Difference between revisions of "The Naked and the Dead"

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m (Undo edit by Light Weapons Guy There's no mention of a year or date in Expiration Date. The in-game calendars do not match up with irl calendars either. This Trivia would require some more sources)
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   | release-date    = January 10th, 2017
 
   | release-date    = January 10th, 2017
 
   | number-of-pages = 274
 
   | number-of-pages = 274
   | artist          = [http://makani.deviantart.com/ makani]
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   | artist          = [[Heather Campbell|Heather "makani" Campbell]]
   | writer          = Jay Pinkerton & Erik Wolpaw
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   | writer          = [[Jay Pinkerton]] & [[Erik Wolpaw]]
   | colorist        = Maren Marmulla
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   | colorist        = [[Maren Marmulla|Maren "rennerei" Marmulla]]
 
}}
 
}}
  
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==Synopsis==
 
==Synopsis==
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
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The comic begins with [[Miss Pauling]] hallucinating while she is bleeding out and unconscious after the attack of the [[Team Fortress Classic|Classic Team's]] leech robots. She wakes up in a desert with a disembodied door before her, which she enters. Behind this door is the [[Administrator]]'s control room. After a brief exchange, Miss Pauling admits her failure to obtain the final stash of [[Australium]] to the Administrator, and questions the Administrator about what she truly wants; however, Miss Pauling is revived abruptly by the [[Medic]], who saves her by placing the blood drained from the robots back in her body, and then proceeds to revive [[Soldier]] in a similar manner. When Miss Pauling questions Medic on how he managed it, [[Demoman]] is seen fighting and destroying the rest of the robots, and the Medic responds that the robots have been poisoned and weakened by the high alcoholic content of Demoman's blood. In Demoman's own hallucination, he has successfully reassigned his body's organs to distill its own alcohol out of his vital fluids, and even his liver returns to reconcile.
! Page 01-55: Miss Pauling's Team VS Robots
 
|-
 
| The story begins with [[Miss Pauling]] lying face-down in the middle of a golden desert. Upon awakening, she spots a single unlocked door standing in the middle of nowhere; once she opens it, she is greeted by the [[Administrator]], who sits in the middle of a control room lit green by multiple monitors, all of which show live footage of her face. She answers Miss Pauling's confused questions by explaining that this is the afterlife; they are both dead, and Miss Pauling has failed the Administrator's mission. Miss Pauling bluntly accept this fact, even informing her that all of the world's [[Australium]] was gone, but, given that she already failed the mission and was determined to understand the Administrator's motive behind the war after a decade of unyielding trust, asks the Administrator "what it is she wants". The Administrator simply replies with a grim "Blood. It's not enough. Give me more", with her voice echoing to Miss Pauling while she watches helplessly as the monitors begin to flicker with her own horrified expression.
 
  
The comic cuts immediately to the outside of the [[Team Fortress Classic|TFC]] base, where [[Old Wounds]] left off. The previous events were all simply a hallucination by Miss Pauling, who regains consciousness to find the [[Medic]] calling for [[Non-playable characters#RED Heavy's Family|Zhanna]] to "give him more blood" in order to save Miss Pauling and the [[Soldier]]. When asked how the Medic managed to save their lives when they were presumably dead from the TFC team's blood-draining robots, the Medic simply responds that he collected all of the blood drained by the robots and put it back into their bodies, while literally dumping a bucket of blood and debris into a smiling Soldier's open chest, much to Miss Pauling's disgust. When further questioned if he had even separated each of their blood types, the Medic quietly mentions that he used his own underwear to sponge up the blood, and that the blood type would be the least of their problems as of now.  
+
Meanwhile, the Classic Mercenaries confront [[Heavy Weapons Guy (Classic)|TFC Heavy]] about how they will receive their payment after he killed [[Non-player characters#Gray Mann|Gray Mann]]. TFC Heavy angrily persuades them that the Life-Extender device was worth going without pay, but the [[Engineer (Classic)|TFC Engineer]] is reluctant to agree. Frustrated, TFC Heavy commands the TFC Engineer to reactivate the rest of Gray's [[Robots]] to kill the current mercenaries, and he complies.
  
As explanations go down, Miss Pauling catches a glimpse of the [[Demoman]] wildly taking on a bunch of robots all by himself; the Medic reasons that the high alcoholic content of the Demoman's blood must have given the robots alcohol poisoning, thus weakening them. However, Miss Pauling notes that the Demoman had not taken a single drop of alcohol since arriving on the island, making it impossible that he could be drunk. At this moment, the comic immediately cuts to a hallucination being experienced by the Demoman, in which he commands his heart to convert his various organs into distilleries after inventing a way to ferment his bone marrow. His liver even returns after leaving during the events of Old Wounds, and makes up with the Demoman by sharing a romantic kiss with him.
+
The comic cuts back to the original group, with [[Scout]] and [[Heavy]] parachuting down to Miss Pauling. As Scout hugs Pauling, Medic reveals that she should no longer be hugged as the action squeezes some of the replaced blood out of her eyes. Heavy greets his sister Zhanna, but is surprised that she had lost a hand, and then gets annoyed at the realization that she is engaged to Soldier, and they plan to have children. Scout reveals to Pauling about the discovery of the Australium being stolen, and that [[Saxton Hale]] and his partner [[Non-player characters#Maggie|Maggie]] were on the island as well, presumably having jumped off the plane at the same time as him and Heavy. However, upon turning around, they are rudely interrupted by a hoard of reactivated Gray Mann robots approaching and Saxton Hale and Maggie nowhere to be seen.
  
