Star Power 7: Bad Luck for the Starstruck!

[Celestia]

Wow, now that's just f***ing blatant. :|

[Traab]

Sure, Danica's way is the right one.
Because one swoop from Starpower and crime's gone forever.
No one could possibly try and use the resulting power vacuum.

Oh wait. The five families are the only criminals left on the planet.
Once they're "dealt" with all those goons and corrupt officials will immediately return to being honest citizens who don't do no evil things.
Go Danica! Murder the world free of crime!

There will still be crime, but if she guts the leadership, anyone who tries to take over the families will be far less capable of doing things in such a way they avoid getting hammered by the law enforcement. I get the feeling that was a lot of what was involved here, knowing who to talk to, who to bribe, who to threaten, and how far they could push before the galaxy falls on them. Doing this is short term chaos, long term peace. And be serious, I realize you hate everything to do with this arc, but do you really think that. even if she reached the actual good guys and they were willing to move on this info, the end result would be any better? At best we would have the same situation here, the families leadership gutted, rounded up a number of random crooks, maybe grabbed a few of the dirty cops. At worst it would have been a bloodbath because they wouldnt be able to project overwhelming power to a single point like danica can, so they would have fought back and it would have cost innocent lives. But no, crime wouldnt magically vanish then either.

[Celestia]

Well, if we're being completely realistic here, crime, especially organized crime, is a product of society, government, and law enforcement. Taking out criminals never stops the crime. Cut off the head, tear down the entire organization, and another will simply replace it in a few months. The way to truly stop crime is to reform laws and social values, but a comic about a super political activist is probably less entertaining than one about a superhero.

[random11]

Let's leave the other examples for awhile and focus only on how the comic itself set up the threat.
It's a rare occasion since it's one of the few times it was established before the arc.
One of the main issues was that people were brainwashed for years that the GD is evil and only the families can protect them.
There is a significant percentage in the population that saw the families as evil, but sort of a necessary evil.
I'm not sure what information was on that computer screen, but I would guess people began to randomly cheer the sudden destruction of the only thing that can protect them from being controlled by the GD.

Also, it was established over and over again that the only way to do it properly is just to observe, gather intel and do a sudden strike with all the information from all directions at the same time.
As fast as Danica is, she is not fast as an attack from multiple directions, especially not if you ask what she does AFTER beating them up.
How does she confirm no one is left to warn the other places while she leaves? How much time is wasted to tie everyone up? Does she even confirm if the place is really empty?
We don't know that because the time limit is 1-2 pages each place, but there are things you simply can't do alone.

[Traab]

Let's leave the other examples for awhile and focus only on how the comic itself set up the threat.
It's a rare occasion since it's one of the few times it was established before the arc.
One of the main issues was that people were brainwashed for years that the GD is evil and only the families can protect them.
There is a significant percentage in the population that saw the families as evil, but sort of a necessary evil.
I'm not sure what information was on that computer screen, but I would guess people began to randomly cheer the sudden destruction of the only thing that can protect them from being controlled by the GD.

Also, it was established over and over again that the only way to do it properly is just to observe, gather intel and do a sudden strike with all the information from all directions at the same time.
As fast as Danica is, she is not fast as an attack from multiple directions, especially not if you ask what she does AFTER beating them up.
How does she confirm no one is left to warn the other places while she leaves? How much time is wasted to tie everyone up? Does she even confirm if the place is really empty?
We don't know that because the time limit is 1-2 pages each place, but there are things you simply can't do alone.

Well we know that she has been fast enough to take down 3 families before the rest were able to do anything, the killers, the incestuous druggie necrophiliacs, and the martial artists, and she probably took down the first family she was originally working with considering how that meeting went, so thats 4 families gutted so far that we have seen. We did however get to see that yes the martial artist family did have some info about ongoing attacks. They didnt have time to confirm who was behind it before she showed up and cleaned that house too. As for getting everyone, doubtful, but possible. Heh, now im imagining they are looking at a selfie of danica standing on top of the heads of all the families lying in a heap under her. I mean, we can tell that she is in the picture, but its not clear what else is there. Im also imagining her using her light constructs to transport a starships worth of prisoners from site to site as she goes. Just round up everyone in a glowing white box of steadily increasing size, and fly to the next location.

