Hey, I’m Dergi, and this is the first of (hopefully) a series of yearly posts concerning the comics that I’ve released throughout the year with some comments concerning comics made by other folks in the community. Due to the subjective nature of such a topic, make sure to always take what I say with a grain of salt: like a proper human I have my bias, my imperfections and my beliefs. Before I continue, I’d like to address some key points that will better help you understand the thought process behind the creation of this topic.
Why this?
Throughout my years as a Metrocop user, I’ve noticed that one key element of the community is the socialization part of it all: from discussing comics to playing games together, we are well aware of the fact that we don’t get many birds who feather this nest. Still, there are quite a lot of us despite it being a “niche of a niche”, and those who stay tend to be very active within the community, thus giving everyone a decent stage of interested nerds to show plenty of personal artworks that would otherwise fly under the radar in other communities where there are several posts per day from several other users (no offence, just the nature of communities!).
As time went on, I’ve come to appreciate the quiet nature of Metrocop: the fact that everyone is well-behaved, positive and overall pleasant to speak to, both inside and outside the comic-making sections, and I wouldn’t trade that kind of a community for any other, so consider this my love letter to the noses that kept sniffing around in these forums and the discord.
What’s gonna happen?
This type of topic will mostly address my comic releases from 2024 (in this case), while giving some insight and occasional trivia that could be interesting. Personally, this also helps me gather my thoughts about my past work: knowing is half the battle after all. Also, I will give some room for comics made by other people, pointing out favourites and pet peeves. The “take it with a grain of salt” I mentioned previously is meant mostly for this part.
Now, let’s start.
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
HACKMAN
To kick things off easy, I consider this one of the more decent Hackman comics, since I finally dared to do something different and started properly taking wide shots of the city. In the end, following the community’s advice proved to be a step in the right direction, and now I feel more confident in making wide shots like this one. This is also the first issue that shows Hackman’s style system, which was shamelessly ripped off from SSX Tricky with some adjustments. What can I say: it’s a great game.
What I said previously about taking wide shots got even better as my ego grew in that department: I dared so much that I ended up taking one of my absolute favourite shots in Hackman by far, the one with all the metrocops running towards the arcade. I really, really love that shot every time I look at it. The rest of the page makes it all the more entertaining to me too: there’s this big crowd and suddenly our protagonist’s being treated like a celebrity. It’s a great “reaching the peak” moment while still not reaching said peak, but things are on the upswing for his popularity overall. That’s what I find so amusing: how cheerful everyone is despite the absolutely ass-fucked planet they live on. It’s a lesson on optimism, for sure.
XIII - Freekstyle
XIV - Freekstyle²
Named after -you guessed it- another PS2 game, this is where I stop playing around and start tryharding with the technical part of the Hackman sports: I kept the score (to the best of my ability
) and ended up creating a semi-believable competition in a loud arena. I had to mess around with greenscreens for the crowd reactions, but I liked the overall result: Freekstyle is a chapter that opens the floodgates to Hackman’s bombastic ending, so this was me asking myself a question: “Can I pull this off?”
Yes. Yes I can.
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
PEPSIMAN
Re-reading this made me dislike how this issue left more questions than it answered, but this was due to a creative block that had me stuck on that issue for months, trying to figure out what to do. At some point I said fuck it and I pushed through while trying to create something decent. I don’t think I succeeded in creating a good issue writing-wise, but I was more happy that I finished it: I was very close to scrapping Dusty entirely! As you read the comic, you can tell how confused I was throughout its creation. Sucks to suck!
A much better entry compared to the last one, I created a nice trio of characters and established a proper (and short-lived) antagonist: Baron. Again, the inspiration from Hellsing is as well hidden as a fat guy behind a street pole, but that’s how I roll (ha!). Aside from some cool shots, I don’t have much else to say about this issue. It’s discrete, it’s a breath of fresh air for me, and it gave life to a character that I created with Starlight’s help: Ash Diamondback. She looks more like Starlight’s previous iterations of Ashley, but I ended up changing her enough to be her own thing. This becomes more apparent in the Grodbort prequel and in the Displaced spin-off. Thanks for letting her exist, you pop-Star.
