Enough running it's time for a gunfight!
Page 31:
In which we introduce Locke's gun, the Auto-K. From the caption box at the bottom:
Locke carries an AUTO-K (automatic kinetic discharge.) It fires a bolt of force equivalent to getting hit with a baseball bat. AUTO-Ks are non-lethal except for head shots or close-range chest shots.
Who's got two thumbs and did ZERO research on whether or not that makes any sense? THIS GUY. I never got a single complaint though and I still think it's kind of a cool thing. I wanted Locke to have a gun because I wanted him to be more 80's action hero and less super hero type character but I also didn't want him to be going around killing innocent people either. I ALSO didn't want to give him a laser gun or some other cartoon trope like that so the AUTO-K was my solution. It also contrasts Locke's more innocent nature vs. Daniel's silenced .45, which is very him as well. (And Daniels very specifically calls that contrast out on this page.)
The text box explaining the gun is very much a manga trope and I was reading a lot of it at the time. (As if that weren't apparent by a LOT of things in this story.)
The AUTO-K design is very much lifted from Snake's gun in the Metal Gear Solid games because I love those games.
Page 32
I love the design of this page. Daniels' right hand is way too big and the foreshortening on Locke's right arm is all over the board but if a better artist than 2002 Tim had drawn this page it would be pretty sweet. Maybe I'll do one of those Instagram re-draw things on this page one of these days at Drink and Draw.
Page 33
Everyone gets shot in the shoulder in this sequence!
I forgot how much of this book the Locke vs. Daniels fight takes up. (There are two more updates coming with more ACTION!) Back in the day I updated twice a week with just one page at a time so this sequence went on for months. Not exactly the sort of pacing you want for a big action scene. This is probably why action comics have always had a hard time online vs gag strips which work much better as individual pieces.
I'm not quite sure what's going on with Locke in the last panel here. His fist is bent in a weird way and it looks like he's just kind of a head with limbs?
Oh 2002 Tim. They can't all be winners.
NEXT WEEK: Fist-fight!
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