well Legolas as in Lord of the rings and the fact that the Black Knight became legless… so i just thought i'd make a play on words, but maybe i'm being TOO smart for you Jim
Ending a comic where we don't know what's happened…always a good way to go about it!
Very good…i think that 'guh' shows how hardened Reclaimer is to these sorts of things…a big explosion just knocks him over for a bit, maybe a little bruise.
Actually, three a week is actually optimal pacing for a comic of this type. For one thing it's easier on me since, believe it or not, I DO have a very busy life away from Reclaimer, and for another it gives the reader more time to process the comic and pull as information from as he can before the next one arrives.
Actually, my wife and I have been working on some upgrades to our home – replacing 50-year-old carpet with new laminate flooring, painting walls and ceilings, updating to new ceiling light fixtures, replacing old furniture with new, etc. – for several weeks now. So naturally, most of my free time has been wrapped up in that lately, hence the reason why several of the last few Reclaimer updates have been a little late.
Well, good for you. it would be a mighty waste if time and money, though, if ferial wins and establishes a galactic socialist order.
I bet hes a Communist too. And not the smart Karl Marx kind. The evil Stalin/Castro kind. that take away things like furniture. Because we all know radicals never support capitalism,
surely the cavalcada would have mentioned that ferial had been in the vicintiy if they had been in contact with portent. unless its portent turning against them all?
i wont know whether to beleive wednesdays comic or not what with it being april fools day and all.
Jim nearly killed himself trying to maintain a one a day schedule for just a week. And we didn't have enough time to mull over the few dregs of info he gave us so a lot of the little eggs probably went unnoticed. You will get to like this schedule
BOOM!! HEADSHOT!! I figured someone had to say it, even though I know that RC didn't get picked off. And I kinda forgot that Wednesday was April fools day, twill be interesting indeed.
Yeah especially if it was good cliffhangar, but the bad week endings (that aren't so cliffhangary make me want to get more action so I am hooked any ways
hehe i love the way RC has a battle rifle and yet he always has his pistol out
As far as theories go:
1) explosion cannot be from Ferial -> He still needs reclaimer to accomplish his means therefore would be counterproductive to attempt to kill him. (this is assuming the explosion was supposed to be lethal)
2) wasnt from any cavalcada or defense system as he would have been forewarned AND the resident one knew he was coming.
I choose you, Larrykan! Use awesome theorizing attack!
But for number 2, perhaps Portent changed his mind about ferials offer, and neglected to tell the others about it… knowing Reclaimer was coming only made it easier.
It could be a side effect from the destroying of that node.
Since that place has been wearing for so long down with no one to repair it, who knows, that place could be like a game of Jenga thats been going on all day.
Maybe, but Portent seemed pretty adamant. So like you said maybe Viper "But they were aaall infected" So that just leaves….. actually I don't know what that leaves. Hey what about the Virus or Archimedes? Jim said the virus can travel through communication and the Slipspace Communication Array is well a communication array. But maybe Ferial is just trying to piss RC off even more.
But confusing the confusion on the confused is the only way to confuse those who have yet to become infected with the transmutable confusion!
Haha couldnt resist that one. Anyway, this comic was interesting… I've been having a hard time getting online of late due to time constraints (and then someone unplugged me) but this is always a welcome treat when I finally manage a connection!
Thanks so much for these little gems, Jim.
-Aardvark
It looks like a Missile Pod explosion to me, imo. It's too small to be a rocket, those little "lines" jutting out from it don't happen with Grenade explosions, and they aren't actual spikes like the ones that come from the Spike Grenade. Maybe I'm just looking too much into this. Regardless, I think it's possible that Intuitive Portent may have accepted Ferial's deal for whatever reason (Or Ferial could have "secretly" given him his end of the deal without informing Portent), and the gift could be something along the lines of responding aggressively to any organic movement within a certain radius or something like that.
The sad thing is, in the real map of Narrows, the Reclaimer's about 5 seconds away from where Portent's Shatterbox would be.