[random11]

Well we know that she has been fast enough to take down 3 families before the rest were able to do anything, the killers, the incestuous druggie necrophiliacs, and the martial artists, and she probably took down the first family she was originally working with considering how that meeting went, so thats 4 families gutted so far that we have seen. We did however get to see that yes the martial artist family did have some info about ongoing attacks. They didnt have time to confirm who was behind it before she showed up and cleaned that house too. As for getting everyone, doubtful, but possible. Heh, now im imagining they are looking at a selfie of danica standing on top of the heads of all the families lying in a heap under her. I mean, we can tell that she is in the picture, but its not clear what else is there. Im also imagining her using her light constructs to transport a starships worth of prisoners from site to site as she goes. Just round up everyone in a glowing white box of steadily increasing size, and fly to the next location.

When the hero is super powered to the level she can practically do anything, everything is theoretically possible, but it has to be shown in the comic, otherwise it becomes OUR story.

I also find it tempting to blame the lack of time, but let's face it, more time wouldn't improve the result.

Consider the cultist part, the last one before the "need for speed" started.
One group entered, one ship left, not even a single panel on looking for other people in the vicinity of the building, what was done to the prisoners is unknown but no one stayed behind to watch them, no magical constructs to take them away, and from the flow it looks like they immediately left after Burke banged the leader on the head.
It didn't matter because for Mookie it was never important.

The incredible speed makes things more bearable, but I consider it more mercy killing than wrapping up a story.

[Vinyadan]

It's true that Danica isn't solving anything. You need a legal system to keep the peace after the criminals are put in jail, and we know that the ruling GD officer is on sale. So taking him out is an obligatory step.

It also isn't very clear what she's doing with the defeated gangsters. She can't have them undergo due process, so she's just tying them up, and leaving? And what will she do about the officer? Did she coordinate with Chief, the only thing that would make sense?

EDIT: By the way, remember when Black Hole Billy talked about watching Adraxian porn? Now it sounds way more worrisome than it did back then.

[Shogo]

That's not how that works. That's not how any of that works.

[Neoriceisgood]

Hahahahaha, I'd chalk this up to them rushing the conclusion but it honestly seems in line with how I expected this arc to end.

[Kantaki]

Posting the capture on Spacebook? Really?
I mean this could spell trouble down the line, but the comic's ending anyway it's Starpower, so...

[faustin]

Just me or does Danica selfie look extra creepy? And the way her teeth is drawn doesn't help.

[Vinyadan]

That's not the sort of page I'd have expected when you have just 16 pages left to end your comic. It doesn't really add much; we saw the photo and the reaction in the previous page.

Nice detail from Garth: the holopage is see-through, so the image looks reversed in the other panels because we are looking at it from behind.

[Traab]

Well, combined with the encyclopedia of evidence this agent has it should be enough if they can drop them off at the right law enforcement office. At least, enough for the purpose of fridge logic.

[Celestia]

Wait, are we just skipping the last family, or did we rush through them so fast that I didn't notice that we hit all five? I could have sworn that we only saw Danica take out four.

And yeah, dumb page is dumb. But also f***ing hilarious. This is what I was expecting, and hoping, the whole comic would be like when it first started.

[Vinyadan]

You know, if it were me, I'd probably have the Countess evade, fight a short battle with Danica coming out on top, and have a "that's all folks!" slightly 4th wall breaking ending.

[Kantaki]

Just me or does Danica selfie look extra creepy? And the way her teeth is drawn doesn't help.

I dunno, looks pretty cute for a undead abomination.
Wait...

Wait, are we just skipping the last family, or did we rush through them so fast that I didn't notice that we hit all five? I could have sworn that we only saw Danica take out four.

Let's see...

Assassin cult grandma check.
Cliche Mafia Godfather check.
Little Martial Arts Girl check.
Couple with a thing for dead bodies check.

Yes, it seems someone's missing.
Oh well, maybe that means the last family gets some prep-time so they're a actual challenge slightly bigger speed bump.

[Celestia]

I dunno, looks pretty cute for a undead abomination.
Wait...



Let's see...

Assassin cult grandma check.
Cliche Mafia Godfather check.
Little Martial Arts Girl check.
Couple Siblings with a thing for dead bodies check.

Yes, it seems someone's missing.
Oh well, maybe that means the last family gets some prep-time so they're a actual challenge slightly bigger speed bump.

FTFY.

I mean, it looks like things are wrapping up, though.

[Kantaki]

FTFY.

I mean, it looks like things are wrapping up, though.

