Grrl Power #1117 – Charge!
by DaveB on January 9, 2023 at 5:00 am
Characters: for_whom_the_death_tolls, harem, jiggawatt, maxima
Heh, okay, so a lot of you guys spotted For Whom The Death Tolls immediately on the last page. I mean, he wasn't hiding, I guess I was banking on the fact that there's a bunch of other people with hoods and masks, and the skull mask wouldn't make him stand out so much. I guess putting him back in a red hood and cloak was a bit of a giveaway.
Unfortunately, the fact that so many people recognized him right off will make Jiggawatt's actions seem tactically… well, dumb. But as I said, there's a bunch of bad guys with hoods and they all have different masks, and the number of people who can take even a moderately powerful arc of electricity is fairly low, so it's not the worst opening move. Granted, it's a little predictable for the person named Jiggawatt to always toss out lightning bolts, but it's not like chucking a flashbang in the 25×60 cinder block room would have been great for the hostages. Presumably these three are upper-echelon Ascenders, so pulling her sidearm probably isn't a significant threat either. If they weren't wearing masks, some chemical mace would probably have been a respectable and somewhat unpredictable opener. But when you can pump out a few terawatts, it probably feels pretty good to cut lose when you get the chance.
└ Tags: fwtdt01, harem01, jigg01, max02
McGrewer
I'm surprised Harem remembered his name correctly given that every collectively agrees it's a dumb name.
January 10, 2023, 12:44 am | # | Reply
Conversely, she remembers the name specifically because of how everyone collectively agreed it was so dumb.
I prefer the shortened "Death Toll" and am surprised it hasn't been used since.
Bharda
January 10, 2023, 12:07 pm | # | Reply
Literally nobody wants to give him that much.
PBS is literally the best he deserves.
As a person, I mean. His power set is very cool, legitimately, but he's an egotist.
…although, now that I think on it…he might also be the one person we know of who can actually hurt Achilles.
January 11, 2023, 4:57 pm | # | Reply
This crime brought to you in part by, the Boris and Natasha Badenov Criminal Endowment, your local PBS station, and you our PBS victims. To become a sustaning member please hand over your wallets, watches, and jewlery.
Brilliand
I don't think he should be able to hurt Achilles. There are lots of other ways to counter Achilles, such as teleporting him somewhere else.
NamesAreSilly
It hasn't been used since because *he* didn't like it. (Even though it sounds far more badass, and *way* less pretentious)
Although, to be fair, a lot don't remember his name, just remember that it's dumb.
(Which is sad, because it's based off a really good poem. Like two VERY common quotes come from that same poem, and neither one think what you think it means, but actually mean something way more profound. "For whom the bell tolls" and "No man is an island" both come from this same poem: For Whom the Bell Tolls, by John Donne – probably one of the more memorable poetry authors with one of the more forgettable names)
Alex van Zanten
1) I think it is a missed opportunity that Harem didn't call him Periwinkle Butt sniffer
2) Isn't she the most suited person to take him on? She can literally attack with multiple weapons.
3) Does his power work against conventional weapons or only against super powers?
January 10, 2023, 6:44 am | # | Reply
3) We've seen him no-sell flashbangs, so it seems it works against any attack.
He did not no-sell flash bangs. The flash bang worked as intended. As a distraction to make him look like a googly eyed muppet. :)
Normally flash bangs blind you and disrupt your balance.
It blinded him enough that Harem was able to put the googly eyes on him in the ultimate 'counting coup' maneuver.
No it didn't, she put them on him before the flashbangs discharged.
Will we finally find out if 'For whom the death tolls' is vulnerable to being tickled until his bladder explodes? Admittedly it'd work better if the person doing the tickling had four arms. If it does work, he'll be forever known as the fearsome Tinklebell! (Courtesy of Archon's PR department)
MidnightDStroyer
That sounds like a job for SCP-999.
Orange slime thing?
George Phillies
They may have force fields or whatever. Choice 1, inside: Drop the ceiling on them. Choice 2: Destroy the floor. (fails if you are in the ultimate subbasement, a poor location for jail cells.)
Nealend
January 9, 2023, 10:43 pm | # | Reply
I am a bit forgiving with Jiggawatt doing the dumb. It's been like a year or two or more since she last saw FwtBT?
It hasnt been 2+ years far as I can tell. More like months, not years.
Less than six months
Yeah. More than three months, less than six.
brichins
I'd say it's 4-5 months. Regular Army Basic training is ~10 weeks, Archon's may be a bit different but probably still 2-3 months. Sydney was non-existent on Alar for 56 days, that's another 2 months since Sydney didn't get to just skip the rest of Basic. Although at least a few the others in her class graduated the same day, so there's some uncertainty there.
