Star Power 7: Bad Luck for the Starstruck!

[Traab]

Yeah, not sure how that happened. Ah well, it still makes more sense than this comic so I will leave it there.

[Kato]

I'm usually fine with the art but I wouldn't be surprised if Danica's weird misshapen hands aren't drawn that way to hide the orbs that should be obvious..

But I missed the date page and it's actually kind of cute, considering the usual level of writing.

[Kantaki]

This isn't bad, it's hilariously stupid.
What a waste.
I mean sure, most of them would never raise above the rank of cannon fodder, but even fodder has its place.

Also, why is this a problem for our "heroes"?
Not like they have to kill each other, just the actual acolytes*.
Besides, even if they don't have a way to alert Danica that it's plan B U time- which is definitely the case -she's gonna crash the Party anyway.

*That's what will happen, isn't it?
Grex will have to shiv the other dude to keep her cover intact.
Because raisins.

[random11]

Update

So all this mess just to hire ONE person?
HR will be furious when they hear about this!

[Celestia]

I can only imagine how much money they're going to lose paying the "cleanup" crew to take care of literally dozens of bodies at once.

Also, the term "acolyte" implies that these people have been with the family for a while, receiving training and education and such, not randos off the street for an open interview. The fact that the heroes had to be specifically smuggled in by the spy also supports this. Each one of these acolytes is an investment of time and resources that they are just throwing away.

Perhaps, the reason why there's only five families left is that the rest all went bankrupt from poor financial decisions and had to get real jobs.

[Kantaki]

I can only imagine how much money they're going to lose paying the "cleanup" crew to take care of literally dozens of bodies at once.

Also, the term "acolyte" implies that these people have been with the family for a while, receiving training and education and such, not randos off the street for an open interview. The fact that the heroes had to be specifically smuggled in by the spy also supports this. Each one of these acolytes is an investment of time and resources that they are just throwing away.

Perhaps, the reason why there's only five families left is that the rest all went bankrupt from poor financial decisions and had to get real jobs.

But if they didn't do this the readers wouldn't be able to tell that those guys are EVIL!!!
I mean murdering a random prisoner to get the job?
That's lame.
Every fast food joint does that these days.

[random11]

All that's missing is shark trapdoors, and the boss stroking a hairless cat.
Although it's STILL not as bad as most food joints, or Game stop

[Traab]

ITS A TRAP! The bad guys are well aware of the infiltration. The last second plan change gives them the chance to capture the spies before danica can be warned. If they knew their cover was blown they would call her in. But as of right now they are going to try to play along. That would be the case if the bad guys, and this comic, were done intelligently. They are well aware of the death toll (total) if they fight the star power straight up, so creating a general melee isnt going to cost her anything and it might give them the chance to turn the tables. "Star Power! I know you are in here! Surrender now or these spies get gutted!" But yeah, going by the way this comic usually goes, our favorite author watched naruto recently and was inspired by zabuzas backstory.

[Gez]

Oh no, Danica will have no choice but to transform and zorch everyone to prevent the carnage

[random11]

Update

Let's count all the stupid:

1) Now it's obvious her hand crystals weren't hidden, she should have been discovered with a single glance.
2) It was already known that trusting Danica with stealth missions is doomed to fail, yet they did it anyway.
3) The plan is to bring her into the room and start blasting, there was never need for stealth to begin with, certainly no need to bring anyone else.

[Kantaki]

"We are already off plan with no contingency plan"?
You lot derverve getting killed by the crazy assassin cult.

I mean Danica has a excuse, she's an idiot basically a war ship, but the rest of them?
They should be developing contingency plans for getting breakfast just from their line of work.

Also, didn't the Starpower transformation come with a uniform*?

Wait. I think that happened before.
When ruined that hymn guy's music career.
So she can control it.

...
That actually makes it worse.
Why stay in that slave/sacrifice outfit?
You aren't fooling anyone.

* I just realized I got tricked into reading a magical girl comic.

[faustin]

Wasn't the purpose of this arc to teach Danica how to deal with situations which cannot be solved by simply blasting the baddies? Like, you know, mobsters hiding their activities under a facade of plausible deniability.

[Vinyadan]

Wasn't the purpose of this arc to teach Danica how to deal with situations which cannot be solved by simply blasting the baddies? Like, you know, mobsters hiding their activities under a facade of plausible deniability.

Has there been any character development at all for Danica, since the comic started? I think the Void Angels have had more (with one being increasingly devoured by the desire for revenge up to the point of betraying Burke, and Burke instead deciding to reform).

[random11]

Wasn't the purpose of this arc to teach Danica how to deal with situations which cannot be solved by simply blasting the baddies? Like, you know, mobsters hiding their activities under a facade of plausible deniability.

It was also supposed to the the result of the pointless war arc.

[Traab]

You know, I just noticed but those smocks give danica an impressive amount of side boob. Its combining the housewife wearing an apron (and only an apron) fetish with some bdsm. I think I know the real reason burke is tagging along now.

[faustin]

Update

A den of trained assassins, members of a powerful criminal organization, and the only one who bothers bringing a firearm is the hero detective...
...which also means they didn't bother checking the acolites for unauthorized weapons or equipment. Any suicide bomber could have taken them out (I assume the setting allows small thermal detonator-like explosives).

[faustin]

You know, I just noticed but those smocks give danica an impressive amount of side boob. Its combining the housewife wearing an apron (and only an apron) fetish with some bdsm. I think I know the real reason burke is tagging along now.

What I have actually noted is that Danica's arms seems kinda toned. I wonder if she often hit the gym, or (small hope) if she has been actually training herself for the superhero sidejob.

[Kantaki]

If they had been clever they'd have attacked some of the distracted acolytes.
You know, instead of standing there chatting.

