davebarrack
patreon
Grrl Power #847 - Patreon 2x
🕑 Added 2020-06-08 10:00:03 +0000 UTCThanks so much for your support!
To view the full-size version, left-click the image once, then right-click and open in a new tab/view. At least that seems to work for some people.
If you think about it, all superheroes (except some vigilantes) are there to maintain the status quo. Galactus playing mini-golf through Manhattan? Call the Avengers. Don't call the Fantastic Four though. Mr. Fantastic actually argued that Galactus (the guy who eats inhabited planets) should be spared because he's a force of nature. If the Weather Wizard used his powers to stop hurricanes, Mr. Fantastic would probably beat him up for it.
Sorry, I digressed. While everyone else is trying to keep Magneto and Hydra from taking over the world, (i.e., maintaining the status quo) guys like the Punisher are arguably trying to change the s.q. I say arguably, because murdering a bunch of bad guys is likely to have limited effect. In the area he's operating, sure, but his efforts are likely to be a minor blip in national statistics. Don't get me started on Batman and the revolving door that is Arkham.
Obviously, maintaining the status quo isn't a bad thing... if your quo is humming along just fine. If you're living in "The Nazi's Won" universe, or "Insert Dystopian Government/Reality of Your Choice," then the civilian population is probably champing at the bit for a little re-quoing. If you're living in a society that's doing anywhere from "Excellent" to "Used to be all that but is in something of a backslide" to "Not great but up and coming," having someone come in and stamp all over your quo is harder sell.
I have no idea how brandy snifters... I was going to say 'work,' but I get that it's about smelling the brandy as much as it is drinking it, and sometimes that involves a slightly heated glass. I don't know the etiquette. It's possible blowing cigar smoke into the glass is some sort of high crime against the haut monde. Though alternating between brandy and a stogie probably means you're not there to appreciate the subtle notes.
Actually, Max isn't chomping on a stogie. I decided to google the word after I typed it, and learned that a stogie is "a thin, inexpensive cigar" which sounds a lot like an unfiltered cigarette to me. I also learned that a 'corona' is the benchmark size against which all other cigar sizes are measured. Given the news for the past few months, that piece of information caught my eye.
If I had googled cigars before drawing this page, I definitely would have had Deus smoking a 'culebra' which is like three cigars braided around each other like a cinnamon twist.
Comments
akrasia
Since this is a fictional universe, perhaps there are other options. Better, and worse...
Kevin Wright
But, if *you* have the power to make the world a better place, shouldn't you, regardless of what the people on top want? As noted, the people on top are inclined to enforce the status quo because they are on top.
Tim
The sad truth is, if you are like Maxima, a very powerful individual who is (possibly unbeknownst to her) used to maintain the status quo, and you do your job for long enough, you *will* eventually run into someone who will seem to be able to make the world a better place in ways that you can appreciate, but that your superiors are going to send you after because they would end up losing (money, power, influence, what have you) if that individual looks like they are about to succeed. And then, you have a choice to make, quite possibly the ugliest choice of your life. Price of doing business. Now, I'm not saying Deus *is* that individual, but he seems like he *could* become that.
Evilhippy
Is it just me or do those two Agents look a lot like Mulder and Skully from the Xfiles?
Lex of Excel
Even if his motives are certainly not altruistic or for anyone's good other than his own.
Anti-No
Most heroes are designed to keep a 'status quo' that means a series can start at the same start every time. This is easier if the hero is trying to keep the status quo, and it makes the series more acceptable to the parents who often pay for it, not to mention government oversight (in whatever form it is in your country). Few governments are really comfortable with the population cheering on revolutionaries. The people on top wants the status quo, whatever it is, because it has them on top. I would say that significantly improving things is risky unless you have serious backing, or removing you has zero effect on what has been started.
Lex of Excel
As unethical as certain aspects of the status quo certainly are, it's not up to superheroes to change it on their own judgement. If Batman's villains keep escaping from confinement instead of being rehabilitated or contained better, it's society's fault. Expecting supers to fix societal problems is a defeatist belief that we can't look after ourselves.
Stephen Gilberg
The relevant TV Trope is called "Villains Act, Heroes React." But I wouldn't say that Batman means to maintain the status quo. The already high crime rate was the reason he became Batman.
BJ
I think that means he's a good antagonist.
Anti-No
Deus is so not happy about all of those distractions from him flirting with Maxima... I wonder if the alphabet soup have a number of 'interrupts' ready just in case Deus come with too good arguments? And I agree, the whole "there are parts of the status quo it's actually quite unethical to protect" thing is something many don't want to think about. Nice touch on showing its relevance.
FeyOne
Is it weird that I'm starting to like Deus? I'm not supposed to like him, right? But, really, all the stuff in this little bit of the story has me really starting to like him. I worry about that.
Rens
You might want to look into how much Yellowstone Park recovered when they reintroduced wolves to the area.
Michael Obert
Nice, insightful dialogue.
Rens
There's a difference between *stopping* Galactus from eating an inhabited world, which is something the inhabitants would probably like to see prevented, and *destroying* Galactus, when current understanding of the universe seems to imply that he's only a natural force but a *necessary* one. Keep dangerous predators away from your homes and your livestock, certainly -- but if you wipe them out you wind up doing severe damage to the entire ecosystem.
Justaguy
Hey post-nazi-win world civilians are probably quite happy. The SUB-civilians however......
Lord Crusade
At least he’s honest about, I guess?
A Patreon of the Ahts
Busted