Yeah, I don't think it really matters what was used in-game to make the explosion. It was probably caused by something unique to the Reclaimerverse and therefore not in the game.
It is sad that he was (if this Narrows is the same as the map) so close…
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that portent attacked him. Seems poetic and honestly jsut a good idea from portents perspective…can't be too carefully with ferial around.
If ferial paid me a visit, and i didnt accept his offer (which i would, cuz then i could be in the comic!) i would shoot everyone that came near me afterward too.
Was portent one of the cavalcada in contact? 'Cause if he was, im confused. And doing the math, im pretty sure he was on the Cavalcades fave 5.
It doesn't make sense I tell ya! And Portent should be able to tell that RC and the calvacada are coming around the corner from his digital telepathy rather than just shooting the first thing that moves.
They're not really the same. Besides, if it was in the game antialiasing and 3d enviornment would skrew with the sketchy look of the comic. In a 3d world, the effects get smaller as they get further away, not in a screenshot, a 2d world. Basically, outside of the game, the Halo filters are useless.
I've used certain ones periodically in the comic. There's not a Halo filter like the Poster Edges filter in Photoshop, though, and that's the one I always use.
I haven't written down all the technical specifications for the Reclaimer's suit yet, but when I do, I'll add them to the wiki and provide a link to the article.
I was missing the random remarks! Ha, if that was a rocket/projectile, then Reclaimer's getting slow. C'mon, man, just because you have several A.I. in your head that could potentially destroy everything around you (or save you, possibly), doesn't mean you neglect your basic training! END RANT :p
It could have been some kind of mine…
Or super faster than light transdemensional object launched by the vorgonauts from zen that origianlly targeted the nihilanth who was preocupied with the ammasing time warping hoard of mutant plants from that island in singularity which ironically caused Albert einstein to come to the future causing the creation of the prism tank and the prism tower which were used to take out the soviet forces and save all of new mombasa from the locust that had just been forced from thier tunnels by a stray grenade launched by a demoman in Hydro who was killed by a spy trying to take out an engineers turret but the flood army killed the spy and the engineer and proceded to De_Dust but the flood army was killed by Gary Newman who had his entity deleater in hand and…
I forgot where I was going with this.
I think I just quoted every awsome video game ever.
I wouldn't really call it irrelevant. I was trying to convey, in my usual roundabout way, that the explosion was unexplained and could therfore be just about anything causing any chain of events.
"I'm sorry mommy but I was like really exited about meeting my new friend Portent. I made a booboo. Can you put a bandaid on my knee" Sorry I couldn't resist :p
Apparently it's a layout change to the IntenseDebate developers rolled out over the weekend. I wasn't even aware of it until just now. I'm not sure how well I like it, though I can see its uses for reducing some confusion. I'll have to look to see if it has some optional settings.
Yeah, no-one uses it, and it makes everything impossible to see. Looks good on the Aurora on Blackout The effects aren't used much except for screenshots.
I knew he wouldn't be able to just walk up and get Portent. Not after Ferial having been there.
..guh.
perfect way to end a strip jim
..guh.
perfect way to end a strip jim
I'm new so do you paint these or what? cause whatever it is it has captured my attention and i slober waiting for the next one
If he painted them, we'd idolize him even more than we do already!
I can only wish I had that sort of artistic skill.
Is that possible :p
You clearly don't idolize me enough – you haven't bought a t-shirt yet.
no he uses screenshots and photoshops them
Actually, he doctors up screenshots in photoshop. There's a How-To somewhere on this site that explains the typical process…
Oh and welcome to the site! Just be careful… Jim bites…
...but don't worry – they're just flesh wounds.
thta;s what the blac knight said but look what happened to him Jim, he's legolas (lol, monty python AND lord of the rings joke there)
thas what the blac knight said but look what happened to him Jim, he's legolas (lol, monty python AND lord of the rings joke there)
o.0
Um, what?! Legolas?
