This could potentially be pre or post dramatic fight
December 18, 2017
3:03 am
Eurgh, I had an insane week trying to finish boarding an episode before I headed up to Canada and basically didn’t get to leave my office for three solid days, so all I had time for was one panel this week.
But if you want something REALLY fantastic to look at check this Absolutely Bonkers Amazing art that Marccus made (or check it out on Tumblr!)
And if you dig that be sure to check out his game, Eldet, or throw a ko-fi his way to support him while he makes more hunks of this quality.
I call middle of the fight.
They knocked down the guys, and they’re giving them time to catch a second wind and kick them again. XD
This tickles me. I aprove.
Hell yes.
…I can’t decide if they’re doing that to be sporting or cruel.
It’s the Commander and Ace. Of course they are being sporting… They want to make sure the lesson sticks!
Yes.
Could work… Probably early in the fight too given the fact that the mirror, bottles in front of it, large glass window and door are all intact.
If this is post-fight, they’ve already wrecked havoc & then went someplace else to have their drinks…After all, who wants to drink in a dive low enough to have broken glass, spilled booze & collapsed tables/chairs/stools all over the place?
I up the game! This IS the fight.
They are sitting across from those who they are after, and this is the passive-aggressive battle where both sides act like the other party isn’t there.
First to break the stalemate is the loser.
So it’s like reverse “Gay Chicken”?
Exactly. Also, loser pays both parties’ bills.
Mmmmm beer and pretzels
I’d guess it’s pre-fight. Neither guy’s outfit is changed a single stitch from last week’s comic, not even Rock’s holey shirt. Maybe coloring will add some bruises and cuts to show it’s post-fight and I’m completely wrong, but maybe not.
I am certain that Ace somehow would look even more fabulous after a violent fight. But I doubt that the the bar would be in one piece after Rock had a fight there. He isn’t the subtle type.
I’m with you guys. Rock openly admitted he would be stabbed a lot, and given that this is a bar, it would’ve been with broken bottles, chair legs, and maybe one switchblade. That would leave a lotta shrapnel in Rock’s back, and sitting down on anything with a back is a risky proposition with back-shrapnel. Also, the pretzel is telling: Rock is doing some pre-fight carb-loading. In conclusion, they’ll fight after they’re done with the spicy moss water.
The way he’s sitting, Rock could be avoiding putting his back against the seat (without appearing to do so); this would, of course, require them to have changed venues after the fight (not enough breakage present). They could also be waiting for the fight to break out.
To me these two seems like the kind of guys who would love to have a drink in a bar they wrecked in a epic (sorry, another dollar in the jar) fight. Unless of course there was nothing at all left of the bar wich is highly likely considering who are involved.
I was about to join the “No way are all those bottles unbroken after those two had a fight in there” but I like Ro Jaws’ story better. The idea that the boys left the smoking wreck of one bar, walked across the street, and sat down in another, identical bar to finish their drink really tickles me.
(In the background, a tickling crash as the last upright bottle slides off a broken shelf and shatters)
Scotch and pretzels
Ooph, scotch and salt. That’s a pretty big ask.
Hey, I thought I ran you out of here for good! There’s only room in this town for one Blackie!
… Just realized that was a response to my own comment.
Well this is awkward.
Still stands with fists clenched, just waiting for the Blackie doppleganger to show his face again.
OK, that’s enough Scotch for you.
Yeah, when you look into a mirror & see two you’s, it’s time to put the cork back into the bottle…
I feel like this is this comic from the archives is appropriate so I’ll just leave it here… http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/we-all-peacock-in-our-own-way
Hey, no, s’cool…
My puppy does the same thing when he sees his reflection in the patio door.
I think it’s fair to say that moustache does the exact opposite.
Personally, I think it makes him look even more like Canadian Guy.
“Spicy moss water” lol
Yeah that cracked me up, too. I love scotch but I can’t say he’s wrong. Lagavulin springs to mind, for example. Although I can definitely say that comment might get you hurt or killed in certain parts of Scotland. Still… lmfao
Still less dangerous than calling a kilt an Irish skirt.
