V09 – Pg10
Hello you!
First off, let me extend a warm welcome to all you new readers! There’s a fair bit of story to catch up on. I hope you enjoy doing so. I’ll do my very best to answer any comment/question on the comic you may have.
So, over the past couple of days, the site has been receiving an unprecedented amount of traffic. This is all thanks to Dave giving Vanguard a mention on his ace webcomic, Grrl Power. Dave discussed the different types of violence found in comics, pointing out that Vanguard is ‘significantly more violent’.
I’ve mentioned before that one of my aims was to make the violence within Vanguard deadly and final. Death in this comic is permanent. No Bucky Barnes are to be found here.
In comics, with superpowered protagonists clashing as they do, deaths should often result. There’s a great reason a lot of comics don’t take this approach. A continual cast of characters have to be added to replace fallen heroes/foes. That, and killing fan favorite characters is as about as popular as a rattlesnake in a lucky dip. I can see why a lot of creators don’t.
Anyhoo, back to today’s page:
Last time we saw Pendragon, he was in deep trouble. He’d be shot repeatedly, his knee blown of and now crawling for a weapon, his only salvation.
We catch up with him now as he uses the corpse of a fallen Protection Officer as an impromptu shield, but alas, the Hollow Man appears unfazed by his counter-attack!
Announcements:
I have a few announcements this week.
First off, my lovely wife Zoe has published her own webcomic book: OCD Girl.
Want a taste of OCD Girl? Check out her strip over at The Cult Den
Secondly, I’ll be launching a writing competition – Hooray! The details will be announced next week, but basically, It’ll be to write a three-four page comic book script. The winner will have their entry drawn by me and have it run on this site. Stay tuned!
Can you spare a moment to upvote this page over on Reddit? Thanks in advance!
Dan
MrHades
Edited by
Gary Cohen
Who also produces the Excellent Mallville Rules comic – Go read!
Grrl power drifter here, i have caught up on your latest comic and am impressed, not to many people take the realistic approach to superheroes, but i like it, keep up the great work!
Thanks for the kind words, Matt!
Welcome to the small, but loyal group of Van-Fans 🙂
I just caught up. I love a good superhero webcomiv and this one fits the bill perfectly. I can’t wait to see where you go next!
Glad you’ve enjoyed it so far! We’re currently at the finale of the first big arc. You’ll be glad to hear that there’s some epic plans for the second 🙂
I found out about Grll Power from Spinnerette before hearing about Vanguard from Grrl Power! I can say it’s been an interesting contrast to say the least. I love more traditional comics, but as I found myself reading through Vanguard from beginning to now, it must mean I enjoy this take on the genre as well. It certainly feels like a realistic approach, which we’ve seen a little bit of with Cap America using some guns in the movies, but… Well Vanguard has a whole different situation going on. Most supers in comics face either petty criminals (who can just be beaten up a bit and send to jail) or supervillains (who are treated the same way for some reason or who can simply take it), but Vanguard has a war going on! This changes things, I think.
Sorry for the lil wall o text. 😛
No problem Pierre – I like reading a wall o text 🙂
Spinnerette > Grrl Power > Vanguard. Three takes on superheroes, each with a completely different approach. Certainly an interesting contrast.
…and Thanks for the kind words 🙂
I found Vanguard from collective of heroes, which also has Grrl Power and some other really great ones like 3 Minute Max, The Specialists among others. Great place to keep them all under one link as well.
Quotes for OCD Girl……..This house is clean. She really mopped the floor with that guy…ill stop now 😛
The Collective has some excellent titles in the group. You’ve just mentioned some of my favs. I’ve done pin-ups for both The Specialists and Three Minute Max. I love them two. I’m currently working on one for Giant Girl and Grrl Power.
Just read through the whole back catalogue – loving it so far.
I have to ask, with so many references and backgrounds, do you have a Croydon connection?
Glad you’re enjoying the comic, Wulfric. Are you named after Johnny Alpha’s best bud?
I’ve lived in and around Croydon for many years, hence all the references 🙂
Nooooo! I caught up with it!
It’s so awesome. o.o
(Got here from Grrl Power as well)
Awesome! Glad to have you onboard, Henry!
We’ll be back to two pages a week in a few weeks time. I just have to finish up some work on another project 🙂
I rarely comment on comics, and this comic has drawn two out of me so far. Very well done.
I am thoroughly enjoying your take on superheroes, it coincides with how I’ve always viewed them. I have never been able to get into traditional super stories because the moment that they snatch someone out of the air and the rescued person just exclaims “Oh thank you!” instead of a more realistic “OH MY SPINE GURGLLLELGLGLG”; or punch a regular human without killing them my interest wanes.
And an idea I had with how Pendragon fights. If you ever have them have an armor/weapons upgrade check out the old Viking shields. For them shields were a second weapon, not just a piece of armor. And the way they were held is different than the usual arm through a strap and grabbing another strap. They would just grab a center bar that enabled them to swing the shield faster and use it more effectively as an off-hand weapon. Just a thought that occurred when Pendragon punched the helicopter crew awhile back.
Sorry for the long post, and I’ll keep coming back for more. Keep up the great work good sir!
An interesting read! I’ll have to research the whole sword/shield combat a little more. In regards to realistic take on things, I think there’s a definite market for all different types of comicbook stories. I’ve chosen a more ‘real’ approach as it wasn’t something I’d really seen done all that well and it was the kind story I wanted to tell.
Glad to count you among my readers!
Well looks like I can’t keep this comic all to myself anymore. Boooo.
But seriously, it’s always nice to see a good comic getting more exposure!
There will always be a place for you here, Don. I don’t forget my loyal readers 🙂
Hi, i came here thanks to grrlpower and I have to say you have the best webcomics i found so far! Even in comparsion to Schlock mercenenary for example.
I like your +-realistic approach to superheroes, also that you consider average armed forces in your story and your heroes don’t hesitate to use arms too. One point about which I’m curious is whether there are other supernatural being like Herne the Hunter? Also is there any way to support you?
And one complaint for end- Can you post your comics in better resoulution?
Thanks for the feedback, Delus. That’s some high complements indeed 🙂
In regards to the supernatural, I’ve tried to keep it’s use limited. At this point, do we actually know if Herne is real? Only the reader and Woden have seen Herne. It could all be in Woden’s head…
I’m in the process of setting up a Pateron page. Just need more time!
In high resolution? The pages are uploaded at 72dpi, which should be ok for the web. Lemme look into it.