Even on combat drugs, the genetically engineered human mind can’t track and deflect incoming fire from a pair of TMP-45s with a pair of knives. Greg has a few brain implants to coordinate the chassis and input sensors in such an event, and these implants are kicked off by running software macros – the cybercommando equivalent of a shell script. The control Greg has over the chassis in macro mode is limited – he can redirect the incoming fire to some extent (initial target determined when the macro is run), and he can terminate the macro.

And in this case, he just happened to terminate Beef. Who will re-live to do this again in a few years.

I contemplated sprinkling more gore into panels two and three but ultimately decided to go with a more understated effect. Drilling 4d10 rounds of .45 ACP into a human head in a couple of seconds? This would be half a second or so after the Scanners shot.

The next page has more going on in the line art department – this one was two days of “free” time to turn around, the next one could take a bit longer. Especially if the energy issues I’ve been having the past couple of days (more specifically, hours) persist.

2012 07 11, 00:34 – Revised layout of panel four into something that reads better and fits the plot better. In the script for the next page Greg mentions having kicked off a snowglobe but you never actually see him do it – now you do.

2012 07 11, 04:30 – Rendering completed a couple of hours ago.

2012 07 18, 06:14 – Ready to draw. Page has been ready to draw for awhile now, actually. See the note in this time range on the previous page – after barely managing to grind out 5.10 in time I’m grinding away on another round of mass production.

2012 07 24, 15:04 – Pencils and inks yesterday, with cleanup of half of the line art after seeing The Dark Knight Rises with my sister. The rest of cleanup first thing this afternoon, with flat colors and initial assembly following. Page is ready for shading – presently pondering cranking up the gore in panels two and three.

Fun fact: I went back to 2004 to get palette colors for Beef’s tongue and the inside of his head.

Due to that whole “gotta do other stuff for a living” thing the page is going to sit here for a few hours before I get back to it. The current plan is to finish it up and post it tonight. Should be doable.

21:07 – Rollin’ slow but rollin’.

22:05 – Primary shading complete.