I think he was the elf prince or something out of Lord of The Rings. I think, don't quote me on that…
Well, yes, but I'm not sure what Legolas has to do with 'flesh wounds.' The black knight I understand. Legolas – not so much.
well Legolas as in Lord of the rings and the fact that the Black Knight became legless… so i just thought i'd make a play on words, but maybe i'm being TOO smart for you Jim
that get infected and turn you into a rabid zombie. Oh wait it's a full moon! Quickly I have to hide :p
Whoops! Forgot about that did they? Or a little surprise from Ferial? Nice one though Jim!
It's definitely something unexpected.
I don't think it was Ferials trap. He seemed to want Reclaimer to get to him, at least to some extent. I think sombody else is about to be introduced.
Nah, or the panel exploded
Ending a comic where we don't know what's happened…always a good way to go about it!
Very good…i think that 'guh' shows how hardened Reclaimer is to these sorts of things…a big explosion just knocks him over for a bit, maybe a little bruise.
I thought it was a little more like 'GUH!!'. But I gues if it was then there would be some marker telling us that so.
It's a bit like being sucker-punched in the gut.
Oh, in that case GUUHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
I'm curious, do any HTML tags work or only a few.
By that I mean, obviously "a" and "em" work but what about "img", "blockquote", and "h1" tags?
I guess what I'm trying to say is, 'Are block elements allowed or only inline ones?'.
First – do please make use of the 'Edit' button rather than double-posting comments. That's why the button exists.
Secondly, it's mostly inline stuff to prevent certain types of people from abusing markup with inappropriate images and such.
First: O.K.
Second: Thanks
More like "gasp weeze, guh… "
guh is how i feel after reading todays comic X(
I do wish it was possible for you to release one every day
3 a week means way too much waiting for the next one lol
hehe, nice as always jim
Actually, three a week is actually optimal pacing for a comic of this type. For one thing it's easier on me since, believe it or not, I DO have a very busy life away from Reclaimer, and for another it gives the reader more time to process the comic and pull as information from as he can before the next one arrives.
lol i know
just wish i could satisfy my reclaimer fix every day of the week
Jim… Outside Reclaimer? My head hurts…
Hehe, yeah.
Actually, my wife and I have been working on some upgrades to our home – replacing 50-year-old carpet with new laminate flooring, painting walls and ceilings, updating to new ceiling light fixtures, replacing old furniture with new, etc. – for several weeks now. So naturally, most of my free time has been wrapped up in that lately, hence the reason why several of the last few Reclaimer updates have been a little late.
Well Grats, Jim! Win the friggen lottery or sumptin?
Heck, no. It's called a loan. =/
You actually got a loan! From who??? You sure it isn't a bailout
Bungie felt sorry for him. If he lost his house and xbox he wouldn't be able to make these comics so they bailed him out
Sorry Jim :p
Darn, you figured out my secret.
Okay, now I just need to figure out the secret of this plot. Oh I can't be bothered. My head hurts
Well, good for you. it would be a mighty waste if time and money, though, if ferial wins and establishes a galactic socialist order.
I bet hes a Communist too. And not the smart Karl Marx kind. The evil Stalin/Castro kind. that take away things like furniture. Because we all know radicals never support capitalism,
Mmmmm asbestos
Lead paint, actually, hence the reason why we're repainting.
Life, whats that :p
I'd explain it, but I'm sure you wouldn't understand.
There's no such thing as life. Only infinite respawns
The only things is xbox and Reclaimer. That's all that is in the universe. :p
Then what's this other thing…?
good comic, annoying cliffhanger:p
surely the cavalcada would have mentioned that ferial had been in the vicintiy if they had been in contact with portent. unless its portent turning against them all?
i wont know whether to beleive wednesdays comic or not what with it being april fools day and all.
As always there are extenuating circumstances.
If it is an april fools day comic, It'll be fairly obvious, with Jim's imagination it should be over the top, like reclaimer dying or something.