Also, what the heck are those acolytes doing?
Seriously. Most of those moves look more like they'd get yourself killed than the other guy.
And I don't think they're particularly suited to perform, you know, assassinations.

Sure, someone untrained, unarmed and in aware you can probably punch to death with those jumps, but a knife would be easier.
Not to mention sniping them or planting a bomb.
I mean the detective is proving to be a better killer than those clowns. Or would if he didn't go for the weapons.*

And those guards are even worse.
Not saying halberds aren't useful.
But in this specific situation?
They aren't useful.

*And not even in a way that actually disables them.
They're blades on sticks.
Shortening the sticks a bit in no way makes them useless.

[PraetorDragoon]

I am willing to forgive halberds as ritualized guard weapons for these cultists. Remember, they think letting everyone fight and pick the survivor as prime assassin is a good idea.

[Vinyadan]

I actually am liking this. Yes, their selection procedure is there for maxxximum mustache twirling, but so what? They're literally an insane murder cult. They are there because they like it.

[Kantaki]

I actually am liking this. Yes, their selection procedure is there for maxxximum mustache twirling, but so what? They're literally an insane murder cult. They are there because they like it.

I mean, fair enough.
Still, if your evil assassin cult makes the pre rule of two Sith and the Drow look sane and well adjusted in their methods you need to take a step back and reconsider your life.

[random11]

I actually am liking this. Yes, their selection procedure is there for maxxximum mustache twirling, but so what? They're literally an insane murder cult. They are there because they like it.

Mustache twirling and stupidity do not have to be at the same time.
Wasn't the original ritual evil enough?

Same applied to Previous villains like Hymn.
I liked his design in the start, and started hating him the moment he was acting stupid.

Be evil, be very evil, be evil just to proudly say you are one, but don't drop your intelligence to 0 just for that.

[faustin]

Mustache twirling and stupidity do not have to be at the same time.
Wasn't the original ritual evil enough?

Same applied to Previous villains like Hymn.
I liked his design in the start, and started hating him the moment he was acting stupid.

Be evil, be very evil, be evil just to proudly say you are one, but don't drop your intelligence to 0 just for that.

Don't forget the Countess. I am still trying to figure out the exact % between stupid and bat**** crazy in her head.

[Traab]

Don't forget the Countess. I am still trying to figure out the exact % between stupid and bat**** crazy in her head.

She wasnt stupid, she was totally insane. As for these guys, im guessing this is an assassins creed homage or something. I fully expect to see them land in a pile of space hay after jumping to safety.

[Gez]

I'm glad that our heroes are not in any danger, and so much not in any danger that they can afford to showboat a little while not actually doing anything to effectively disable their enemies.

Like I'm sure he could have shot their hands off, it's a super space setting I'm sure they have the medical tech to regrow hands; like 3D print hands with cloned stem cells or something why not, so they could do that and still remain pure heroes in that setting. But now, just break the haft of some hallberds. While all the trainee assassins are expected to be murdering with their barehands, the elite assassins certainly cannot attack with a shortened spear.

Fortunately the noise the firearm makes will allow Starpower to know which direction to take, and she can fly there in a straight path though the walls and floors, so she should be here soon.

I'm really on the edge of my seat.



It kinda reminds me of that Asterix story where Asterix tries to come up with a sneaky plan to infiltrate a building and then Obelix just punches his way in. Except that in Asterix's case, it was funny because the authors deliberately make the whole anticlimax thing as a joke. The readers knew the heroes could just force their way in, and the authors knew that the readers knew. Here? There's no humor. It's not an attempt at a joke. The authors do not know that the readers know that the protagonists are unstoppable forces that cannot be challenged by anything in the galaxy. The only thing Danica needed to single-handedly beat up the assassin clan was their home address, which the reformed clan gave her. They could have skipped the whole infiltration thing and just kicked open the front door while spouting one-liners from They Live.

[Traab]

All that being true, this lady is so batspit insane she might actually approve of their actions. "Oh, I guess they hadnt froze, they were sizing up their opponent. Good traits in a master killer. And their reaction to being targeted showed great skill without killing anyone they werent allowed to kill. I WILL MAKE THEM MY HEIRS!!!!!!"

[Vinyadan]

All that being true, this lady is so batspit insane she might actually approve of their actions. "Oh, I guess they hadnt froze, they were sizing up their opponent. Good traits in a master killer. And their reaction to being targeted showed great skill without killing anyone they werent allowed to kill. I WILL MAKE THEM MY HEIRS!!!!!!"

And THEN I WILL KILL THEM MYSELF! >:D

[Traab]

Ok, at first i was going to mock the stupidity here because how many ways can there be to properly hold and shoot a gun that are visually distinct from each other? But then I remembered this is the crazy killer club, they probably are trained to spin guns like tops while firing blindly to hit their targets because anyone not skilled enough to dodge the random shots doesnt deserve to live. BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!

[Kantaki]

Now the knifes come out?
If they've weapons, why fight unarmed?

Also, her stance gave her away?
Not that her gun isn't nutso cultist standard issue?
Okay, those guys probably add a lot of kung fu twirly gun juggling*.
How are those clowns dangerous again?
Besides numbers I mean.

*My favorite scene with that sorta stuff is from Mortal Coil (Skullduggery Pleasant book 5).
A assassin walks into a classic bad guy bar for intel.
Some of the resident morons decide they can totally take him.
So one of them opens by doing a very complex, most impressive gun twirling Performance.

Twirling and flipping, holstering and redrawing and finally throwing it into the air.
One guess what happens next, and if it isn't "the assassin grabs the gun midair and does evolution a favor" try again.

[Celestia]

I don't think the hallways being a maze really matters when you're just busting through the walls, anyways.