Sidekick Girl

14 responses to “Gravity XXIII”

• KNO3 on December 23, 2015 at 1:10 AM

  Ah, yes. Someone needs plastic surgery.

• JSmith on December 23, 2015 at 2:48 AM

  I think that was kind of his point: the shallow nature of an organization that focuses more on outdated ideals of beauty. Heroes are the tall, perfectly fit, people, while there sidekicks are the short end of the stick.

• David Johnston on December 23, 2015 at 5:27 PM

  Tact and politesse? You’ve seen their parents, right?

• Xailenrath on December 23, 2015 at 1:26 AM

  I guess tact and politesse are the first things to go after one’s face gets scarred.

• David Johnston on December 23, 2015 at 5:16 PM

  A full face mask would seem to cover the problem, but that hinges on the willingness of the Agency to accept such a compromise. Given how eager the Agency is to fall in line with comic book stereotypes and the list of comic book characters who survived disfigurement without turning into a villain pretty much starts and ends with “Ben Grimm” they may have expected this kind of thing from him and never gave him a chance. Then again the Agency may not have had the chance to offer a compromise. It could be the parents took one look at him and started making their plans to cover up his survival and disfigurement and he flipped out right then and there.

• Kelly on December 23, 2015 at 1:54 AM

  Yes, because heroes never wear masks, so that obviously wasn’t an option. Get over yourself, Declan!

• Black Rose on December 23, 2015 at 7:11 AM

  How will Mack deal with this???

• ReaderAt2046 on December 23, 2015 at 7:56 AM

  Ok, even conceding that Declan could never have been part of the Hero Agency after that damage (which may or may not be true), he could have gone the Vigilante route and hunted real criminals, or even just hung up the cape for good and lived a life without using his powers. Either would be far better than turning terrorist like this.

• Jordan on December 23, 2015 at 11:17 AM

  Alright, he made some very good points, but then he crossed the line when he insulted Mack.

• Tilly the Hun on December 23, 2015 at 11:49 AM

  Man I waited ALL WEEK and now I have to wait MORE this is so GOOD and I love it….

  I know, I know, not helpful, but everyone else made the really insightful comments for me! I just wanna drool on the story line and cliff hangers!

• ReaderAt2046 on December 24, 2015 at 9:33 AM

  I’d say that he already crossed the psycho line when he started pulling down buildings around people’s ears.

• Burnitall on December 23, 2015 at 5:04 PM

  Preach! I’ve had a problem with the Agency from jump it needs to go!

  Of course if he goes psycho enough to hurt his sister he loses my respect and I’ll eagerly await Mr. Bat II getting put somewhere uncomfortable to him.

  I have several Sibs and I can’t imagine any political idea that I’d value enough to hurt any of them.

• HAKKYOUNOTENSHI on December 23, 2015 at 11:32 PM

  Delcan makes some very real points about the shallowness of the hero industry. The fact that being a hero is less about ability and more about image is something that has been hammered in our minds by the comic since Day One. Jasper and Hazel who both have very real and useful powers are automatically relegated to sidekick, the way the heros CHOOSE their sidekick’s codenames, the fact that Mack is so popular in the city solely due to the fact she’s very marketable to the industry, and also the fact that Mackenzie is considered a failure by her parents. All of those things showcase the very real problems with this industry.

  It makes you wonder if the reason that Mack has never put Val forward for promotion is that she’s afraid Val will move on. From what we’ve seen Val’s pretty much the one REAL friend Mack has and is pretty much her only support system. (Either that or Mack just doesn’t realize that that’s something Val wants, she’s pretty clueless sometimes)

  That said, Delcan’s tormenting the one member of his family we KNOW would never send him away due to his injury (I can’t imagine turning my back on my twin and I’m a LOT more detached than Mackenzie is).

  One thing I did notice is that he called her “Kenzie”. He’s the ONLY person to use that name for her in the comic so far.

• Twitch on December 24, 2015 at 11:05 AM

  Okay people, some of these comments about masks and surgery are making me really mad.

  I KNOW Delcan is make-believe and it’s fun to mock the villain. HOWEVER, I have lived with someone who had massive reconstructive surgery. Everytime he looks in the mirror, the scars (the ones leftover from four-years of rebuilding) bring the trauma of the accident back to mind. This is from an accident over twenty years ago. Somedays, it’s a simple “Dang, I was lucky,” others its a full PTSD panic attack.

  It’s not just vanity. Humans communicate over 50% through facial expression. Even after surgery, there are masses of scar tissue. People are always asking why I hang out with such a mean guy. Well, that permanent smirk/snarl is from dead zones in the facial nerves. People are scared of him and assume things about his character just because he can’t smile right!

  So please, understand that villain bashing is all good and fun. However, facial scarring comes with serious emotion scarring. Mr. X? He told me a story about Mr. Y, someone with a similar accident. Mr. Y fell into depression that lasted for decades, later killing himself.

  Scars aren’t just repair tissue. Please be aware.