Strong Female Protagonist (webcomic)

[Icewalker]

Woah! Mildly surprised there isn't a thread for it already!

http://strongfemaleprotagonist.com/issue-1/page-0/

SFP is a stunningly well written and thought out comic, a modern day superhero story which actually hits the realistic ramifications of superheroes existing in our world, and does it better than literally anything else I've read. (It's probably comparable in social significance to Marvel's Civil War stuff, I'd guess?) Underlying societal issues can't always be solved by punching things really hard, and just because somebody can shoot fire from their hands doesn't necessarily make them a good leader or mean they approach issues from the right direction. As the authors describe it "SFP follows the adventures of a young middle-class American with super-strength, invincibility and a crippling sense of social injustice."

Notably, now's the time to start reading, because now that it's been going a few years, they've just set up a Kickstarter. Which is more than halfway to it's fairly modest goal. Did I mention they put it up this morning? https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...onist-book-one

[iponly]

Super Scientist types make consumer goods as well as superweapons, philosophy professors show new interest in Nietzsche, characters change their attitudes based on outside input even when it's not necessary for the plot... I feel like there's a whole genre about supers who've snapped and gone villain these days, but in SFP, people actually walk that line without becoming an excuse for mass destruction and the related fight scenes.

Personally, it's too good for me to ever consider comparing it to Civil War. Civil War was an excuse for a big fight with lots of punching and fire and whatever. SFP's big fight is the same fight for a better world that we all deal with every day. You can't throw a car at a corporation.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

Haha! I came here because one of my favorite authors Lawrence Watt-Evans just mentioned SFP on his Facebook feed and that he is supporting the SFP Kickstarter! I was just going to check the Webcomics thread when I saw this thread.

Time to binge!

[Lost Demiurge]

Wow! Just... Wow. And thank you for this!

That was a fun archive binge! This one's definitely going on my bookmarks list...

[Brance_a_Lot]

That was a good read, it brings up some good superhero questions that most superhero comic books don't go over. I think my favorite part is the mysterious past of Patrick

Spoiler:

Show

who is the ex-super villain Menace, and can read minds

and why he decided to help out and is still helping out the protagonist.
I'll keep it bookmarked for sure.

[Cikomyr]

Picked it up.

Really enjoying it so far. Solid deconstruction without destruction of the genre. It's actually asking the big questions, and so far, it accepts that it doesn't have all the answers. I loved Megagirl's rant about fighting crime. "What can I do that a good cop can't?"

When I'll have the dough, I think I'll purchase the books.

[LadyEowyn]

I love this comic. It gets to the heart of all of my issues with superhero stories, and it has great characters and a very engaging storyline so far. And the government's response to supers, and the public debates going on about them, is very credible (whereas most comics turn one or both sides of any debate on supers into caricatures).

Patrick's fascinating, I'm greatly looking forward to learning what's going on with him.

[FireJustice]

Dear OP, this is one of the best comics I ever saw.

Thanks a lot

[Eric Tolle]

I like that SFP also spells with a plot that comics rarely deal with: a publicly identified hero trying top have a normal life. It helps that supers in this setting are still relatively new.

It's also am interesting point that our heroine had a power set that really isn't that useful outside of combat and possibly disaster relief. I've done write a bit of thinking of what powers might be useful in a scenario which isn't about bidding breads, and concluded it would be difficult for super-strength and invulnerability to contribute.

[Fjolnir]

Spoiler: spoiler for people reading archives

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Patrick is implying that all the USEFUL heroes (with powers such as making plants grow faster on bad soil and generating actual harvestable electricy in usuable quantities were deliberately culled early on when the newly powered were new)

[Cikomyr]

Spoiler: spoiler for people reading archives

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Patrick is implying that all the USEFUL heroes (with powers such as making plants grow faster on bad soil and generating actual harvestable electricy in usuable quantities were deliberately culled early on when the newly powered were new)

Spoiler: My Personal Theory

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My personal theory is that these people were taken out for not necessarily "evil" reasons. I mean, what would have happened if human society had completely shifted to accomodate and use these people, so that we would become dependent on their service to the rest of society?

What would happen if we dismantled the healthcare system because we not longer have diseases?
What would happen if we shut down all power plants because we have unlimited energy access?

And then.. that person being mortal..

Maybe it was meant to avoid a Terminally Dependent Society?

