Episode 282: An Unexpected Plot Spinal Twist (Guest Comic!)
What a treat! Today’s comic is brought to you by the multi-talented Dave Barrack, creator of the webcomic Grrl Power, who is collaborating with me on this current storyline.
Don’t forget to check out Dave’s comic, follow him on Twitter, and send lots of positive feedback his way.
Thanks for the awesome comic, Dave!
Discussion (58) ¬
Not especially relevant to today’s strip, but more to objectification in general. Also I thought it might amuse people here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelzarrell/an-artist-found-an-amazing-way-to-get-back-at-creepy-men-on
… Could just have headlined that whole article: “Woman has been on the internet for years, but never heart of Trolls before; becomes what she hates.”
I can definitely see his art style in panel 3 🙂
I think it is more a matter of his writing style than the art. First come the funny ideas. Only after that, and if it is contextually justified, does the art style become a factor. And then matching the concept and humour.
For instance, in this case, it is deliberately over the top. At Grrl Power we are used to seeing pretty people. It is part of the super power package. But with realistic clothing and poses that would actually reflect the actions being performed. Rather than to provide fan-service.
Oh dear. The boobs-and-butt pose…this IS serious!
Oh god XD
These past few strips have had me in stitches! You’re the best, Cohen!
haha…I like that she can’t stop doing the “spine-breaker”. Brilliant!
Or perhaps she can, but why would she want to?
and she got the little mermaid flowy hair!
I guess it is impossib-Oh wait!
No one would ever pose that way in a figh… oh nevermind.
Heh… Nice tribute to the Escher Girls:
http://eschergirls.tumblr.com/
Now I’m wondering if a Hawkeye Initiative reference is coming up:
http://thehawkeyeinitiative.com/
. . . Shouldn’t this guy be at a hospital somewhere zapping burn victims or something?
That would be a selfless thing to do and as we’ve already seen this kid is just a raging id. I liked this strip, though, especially with her brunette hair shading to blonde. Good touch. I wonder what he’s going to do to her little sidekick; let’s hope she’s smart enough to duck.
He hasn’t even left the sidewalk.
I dunno but i find his ..uhm..”power” pretty awesome.
We don’t want this “changer” now in our world because it imposes standards to people who can’t achieve them but this guy actually MAKES people look this good.
You’ve forgotten about the muscular he-man he physically assaulted and then turned into a purple midget.
No, the problem is that he uses it without consent. I admit, it is an awesome power fantasy.
He could do so much, if only he wasn’t doing what exactly what he wanted to do!
Yeah ok, but even GS agrees she looks better.
of course “Rabid Girl” ( whom i hate with a passion because she is a caricature to real marxism ) has nothing positive to say.
Addendum: I kinda like brown hair more, but i guess it’s the old stereotype of “blondes are sexier” ?
Ok, that’s a brilliant idea. +1 you, Iarei.
Funny! @Andrew Err none of those pictures are the same as the pose in the final frame of the comic. Having the butt nearly completely facing forward with the upper body twisted so the breasts and face are also forward is very uncomfortable if not impossible. Either the top or bottom being twisted to the side (like in your photos) is more anatomically feasible and realistic. Also, poses someone bends into for the sake of a quick photo isn’t very comparative to how someone would naturally hold their body.
Right, ’cause the “normal” Gyno-Star is flat chested and not at all curvy. ;D
Come on, you can never have too much of a good thing!
I’m doing it now. Doesn’t everyone?
Crystal tldr.
I call it ‘the Huntress Effect’. Seems every artist who draws her is intent on showing off breasts and butt at the same time…
People who consistantly say that final pose is impossible are morons or unfit people
Don’t have the bewbs, and not personally very fit nor flexible, but am able to turn like that almost every day when making a hot water bottle (our kitchen is very narrow, the sink is opposite where the kettle is, and stand facing the sink and tunr upper body around to get/use the kettle)
No you’re not. You can twist your torso some, sure, but not over 90 degrees.
Stand with your feet parallel and twist to look behind you. Getting your shoulders at 90 degrees to your feet is doable, if uncomfortable, but not at 90 degrees to your hips.
That’s the thing: it’s to both hips, and while panel 3 may be impossible (don’t have breasts big enough to check :() panel 4 is definately possible (try looking at your own arse sometime, fairly certain you will be in a similar pose)
Correction: “It’s not to both hips,…”
not quite – that’s not a 90 degree turn. thats well over it as we’re starting to see both breasts and her ass, that’s nearly a full 3rd of a rotation
It’s very uncomfortable, but I’d agree that it’s about possible, and I’m so unflexible that I can barely touch my toes.
The real point is that there is absolutely no reason to pose like that, except fanservice (for the people that don’t ponder how uncomfortable it is).
Oh, and for some reason I said barely, when I actually mean that I’m physically incapable of touching my toes.
