2015-01-19
Posted on 2015-01-20 by Aaron

155 thoughts on “2015-01-19”

  1. Hypatia

    Leadership by mind control? Holy questionable ethics batman!

  2. Evil Lord Zog

    This is going to end well…

    1. Van

      It never does. The idiots let him get his shield up.

  3. Lenhardt

    Yeah, I count that as a form of rape.

    1. Shadur

      Up to and including the “This will be much easier for everyone (but mostly me) if you just stop struggling”

  4. KamikazeHindenburg

    Neuronet seems to have some serious pride issues, and possibly villain potential. I would think that non-consensual-mind-control would be a serious no-no for heroes. I mean Cranston was in such deep trouble for mere mind reading.

  5. surrealkiller

    This is like, seriously… Dude, don’t do that without permission…

    1. Ceronomus

      Are we certain that he’s a Hero?

    2. Linxan

      Yes. This. It makes me think of words I don’t want to have to apply to characters in comics involving kids.

    3. Linxan

      (… Or, frankly, to anyone ever.)

  6. MattStriker

    It’ll clearly turn out that both 84 and Phlogiston are far better people than I am, because if I’d been in either of their places, well…somebody might eventually find his body, but they probably wouldn’t be able to identify it. Basically he just crossed the line from “jerkass nominally on the hero side” to “needs to die.”

    1. Jonathan S

      Oh, he’d still be there when I was done – a bit worse for wear, to be sure, and with full knowledge that seizing control of a FISS without permission is simply not done, but alive enough…

      1. Van

        Sex change by sledgehammer comes to mind. Circumcision by battleaxe does as well.

        1. Psiberkiwi

          “Sir! We believe we’ve found what’s left of Neuronet.”

          “You’ve got a positive ID?”

          “No, sir.”

          “Then how can you tell it’s him?”

          “The uniform, sir. It matches the one he usually wears.”

          “His uniform? What’s his condition?”

          “FUBAR BUNDY, sir.” [F*’d Up Beyond All Recognition, But Unfortunately Not Dead Yet]

      2. Horatio Von Becker

        Myself, I’d just destroy every one of his power boosting suits. Or have him arrested and sent to the Birdcage.

        1. James

          Heh someone else reads Worm? Nice.

        2. Mr. Bawkbagawk

          so glad I wasnt the only one who got that reference.

        3. Jerden

          There are two type of people. People who’ve read Worm, and people who should.
          I’m in the first group. I really want to read it again, but there’s just so many other things…

        4. Golnor

          Could someone throw up a link to the worm in question? Googling worm led me nowhere.

        5. Gillsing

          Here you go, Golnor: https://parahumans.wordpress.com/

          I found that site by googling for “worm birdcage”, which led me to the wikia, which led me to the actual site.

        6. not-vista

          except that means he’ll get out when scion attacks- only to get killed, or worse, kephri’d

        7. Kaian

          I wish to thank you. Your comments here lead me to a very wonderful story that deserves every ounce of praise.

      3. Sweeper

        Let’s not forget that 84 is a minor. “Coordinating” Pilostigon against her will is bad enough which could probably land him in jail if she files charges. But doing that to a child…? If 84 doesn’t retaliate, I’m willing to bet Veles will make sure just deserts are served with a side of humiliation as is the wont of a trickster.

        1. Van

          Sex change and making him into a small child and forcing him to grow up as a little girl and attend PS238?

    2. Yhelta

      Looks to me like someone just volunteered to be the nail to 84’s hammer…

      1. Van

        A #84 noogie?

    3. Nobody

      If He already dominated you once while you were fighting him, I’m not betting on your chances of mental resistance if your trying to attack him the next time.

      1. Mechwarrior

        Wait until he’s not expecting it, then give him a case of analcephalization.

      2. Yhelta

        Judging by his irritation at being fought, I’d say it would be effective if they were to put all their effort into resisting him.

        1. ThatGuy

          There is a difference between resisting his attempt to control you as you just try to resist and making a shot to beat him up as he gets a very clear idea on what you are going to do to him when you get your hands on him.

          Fear is not an illusion. It’s is just a warning of the great pain that is about to come.

        2. Mr. Bawkbagawk

          “Fear is the mind killer”

      3. MattStriker

        FISS means the speed to strike from beyond visual range before the target can react and the strength for a guaranteed one-hit-kill on anybody without some form of superhuman toughness. If somebody with that powerset wants an opponent dead, that opponent IS dead unless they’re playing in an even higher league. Granted, that’ll never come into play in PS238 because it’s still a pretty light-hearted affectionate parody of the superhero genre, and it doesn’t show up often in “serious” comics because it’d have serious story-breaker potential. Works like Worm and other deconstructions of the genre do often demonstrate exactly how nasty it can get, though.

        1. Horatio Von Becker

          Thing is, I’m not actually sure 84 has that level of power. Forak certainly doesn’t, but there is a long way between him and Atlas. Mr. Extraordinary was probably not a lot weaker than Julie, and I seem to recall that his running speed, at least, capped out at only a bit higher than the locomotives of the day. From this reasonably safe guesswork we can conclude that while a good fraction of FISS holders have the ability to outstrip a normal jet, it takes them time to build up that speed.

