Ace enters the fray
October 5, 2015
2:47 am
Spider didn’t want to deal with Tank’s tantrums either so she wandered off and built a hotel.
Manly Guys Doing Manly Things
Updated Mondays or whenever I feel like it
Spider didn’t want to deal with Tank’s tantrums either so she wandered off and built a hotel.
Some people make forts out of sticks, some develop posh living spaces. There are benefits and excitement to be had with the first group, but I’d have to chose the latter.
Did the comic die?
Updates every week just like it has for the last six years bruh.
Sorry, Im new to the comic. I didnt know
Nightmare fuel chassis. I’m guessing Spider has about as many human bits as the 80s Robocop where Tank is a mix of Wolverine and Adam Jensen.
Do they have cyberbrain technology in the spacefuture?
Ironically, he had more human in him than Robocop 2014…
Anyway, why is she talking like a stereotypical AI/Robot?
Because she’s only got like 75% of a human brain left.
Didn’t she get those upgrades voluntarily? She really must’ve been really addicted to those them to have a quarter of her brain replaced.
She wanted to be the biggest strongest sturdiest most efficient mofo on the field.
Obviously, they didn’t use Tipharean biochip software, or she would still talk normally. They can replace entire brains and still leave no discernible difference from the original personality or tendencies. By the way, there are several manly men in “Battle Angel Alita”, particularly the aye Olde English Crusader Vampire Lord from the flashbacks of his Hungarian lover (who is a main character in the later series.) He is/was a very bitter fellow, but as manly as they come. Guts from Berserk would be another.
I still think Figure Four would be awesome to see.
Kind of surprised she got part of her brain replaced… Was that just part of the whole kit?
Mostly to optimize the motor skills to keep up with the robot body and reference information more efficiently.
Makes sense. Thanks for the info, Coela. :D
When a dinosaur gives you a suggestion for being the most dangerous person on the planet, you take it.
http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1843
But wasn’t she talking like everyone else when Jones went to the future with the Commander? Does she turn that on and off as the need for more processing power goes up and down?
I could have sworn he was basically most of a head and a very cut-down digestive system while the remake had the head, hand, and basically all of his organs.
as I recall, original robocop was brain, digestive system and the skin of his face draped over a metal head.
remake: brain, face (same as above really), lungs, no visible digestive tract and/or stomach bits, so no.. not nearly all of his organs, just the lungs for breathing. Makes sense really since its cheaper than making some kind of syntetic lung to provide oxygen to the brain, while everything else such as bloodfiltration, providing nutrients and so on can be done artificially. Also in regards to the left hand… I think its just skin drawn over a robot hand, given that we see said hand go through all the same firefights and action as the rest of his armorplated chassi and, somehow, never gets shot apart, something that would only take one single bullet to do when said bullets are “fifty cal and up”, not to mention without all the tendons in the organic, human arm providing power to Move an organic hand, it’d be weak as all hell so a synthetic hand is the only way to go really.
So in the final tally, pretty sure original robocop has less flesh in terms of volume and weight of the organic components incorporated. (lungs take up more space than a stomach sack).
And I realise I just completely overthought the theme of this question, go figure.
I always figured the face was rubber.
Lets not forget, she actually WANTED to be a robot. Talking like one could be a conscious choice because “Fuck yeah, Robot voice”
Of course Ace ends up in an air duct! Seems a staple of super spies!
Aye! You know, I actually learned the word “cliché” from a comic where the characters tried to sneak in through the ventilation, and one of the characters passed comment.
That’s called “lampshading.” ;-)
I wonder if Spider put over-sized air-ducts in her hotel just so that Ace could sneak around in them when he showed up? He does seem to be her favorite, so little nods to his super spy cliches on her part could be intentional ^.^
Anything to stay in the suit huh?
Ironically, he is naked right now (what you perceive as a ‘tux’ is actually his skin ;) )
I’d like to have a feel of his tux then.
…Well damn. Normally a hotel would be more of a sweet hideout than a radical one, but considering what building materials she likely had to work with (i.e. wood and stones and mud and stuff), I think we have a new front runner for the most radical base.
Thought she converted the Survival Dome, and the Survivor Games was in a jungle in South America
That hotel will have the most awesome Wi-Fi ever!
But only two channels on the TV (one is political, the other religious, and neither for the party you follow :P)
But with the wifi you could stream.
How many Spiders does it take to change a chandelierful of light bulbs? At last we know.
You can tell a lot about a Space Future battle cyborg by seeing what she does when she’s bored. “Build a hotel” suggests a fundamentally nice person who could probably use going on a date or two.