Meanwhile in the TFC base, a frustrated [[Heavy Weapons Guy (Classic)|TFC Heavy]] is seen holding [[Gray Mann]]'s Life-Extender machine and watching the events unfold on a large screen, loudly questioning how his team of trained mercenaries were being defeated by a bunch of "morons" and "lunatics". The [[Engineer (Classic)|TFC Engineer]] (named Fred) interrupts his thoughts, and asks how he and his coworkers would be paid if they already killed Gray Mann, their employer. The TFC Heavy bluntly responds that he should stop worrying about money when they had a life machine in their hands, but the TFC Engineer rebuttals by arguing that he can't make more life machines, especially since the device was "more biology than engineering". Without turning away from the monitor, the TFC Heavy asks what the TFC Engineer ''can'' do, with his response being that he could turn all of Gray Mann's old robots on again. Grabbing the TFC Engineer by the collar, the TFC Heavy demands that he does so immediately.
+
The comic cuts to Saxton Hale and Maggie in Hale's plane, too engrossed with reminiscing over their past adventures to follow Scout and Heavy, who had jumped off an hour ago. After their pilot [[Non-player characters#Jerry|Jerry]] notifies them that they are out of fuel, Hale and Mags drop [[Mann Co.]] ammunition and weapon crates to the mercenaries below, before jumping from the plane (along with Jerry) to aid them in fighting the robots. Unfortunately, [[Sniper (Classic)|TFC Sniper]] is watching the battle and preparing to shoot Heavy, before a knock at the door from the TFC Engineer distracts him. TFC Engineer claims that TFC Heavy has ordered him to pull back, while outside, [[Sniper]] is standing outside the door and ready to ambush his TFC counterpart. However, TFC Sniper shoots TFC Engineer in the knee, revealing him to be the [[Spy]] in [[Disguise|disguise]]. In the following conversation, he tells how the TFC Engineer had replaced his original eyeballs with mechanical ones that saw past the disguise. Sniper runs to another room and breaks the window to escape, losing his remaining clothing in the process, and climbs around the building's exterior naked, while the Spy distracts TFC Sniper by asking him for a cigarette as a final request. This buys enough time for Sniper to enter a window, take TFC Sniper's rifle, and kill TFC Sniper with a [[headshot]] without any hesitation. Spy and Sniper share a moment to [[Sniper vs. Spy Update|mock each other over their shared rivalry]].
  
The scene cuts back to outside the base, with the [[Heavy]] and [[Scout]] parachuting from [[Saxton Hale]]'s plane and reuniting with Miss Pauling, Medic and Demoman. Scout is elated upon seeing Miss Pauling again, immediately complimenting how she looked (despite Miss Pauling being covered in blood and losing weight from blood loss). Eventually, Scout just admits that he's glad to see her safe before embracing her - an action which forces the blood inside Miss Pauling to spurt out of her eye sockets, which Medic then advises not to do. Heavy is also reunited with his sister Zhanna, and is taken aback by why she's following the team, along with the mysterious disappearance of her left hand; she explains that removing her hand was necessary "to kill woman torturing her" (the [[Pyro (Classic)|TFC Pyro]]). Heavy accepts the explanation, but then notices the necklace of ears around her neck. Heavy quietly murmurs "Sister, NO." before Soldier comes up and hits him in the chest playfully, breaking the news that that he would officially be his "brother-in-law" (and Heavy becoming Soldier's grandfather if he "impregnated" Heavy's sister, as Zhanna mentions).
+
Back at the battleground, Demoman takes cover while Medic stitches up a wound in his leg. It is revealed that Demoman has a cursed eye socket which causes any replacement eye the Medic gives him to mutate on [[Halloween]] night, attacking the team in [[MONOCULUS|various ways]]. To prevent Demoman from questioning him, Medic also reveals that he had removed the part of Demoman's brain which remembers the events. After promptly forgetting the recent events, Demoman walks away, giving TFC Heavy an opportunity to threaten Medic into placing the Life-Extender device into him. Medic instead attacks him with his [[Ubersaw]], but fails to kill him. Heavy attempts to save Medic, but TFC Heavy shoots Medic fatally with a Pistol. Enraged, Heavy attacks him.
  
A while later, Scout gives Miss Pauling a rather self-centered breakdown of the events back at Ayers Rock, including how it was a fake rock hiding the final (and completely missing) stash of Australium. Miss Pauling asks if he knew who took the Australium, and Scout admits that they had nothing except Saxton Hale, who they found while at the stash and was presumably standing right behind him. However, turning around revealed that Saxton Hale was nowhere to be found; instead, a battalion of whirring robots mercenaries were standing right behind them the entire time.
+
The comic moves to [[Soldier (Classic)|TFC Soldier]] and [[Scout (Classic)|TFC Scout]] in a weapons storage room, discussing the present nature of events. TFC Scout points out the futility of the situation, noting that TFC Heavy has gone insane, they are losing the battle, and the money they have accumulated has not bought them happiness. TFC Scout reminds TFC Soldier of the dream they shared to own an orphanage, but soon discovers they have been somehow coated in gasoline as the Pyro reveals their presence.
  
In actuality, Saxton Hale and [[Non-playable characters#Maggie|Maggie]] were still in their plane, too engrossed with reminiscing their old escapades to remember jumping of their plane to accompany Heavy and Scout (who had jumped out an hour ago). Their bonding time is broken by the calls of their pilot [[Non-playable characters#Jerry|Jerry]], who notifies them that they are out of fuel. After Saxton Hale admits to Maggie that time always flies when they chat, he prepares some airborne cargo for dropoff while suggesting that she should accompany him once Gray Mann's Australium is back in their hands and [[Non-playable characters#Charles Darling|Charles Darling]] gives Mann Co. back. Maggie shows sadness as she puts on her parachute, and doesn't respond to Hale's offer.
+
Outside, Scout and Ms. Pauling fight off robots, noting the absence of Spy and Pyro, until the loud explosion behind them from Pyro's attack indicates otherwise. They subsequently notice Soldier and Zhanna, who have inexplicably stripped down and covered themselves with honey to fight the robots, prompting Scout to retreat to somewhere "less naked". Saxton Hale and Maggie likewise fight off robots, albeit with their clothes on.
  