Jim nearly killed himself trying to maintain a one a day schedule for just a week. And we didn't have enough time to mull over the few dregs of info he gave us so a lot of the little eggs probably went unnoticed. You will get to like this schedule
That is true. Jim will probably have the Calvacada spill and then next comic APRIL FOOLS!!!!!
Oh, just you wait.
Thanks! I thought so, too.
...guh. I wish this wasn't so damned climatic
Did I say climatic I meant….. actually I think I did mean that, it was just a little boring that's all
Ah, larrykan's an old hand at this by now. I'm flattered though that you all love Reclaimer so much that you want larger doses of it every week.
BOOM!! HEADSHOT!! I figured someone had to say it, even though I know that RC didn't get picked off. And I kinda forgot that Wednesday was April fools day, twill be interesting indeed.
Aw man! You beat me to it! I wanted to do it FPS_Doug style!
Ferial? Jenkins? New Character? Find out Wednesday on The Super Reclaimer Brothers Super Show!
starts attempting that old rap that was actually awesome, but fails
And I do wish I could accommodate. =/
the three a week works fine for me its just the 3 day wait at weekends thats the worst.
Do I smell an addict?
No I'm kidding.
I don't really mind. What's one more day to wait?
Yeah especially if it was good cliffhangar, but the bad week endings (that aren't so cliffhangary
make me want to get more action so I am hooked any ways 
Very true
How many times have I told you not to walk into trip mines…
For some reason, I don't know why, that sentance reminds me of GlaDos.
That's why you're supposed to send the children ahead.
OH GOD! hides inside box
JIM: "THAT WON'T SAVE YOU KNOW BUDDY-BOY!" >:D
throws box off cliff
And he says LIKEWTFFTW-HEYBBQ?
Please don't do that again.
Seems a bit fail to not check your back. And what about automated defenses?
Seems a bit odd to not check your six. And what about automated defenses?
The explosion didn't come from behind him. It came from in front.
The Narrows have no automated defenses.
hehe i love the way RC has a battle rifle and yet he always has his pistol out
As far as theories go:
1) explosion cannot be from Ferial -> He still needs reclaimer to accomplish his means therefore would be counterproductive to attempt to kill him. (this is assuming the explosion was supposed to be lethal)
2) wasnt from any cavalcada or defense system as he would have been forewarned AND the resident one knew he was coming.
3) Im going with either Viper or a new party
I choose you, Larrykan! Use awesome theorizing attack!
But for number 2, perhaps Portent changed his mind about ferials offer, and neglected to tell the others about it… knowing Reclaimer was coming only made it easier.
It could be a side effect from the destroying of that node.
Since that place has been wearing for so long down with no one to repair it, who knows, that place could be like a game of Jenga thats been going on all day.
Portent was there. And we all know that the cavalcada can do anything
Portent was there. And we all know that the cavalcada can do anything
Unless Portent left?
Maybe, but Portent seemed pretty adamant. So like you said maybe Viper "But they were aaall infected" So that just leaves….. actually I don't know what that leaves. Hey what about the Virus or Archimedes? Jim said the virus can travel through communication and the Slipspace Communication Array is well a communication array. But maybe Ferial is just trying to piss RC off even more.
Ammo supplies are pretty low – and no one was expecting an attack here, since Portent was the only one in the area.
As for the apparent incongruities between supposed communication and lack of certain information, well, revelations to begin on Wednesday.
My thoughts exactly, as stated in my previous post.
You said it better than I did though.
Psh. Magnum>Br. Seriously.
I know you're being sarcastic, but dude, dual magnums can kill faster (provided you get headshots)
If he did paint it, I'm sure he couldn't push them out as fast as he does and still have time to have a life, so I'm pretty sure that he doesn't.
It's just a simple Photoshop filter.
That's a more direct way of saying what I just said.
Like I said what's life. Who has that any more. Guh….
Whatever happened to the crazy yellow dude. He should make more witty remarks. It doesn't seem like him to sit out on this conversation.
You'll see a little more crazy soon.
oh god. more crazy? Don't go confusing the confused with more confusion or they will never work it out
It's just a little more crazy.
And what kind of role does Archmedis play in all this. I don't remember his importance. Was he the virus?
No… Archimedes and the virus are (according to Jim) two seperate entities.
Do i believe him? Not really. Bu'cha roll with what you got, right?
Nah, they really are seperate entities.
Yes, definitely separate entities. The virus did piggyback on Archimedes, however, per Ferial's plans.
But why did viper wan't Archimedes in the first place. This was not explored if I recall correctly. Chances are I don't recall correctly.
I was talking about why the automated defenses didn't defend him.
But confusing the confusion on the confused is the only way to confuse those who have yet to become infected with the transmutable confusion!
Haha couldnt resist that one.
Anyway, this comic was interesting… I've been having a hard time getting online of late due to time constraints (and then someone unplugged me) but this is always a welcome treat when I finally manage a connection! 
Thanks so much for these little gems, Jim.
-Aardvark
Always a pleasure and a privilege.
Now my head hurts. The confusion is spreading like a virus.
in the second frame, didn't you want proverbial instead of perpetual, or am i miss reading your meaning?
Nope, I meant perpetual.
As in stop Ferial PERMANENTLY not just "oh you can try again in a few more millenia" :p
Exactly.
Jim knows all, why would you question him?
"Aye, It was HERECY!" says a bistander
Note to self: figure out how to install a spellchecker into the comments form.
:p
It would go nuts
And die and crash the system. For the record, my computer already tells me if I am spelling something wrong, so I don't know…
It looks like a Missile Pod explosion to me, imo. It's too small to be a rocket, those little "lines" jutting out from it don't happen with Grenade explosions, and they aren't actual spikes like the ones that come from the Spike Grenade. Maybe I'm just looking too much into this. Regardless, I think it's possible that Intuitive Portent may have accepted Ferial's deal for whatever reason (Or Ferial could have "secretly" given him his end of the deal without informing Portent), and the gift could be something along the lines of responding aggressively to any organic movement within a certain radius or something like that.
The sad thing is, in the real map of Narrows, the Reclaimer's about 5 seconds away from where Portent's Shatterbox would be.
Yeah, I don't think it really matters what was used in-game to make the explosion. It was probably caused by something unique to the Reclaimerverse and therefore not in the game.
It is sad that he was (if this Narrows is the same as the map) so close…
This sequence isn't over yet…
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that portent attacked him. Seems poetic and honestly jsut a good idea from portents perspective…can't be too carefully with ferial around.
Portent could think that the reclaimer is Ferials "gift" and refuse to go.
If ferial paid me a visit, and i didnt accept his offer (which i would, cuz then i could be in the comic!) i would shoot everyone that came near me afterward too.
Was portent one of the cavalcada in contact? 'Cause if he was, im confused. And doing the math, im pretty sure he was on the Cavalcades fave 5.
It doesn't make sense I tell ya! And Portent should be able to tell that RC and the calvacada are coming around the corner from his digital telepathy rather than just shooting the first thing that moves.
Like I said, extenuating circumstances.
Curiousity speaking here.
I've seen some effects, like what you're doing in photoshop, in the Forge. Have you worked with any of them before?
They're not really the same. Besides, if it was in the game antialiasing and 3d enviornment would skrew with the sketchy look of the comic. In a 3d world, the effects get smaller as they get further away, not in a screenshot, a 2d world. Basically, outside of the game, the Halo filters are useless.
...and Nova was the dumbest idea ever.
Actually, I like Nova – for certain types of shots. I've already used it a couple of times in the comic.
Really, to what advantage?
All it does is blur the image and place it on an ugly white filter.
He has, in earlier comics. Try reading back.
I've used certain ones periodically in the comic. There's not a Halo filter like the Poster Edges filter in Photoshop, though, and that's the one I always use.
Sorry, I'm a cheapo that used gimp. What's the "Poster Edges" filter?
Something I hace always wanted to ask.