Amazingly, everything we've actually seen on-screen has overlapped entirely with the above, give or take a handful of days. Sydney started Basic on the overpacked day 1 (intro, bank robbery, press conference, restaurant battle). She was still in Basic during the trip to Alar/Fracture and the Times Square battle. Basic graduation was only 1-2 days ago – Deus's invasion was being broadcast late that day, the away team went to Galytn the next day. While the battle with Darude and aftermath went down, the home team was attacked and is now following up.
Was mostly going by Sydney's statement at the start of the flashback, and the fact she hasn't ranked up (or earned the "Big Guns" title)
> Sydney was non-existent on Alar for 56 days, that's another 2 months since Sydney didn't get to just skip the rest of Basic.
The author blurb on page 1000 explains that they sped up Basic for her to let her graduate with the others:
"Sydney fell behind the other recruits due to her space adventures, but it was important from the public relations/perception angle that she graduate alongside everyone else, especially because she's basically the most famous member of the team with the possible exception of Maxima. So Sydney's been doing a little extra work here and there, getting some tutoring, etc., and has passed all her qualifications, even if some were by the skin of her teeth. (coughPTcough) Some of her written tests, like street level application of the law as it relates to supers is slightly more pending, but it's not like she's going to be unsupervised in the field anyway. Barring any additional encounters with wormholes."
Didn't have time for an ARChive crawl and forgot that blurb, you're quite right. So possibly under 4 months. Busy summer for everyone involved, I wonder if we'll ever see the weather change.
"Regular Army Basic training is ~10 weeks, Archon's may be a bit different but probably still 2-3 months"
Sydney 'time skipped' ahead 2 months because of what happened in space while basic training still was happening for everyone else, but she still managed to graduate with the rest of the class (like Voyager mentioned about Comic #1000 so I did not need to do any cutting and pasting myself thank you:) )
So that's about 2-3 months there.
Then add about another 3-4 weeks for what happened both before she went offworld and after she arrived back home on Earth, which winds up being about 3-4 months total.
So yeah, I can see 4 months being likely. Definitely not two years, or even one year.
Plus like Guesticules said, it would fit in with Sydney's statement at the start of the flashback, and how we have not yet reached the point where she is a corporal (moreso than being called the 'Big Guns' because that might have just been a one-time nickname there, given even at this point Sydney's definitely earned that moniker).
hm in previous page, I was thinking about mindgames that Death Tolls-ish hood brings. I totally did not expect ARC just forget about him
webkilla
I sincerely hope that at least one of the outcomes of this oncoming battle is that they'll start asking questions about how someone like Deathtoll could 'escape' and end up in the employ of these bad guys.
I mean, we've seen how ARC has managed to imprison Vehemence – but other supervillains caught previously have been seen out and about…
In https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-288-hearts-and-mind-fingers/ we see that they were able to claim being mind-controlled by Vehemence. Likely Death Toll and everyone else used that defense to caim not being responsible for their actions and get released.
Brett Bellmore
Yeah, I think that would have been an easier sell for the people who didn't come prepared with super-villain costumes. But I suppose "I'm just into cosplay!" might be a defense.
Still, you'd think ArcDark would be tracking some of these guys.
The thing is, they don't have to sell it. The prosecution has to prove it's false beyond reasonable doubt.
ya, ArcDark should have been tracking these jokers
Sir Annoying-knows-a-lot
Also, Mr. PBS/Death Toll can also claim Self-Defense. As Vehemence pointed out to Halo, he stood just by and did nothing. His Powerset is reactive, so every attack on Archon personnel happened when they attacked him. That's a legit self-defense claim, especially since all his counters had been non-lethal and designed to just take out the aggressor.
Anvil choked him and got tasered, then when she tried to land a kinetic-powered punch, he sucked the kinetic energy out of her. He redirected Jigga's Telebolt (TM) and used it defensively against Stalwart.
His costume at that time might have been deemed a crime against fashion…but Archon is NOT the fashion police, despite employing "Iron Cloth" Ashley.
You mean… people like Opal and Vektar?
Oh right, in the employ of a different bad guy
1) Vekter.
2) You misspelled 'Savior of humanity and paragon of a brighter tomorrow with a single time where he did something that fell short of that' :)
3) All praise Deus, amen.
Knew it was a stupid spelling, just wasn't sure which one (the rest of your post is meaningless gibberish :P )
May Deus, praise be his name amen, forgive you for your blasphemy, so that you may one day realize his beneficence. :)
1) Most of the people involved in the restaurant fight were not kept imprisoned, since they have to be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and Vehemence's violence aura precludes the ability for any prosecutor to EVER be able to prove that.
