In the words of Slim Pickens’ “Major Kong,” “Well, boys, I reckon this is it! Nuc’lar combat, toe-to-toe with the Rooskies!” It took ten months and a lot of delays, but Chapter 1 of 6-Commando is finally complete.
To all the readers in the United States, let me wish you a happy Independence Day. And to everyone, let me thank you all for the amazing show of support you’ve given me over the past months! Finishing the first chapter here is a great milestone, and I’m thrilled to have done it – and your comments, critiques and encouragement made it possible! Special thanks to the friends of 6-Commando in the Russian Federation, Lithuania, Ukraine and Kazakhstan – especially Pavel Zhdanov – your help with the Russian language was exceptionally useful, and is going to save me quite a bit of agony later, I can tell you! So thanks!
As this page posts, I will be enjoying a little long-deferred time off, visiting the birthplace of the United States – Philadelphia. Ground Zero, if I may, for the American Revolution. I predict extreme relaxation. And at the same time, there’s pondering to be done.
Now that there’s a full chapter done, the time has come for a little time off, while I assess the next step for 6-Commando. That sounds awfully drastic, but it really isn’t. Essentially, the biggest question for me so far was one of formatting: do I edit and redraw the first chapter to get it to print, or do I press forward? Initially, I’d thought I would go back at the end of each chapter and re-edit, but at this point I think it’ll probably be better to spend that time and effort on Chapter 2. This has been reinforced by some research on printing that has led me to conlcude that seriallizing each chapter individually will not be cost-effective. Moreover, obsessing over earlier pages while neglecting the need to move the story forward seems counter-productive at this stage.
So I’m going to just plow ahead into Chapter 2 and defer those decisions about editing and whatnot. I see no really compelling reason to hold up the whole story for several weeks while I pore over the excruciating miniutiae of artistic decisions I made months ago. That said, I will still need a little time to gear up. However, fear not – in between I will continue posting on the regular schedule. This won’t be “filler,” per se, but it will be very much like filler. I hope you’ll enjoy it for its own sake.
And so now we come to a moment I’ve deferred, but in light of the milestone crossed here, I thought would be appropriate: shamelessly promoting my fellow cartoonists. Below are some of the people who have really supported this project. I run off at the mouth (keyboard?) a lot I know, but I want to say in no uncertain terms that it is not as easy as it seems to find cartoonists who are as actively supportive of other people’s efforts as those who have supported me. It’s an insular little world, and the “guys at the top” more often than not take a dim view of new projects on the make, and can be a little patronizing, if truth be told. These guys here, however, have given me consistently strong, serious, and straightforward support and feedback, and so I hope you’ll all give them the same treatment. There’s nothing more important than being taken seriously.
As a capitalist, I believe that a rising tide floats all boats – so the more we support each other, the better all of our work will be. And that said, allow me to recommend:
Semmie The Forest Gnome. A children’s comic that couldn’t be more different in style and substance from 6-Commando, but the slick and unapologetically European style is one I love, and I think you will too. Drawn by Joost Haakman.
reMIND. Recently awarded a Xeric Grant, and not without good reason! A truly unique techno-fantasy that deals with life, self, and the nature of the soul, it has been praised throughout the net for its unique and beautiful style, and the creator’s blog attached to it is packed with useful tidbits for aspiring artists. Drawn by Jason Brubaker.
Mega West. Drawn by the same guy who did Guten Tag, and, alas, evidently on hiatus at the moment, this western thriller has a heavy tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and a smooth art style that I hope is revived soon. Maybe if we all pester these guys we can get it going again – it was just getting good! Drawn by Ryan Hoffman.
Outsider. The sci-fi sleeper hit of the internet, with an animated look that was a stylistic inspiration for 6-Commando. Since time immemorial men have dreamed of a race of blue warrior-women. And if they haven’t, they should. Space battles, war and diplomacy, and the sole survivor of a human ship caught in the middle of it all – it’s hard to recommend this one too strongly! Drawn by Jim Francis.
Aquarium Drinking. It’s not what you expect. The art may not be the tour-de-force stuff of The Meek or The Paradigm Shift, but the story is relatable and the author has a stable of strong characters facing conflicts that ring remarkably true, without pretense or self-indulgence. This is on my top-list of comics on the make. Keep your eye on this one. Drawn by Chris Wrann.
So there! One down, more to go! All the best to everyone, and I thank you for the support so far. Stay tuned, folks – Chapter 2 is on the way!
Congratulations on finishing chapter one!
A milestone reached, it must feel great that you just proved to yourself you can pull this off. On to the next chapter!
Great last page too! Really nice cliffhanger.
Thanks, as always, Joost. Originally, this page was going to be something totally different, but it just kind of ended up here on its own. Funny how these things develop. I was really happy with the atmospheric and really grim feeling it conveyed. I usually get really critical of myself after the fact but this one I really liked. It may be immodest of me to say so, but there it is.
And yes, just finishing this much of a single story is a big deal to me – usually my work peters out around page 10 or so, as I lose confidence in myself. Having a reallt responsive and committed audience, one which includes a lot of serious artists like yourself, is an enormous help to me. So thanks!