What happens if you call their whisky ”that watered down piss”?
…violence.
I sell liquor, and this term is getting used next (maybe every) time I need to explain the difference between peated scotch and everything else.
I mean, I like peaty scotches, and this is how I’m referring to them from now on. It’s just too good!
I am still wondering with those 2 are in a date or not…if they were it would be AWESOME!
They’re brothers
SO? He and Tank are also brothers, and they went out for a while.
He and Tank aren’t brothers, they just trained/worked together. Rock’s siblings are Ace, Jet, and Cate.
Actually I don’t think they are. They’re all out of the same project, but who’s actually related to who has been slowly been revealed in different ways over the course of the series.
I think the teams they got divided into during the survival arc are probably a pretty good indicator. Jet and Ace are Rock’s brothers, Rock dated Tank and Ace is married to Spider. I THINK Jet and Angel are married or maybe just dating (can’t remember).
I really don’t think Squid was going for incest. Most people are grossed out by that.
Ace isn’t in a relationship with anyone, he and Spider just teamed up in the survival arc together. Jet, Ace, Rock, and Cate are a family unit. Spider and Tank are a family unit, Angel and the other Valkyries are a family unit. Jet and Angel are married, Rock used to be with Spider but she dumped him when she decided she wanted to be a Robocop and he started dating Tank because he has terrible romantic impulses.
Huh, I figured the girl in this comic was Ace’s girlfriend.
http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/summer-spice-edition
I tend think of her as his Jonesey until proven otherwise.
He’s their James Bond, he’s probably got a lot of girlfriends.
Did not think of that, but yeah that makes sense.
Oh no, he’s not completely their James Bond, right? That girl isn’t the first act catalyst that winds up dead, naked, and painted in gold when Ace gets back, right?
They have time travel, so it will just be the happy ending kind of James Bond, the ones where only the bad guys die, and the Femmes Fatale get to come back for a sequel. The Commander has already shown, that they can use their time travel for the kind of “minute to minute” screw with your day shenanigans, that lead to you punching yourself in the face. So Ace can probably load a previous save, if he has to, but he’s so professional I can’t see him doing anything but a single run.
Tank is Spider’s brother, not Rock’s. Rock basically got dumped by his high school girlfriend and started dating her brother instead.
that amuses me for some reason
“you want to dump me? ok, i’ll date your brother then”
Or they could avoid the drama/fight completely by looking both more classy and badass than any potential opponent and have another drink on solving things in a friendly way. Much more convenient for the bartender.
I’m old and I still don’t like whisky.
*Looks at name*
Yeah that checks out
“…and basically didn’t get to leave my office for three solid dys…”
This is why, even if I had the talent and opportunity, I don’t think I’d want to be a professional artist. Everything I’ve heard about it sounds like a level of misery generally reserved for the afterlives of mid-tier sinners or worse.
Professional artists really do suffer for their art and it takes genuine passion to stick with it, but it must be downright horrible sometimes. :(
The same can be said for turning anything you love to do, into a job.
Its true, the mustache is like a Clark Kent level disguise that actually works. Nothing else changed in his design and he looks SO different. Lol
I’m just grateful when you’re able to give us a comic, in spite of events conspiring against it, but don’t push yourself too hard! If you need to take a break for the holidays, please do. I’m patient enough to wait. (Or maybe a guest strip. Whatever works for you. Single uncolored panels are still appreciated, of course. I’m always happy to see a new comic strip! And seeing Rock getting some quality family time is always fun.) :)
Love this sibling like love. It makes me giggle.
They are siblings; there’s nothing “like” about it.
A one panel comic where Rock refers to Scotch as spicy moss water? That got a good laugh out of me, so I’m cool with this.
Are those whiskey glasses modeled off of Norlan whiskey glasses? I have a pair, they are fantastic.