          Applying yet more real world logic* this creates the obvious conclusion that they would take a comparable amount of time to slow down as to speed up, and so FISS battles would take on a dimension that would actually be a lot more interesting to experience than to watch.**

          *Because I’m a nerd. If you dislike logic in your superhero comics, go read Nextwave. I’ve heard that one fits the bill.
          **Other than actually having superpowers.

        2. The_Rippy_One

          Well, we do know that she out-sped the local speedster (on a linear to non-linear advantage, but still), and the track included a street and a park, so we are probably talking 0-60 in under a minute, at least, since the time trial lasted a minute or so, and packing that much terrain into less than a mile is tricky. And she did stop fairly quickly post race, when she was “sprint” flying for the button, so her deceleration is pretty solid…

        3. Brian

          0-60 in a minute is pretty slow. A good car does it in under 10 seconds. I am thinking you meant either 0-60 in a second or 0-600 in a minute which either one is probably in 84s abilities/

        4. MattStriker

          Steam Locomotive speed would be quite adequate for what I was talking about, actually. Probably overkill already. And as The_Rippy_One pointed out, we do have some evidence that Julie’s pretty damn fast.

        5. Horatio Von Becker

          Fair enough, but you can see steam locomotives coming. Now, avoiding a FISS who wants you dead without some serious mobility yourself would take a lot, but the real bit I was objecting to was the “before the target can react” bit. A strong FISS can one hit kill any normal human, and probably most of the powered community, unless they have something like Mantium armor, but would have quite a bit more trouble with a crowd. They just don’t have area attacks, and they can’t be everywhere at once.

          Meaning that FISS are actually precision powers. Heh.

        6. MattStriker

          It depends on the terrain, but in an urban environment, for example, that kind of speed would mean that you definitely could strike from cover before a human could reasonably react. Let’s give the target a generous (because it assumes the target will immediately react in the correct way) 250ms as a minimum reaction delay. At 100 km/h (a reasonable speed assumption for a super and probably on the low end of the scale), that means you’ll cover 7 meters in that time…enough to go from outside of the target’s view to striking distance. On a wide-open plain it’s a lot harder, but as long as there is some form of cover available, my point holds.

        7. HOVGM

          If you really want to get good info on Julies power level, HERO GAMES has a PS238 source book, with write up an all the kids. its a blast just to read even if you do not play Hero, and Arron provided some of the artwork. http://www.herogames.com

        8. Horatio Von Becker

          Only if they can get that fast from cover. But most of them probably can.

      4. Christopher

        No. He flat footed them while they were distracted by the actuall villain.
        If they got all his attention to resiting him, they will be able to. Plus it will be hard for him to focus on anything once one of them lands a hit.

  7. luagha

    Most people don’t take too kindly to mind control, no. Big difference from ‘co-ordinating’ to ‘taking over.’

    1. Nightmask

      Definitely. It’s a monumental faux pas to forcibly take control of people like that rather than ask and have them agree to it. You need a situation way more dire, approaching Godzilla Threshold, before you forcibly mind-control like Neuronet just did and this is way way below that.

      1. Jerden

        Also, I doubt that he knows how to use their powers better than they do. Not only is he creepy and controlling, but he’s probably useless as well. Not a good combo, because people tend to not want you around.

        1. Nightmask

          Well it’s certainly unfortunate implications territory that he’s only body-controlling the two females instead of trying to force-link everyone.

        2. The_Rippy_One

          I think you are right…and I think the implications are intentional.

  8. TheDorkKnight

    Nnnnnnnnnnnnope nope nope nope. Fishbowl can officially take a flying leap off a cliff WITHOUT his gear and WITH a sack of rocks.

  9. Shazam

    Well bubble head is now in the lead for lead A-hole out of the bunch

    1. David Nuttall

      I would say the tall lady may instigate a disemballment on him after she recovers from the beating she takes because Bubble-Brain has not idea how to use her powers effectively.

  10. Hangwind

    Okay, no. I had thought that Bubbles there was a jerk but this is just unacceptable. You NEVER EVER take control of a teammate without permission-barring them being in immediate mortal danger.

  11. ByTheFarmstead

    While he should have floated that ahead of time and could be very abusive, I suspect its a more C&C operation. I like the remain seated line…

    1. ByTheFarmstead

      On second thought, IF he gets smacked and apolologizes massively, he gets to live. But his own team are adults and can give consent. On no way did he even allow time for consent. I hope the feedback and utter trainwreck nails him the most.

  12. Sabreur

    If he can read minds, does he know what they’re going to do to him when this is over?

    1. Van

      Stun and run most likely.

  13. Kaian

    Yeah, that stunt just lost him all his benefit of the doubt. . .

    1. Me-me

      Well put.

  14. CraigR

    There’s coordinating (showing them plans that allow them to work together to maximum effect) and there what he’s doing, which is using the ladies as RC drones while he sits a safe distance away. I bet the coward didn’t even try to touch Rastov’s mind before doing this, just going for what he considered to be the “soft targets”.