[Ellye]

Many, many thanks for sharing this here.
I haven't heard about this webcomic before, and I am loving it.

[Zappit]

Just recently binge-read this one. Fantastic comic. The Feral storyline was just heart wrenchingly brutal.

[Dragonus45]

Reading it now, I would actually recommend anyone who likes it read a web serial called Worm if they like the way it handles superheros in the real world.

[Avilan the Grey]

Meh.
Well written... maybe. I find it too depressing, plus I hate the art style. (I don't enjoy looking at it AND it's an art style I associate with political comics).

I prefer Grrrl Power, myself.

[Temotei]

Another one to add to the list.

Spoiler: Certain "hero" and certain "villain" interacting (Issue 3, page 78)

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Alison and Daniel's dialogue at the end of Issue 3 ("If people were as good as you say they are, they'd know it's your choice to help them...The only reason their world makes sense is because you keep it that way. Do you really think they deserve all of this?" "No. They deserve better.") really got to me, especially.

I think it's because I don't think people deserve better, but I'm doing my best to help and make things better anyway. Incongruous idea and goal. Iono. Feels and stuff.

Also, the hover-over text is great.

[Avilan the Grey]

...Still reading through the archive binge.
Page issue-3/page-62-2/ and several pages after that does not work.

[Cikomyr]

can someone remind me who that "Hector" is?

[Shogo]

Pretty sure he's the guy that shrinks. And flies that tiny jet.

[DomaDoma]

Glad I gave it a chance past the first few pages; those first few pages looked like they were written by the Jack T. Chick of the political mirror universe. But no, actually the author is more interested in characterization and plot than pontification, so yay.

[ChaosPerfected]

I loved this. I had a sinking feeling as I realized there was eventually no button to go the next page.

[Alcibiades]

Loving the social commentary on today's page. This comic is great.

[Guancyto]

The first few pages were definitely on the odd side, and I'm kinda curious what the deal is with that superhero-but-not that shows up in the very beginning. (I mean, "you're a murderer, they were legal immigrants" is an odd combination, I was under the impression that killing illegal immigrants isn't any kind of okay.)

That said, it picks up incredibly well, and I like that they give their villains enough credit to be distinctly human, even when they're monsters. Definitely going on my reading list.

Does it not have an update schedule (a valid choice) or am I just blind?

[Alcibiades]

Yeah, I was pretty confused about that as well because it doesn't say anywhere on the page itself. If you look at the title on the top of your browser (what's the name for that? I have no idea) you'll see it updates Tuesdays and Fridays.

[Cikomyr]

It's sadly my general understanding that "being chill" basically means that. It's practically a socially-enforced SEP Field.


Btw, have you seen Chapter 2's cover? Hawt legs

[Shogo]

It sort of makes sense to me . . . Fire guy, Furnace, almost certainly moved to apprehend what he probably assumed were illegals. Problem is, this is clearly a guy that throws down with fire. He's clearly a short tempered **** weasel, so collateral damage probably happens with him all the damn time.

The, "they were legal", comment is something I would take as more of . . . Well . . . Furnace never should have moved on them to begin with. (And, being blunt, I don't think someone like him should be called in for ANY kind of petty crime.)

Hopefully I got this across in a way that makes sense, because I'm just about ready to crash.

[The Glyphstone]

I hope she goes for a therapeutic hate-discussion with the spiky crystal cancer guy after this. I like those scenes.

[Cikomyr]

I hope she goes for a therapeutic hate-discussion with the spiky crystal cancer guy after this. I like those scenes.

Wait. Did she did anything wrong?

She asked questions first, and the guy basically told her off. Then she resorted to a few threats and asked for other people who that guy was.

[The Glyphstone]

Wait. Did she did anything wrong?

She asked questions first, and the guy basically told her off. Then she resorted to a few threats and asked for other people who that guy was.

Maybe she over-reacted a little bit (she was choking the guy out with super-strength, not just threatening him), but I don't think she actually did anything wrong. But it's still on the edge of letting her temperament/powers get away from her, which was exactly what her and crystal-cancer guy were talking about the last time they met.

[Alcibiades]

Miles is obviously a scumbag and his friends aren't that much better for excusing that behaviour but that doesn't give Alison a free pass to resort to violence. She wants to be treated like everybody else but then proceeds to use her powers to solve the first problem she meets, when just calling this guy out in public could've sufficed.