So… huh… Chiq is, like… a dude??? Yep. And that hasn’t been something I thought of yesterday, it has pretty much been the intent with this character ever since creating him. Don’t expect too many more details at this stage, but I will say that Chiq’s species were seen waaaay back in the History feature – here.
There’s no chance of Lyta suffering from an inferiority complex – in writing for her I just think like a Klingon! This isn’t the first time Charisma has been overly familiar with Lyta in calling her “darling” (see 2.07) but you shouldn’t read too much into it other than posturing. So Billy thinks it’s a trap… will he be right?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’ve mentioned Chiq’s gender before, right? I think I remember seeing it while archive-diving. So did you insert this to straighten us out? Also, it’s nice to see Billy at least recognizes what he’s facing. I really, really look forward to seeing Lyta and Charisma taken down a notch. Also, caverns? Limit the utility of flight, make ambushes easier. Smart use of terrain.
Chiq’s gender hasn’t been mentioned in the narrative of the comic although I’ve said it a few times in comments here and there, so this helps make it official. Very correct about caverns…
Caverns are useful, but dangerous. Charisma and Lyta strike me as being entirely willing to bash their way straight through walls and ceilings to get at their targets, regardless of the structural risks of doing so, meaning their movement would not be as limited by the cave environments as it otherwise might be.
You make a good point. On the other hand, I see them as being too brash to consider things like retaining walls. I can easily imagine a scenario in which they bring down the roof on their own heads, and I can certainly see Rochelle manipulating them onto that. And it occurred to me that Chiq can copy Rochelle’s intellect. That means he could have contributed to the planning as well.
So many possibilities! More details on how Chiq’s power works and doesn’t work over the next few pages.
Ah, I see that Charisma is admitting that she has weaknesses. Perhaps she’s learned a touch of humility.
I like the effect of Lyta’s braids blowing backwards; nice touch.
Speaking of second-stringers, is there a class rank? Is it known who’s doing well and who (if anyone) is close to being kicked out? (I wouldn’t be surprised if Jenna was on the equivalent of probation after her breakdown at Oz Magellan).
Well there certainly are rankings – some perform better at some things than others, etc – and with 3rd year Hamish participating in a 2nd year exercise to “make up lost points” it should be seen that he’s probably behind a bit!
I predict that Rochelle will defeat Billy using the power of baldness, his biggest vulnerability.
More seriously: how likely is it that Charisma will heedlessly attack Kaycee first, and that Team Green’s plan anticipates this?
I’m sure Billy has nightmares about Rochelle inventing a baldness ray!
We already knew Chiq was a male – he had to be in order to maintain the gender parity of Kaycee’s class: 12 males, 12 females.
That in fact is partially true, at least from my point in creating the characters for the class – I wanted relatively equal numbers. When I created Chiq in the first instance he was a she but about a day later decided to swap the genders. But overall Magellan Academy would not be so equal opportunity – if the best intake for a year was 25%/75% or even 100% one gender vs the other then they’d go for it. Also, occasionally they get “its” as well.
Quite ironic, Rochelle naming Lyta’s weakness. Does Rochelle grok that that’s hers as well? (Or is Rochelle perfectly aware: Yes, my intelligence so vastly overreaches that of the average cadet that I am unaccustomed to considering their ideas. Mathematically it is possible that one could catch me unaware at some unpredictable time using some thought process that had not yet occurred to me. However, given the impossibility of predicting this time, my intelligence is best directed at each situation as it occurs; worrying about a statistically insignificant possibility would be a waste of resources).
What does Rochelle have? Electrical gun? And while we know a taser will take out Charisma… what’s Billy’s weakness? I don’t recall.
I’m surprised they speak and allow visual contact before launching a physical attack. This will be interesting.
That is surprising. Can chiq copy more than 1 power at a time? They did just hang out around Maya. Maybe it’s an illusion.
More on the nature of his ability over the next few pages but I will say that the copying relies on proximity.
Rochelle doesn’t look like she’s holding anything to me. Isn’t that Chiq, standing there?
yep.
Ahhhh. Nice. Another Charisma/Kaycee confrontation!
Round 3 or 4…!
I’m moderately surprised that Lyta apparently doesn’t shave her armpits. To be sure, the problems of cutting invulnerable hair have been discussed in a previous comic.