    1. Wanderer

      To be entirely fair:

      1. Co-ordination of the type you describe would actually make them *less* effective in combat, as they’d have to use precious thought time to evaluate the plans he was sending them. Not that I *like* what he’s doing, but it’s efficient.

      2. Given he seems to have trouble getting hold of magic types, he likely couldn’t get near Rastov. He’s likely doing what, as someone else pointed out, works with his team. Unfortunately, he’s being (ironically) thoughtless in his actions. (And he’s likely to be Rastov’s next target. Mind control is well-known in magic…)

      1. roguebfl

        You know what’s he’s doing is typically called telepathic rape?

        Efficiency isn’t an excuse.

        1. bt109

          Wanderer wasn’t excusing the behavior at all. Many morally unconscionable things have the advantage of efficiency. One does not excuse the other.

        2. Dorcus

          The fact his targets are female makes it that much more obvious and terrible.

        3. Wanderer

          No, it isn’t. As I said:

          “Not that I *like* what he’s doing, but it’s efficient.”

          In other words, and to make sure you understand me this time: He’s still, to give it the kindest word possible, a jerk (and I’m in public, or there would be a lot more and shorter words there), but I can dimly see where he thinks he has a good idea. He *doesn’t*, mind…

        4. Van

          Neither will they mind expressing to him their displeasure.

  15. Tom Gwynn

    This is so wrong on so many levels I don’t even know where to start. Hopefully 84’s experience with the touch-telepath Beryl will help her fight off Neuronet, once she gets over the shock of being taken over. Hopefully she’s also had lessons in resisting psychic domination as part of the curriculum at ps238. Of course, what really worrisome is Phlogiston’s warning that her powers aren’t easy to control… and now she has an amateur in the driver’s seat. 🙁

  16. Joe

    “Girl”. Not “84”, but simply “Girl”.

    He most assuredly deserves the butt-kicking that had better be in future.

  17. Knug

    don’t you just hate it when one player character decides to dictate how all the other members of the party will act?

    Neuronet is gonna get his ass whupped around his ears.

  18. Matthew Davis

    Serious question: does the world of PS238 have laws about mindrape? Because that’s what this is. If he’s puppeting their bodies without their consent (which is how I read the “yammering” line) then he’s basically raping them. Or at least assault. I guess it depends on whether or not rape is the violation of self or forcible sex. Either way, it’s majorly screwed up.

    1. Nobody

      battery. according to Wikipedia at least, assault is just making people scared you will hurt them, while battery is actually hurting them.

    2. Nightmask

      Well technically his crime (if it’s an actual crime in the setting) is in a different universe so unfortunately he’s safe from prosecution as you actually have to commit a crime in a jurisdiction where it is a crime to be held accountable for it.

      1. jon

        although he *is* from and planning to return to a world largely populated by vigilantes

      2. Van

        I do not think there are many female superheroes who would allow him to get away with this, let alone avoid spending a lot of time in the hospital.

      3. Matthew Davis

        Isn’t the Egg still on US soil, though? I wonder how jurisdiction would be handled.

        1. Nightmask

          The egg might be but the interior and they aren’t. You might have read or heard about the infamous Civil War storyarc at Marvel, they set up their super-hero prison in the Negative Zone to avoid those pesky legal rights of their victims, so while the gateway was on US soil the prison where they locked everyone up and said they had no legal rights wasn’t. The Egg is just a gateway to a pocket universe which isn’t US soil.

      4. roguebfl

        Actually some crimes can be prosecuted if committed out side of the justification. Such as a US citizen who goes overseas to engage in child prostitution can be prosecuted when they return to the US.

  19. AlmondMagnum

    So they’ve got a super-villain on the team. That is tricksy.

  20. Matthew

    OK, dude, I know that you probably do this all the time to co-ordinate your own team, but chances are they have agreed to it an advance. STOP for a moment and THINK!

  21. Rix Scaedu

    So, what makes him the expert on how best to use other people’s powers? And why isn’t he doing this to the guys?

  22. Andorxor

    I hope the wizard turns him into a small furry animal with funny accent

    1. Ebony

      Perhaps a Welsh rabbit?

      (Which is, of course, not an actual furry animal, but actually a toasted cheese sandwich. Which would, in my mind, be better than a furry animal with a funny accent.)

      ((Apologies to any Welshman or Welshwoman reading the forums for finding the Welsh accent, if not funny, at least entertaining. You’re welcome to find my Texas accent equally so, if you feel the need to retaliate.))

  23. Shadur

    There’s a thing called “consent”, Neuronet. I get the sense you’ve never heard of it, but I’m sure the lawyer for the prosecution will be happy to explain to you what it means, together with the word “statutory”.

    1. Imopman

      Statutory is really the key word here , even if he got 84’s ok first she is too young to give any kind of consent to something that could really mess up a child.

      I cannot imagine a more horrible experience for a developing mind , put him in jail , I am certain that super villains feels the same way about molesters that normal criminals do and will be happy to welcome him.

