Think About What You’re Doing
Yes, indeedy. They said it couldn’t be done. They said I was crazy to draw a comic. They all laughed at me! WELL WHO’S LAUGHING NOW?!
😀
Yes, that’s right, the One Hundredth Page of 6-Commando has arrived. Not a truly titanic milestone, but it’s the longest I’ve ever worked on a comic project before, and this is as close as I’ve yet come to actually getting my act together enough to do something like this. So I’m pretty enthusiastic about it all! And the Giants won the Super Bowl, into the bargain! Not that I’m a Giants fan – I’m actually an Eagles fan – but still, next best thing for me.
And as promised, I’m giving away free 6-Commando Stuff as part of this week’s celebratory game of 6-Commando Poker. Want to know how to play? It’s easy!
Each day this week, I’ll post a 6-Commando card as a voting incentive at topwebcomics.com. You can reach it by clicking my mug on the sample card to the left – that’s what they look like. That’ll add up to five cards, making a hand of poker. So all you have to do is vote once a day for the next five days, and collect the cards (write them down, save the image file, whatever you like). Then, next Saturday, send me an email [mike-one-echo(at)viciousprint(dotcom)] telling me what the hand of poker was. From these entries, I’ll draw ten winners to receive an official 6-Commando pin, five to get a pin and a free sketch card from me, hand-drawn, and one to get all that, AND a cameo appearance as a character in Chapter IV of 6-Commando. Doesn’t that sound cool? I think it does.
And since its a LOT easier to play, and requires essentially NO skill or esoteric knowledge, and I’m basically just THROWING free stuff at you, I hope you’ll all take the opportunity to participate.
And even if you don’t, I hope you’ll STILL take the chance to spread the word far and wide about 6-Commando, whether on forums, on Facebook, on Twitter, on anything you think will help 6-Commando keep up the recognition it’s been getting over the past 100 pages. And let me say to everyone who reads, writes, and drops me notes about this comic, THANK YOU SO MUCH! It’s been a ton of fun so far, and it’s a constant thrill to me to see what attentive and intelligent people circulate around here. You guys make it worthwhile, and I’m looking forward to the next hundred pages!
So, I hope everyone plays, and I’ll see you all next week!
Mike seems to be like a Ghost In The Wire, or something like that. My little grey brain cells are trying to remind me of something but I’m not listening hard enough. Something about a supercomputer than has become sentient and is organizing a revolt on the moon.. I’ll remember sometime when it doesn’t matter anymore.
Bottomline: I am liking this story very much.
I think you’re thinking of The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, and the computer, if I recall correctly, is named Mike as well. Unintentional, I assure you.
I’m very glad you’re enjoying the story, too! Here’s to the next hundred pages!
–M
Mr. Average, Thank you for the jump start on the memory dept. Yes, that is what I was trying to bring up from deep in the data banks.
Indeed, here is to the next hunddred pages and I hope you enjoy doing them as much as we relish every update.
ps. Is your first name .S. Above?
Hmm I just tried to vote to get the first card but instead got the full page spread, not that I mind that is pretty cool too. I guess I’ll try to vote later from a different IP.
Yes, topwebcomics seems to be in a different time zone. Just try again in a few hours and it should be up.
And thanks for playing!
–M
One hundred pages—and look how far your art has come since the beginning! You’ve gotten good very fast.
I mean, it started out very good but you’ve improved proportion and coloring in ways that make the comic noticeably better.
No, I get you. And I agree – it’s the weekly deadline that has helped the most. It’s taught me to keep moving and refine technique to get the job done. And I am pretty pleased with how things have developed stylistically so far.
Thanks for the good wishes!
–M
Allow me to be the first to congratulate you on page 100. It’s been a hell of a ride! Thank you!
Thanks, man! It’s kind of amazing to me I’ve been able to keep it up this long but its been a great and valuable experience for me so far! I’m glad to have you reading and it makes a hundred pages feel like a breeze!
–M
Yep, Rucker is know as batshit as Mike.
Congrats on 100, looking forward to the next 10 hundo.
I must also add my congrats on reaching 100 pages and may we see 100 more.
And I must also agree that Rucker has completely lost it. While the doctor’s desription of Sarah as now being ‘Just a mass of radioactive materiel’ may be harsh, but is accurate. She no longer just dying but actively a hazard, potentially spreading radioactive contamination onto anyone who comes in contact with her.
I just hope Rucker is still sane enough to figure out to wear a hazmat suit, because there is a deffinate line between being crazy and being a moron.