How much hard drive space has RC got?
I don't know what you mean by that. Server space, xbox hard drive space, pc hard drive space, RC's suits space for the calvacada, etc.
I haven't written down all the technical specifications for the Reclaimer's suit yet, but when I do, I'll add them to the wiki and provide a link to the article.
I was missing the random remarks! Ha, if that was a rocket/projectile, then Reclaimer's getting slow. C'mon, man, just because you have several A.I. in your head that could potentially destroy everything around you (or save you, possibly), doesn't mean you neglect your basic training! END RANT :p
It could have been some kind of mine…
Or super faster than light transdemensional object launched by the vorgonauts from zen that origianlly targeted the nihilanth who was preocupied with the ammasing time warping hoard of mutant plants from that island in singularity which ironically caused Albert einstein to come to the future causing the creation of the prism tank and the prism tower which were used to take out the soviet forces and save all of new mombasa from the locust that had just been forced from thier tunnels by a stray grenade launched by a demoman in Hydro who was killed by a spy trying to take out an engineers turret but the flood army killed the spy and the engineer and proceded to De_Dust but the flood army was killed by Gary Newman who had his entity deleater in hand and…
I forgot where I was going with this.
I think I just quoted every awsome video game ever.
Riiiiiiiight. I didn't get that. What was that even supposed to mean.
Watch out for Jim's banhammer and irrelevant-comment-seeking-nuclear bombs 
I wouldn't really call it irrelevant. I was trying to convey, in my usual roundabout way, that the explosion was unexplained and could therfore be just about anything causing any chain of events.
Really? i havent ever seen any comments deleted.
It happens. In the rare instance that I need to delete something, I'm usually on it before anyone even sees the comment.
I've experienced the torture of having no voice first hand on multiple occasions due to my ignorance of relevance…
and my poor jokes that are a little hard to pick up on.
The Calvacada can't do a thing to the physical world around RC. Just give him some upgrades
I'm sure jim will find a way to throw a wrench into that little conjecture as well.
This is a comic, the laws of physics don't apply.
Who said this was the Narrows, it's a comic, there can be auto turrets firing missiles if you want. Use that imagination and colour the sky purple.
We've seen less rambling from the insane Cavalcade member, any chance of getting more of that?
Yeah, I was beginning to wonder if he'd gotten insanely silent… which is an odd angle to kant off towards.
For what? Another plot twist making us anxious to read the next comic?
Well, if anyone was missing our crazy Cavalcade's rants, Snowcrossing here has provided us with an excellent substitute!
Aye, he's good for that.
Maybe he was behind the explosion
He blew up inside RC's brain
People will just ignore it. its like putting a "dont walk on the grass" sign on a dog park. You want to walk there.
You need a keyboard protector. You can have my old one. It's mostly slobber free
"I'm sorry mommy but I was like really exited about meeting my new friend Portent. I made a booboo. Can you put a bandaid on my knee"
Sorry I couldn't resist :p
I'm sure Jim has said somewhere that this installation is called "The Narrows", in mimicry of it's actual name :p
No he did not tell us. He's saving that almost 150 comics on
A few answers, a couple more plot twists, followed closely by a cliffhanger.
Me hanging myself of a cliff = Cliff hanger
well, that was inevitable. Jim, why the new format with having to open up the replies?
Apparently it's a layout change to the IntenseDebate developers rolled out over the weekend. I wasn't even aware of it until just now. I'm not sure how well I like it, though I can see its uses for reducing some confusion. I'll have to look to see if it has some optional settings.
Yeah, no-one uses it, and it makes everything impossible to see. Looks good on the Aurora on Blackout
The effects aren't used much except for screenshots.
Yeah he is actually getting more lucid.
Heh, yeah, I did name the installation 'The Narrows', and it's pretty much the way it appears in-game.
Really? I never noticed…. :p
Your sarcasm is like a knife in my heart.
How did you know he was being srcastic? I didn't pick up on that.
Well, the smiley afterwards was a small clue.