  24. Someguy

    And idiots worried were more about President Cranston than they should about boneheads like Neuronet. I feel the need to drop rocks on several heads.

    1. Nightmask

      Yes, without any evidence Cranston was doing anything immoral or criminal with his powers (how immoral mind-reading people in general is being a grey area) and instead acting for the public good you had anti-super nuts in congress going so far as to plan and execute multiple simultaneous and treasonous assassination attempts on him and worse they got off without punishment for it while Cranston ended up suffering. He even had to give up redemption after that Curse on him was set off because no one considered that there might be a legitimate reason to remove the suppression circlet to be able to ‘reset’ the curse as it were rather than having it be irrevocable.

      Hopefully this will end up a sobering learning experience for everyone who needs it though so that Neuronet and Conjurer get straightened out and 84 better embraces her role as a leader, and maybe Phlogiston decide she should be openly leading her team as well, to set a good example and straighten out the public who’d rather go with the flashy guy than the person best for the job.

      1. Wanderer

        Actually, they had enough evidence to prove he was using his telepathy to win elections by reading the minds of his opponents. That’s by definition an unfair advantage, just as much as planting a hidden microphone in their meeting room a la Watergate.

        1. Nightmask

          The comic has already established that many politicians make use of an information broker in order to get an advantage over their competition, it’s a standard part of the political process. There’s nothing particularly exceptional about using telepathy to acquire the information instead of hiring someone to find out dirt on your opponent other than being able to be sure it’s valid. Plus engaging in such services isn’t a death penalty offense, it might qualify as an impeachable offense but certainly not a ‘yeah make sure that back-up assassin is ready in case we fail to kill him tonight’ offense.

        2. Messenger

          There’s a big difference between simply getting information right out of people’s mind and having someone do the legwork and paperwork of actual research. The term “firsthand information” is nothing compared to mind-reading. And with the usual non-meta methods of gathering info, you’re usually stuck with secondhand or thirdhand stuff.

        3. Wanderer

          In addition to Messenger’s response, consider that Cranston was, in effect, breaking and entering someone’s mind for political gain. Moreover, nobody could be sure he hadn’t done anything *else* while he was in there. Paranoia will destroy ya…

        4. Lackey

          Depends on how a given telepath’s powers work. Scifi’s full of psionics who can’t help but “hear” the thoughts of those around them, or who have a lot of trouble doing so. You can’t very well say those kind of folks are “breaking and entering” when what they’re really doing is being SHOUTED at by their noisy neighbors all the time.

          Not that there’s any indication of Cranston being that kind of a telepath, but they probably exist somewhere in the setting. Most likely they try to stay isolated as much as possible to quiet the din – much like a certain moon-dwelling superdog, but with a psionic rather than acoustical noise problem.

        5. AlmondMagnum

          There’s a big difference between hiring someone to look up your opponent’s facebook and breaking into his phone, even if you end up with the exact same photos… which in this case you probably won’t. Besides, Cranston got caught. With not even plausible deniability since he was doing it himself.

        6. Prairie Son

          You’re forgetting they were planning for the contingency of Cranston going thrallherder on them. To quote a certain video game: “My command is your wish.”

    2. MattStriker

      The problem with Cranston was that he was keeping his abilities secret (the existence of the power-blocking headband demonstrates that there are countermeasures to a known telepath) and that he’d ended up in a position where he had the potential to do far more damage than a rank-and-file cape.

      1. Nightmask

        I get the impression because of what happened with him that the PS238-verse treats supers worse than criminals in that regard, banning them from holding office otherwise Cranston wouldn’t have felt the need to conceal his abilities. Just as other supers discriminate against FISS like 84 there could be discrimination against supers in general where they can’t engage in things like politics save in secret leaving them with no one who knows the issues of being a super to represent them. Just look at how Cranston was treated, instant assassination attempt skipping right over due process and all those other legal niceties since as we know from the one-shots early on they have drugs that you can take to render you immune to mind control (used on the parents of that one kid who terrorized them with his telepathic powers). They could have easily shielded themselves from it and followed the rule of law, including just calling in a team like Neuronet’s to handle protection against psychic domination.

        1. Wanderer

          Well, first off, it was a virus they used to counteract the mind control. (I went back and checked the pages.) That means you have to worry about getting it past the immune system, and it’s only a temporary measure to get the parents to safety. Moreover, it needed time to take full effect, or he wouldn’t have been able to take over his mom and dad while they were still in the office. Not incredibly useful if the kid had been smarter, much less against a full-grown telepath with any real experience.

          As for the assassination, given the apparently limited availability of anti-psi training, how would you recommend stopping someone who can, at least in theory, wave his hand and convert you to his Cause? Larry Niven’s universe of Known Space has that issue with Grogs — they’re a completely immobile race with wonderful telepathic mind-control powers, which they say (and insist) couldn’t be used aggressively against a human being. So how do you know whether you really believe them?