Phew, another THIUSAND… Actually I think another three hundred fifty or so will wrap this baby up pretty well. But there are going to be other comics, and this one has a long way to go itself, too! But thanks, man!
And yeah, Rucker is getting a bit loopy, huh? Or so it seems…;)
–M
So only about one foruth of the whole story has been told? Excellent! 😀
Fantastic work. I am hooked. Are these chapters available as a print book yet?
I wait with baited breath at each Monday now!
Awesome!
Nick (from Melbourne Australia)
Not in print yet, but I’m working on it. This fall, I hope!
–M
Seems like the 1st panel monologue provides the evidence for the “mercy killins is a UNA standard practice”-theory?
I wouldn’t call it a standard practice, but something they think they’re willing to do, but which nobody has ever done yet, so they don’t know for sure. I considered it an analogue to the nuclear war, personally.
–M
Good point.
It’s a open secret that in medical triage (especially in disasters which cause large numbers of casualties) people are divided into categories depending on their injuries.
Including a category of people who will be left to die since they are either beyond medical aid OR are too seriously wounded to be treated under the current circumstances (e.g. saving one of their numbers puts the survival of people with less erious injuries into jeopardy [by tying up medical ressources and capabilites]).
It’s not nice, but a necessity.
Congratulations on 100 pages! Thanks for all your hard work on 6-Commando – I’m really glad I found your comic!
I’m glad you found it, too! It’s been lots of fun and it’s kept me out of trouble on the weekends, so I call it win-win!
–M
Congratulations on One Hundred! It must be mind boggling to think how far you’ve come. Looking forward to more great things from 6-Commando this year.
Thanks, Denny! Yeah it has been quite a thing, going from essentially no knowledge of comics to here. Being a draftsman is NOT the same as being a comic artist, I have learned. But it has been a great chance to teach myself about all the ins and outs – and to make connections. 😉
Let’s see how many hundred mire I have in me now!
–M
Congrats on 100! And, yes, you have gotten pretty darn good at this.
I’m glad that they live in a world where electronics come with the bit of code that causes them to shatter catastrophically when hacked into or bugged. Get’s your attention much more effectively than a BSoD. (although I think Architectural drafters stuck with buggy modeling programs would be SoL.)
Yes, in the 6-Commando Universe, electrons receive three years of training in theater and performing arts before they’re allowed into the circuits of any computer. This makes their reaction to even the smallest stimulus far more dramatic than the electrons in OUR universe. 😉
I actually foresaw this response when I was drawing that panel. I thought “Why do movies and TV always show computers exploding? They don’t explode, they just fizzle and stop working.” Then I thought, “Aw, the hell with it. Maybe this is Mike getting impatient with cracking the code and just blasting the circuit instead. They’ll buy that, won’t they? Sure they will.”
Or WILL they?!
Thanks for the good wishes, by the way. And there are actually some days when I wish my CAD workstation WOULD explode in a bass of blue electrical arcs. At least then it’d be doing something entertaining, instead of taking ten minutes to print the wrong thing. 😉
–M
This is how the 6-Command radioactive zombie apocalypse begins! Major Sarah is patient zero.
Now THERE is an interesting theory! I haven’t heard that one before! We’ll have to see if it pans out, won’t we?
–M
I want some Atomic monsters for the atomic age.
I will also accept Mike vs Godzilla, Mike vs The Colossal Man, or Mike vs Them!
I could have Mike pointing and yelling “GOJIRRRRRAAAAAAAAA!”
I might just…!
–M
That just made my day. But Mike doesn’t have fingers… Or a Japanese accent. That we know of…
100! too A W E S O M E! tyvm for this story and God bless you too.
😀
Thanks, man. It’s been a ton of fun so far, and I’m glad everyone enjoys it!
–M
Congrats! This is a true milestone indeed! I never asked before, but do you have an idea about the number of pages that will go in the complete 6-commando story?
Thanks, Joost! It’s been a lot of work so far but worth it, I think!
I never actually made a full estimate of pages for the whole thing but I guess about 450-500 is what I imagine at the moment. I play pretty loose with page counts, though, so it might be a bit longer.
–M
Okay, here’s something odd going on.
“It’s a mass or radioactive material”
The medics/docs in the FSR field hospital who treated her wore lead vests to shield themselves from the possible radioactive threat posed by Mjr. Bronniford. The surgical staff at Command Post Alpah didn’t.
Hmmmmm….
Declearing her a radiological hazard is a great excuse to “get rid of her”. Seems like Col. Haulley would sell his grandmother to get that project of Zaballa and his running.