As Hale and Maggie prepare to jump, Miss Pauling, Scout, Soldier, Demoman, and Heavy are seen in the middle of a bridge, slowly being surrounded by robots. Soldier first laughs at the fact that these "cans" were only grouping on one side, only to turn around and realize they were on ''both'' sides, then admitting that they were going to die. Scout adds that if he had a gun, he would shoot Soldier before the robots got them, which prompts the Heavy to ask where Saxton Hale even went. Scout begins to call Hale a big hairy coward who couldn't be trusted, but is interrupted mid-sentence by a crate landing squarely on his head. Holding the crate, Scout attempts to read the crate's printed text (Mann Co. Submachine Guns) but fails repeatedly, making Miss Pauling ask if he could read faster as crates begin raining from the sky. At this moment, the team looks up and watch as Saxton Hale, Maggie, and their screaming pilot Jerry finally parachute down with their cargo, providing every class their respective weapons. Even Heavy's Minigun arrives, breaking its crate from the fall. With a smirk and a comment that he missed "Sasha"'s voice, the team run into the fray, finally able to fight back against the robots.
+
The comic cuts to a more violent side as Heavy, in a burst of outrage, starts brutally beating TFC Heavy, despite TFC Heavy's efforts to negotiate his way through. As Heavy starts to finish the job and states that he doesn't care if he has an immortality machine; TFC Heavy killed his friend, the Medic. TFC Heavy suddenly recovers, revealing that he simply pushed the immortality machine into his body, which was apparently enough for it to work.  
|}
 
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
 
! Page 56-97: TFC Sniper VS Sniper and Spy
 
|-
 
| Right as Miss Pauling's team begin fighting, a scope is seen zooming and locking onto the Heavy's head, with a voice muttering if the "Fat man wants to go first". This turns out to be the [[Sniper (Classic)|TFC Sniper]] at a vantage point by a window, aiming through his rifle's sights. Just as he's about to give the killing blow, several knocks on the door outside interrupt his focus. Swearing, the TFC Sniper states that whoever was knocking was costing him a headshot, only for the outside voice to stress that he needs to be let in, as three of the Classic team were dead and their boss was pissed. With an air of doubt, the TFC Sniper opens his door with the codeword "Apricot", revealing the person to be the TFC Engineer. The TFC Engineer immediately asks the TFC Sniper to pack up, which only surprises the TFC Sniper, as he had a perfect sightline in this room to kill the TF2 mercenaries who just recently obtained guns. The TFC Engineer gets updated of the situation, including Saxton Hale falling out of the sky with crates.
 
  
At this point, the camera moves out of the room, showing the stitched-up [[Sniper]] hiding outside the door and holding a large plank in the shadows; this reveals to the reader that the TFC Engineer was, in fact, the [[Spy]] in a disguise. The Spy's acting seemed to work, with him convincing the TFC Sniper that the parachuting muscular man was probably what the boss wanted to talk about, and that their boss had a plan. The TFC Sniper agrees and suggests that they should move; however, he immediately closes the door with the codeword "Apricot", shooting the Spy in the knee with a {{botignore|revolver}}; this causes the Spy's disguise to fade away, and the Sniper to rush away from the room and down a flight of stairs, muttering a panicked "Bugger." with every step.
+
The comic takes a shift as Sniper and Spy come across some dead Spy-bots. Spy remarks on Sniper's nudity, but refuses to lend Sniper his expensive suit, and both come across a tragic discovery: Scout is close to death. Comforting Scout, Spy disguises himself as [[Non-player_characters#Tom_Jones|Tom Jones]] and gives Scout his dream passing with a story of Tom Jones being Scout's proud but [[Storyline#The_Scout.27s_parentage|secret father]].<!-- This is only Valve playing up the >Community< suspicion that Spy is Scout's biological father. -->
  
The frightened and wounded Spy, sprawled on the floor clutching his bleeding knee, begins to shout "Apricot" in an attempt to open the door, which fails. The TFC Sniper, somewhat amused, addresses the Spy by questioning the logic behind his boss asking his {{botignore|sniper}} to see him, then sending him straight back to his nest and wasting time while a firefight is already going on. With Spy only responding by yelling the codeword over and over, the TFC Sniper advises him to choose some better last words. Outside the room, the Sniper bashes down a wooden door, leaving blood on the floor and getting weak from his stitches. He lifts himself and breaks through a window pane in the new room he opened, but swears as the window catches and pulls his pants off on the way out. Back with the TFC Sniper and Spy, the TFC Sniper admits that the Spy put on a convincing TFC Engineer act, which would have fooled him if not for his robotic replacement eyes, which the TFC Engineer designed and were able to see through everything (even his eyelids, which prevented him from sleeping every day). Seemingly giving up, the Spy requests if he would be given the chance to smoke a final cigaratte, which the TFC Sniper obliges, though only with his own and not the Spy's (in case it was a cyanide one), as he wanted to take his time killing him.  
+
The comic cuts to black and comes back to Scout, who is now in Heaven. God (or at least Scout's hallucination of him) begins to lavish praises on Scout, but when he realizes that Scout is still a virgin, he decides to destroy all of humanity until Scout talks him into an alternative - to send him back to the world of the living until his time comes (after assuring Scout that Tom Jones is his father). In reality, Sniper and Spy discuss what to do with Scout's body, but discover that Scout has revived, much to Sniper's reassurance and Spy's horrified disgust.  
  
Unbeknownst to the TFC Sniper, the completely naked Sniper was slowly edging his way directly outside the balcony, leaving an obvious trail of blood as he does so. The sound of Sniper entering the open window and picking up his rifle jerks the TFC Sniper into noticing him, causing the TFC Sniper to sigh and raise his hands up in an act of surrender. He begins to advise him to think this through, as he was sitting on something (presumably a bomb); however, Sniper shows no sign of hesitance and kills him mid-sentence, proving that it was all just an act. Spy, though relieved to have been saved from the hands of death, reminds him that "You {{botignore|snipers}} are the worst people on the planet". Sniper pushes that comment away by mentioning that the TFC Sniper wasn't a {{botignore|sniper}}, but a "sadist", as true {{botignore|snipers}} don't waste time with gutshots and monologues; they simply take the shot. Spy sarcastically call him a "credit to the institution of shooting people far away", but lets a passing comment go by that the others might have liked torturing him first. Sniper simply sits down beside him and says he should speak up before he blew his brains out, then asks to have a cigarette. Both men spend some time bleeding and enjoying a cigarette each, before Sniper asks how they would get out of the building.
+
Zhanna and Soldier prepare for another wave of robots. Soldier asks Zhanna for another jar of honey, but to their surprise, there is none. Instead, Zhanna finds gasoline and both of them consider lighting themselves on fire whilst fight the mass. This is cut short as Miss Pauling's phone starts to ring and Zhanna lifts her from underneath a pile of robot corpses. The person on the other end of the line is [[Engineer]], whom states that he is with the Administrator and he asks for what's left of the Australium, to which Miss Pauling says there is none. She requests to talk to the Administrator, but Engineer explains that the Administrator has died and puts down the phone, promising to ask the Administrator to call back. Zhanna approaches Ms. Pauling to ask her who she was talking to, and Ms. Pauling admits the truth of the matter: she was talking with her boss over something her boss had planned for her whole life, but Ms. Pauling has "screwed it all up". Zhanna reassures her that the team will help, finally acknowledging Ms. Pauling as a part of the team and apologizes for the suspicion she regarded Ms. Pauling with. However, Zhanna warns Ms. Pauling to stay away from Soldier, who has been listening in and joins Zhanna in insinuating that Ms. Pauling was taking advantage of Soldier's nudity. Angry, Ms. Pauling is about to complain until she realizes that Sniper, still naked, has walked onto the scene, with Spy supporting Scout.
|}
 