        2. Nightmask

          That’s what you call in super-heroes for (like Neuronet’s team), you don’t go secretly trying to assassinate your president for no other reason than he’s a telepath and MIGHT be able to mind control you, and if he were being that invasive he’d have known they were on to him because members of the treasonous congressmen were around him in mind-reading range several times. So either he wasn’t reading their minds, they DO have some anti-psi training, or they WERE using the psi-protection drug. Any way you look at it they had means other than arranging the murder of a sitting president because of what he MIGHT have done, of which nowhere does it say execution is the acceptable response in that particular situation particularly without trial. They really wanted to murder him because his powers gave him an edge against the standard political power brokerage going on that kept government corruption as usual going on, they didn’t want their crimes outed so like we see with such organizations they resorted to trying to murder the threat, because if they were all about justice they’d have publicly outed him and let suitably trained super-heroes if necessary bring him in for trial (where he’d have been fitted with an inhibitor circlet and unable to affect anyone but get to defend himself).

  25. Nightmask

    This doesn’t surprise me unfortunately. Neuronet is his group’s leader and due to his powers and being their leader he likely does this often with his team so is used to having consent automatically given. On top of that he’s had to deal with Conjurer disrespecting him and treating him as a flunky (like he’s treating everyone else though) and how he’s got a chance to show just how awesome and helpful he can be so he brushed aside any objections the girls had to his mind-controlling them. This of course will so totally bite him either immediately or soon afterwords.

    1. Shadur

      I just hope it doesn’t bite him in a way that gets Phlogiston badly injured. She’s the only likeable adult in the bunch (well, the solitaire-playing gnome sort of counts I guess…)

      1. Nightmask

        Generally in a situation like this the showboating either injures some undeserving third party or backfires and helps the enemy resulting in a harder battle than it otherwise would have been. An example happened in the West Coast Avengers, Wonder Man had switched from being unsure of himself to supremely confident to the point of thinking he could do it all and as a result during a time-travel adventure he critically wounded Hawkeye in an explosion from his careless showboating (which actually killed Hawkeye a short time later, he was just fortunate that the Egyptian God Konshu had use for him and healed and restored him to life).

        1. Antigone

          My money’s on one of the other Earth heroes being injured thanks to Neuronet’s stupidity. Whether he’ll admit it happened because he was an idiot … probably not.

        2. Nightmask

          We probably won’t see anyone injured, or at least not this early, more likely his ‘coordinated attack’ interferes with Conjurer’s plans giving the opponent reason to laugh at them, or he comes off looking stupid as Conjurer DOES defeat the opponent in spite of Neuronet’s efforts.

    2. Kurukami

      I’d say that the problem, above and beyond the spectacularly squicky question of consent, is that Neuronet most likely has no idea how to use their powers effectively in battle. As Phlogiston noted, her powers can be tricky to use, and his “I know best, now chaaaaaarge!” method almost certainly won’t net positive results.

      Here’s hoping the rock crushes him. Jackass mind-controllers… *grumble*

    3. Horatio Von Becker

      Oh, that makes sense. Massive fines and mandatory appropriate boundaries training, then, not forcible depower or imprisonment without parole.

  26. Rock

    Neuronet just blew any chance he had of me seeing him as a possibly positive character. =_=
    Thrallherders are filth.

    1. Someguy

      It’s one thing to be a Beast Tamer/Master for Zerg Rushing with disposable minions, quite another to be a Bodyjacker -_-

  27. MegaBee

    Yeah, no possible redemption for Neuronet.

  28. kentda

    Mind Controlling your Allies.

    Yup. Neuronet now officially is a Card Carrying Villain(tm pending). There are almost no good reasons to Mind Control Anyone.

    Giving Telepathic Commentary for tactics is one thing, but controlling them, sorry, no dice. He’s one step away from being put down like a rabid dog.

    1. TheDorkKnight

      I’m just waiting for Phlogiston’s powers to backfire EXPLOSIVELY because Fishbowlhead REALLY doesn’t know how to control them. Honestly, you’d think an experienced hero would know better than to think he understands how best to use another person’s powers, let alone that he can use them AT ALL.

      But then again, his ego has clearly cut off all blood supply to his brain.

    2. David Nuttall

      Did you catch the scene at the beginning of X-Men II, in the museum where Professor X causes everybody in the room that was not associated with the school to go catatonic for a few minutes? That seems like a potentially valid use of telepathic mind control (ok freeze).

    3. Moe Lane

      The only one that I can think of off the top of my head would be Emotion Draining a crowd so that they stop panicking at the smoke and fire and instead calmly move to the exits. Although I don’t know if ‘removing fear’ strictly counts.

      1. Paddy

        Self defence works too. “He was going to shoot me, so I made him drop the gun and walk away” etc

    4. Nightmask

      It’s not that unheard of though for heroes with telepathic powers of mind control doing it to other heroes or allies without consent but being forgiven for it due to the circumstances. When Karma was introduced (her ONLY power is mind control) she mind-controlled the Fantastic Four (or at least one of them, haven’t read the story in some time to be sure) to use against her evil brother to rescue younger siblings or relatives, but was forgiven due to the circumstances. You end up with the What The Hell, Hero? trope going active but unless it was done with obvious villainous intent they tend to get forgiven, perhaps because they aren’t seen as actually mind-raping but instead ‘only’ puppeting the body while the mind is left otherwise inviolate. Similar to the super with technology controlling powers isn’t seen as mind-raping a cyborg by usurping control over his bionics since he’s just controlling the body not messing with the mind.