Well, if you’re into ladies who turn into giant metallic spiders…
So long as she doesn’t turn into a millipede. Or worse, millipedes.
Millipede you say? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xabVhglNId8
… I’m not opposed.
If she still has working parts…;)
Fortunately, I am.
Or someone whose a capitalist who greedily pounces on any opportunity they can possibly find to make money…
Well, I’m at a loss. Where is Spider from?
Pretty sure that’s the Commander’s high school sweetheart, who was mentioned having gone “full Robocop” back in the strips where Rock took Jonsey to the future to meet his family (and deal with his boss).
Yup. Her speech patterns weren’t so… digital back then. I guess she’s had more upgrades since then, though it might also have to do with which parts of her processor are active while she’s operating those robolimbs. I dunno.
…I laughed way too hard at this. Way, way too hard. Touché, Coelasquid. You win again.
Can’t we all just get BEYOND SurvivalDome?
You may thunder about it, get mad to the max, but that’s a road no one needs go down, no matter their fury.
I thought I had Ace’s accent down before (I had kinda pictured it as being a deeper version of George Takei’s voice), but I can’t picture the words ‘bloody hell’ in that accent no matter how hard I try.
Darnit, now I have to re-evaluate my life choices.
It’s been established earlier that he talks like a British.
He’s basically their James Bond, they mention his British accent in another comic.
But which James Bond? I started off using a Sean Connery accent in my head for Ace’s voice, but recently the comics have made me suspect a more Daniel Craig sound.
Pierce Brosnan Bond, the most silky-smooth and charming of Bonds.
You know he’s the best Bond because his actual name means “to penetrate.” None of the other Bonds can say that. Closest runner-up is Roger Moore, whose name does double duty as a vulgar verb.
Might I compliment your taste in Bonds?
Though I can’t imagine him saying “bloody hell” in that smooth whisper.
I do curse my poor memory for not remembering that bit of the lore.
But truly Pierce Brosnan’s voice is superb. I shall cement this into my way of thinking post-haste.
Check out one of the Simpson’s Treehouse of Horrors, the one where Pierce does the voice of their new computer controlled house, he may not say ‘bloody hell’ but he comes close (specially when he ends up with Patty and Selma :D)
Yo Coelasquid!
As some have remarked (Burke) Spider does look like Rock’s aforementioned high school sweetheart (who went full robocop). Colouring will confirm or refute this assumption (meanwhile, the black and white allows for great speculation and suspense – im not sure if this is intentional, but it makes me really anxious to learn more!)
If this is the case, is it possible that we might hold one of the pieces for Tank’s “alpha male hangup” with Rock? We know insecurity’s the main cause of his general attitude problem, which the aggro juice boosts. Would it be possible Rock and Tank were rivals for Spider’s attention early on? (the rest of the comment rests on the assumption that Spider is said highschool sweetheart)
I’m not jumping to conclusions – sweetheart could mean Rock and Spider dated, or it could also just mean Rock had a crush on her.
We know brass further modified Spider (and Tank) after they got injured, but Spider was already modified of her own free will (assumption). Tank was maybe already augmented, but this is something we dont know yet.
If this theory is correct, then Tank’s augmentations could be seen as a desperate bid for Spider’s attention. Even if they were put into place against his will, the rage/immature insults could be a manifestation of Tank’s frustrated desire for Spider (or women in general) to notice him (“Hey, I’m a badass cyborg too now!”).
Seems like something an insecure person would latch on to, or something which would feed preexisting insecurities.
If there’s anything i’ve learned from playing God of War, it’s that even characters who are assholes/terrible people can have tremendous depth and inspire sympathy (sometimes).
It might seem odd for me to mention Tank when he has nothing to do with this week’s strip, but I remembered Spider’s face, and the connections were made (Spider – Looks like the high school sweetheart of Rock – Tank has been a jerk to Rock since childhood – Tank is insecure and seemingly craves attention – Tank has issues with women).
I’m probably off track, but this is something I like to do – hypothesize.
That, and building a hotel certainly one-ups Rock’s coconut-tv. But will it one-up the armored fatbird velociraptors on minibikes? I doubt anything will.
I’m sure what you have to say is interesting and imaginative but I think no one can be bothered reading it.
Mostly just rambling, I admit.
Funny name btw.
You read through like 12 pages of random disconnected paragraphs to get here. One page of coherent, linear paragraphs is not gonna kill you, so quit yer whining.
My favorite part about this is that Ace got into the vents and nearly finished navigating them before going “Wait a minute. Why are there vents here? I don’t remember vents being here.”
Vents are a spy’s natural habitat. It’d be like a shark swimming around for a while before realizing, “wait, this is Nebraska, there’s not supposed to be any ocean here.”