  
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
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As TFC Heavy continues to beat up Heavy, Medic's soul is in Hell, having signed a contract with the Devil years prior. The Devil prepares to send Medic to Hell for eternity as per the terms of the contract, but Medic points out a clause written into it: he can only go to Hell if the Devil owns a majority of his soul, and reveals that he had additional souls surgically grafted into himself, leaving the Devil with no claim. Medic negotiates with the Devil, asking to be allowed to return to Earth for an amount of time, enough for the Devil to claim his other eight souls. The Devil eventually agrees, and lets Medic trade one of his souls for the Devil's pen.
! Page 87- :TFC Heavy VS Heavy and Medic
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|-
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In the realm of the living, TFC Heavy prepares to kill Heavy, but is distracted by the Medic, who has revived and is holding the Devil's modified pen. Medic claims that the pen has been modified to instantly induce labor in the TFC Heavy, and cause the baboon fetuses developing inside the surgically grafted uterus to fully mature, tearing TFC Heavy apart from the inside. Stunned, TFC Heavy calls Medic's bluff, which Medic confirms - the entire exchange was a distraction for Heavy to rip out the immortality machine from TFC Heavy's abdomen, killing him. Heavy and Medic reunite. Medic reveals that while the pen was a fake, he has the actual device in his medical kit, which he then activates.
| Outside the base, Medic is seen helping Demoman stitch up a wound in his leg while the latter drinks from what seems to be a bottle of booze. Demoman passes the time by asking the events of how Sniper came back to life, and whether Medic was the one who shot him ''and'' brought him back to life. Halfway through, Medic asks if he could borrow the hydrogen peroxide, which Demoman hands to him (the same bottle he was drinking from). Demoman continues to casually ask questions, now wondering why Medic could revive an entire man but not bring his eye back; Medic answers that he actually can, and the procedure was quite simple. Demoman (after drinking and having a drunken pause), answers with a surprised "What." and gets up, angry that Medic did not fix his eye this entire time; however, Medic further explains that he had tried at least ''eight'' times, with each time having his eye functioning good as new until Halloween, in which it mutates and tries to kill everyone - the team had to fight off his [[MONOCULUS|giant eye]], a brain-in-a-jar eye, a knife-wielding ventriloquist eye, and one eye which attempted to go back in time to become their parents. Medic's conclusion: Demoman's eye socket was haunted, and could not be fixed fully. When questioned why he cannot remember any of this, Medic responds that he scooped out the part of Demoman's brain that kept asking the question. Demoman pauses mid-thought, but decides that answer was fine, and keeps drinking the bottle of hydrogen peroxide until he realizes that he ''does'' remember what is going on now, in which the Medic responds by claiming "brain-scooping isn't an exact science", and that Demoman should just try not to remember things. Demoman takes his advice and tries to forget - causing him to have a nosebleed and completely forget the previous events, even who Medic is. With that, Medic sends Demoman out to battle again, and tells him that he should see how the new implanted brain in his new leg works for him.
+
 
|}
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As the last of the robots are destroyed, Ms. Pauling despairs over the destroyed immortality machine, realizing that all possible sources of Australium on Earth have now been lost. In his dying moments, TFC Heavy expresses his bewilderment that his team lost, given the superiority of the Classic mercenaries. Ms. Pauling admits that she has no idea, but boldly declares that it doesn't matter: her team was victorious. Scowling, TFC Heavy dies, and Spy and Ms. Pauling share a moment over her giving a speech to a dying man before he passed away.
 +
 
 +
Elsewhere, the Administrator's immortality machine jumpstarts, reviving her. Engineer reveals that she was dead for four hours before she was revived again, and confirms that besides the small vial of Australium he's holding on for her, all global supplies of Australium have been exhausted. In denial and frustration, the Administrator punches the glass window, before calming down and asking Engineer to escort her to her private room. Handing her the vial, Engineer points out that she could still live for six months on her current supply, at which the Administrator brings up her vendetta. Engineer asks about her "old debt", pointing out that he'd never asked her in the long time his family had worked for her, and expresses his sympathy that the Administrator did not get to settle her debt before death, suggesting that she let go.
 +
 
 +
The Administrator acknowledges that she has been carrying her "debt" for a long time, since she was a child - and now she is nearing the end of her life, she has decided to end everything while "looking her best". The remark causes Engineer to realize that the Administrator has consumed all of the Australium to restore her age to that of a young woman; horrified, the Engineer exclaims that the Administrator's reckless usage has left her with only an hour to live at best. With her eyes glowing from the effect of the element, the Administrator claims that she has more than enough time left, and promises to "end this, once and for all".
 +
 
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{{clr}}
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==Transcript==
 +
{{/Transcript}}
  