      1. kentda

        While it may not have been intended to be considered a “dark” situation, the fact is Mind Control, like most forms of Telepathy is a sticky & gray moral situation no matter how you try and slice it or pretty it up.

        While I could talk a lot more about the issue of Mind Control and whether or not it is good (the path to hell is paved with good intentions after all) I’m going to stay on the topic of the comic itself.

        I’m going to exclude the hardcore Squick potential of the fact that he probably routinely Mind Controls his team mates to be an Effective Leader. The comment about “Let Me Drive” implies that at some deep level he has serious control issues and views them as Tools, not Humans, to achieve His Goal. I certainly wouldn’t call that the kind of Hero that I want protecting my city! In fact, I’d want a guy like that locked up somewhere safe with some kind of psychic dampener on him twenty four seven.

        Cranston ended up being punished for how he used his powers, yet Neuronet who has probably done just as much, if on a lesser scale, isn’t being punished? Frankly, that’s one reason I hope he gets punished and put into therapy at the very least.

        1. Draxo

          Honestly, while what Cranston did was on a much higher scale than this, what he actually did was not as bad. Cranston read surface thoughts to manipulate things to his advantage. Neuronet is basically committing mind rape on a regular basis.

  29. John

    Had he done that to me, that dude would have three seconds to kiss his Moleculear Bonds good-bye. Only ONE being has permission to dominate me: Molag Bal, and even then he’d get a mace upside the head!

    NOBODY mind-rapes me!

  30. ByTheFarmstead

    I also wonder what kind of heroism it is if they have no control of their actions? He’s not being heroic if he’s way in the back.

  31. Jenora Feuer

    And, of course, back at the Casino in Las Vegas, 84 already broke out of mind control before: http://ps238.nodwick.com/comic/06102011/ . (Granted, she had some help with the controller being focused on Zodon at the time.) So it’s probably safe to say that if he tries to keep this up too long, he’s going to be in for a very nasty headache.

  32. Mutant for Hire

    Revenant really needs to have a close personal talk with this guy.

  33. Leo Orionis

    What happened to Conjuror? Did he get swatted like a bug already while we were all distracted for less than a minute? Epic fail!

    1. Nightmask

      He’s powering up, since he wants/needs to show off who the ‘superior mage’ is he can’t do that instantly, which is why Firedrake snarked earlier that while he’s doing that he’ll be frying the enemy mage.

  34. Foradain

    Seems to me that Neuronet needs a refresher course on Constitutional Law, specifically on the Thirteenth Amendment. Preferably with Phlogiston and 84 providing…emphasis

    And while this particular violation may be outside the jurisdiction of U.S. law, the refresher course could also be, if necessary. ^_^

  35. DreamPen

    I apologize because it’s off-topic and a late in coming, but this question occurs to me:

    The Conjuror and his team aren’t the first mystic heroes we’ve seen in the PS238 universe. I wonder how he compares to Vashti Imperia?

    Let’s leave aside comparisons of their moral and personal character, though. Vashti is considerate, patient, and wise. The Conjuror lives up to the “arrogant mage” stereotype way too much.

    1. Nightmask

      Probably inferior, she’s from one of the previous ages of Heroes and has considerably more experience dealing with magical threats and such than Conjurer likely is since mages were the archetype for heroes and villains in her day rather than actual supers so just about all her experience at the time was against some magical opponent of some sort.

      1. Horatio Von Becker

        So yeah, she probably knows more mage to mage combat. She’s also probably had her powers for quite a bit longer. I suspect that she’s generally more competent for these reasons, but that The Conjurer has one or two specialties where he surpasses her.

        1. Nightmask

          I think it would have been hilarious if she’d been in the comic and something like ‘George, is that you? It’s been ages!’ 😀

      2. Messenger

        I just realized: Conjuror looks like an expy of DC’s Dr. Fate. What if the Conjuror’s helm is a powerful artifact? What if it’s even some sort of cosmic being?

  36. Nightmask

    I think it probably wouldn’t hurt to remind everyone that we’re talking a comic book universe here, the laws are somewhat different than ours and telepaths even telepathic heroes reading minds including those of teammates and yes sometimes body-puppeting them in a fight isn’t generally treated as a capital offense but more of a breach of etiquette or trust. You have to actually mind-rape someone to be considered a monster (like when Dark Phoenix mind-raped Mastermind, ripping his mind open to the Cosmos giving him Cosmic Awareness without the barriers to handle it). What Neuronet is doing, in the context of super-hero comics in general, isn’t a monstrously horrible thing (which is something we wouldn’t expect to see in the PS238 comics due to their more light-hearted and upbeat nature). I doubt Aaron would have gone with this if he thought it would be perceived in such a negative fashion.

