He’s probably more uniquely prepared to take care of a fish tank than anyone he knows
November 6, 2017
2:50 am
I had some other comic I was trying to make work but the joke wasn’t coming together so I decided to do an update on how Tank’s holding up instead.
oh no I’m crying
Oh no your crying has spread to me. Curse these human emotions
I suppose we should issue tissues.
WHAT IS THIS WATER COMING FROM MY EYES?!
“And I’m *leaking*! What is the deal?”
~Grinch, The Grinch movie
D’aww, Tank is adorable. I hope we get to see more of him.
I think you mean “I hope we get to sea more of him.”
I’m glad he’s healing. And making bread (with heels)
The heels are the best part :F
They’re both adorable in this. The facial expressions alone show how much these two care about each other.
You captured something super real here.
See, this comic is sweet and also very true (banana bread for the win), but your comment/title underneath there just makes me think the tank is shaped like the military kind, possibly piloted by sharks.
But hey, if it helps him show up at the next Survival Dome thing with an advantage in Awesome and less temptation to mess up his brain, it’s all good. Maybe he can get some of those sea xennies (Easter Eels?) in there.
A diet of steak and nutrient goo can be bearable with enough diversity and experimentation. Plenty of spices for the steak, and I’m sure flavor extracts make the nutrient goo more palatable.
You could have mango nutrient goo for dessert!
I would be surprised if a mixture of preservatives, flavouring and thickeners did not permit the creation of EDIBLE SCULPTURES made of nutrient goo.
Frankly, I’d rather that than all this real person food we got in the present.
Edible Sculptures you say? Hah, and your parents told you that playing with your food as a kid was bad.
I’m happy to see Tank is doing well. I wonder what he keeps in his tank? Would he like a big seahorse family or is he more of a fan of the tiny brightly colored reef fish? Maybe a big doofy eel?
The way it was worded, I would find it hilarious but fitting if he literally just maintains the tank, without any fish inside.
He needs something in there, otherwise the tank is just a closed system. there’d be nothing to maintain. it’d just be salt and water, statically.
No fish, but maybe chunks of live rock and corals? That sort of thing can be very rewarding to watch grow and with live rock you never know what sorts of hitchhikers you’re going to get. I can watch those things for hours, looking to see what new critters I might find or what new things might be growing that I didn’t notice before.
Honestly, I’m wondering how long service is required in the Space Future military. We know that Rock is retired, so retiring is a possibility. Could Tank theoretically get a new cloned digestive system if/when he retires? Because being able to eat so few things seems pretty horrible in and of itself.
He’s not retired, they just let him have a desk job somewhere that he wouldn’t have to be in daily contact with all the people he’d be starting shit with if he had to talk to them every day.
So in other words he annoyed them into giving him a semi-peaceful life? Now that’s what I call badass.
Well, he is Commander Badass for a reason.
Also, nice feeling on this comic, good job Coelasquid.
Tank is the one who did the annoying.
It’s not unheard of for people to enlist right out of school, do 20 years, and be ‘retired’ by late 30s/early 40s, anyway.
Yep. I know a first sergeant who’s mustering out at 42-43, which is for the best, he’s pretty beat up physically. Unfortunately the human body can only take so much punishment before you do permanent damage.
I believe the clones are in effect “property” of the spacefuture military, as in, they could retire but then their bodies would be repossessed and maybe if they’re lucky they get a cheap robot body to copy their memories to.
I really would like to see Tank get a loving husband that can handle him and challenge him. I have a soft spot for meatheads that just want to be good.
This is so sweet and touching. Tank is one of my favorite side characters and I’m really glad to see that he’s doing okay and finding non-murderous hobbies for himself.
Wouldn’t salt water be a bit of an issue for someone with cyborg parts?
Depends on the parts’ finish, I suppose.
I suppose mankind would master corrosion, seepage, and rust prevention before space and time travel.
I’m pretty certain the issue between Tank and saltwater is not so much corrosion dangers as the fact that he’s too heavy and dense to swim.
I thought I remembered that, but I looked it up and, canonically, Tank’s main issue with water is that he can’t swim. http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/they-have-a-lot-of-history
Haha! Nice. Forgot about that one.
Oh my heart, I just love how much personality you put into these big buff guys (Even guys like Duke and Kratos). Also I love what good relationships that Rock seems to upkeep with his ex’s, even though he wanted to be able to set women on fire with his mind for a little while there.
He makes all the cakes, than distribute it to the neighbouring kids
thEn*
god.
Tank reminds me of one of the ex marine guys I used to know. Cool guy most of the time, but waaaayyyy too hung up on being a man’s man sometimes. Calmed down a bit after his girlfriend had a kid and he got a big sweet malamute
I would find fresh banana bread comforting in the face of the giant cyborg too.
So nice to see Tank on a chill day, just being peaceful and talking about life. It gives him so much more character and depth just having him relax.
Aw yeah! Great to see Tank again! This time being pretty chill, too. :)
Truth be told, a future where Banana Bread doesn’t exist, is a future I don’t want to live in.
