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Schlock Mercenary #4
The Blackness Between
This is the second print collection of Schlock Mercenary, and it is chock-full of new footnotes and sketches, plus 8 pages of never-before-seen bonus story explaining how Schlock got rich escaping from the circus. This 100 page, full-color collection can stand alone, but makes an ideal companion volume to Under New Management.
100 pages, Paperback
First published November 15, 2006
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55 people want to read
About the author
Howard Tayler
48 books169 followersHoward spent most of his happy childhood in Florida where he was on the swim team in grade school, and in a rock band in high school. He graduated in 1985 and moved to Utah to attend Brigham Young University.
After two years there, he served two years as a missionary for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons), after which he returned to school at BYU and decided to move to Provo permanently after graduating and getting married.
He currently works full-time as a cartoonist, writing, drawing, and coloring Schlock Mercenary , as well as doing comics for assorted corporate clients.
He is married to author and editor Sandra Tayler.
See the author page on Schlock Mercenary website
After two years there, he served two years as a missionary for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons), after which he returned to school at BYU and decided to move to Provo permanently after graduating and getting married.
He currently works full-time as a cartoonist, writing, drawing, and coloring Schlock Mercenary , as well as doing comics for assorted corporate clients.
He is married to author and editor Sandra Tayler.
See the author page on Schlock Mercenary website
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
April 16, 2012
To review a Schlock Mercenary book is to shout redundancies at the heavens. The usually statements still apply – the art is getting better, the writing is getting better, the _________ is getting better.
Howard Taylor has created something completely unique in the world of story telling, and I’m not talking about how he made a main character look like a pile of poo and still lovable. Or maybe I am. I’m not really sure.
I first heard of Howard Taylor when I started listening to Writing Excuses – a podcast that he does with Dan Wells and Brandon Sanderson – and discovered that, while the others can be quite funny, he is the funniest of the lot. I was also impressed when he made the claim that he had a new comic up every day since his comic went live.
I decided to check it out and jumped right into the middle of the story. Nothing made sense for a while but it was funny enough that it carried me through until I started to understand.
Now I’ve started buying the early books – the comics that I missed – and I’ve come to learn something. Howard Taylor is not just telling a lot of jokes about a hero that looks like a pile of poo – though he does do that – he’s detailing a future history that happens to be a poignant satire of our own western culture.
Satire is difficult because it has to be satirical – if that sounds tautological to you that’s because it is – but that doesn’t make it any less true. Howard Taylor is creating something here that is unique because it is funny and exciting and it makes sense and has great characters and is teaching me something about the way I think (I can’t speak for everybody else). That last one seems the most important to me.
Read it.
Howard Taylor has created something completely unique in the world of story telling, and I’m not talking about how he made a main character look like a pile of poo and still lovable. Or maybe I am. I’m not really sure.
I first heard of Howard Taylor when I started listening to Writing Excuses – a podcast that he does with Dan Wells and Brandon Sanderson – and discovered that, while the others can be quite funny, he is the funniest of the lot. I was also impressed when he made the claim that he had a new comic up every day since his comic went live.
I decided to check it out and jumped right into the middle of the story. Nothing made sense for a while but it was funny enough that it carried me through until I started to understand.
Now I’ve started buying the early books – the comics that I missed – and I’ve come to learn something. Howard Taylor is not just telling a lot of jokes about a hero that looks like a pile of poo – though he does do that – he’s detailing a future history that happens to be a poignant satire of our own western culture.
Satire is difficult because it has to be satirical – if that sounds tautological to you that’s because it is – but that doesn’t make it any less true. Howard Taylor is creating something here that is unique because it is funny and exciting and it makes sense and has great characters and is teaching me something about the way I think (I can’t speak for everybody else). That last one seems the most important to me.
Read it.
October 13, 2009
"If Charlie's gonna dance the Foxtrot, I'm not gonna stand around wearing a dress." Captain Kerchak, page 29.
That is my favorite line ever from an endless supply of quotables from Tayler's work.
This book also contains the best moment (so far) for my favorite character Ellen (Elf) Foxworthy. Page 32, I'm not going to spoil it for you.
(Also reading the print versions gives less bleary eye-ness than the online version.)
That is my favorite line ever from an endless supply of quotables from Tayler's work.
This book also contains the best moment (so far) for my favorite character Ellen (Elf) Foxworthy. Page 32, I'm not going to spoil it for you.
(Also reading the print versions gives less bleary eye-ness than the online version.)