2) The only people who were detained at ALL were ones who already had warrants out for their arrest, or who they could not otherwise safely hold until they could be vetted about any existing warrants – ie, Opal, Vekter (who had some warrants out for him for infractions), Jabberwokky (who basically is on 'probation' or a type of work release for her existing warrants or sentences), and Vehemence (who is the only one that they can prove committed actual crimes with mens rea). The only other person who had ANYTHING in their history was the guy who had 17 parking tickets, but that's not a felony. It's not even a misdemeanor in most states. Most of the time it's just categorized as a 'traffic violation,' which is a civil offense, not a crime, unless your license is suspended and you keep driving (which is usually a misdemeanor, not a felony). Parking tickets do not usually show up on a criminal record check. Including in Texas.
3) Even in the unlikely scenario where they could have somehow gotten past #2 with Death Toll, the only crime he really committed was resisting arrest for what was basically an unlawful assembly. Everything he did was essentially self defense, or at least a semi-capable defense attorney could make a good case for that, given the nature of how his powers actually work and what he did or did not do at the restaurant fight. His powers are usually purely defensive, except here, where he MIGHT have actively gotten in the way of Jiggawatt's lightning just so he could activate his power.
4) Death Toll might have been a member of this group BEFORE the restaurant fight.
5) Death Toll might have not been a member of this group before the restaurant fight, but after the public nature of the fight, he might have been approached by this group to get him to sign aboard by getting paid well.
6) Wearing a costume on its own is not a crime in most cases. And the fact that the mens rea for any crimes that were committed are mitigated by Vehemence's violence aura, I can't see any reason to arrest anyone for wearing a costume. I have a Vault 111 costume with Pipboy 3000 (which works because I also have the app that you put in the pipboy via your smartphone) at home, but I did not live my life in a VaultTec vault to then emerge as the savior of the Wasteland, mores the pity. I also have an assassin's creed costume (complete with wrist blade and wrist crossbow) at home and , but I am not an assassin. I just employ them for people who use bad puns. I also have a supergirl costume and I will not get into why.
Also…. Vehemence, the only person who actually DID commit a crime – the actual ringleader of the entire scenario among 'The Red Team' – never wore any costume. :)
In any case, there's nothing to even imply that Death Toll had to 'escape' anything. He would most likely have not been detained in the first place since it's laughably simple to defend his actions during the restaurant fight given Vehemence's influence and multiple other reasons listed above.
"but other supervillains caught previously have been seen out and about…"
Until now, none of the people involved in the restaurant fight could be accurately described as 'supervillains' except for Vehemence. Although Vekter and Jabberwokky likely could have been categorized as mooks. :) Not sure if Opal ever actually had any warrants out for her arrest – she was mainly put in the containment facility because her powers made it REALLY easy for her to either break her boyfriend, Vekter, out with ease otherwise, and they could not possibly hold her otherwise to check FOR warrants. But as far as anyone could tell, the only reason Opal was in that cell at ALL was because 'her case was being reviewed.'
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-363-where-are-they-now/
(panel 5)
And while we've seen that the Ascenders do sometimes force supers to work for them against their will (like Concretia), it does look like Death Toll is working with them of his own accord.
Gromnir Il-Khan
I mean, for me the other big giveaway was the fact he was folding his arms like that for no reason. Death Toll is the only guy in the comic who was shown regularly doing that. Throw in the unusual Skull Mask and red cowl and there was no-one else it could be.
Still, now that they know who he is, I don't necessarily like his chances given they cracked the code on defeating him last time. Could be he has some new trick up his sleeve but it better be a good one.
His new trick is simple, but very effective: Working with a team.
Last time, he showed up by himself and made no attempt to work together with the other supers at the brawl, which together with the forcibly passive nature of his power meant he stood alone in the end and could be dogpiled by Archon.
This time he has team members he's using his powers to protect, so he can use them against individual heroes while the rest are distracted by his other allies.
That's the thing: you're looking at it from the limited perspective of a comic, as an artificial world, where the only things that exist are things that have been shown. But for the characters to be well written, they have to think and talk and act as if the world they inhabit is much bigger. Varia sees and interacts with far more people than are shown in the comic. He's not going to stand out nearly so much from her perspective as he does from ours.
Goliter
Tossing lighning bolts of any relevant magnitude would be equivalent to a flashbang
DeNarr
Hmm, clicking the tag for_whom_the_death_tolls doesn't show any other comics. Really wanted to get a refresher on who this dude was.
Service link:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-241-appellation-incarceration/
Yeah, had trouble finding his previous entries, but even his Who's Who entry has been altered
Ooo, going back to the last time he was tagged (not the last time he was featured), his tag was for deathtoll01 (which has 7 entries)
Mark W.
It does not make her dumb. Situationally she had to pay attention to her side and theirs and, honestly, purple eye dude was what I was focusing on until today's page. Anyone can spot every super if they're sitting at home examining each panel for an hour.