It looks like Commander just happened upon Tank outdoors. But it says Commander specifically came to check up on Tank, so did Commander just happen to know what bench Tank was hanging out at the time?
I mean, time travel and all.
Or just “he hands out in this park”, then walk around until he sees him, then stealth commando action.
And with all those implants, you don’t think that Tank is lowjacked?
I figure they planned to meet up
Okay, that makes sense.
Good to see Tank being chill. From what Rock has described of his situation, he deserves some damn peace after all the crap his superiors have put him through.
Now I have to go back and reread when Commander dropped a Megalodon.
I really love the expressions in the last panel.
He and Raiden from Metal Gear should hang out. First, Raiden can eat and taste what he makes and secondly Raiden makes making smoothies a spectacle.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meJckIFWFR0
It’s a fish tank for the Megalodon Commander captured at the weekend wilderness break!
This is great. I really like Tank when he’s not raging out, and I can totally see how he and Rock fit together.
It also makes me just a little bit angrier at the spacefuture command, for wanting to destroy this decent guy so they can have another roided-out meatslab berserker.
I like it when Tank has his chemicals balanced out properly, he’s a very decent good guy who appriciates the real important things in life. Taking care of, and comforting others.
Also, his cooking makes sense, smell is about 75% of the taste of food anyway.
You know, I think this might be one of my favorite panels in a long time, just for the chance to see Tank’s more human and relaxed side. I really hope we continue to see more of the commanders future soldier buddies.
… I loved every part of this. This made my day.
Btw… my head canon for tank is when his brain chemistry is allll good. To the recruits he is like an over protective dad at times.
Tank should get one of the cyborg raptors from beast wars season three- they are both cybernetics enhanced beings with issues at times, and it would be an interesting contrast to the fabulous raptors that have shown up before.
And on This episode of Thug Kitchen:
Cooking with cyborgs.
Tank should team up with Scorpion. Tank bakes the cake and Scorpion decorates it. Cooking with Tank and Scorpion.
Huh. I would think that Robocop 1 and 2 would swap nutrient goo recipes with Tank. And then they would go to the cyborg support group.
i cannot begin to explain just how much i want and/or need tank to have a mellow and happy life
Good to hear that Tank’s doing well for himself.
Also good the hear that sharing Banana Bread is still a thing in their unspecified space future.
I would love to try Tank’s banana bread. it really seems tasty.
Tank in a beanie and not roid raging up looks…really cute. He looks like a snuggly guy. Like he writes soft poetry about the falling snow while choosing a pattern to knit a scarf for someone.
Tank’s beanie reminded me of that comic you did a while back on how very very cold implanted metal gets in the winter.
I really like this. He knows he has it kind of rough, but he’s really trying to be happy and make things better for himself and those around him. Super fricking sweet and I love that it shows you can be big and tough and still be a sweetheart =)
I cannot begin to express how heartening this strip is. Just… Hot Messes Trying Their Best To Be Better. We’re rooting for you, Tank.
I love Tank and want to hug him and bake banana bread with him.
I just want to say thank you for giving Tank the treatment you give everyone else in the series and making him a real complex person. I’ve seen a lot of comics miss an opportunity with ‘antagonists’ by making them one note. Tank could have been that way and one or two sentences could have given him a little depth, but you chose to let him be more than that by letting him express. I appreciate that both as a reader of quality stories like yours, and as someone who’s been an ass before and knows how easy it is to just make someone the bad guy in a skewed narrative.
For those who don’t remember Tank, I think this was his last appearance: http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/the-more-things-change
I really like commander’s smile in the last panel.
You know what? This is fine, I like this, and I would gladly see more of these. We love your characters, we love this crazy world you’ve made, and we adore seeing them and the world they live in.
This is good.
Like, I needed this today, just two guys dealing with stuff, everything peaceful.
Off question, but slightly related given big hunks of flesh and rugged undergoing mental issues, but has the new William Joseph Blazkowicz qualified as one of the manly men given everything we’ve seen with The New Order and New Colossus? If not, what the hell is?
When my panic attacks were really bad, I found a fish tank screen saver really helped. I’d love a marine tank but it’s like having a space station with MIR era life support. It’s so easy to screw up and kill all your poor fish, it also costs the world. It’s on my wish someday when I’m functional enough to be back in the work place again. That and a Breitling :)
So, would all those fish be kept in “Tank’s Tank?”
I’m glad he’s doing alright :>
Glad to see Tank’s doing better and taking healthy measures to try to deal with his issues.
D’aww, always happy to see more Commander and Tank. Still in love with the whole relationship backstory you shared on Patreon.
As the big scary-looking guy who bakes banana bread, etc? This is super relatable.
… except for the nutrient goo thing. I get to eat my home cooking.
He could glue a long wig on his head, that would help somewhat, especially against staring.
Lobster losing it is the best part.
damn tho commanders face in the last panel…!
That’s adorable
I’m glad he’s doing better too