Okay, folks, here goes Chapter 5! This chapter is one I’ve been working towards for years now, and I’m excited to be drawing it at last! It’s not easy, all of this, but fun nonetheless. I’ve also wanted, for a long time, to draw a scene at sea, though I can’t exactly say why. This is a multinational fleet, here, with ships from Québec, Canada, Japan, Australia, Cuba, and even a Russian submarine (though you can’t tell – its markings are all underwater, but it’s an Imperialist sub). I had a huge ton of fun drawing this whole fleet here, and the aircraft and all.
So, hopefully you’ll find that this chapter will go places you’ll enjoy reading. I know that I can tend to err on the side of Kubrickian imagery in my comics, explaining little and leaving things open to interpretation, but so far you’ve all followed along with me so patiently, and even when I thought I was burying my mysteries so deeply, you guys have dug them up. In this page, actually, there’s something very specific I wonder if anyone will pick up on that ties it to the previous chapter.
But at any rate, I’m glad to be back, and I owe you all a great debt of gratitude for letting me take a few weeks to just goof off and get my bearings. It was very much worth it, and I feel very good to be back. In fact, I think that if more comic artists, especially webcomic artists, took time to just rest and relax while they go, they wouldn’t end up burning out and just letting their comics drift off into nothingness. This has happened to some really fantastic and high-potential comics, like The Meek, Alpha Shade, and others I always liked. For me, having the time to relax and just get away from 6-Commando actually made me far more enthusiastic about continuing, and so I feel very good about getting off to another start.
So, while I’m doing my general status report, I should say that Pupshaw, who you will recall had some medical emergencies this fall, is as spry and frisky as ever, and was pronounced by the vet to be one of the healthiest 14-year-old cats she’s ever seen, having recovered in fine condition from emergency dentistry, though she’s on a strict wet-food diet now. Interesting side effect of that, though, for fellow cat people: the all meat high protein diet has caused her to stop shedding. So, you know, bonus! My real job has me as busy as ever, but that’s par for the course. Also, I finally worked out the opening parts of the print-form “Director’s Cut” of 6-Commando, and so, if all goes according to plan, I’ll be spending a little more time on the side getting that ready for freddy. I know that has been a promise long deferred, but I’m still thinking about it, and I’m hoping to make it happen “Real Soon Now.”
And finally, something I think you folks might enjoy: a comic artist whose work I’ve admired for some time now is Justin Redfield, and his comic The Rogues is of a kindred spirit to 6-Commando, though with a more decidedly action-oriented, and mecha oriented, in an anime-but-not-anime style I actually dig, for all my rantings about Amerimanga. I recommend you check it out on his deviantart page and show him some love, 6-Commando style! I know he’d live to hear from you and I think you’ll totally dig his stuff.
Anyhow, that’s enough outta my yapper for now. Good to be back, and here goes nothing!
ZOMG Sheridan! So beautiful… should have brought a poet…
On second glance, they probably also should have brought some wider spacing between units, now that everyone has nuclear release, and that sub skipper should probably be cashiered.
Hahahaha! Yeah, surfacing into combat looks cool but isn’t very prudent for a boat like that. Good thing it’s just a comic! Good catch on the Sheridan, by the way!
Yes, it probably wouldn’t have been nearly as cool a picture if you could get only one more ship in the frame, and that only a smudge on the horizon.
Rule of Cool, I get it. 😀
Love the page, it really captures movement and action! Can’t wait for this Chapter.
Thanks, Tony! Drawing action scenes like this is great fun. By the way, anyone who hasn’t checked out Tony’s comics Gen-Eg and Fed should totally do so!
Thanks Bro. Again great details; the Sheridan, the Sky Crane, even the Chinooks. Nice choice of some old school equipment and new.
Welcome Back, Commander.
It’s nice to be reminded how even in a different world, some things stay the same. Chinooks and Sheridan tanks alongside Howlers…
Funny, til you quipped it, I hadn’t really noticed the similarity between the UNA and GDI. Ha!
Anyway, I, too, am a fan of “used future” styles, like sci did that is advanced coexisting with obsolescence, and this scene was fun to draw because of that.
“Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell”
The Québécois sure love their Howlers! No idea on that reference yet, but I think it might be the ships name which I can’t really read (the 77 cruiser). By the way, be sure to include a list of those references in your print Edition. I’d really enjoy that.
On the Topic of cats… those dry cat Food granola-things are the cat equivalent of human junk food. Consider the crazyness of feeding a mostly carnivore creature food consisting of mostly plant protein. It can’t be good for them. But great to hear she’s alright and enjoying her new diet. 🙂
the 77 cruiser seem to be named “HMCS Halifax” (as far as I can read)
after a quick search on wikipédia, HMCS Halifax refers to either a Flower-class corvette from WWII, or a Halifax-class frigate still in service today. Both class belongs to the Royal Canadian Navy, and what we can see of the ship seems to look a lot like the Flower-class corvette.
Yes! It is DDG 77 HMCS Halifax. Although it’s actually a heavily worked-over HMS Belfast, with an extended prow housing its forward missile tubes, and a smaller single gun. And a laser turret aft.
The British monarchy, by the way, still exists. King Charles III reigns in exile in Canada.