Chyre
Jiggawatt's actions WERE dumb. But it's an understandable kind of dumb. You don't have a lot of time to think in a situation like that, and pulling her default reaction of thunderbolts without realizing who she's up against is an easy mistake to make.
So this has probably been suggested in the past, but if Tolls power is to nullify any other power, what happens if he is matched up against Math? Given that Math is not a super, just very very skilled?
His powers are not against any super necessarily, but might be against any attack, super or otherwise. Just not 'every' attack. As Sydney stated, "Nemesis. It is a single power, which allows him to counter ANYTHING thrown at him." Not 'any power thrown at him.'
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-246/
Remember one of the things used to stop him at the Restaurant Fight was a knife in his butt (courtesy of Goose).Also a gun, fire and ice (courtesy of Dabbler). The trick is using powers which are diametically opposed so that whatever one power he gets from Nemesis can't counter two or more COMPLETELY DIFFERENT attacks on him.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-247-if-violence-fails-violence-harder/
Makes sense – otherwise simple physics could do the job.
Hmm – so a way to contain him would be to put him in a position where his power has to counter something continously keep him alive and leave him there – such as trapping him in a vacuum.
That would definitely be a good tactic.
The onomatopoeia is subtle but flavorful today; the lightning graphics on the 'electro slurp' are a nice touch, but I actually like the truncated 'A' of the abortive `zaap` even more.
Thought that that was a stylized 'P'…
I agree with you. I'm pretty sure it was a stylized P.
Awww, yeah I can see it that way now. :(
*Sadly removes imaginary upvote*
I am sorry for killing your dream of a truncated A.
*patpat*
It can be both, like that stupid dress from a couple years ago
*Replaces brichins's upvote*
\What is a supranym??? I cannot find it defined in any dictionary including my copy of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED all 20 volumes). I admit my OED is from 1988 but it is not in my 3 supplements (until about 2000 I think, did not check) either.
I did find a link for a website called supranym.com. The link did not work?
Is a "supranym" a word for the name of a super, like "Batman", "Captain Marvel", "Elastic Man", "Mantra",
"Ruin", …?
Pretty much, yeah, a 'supranym' is the name for what supers call themselves, kinda like a homonym, but for supers
The top entry on Bing is for page 970 of this very webic :)
Supranym seems to mean 'superhero name.'
Basically 'pseudonym' – but specifically for a superhero or supervillain, I guess.
That was the name was looking for, not 'homonym' :(
I still get a llittle chuckle out of the fact Ant-Man is an antonym as well as a supranym (it's an antonym when he's
Giant-Man ). Then again, my brain is weird.
I was just about to sent a ninja hit squad to you when I suddenly realized you were NOT making a pun, actually.
Nice. :)
To throw Jiga a bone, I was focusing on Miss Glowy-Mask in the back this whole time to the point of "Is that that goober in the skull mask- wait but Glowing! Something Glowing is never good focus on glowing!"
I realize this makes me sound like a moth, but come on when has not paying attention to Glowy stuff ever work out well?
Deanatay
Also known as the "Oooh, shiny!" problem.
The Froggy Ninja
Man, it's been a busy few months, and she also had to live through all the boring parts rather than just getting the condensed, high octane version.
For the record though, I think her best opening move probably would have been frying the local grid. The baddies already know they're here, and knocking out the power would cause confusion, disable any technological anti-intruder systems and probably slow down any non-teleporting backup.
Viirin
Um, actually, his name isn't For Whom the Death Tolls. It's Periwinkle Butt Sniffer.
So sayeth Crazy Nut-Smasher
I thought Sydney named him, not Maxima.
Oh wait, Sydney's done that too. To that guy with the shadow blades. Never mind, carry on. :)
Wait, when did Maxi smash some nuts?
She didnt … but almost not for any lack of trying. She almost did during the fight with Vehemence.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-260-adding-injury-to-injury/
They should really have stuck to calling him "Angry Muppet". Pick a pretentious enough name, get saddled with a ridiculous one instead.
I don't understand nemesis. Does it have to be an action that will cause him harm or just affecting him in any way? Like could I shake his hand or would his power automatically zap me or push me away? Could someone put him in a painless joint lock to immobilize him? Could he be lifted/picked up?
Basically, how is it triggered and what is the threshold for it doing something.
Anonyco
I wonder if Varia could punch him with impunity given her gestalt powah. When she grabbed the fire guy she was immune to his power so it stands to reason she would be immune to Toll's Nemesis and be able to just wail on him.
To be fair, when you're a human taser every problem looks like a…Like a…
…I didn't have a landing for that metaphor.
"If you're a human lightning storm, every problem looks like a tree."
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