Mini-Update, 01.07.2011:
If you didn’t see it on the 6-Commando Facebook Page, I donated some artwork this year to Comic Creators for Freedom, a group of cartoonists who do a yearly drive for financial support to charities that oppose and provide support for victims of human trafficking. January 11th is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the United States, and it’s worth drawing attention to this problem and efforts being made to halt it. I know it’s awkward donating to charities these days, because of the tight economy, and because who knows what’s really going on out there, but do check out the CCF and consider it.
Original Post:
Happy New Year! And here’s the first page of 2012. Rucker had to pull himself together sooner or later, huh? I’m sure, also, that the military purists will argue against the standard sidearm of the UNA being a revolver, especially since I’m sure at some point I said it wasn’t, but I just liked the look so much better – the .52 caliber High Explosive Jet-Assisted bullets look so good in a cylinder. And of course, the spread is up for your viewing pleasure for the low cost of nothing but a vote on topwebcomics.com! Do check it out – this set of pages looks much better that way!
But anyway. About the contest: we had a grand total of ONE entry! Yahoo! Did I make it too hard? I think I made it too hard. But what the hell, it was worth a shot. And so I’ll have to come up with some other, much MUCH easier contest very soon, to get rid of some of this 6-Commando merchandise. But to Ulrich, the one contestant, you get the grand prize – a speaking role in Chapter 4. So congratulations! I’ll be in touch this week to discuss it with you.
In other news, I’m just cruising into the New Year here, hurtling towards the New Age Apocalypto that’s supposed to happen on December 21. Is it going to happen, or is it bollocks? Hmm… I’m going with “bollocks” at this point, but maybe the Mayans knew something we don’t. Back to basics: let the human sacrifices recommence!
ANYway, here’s to another one, folks. Keep on rockin’ in a free world.
And so it begins…
One thing I noticed in the past but never mentioned it so far: You draw hands well. Panel 3 and 4 are nice examples of this. Proportions are perfect and the gestures/movements are realistic. That’s quality work here!
I have, over the years, amassed a large collection of photos of hands, and often supplement those with pictures of my own. And that helps a lot.
–M
At least he has his shirt on now, but I don’t like that look in his eyes…
And I agree with making the pistol a revolver, makes it so much more dramatic to check the ammo 🙂
Right? Very Wild West kind if feel to it. And also, in defense of revolvers, they don’t jam, they are more accurate, they are much less likely to misfire, they are more resistant to shock and accidental discharge, and you can never accidentally leave a round in the chamber. The limitation is reload speed, really, but on all other counts they are the better and safer sidearm.
–M
I’ve been saying this allot lately;
If the Mayans could predict the future, wouldn’t they have seen the Spanish coming?
Great work with the panels, I don’t remember a better illustrating narrative of “shit just got real!”
Thanks for the compliment! And as to the Mayans, with all respect to their sophisticated and very beautiful artistic heritage, I find it hard to place a lot of stock in predictions made by the priests of a genocidal human-sacrifice religion. Besides which, they didn’t predict the end of the world, it was New Age kooks who did that. The Mayans just decided to stop counting. It was their equivalent of a Y2K bug.
–M
Well you could always call it his side arm of choice
His Weapon of Choice? Paging Christopher Walken…
😀
–M
Was just wondering if the caliber lends itself to speedloaders? Having 6 shots in the cylinder may not be sufficient in a CQB scenario. Then again, considering the caliber of the rounds, he may not need to reload quickly 😉
Why shouldn’t the fit with speedloaders? You can get speedys for most wheelguns today. I guess a military issue one will come with it’s own speedloaders.
Now the big question is: Where does Rucker keep his? I didn’t notice and gear on his belt other than his gun-holster.
BTW, 6 Commando will soon be in the TOP 100 if voting continues at the current rate. Keep spreading the word, people!
I see no reason HEJA bullets couldn’t go in a speedloader, but honestly I just never thought of it. It was a bit much to give every UNA soldier a bandolier on his belt, but they ought to have something, you’re quite right.
–M
I think it’s his backup gun….
All sidearms are backups more or less, situation doesn’t really call for standard issue rifle yet.
