Cartoon and Conquer – Commentary Gallery

 

Published 16/09/2011

This was the first interaction between enemy factions and perhaps revealed how they would continue to behave toward each other throughout the series. I never intended them to actually try killing each other, as I think it is far more comical to have enemies fight without death in mind. Despite this, I also wanted to point out through the use of interceptions and bugs, that they were in fact enemies and at war. ▫ Some people liked the scorpion-shaped receiver, I intended that basically all Nod equipment would be scorpion-shaped.

 

 

Published 30/09/2011

The sergeant was one-time character who kept coming back. Eventually he became the third Allied main character and the Guardian G.I. was left behind. This may not have been the best introduction for him as he is made to look gullible and easily manipulated by the G.I., when in fact the sergeant would usually be the victor in their conflicts.

 

 

Published 14/10/2011

Although subtle, this was the first continuation of a story arc. After debating who was manlier in Cartoon and Conquer #11, the two GDI soldiers came to the conclusion that catching a greased pig was pretty manly. ▫ The GDI officer would appear again, but not for a long time.

 

 

Published 28/10/2011

This was another strip that was presenting a joke, but also noting that there was a war going on in the background. ▫ The clown Kirov was the first time I copy/pasted a graphic that would be visible to readers. It is a resized duplicate of the normal Kirov placed on a lower layer. I was too lazy to widen the outline, so this is the only time in the series that an outline is the wrong width. This is also the last use of a one-time character until #60.

 

 

Published 11/11/2011

Continuing the story arc of #11 and #13, the GDI soldiers are sent on this mission as punishment for embarrassing the officer in front of the general. ▫ I thought it would be fun to occasionally have the characters go on missions against the enemy and feature buildings from the games like the Obelisk of Light, but this didn’t really happen.

 

 

Published 25/11/2011

The first appearance of the Soviet general, although he is wearing safari garb here and looks quite different in later appearances. His overuse of nuclear weapons would be a significant plotline throughout the series, but I don’t think most people had caught on yet that the series actually had any continuity. ▫ The eyes in the last panel were a huge problem, previously when eyes were too small to draw without looking like solid black smudges, I used a darker shade of skin tone, but these were on the very line between too small and too big. This third eye technique, with missing outlines, would be used again, but I did not like the compromise.

 

 

Published 9/12/2011

This is the close of the first story arc from #11, #13, and #15. The tank was discovered during their mission. In games, booby traps usually don’t friendly fire, real life isn’t as forgiving. Since this series is set in the universe and not the games, it follows the laws of reality. ▫ I liked the way the explosion looked, despite only blending yellow, orange, red, and black. Since it worked well, I continued to only use the basic palette for future explosion effects.

 

 

Published 23/12/2011

The sergeant returns and the G.I. loses. I liked the power the sergeant had over the G.I. and eventually made a person of authority for each faction who could push the main cast around, not because they were stronger or smarter, but simply because they had a higher rank.

 

 

Published 6/01/2012

The infantryman is trying hard to sound logical and intuitive, but ends up being made the fool. This shows the difference in education and intelligence of a basic recruit and an engineer. ▫ The grenadier’s quick swapping of his weapons is not magic or representing the pocket arsenal of Renegade, they are at a shooting range and he wants to try out everything since he only gets discus grenades in the field. I came very close to discarding the chainsaw, as it is not something you would normally have at a shooting range, but the idea was too funny to pass on.

 

 

Published 20/01/2012

I didn’t really like pointing out the fact that these characters actually had any connection to people outside of the military, but it is realistic and so it was something I threw in occasionally. ▫ This is the second instance I used a copy/pasted graphic, although I did not do it to save time, I really wanted the sniper to look the exact same in both panels with only his smile switching to a frown to accentuate his reaction to the poem. ▫ This issue came out on the 20th of January, which someone complained was too early for Valentine’s Day, but the date was irrelevant as far as I was concerned, as I ignored all current events and calendar dates when writing the series. The characters lived in their time, and it was never supposed to be in synch with ours. Also, I hate holidays.