Quite true, about cats. I feel horribly guilty for not coming around sooner.
And it’s not the ship, but no matter, I’m sure it will become clear soon enough.
Glad to see my favorite ongoing webcomic back! If this page is any indication of the rest of the chapter, it’s gunna be a great one!
:D. Glad people were so patient with me!
Yep, it is quite an opening page. Also “This is it. This is the big one.” really sets the mode.
Let the mayhem commence. 😛
What really surprises me, is that the Canadian forces are still referred to as being ‘Royal’, since I always thought that was supposed to be a reference to Canada’s being a part of the British commonwealth and their traditional loyalty to the British crown, which, I was led to beleive no longer existed in the 6 Commando world.
The monarchy, parliament, and a large part of the more die-hard British military managed to escape to Canada in 1977 when FSR “Volunteers” arrived to stabilize the socialist junta. This coincided with anti-Federate uprisings in France (the Paris Spring) and the crackdown and flight of loyalists to Nirth America and South Africa was the final stage of the Scarlet Revolution.
Which in a sense, places Britain in a state of civil war. Was this a concious choice of Historical irony, because its something of a paralelle with the English Civil war of the 1600’s, when King Charles the first was ousted and eventually executed, with King Charles the second living in exile over seas for decades, while Britain was controlled by what ammounted to a military juta under Oliver Cromwell as the Lord Protector of England.
Most of Europe is technically in a civil war. France, Britain, Norway, the Netherlands and Germany are the most violently opposed to FSR domination, so they’re occupied. The others are more in a state of general unrest, run by puppet governments.
Oh yeah, here we go! Fasten your seatbelts and keep that airsick bag handy 😉
😀
I’d have been a terrible R.C. Marine, myself.
Welcome back!!!!
In this universe did the Sheridan ever have it’s armor and low rate fire issues solved?
No they did not. But it’s still the only tank you can fly into combat on a Sikorsky Sky Crane.
Say isn’t the ship on the middle-right a Ticonderoga? interesting that the class is still kicking about though. Oh yes, welcome back, it’s good to see the action resume, I hope your new years is a good one.
The two carriers are actually pretty similar to the British Invincible class cruisers, with their rather distinctive ‘Ski-Jumps’
Actually the one in the background looks a lot like a ski-jump-fitted version of MN Charles de Gaulle, while the closer one looks like a variant of the US “ambhibious assault ships” fitted with a skijump (which is not fitted on the US ships, because it would eat into deck space for helicopters).
The carrier in the background is based on the Russian Kuznetsov-class carrier, though I’ve put the conning tower farther back. It’s the Japanese carrier Syokaku, in this universe. The Aurore is based heavily on the Wasp class, as well as the new Canberra class that the Austrialians are building.
Just for fun, I’ll tell you that the ships in the international fleet here, left to right, are: Battle Tender Showa (Japan); Missile Cruiser HMCS Active (Canadian Confederation); Missile Destroyer HMCS Halifax (Canadian Confederation); V/STOL Carrier Aurore (Republic of Quebec); Missile Cruiser HMAS Queensland (Australian Federation); Assault Carrier Syokaku (Japan); Missile Cruiser José Martí (Republic of Cuba).
The Submarine is the Anastasiya, and is crewed by Russian Loyalists, but was actually originally built in South Africa as the HMSAS Robert Nzinga. She was transferred to the Russians in 1986 as part of a UNA armaments plan to increase participation by exile communities in the Allied Armed Forces.
I’m wondering if the specific reference you write about is this comic: http://www.viciousprint.com/6commando/?comic=just-watch-me
The exchange between the two men over the phone, specifically the last two panels.
Indirectly, yes. Although there’s other parts as well.
Man I heard that speech way to much…
Psych-up speeches? I always found them kind of creepy, myself. Especially in the military context.
Interesting. I see that the Canucks use the rare “retractable landing gear” version of the Chinook! Now, are those Boeing Chinooks, or Piasecki/Vertol Chinooks?
From the specs, I don’t think a CH-54 Tarhe (Sikorsky S-64) could carry a Sheridan, as the CH-54’s max payload was 10 tons, and a Sheridan weighs 15 tons. However, on the wiki page there is a picture of a Skycrane slinging a Sheridan… I suspect that the sling load is a stripped-down hull. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CH54B_and_M551_Sheridan.jpg
I sketched them with the fixed landing gear, and it was all wheels – looked oddly distracting to me, so I omitted them. I usually draw what I think will look cool, and so long as it doesn’t look utterly absurd, I don’t worry too much about physics. It’s a comic book, after all – Mike himself, after all, is utterly absurd from the standpoint of physics. So a chopper like the Skycrane carrying a loaded Sheridan is something I’ll let fly without doing the math too closely.
Welcome back and way to light the candle though the ship in the back 65 what flag is that one cant really make it out or is that a crafty russian spy there
im sorry more like 44 bleeping tiny screen hard to tell sometimes heh
The 65 is Canadian, the 44 is Japanese, as is the big carrier in the background.
ok hell of a global network there then and awesome also glad your back i missed this comic
The flying crane is carrying an M551. Cool..but useless, that tank sucked.