 
== Pages ==
 
== Pages ==
<gallery>
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{{/Gallery}}
File:TheNakedandtheDead001.png|Page 1
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File:TheNakedandtheDead002.png|Page 2
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== Notes ==
File:TheNakedandtheDead003.png|Page 3
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* As of the end of this comic, the [[Engineer (Classic)|TFC Engineer]] and the [[Medic (Classic)|TFC Medic]] are the only Team Fortress Classic mercenaries who are not shown to be killed. Although the [[Spy]] had disguised himself as the TFC Engineer during his attempt to distract the [[Sniper (Classic)|TFC Sniper]], it is unknown whether the actual TFC Engineer was killed beforehand. The TFC Medic remains mysteriously absent from the comics.
File:TheNakedandtheDead004.png|Page 4
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File:TheNakedandtheDead005.png|Page 5
+
;Continuity
File:TheNakedandtheDead006.png|Page 6
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* In this comic, Gray Mann's [[Life Extender Machine]] is depicted as mostly intact with Australium (until the Australium in is depleted by the TFC Heavy); but, on [[:File:Oldwounds19.jpg|page 19]] of [[Old Wounds]], the TFC Heavy pulled out the vial of Australium, possibly destroying the rest of the device.
File:TheNakedandtheDead007.png|Page 7
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File:TheNakedandtheDead008.png|Page 8
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; Name reveals
File:TheNakedandtheDead009.png|Page 9
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* Parts of two classes' names are mentioned for the first time:
File:TheNakedandtheDead010.png|Page 10
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** The Spy calls the [[Scout]] "Jeremy" while he is disguised as [[Non-player characters#Tom Jones|Tom Jones]].
File:TheNakedandtheDead011.png|Page 11
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** The "Devil" addresses the [[Medic]] as Mr. Ludwig, a common German name.
File:TheNakedandtheDead012.png|Page 12
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File:TheNakedandtheDead013.png|Page 13
+
; Cover
File:TheNakedandtheDead014.png|Page 14
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* On the cover page, [[Non-playable characters#Barnabus Hale|Barnabus Hale]] is depicted without his mustache.  
File:TheNakedandtheDead015.png|Page 15
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File:TheNakedandtheDead016.png|Page 16
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; Page 51
File:TheNakedandtheDead017.png|Page 17
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* Of the unnamed mercenaries that Saxton Hale supposes are illiterate ([[The Contract]], [[:File:Thecontract11.jpg|Page 11]]), the Scout is the one most commonly having trouble with reading.
File:TheNakedandtheDead018.png|Page 18
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* The scene in which [[Saxton Hale]] jumps out of his plane with [[Non-playable characters#Jerry|Jerry]] clinging onto [[Non-playable characters#Maggie|Maggie]] and screaming on the way down is a replay of the gag on [[:File:RingofFired07.png|Page 7]] of [[Ring of Fired]].
File:TheNakedandtheDead019.png|Page 19
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File:TheNakedandtheDead020.png|Page 20
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; Page 74
File:TheNakedandtheDead021.png|Page 21
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* Despite the TFC Sniper claiming that his eyes can see through everything (even his own eyelids), he was unable to see the Sniper hiding and running around outside the room.  
File:TheNakedandtheDead022.png|Page 22
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File:TheNakedandtheDead023.png|Page 23
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; Page 80
File:TheNakedandtheDead024.png|Page 24
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* The Sniper is seen picking up his default [[Sniper Rifle]] from where the TFC Sniper was previously sitting, despite the TFC Sniper using a different Sniper Rifle (a jet-black one with a blue lens).
File:TheNakedandtheDead025.png|Page 25
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File:TheNakedandtheDead026.png|Page 26
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; Page 91
File:TheNakedandtheDead027.png|Page 27
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* [[:File:TheNakedandtheDead091.png|"My Friend, I have given you your eye back at least eight times."]] ''Team Fortress 2'' had celebrated eight [[Halloween event]]s by the publication of this issue.
File:TheNakedandtheDead028.png|Page 28
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File:TheNakedandtheDead029.png|Page 29
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; Page 93
File:TheNakedandtheDead030.png|Page 30
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* [[:File:TheNakedandtheDead093.png|"In my medical opinion ... that eye socket is Haunted."]] See [[Bombinomicon (comic)|Cautionary Tales of Reading]].
File:TheNakedandtheDead031.png|Page 31
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File:TheNakedandtheDead032.png|Page 32
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; Page 125
File:TheNakedandtheDead033.png|Page 33
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* [[Soldier (Classic)|TFC Soldier]] calls [[Scout (Classic)|TFC Scout]] Greg. In the previous comic, the TFC Demoman gave expression to fear when Medic claimed to had put three baboon uteruses in Greg ([[A Cold Day in Hell]], [[:File:Acolddayinhell71.jpg|page 71]]), which indicates his name is Greg as well.
File:TheNakedandtheDead034.png|Page 34
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File:TheNakedandtheDead035.png|Page 35
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; Page 256
File:TheNakedandtheDead036.png|Page 36
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* Zhanna is wearing the necklace made of ears. One of the ears is seemingly from a [[Robots|Robot]].
File:TheNakedandtheDead037.png|Page 37
+
* The Medic is cradling a bandana-wearing baby baboon in the background, suggesting another successful procedure of his induction of the baboon uteri the implanted in the Classic mercs (A Cold Day in Hell, [[:File:Acolddayinhell71.jpg|page 71]]) and the fate of the bandana-wearing [[Heavy Weapons Guy (Classic)|TFC Heavy]].
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</gallery>
 
  
 
== Trivia ==
 
== Trivia ==
* Parts of several classes' names are mentioned for the first time.
+
; Cover
** The Spy calls the Scout "Jeremy" while he is disguised as Tom Jones.
+
* The comic's title is a reference to the [[w:The Naked and the Dead|1948 World War II novel by Norman Mailer of the same name]].
** The "Devil" addresses the Medic as Mr. Ludwig, a common German name.
+
* The cover page for this comic is based on the cover of the Marvel Comic Book Uncanny X-men #136
* On Page 80, the Sniper is seen picking up his default [[Sniper Rifle]] from where the TFC Sniper was previously sitting, despite the TFC Sniper using a different Sniper Rifle (a jet-black one with a blue lens).
+
* The background showcases nearly every notable character who has made an appearance in ''Team Fortress 2'' comics and media, excluding certain characters such as [[Non-playable characters#Francis the Talking France|Francis the Talking France]].
* The Demoman is seen drinking from a bottle of hydrogen peroxide on Page 88. However, hydrogen peroxide is only safe to consume if highly diluted with water (3% per bottle) and in small amounts, as it can induce vomiting and foaming in the stomach.
+
** There is a lamp wearing a [[Magistrate's Mullet]] on the left side, above the [[Heavy Robot]]. This is a reference to [[:File:Unhappyreturns22.jpg|Page 22]] of [[Unhappy Returns]], where the Scout mentions that he once had a lamp for a public defender.
* On Page 155, the Spy mentions that his jacket is made by a brand named ''Louis Crabbemarché''. Loosely translated, "Crabbemarché" is French for "crab walking", a homage to the [[Fads#Spycrab|Spycrab]] fad, while "Louis" is a reference to the designer brand [[w:Louis Vuitton|Louis Vuitton]].
+
** Notably, the cover showcases a bearded Engineer as he appears in this issue (to the right of the [[Administrator]]), but also showcases another clean-shaven Engineer as he appears in-game (to the left of the [[Director]]).
* When the Scout jokingly mentions that his father is Tom Jones, his personification of "God" interrupts his own sentence before unconvincingly correcting himself and saying that the Scout's dad was definitely Tom Jones. This continues the running gag and theory that the [[Spy]] is the Scout's biological father.
+
** The Administrator is depicted, but [[Zepheniah Mann]]'s maidservant [[Elizabeth]], and the woman who approached [[Radigan Conagher]] in ''[[Loose Canon]]'', are not.
* The scene in which [[Saxton Hale]] jumps out of his plane with [[Non-playable characters#Jerry|Jerry]] clinging onto [[Non-playable characters#Maggie|Maggie]] and screaming on the way down is similar to Page 7 of [[Ring of Fired]].
+
 
* On Page 256, the Medic is seen cradling a bandana-wearing baby baboon in the background, seemingly hinting at the success of his "Baboon Pregnancy Inducer" and the [[Heavy Weapons Guy (Classic)|TFC Heavy]]'s fate.
+
; Page 51
 +
* The [[SMG|Submachine gun]] is an unused weapon for the Scout.
 +
 
 +
; Page 88
 +
* The Demoman is seen drinking from a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, however, hydrogen peroxide is only safe to consume if highly diluted with water (3% per bottle) and in small amounts, as it can induce vomiting and foaming in the stomach.
 +
 
 +
; Page 155
 +
* The Spy mentions that his jacket is made by a brand named ''Louis Crabbemarché''.  
 +
** "Louis" is a reference to the French designer brand [[w:Louis Vuitton|Louis Vuitton]].  
 +
** ''Crab<s>b</s>emarché'' translates to "crab market", but removing the second ''b'' and the [[W:Acute accent|accent aigu]] from the ending ''e'', the French words ''crabe marche'' literally translate to "crab walking", a reference to the [[Fads#Spycrab|Spycrab]] fad.
  
=== Cover page ===
+
; Pages 161 through 172 and 183 
* The cover page for this comic is based on the cover of [http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/7/71/Crisis_on_Infinite_Earths_7.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20070226142252 Crisis on Infinite Earths Book 7].
+
* Here are scenes that support the running gag and [[Storyline#The Scout's parentage|theory of the Spy being the Scout's biological father]].
* The Medic is shown with two large wounds that would fit the injuries made by the [[Team Fortress Classic|TFC]] team's robots, instead of the {{botignore|Pistol}} wounds caused in the comic itself.
+
** The Spy performs a genuine act of kindness by disguising as Tom Jones (the Scout's idol of sorts) and allowing the Scout to "pass on peacefully". He even mentions the Scout's real name for the first time, and calls him "son" before Scout loses consciousness.
* The background showcases every notable character who has made an appearance in Team Fortress 2 comics and media, excluding several characters such as [[Non-playable characters#Francis the Talking France|Francis the Talking France]].
+
** When the Scout boasts that his father is Tom Jones, his personification of "God" interrupts his own sentence before unconvincingly correcting himself, hiding the true identity of the Scout's father.
** There is a lamp wearing a [[Magistrate's Mullet]] on the left side, above the [[Heavy Robot]]. This is a reference to Page 22 of [[Unhappy Returns]], where the Scout mentions that he once had a [https://wiki.teamfortress.com/w/images/6/6e/Unhappyreturns22.jpg?t=20140213005344 lamp for a public defendant].
 
  
 
== See also ==
 
== See also ==
* [[Ring of Fired]]
 
* [[Unhappy Returns]]
 
* [[A Cold Day in Hell]]
 
* [[Blood in the Water]]
 
* [[Old Wounds]]
 
 
* [[Comics]]
 
* [[Comics]]
 +
* [[Storyline]]
 +
* [[Non-player characters]]
  
 
== External links ==
 
== External links ==
Line 356: Line 123:
 
{{Comics nav}}
 
{{Comics nav}}
 
[[Category:Comics]]
 
[[Category:Comics]]
[[Category:The Naked and the Dead]]
 

Latest revision as of 19:02, 16 January 2024

The Naked and the Dead
TheNakedandtheDead001.png
Comic Strip Info
Released: January 10th, 2017
Number of pages: 274
Artist: Heather "makani" Campbell
Writer: Jay Pinkerton & Erik Wolpaw
Colorist: Maren "rennerei" Marmulla

The Naked and the Dead (also known as Team Fortress Comics #6) is a comic released on January 10th, 2017. It is the penultimate issue of a seven-part comic series, picking up where Old Wounds left off.

Synopsis

The comic begins with Miss Pauling hallucinating while she is bleeding out and unconscious after the attack of the Classic Team's leech robots. She wakes up in a desert with a disembodied door before her, which she enters. Behind this door is the Administrator's control room. After a brief exchange, Miss Pauling admits her failure to obtain the final stash of Australium to the Administrator, and questions the Administrator about what she truly wants; however, Miss Pauling is revived abruptly by the Medic, who saves her by placing the blood drained from the robots back in her body, and then proceeds to revive Soldier in a similar manner. When Miss Pauling questions Medic on how he managed it, Demoman is seen fighting and destroying the rest of the robots, and the Medic responds that the robots have been poisoned and weakened by the high alcoholic content of Demoman's blood. In Demoman's own hallucination, he has successfully reassigned his body's organs to distill its own alcohol out of his vital fluids, and even his liver returns to reconcile.

Meanwhile, the Classic Mercenaries confront TFC Heavy about how they will receive their payment after he killed Gray Mann. TFC Heavy angrily persuades them that the Life-Extender device was worth going without pay, but the TFC Engineer is reluctant to agree. Frustrated, TFC Heavy commands the TFC Engineer to reactivate the rest of Gray's Robots to kill the current mercenaries, and he complies.