It’s his boom stick. 😉
Almost all UNA infantry is armored so I wonder if they would even have an assault weapon like that. The rifles the Armored Infantry carry weigh almost sixty pounds (they’re gauss weapons, basically a pile of electromagnets firing small ferrous slugs) so they would not be practical without an exoskeleton, except maybe as a support weapon. They must have some basic kind of carbine or submachine gun though. I wonder…
–M
I hope Rucker hasn’t developed a bug…
They do call them “viruses,” after all…
–M
Woah, only one entry? Damn, I didn’t send anything in purely because I didn’t think I’d have a chance at actually winning anything (really like the look of those lapels/badges).
I’ll keep an eye out in case you run that same competition again!
As for the comic – a revolver would probably be a good choice in this sort of situation, long term non-use of standard pistols can tend to cause failures in their magazine springs (ergo, they don’t feed rounds properly) whereas a revolver doesn’t have this problem. And revolvers just look badass.
Which reminds me, that revolver looks rather similar to Deckard’s, from the film Blade Runner (or, by extension, the weapon “That Gun” from the videogames Fallout: New Vegas).
Its also called the 12.5 MM Pistol in The Gun Runners Arsenal DLC, but yeah, I noticed the same thing. Correct me if I’m wrong on this, but revolvers also lend themselves better to larger caliber rounds and since the good Major is an American… well… Does anyone in his way feel lucky? Do they?
The “Bladerunner gun” was actually one of the movie references I send in for the contest. The dual trigger was too obvious. If you run a google picture search, you’ll notice the gun is almost identical to the one Rucker has. ^^
Yes, the UNA sidearm is the Browning Mach Saber, a revolver firing .52 caliber jet boosted bullets. It is based broadly on the gun from Blade Runner, or rather, on the gun the Blade Runner weapon is based on, which is a Steyr-Mannlicher bolt action rifle. The Mach Saber is designed to defeat powered armor at close range, and gas an underslung launcher for small RPG “gyroc” rounds which add significantly to the weapon’s firepower. Use of gyrocs in enclosed spaces is not recommended as the blast is deafening and can cause concussions even if you aren’t hit by the explosion.
–M
In otherwords, this is probably the most pants-fudgingly rediculously powerful handgun ever conceived by man. It also reminds me a great deal of a handgun from the game ‘Just Cause’ but I think thats conincidence at this point.
In any case, I actually feel a little queesy just contemplating the effects this gun would have on an unarmoured human being and will be looking out for any future Dirty Harry referenences
Yeah, it’s a very powerful gun. It’s the West-verus-East way of doing things. The UNA needed a close-range defensive weapon so they made a high tech blaster (of sorts) with a mini rocket launcher. The FSR made an attachment for their standard sidearm and called it a day. Which, if you look at the history of the Cold War, is often how it went – the US did the high tech super-duper PR coup, and the Soviet Union came up with something low-key and inexpensive that did the same thing for half the cost. I have a great admiration for Russian ingenuity and innovation, in particular during the Second World War (or, Great Patriotic War, if you prefer!). As much as we feared the Soviets, we also admired them, when I was growing up, in a secret and furtive kind of way that skirted the edges of popular culture.
By the way, here’s a question for fans of militaria: my understanding is that the second trigger isn’t actually a trigger on the Steyr-Mannlicher rifles – it’s a magazine release. Is this true or not? I can’t seem to find info on that – it’s probably under my nose, but…
–M
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeMat_Revolver
Only in Louisiana would they combine a sixshooter and a shotgun. You never know when you might need both, you know? We Frenchmen are a cagey breed, half in love with death, gobbling up danger like ordinary men eat peanuts!
–M
Aww, see? You were almost there already! Shoulda played! But there will be more chances soon, I promise!
–M
Man, I can feel the tension mounting!
Yeah, well, I was going to enter the contest, but unfortunately I had once again fallen victim to my evil nemesis – Time Management.
Well, we all succumb sober or later. I’m trying to come up with a more participatory contest for next time, which will take less effort.
!–M
I stumbled upon the “Comic Creators for Freedom” project last year (by Girls with Slingshots) and liked the idea. Alas my financial situation at the time was dire and I couldn’t justify the expense. However I will do this year.
I hope they find a good poster-printing service. 🙂
I have just came across your webcomic. Amazing work.
Great Geo-Political background in the story and clean art.
Hey, thanks man! The Cold War was a huge part of my childhood, and defined a lot of my ideas about war and personal conflict. And as to the art – well, it’s a learning process for me, and I’m glad you dig it!
–M