Lyta has previously stated that it is against her impious to cut any of her hair, so presumably that includes leg and arm hair as well. It’s not as odd as you would think, there are cultures on Earth that feel the same way, if not necessarily for religious reasons
yes, exactly.
wow, bad wording!
i wonder why chiq wears the environment suit. gravity (his build suggests a low g planet)? temperature? pressure? atmosphere? and is it to protect him or his surroundings or both? and what motivated him to get into superheroing with that built in (possible) vulnerability?
incidentally, panel 2 is in my opinion the nicest (and least ‘skanky’) picture of charisma yet.
could billy’s new hair become a trademark? will his code name be ‘samson’?
incidentally, as to rochelle’s arrogance, if i remember correctly her encounter with lorelei seemed to mitigate it at least partially.
Chiq’s tales remains to be told one day hopefully (by then I might have worked out a lot of those details)… but I will say he was hatched, and abandoned by his own people.
Thanks – I reckon she came up quite nicely, I was surprised myself. Charisma is actually rather attractive in the right light!
Funny you should say that about Billy… I have been thinking exactly the same thing!
Yes, I think her adventure with MM has at least opened her eyes to that issue, if only partially!
Arrogance indeed.
I think Rochelle’s weakness might not just be arrogance, but rather that she doesn’t think fast very well. In the little story arc with her and Mindmistress, she became flustered and distracted by Lorelei’s sudden appearance and the difference between Lorelei and her alter-ego. It might not have been much time, but a few moments can be lethal in the hero field (super or otherwise). My interest would be to see how Rochelle would adapt to ever changing conditions, especially if her plans (I’m thinking she’s a meticulous planner) were to fail.
True – one needs to think flexibly and laterally… a weakness for her at the moment.
And Xmung? You do realize we’ll be bitterly disappointed if Blue team wins, right? I mean, full credit for a plot twist, but it’d still be a letdown.
I dunno. I could still totally see Blue team kicking their butts by simply powering through whatever stratagem Rochelle (and maybe Chiq, if Chiq is mimicking Rochelle) comes up with. And then Spence shows up to yell at the 21 losers that, if they’d thought to work together, they’d have had half a chance against team Flying Brick, but because they all went the individualist route and took each other out, they got picked off and slaughtered.
It’s also worth noting that, if team Blue stays out of range of Chiq, team Green has literally nobody with any kind of physical or offensive powers — Kaycee is powerless, Rochelle is smart, and Chiq can only mimic the smartness. While Blue has no ranged attack powers either, they can still probably throw boulders or something. So that’s one advantage they’d have.
I agree that the other 7 teams should have worked together to pile on Blue, but I get the feeling the cadets might not have actually known who got teamed with whom besides their own group. Charisma was guessing at who was on the team that sent the flare (and she mentioned cadets whose powers might affect her and who might be capable of creating a flare). Green Team would know the team compositions because Rochelle hacked the coms.
ah yes, but maybe the rules don’t permit teaming up…?
No guarantees…
Chiq’s ability is to copy other powers? Does that mean he is a super powered person too? Cause I really don’t see there being much point in that being a racial ability, used by all members of his species. Why would something like that even evolve?
No more than the ability to breathe fire, fly, read minds, etc amongst Earth humans. While I’m not wanting to say too much about Chiq just yet, I will say that his abilities are not common amongst his race.
i like the fact that you show the armpit hair, too often such things are discarded readily. good job with chiq being a male, i had thought he was, but 6 breasts, and everyone referring to him as she convinced me he was she, it is good to keep me on my toes. as everyone wants to see team brick being brought down, i want to see charisma save the day by using a cool head. so in other words i want to see bill and lyta getting taken down, lyta is harder headed than charisma, and bill still considers himself as needing to protect those with weaker powers (or none in kaycee’s case), which means he won’t be very good at letting others take on risks when the need arises.
Well that is a shocker.
Hate to get too personal but does chiq have a male genitalia too? Or is he like a sea horse and the males have the babies or is it like a penguin and the males take care of the child so in his case he would need to feed them as well.
Being a male he has male genitalia…. or what passes for it on his planet…! He was hatched which means your penguin analogy could be close to the mark.
Ok thanks.