As I was working on this issue, I noticed that the volumetric light lamps were released into the workshop, so I figured I should try them for the issue’s night sequence: it sort of paid off to create a smoky effect for Nightrunner’s super attack, but aside from that it looks butt-ugly when used anywhere else. It doesn’t help that it’s a replacement for the normal lamps, otherwise I would’ve kept my subscription to it. Aside from that, I had fun making this issue, and it shows. That yellow slash effect is cool as all hell!
In this issue I used Grodbort’s main suit after figuring out what I wanted to make him wear. In the end it looked cool, sci-fi enough and definitely concerning: ticks all the Grodbort boxes of scientific insanity! The issue was also a convenient way to show all the upcoming villains down the road, so that way the reader knows who’s doing what and for who. Easier to connect the dots, right?
This one had Dusty as the focus of attention, but I also wanted to make it clear that Grodbort isn’t the only villain around, and he’s constantly making sure the other villains are too weak to strike back and take Evocity for themselves. Aside from that, it was a nice way to introduce two of Grodbort’s agents and the G-Doctor’s intervention to give Dusty a second chance. Nothing too complicated, though!
As the introduction to Evocity’s president, it’s very clear that this city is pretty absurd: again, the reference here is from Saints Row 3 and Project Wingman, and I very much like the idea of a government that is just as vulgar as the citizens that vote for it, because fuck table manners. It was fun to shoot the dark stuff inside the hospital, because I like messing around with lights in general. Must be the ADHD.
I’d like to preface that the second half of the issue didn’t come to mind until the last minute, so as usual things may feel a bit spotty writing-wise. As always, I recognize that sometimes I get too carried away and go way too fast with the story, and this issue is but one of the many in Pepsiman that suffer from this “approach”. Of course, Hackman has its problems due to its own approach, but for now I’m trying to fix the mistakes I’ve made here, starting by slowing down considerably when Issue 9 will drop. Aside from that, I had fun introducing our “Helper from the other side”: the inspiration is worn on my sleeve with this one.
Yeah, it’s Constantine. The movie with Keanu Reeves. Not the comic.
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
GRODBORT
One such example of me trying to slow things down with Pepsiman’s pacing is through its main prequel story, centered around the villain himself: Doctor Helmut Alzheimer Grodbort. Younger and with a decent haircut, I wanted to give more room to Pepsiman’s fashionable crazy scientist. I wanted to go with an overall edgier vibe reminiscent of the late 90s/early 2000s, those who need an example should look no further than Def Jam: Fight For New York, the fighting videogame. Evocity is big, much bigger than the average metropolis, and the fact that the “central” portion of Evocity is as big as modern-day NYC should tell you plenty about how utterly difficult it is for Pepsiman to do his superhero thing when he can’t even fly. It’ll give me some much-needed space to write around the fast beginnings of Pepsiman, and I think that it’s sorely needed. Aside from that, I like what I’ve done so far. It’s great, and I like the tone. Reminds me of Deus Ex sometimes, though that’s accidental.
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
HALF-BOILED
Half-Boiled Volume 2: Delivered to a Darker Place
This is absolutely my tryhard mode comic. My sweaty MGE player comic, my salty CoD kid comic. It hits the ground running and it never stops till it crashes into a brick wall. While it’s extremely fun to write absurd action through such an exaggerated retelling of HL2, I also realized just how difficult it is to make more Half-Boiled: each volume is at least 50 pages, and they’re not 50 pages of talking and holding hands. If I’m making a page, I have to show something interesting at worst and downright insane at best. Nothing thoughtful or sophisticated, just muh violence. But in the end, the pay-off is immense. That’s what I get for not trying to be all smart and deep with my stories. I get actually readable stuff.
Anyway, self-loathing aside, there are still some characters that I haven’t properly introduced, like Barney. Boy do I have plans for him, but they will still be plans for a big while. That’s the big downside of having such big volumes for releases, but I’d still do it all over again in the next life.
⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘
DISPLACED
This comic was done with Starlight’s explicit permission, since the comic uses her Ashley extensively, and seeing the contrast between my Ash and her Ashley is entertaining to me. In the end, they are two takes on the same character, but they end up being very different from one another. The interactions flow like honey, and these two Ashes are very easy to write together given that Ashley is the active one and Ash is the reactive one: whenever I start an interaction between them, I have to force myself to stop because it becomes a loop of Ashley doing stuff and Ash reacting to it. It’s fun, too much fun!
