Delegates and Delegation

Schlock Mercenary #15

by Howard Tayler

Genres: Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comics, Webcomic, Humor, Space Opera

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Howard 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

Reviews

[Shannan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book quite as much because I thought I’d miss Kevyn and the Tagons, and though I did miss their silliness, I think this book has become one of my favorites of the series. Murtagh I command grew on me and watching her understanding of Schlock evolve was fun. I also really liked the new characters, Sorlie especially. Poor girl was basically forced into this mercenary madness, but she handled it like a boss. Every time she would get angry and then surprised about something always made me giggle. I liked that she was awesome, but not a complete know-it-all. It made me feel more welcome in the story.

This was a cleverly crafted plot as well, with excellent pacing. Some of his past books have felt rushed at the end to me, but this one moved through the action naturally and coasted to a stop when the time came. And I must say, all that stuff with Kowalski and Emm at the end was a surprise, but I can’t wait to see how it gets handled! There’s so much simmering potential for future stories here! I just hope we get the whole gang back for the next one. And a new ship because they always need a new ship.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a bit of a daring turn for the series. Though it still involves a number of our favorite characters (Schlock, Elf, Ennesby, and the xeno team), several of the main characters that we've known from the very beginning are missing (Tagon, Kevyn). Despite, or perhaps because of, that, it's an excellent book. Funny, fast moving, strong plot arcs that both tie into the larger story and form a nice self contained story. Several excellent new characters are introduced, and some old familiar faces we haven't seen in a while make guest appearances. Again, well worth the read.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay! A trip to Earth! What could go wrong?

Nevermind.

Actually, even though it has less of Targon and more of the side characters, I really loved this one. Schlock, of course, can easily steal any show and I had some loud moments of laughter here. I'm going to be so sad that I'll be reading this strip at one a day soon. Reading these are like reading great and expansive novels with great special effects, but what makes them really shine are the characters.

Viva la revolution!

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading this story when it first appeared online and getting lost with what was going on where and who was in charge of what and why this was all going on. Rereading this book and it's predecessor in a stretch rather than day-to-day as the web-comic comes out was a big help. When the important plot points were just a few hours or days old versus 6-8 months can make a big difference.

[Charles Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of Schlock Mercenary has earned its place in webcomics' hall of fame, but Delegates & Delegation stands out as the storyline I keep coming back to.