Mature or not, at the end of the day, you’re just drinking bacteria poop and corpses. Tasty, tasty bacteria poop and corpses.
Technically bacteria PEE and corpses. That’s why it’s yellow, unless it’s one of those really heavy beers but pee turns brown when it’s really concentrated.
I’m confused.
Whisky is the exact same thing as beer, it’s just been distilled and left in a barrel for a few years. Where does moss come into it?
For most Scottish (and some Irish) whiskies, you dry the malted barley over burning peat-moss before you start steeping the grains, which gives it a smoky taste.
Some styles of beer do this too, but it’s much less common.
We do not speak in polite company of the Irish whiskeys that can be described as smokey.
Your guess is as good as mine.
Okay, this is the best one panel comic you’ve ever done, if only for the opening line.
Single panel? Don’t care, getting more of the Commander and that’s what matters.
We are getting more Commander FOR FREE! I don’t complain at all.
I… hate that I noticed this, but I keep looking at the part where Ace’s arm overlaps with Rock’s, and it looks like an impossible geometry thing. The way they’re positioned, it seems like their arms should occupy the same space. The colors make it hard to notice, but back when it was black and white, it was easy enough to spot. It might just be me, too. Still, impossible geometry or not, these two are great.
I’m pretty sure that muscle and fat has some give to it. Ace’s arm could just be pressing into Commander’s bicep.
Ace’s arm is out in front of him, Rock’s is to the side, their elbows are probably bumping.
I think there’s a lot of confusing things about the creases in Ace’s suit. It makes it look like there are joints there other than just his elbow.
On a related note, Ace is the kind of man who knows to unbutton his suit when sitting down to prevent it from creasing.
“Oh,” you say, “wouldn’t this lavish James Bondish gentleman be unconcerned with creasing his expensive suit and instead just buy a new one.”
No. James Bondish men respect their suits (actual James Bond hasn’t ever since the late Brosnan era). Gentlemen respects their suits. You do not willfully harm your suit.
On another related note: Coela, does Ace wear a single or double vent? Yes, there’s a right answer.
Look dude I was awake for three solid days last week.
I only noticed it when they pointed it out….too caught up in the charm of the banter.
It looks better in colour, with a bit of 3D depth to it
The most amusing condemnation of a whiskey I ever heard was “Like having your tongue mugged by the underside of a twenty-year old peat bog.”
This was from a whiskey connoisseur, condemning a whiskey he didn’t like.
Twenty years just isn’t long enough for a peat bog to properly mature, you know…
That’s still better than the description of the effect of drinking a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster works: Like getting hit upside the head with a lemon peel, wrapped around a large gold brick…Like an alcoholic mugging, being bad for your wallet & your head.
It’s “just” one panel, but a hell of a panel it is. It really doesn’t need any more, and somehow the lack of other panels to continue to really makes the shading pop.
One panel of pure gold is worth 6-8 panels of silver, I usually say.
…But then again, ALL of Squid’s panels are pure gold, so the analogy sort of breaks down there, doesn’t it?
I say pre-fight. Commander doesn’t have enough stab wounds for this to be post-fight.
Don’t be RIDICULOUS Commander.
It’s clearly the mutton chops to go along with the mustache.
Haha he always has the chops, tho’.
“Put away that beer, brother.”
“Okay.” *CHUG*CHUG*CHUG*
I just want to state how much I love this comic. How much it brightens my week. Thank you.
Not just this week. Almost every week. It’s rare that there’s one I only feel “eh” towards (I’m… not sure it ever did happen, really), and multiple I’ve really enjoyed re-reading.
Next Monday is Christmas for the many people in the world who celebrate it, and then New Year’s Day is a Monday later – are those holiday-themed comics I smell cooking in Squid’s brain? Even if not, comics posted on (or near – I’m not going to be picky) holidays are always another layer of fun.
The lack of knife rules and/or cuts to his jacket make me believe that this is pre fight.
More adventures of Rock and Ace