And here we go. This is much better, I think.
I know that most people who know about these things say that you should never miss an update or you’ll alienate your readers. And there’s a lot of truth to that. But at this point, and in particular with this page, my fear was that I’d alienate my readers with a page that obviously didn’t measure up. This page is an object lesson in how to turn around a poor page and make it into a strong one. I now feel a lot better, and can move forward confidently. So thanks everyone for being so patient. This was a real bear, I can tell you. But in the end, worth the wait, I hope.
Special thanks are due to commenters Joost and asdfasdf, I think, the former for pointing out that the balance between momentum and being satisfied with one’s own work is a delicate one, and the latter for pointing out that my old scheme of coloring, with the stylized “edged” shadows, was a lot stronger, and worth the extra time it takes to produce. And also to my mother, for pointing out that there had just been an atomic explosion, and yet they were all under a clear blue sky. Not likely.
Anyhow, I’m off to bed now. I’ve had my lesson in the balance of quality versus quantity, I think, and so now I have to be a lot more careful about the artwork I choose to post. If you guys are being so good as to read this once a week, the least I can do is try and make it worth the wait for you.
So until next time, folks, keep on doing… you know, whatever it is we all do!
Thats right! Nothing puts down the grand-daddy of a Bolo, not even a nuclear strike. Even after you take away all his limbs and senses, he can still get you with his MIND! being an AI.
Mike is a tough cookie, all right. If you’re going to invest tens of millions of dollars in an automated tank, you better make sure he can take a lot of punishment.
Of course he still “went South” in the first place, so…
–M
There are two parts required for radio communication to be successful, both have to be working for communication to be possible. Signal gain is receive sensitivity, RF gain is power output. You can turn up the output power all the way, and you might be punching through the noise. The people you are calling can hear you. With the local noise level high, you cannot hear, you will never know if the contacted party is responding. By the time their signal is reaching you it is lower power than the noise of your surrounding or than the sensitivity of your gear is capable of. Your are a deaf guy yelling.
Increasing the sensitivity will only lower the noise floor, making you hear more noise, not less. There are some digital tricks that can pull a slow computer signal (rain/meteor scatter) out from nearer the noise floor than a human can hear, but nothing that would support voice.
One option you can do in this case is to transmit all of your information on a repeat loop at maximum power, pausing at intervals to see if you can hear any response. Another option is to scan around looking for someone you can hear and trying to contact them. Radio propagation can be ‘funny’ though.
An example from real life. Take three radio operators. A(Texas-I think) and B(California) are having a conversation. Operator C is in the South pacific on a disabled boat with a broken leg. C can hear A, not B, C calls A, A doesn’t hear C, but B can hear C. When A doesn’t respond to C, B tells A that he can hear C and to say that over the air so that C will know he is being heard. A acts as a relay. Because of the emergency nature, B wont try to have C hear him directly because he may loose contact with A in the process. B called our Coast Guard who contacted the Argentinean Coast Guard or Navy and was able to send a boat out to rescue them.
In other words, it takes two to tango. If I may. Actually, my grandfather was a radio engineer, but I was never of the same electronics aptitude as he. I appreciate the point – they would be trying to boost RF gain if they wanted to transmit, and signal gain if they wanted to receive? I had thought they were both a single ratio but I suppose I’m wrong – I appreciate the advice!
–M
Well, we can just assume the Major here is similarly fuzzy on the specifics, and just meant “boost the transmission power”, and perhaps his underling there was starting to say “But sir, signal gain is receive sensitivity!”?
One additional thing. I liked the part of the older dialog where he says to keep trying different bands, including civilian. That is the right solution and something a soldier would not necessarily do without orders. If they try to transmit on those bands it will put their signal in the clear where the enemy may hear it. The Major is hoping to gain situational information and if transmitting, giving up some tactical information to do it eg their location and that they are somewhat operational.
Back to the comic, my guess is that Y-H-B is Mike’s level of operational status after being nuked. That it is transmitting at all is totally amazing. The only thing I wonder is if there was an Occupant and are they jelly?
Oooh, I wonder what Yankee Hotel Bravo could stand for…? Yellow Hates Blue? Young Halle Berry? Yo Home Boys? Yucky Helium Bubbles? You Have Broken? Hmmm…
Youtube Has Bootlegs? You Happy Bastard? Yes, Harry Browne?
You’ll have to wait and see… 🙂
–M
I stand by my previous statement. HOLY SHIT. At least an order of magnitude better, in the formal mathematical sense where that means ten times better. I had seen it before, I was prepared for all the detail, but the color just made it pop. The sky, the lighting, the shadowing, the focus. This is cinematic.
One small critique–the inside of the tank is red. Not a red glow in internal components, just flat red. No greeble, no details, no nothing. The inside of the tank looks like a flat red room. Could do with some indistinct detail in the fourth panel.
Also, your mother had a good point, and I’m a little embarrassed that I didn’t catch that. The red reflecting off of the clouds really makes the entire scene look fantastic, though. That first panel could be the single best looking panel so far.
Also, thanks for the shout out.
Once again, thanks! The comments were very helpful, and I am, in the end, very glad that I took the time to go back and fix up this page. The “unready” version felt like… well, just that – unready. I’ve learned my lesson about posting half-assed work, I think.
From now on, I vow to use my whole ass!
–M
Er, re: red interior, isn’t that the *third* panel?
Oops, that wasn’t where I wanted to post that! I meant to reply to asdfsdf’s post.
Yes, the color brings the best out in your comic. (though if you give it up every once in a while for the sake of speed you wont see me complaining).
😀
The colors were part of my original concept. Mostly, prior to this comic, I worked in black and white or greys, and so this has been a real education for me in color theory, at which I was never very good. This page has been one of several that have worked out as really good examples of how I want things to look in the final version.
–M
Like I said before, this really is the next level. There is so much detail in this page, like the reflection of the red sky on the shoulder of the armored infantry guy I love it. Good call by the way from your mother about the blue sky, very perceptive!
Well, to reuse an old statement of mine: Great page! Keep ‘m coming!
Thanks, Joost – and sorry for the delay in this response. But yes, the extra week helped me reset my goals a bit, which had gotten a little more slack. When I have a clearer picture in mind of what I want to accomplish and how to go about it, I’m better placed to try to meet deadlines again.
–M