That inhumanly flexible cat-like spine allows her to twist and bend in ways a normal person would have to be put into traction.
Yes, that is a common feature of the idealised woman. It physically excites me. Yay.
Steven Millage love you
you are so making me want to groin kick him more and more every day.
Do the little one next! =D
…sorry. >_>
This looks so very familiar…oh, I see Dave drew it! 🙂
I’ve been reading Grrl Power for some time now.
Well, DaveB did send us here.
This is a nice comic, **click** has been added to weekly list.
:3
I approve of this crossover.
As a chauvinist male ( by your standard ) i say she looks better.
Or if not at least she is drawn WAY better and shows more emotion.
Go Objectifier!!
Personally, if I see a model doing something that looks painful, such as crawling around on rock or gravel, with nothing to protect her, it makes me wince. So seeing the uncomfortable position displayed here is not an improvement.
Plus I find big artificial-looking boobs to be a real turn-off. Whilst I do find that ‘less is more’, clothing wise, as any male might, that is contextual. Out of a bedroom or beach environment (where it is practical for sunbathing) I would find that level of exposure to be distracting and off-putting.
Nice hair though. If he can get that wind-blown effect each time, he would be in big demand as a stylist.
Slight correction. If she wore that particular outfit sunbathing, when she changed out of her costume, she would end up looking like a weird panda with a sunburnt star on her chest. But, other than that, my comment stands.
I don’t think she stands like that, she nearly twisted around to show off her ass.
Either way she looks way better. And despite being a ‘small boobs’ kind of guy, i don’t mind *seeing* bigger ones.
The aspect of the transformation art that I like, other than the sheer comedy of it, is that each element of the costume is retained in the process. In particular the way that the star, Gyno’s very symbol, is twisted into a symbol of exposure and exploitation. Very clever.
Naturally he is going to try to change Little Sapho. As a self objectified cis-male stereotype he would try to change her to make her want him… because well duh.
Maybe Little Sapho will be only one able to deflect his heteronormative powers!
This, is laughable (the comments, not the comic): her atomic transformation barely rates a mention, but her anatomic pose is what readers have a problem with? o_O
Look, if you’re going to do something impossible, you have to have it be REALLY impossible so that it flies over the nerds heads. If not, it just wallops them in the face and irritates them.
Mystical space wizards? Fine. Sound in space? LUDICROUS!
Suspension of disbelief has limits. Why should people be supportive of objectification (or scientific laziness) in fantasy settings, just because they’re willing to suspend disbelief in mystical powers?
Sure, we can accept the space wizards because they’re important to the story, and they’re fairly consistent with the rules of space wizarding, but sound in space? Meh, serves no purpose, no reason to believe it’s caused by the force, more likely a result of ignorance or thinking cool noises were more important than scientific accuracy.
Have a super villain who manipulates every day objects to become deadly weapons? Ok, sure, magic. Have them target people based on their skin colour? Ok… magic racists, well they’d exist if magic did, so sure. Have them target black Americans with explosive watermelons and fried chicken? Yeah, no, because it’s meant to be entertainment, not an explicit reminder of the bizarre prejudices of every day life.
In this case, I don’t have a huge problem with it, since it’s mocking the way comics portray women rather than simply emulating it, but the usual idea that female characters should waste time and effort putting themselves into ridiculous poses for the benefit of onlookers when they should be concentrating on defeating that army of Skrull that are destroying the city? Yeah, that’s bullshit.
On the subject of sound in space, since they cared enough about scientific accuracy to make sure the sounds of the TIEs were properly Doppler shifted, rather than being an Ion Engine rendition of Mad About Me, I’m guessing it’s ignorance rather than preferring a cool sound over accuracy.
What bugs me the most is that on first sight i couldn’t see anything wrong with the spinal breaker, because i was so influenced by media.
As bad as this will probably sound, I’m half interested in what he would do with Sappho. Interested in a morbid curiosity type way, not anything sexual, that would be weird.
Laughing my arse off at that “now everybody will see me as a pair of breasts” line! Funnily, I’ve always been painfully aware of how perfectly-rounded and nice her breasts are, even in that one strip where SAH Mum makes her and LS look like adorable cartoon characters.
Just in case you’re wondering, no, I’m not a man obsessed with breasts. I am a woman obsessed with gloves, and thus with hands, so I rarely notice breasts or bottoms. The second thing I “really care about” in a woman (I’m a lesbian) is her lips.
BTW, already hating that twat of a nerd for making G-Star’s gloves fingerless! *livid smiley*
Anyone else notice Gyno-Star’s animesque (anime-like) eyes in panel 3? And Objectifier’s animesque “happy tears” face? I know that’s just Dave’s art style, but I can’t be the only one who feels like the style shift was intended as a nod to female anime character’s large… assets, and skimpy outfits. If that was a coincidence, it’s sure a lucky one.