Previously on Battlestar Galactica…
…er, I mean, 6-Commando.
Wellp. All the wine, woman, and song is fun, but it’s time to dive into Season 3. And as this is a big act break, time for a little character map to make sure you’re all up to date! Are you following all this? Because there’s going to be a test later…
So, a few things. First and foremost, you might know that there was an election in the United States this past week, and you might be expecting me to pontificate about it. Well, I’m not going to.
Instead, I’ve decided that, with you folks waiting all this time, you might be interested to know what, exactly, I’ve been doing. As it turns out, I was putting together an application for a grant to see if I could get a comic published. Will I get the grant? Well, we’ll see about that, but it’s always worth it to try. And for all of you, since I was so secretive, I thought I’d give you a chance to see the comic in all its glory. Just cast a vote over at TWC, and you can have a looksee!
And since it so-happens that 6-Commando is, itself, one of the “Comics of the Week,” this week I’ll turn you on to some fellow-sci fi I’m paired with:
Demon Archives: One hundred years after World War III, Minerva is a lone beacon of civilization in the chaos of central Asia. Their technological superiority has guaranteed peace for their citizens and power in the area. But when that superiority is suddenly challenged, everything starts to fall apart.
And since I’m the other sci fi comic this week, here’s just a personal favorite of my own:
The 388th: Cut from the same ragged cloth as David Drake’s Hammer’s Slammers, Tony Bourne’s The 388th is a science fiction story of military life, conflict, survival and bloodshed from a man who’s been there, and who pulls no punches in his depiction of the unglamorous realities of the soldier’s life.
And by the way, just in case you have trouble reading the page above, here’s the text:
The Story So Far:
Ilya, Dobrinya and Alesha, mechanic robots from the Federate installation, achieve a rudimentary intelligence and lead their comrades to the United Nations Alliance base, which is commanded by…
Colonel Haulley, Commander of the UN.A. forces, who believes he has been betrayed by his south american allies, and orders an attack on both the CONASUR installation and the retreating Federates, to be led by…
Captain Santelli, who upon seeing that the Federates intend to surrender, refuses the order, instead offering refuge to his enemies, led by…
Colonel Jaana Talinina, who ordered the use of atomic weapons to defend herself from an attack, and may inadvertently have caused the conflict to escalate out of control; she is also the commanding officer of…
Sergeant Vissarionov, a SMERSH agent whose original mission took him across United Nations lines to capture enemy officers, but when he was caught in the resulting atomic conflict, he was badly burned, and is later treated by…
Doctor Haakman, who, baffled by the strange occurrences is struggling to hold together the fracturing UNA base in the midst of escalating conflict, when Colonel Haulley, now in a bizarre near-coma and emitting dangerous radiation, is brought to the infirmary by…
Captain Maria Dacosta, the sole remaining functional senior officer in the base, who must take the initiative and assist…
Major Thomas Rucker, who, determined to end the conflict, risks his own life a second time to broker a cease-fire with the South Americans, only to discover the truth about what they have been doing under the leadership of…
Lieutenant-Colonel Zaballa, a South American officer ostensibly on a mission of observation, who has in fact been building powerful new thermonuclear warheads in the U.N.A. base, intended for use by…
Mike-One-Echo, an automated weapon of unprecedented power who has also developed a sophisticated form of sapience under the stress of contradictory instructions, and interprets his orders in increasingly unpredictable ways, and in particular shows a dangerous fixation on…
Major Sarah Bronniford, a United Nations pilot Mike was ordered to rescue, and who has only been saved from certain death by the installation of bio-electronic hardware in her brain and nervous system, which has given her an unexpected connection both to Mike-one-echo and to another, even more dangerous machine called…
Victor-Three-Victor, Mike’s intended replacement, who has emerges from the war zone having undergone a transformation similar to his erstwhile cousin, but with even more dangerous results…
So there it is, folks. We’re back and better than ever!
Great summery
Thanks! This is my first rollout of my hand-designed font for lettering by the way. I made it myself, but I’m not 100% sure I like it as much as hand-lettering each page. Convenient though, typos notwithstanding (fixing those soon).
So that’s what Santelli looks like.
As seen in Chapter 6. And he’s pretty tall, too, as you’d expect for a powered armor trooper.
Too bad facial scars such as this have certain side-effects. His blunt emotionless facial expression being just one of them…
Lets see how this chapter goes. I’m hyped for more!
I’m still here in the Santelli fan club. We have Santelli mugs, Santelli T-shirts, and Santelli voice changers.
Hmm – now I look, and I think it took me all too long to realize (notice, whatever) that Victor, as Mike’s replacement, has less old-fashioned glasses compared to his predecessor…
Ehh, the devil dwells in details, I guess? 🙂
😀
There are a number of subtle differences, and that is one!
As far as I can tell…
-glasses
-four rank bars instead of Mike’s three
-features are…sharper? Victor seems leaner and meaner
-hair, while still short, seems more like a buzz cut than Mike’s scientist ‘do.
There are others, but those are some big ones, yes! 😉
Oh, thank ghod.
Having arrived more or less in the middle of all this (and struggling to catch up ever since) , I deeply appreciate the summary.
Ghod always provides.
A quick character map seemed in order, to sort out this soap opera! 😉
Your comic is about Switzerland attacking Canada?
I think we miss some context but it’s really teasing, ahah! I hope you’ll get the grant!
It’s always the ones you least suspect! 🙂
Thanks for the support, though it’s a very, very slim chance. One of those things where I sent it off and will likely never hear anything again. But you have to take a swing you know?
I’m saying this bcs I live in Switzerland, ahah
You’re welcome. And yes, better try and fail than not try at all, especially in the art industry, ahah ^^
Last time I visited Switzerland the tourism bureau’s motto was “Get Natural!” Which my friend and I have ever since referred to as “Get Neutral!”
I make no secret of the fact that I adore Switzerland. If I had the wherewithal I’d keep a place in Geneva.
Thanks for putting the summary in the comments section, because man my eyes protested HARD at how small it is in the image. Any reason you didn’t enlarge the entire image? Was it due to the format of the site? Just curious!
Yeah, site formatting. And I’m still fussing with the new “Mr. Average” font.
Oh sure, give Dacosta the shortest summary whydontcha? I mean sure, she’s just a supporting character, another pretty face. No big deal. I’m not getting defensive… It’s not like I have a ‘thing’ for her or nuthing 🙂
She’s working behind the scenes, don’cha know. But don’t worry, she’s not getting written out of the story, not by a long chalk. 😉
The summary omits one of the biggest aspects of the story: the reality portals that apparently MIKE can create..
http://www.viciousprint.com/6commando/comic/the-land-of-the-living/
http://www.viciousprint.com/6commando/comic/the-thing/
Heh heh heh… well, I only had so many lines of text to work with. But yeah, that’s another interesting “going-on.”
Also, the “dangerous obsession” by MIKE for the redhead is because he was ordered to keep her safe as his “primary directive”, and that is what has caused the entire atomic war too.
Also, there is a bit of suspension of disbelief here: when the UNA guys discover the “reality portals”, which are probably the most important single event in the history of humankind, they sort of take it all too pragmatically, as “just another weirdness”. They are stressed and totally focused on hunkerdown/survival, but still…
Believe me, they’re going to deal with it one way or another.
Glad to see some new installments. Very informatives ummary.
Glad to see you’re back. I’d also like to thank you for making a point not to wade into the political muck. That’s not what we’re here for. Some others forgot that and lost me as a reader.