Did she really built the hotel because she was bored ? Because Ace does fit in the scenery so well – or is that a coincidence ?
Hey! I count 4 limbs! Possibly six if she has two “normal” ones crossed on her torso. Still, that’d make her an Insect at the very most. More of a Gorilla if there’s four.
Well, I guess it’s a better name than “Legs.”
Maybe she has the Grievous thing going where she can separate her limbs?
oooooooooooooooooh
My favorite bad guy ever. Cool robot limbs? Check. Awesome voice? Check. Cool swords? Check. Tragic back story? Super check.
I would totally do that robot.
right, well, good luck with that. Better work on being a lucrative allotment of her abilities
Perhaps I’ve spent too much time around people whose OCD makes them avoid people but this seems to indicate that, while far less abrasive than Tank, Spider has as many problems with relating to people as Tank does. Instead of participating in the games (which seem to just be the teams hanging out with each other), Spider isolates herself from the others to build a conference center. Calling Ace “D37-9E-A53” in robotic font reinforces (to me) the impression of someone who is losing touch with her humanity.
Between Tank’s aggro and Spider’s isolation, I can see where much of Commander’s aversion to body modification is coming from.
I know it’s irrelevant to any point being made, but I just find the “far less abrasive” euphemism/understatement hilarious.
However, I’m not entirely sure if Spider’s non-participation has as much to do with her not relating to people as it does with simply avoiding someone who’s unpleasant to be around (i.e. Tank). Coelas’ caption seems to indicate that Spider doesn’t want to have to deal with Tank’s rage/tantrum.
In pure MGDMT tradition, we see a mature/centred way to deal with such an abrasive person going all party-pooper – just leave. No need to make a huge deal out of it, no need to whine, just go do something else. In this case, Spider just goes and builds a hotel/conference room from scratch. Because she’s a badass (and having mechadendrites helps to build stuff).
Curse you and your Warhammer 40K reference! Now I can’t help but imagine servitors running around a gothic style hotel.
You make an excellent point. I somehow did not associate the caption in my head with the comic. This could very well be her way of knitting scarves.
A +1 to you.
Rather than 40k, Spider’s loadout and behavior makes me think of an alchemical exalt, particularly the “Architectural Army Of One” submodule which makes it possible to do heavy construction work hundreds of times faster but has psychological effects just like those depicted.
I like how she makes changing chandelier bulbs look easy.
The two most capable agents decide not to compete in any war games, but run a fancy hotel together. I love it.
Also, I may be mistaken, but I thought Maitre ‘Ds worked in fancy restaurants, and Concierges worked in fancy hotels.
Eh, I just figure most upscale hotel/conference centres have a big restaurant somewhere as their main draw. It’s short for “Maitre D’hotel”, literally “Master of the Hotel”, tho’, so eh, he can run around and get in everyone’s business. Mostly it just sounded more important than “Concierge”, like when people talk about Maitre D’s it’s always the charming charismatic person who runs the house but they use concierge more like “the guy at the front desk”.
Good call on your part. In French we usually use the term “concierge” to refer to the janitor. Being a “concierge” is… not very glamorous.
“Are you Monsieur Ace of the Grand Spider Hotel in Survival Dome?”
Yes, I know Monsieur Gustave was a Concierge.
And I don’t know why my post wound up here.
The big question now is if any team will be able to out-cool these two. Jet’s plump birds are running a distant second now, and they’re neck-and-neck with Angel’s jungle camp.
The raptors will serve as wait staff at the hotel. It’ll be like Cinderella but with little chubby bundles of feathers and claws trying to chirp out the chorus to “Be Our Guest”.
I love his happy face.
I love the way he uses British spelling for his accent.
That’s just me being Canadian.
Wait, is Spider still the same human? I mean yeah, all the guys are basically engineered to be flamboyantly badass because SPACEFUTURE!, but is Spider still the same woman emotionally? I know she and Rock Lobster broke up after her upgrades, but was that because he simply isn’t attracted to cyborgs, she had a personality change/removal, or is he just uncomfortable with “transdroids”?
Of course, this brings up the question of whether cybernetics automatically removes your humanity or has the potential to enhance it, even with mind uploading.
He wanted to nest and start a family and she wanted to be a big hyper-efficient war machine with no need for human limits or emotions so they decided it was best to part ways.
I guess it’s kind of like… dwarves volunteering to be golems in Dragon Age, it kinda wipes the slate of the person they were before and makes it impossible for things to go back to the way they were but on the other hand they get to be a freaking sweet golem that tanks around the battlefield and doesn’t need to sleep or eat and is basically indestructible.
