This week, we are graced with the artistic skills of Aviv Itzcovitz, who, in addition to being a masterful illustrator and comic artist, is also a painter and graphic designer, and draws the silent comic Stupid Snake. He has, in fact, just released the second book in the saga. I envy him very deeply – he’s one of those kind of artists who seems to me to just get everything completely right the first time. I know it’s not REALLY that way, but that’s how his artwork always seems to me. Anyhow, I can’t possibly recommend Stupid Snake highly enough – check it out, and consider buying it in print, as well!
As for me, this week saw me doing very little drawing, actually; at least, not any that I’m quite ready to show you – I had a slowdown in revision so I ended up turning instead to some preliminary blockouts for Chapter IV, which is going to be a really fun one to draw (and hopefully to read), but no peeking, so this week there’s no voting incentive. To be perfectly honest, though, most of the week was absorbed in a long-overdue cleaning of my apartment and studio, which, let me tell you, had gotten shamefully grotty. My poor cat is now patrolling all the corners she likes to sit it, stopping occasionally to give me angry looks when she finds that her nests of fluff have been cleared away. She has a lot of catching up to do. And I have to resolve not to let it get that bad again.
This week also culminated in my third successive disappointment from NYCC, which has yet again rejected my application for space in Artist’s Alley. I won’t pretend I’m not disappointed, because I am. It basically sucks. But I’m used to not being taken seriously by The Establishment, and it doesn’t deter me or alter any of my plans. Besides, the majority of my readers, if Google is anything to go by, are in the Western US, Europe and Canada these days, so NYCC, though a nice goal, hardly makes or breaks any of my plans or deadlines in re: my intended readership. I was still bummed out, though, I gotta say, so I basically decided to give myself the weekend off, and with a few days’ perspective, a clean studio, and a visit from an old friend of mine, I’m just going back to the drawing board and picking up where I left off. I’ll just keep on plugging away.
All the best, folks, and see you next week!
Hmmmm, a very American response to the situation: Bomb the hell out of it. Don’t they have anything comparable to say SAS or Delta Force? I mean they seem to be reaching for the heavy stuff really rather fast when what is really called for is a scalpul rather than a sledgehammer.
Heck, sending in the howlers even seems like a bad idea at this point, since you are basically rolling in there with tanks.
The dominant military theory in this universe is overwhelming force. We might not think it’s smart, but for them it’s worked for eighty years. Only the late arrival of atomic weapons has begun to change their minds, but old habits die hard.
“God will recognize his own.”
–M
Overreaction? Maybe.
If they HAVE Spec Ops of some kind, that would likely be the best solution to a hostage situation. One point though, in this alternate future, did Munich happen? Was GSG9 ever started? Does Delta Force exist? The SAS was originally an exceptionally well trained WWII commando unit. Only later did they become specialized in hostage rescue. SWAT teams didn’t exist until the 70s as well.
So… You use what you have. Is it a good idea to send regular soldiers and tanks in? No. Is there anything ELSE they could do? I dunno. I guess we will find out.
((FYI, ‘Bullets, not bodies’ IS a policy of the United States Armed Forces and has been since 1865. Put simply, they MUCH prefer to expend ordnance than people. It doesn’t always work as planned. The US has always had more hardware, it only makes SENSE to use what they have. I do not always agree with the policy in all situations, mind you. I DO think this is not going to end well.))
Even if Spec-Ops units as we know them today don’t exist in this universe, elit commando units most certainly do, since units like the British Royal Marines, American Army Rangers, French Foreign Legion all existed long before the first world war and I can’t imagine they wouldn’t exist in this world. Spec-Ops are just too useful a military tool for them not to exist, even if you completely discounted the counter terrorism role.
But commandos and hostage rescue teams are VERY different animals.
These days, there is a lot of overlap. Spetznaz, US Navy Seal Team Six, Delta Force, SAS all of these are trained for multiple missions. Hostage rescue is only one of the missions these elite teams are used for.
