 schlock mercenary is a comedic webcomic written and drawn by howard tayler. it follows the tribulations of a star-travelling mercenary company in a satiric, mildly dystopian 31st-century space opera setting. since its debut on june 12, 2000 the comic has updated daily, begun to support its author, and been nominated for four hugo awards. ==publication history== over time, tayler's art improved, in his words, from bad to "marginally less bad." jean elmore served as colorist for the strip from february 9, 2003 to the spring of 2004 when she developed a repetitive strain injury from her work. on march 3, 2003, the comic reached its 1001st strip. tayler marked the milestone by "re-launching" the comic. with the relaunch, the strip was slightly reoriented for publication, organizing the comic's ongoing story into "books". each book has a fairly self-contained story, although they are still chronological and connected. on december 2, 2005, tayler published the comic's 2000th daily strip since the series' debut. on june 12, 2010, schlock mercenary marked ten years of uninterrupted daily run, a feat matched by few other webcomics. in march 2006, tayler published schlock mercenary: under new management, the first book-based collection of schlock mercenary comics. this collection features stories printed from march 9, 2003 through august 23, 2003, plus five pages of new material including a foreword by john ringo, a feature explaining how sgt. schlock "got turned on to plasma cannons", bonus art, the author's biography, and architectural deck plans to tago
2000s_webcomics Blank_Label_Comics Comedy_webcomics Fictional_amorphous_creatures Fictional_mercenaries Internet_properties_established_in_2000 Science_fiction_webcomics Web_Cartoonists\'_Choice_Award_winners Webcomics_in_print