Grave Matters

From Team Fortress Wiki
Revision as of 02:39, 25 April 2015 by Mikado282 (talk | contribs) (Trivia: In Alphanumeric telephone numbers and Telephone exchange names, the form was to capitalize the letters that were actually dialed to get the exchange., "BL" in the case of the BLackburn exchange)
Jump to: navigation, search
Grave Matters
Gravematters01.jpg
Comic Strip Info
Released: October 28, 2013
Number of pages: 20
Artist: Maren Marmulla
Writer: Jay Pinkerton & Erik Wolpaw
I'm sending my brother to HELL.
Redmond and Blutarch Mann

Grave Matters is a comic released on October 28, 2013, as part of the Fifth Annual Halloween Special. It features the ghosts of Redmond and Blutarch Mann, debating who won the Gravel Wars.

Synopsis

The comic opens with Merasmus stirring toilet wine while introducing his fellow inmates to the story of what happened after Redmond and Blutarch's deaths. The next scene opens immediately after the deaths of Redmond and Blutarch Mann, in which Gray Mann promptly exits the scene after their death. The ghosts of Redmond and Blutarch begin to argue over who died first, therefore finding out who was the rightful heir to their father's land. The twin ghosts decide to pay a visit to the RED Soldier, due to the fact that he is a lawyer, and attempt to find out who won the Gravel Wars. The RED Soldier, unaware that he is speaking to his employer, explains that since neither of them are truly dead, the Gravel Wars are not over until one of them passes on to the next world. Discovering it is still a stalemate, both Redmond and Blutarch quickly exit and contact their respective workers and confide that they are going to try to send the other to the underworld, ending with a hint at the Scream Fortress 2013 update.

Pages

Trivia

  • Merasmus has what appears to be a tattoo of Soldier's class emblem on his left bicep.
  • Merasmus's Skull Island Topper has two cat-like eyes instead of one human-like one in the game
  • On the bottom of the newspaper on page 13, we learn that Soldier has been given "Legal Powers".
    • The alphanumeric telephone number (BLACKBURN 1-03113) encodes the date 10/31/13, which is the date of the Halloween holiday celebrated in that year's Scream Fortress update. "BLackburn" is an actual telephone exchange name; these were common before the advent of All Number Calling. The two capitalized letters were the letters that were actually dialed. The full number would be 251-03113, which has eight digits instead of seven and therefore wouldn't be a functional phone number.
  • Starting on page 13, the Soldier's coat switches from being torn and dirty to being fixed from panel to panel.
  • An advertisement for Bonk! Atomic Punch can be seen on page 16 inside The Supply Room. Additionally, the unused Bottle texture, as well as advertisements for the beers Old Geezer and Blue Streak can be seen in the bar on page 17.
  • Additional pictures on the wall on page 17 depict the original artwork of Saxton Hale from the Spy vs. Sniper Update, and a photo from the WAR! Update of Soldier and Demoman cheering at a game.
  • The Soldier is referred to as "Sargeant-Barrister Doe". A Template:W is a type of lawyer typically found in higher courts. The Soldier was first mentioned to have legal privileges in A Smissmas Story.
    • Additionally, Sargeant is an incorrect spelling of the actual military rank, Sergeant. This is presumably a typo.
  • The newspaper that Redmond and Blutarch find the Soldier's advertisement in is the same newspaper that Gray Mann is reading in the Shadow Boxers comic.
  • Merasmus's refrigerator on page 12 is still buried in the ground from Doom-Mates.

External links

See also