And by the way, to take so much space out of your own site to promote 6-Commando… I’m really overwhelmed. Thanks so much! Your summary of the story is spot-on, and I’m really honored that you took that time out to do that for me. I’m speechless.
–M
You’re right to like this page, it’s a good one!
I realized last week you mention my name and comic so often I should return the favor. Since the last page of chapter one was going to be online the following week I thought it would be nice if I made special post just to promote 6-commando.
I am by the way very jealous off you and other artist that seem to effortlessly make a coherent article by their posts. I just can’t seem to produce more than 3 to 4 lines to accompany my pages, even in Dutch!
While I was wandering about the best way to construct my post I was caught up by reality, you posted the final page and again promoted my web comic! So thank you for promoting Semmie again!
I hope my post send some readers over here.
Congratulations! I hope we don’t have to wait for too long for Chapter two, though I can understand the need to take a step back and let the story breath in your mind for a moment. Who knows what new and exciting possibilities will present themselves to you.
It’s an honor for my story to be mentioned alongside such great works. Thank you for reading and for your kind words. Comments like yours fuel the creation of Aquarium Drinking.
It was no lie to put your work up there on “My List,” – I think that too many people pass over work that doesn’t immediately appear to fit into the kind of cartoony or photo-real polish of something like a Superhero comic or one of those tedious “Vampire’s Point Of View” or “Sympathy For The Devil” things that are the current vogue. A story that’s as grounded as yours is really refreshing.
And thanks, also, for the support. I don’t know why but a lot of other artists look down their nose at each other. I think it’s a kind of a result of how insular this kind of thing can be, where there’s a smaller group in which to establish oneself within some kind of hierarchy. I find it tiresome, and I’m glad to have some really serious artists and writers on hand who are willing to give my work the time of day!
–M
You have no idea how hard it is to resist the urge to suddenly have vampires and aliens come out of the woodwork and turn the whole story into a Vampire Vs. Aliens shoot ’em up that happens to have a lot of extraneous character development in the beginning. Maybe some other time though, I’ve got a big reveal at the end of this chapter that I think will appeal to your sensibilities… I’ve already said to much.
Chapter One was great; I can’t wait for Chapter Two! Damn the (nuc’lar) torpedoes! Full speed ahead! 🙂
Thanks so much! I’m really excited to start the next chapter, and I actually have to slow myself down a little in order to pace the whole thing out properly beforehand. The last third of chapter 1 was a segment that I really carefully paced out and I think it was really beneficial, so I’m going to take a more measured approach with the whole of chapter 2. I think it’s going to be a good one, though!
Glad you’re enjoying it so far, and I do hope you’ll keep reading as the story goes!
–M
They…They did it!
May I reiterate that I relate very effectively with Mike and Rucker? They are both very…human characters.
Absolutely fantastic so far. A minor concern- the pacing. The pacing through M1E’s rampage was excellent, but I feel that the pacing leading up to the atom bomb use may be too quick in print. It seems like this will be a tough climax to best.
An artistic note, on every western tank that you draw the track covering in the front comes down quite steeply and suddenly. Most tanks tend to have that part curved and much smaller, if at all. It looks like mud would collect between the tracks and the front track-covering. Perhaps a change for the M75A5 model if UNFORA-6 ever upgrades(or you could have them serving side by side, which would be cool looking and realistic but confusing to casual viewers).
Anyways, a fantastic finisher.
It’s funny – Mike is not a character I thought people would like as much as they do. Not that I wanted people to DISlike him, just that he has kind of taken on a lot of personality that I had not really expected when I was compiling his character. In all honesty, I like him, too – Rucker as well – for the reasons you state. He is rather more human than I’d expected.
I think I was really finding my level up to about page 14 or 15, and I have to say that when I do finally go back to edit this, a lot of revision will happen there. I think this chapter will benefit enormously from all the comments and suggestions when it sees print. I mean, first and foremost, there was a little bit of drift in the character models, just for starters. And some of the plot points would do better were they pushed up and so forth. But it’s all a process, and I’m willing to leave the first chapter as it is for the moment in the interests of moving to the second. I’m not rushing to the press on this one – I’m going to let it develop farther. That was a major reason behind my re-evaluation of whether or not to go to the convention circuit this year – frankly, I just don’t think the comic is ready for the presses yet.
By the way, design-wise you have an interesting point about the Sentinel tread guard. And honestly, I’m kind of willing to allow for my vehicles to have some design flaws in them – might make for interesting plot complications later. The little things, you know.
And finally, thanks for the support – all the little things you point out are really helpful and I think the story has real meat to it for all that. I really appreciate it!
–M
So… where does one go (in story terms) after literally dropping “the big one?”
Well, they say there are two ways to deal with tension in drama – build it to the very last moment, or break it early and make the rest of the story about the consequences. I can’t guarantee that one course or the other is really what’s going on here, but it all does make sense, in the end. I hope.
Thanks for the support, by the way! Always glad to see your work moving forward as well!
–M
*Referring to text*
Thank you, Captain Obvious. T-T
And ‘grats on Chapter 1! I look forward to tons more! 😀
That’s MAJOR Obvious, to you!
Thanks, though – Chapter 2 is cooking along in my sketchbook right now, and it’s going to be a good one, I think!
–M