But HISTORICALLY speaking, commandos of the sort that served in WWII are the LAST guys you want to send in on a hostage rescue. Just ask any of the survivors of those units. 1st Special Services Regiment,US Army Rangers, paratroopers of various countries, English Commandos, OSS, all of these COULD do the job, maybe. Given proper planning time, proper logistics and a good team, they could do it. But they were not TRAINED for it generally.
The prison camp rescue in the Philippines was a VERY good illustration of how to do something like this. They used what they had, including some Army Rangers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_at_Cabanatuan
The team that was assembled (Which included Ranger btw) did an excellent job, all told. But it was NOT their usual sort of mission. They did it, gladly. But they were much more suited to killing people and breaking things.
There are SWAT-like paramilitary police, but they’re for domestic crises. There are also what could be called “Special Forces,” trained to fight irregular conflicts – 5-Commando is one such unit, made up mostly of South African, Mozambican and Nigerian spec-ops forces. They’re too far east to be involved in this story, though, fighting communist guerrillas in Bechuanaland (what we would call Botswana and Zimbabwe). And as mentioned, they’re a Search-and-Destroy outfit, not much on rescue.
–M
Even so, it just strikes me as odd that their first response is to bomb the place into the ground and the next best solution they can come up with is to roll in with what ammount to hover-tanks.
Even if their intention was not so much to rescue hostages, as secure Mike, surely a special forces team would be a better choice. Do these villagers even have anything that could scratch powered armour?
They probably consider the “hostages” expendable and cross them off their list as “acceptable losses”.
Rucker is an armor commander (and likely a bad one otherwise he wouldn’t end up on that crap assignment) and that kind comes for a dime a dozen. And those other guys? A gunner? Truck drivers? Just regular run-of-the-mill military scum. Nothing you couldn’t replace easily.
MIKE is the real asset at risk here.
Suffice to say even special forces have their limitations and are overrated in their military impact anyway. They’re on-shot wonder weapons. War – back then and today – is still won by the true queen of all branches of service:
The Infantry.
“Do these villagers even have anything that could scratch powered armour?”
Yes, as Rucker said on the previous page, “Judging by the anti-aircraft artillery these villagers have acquired, it’s the FSR.” The implication of this statement is meant to be that they are very heavily armed.
Ulrich is right, as far as anyone but Haulley is concerned, the only hostage worth getting back is MIKE. Mike is the most technologically advanced weapon in the world which is why the top brass would rather err on the side of killing everyone involved in this stunt.
As far as the Howlers, their goal is to bust through the anti-aircraft defenses, after all, you can’t quickly get a special ops team through the thick tropical foliage and into the village on the ground and time is of the essence.
It’s also probably worth noting that the UNA isn’t the US military or any country’s military. It is far more vast and powerful than anything we know of and would act in ways that differ from how we think a traditional military force might act under any given circumstance.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
–M
I really like this one!
Especially the […] UNA as soulless warmongers […] in the 2nd panel while we only see the shadowy silhouettes of the high ranking officers bossing Haulley around in the 1st panel. They even do those evil point-your-finger-at-people poses (especially the guy on the right is extra creepy – add a bushy flock of hair on his head and he could be evil Bert!).
Well done!
I couldn’t agree more, Aviv did a splendid job!
–M
By the way, fun fact: Germany has supplanted both Canada and the United Kingdom in the number two spot for readership. Got to admit I didn’t see that coming, but hey, Deutschland Über Alles.
–M
I think this is a flashback. We already know m1k can take a nuke. He was nuked by the FSR when he crossed into their territory. Then there was a second when m1k was roaming around looking for the Major.
Yes, this takes place about a year before the start of Chapter I.
–M
Mathieu, I CANNOT believe you’re having this much trouble getting into Comic Con! What an injustice!
Well, I mean, no zombies, vampires or assassins, what’s a guy to do?
–M