About a month or two back I started reading Schlock Mercenary from the beginning. It is pretty good, actually, though the art at the start is a little painful. Thing is, I will be reading for a while. There is over 10 years of daily comics here. I have been reading it for a while now and I still have more than 10 years to go. I am not going to lie. It is bit daunting, even reading a month’s worth every couple of days.
As to the quality, it is excellent story, with so so art. You can see the guy get better as he goes along, but the creator freely admits he knew nearly nothing about art when he started. I have been keeping track of the new comics too, and his cartooning has improved, but there is no getting around the fact that this is a story first proposition.
The story focuses on a group of star faring mercenaries named Tagon’s toughs, and in particular, the comic gets its name from an Amorphous alien named Schlock. Schlock looks like a pile of crap, is sociopathic, and heavily armed. It is a comedy.
The story is also pretty solidly in the science fiction category. There are physics jokes, and scifi problems with scifi solutions. While the strip is comedic, the writer manages to squeeze a little drama in there, as well. It is just enough to keep it relatable when it gets silly. The cast is pretty varied, and storylines take a long time to pay off, at times. I do wonder at this point if the strip would still be as charming if the writer got a well-trained and professional cartoonist to work on it. I think actually, it would lose something. While the art is rough, it is very distinctive and adds to the charm.
I am going to recommend this one to folks. It is charming and demented in just the right ways. It is never going to be the sort of sublime you might in some comics, it is pretty damn interesting. I keep coming back to it.