The comic cuts back to the original group, with Scout and Heavy parachuting down to Miss Pauling. As Scout hugs Pauling, Medic reveals that she should no longer be hugged as the action squeezes some of the replaced blood out of her eyes. Heavy greets his sister Zhanna, but is surprised that she had lost a hand, and then gets annoyed at the realization that she is engaged to Soldier, and they plan to have children. Scout reveals to Pauling about the discovery of the Australium being stolen, and that Saxton Hale and his partner Maggie were on the island as well, presumably having jumped off the plane at the same time as him and Heavy. However, upon turning around, they are rudely interrupted by a hoard of reactivated Gray Mann robots approaching and Saxton Hale and Maggie nowhere to be seen.

The comic cuts to Saxton Hale and Maggie in Hale's plane, too engrossed with reminiscing over their past adventures to follow Scout and Heavy, who had jumped off an hour ago. After their pilot Jerry notifies them that they are out of fuel, Hale and Mags drop Mann Co. ammunition and weapon crates to the mercenaries below, before jumping from the plane (along with Jerry) to aid them in fighting the robots. Unfortunately, TFC Sniper is watching the battle and preparing to shoot Heavy, before a knock at the door from the TFC Engineer distracts him. TFC Engineer claims that TFC Heavy has ordered him to pull back, while outside, Sniper is standing outside the door and ready to ambush his TFC counterpart. However, TFC Sniper shoots TFC Engineer in the knee, revealing him to be the Spy in disguise. In the following conversation, he tells how the TFC Engineer had replaced his original eyeballs with mechanical ones that saw past the disguise. Sniper runs to another room and breaks the window to escape, losing his remaining clothing in the process, and climbs around the building's exterior naked, while the Spy distracts TFC Sniper by asking him for a cigarette as a final request. This buys enough time for Sniper to enter a window, take TFC Sniper's rifle, and kill TFC Sniper with a headshot without any hesitation. Spy and Sniper share a moment to mock each other over their shared rivalry.

Back at the battleground, Demoman takes cover while Medic stitches up a wound in his leg. It is revealed that Demoman has a cursed eye socket which causes any replacement eye the Medic gives him to mutate on Halloween night, attacking the team in various ways. To prevent Demoman from questioning him, Medic also reveals that he had removed the part of Demoman's brain which remembers the events. After promptly forgetting the recent events, Demoman walks away, giving TFC Heavy an opportunity to threaten Medic into placing the Life-Extender device into him. Medic instead attacks him with his Ubersaw, but fails to kill him. Heavy attempts to save Medic, but TFC Heavy shoots Medic fatally with a Pistol. Enraged, Heavy attacks him.

The comic moves to TFC Soldier and TFC Scout in a weapons storage room, discussing the present nature of events. TFC Scout points out the futility of the situation, noting that TFC Heavy has gone insane, they are losing the battle, and the money they have accumulated has not bought them happiness. TFC Scout reminds TFC Soldier of the dream they shared to own an orphanage, but soon discovers they have been somehow coated in gasoline as the Pyro reveals their presence.

Outside, Scout and Ms. Pauling fight off robots, noting the absence of Spy and Pyro, until the loud explosion behind them from Pyro's attack indicates otherwise. They subsequently notice Soldier and Zhanna, who have inexplicably stripped down and covered themselves with honey to fight the robots, prompting Scout to retreat to somewhere "less naked". Saxton Hale and Maggie likewise fight off robots, albeit with their clothes on.

The comic cuts to a more violent side as Heavy, in a burst of outrage, starts brutally beating TFC Heavy, despite TFC Heavy's efforts to negotiate his way through. As Heavy starts to finish the job and states that he doesn't care if he has an immortality machine; TFC Heavy killed his friend, the Medic. TFC Heavy suddenly recovers, revealing that he simply pushed the immortality machine into his body, which was apparently enough for it to work.

The comic takes a shift as Sniper and Spy come across some dead Spy-bots. Spy remarks on Sniper's nudity, but refuses to lend Sniper his expensive suit, and both come across a tragic discovery: Scout is close to death. Comforting Scout, Spy disguises himself as Tom Jones and gives Scout his dream passing with a story of Tom Jones being Scout's proud but secret father.

The comic cuts to black and comes back to Scout, who is now in Heaven. God (or at least Scout's hallucination of him) begins to lavish praises on Scout, but when he realizes that Scout is still a virgin, he decides to destroy all of humanity until Scout talks him into an alternative - to send him back to the world of the living until his time comes (after assuring Scout that Tom Jones is his father). In reality, Sniper and Spy discuss what to do with Scout's body, but discover that Scout has revived, much to Sniper's reassurance and Spy's horrified disgust.

Zhanna and Soldier prepare for another wave of robots. Soldier asks Zhanna for another jar of honey, but to their surprise, there is none. Instead, Zhanna finds gasoline and both of them consider lighting themselves on fire whilst fight the mass. This is cut short as Miss Pauling's phone starts to ring and Zhanna lifts her from underneath a pile of robot corpses. The person on the other end of the line is Engineer, whom states that he is with the Administrator and he asks for what's left of the Australium, to which Miss Pauling says there is none. She requests to talk to the Administrator, but Engineer explains that the Administrator has died and puts down the phone, promising to ask the Administrator to call back. Zhanna approaches Ms. Pauling to ask her who she was talking to, and Ms. Pauling admits the truth of the matter: she was talking with her boss over something her boss had planned for her whole life, but Ms. Pauling has "screwed it all up". Zhanna reassures her that the team will help, finally acknowledging Ms. Pauling as a part of the team and apologizes for the suspicion she regarded Ms. Pauling with. However, Zhanna warns Ms. Pauling to stay away from Soldier, who has been listening in and joins Zhanna in insinuating that Ms. Pauling was taking advantage of Soldier's nudity. Angry, Ms. Pauling is about to complain until she realizes that Sniper, still naked, has walked onto the scene, with Spy supporting Scout.

