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Terminal Lance “Necropocalypse” Part VII

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We’ve got kind of an odd update schedule going on this week due to the contest, I’m going to try to have the next comic up on Friday.

Also, I’m going to need an extra comic or two to end this properly, so those of you expecting this to be done this week will be mildly disappointed to find that it’ll actually be next week.

In any case, I hope you’re not too disappointed to find Garcia becoming a Krispy Kreme for our ghastly dependents, but Mexican food is much better than… white people food. Well, that’s not entirely true, I have a soft spot for pizza and I’m always game to eat a good burger. Congratulations again to Pedro Morales, the winner of the Necropocalypse contest. You can view his entry by clicking the “Previous” icon underneath the comic if you missed it, as it was put up in place of the comic on Tuesday.

Overall I’ve been very satisfied with the entire Necropocalypse thing, maybe next year it’ll be something worth revisiting, as well as beefing up the prizes and contests a little.

In Marine Corps randomness, I read recently in the ‘Times that they’re planning on implementing pull-ups on the female PFT? Or at least they are thinking about it, I’m not really sure. What was strange about the system though is the fact that 1 pull-up–as in a single pull-up–gets the said Marine 75 points on their PFT. Now, I don’t claim to be some kind of practitioner of mathematical sorcery, but this doesn’t seem right to me.

Let me explain:

I’m not arguing that women should have the upper-body strength of the average male Marine, however, its the idea that the bare minimum gets them 75 points that seems off-kilter. Let me put this in perspective: if a male Marine gets the minimum of 3 pull-ups, he is awarded 15 points on his PFT. If a female accomplishes the bare minimum, she is awarded 75? For a man to get 75 points on the pull-up section of the PFT, he has to do 15–which I’m assuming is slightly above the average (I don’t actually know).

I’m not saying I have any solutions to this strange situation, but it seems off to me. Hell, I’m not even in anymore so my opinion is relatively moot.

In line with the Necropocalypse, I’d like to talk about another zombie film for today. You’ve probably seen it, but it is an important film in the genre, as it more or less defined a sub-genre within it. This film is of course 28 Days Later.

28 Days Later

The film stars Cillian Murphy (recently of Batman fame), and takes place in modern-day London. The film is obviously British, and is directed by Danny Boyle (I’m sure you know him from 127 Hours and Slumdog Millionaire). As the film goes, a group of worthless hippies breaks into a science lab in London, trying to free the experimental chimps being held for science. Little do these unshaven bush-divers know, these chimps happen to be infected with a dangerous virus known as “Rage”.

Unlike traditional zombie films, the “Rage” virus infects immediately. Upon infection, the subject goes into a violent, irreversible killing spree. Technically, these aren’t “zombies” in the traditional sense, as they aren’t actually dead (or undead?). The victims don’t eat you either, they just bash your skull in uncontrollably until you die or become one of them. These creatures don’t do the typical shuffle either, they run… and they run fast.

Anyway, back to the story: so this rage virus is now on the loose thanks to PETA or whatever, resulting in an immediate and uncontrollable outbreak in London and eventually all of England. After the opening, the story continues on to find Cillian Murphy’s character awakening in a hospital bed, unshaven and unkept. He wanders the hospital to find it abandoned, squandered and destroyed. Eventually, he heads into a church where he meets his first encounter with the “Rage” (which is a fantastic sequence by the way) victims, where he runs for his life and is saved by the lead supporting actress Naomie Harris (beautiful sister of a woman). Anyway, these two survive a bit, meet up with a father and his daughter, and eventually go through some shit together and fall in love.

What makes this film important is the inception of the “28 Days Later zombies”, the ones that are fast and ruthless. Any time a new zombie film comes out, the inevitable question on peoples minds is “Are they regular zombies or like 28 Days Later zombies?” It’s an important question, as this information completely changes the pace of the film.

Outside of this, 28 Days Later features direction and cinematography that is second to none, putting the low-budget horrors of old George to shame. It was also one of the pioneering digitally-shot films at the time.

Really though, 28 Days Later is a perfect combination of eerie, scary, intense, atmosphere, acting, and zombies. Its sequel, 28 Weeks Later, was just riding the coattails, so you can skip that one. If you skipped it for whatever reason, maybe you were functionally retarded in 2003 (it happens), definitely check it out–it’s hard to beat it in this genre.

Maximilian
Infantry Marine turned Combat Artist turned animator turned bestselling author turned dad.

Necropocalypse Contest Winner Pedro Morales III!

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