Right. There was something.
Must've suppressed that part.
Probably going right back to it too...

[DemonicAngel]

And of course Danicas' way is the right (TM) way. as they say, Ez, gg

[Celestia]

Uh, pretty sure this is all a massive retcon here. Isn't Danica the one who messed up the plan and got people killed? Pretty sure everything would have been just fine if she had never gotten involved. But, of course, Mary Danica can't ever be wrong.

[random11]

Update

I'm preparing a VERY angry summary by the end of this story about the moral issue.
Waiting till the end just in case something drastic changes, although it doesn't seem likely.

How long do we have left for this lovely piece of work?

[Vinyadan]

This is page 9, so 15 pages, or seven weeks and a half.

[Kantaki]

Huh. That is... that.

At the current rate I expect Danica will crown herself eternal god-empress of the universe multiverse omniverse.
To everyone's approval and joy of course.
Who disagrees is obviously evil and wrong and bad and gets Starpowered away.

[Neoriceisgood]

Ah so the moral of this story is that ...


Actually, I don't really get it? How exactly was he like the bad guys? Someone help me here.

[Kantaki]

Ah so the moral of this story is that ...


Actually, I don't really get it? How exactly was he like the bad guys? Someone help me here.

He didn't want to do things Danica's way?
Or something?
Maybe?

[Vinyadan]

I wasn't expecting a logic meltdown that soon in the issue.

I am eerily reminded of an old slay where Dominic and Luna discussed fertility and how they didn't even know whether they wanted kids, then the ending was someone calling Dominic her dad, and then there was an edited panel with Dominic saying "I was right, you were wrong" while Karnak and the hell orc stared in disbelief.

[faustin]

Starpower's ultimate power: "I am always right. When not, is the universe the one who must correct itself."

[Godskook]

Well, if we're being completely realistic here, crime, especially organized crime, is a product of society, government, and law enforcement.

No it's not, not entirely, unless you're going for the trivial usage of "crime" as being "that which is defined as crime by a relevant government power", but since most people I'm aware of would agree that forcibly enslaving an innocent is still a crime, regardless of the existence of a societal, governmental or leo entity to contextualize, one really can't claim they're necessarily the product of those institutions.

Taking out criminals never stops the crime. Cut off the head, tear down the entire organization, and another will simply replace it in a few months.

This is only true in certain systems/situations, such as where the demand for criminality outweighs the likelihood+severity of the consequences.

The world-building of this comic is....not great, but it actually -has- covered this particular point. The system/situation where the 5 families exist is such a context that would not allow them to be easily replaced once removed(or else, the dwindling gallery of rival families would've already begun producing other rookie rivals to the fray. Instead, we only see 5 ancient hold-out families with no upstart rivals.

Additionally, since the Adraxees are an insanely -familial- species, entrenchment in tradition is a specialty of theirs while large chunks of a given family survive, including leadership. De-stabilizing these families by removing their leadership is a strong move, since -if- a new family rises to the fore, it will not have the same volume of loyal criminal members.

Or to put it another way:

The way to truly stop crime is to reform laws and social values, but a comic about a super political activist is probably less entertaining than one about a superhero.

This has already happened. Laws and general social values have already been reformed to better standards. All that's left is for these cancerous tumors to be excised before they cause any more damage. The Axiosis synopsis pages go GREAT LENGTH to explain that the planet was significantly worse before, and has be trending steadily towards the removal of the Crime Families entirely.

[Neoriceisgood]

He didn't want to do things Danica's way?
Or something?
Maybe?

I wasn't expecting a logic meltdown that soon in the issue.

I am eerily reminded of an old slay where Dominic and Luna discussed fertility and how they didn't even know whether they wanted kids, then the ending was someone calling Dominic her dad, and then there was an edited panel with Dominic saying "I was right, you were wrong" while Karnak and the hell orc stared in disbelief.

I'll say that, although I never considered Star Power's writing to be particularly great or amazing, this might be the first page that gave me some of that good ol' Dominic Deegan magic whiplash.

[Traab]

Im not entirely sure but I THINK the guy is saying he was working through agents, collecting info through barely quasi legal means, and in general taking forever while innocents were dying, meanwhile danica shows up and, before lunch, takes out like 80% of the crime families leadership. I dunno, that doesnt make much sense either. I would have to reread the entire crime family storyline to try and put it together and aint nobody got time (or desire) for that!