Whoops – the next page in this spread took me WAY too long to ink – when you see it I think you’ll understand. So it’s going to be an extra day or two to finish, I’m afraid. Check back soon! Thanks for the patience!
There’s SOOOO much I want to say in this week’s post, but I just don’t have a lot of time, I’m afraid. This page and the ones following are stretching me to my very artistic limits – they are as close to being a genuine tour de force as I am currently able to produce. Pages 28 and 29 form a spread that, if I do say so, is one of my better compositions. Though because of the site, you have to see one at a time, I will, as I did before, make the spread available next week, as a voting incentive. Wink wink, nudge nudge.
The most critical thing though, is this: Jason Brubaker, of reMIND, put out a call for guest work, now that he’s in the throes of publishing the first volume of his graphic novel, which has been receiving great reviews so far, I might add. Answering the call, Chris Wrann of Aquarium Drinking, wrote a nine-page mini-story, and asked me and a number of other artists to participate in drawing it, one page each! I happen to be up first, and you can see this foray into a very different comics world over at www.remindblog.com. Over the coming weeks, additional pages by some really sensational artists will be added to the mix, and I urge you all to check them out! The include, in addition to myself:
Aviv Itzcovitz
The Ever-Popular Joost Haakman
Peter Hon
Sarah Ellerton (If you don’t recognize her comic, you don’t read enough of them!)
Jim Francis
Kim Ku
Daniel Lieske
And of course, the man himself, Chris “The Insitigator” Wrann
Needless to say, it was a real privilege to have the chance to collaborate on a project like this, especially with so many artists at the top of their game, as they all are. All of their personal work is well worth your time, and I can’t possibly say enough how great an experience this has been. So roll on over and have a look-see!
Until next week, be well, everyone!
Oh, I see the British Vulcan is still in service in this reality? Gotta love that bird.
Oh, it’s definitely one of my favorites. So elegant! And although there’s a lot of super-advanced technology in the world of 6-Commando, I have had great fun adding in those little retro elements into the mix: the Avro Vulcan, the “Backfire” Bomber, the ZSU-3 “Shilka” AA vehicle; and also the retrofitted technology like the T-90 tank here, with a high-tech “HIVELOC” railgun fitted into its turret.
On a side-note, the Vulcans here are from the Royal South African Air Force, who, though they are an atomic power, have a much smaller military than many other UNA nations. However, being one of seven UNA members actually IN Africa, they have apparently taken responsibility for the first stage of the UN counterstrike. They’re dropping conventional bombs on the way down, then chaff (little tinfoil strips that jam radar as the flutter down through the air) on the way up. The intention is to keep the Federate forces from launching their missiles by jamming the launch guidance network. But of course that would only work if the missiles haven’t already been pre-targeted. But more about this next week.
–M
Interestingly, the Vulcan was originally designed as a high altitude nuclear bomber, in the same vein as the B-52, when military wisdom was for bombers to fly as high as possible to avoid ground defences and manouverability wasn’t important.
After the shooting down of the American U-2 ultra-hight altitude spy planes, RAF doctrine changed and Vulcan pilots were trained to fly at very low altitudes, at high speeds, taking advantage of the Vulcan’s phenomenal agility for an aircraft its size. I mean, this is a plane, the size of a comercial jet airliner and yet it was actually almost as manouverable as many fighters of the time and certainly absurdly agile for a bomber, which I think we can see here, judging by the moves those Vulcans are showing off.
Indeed! The South Africans are essentially using it here as a high-capacity tactical bomber. The delta-wing shape gave it enormous lift and maneuverability, particularly in a climb-dive angle, meaning it could dip in, drop its bombs and then climb out very fast and at a very high angle.
Plus, it just has such a great, distinctive style.
–M
In fact, the Vulcan followed a pattern in British design philosophy of that time when building early large jets: Take the design of their jet fighters and just make them bigger.
In fact, I’d like to imagine in this world, that other legendary British aircraft makers are still plying their trade and that a decendant of the Supermarine Spitfire is still carving up the skies of the 6-Commando world
Most of the British, French and Italian aerospace industries moved to Canada in the late 1970s, and many are defunct. Those which remain are mostly subsidiaries of the main defense conglomerates OVC and Nordyne. The main British manufacturers which survive are now partnered with American firms. Nordyne-Hawker-Siddeley makes the Hawker Cyclone, the UNA’s main ground-attack aircraft, and Marietta-Vickers/Avro/BAC, is a member of the Omni-Vehicluar Consortium, and makes heavy bombers, tankers, and AWACS aircraft. The Supermarine trademark remains alive, however, in the form of the Supermarine Starfire, a carrier V/STOL jet favored by the Royal Australian and Royal New Zealand Navies. It’s only in limited production, however, due to the increasing distribution of the Hughes-Boeing F32, which planned to supersede all other carrier aircraft in UNA service by 2001.
–M
Are there translations for what the Russians say?
Not exactly, but I promise that eventually it will all become clear.
Early on, I agonized over the question of “to translate or not to translate,” and I fell on the side of letting the Russians speak Russian (REAL Russian, constructed with the help of a Russian-speaker) without translating it, since the story is largely concerned with issues of understanding and misunderstanding, and their consequences, and is told from the point of view of a group of people who don’t understand Russian. So I let it stand. But it gave rise to a number of interesting storytelling opportunities that will become very critical to the plot later on. Until then, I can only beg your indulgence as I see whether this experiment will pay off or not. Or you an get a Russian-English dictionary, if you’re a real die-hard!
–M
Great looking page man, can’t wait for next week to come and see the whole spread!
Thanks, Joost! A lot of research went into this page and the next – I combed through books of photos from Vietnam, the Congolese Civil War, World War II, even the American Civil War, to find photos that had good reference. I’ve begun taking fuller advantage of the computer as a means of synthesizing information like this and it’s allowed me to compose a number of scenes that I’m really happy with.
–M
Great page as usual… i really have nothing to say about it… that`s how much i`m enjoying your work… 🙂 keep it up…
😀
–M
Why is the railgun on the T-90 three-sided? I would have thought four sided more fitting for the shape of a railgun. Not sure how the rails would be set up inside of that barrel, honestly. Artistic License?
I was going to try to come up with a cheeky in-universe answer but the simple fact is I thought it looked cool and so I ran with it. Not many triangular guns, are there? It had an interesting profile and so I kept it. And actually, a triangle configuration could be a compact way to make a gauss weapon work – three magnets in an equilateral configuration would produce a geodesic magnetic field. Here, of course, I have drawn it as an isosceles triangle so if I had to come up with a technobabble explanation, it would be that the two short sides of the barrel house the magnets and the flat bottom has the guide rail that the shot travels along on its way to oblivion.
–M
Problem is that one of the rails in a railgun sends current to the projectile and one sends it away. If you tried to have two send it and one away or one send it and two away…I don’t know, I don’t really care to do the right hand rule right now. Might work, might not. Probably would, actually. Magnetic fields are tough to do while sleepy, with the force directed at a perpendicular angle thing.
Well, very true. I tend to think that the Russian weapon would operate as a coilgun rather than a railgun, though. So perhaps it’s a misnomer. But still, triangular gun barrel seemed cool either way! 😀
–M
That’s shit going down xD
I really love this comic. It’s insane!
Okay I have to ask, does the A10 Warthog exist in this world?