A Death at the Gates of Heaven – Page 3
Two different antibiotics and a few days’ of work-from-home later, I’m on the mend, albeit temporarily (fingers crossed) deaf in one ear. Seems likely I ruptured my eardrum but first things first, we’re clearing up the infection. So there’s going to be some fallout, and checkups, and tests, and all that nonsense, but that’s later – maybe we’ll be dead by then!
Oh… that’d be great.
And now, here’s page three!
About A Death At The Gates Of Heaven:
This story first appeared in 2018 in the Spiderforest Webcomic Collective anthology Threads: A Gallery of Rogues, which is available in print for the impatient among you by clicking on the image below. It appeared alongside fifteen other graphic short stories in full color, and so for my money it’s a good buy for entertainment during the current time! You can also find other volumes of our anthology, and the work of a lot of other great Spiderforest artists worth looking into.
And of course, please give Ally’s spectacular Wychwood a look as well!
And as always, thanks for the continued support! The notes and emails I’ve received have all been so positive and encouraging, I can’t tell you all how much it means to me. God bless!
Bladerunner pistol right there.
Now is he a robot or an exosuited alien?
Good question. That’s actually a key point in what would have been a much longer version of this comic, and may one day be a project I’ll try to do. The Centrans are not from Earth, either way, and fought a war with the humans that has ended in a kind of stalemate where they now have to figure out how to get along with each other.
Hey, it’s that sketch from Way Back When! And what’s this? The ‘droid detective is hiding evidence? The plot thickens!
He is securing evidence until such a time he can share it. The coroner or if somebody else should have found that and they didn’t which means they are not looking.
It depends on your point of view doesn’t it? 😉
Hmm he looks like a robot but also a sealed suit. I know its been said but its very interesting
😀
Yeah he’s a character from way, way back. In a way this short story was revisiting a world I created for a comic predating 6-Commando.
Mr. Average, as much as I miss 6-commando, first off I am happy that you still around after what seems to been a gruelsome year, or two. Second, a big thank you for this…interlude? I really like the setup of both the story and the visuals so far.
Thanks, man, I really appreciate it. We tend to go through phases, and I have to admit that I haven’t had a lot left in me for much of anything beyond subsisting. In general I’m doing okay – I’ve kept my job, my clients have been a huge reassurance by committing to continue work that they know a lot of people are depending on, my friends and family have been great support, and in the end I have to recognize that it’s not all about me. But some of it is, and if I can break down some of the mental barriers and get back to where the art is as much of a joy as it used to be, I’ll consider it a real privilege to finally finish 6-Commando.
I’ll admit it’s much harder now that it might be. If my themes are lost on anyone, I’m an advocate of principles like nonviolence, reconciliation and human solidarity, and the present time is not friendly to people who embrace those values, and has become progressively less so over the run of this comic. The world right now seems to hold anger, destruction, self-indulgence, violent self-assertion, grasping for power and the thrill of compelling others to obedience as almost an axiomatic basis for the direction of our culture. In that context, the core message of 6-Commando feels like it’s losing its relevance for me. But to have come this far and not finish, even perfunctorily, feels like a cop out as well. I just need to gather enough energy to make that last push.
I don’t mean to sound trite, but isn’t that precisely the reason why your “core message”, as you put it, is more relevant now than ever?
Heh. Maybe so, come to think of it.
Centrans don’t NEED to wear clothes, strictly speaking. But they can’t deny the benefits of coats full of pockets