    1. Andorxor

      Sending someone into a fight without consent or agency is just a breach of etiquette? Should we wait till one of them dies or 84 becomes a wreck because he made her squish the wizards head,before we call him a monster?To give someone such power over oneself requires thrust,thrust that is build in months and years not in the 1-4 hours they are together.

      1. Nightmask

        I think you missed the part that such things aren’t unseen in the comics and certainly aren’t treated as a heinous thing, and maybe that they were already in a fight he’s not sending them into a fight when they weren’t already. To be called a monster you actually have to BE one, what he’s done is wrong body-controlling them without consent but it’s not monster territory.

    2. Adahn

      Well, I suppose this explains the helmet the Conjurer wears (looks like Magneto’s helmet), wouldn’t be surprised if he worked with Neuronet before; still doesn’t explain the bathrobe though.
      Speaking of which, where is the Conjurer?

      1. Nightmask

        Based on the interactions we’ve seen so far Conjurer and Neuronet never met prior to this point, and since Conjurer looks more like Dr. Fate the helmet is more likely a source of magical power for him like Dr. Strange’s amulet. Mages though tend to have formidable mental defenses since they often deal with enemy mages and magical beings with mind-control abilities and those without some defense don’t last long.

        Conjurer is off to the side somewhere preparing his ‘awesome display of magical prowess’, since he runs on anime martial artist rules and requires a DBZ power-up before he looks anything but wimpy.

  37. Ddqfpluskick

    Revenant seems to have been taking steps to this issue years ago in fact I suspect the entire creation of ps238 was an attempt to put a stop to the heroics like conjuror and neuronet. Cranston was trying to do right but he was still in a powerful position using abilities to push forward his own agendas. The worst is a person that has that much power, position, and uses it for personal gain. Looking at history of the school staff they seem to be more morally centered team than what’s out there right now. I think the Revenant chose them to teach a young generation on how to use their powers both effectively and responsibly.

  38. Jesse

    Okay, not to get all Social Justice Warrior, or anything, but…, am I the only one disturbed that the took the right to choose away from only the females? This…, this is kinda’ rape-y, isn’t it? “I’m going to use your body, whether you want me to, or not, and stop resisting, damn it, it will go easier.” Is it just me?

    Seriously, not either of the guys, including the one who just went all “Guy Gardner vs. Doomsday” on them, not the mage who is off twiddling his wand, but the two females. This couldn’t be a more obvious metaphor then if they had a meta named “Anvil” drop on a villain’s head named “Coyote”, and one of the heroes is a kid. Forget the magic dude, attack the telepath.

    1. Nightmask

      Just because they’re female doesn’t make it somehow rapey but not if he’d done it to the males too/instead of. He’s not raping them (and I don’t think I’ve ever seen any comic ever act as if a villain who puppeted someone being treated as a rapist, not without actual rape like when they degraded Puppet Master by having him create a massive harem of female supers).

      Conjurer likely wasn’t chosen since he’s either mentally shielded, Neuronet doesn’t think he could puppet something like a spellcaster since spells require a free will to cast and aren’t physical powers of the body like with 84 and Phlogiston, and/or because he just doesn’t like the guy. Firedrake meanwhile is already actively torching the mage’s shield and Neuronet doesn’t want to distract him in the middle of that because of the struggle to control his body as well would leave Firedrake briefly vulnerable. Plus it’s possible he just can’t control more than 2 at a time and 84 and Phlogiston were the best choices given the circumstances.

      1. evileeyore

        Or even simpler: 84 and Phlo were thinking and not acting (unlike the other two), thus Neuronet felt they needed the “proper guidance”.

      2. Jesse

        It would have been rape-y even if it had been done to male characters. Involuntary puppet mastering is just an ick subject, imho (in my honest opinion). If it’s done without consent, it should be villains doing it, once again, imho, and Your Mileage May Vary. That said, Firedrake is a loose cannon, and would be the obvious choice, because instead of coordinating against someone who can twist reality into a Mobius Strip, and do so subtly enough that the Master Level Mage in the group doesn’t notice, he goes off and attacks solo, hoping to rack up some glory. Does Nueronet go after him? No, he puppets the two females. Dudes a creep, and needs to be corrected. Preferably via multiple cuts and contusions.

        1. Foradain

          It is a villain doing it. Just a villain who has managed to convince people he’s a hero.

    2. Sweeper

      Well, in fairness to Nueronet, or whatever he calls himself, he probably linked to the girls as they hadn’t engaged the bad guy yet; basically, they were handy. If the other two hadn’t leaped in, I’m willing to bet he’d try to co-ordinate Pyre on Conjorer as well.

      Heck, he’s probably trying already and we just haven’t seen it yet. I doubt it’ll help, though.

      1. Prairie Son

        It could also be the simple thing that they were closest (which implies a range issue).

  39. Draxo

    I think that guy just violated several laws all at once.. he’s supposed to be a hero?

  40. MattStriker

    You know, I’m pretty sure this is the most active comments page this strip has ever seen. Seems to have struck a chord or two.

    1. With Respect

      Mind control always does.

      For some, mental powers of any sort touch a.. nerve.

      Remember Progenitor?