And of course, I also talked with Dusk regarding her involvement in the story in a way that respected her canon both as a character and as a piece of her own story. Both of these two users have helped me create Displaced, and I’m thankful for their trust towards me. Wouldn’t be the same without them.
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
THE ADVENTURES OF HERCULE CUBBAGE
Now, I’m done tooting my own horn. From this point onwards, I’ll be talking about the comics that have left me the biggest impact within Metrocop and the comic-making sphere. Despite what the original creator of this comic may think, there is plenty good to be said about this comic, and plenty more that will go unspoken as I can only praise it so much. This was the very first comic series that I laid eyes upon when I first heard of Metrocop, even before joining the server. I entered feeling surprised at the thought that GMod comics were indeed a real thing and I left feeling shocked by how good you could make a GMod comic look. Mythos, through this comic, has shown me that you can get to great highs with GMod as long as you’re willing to put in the time and the passion needed to complete such projects, no strings attached and no gatekeeping included in the package. If it wasn’t for Hercule Cubbage, I wouldn’t be here. Food for thought.
Thanks, Mythos. Rock on.
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
THEN GO BELOW
Of course, a comic is a bunch of pages. But when we’re making digital comics, I believe that we can try different things on the side of effects and layers and whatnot. Coming in hot once a week is Gobo’s “Then Go Below”, and let me tell you, the speech bubbles and page colors? They look NICE. But they also made me realize that as long as you know what you’re doing and you have a path ahead of you, then in the end your comic will end up looking good no matter what you put inside of it. In a sense, it was the comic that convinced me that I could write absurd stories with all sorts of maps and get my ducks in a row later. As long as I believed in what I was doing, then I had no reason to doubt myself. His insane universe is the signature of a true artist.
Keep going where you’re going, Gobo.
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
LIFE OUTSIDE THE WALLS
Admittedly, George’s comics have always given me a reason to stay humble and not end up like Icarus. The artist leads the way here, and he has helped me straighten myself out when I was uncertain of my place within the community. But aside from the personal stuff, I always enjoy reading Life Outside The Walls because he goes above and beyond your standard comic page editing, and he makes it look easy. Awesome both in and out of the comic, always willing to lend a hand and give more insight into the art of comic-making, no matter the person in front of him. There have been times where I have done wrong by him, and yet he’s always been very patient with me. That is beyond priceless, and no appreciations, praises or puns/references in my comics will compensate for the immensity of George’s heart. So, from the bottom of my own:
You’re the best thing that has happened to me in Metrocop.
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
NO PARKING 2.1
COMBINE EXCHANGE PROGRAM
No Parking, made by Andy and CEP, made by Mjolnir are both two comics that have opened my eyes when it comes to telling stories through expressionless faces. Writing stories involving the Combine may seem difficult due to having to rely on the bodies of the characters, but in the end it can be just as fun (or more) as comics with posable faces! Hackman takes the biggest inspiration from these two stories, and I couldn’t be more grateful towards these two artists for their efforts. Thank you for showing me the way of the cop, and as always…
Andy, Mjolnir: glad to have you two here.
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
UNFORESEEN CONSEQUENCES: THE BUREAU - PART 5
Throughout her presence as a fresh user, Dusk has certainly shown just how deep her passion goes when it comes to telling stories. She loves to tell them, she loves to hear them, she loves to talk about them. More headcanons than a JoJo character, sometimes it feels like Dusk’s mind is the equivalent of the Jedi Temple Library, except that it’s all pictures of GMan. To each their own. But to the reason why I added this specific release of Unforeseen Consequences, then I’ll say that her works have been improving constantly, page by page, culminating at this specific part that I consider my favourite so far. The story takes a turn for the grandiose and it takes you for a wild spin into a very corrupt (yet tidy) bureau of Lovecraftian proportions. With bombshell reveals left and right, things are definitely shaping up to be incredible. That’s pretty much how I want Hackman to end, feelings-wise!
Through thick and thin, don’t give up. You’ve got something great in your hands, Dusk.
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
That will be all for this post. I apologize for not including a bunch of comics, but I wanted to keep it as brief as possible, and still failed spectacularly in that regard. There are many more comics from other artists that I can’t list here that have left a good impression on me, and to those making comics within the Metrocop community, my word of advice is to keep going no matter what happens. We are but a blink of an eye in this universe, so let’s create memories together. When we’ll grow older, they will be the things we’ll look most fondly at.
