Customer Reviews

Schlock Mercenary: The Blackness Between

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"The Blackness Between" is a direct sequel to "Under New Management", the first Schlock Mercenary collection. More treachery, destruction, and mayhem than you can shake a stick at. (Speaking of sticks, Sergeant Schlock manages to come up with a herefore unseen use for one which you need to see to believe.) Howard Tayler's really hit his stride here, and once again we get the marginalia, footnotes, and bonus story which make Howard's books the gold standard of dead-tree collections of webcomics.

Buy one. Buy two and give one to a friend. You'll be glad you did.

Others will tell you how this little volume is the excellent sequel to "Under New Management" and how there exists on line at the Schlock Mercenary site not only the books but the amazing Schlock saga before and since. See the amazing advances in artistic skill that constant practice at turning out a strip that is both scientifically plausible and funny at the same time can produce!

In fact why buy the printed versions at all? - 1. they don't need a computer to access them 2. there are extras in the books in the form of additional illustrations, footnotes and stories that you won't get online.

Buy the books AND check out the strip! (just use a Famous Search Engine and you'll find the URL)

Never mind that the humour here is clean and wholesome with an ominous hummmmm or that "Elf" Foxworthy is hot hot hot.....

This is funny stuff done by an artist who is a great guy. So buy buy buy.

This and his first book are my little bound 'stacks of happiness' to turn a phrase from the books. Howard's artwork is stunning, sharp and perfect. His constant, unending humor adds a touch to the stories he crafts that are simply awesome. He's a modern bard, without the silly guitar-thing. Though I'm sure he could play one if pressed. He's never let me down with a strip yet, always giving me a chuckle. If you are a fan of witty dialog and snappy stories... If you like humor that doesn't rely on foul words, then these books are for you...

...you each throw away enough weapons you only have enough left to kill each other twice.

The artwork is better, the plotting tighter, the plotting in-story even backstabberier, and Sergeant Schlock gets to use his Plasgun to THOOM lots of stuff that...well..._mostly_ needed blown up.

With more twists than a fifties dance hall, lots of laughs and tactics that resolve to, "Shoot it," you'll find yourself quoting the Seven Rules Of Highly Effective Pirates to your friends. Especially Number 34.

Howard Tayler is a very funny guy. This was the first web comic I ever saw that made sense and was funny all the time.

His science fiction is scientific. He dares his readers to do the math and find him out.

The plotting is excellent, the art improves with each passing year.

I have all the books in the series and read them over and over.

There is very little Science Fiction on my reading shelf, and no hard SF, I just don't like the stuff. Enter Howard Taylor. Schlock Mercenary is one of the most consistently funny, superbly plotted, and well written webcomics out there. This collection is excellent and, with lots of value added art and a bonus story, well worth purchasing.

I heartily recommend it to anyone who likes a good story, well told.

Great read from one of my favourite webcomic authors. Nicely printed and lots of interesting bonus content.

Before I found Schlock Mercenary, I thought that all web comics were terrible. Schlock Mercenary opened my eyes to a new world of entertainment, and now I read webcomics every week.

Schlock Mercenary is my homepage.

This is the second Schlock Mercenary compilation, continuing the story started in Under New Management. It also carries on the quality set in the first book, the humor is consistent and it's an all around crowd pleaser.

Buy this book!

Howard Tayler's series is one of the best there is. His setting is well-constructed and thought out enough to please the hard science-fiction fans, but is approachable and appeals to all readers. The plot, with its conspiracies, factions, and betrayals, is one that keeps you coming back for more, but Tayler makes you laugh a few panels later.

Hard sci-fi can be intimidating to some people, but Tayler's work is accessible, funny, and fun.