    2. Nightmask

      Well one of the most active comment runs anyway. I find it interesting how some are equating Neuronet’s puppeting with horrendous mind-rape but I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anyone react like that towards Rogue from the X-men when she rips the minds out of people into her own head where all their secrets are bared to her along with their powers and abilities and she’s done this repeatedly to people both friends as well as enemies.

  41. luagha

    As for all the ‘he only took over the two women’ thing; do remember than not a page or two ago Phlogiston was warning that the three gung-ho guys would be ‘looking for revenge’ at being shown up.

    That’s a more likely inference as to why it’s the two women getting mind controlled as opposed to a more general man-woman thing. Neuronet isn’t controlling the guys because he’s not looking to ‘get back’ at them.

    Issues of power and control are always going to strike a chord. They’re a major component in all our lives and are essential, for example, in everyone’s growing up experience.

    1. Nightmask

      Well he wouldn’t have reason to ‘get back’ at Phlogiston, he’d be more likely to want to get back at Conjurer for his attitude (although I’m sure everyone noticed that he only referred to 84 as ‘girl’ rather than her super-ID but used Phlogiston’s for her), he’s just too eager to show he’s got it ‘going on’ and prove himself and the girls are the fastest way he thinks to doing so.

      1. kentda

        Of course if it succeeded he’d take all the credit for it, or at least try to. Phlogiston and 84 were just Tools to demonstrate how Effective he is.

        Grade A Jerk is Grade A Jerk. He can’t change that. If there was doubt he was a Grade A Jerk, this strip dispelled it.

        1. Nightmask

          He’s hardly the only one, and one can be a jerk and still be good (since being perfect is impossible otherwise everyone would be demonstrably evil since no one can be perfectly good). I believe ‘Good is not nice’ is the trope, in this case he’s being ironically enough thoughtless from having spent too much time just expecting consent from his teammates that he doesn’t see it as a big deal just taking over like he does here. I’m sure at least one of the subplots of this storyarc is for the three jerks (or at least some of them) to undergo character development and become less jerkish and more considerate and heroic.

        2. Horatio Von Becker

          While it is a nice idea for him to just be horribly clueless, it’s also possible that he doesn’t even see why he’d need consent. He might well leave his own teammates alone, trusting their own powers to keep them coordinated, and only do this to villains or civilians in the line of fire. We can safely infer that no one’s successfully sued him for it yet, and that he knows that they dislike it but doesn’t care enough to stop. If it comes out that the reason behind the first one is memory wiping by one of his teammates, there’s going to be a PR nightmare.

  42. Valid Point

    Did anyone else notice how Phlogiston both immediately understands what he’s doing and doesn’t object to it because she doesn’t want to be mind controlled, but because “Her powers aren’t easy to control!”
    Isn’t it possible that using telepathy to direct attacks in this manner is a normal tactic in this world?

  43. trlkly

    I didn’t notice anyone saying this last time, either, so I’ll say it here. I suspect that, once again, we need to pay attention to what was literally said. They were not told to fight back. They were told to defend themselves. I think all fights, mind controlled or not, will fail.

    This thing is designed for mere mortals to possibly do as well. A raw test of strength makes no sense. You’d Mr. Magic Lore would realize thi.

    1. trlkly

      s.

      And, yes, this is a test. Why would killing people be a legitimate way out of the egg? And, if it was, why wouldn’t it have been easier to kill the more squishy humans who have tried this before? While mages have been around a while, supers have not.

    2. Debra Hanson

      All the males are going by the adage, “The best defense is a good offense.”
      And, Neuronet is being especially offensive.

    3. Nightmask

      Well, just because he told them to defend themselves doesn’t mean that if they just do what he said they’d win, that’s a bit too easy. Particularly since the challenge itself seems more to realize they’re inside a spacial loop and break or otherwise escape it.

  44. With Respect

    84, it should be pointed out, has friends outside the egg.

    Good friends. Evil friends.

    I imagine Phloe has friends too, but Neuronut’s out of his league, even if 84 is forgiving.

    Cranston.. Vashti.. Revenant.. Malphast.. Murphy.. Cecil Holmes.. Moon Shadow.. there’s little chance Neuronut will not pay for what I am sure is his modus operandi, but imagine the wrath of Zodon.

    So we begin to see purpose in Veles’ choices.

    1. Nightmask

      That requires the presumption that what Neuronet is doing would be seen as some heinous and unforgivable thing, which doesn’t really fit with either standard superhero comics in general or PS238 in particular. The comic isn’t on the angst side of the spectrum or black and Grey morality in nature. Neuronet isn’t going to get treated as some kind of monster for what he’s done, just a bit of an ass.

  45. Zombatar

    Wow. Phlogiston is addressed by her name, but 84? She’s just “Girl”. What a merchant banker.

  46. With Respect

    We’re overlooking the obvious.

    How did Rastov — clearly no friend of the Egg Head — get stuck here?

    Why is he so confident of his release in the face of multiple opponents capable of having come so far?

    Could it be that whoever is victor here releases the previous guardian — and is condemned by the Eggverse to take the place until the next challenge comes along.

    I definitely vote for Neuronut.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*