$10 Tank will have a tantrum and wreck the hotel.
I’m betting on some kind of big shootout.
Maybe he’ll just go and play some pool. I’ve seen a lot of actively paranoid people with schizophrenia just kind of calm down when playing pool.
and he’ll feel REALLY fekkin terrible afterwards and everyone will spend the rest of the survival retreat helping him rebuild the hotel
Spelling quibble: it should be “affirmative,” not “affermative”
At what point does this ALMOST result in an incredible shootout that completely decimates the lobby, but instead ends with everyone agreeing that it’s just too nice to wreck?
Possibly with Tank ruining it all, anyway.
Man, those look like the BEST BALCONIES to leap sideways off of while firing your weapon!
I’m most curious about the story behind Spider’s name.
Also sweet job showing his character in just a few panels. Is he a robot with no concept of joy? Nope, he still has hopes and dreams. Just seems to hate wasting time.
She, Amake. She. But I honestly think that, like most of the genmod soldiers, her name somehow relates to her serial number and just became more and more fitting as she got deeper into cybernetic enhancements and having extra limbs. Also, we have met spider before now. Back in the ‘going to the future to talk about being gackt’d’ arc, she was mentioned as being rock’s former highschool girlfriend, and depicted as being addicted to cybernetic updgrades. Also, she had a couple less cybermods back then.
Rats, and I was so sure I read “he” all over the place. More egg on my face. But yeah, it’s the “somehow” I’m curious about.
that place looks so awesome…*sniff*
Looking at Spider in the last panel reminds me of Garnet somehow.
Hope it’s okay that from now on I’m imagining her speaking in Estelle’s voice ;)
This isn’t related to the comic, but I was wondering, what breed are Belzy and Coocy?
Blue Laced Satinette Pigeons.
So, B52 becomes Rock Lobster, A53 becomes Ace (guess he should be glad he wasn’t A55)…do the others’ official designations and familiar names match up similarly?
Some do, some don’t. Cate is C48 and Jet is J37. Angel is short for “Angel Eyes” because she looks like Lee Van Cleef, Spider is Spider because her job was basically to climb into tight spots and figure out how to get someone as huge and clunky as Tank inside, Tank is Tank because he’s the biggest, toughest, and most destructive.
Makes sense. Cool.
I like the way you think Coelasquid. It’s amazing
Ace, why you so hot?
I quite enjoy this line art/colour split update system.
I wonder why Spider joined the survival dome thing when she’s so disinterested- people made it seem optional, but is it a merchandising op developed by the brass?
Routine?
It just MAY even be required as part of their ongoing training maintenance; skills tend to atrophy if they aren’t used and/or updated occasionally, so this might actually be scheduled by their superiors.
Spider might be working on keeping her knowledge in architecture fresh (such knowledge is handy when on a mission to commit sabotage) & Ace still remembers the air duct configuration, so he noticed when something was different. Now, playing the maitre d will keep his social-subterfuge skills fresh…
You know you’re replying to the creator, yes? Telling her what her characters might be doing?
I hate it when people agree to a hang out and then go off and do their own thing because they didn’t really want to be there.
You’ve never agreed to go with a group, and then gotten stuck with someone really unpleasant as everyone else pairs off?
I think agreeing to go with some random group of people you kind of know is different from agreeing to a hang out with some long time buddies you’ve been around with for a long time. From the scenario in the comic that I was referring to, for example, Spider has been friends with these people for decades. They’ve grown up together. If she didn’t want to go surviving in the woods, she could have just said so.
So to answer your question in relation to the scenario I was referring to; no. When I’m with my buddies, I’m with people I like being around. We don’t all like the same things, so we don’t always do everything together, and we have never forced each other to go together places we know the other doesn’t want to be.
Ah… so Ace plays the Vic Fontaine in the suite. (DS9)
Interesting character.
I’d like to see her in a situation where her tech is neutralized, or Tank vs someone brawnier than him.
THIS air duct. Meaning Ace is familiar with other air ducts in the survi.val dome
So, wait, did he just climb into a random duct in the middle of the forest? Is this hotel underground, or is the ‘dome more than just what we’ve seen of it so far?
They call the place the Survival Dome, so presumably it’s a sort of giant space greenhouse with airducts inside its outer walls.
I just love that Ace’s first reaction to Spider’s affirmative response is basically “SWEET! HOTEL LARP!”
Is… Anyone else reminded of the Mangle from FNaF 2 in the middle panel? Cuz I was.
Wonder what Commander Badass/Rock thinks of FNaF? Eh, he’s probably seen worse. Jared would be scared out of his wits.