I can hardly describe how much fun it was to draw this and not have to worry about things like story structure or whatever.  Just drawing for the fun of it.  And this is what came of it: Master Sergeant Alexei Vissarionov, albeit with a rather different look than heretofore.  I really feel like I’m getting my style under control here, and this was how he came out.

It’s very red.  And if you want a version you can put on your desktop, vote on topwebcomics.com by clicking the handy banner below!  The version there is formatted for widescreen monitors, but fear not: I’ll be setting up a page here on the site where you can get it in various resolutions, either late this week or early next week.

So since I’m technically “on vacation” I’ll keep it brief.  First up, last week’s contest had four entrants and no winners.  I think I made it too obscure.  The answer, by the way, is that the title to last week’s post is a reference to the Edward Gorey book “The Willowdale Handcar,” which is an exploration of the surreal and absurd, in which three friends travel along a train track, their linear journey intersecting the bizarre life of one of their friends in a nonlinear and increasingly disturbing way.  For some reason, its implications of existential discovery seemed relevant to me, but I suppose that nobody else is a huge Edward Gorey fan, so I, well, I just don’t know.  The prize was going to be a digital doodle, by me, of a subject of the winner’s choice (within reason, of course).  And although there was no actual winner, I felt like they ought to get SOMETHING for trying, so I’m open to suggestions.

Note also that the guest story on reMIND is continuing apace, this week with work by artist and long-time 6-Commando supporter Joost Haakman!  I make no secret of my admiration of Joost’s work, which, though very different from my own, is super-great.  His use of perspective, in particular, is among the most masterful I’ve seen in the webcomics world, and so by all means check out not only his page this week, but his work in general.  Definitely worth a careful examination.

At any rate, I’m just taking it easy at the moment.  Actually, I’m re-reading the novel Nostromo, by Joseph Conrad, which I failed to appreciate properly when forced to read it in college.  This time through, it’s super-fantastic.

And aside from that, next week is Easter, and, as a Christian, it’s the most important holiday of the year for me, and I’ll be off to spend it with the proverbial Family.  I will however try to get you some other good thing for the site, and all that, so do check back!  And thanks, by the way, for the comments and votes, lately – it’s been terrific, and I couldn’t be more pleased!

All the best, folks.