As TFC Heavy continues to beat up Heavy, Medic's soul is in Hell, having signed a contract with the Devil years prior. The Devil prepares to send Medic to Hell for eternity as per the terms of the contract, but Medic points out a clause written into it: he can only go to Hell if the Devil owns a majority of his soul, and reveals that he had additional souls surgically grafted into himself, leaving the Devil with no claim. Medic negotiates with the Devil, asking to be allowed to return to Earth for an amount of time, enough for the Devil to claim his other eight souls. The Devil eventually agrees, and lets Medic trade one of his souls for the Devil's pen.

In the realm of the living, TFC Heavy prepares to kill Heavy, but is distracted by the Medic, who has revived and is holding the Devil's modified pen. Medic claims that the pen has been modified to instantly induce labor in the TFC Heavy, and cause the baboon fetuses developing inside the surgically grafted uterus to fully mature, tearing TFC Heavy apart from the inside. Stunned, TFC Heavy calls Medic's bluff, which Medic confirms - the entire exchange was a distraction for Heavy to rip out the immortality machine from TFC Heavy's abdomen, killing him. Heavy and Medic reunite. Medic reveals that while the pen was a fake, he has the actual device in his medical kit, which he then activates.

As the last of the robots are destroyed, Ms. Pauling despairs over the destroyed immortality machine, realizing that all possible sources of Australium on Earth have now been lost. In his dying moments, TFC Heavy expresses his bewilderment that his team lost, given the superiority of the Classic mercenaries. Ms. Pauling admits that she has no idea, but boldly declares that it doesn't matter: her team was victorious. Scowling, TFC Heavy dies, and Spy and Ms. Pauling share a moment over her giving a speech to a dying man before he passed away.

Elsewhere, the Administrator's immortality machine jumpstarts, reviving her. Engineer reveals that she was dead for four hours before she was revived again, and confirms that besides the small vial of Australium he's holding on for her, all global supplies of Australium have been exhausted. In denial and frustration, the Administrator punches the glass window, before calming down and asking Engineer to escort her to her private room. Handing her the vial, Engineer points out that she could still live for six months on her current supply, at which the Administrator brings up her vendetta. Engineer asks about her "old debt", pointing out that he'd never asked her in the long time his family had worked for her, and expresses his sympathy that the Administrator did not get to settle her debt before death, suggesting that she let go.

The Administrator acknowledges that she has been carrying her "debt" for a long time, since she was a child - and now she is nearing the end of her life, she has decided to end everything while "looking her best". The remark causes Engineer to realize that the Administrator has consumed all of the Australium to restore her age to that of a young woman; horrified, the Engineer exclaims that the Administrator's reckless usage has left her with only an hour to live at best. With her eyes glowing from the effect of the element, the Administrator claims that she has more than enough time left, and promises to "end this, once and for all".

Transcript

Due to the length of this comic, a transcript is necessary. The transcript has been sectioned into smaller story events for convenience.

Pages

All pages of the "The Naked and the Dead" comic.

Notes

  • As of the end of this comic, the TFC Engineer and the TFC Medic are the only Team Fortress Classic mercenaries who are not shown to be killed. Although the Spy had disguised himself as the TFC Engineer during his attempt to distract the TFC Sniper, it is unknown whether the actual TFC Engineer was killed beforehand. The TFC Medic remains mysteriously absent from the comics.
Continuity
  • In this comic, Gray Mann's Life Extender Machine is depicted as mostly intact with Australium (until the Australium in is depleted by the TFC Heavy); but, on page 19 of Old Wounds, the TFC Heavy pulled out the vial of Australium, possibly destroying the rest of the device.
Name reveals
  • Parts of two classes' names are mentioned for the first time:
    • The Spy calls the Scout "Jeremy" while he is disguised as Tom Jones.
    • The "Devil" addresses the Medic as Mr. Ludwig, a common German name.
Cover
  • On the cover page, Barnabus Hale is depicted without his mustache.
Page 51
  • Of the unnamed mercenaries that Saxton Hale supposes are illiterate (The Contract, Page 11), the Scout is the one most commonly having trouble with reading.
  • The scene in which Saxton Hale jumps out of his plane with Jerry clinging onto Maggie and screaming on the way down is a replay of the gag on Page 7 of Ring of Fired.
Page 74
  • Despite the TFC Sniper claiming that his eyes can see through everything (even his own eyelids), he was unable to see the Sniper hiding and running around outside the room.
Page 80
  • The Sniper is seen picking up his default Sniper Rifle from where the TFC Sniper was previously sitting, despite the TFC Sniper using a different Sniper Rifle (a jet-black one with a blue lens).
Page 91
Page 93
Page 125
  • TFC Soldier calls TFC Scout Greg. In the previous comic, the TFC Demoman gave expression to fear when Medic claimed to had put three baboon uteruses in Greg (A Cold Day in Hell, page 71), which indicates his name is Greg as well.
Page 256
  • Zhanna is wearing the necklace made of ears. One of the ears is seemingly from a Robot.
  • The Medic is cradling a bandana-wearing baby baboon in the background, suggesting another successful procedure of his induction of the baboon uteri the implanted in the Classic mercs (A Cold Day in Hell, page 71) and the fate of the bandana-wearing TFC Heavy.

Trivia

Cover
Page 51
Page 88
  • The Demoman is seen drinking from a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, however, hydrogen peroxide is only safe to consume if highly diluted with water (3% per bottle) and in small amounts, as it can induce vomiting and foaming in the stomach.
Page 155
  • The Spy mentions that his jacket is made by a brand named Louis Crabbemarché.
    • "Louis" is a reference to the French designer brand Louis Vuitton.
    • Crabbemarché translates to "crab market", but removing the second b and the accent aigu from the ending e, the French words crabe marche literally translate to "crab walking", a reference to the Spycrab fad.
Pages 161 through 172 and 183
  • Here are scenes that support the running gag and theory of the Spy being the Scout's biological father.
    • The Spy performs a genuine act of kindness by disguising as Tom Jones (the Scout's idol of sorts) and allowing the Scout to "pass on peacefully". He even mentions the Scout's real name for the first time, and calls him "son" before Scout loses consciousness.
    • When the Scout boasts that his father is Tom Jones, his personification of "God" interrupts his own sentence before unconvincingly correcting himself, hiding the true identity of the Scout's father.

See also

External links