Scud: The Disposable Assassin #1 by Rob Schrab (1996 Fireman Press, 2nd Print)

Description: FREE shipping for orders of 8 or more items (*sets count as 1 item), and multi-item orders over $100! Please refer to photos. Comes sealed in acid-free bag with backing board.. Packaged between cardboard in a padded flat mailer (all made from 100% post- consumer recycled materials), by a one-man/single father independent shop. Combined shipping discounts available! Use the "Request Combined Shipping" link above your cart prior to checkout on a computer. SCUD: The Disposable Assassin #1 (1996 Fire Man Press, Second Printing) *spoiler review from "majorspoilers.com" In the future, everything is for sale, and everything is disposable. That includes assassins, such as the Heart Breaker series disposable androids, available for three Franks at vending machines everywhere. The model 1373 is the latest of the series, a high-tech warrior who will kill whatever you wish, then self-destruct once their mission is complete. That’s good news for Hershell, an employee of Marvin’s Manikins whose boss, Mister Spidergod, has commanded him to get rid of a “pest” that lives in the basement of company headquarters. As a relatively ineffectual middle-management drone, Hershell lacks the courage necessary to battle a monster in the basement, not to mention any combat skills. What he does have is a pocketful of coins, which leads to the introduction of our hero! This 1373, who will become known as Scud, steps out of the machine ready to take on his job, and Hershell provides a disk with all the relevant details (none of which are supplied to the readers, other than the fact that whatever he is going to kill has already murdered TWENTY-THREE Marvin’s Manikins employees. Of course, none of that particularly matters to the disposable assassin. He knows what he needs to know: That the creature can be shot. What follows is a fifteen-page battle sequence of remarkable inventiveness, with Scud engaging the monster, screaming pop-culture non-sequiturs out of the mouths on its knees, all the while chasing through the sub-basements of Marvin’s Manikins. Having been around for the independent comics book of the early 1990s, I can tell you that Schrab’s clever layouts and wild artistic choices stood out from the pack even then. The coloring in this issue (which is from a second printing of the book, the only copy that I own) is likewise a standout, taking a subtler approach than most ’90s computer coloring. The first pause in the action comes as Scud has to wash some squid ink off his optical sensors. What the squid was doing in the monster’s belt is left to the reader’s imagination. I’ve never been quite clear on how much sentience the Heart Breaker droids are supposed to have, but Scud’s realization that completing his mission means his death causes him to change tactics. Rather than kill the creature (whose name, we will eventually learn, is Jeff, Fourth Horseman of The Apocalypse), he blasts all four of her limbs off, leaving her alive but immobile, then calls an ambulance. With the realization that he has to keep Jeff alive to maintain his own existence, Scud then decides to start a career as a freelance gun-for-hire. It’s a very clear, very well-handled ending for an issue that provides a clear, creative premise and executes it well. Scud The Disposable Assassin #1 still holds up thirty years later, and even though it’s 70% fight scene, it’s a well-executed, exciting, and funny fight scene, wrapping up to 3.5 out of 5 stars overall. Best of all for modern readers, though Scud’s tale spent the better part of a decade as one of the great unfinished stories, Schrab returned to complete the story in 2008, with Image Comics releasing a trade paperback of all 24 issues, completing the Scud saga. description from Wikipedia:Scud: The Disposable Assassin (published from 1994 to 1998, and 2008) is a humorous, hyperkinetic science fiction comic by Rob Schrab about a world in which one can buy robot assassins out of vending machines, the most popular of which are intelligent robots that kill a specified target and then self-destruct. The protagonist of the series is Scud, an average Heart Breaker Series 1373 model assassin. On his first mission, he is sent to kill Jeff, a rampaging female mutant with mousetraps for hands, an electrical plug for a head, and a squid strapped to her torso with a belt. PlotIn this future, it is possible to obtain robot assassins out of vending machines at the cost of 3 Franks. After terminating their target, the robot self-destructs for easy clean-up. During his first mission, the Scud we follow sees his self-destruct warning in a mirror during an 18-page fight scene. Programmed for self-preservation for the sake of winning fights, Scud doesn't want to die, so only wounds Jeff bad enough to be put on life support at a nearby hospital, ensuring their mutual survival.[1] The main plot of Scud: The Disposable Assassin follows Scud's career as a freelance mercenary and assassin, working to pay off Jeff's medical bills. Issue #20With issue #20, the series went on indefinite hiatus with a cliffhanger. Schrab was growing dissatisfied with the direction the story was taking, and stepped back from the book rather than allowing things to worsen.[2] At the same time his career in Hollywood began to pick up, so he shifted focus further away from the book. Since then Scud's publisher, Fireman Press, was dissolved after a falling out between Rob Schrab and a business partner over rights.[3] Four-issue series finaleOn January 3, 2007, Schrab announced on his blog his plans to finish Scud in four parts, Issues 21–24, at which point he would release an omnibus of all 24 issues.[4] Podcasts posted to Schrab's site gave his state of mind during the process, opportunities he is passing up to finish the book, and a view of the process he uses to create a comic page.[5] Regarding the decision to conclude the series with 4 issues, Rob Schrab told fans that "he just couldn't make this another issue. I want Scud to go out with a bang." The final installment of Scud was released as a four-part mini-series published by Image Comics, with covers by guest artists. #21 – Ashley Wood (February 2008) "Return of the Over–Used Muse"Rob Schrab (March 2008) – WonderCon Exclusive Variant of Issue 21Jack Gray (April 2008) – Second Print of Issue 21#22 – Jim Mahfood (March 2008) "Challenge of the Over-Used Muse"Dan Hipp (April 2008) – Second Print of Issue 22#23 – David Hartman (April 2008) "Retaliation of the Over-Used Muse"#24 – Doug Tennapel (May 2008) "Death of the Over-Used Muse"

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