March 21, 2011
I have to admit that the first volume (chronologically) didn't really pull me in. But, because I know Howard, I kept coming back to the story and the current storyline at the website. And, I started to get hooked.
Chronologically, this is the 4th (I believe) book in the series, and though Howard was still honing his art skills at the time, the storyline was very engaging and often hilarious.
I highly recommend the series and the web comic!
Chronologically, this is the 4th (I believe) book in the series, and though Howard was still honing his art skills at the time, the storyline was very engaging and often hilarious.
I highly recommend the series and the web comic!
March 23, 2015
This was full of interesting conceptual space opera like planet sized dark matter entities that like to eat annies and yahoos that live on a huge chain of jacks-shaped space stations. It had delicious resolutions to the story arc, too, including a huge portion of self-delusion. I'm really getting a kick out of these.
August 11, 2011
Another great collection of Schlock, with all the expected humor, aliens, monkeys, and explosions. My favorite thing about the collections are the footnotes on nearly every page, as Howard's "explanations" of things are often more riotously funny than the strips, and that's saying a lot.
October 4, 2012
Schlock's books are hilarious and awesome - I've barely got into the "good stuff" yet of the series, but this book cracked me up. So many great laugh-out-loud moments - Kevin continues to amuse; Breya is back and so much more!
January 12, 2020
The story is definitely picking up pace and drama. The drawing is improved. I am getting addicted to Schlock!
January 30, 2024
Ah yes. Now we see Schlock Mercenary really finding its feet. The art is still improving, and the story-telling is getting better. It's not up to the long, much more involved stories that are coming, but a nice quick story with things exploding is always welcome. This one also sets up a lot of what's coming later.
October 7, 2020
While extremely satisfying, I still get the sense that this is a mirror interlude to the "good stuff." I got many hearty belly laughs out of this volume. The jokes just get funnier the more context with the A+ metanarrative and familiarity with the characters. Recommended.
January 30, 2014
This is the second Schlock story I have read and I found it much harder to read than the first one was.
I think that these stories are incredibly funny and I am sure that somewhere underneath all that humour there is a story somewhere that is quite interesting. The problem is that with every page more interested in a punchline than a story the whole thing feels disjointed and quite hard to follow with any interest.
In a world of stand up comedians, Schlock Mercenary would be the type that specialises in one liners and that style of humour just doesn't work well when part of a larger story line.
It is a shame as there is potential there. Hopefully it will be realised in the next book.
I think that these stories are incredibly funny and I am sure that somewhere underneath all that humour there is a story somewhere that is quite interesting. The problem is that with every page more interested in a punchline than a story the whole thing feels disjointed and quite hard to follow with any interest.
In a world of stand up comedians, Schlock Mercenary would be the type that specialises in one liners and that style of humour just doesn't work well when part of a larger story line.
It is a shame as there is potential there. Hopefully it will be realised in the next book.
November 29, 2008
I love these series of comic books! Goofy humor, great sci-fi plot, and the ominous hum of Schlock's plasma gun. What's not to like?
The author, Howard Tayler is one twisted, but very, very funny guy. He's also one of the nicest guys you'll meet.
Howard Tayler writes one of the longest running web comics. Check it out at http://www.schlockmercenary.com
Then buy the books, you won't regret it!
The author, Howard Tayler is one twisted, but very, very funny guy. He's also one of the nicest guys you'll meet.
Howard Tayler writes one of the longest running web comics. Check it out at http://www.schlockmercenary.com
Then buy the books, you won't regret it!
January 22, 2009
The second book published and the fourth chronologically, Howard continues to keep the story great and the jokes funny. As with all of the series, I suggest reading it! But go ahead and visit the website first.
Note: My rating may be biased by the fact that the author is a friend of mine. But only by one star, at the most. It really is good!
Note: My rating may be biased by the fact that the author is a friend of mine. But only by one star, at the most. It really is good!
August 15, 2013
This story was slightly more confusing than I like, and ended a little bit oddly. A lot of new characters are introduced in a somewhat confusing manner. The clunkiness of the storyline was disappointing, but again, the writing and art continue to improve, so there's that. Obviously going to keep reading.
April 2, 2020
Yet more fun from the mind of Tayler. Looking forward to more.
August 12, 2011
Shorter but good.
November 14, 2021
By now the comic is hitting all of its marks consistently, humor, characters, plot, worldbuilding. Good fun.
September 18, 2021
Tagon seemed to be especially stupid in this book. I enjoyed it immensely!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews