#470 – Greatest Hits And Quits
Damien is not a nice person.
One comic every two weeks, huh? This is kind of bullshit. I will work on improving that. I have been getting used to a new job, new hardware, and new software. That slowed things down somewhat this week.
The job is a more consistent schedule, so should be more conducive to comic time? But I also have to get up early, and I usually do my best work at stupid o’clock at night. We’ll see.
The hardware is the Surface Pro 2. It is ever so shiny. Merry Annual Gift Day to me.
And since my regular softwares (Paint Tool SAI and Photoshop) had some issues on the Surface, I downloaded the demo for Manga Studio. Works great on the Surface (with ingenious touch and stylus controls built in), and I was all ready to purchase it. But returning to the page, I could only find “Buy Physical” buttons. Buy physical? You mean, like, on a disc? What kind of filthy savage buys software on a disc? Then I found this paragraph:
“The creator of Manga Studio, Celsys, has discontinued the digital download version of Manga Studio 5 and Manga Studio 5 EX, and are only making the physical shipment versions available. In compliance with this, Smith Micro is no longer selling the digital download versions of these programs.”
Whaaat. Is Celsys some kind of Benjamin Button company that develops in reverse? Why would you discontinue the useful version in favour of the won’t-insert-into-my-discless-new-device version? Madness. Or so I thought. Turns out, they just like money. And they are cutting the distribution deal they had with Smith Micro so that Celsys can distribute their own English version of the program. Bit of a dick move. But by all accounts Clip Studio Paint is identical to Manga Studio, but with more frequent and timely updates. So works out for me.
So I had this question after the last comic but I held out hope… What’s she gonna do once she realises that he dumped her?
she’ll probably go crasy again..
In a ideal universe, she decides to go straight, settle down with a nice guy, and open up a electronic repair shop.
Here?
“Heav’n has no rage, like love to hatred turn’d,
Nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorn’d.”
— William Congreve
aaw, hope we see her again, I like her….eh fuck you Damien
I agree, she’s really cute. Her dash of psychosis is kinda charming too.
Does that make me a furry?
I guess religious fundamentalists are right, comics really can make you have all kinds of twisted thoughts.
I can say one thing, that if these two groups ever team up, we’re likely to see the return of The Elusive Camel, and see some “love triangle”-esque shenanigans between Jamilla, Harry and Damien, where eventually Damien is found to be to much of a douche by Jamilla and Harry looks much better in comparison….which culminates in more ship-teasing goodness between the penguin and fox ;3
You really, really won’t.
Romantic drama and love triangles is covered by the murder pact we have.
Damien dosen’t do ‘love triangles’-he goes right for the threesome.
I imagine Damien is as smooth letting his conquests go as he is reeling them in.
After all “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” and chaos cultists could bring this proverb to a whole other level of pain ;)
I didn’t get the joke at last panel. Probably because I’m seriously far from speaking english natively. Can someone explain?
The “Six, maybe a seven with the robo tentacles” thing was him rating how good she was in the sack/in bed/at sex. The comment after was the bat commenting how he’s already calling the taxi to get them out of there.
It’s a rating for how good she is in bed Raidhothsa. 6-7 would be better than average but not exactly rocking his world. Not good enough to keep for elitist douchebag Damien it seems. So he is calling a taxi to get rid of her ^^;
Okay thanks dude, now I get it.
this won’t end well in the morning xp
Didn’t need THIS comic to tell me that Damien wasn’t a nice guy. I bet he acts like a total a-hole towards Eastwood.
where do you think he learned to behave like an A-hole in the first place? ;)
I would imagine that Damien is somehow distantly related to Eastwood, or at least some sort of childhood aquaintance
Tempest’s reaction toward Cassandra’s state of undress (and her own flustered one) raises a question (and I predict the answer being “don’t overthink it, it is for the joke”) :
Are there rules about what is considered socially acceptable nudity ? After all, if Cassandra got rid of the bedsheet and was only wearing her bionics, she would be as clothed as Lothar (headwear excluded). Perhaps it only has to do with the character’s attitude ?
Your prediction is probably accurate. I seem to vaguely remember some old golden age Donald Duck cartoon when he’d lose his shirt during one of his pratfalls, and in embarrassment he’d look at the camera and cover himself with his arms. Only he’d cover his lower body instead of his upper body, which makes little sense given how he’s usually dressed. This is most likely something along those lines.
Precisely. The old “why does Donald Duck wear a towel around his waist when he gets out of the shower?” question. You’ll notice Damien is wearing jeans when he usually wears no pants. This is purely to fulfil the sexy shirtless leading man role. I’ve long since given up on trying to justify it in-universe. It’s just whatever seems right at the time.
Oh, that’s a pipe. It’s so he doesn’t get the floor wet.
and this is what sets me apart from Damien, he is proof that chivalry is dead
So this is the dichotomy between Eastwood and Damien.
Damien’s a smooth asshole, whereasEast is a relatively well-meaning dude who’s about as smooth as an echidna.
I do like this lil’ mechabunny though. Wonder how long until the two teams come into competition and she gets herself involved.
Haha, more development for side characters is always welcome! I do wonder if both teams are going to cross paths, at this point it’s just as likely that this storyline will just be showing the contrast between them in more detail.
I just had a crazy thought: what would happen if a girl was interested in Eastwood? And I don’t mean kinda-sorta willing to give him a chance, like Jamilla was, I mean really, honestly, thoroughly interested in him. How the heck would he react?
He’d find some way to utterly blow things.
‘Course I know a girl who has a guy who hits on (and yes screws other girls) in front of her and she does not care…. After all she knew when she got into the relationship that he was a tail chaser and she seems fine with it… they’ve been together for near 10 years now maybe more. East just needs to find the RIGHT girl…. but I wish him good luck with that since there aren’t many who are like that.
Yeah… no. There’s no way Eastwood getting laid, or even as far as getting into relations.
Except that he has an ex girlfriend who still sends him gifts and who’s new boyfriend he had executed as a heretic before finding out the guy really was one. So he HAS already had a relationship. Now he just need to find the RIGHT girl… but like I said good luck finding her.
Uh… There WAS Jamilla… until he accidentally shot her in the arm… Bah, never mind.
I know she’s a one-use side-character, but I really like this bunny. She seems naive without being stupid and fragile without being helpless.
I hope she makes a comeback (that doesn’t end with her blowing to bits)
I like this page. It just shows you that even the proclaimed pinnacle of perfection has a fuck up moral system.
Aaand it is only now I notice that the Bat is the one on this team who has a metallic arm.
Well, since I’m pointing out what is likely fairly obvious, I might as well take it all the way. Further contrasts between Harold and Damien include thickness and actual amount of hair (not fur. Hair.), and of course, their attire. Damien refuses to wear a tie whereas Harold always has one on when on duty (the exception being early strips and when geared up in armor.), and, inversely, Damien is always wearing some form of pants, while, unless his torso is exposed and he is lacking a trench coat, refuses to wear ANY form of pants.
Also, first actual physical appearance of Schaefer in a strip since… a long time. Hooray.
Also also, is there any particular reason why this strip is numbered as 270 rather than 470?
Because stupid, that’s why. Will fix in a minute.
Actually, Damien’s standard outfit is sans trouser. Those are just grey legs. Which makes the jeans here all the stranger.
Ah-ha. It’s a little tricky to tell since Damien always has a tucked-in shirt (when he’s wearing one). This led me to assume that the belt said shirt is tucked into meant pants. But now I notice that it just holds guns. I guess the corrected version of my last comparison would just have ‘belt’ in place of ‘pants’.
Maybe if Harold didn’t keep his weapons concealed all the time, he’d emanate more of Damien’s vibe. That, an actual gate between brain and mouth/ hormones and mouth, might make him more charismatic.
Well. Who saw that coming?
May I ask why Cassandra, having been a cultist until just the day before, isn’t headed for some deep, dark dungeon of the Inquisition? Or is that where the taxi is headed?
How do we know the taxi’s for her? It might be a taxi to get Damien and his crew out of there.
you never been laid before have you. or been with a chick you just wanna avoid
Yes to both. I’ll admit it.
Looking forward to seeing Cassandra in future stories (and hoping Damien suffers some sort of fallout from this). Thinking about it, you don’t see too many Mobians (EN or elsewhere) with her kinds of bionics; it’s usually stuff like Lothar’s.
Wait, I though that Lord Schaefer was blacklisted? He had gone rouge and Simmons was supposed to hunt him down? Or am I misremembering things?
Simmons brought him back. We may tell that story one day. Or we may not. We glossed over it here
knowing your love of noodle incidents, we’re never gonna see it, I’m certain of that much
I truly cannot wait until Eastwood’s and Damian’s teams run into eachother head on. XD It’s going to be epic.
Damien and Wildfire’s team would be more interesting, I would think.
Can Damien melt the heart* of a fanatical Tyrusian Puritian?
Can Damien’s charm win over* a hot tempered merc?
Is Damien able to survive the utter clutzyness* of a clueless Takian?
Tune in to find out the answers!
*have sex with
There’s a conquest Damien would almost immediately regret.
I think even Damien would back off and stay away from having any flings with the ladies of the C-Team.
I think you’re right. Wildfire is likely to misunderstand a sexual innuendo and bring her laser sword to bed.
“You want me to break your what?”
Hmm, how come I get the feeling he is one of those smooth talking guys that can juggle a lot of women just like that?
I mean, he must have two books…or Three. Normal! Good Gals! “Converted” Bad Girls!
I take it from their reaction this has happened before.
ALOT before
call a taxi
a dice man classic right there
Dice Man?
Is that a reference to the novel, or am I missing something?
I can’t see this situation once she realizes what had happened, would end well.
maybe she haves a kid from him and years later his son at 13 kills him xp
“No…YOU are my father.”
(dramatic music sting)
“That’s not true! That’s impossible!”
“Bullshit!”
“…Okay, it’s extremely possible, but still!”
Evil overlords – especially machine worshipping ones – are usually very organized. I’m wondering how long it will take before word gets out about Damien and/or they bug him and find out what he really thinks.
Well, I had my doubts abou thim from the beginning, mostly in regards to his feelings towards that girl he rescued in one and his feelings for the girl he failed to rescue in another. It’s like, what hapened to the first girl? Then I thought abotu James Bond and graoned. And now I have proof. The guy is scum. A complete and utter louse. Can’t stand guys like him, at least people like Lothar do’t toy with woman with sociopathic tendencies. This could push her over the edge. This could really cause some damage.
(evil grin) Can’t wait till all his exs get together and get revenge on him, the day will come. Trust me.
Virus, wanted to thank you for the CSP recommendation. You’re right, it’s terrific. It’s like what SAI should have been by now.
I’ve enjoyed watching your work getting better, brighter, tighter and more dynamic over the years. It’s nice to know you’re not just resting on your laurels. :)
No problem. I’m liking it more and more. I used to switch between SAI and Photoshop for their different strengths in different areas. CSP does the job of both. I’m basically only going to Photoshop for lettering.