Schlock Mercenary
by Howard Tayler · first published 2006
11mentions
7recommended by
10HN commenters
2013–2026first – last mentioned
70% recommend30% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Goofy, humorous military sci-fi webcomic set in a post-Singularity space opera. It treats digital consciousness, death, and ethics, and features clever ideas like gas-giant starships and teraports.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
…and a little too far gone in their post-Singularity space opera to really resonate. I do like the ship names, though. I also suspect that series plays a heavy role in inspiring Howard Tayler's webcomic Schlock Mercenary, whose very humble beginnings I've had the distinct pleasure of watching it far outgrow over the years. Definitely worth a look for any sf fan, mil-sf fans especially.
on “List of spacecraft in the Culture series” ↗…monetize the uncopyable parts of your performance (access, exclusivity, etc.) and turn piracy into free advertising. You can see that sort of model in action with web comic authors. Howard Tayler of Schlock Mercenary is a great example of a very business-savvy web comic author and is doing very well for himself in spite of giving away the goods for free.
on “A Brilliant Parody of DRM” ↗Fixed, thanks. And, credit where due: I stole the term from Howard Tayler's wonderful "Schlock Mercenary" webcomic. It may not be original with him, but that's where I got it.
on “We don't know what makes things sentient–so let's stop acting like we do” ↗…Something Positive (terrible people), Stand Still, Stay Silent (kid friendly but a little dark, beautiful art), Dumbing of Age (ugh, but some people like it), Vattu (kid friendly, nice art, coming-of-age), Schlock Mercenary (goofy, sometimes a little mature but kid friendly), Gunnerkrigg Court (female protagonists), or any of several other dozens. All of those have books out, I believe, except for maybe SSSS. EDIT: Something…
on “What taking my daughter to a comic book store taught me” ↗Schlock Mercenary does a great job handling the nature of consciousness boundaries and death in a post-Singularity world (technologically speaking - digital minds retain their own personalities in this story), as well…
on “Transplant an organ? Why not an entire body?” ↗Schlock Mercenary is a sci-fi webcomic with a fun thread about sapient dinosaurs fleeing Earth pre-impact. There's no good way to read just those strips, but it starts here: https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2018-07-25
on “Antikythera Mechanism: An ancient 'computer' that 'shouldn't exist' [video]” ↗There's a great concept that I found out about reading Schlock Mercenary (a sci-fi webcomic), about using a gas giant as an interstellar spaceship [1]. It probably originates elsewhere, but it was nicely explained there. You build a "candle" (huge tube) that is inserted into…
on “Can Self-Replicating Species Flourish in the Interior of a Star? (2020) [pdf]” ↗Schlock Mercenary https://www.schlockmercenary.com/ dealt with this particular theme quite thoroughly. One of the protagonists invents a "Teraport", and promptly a "Teraport Area Denial" is invented to protect against…
on “Dracula's Biggest Mistake” ↗Another example of retiring at the top was Howard Tayler's Schlock Mercenary. A 20 year run of daily comics with about 16-17 years of that being a reasonably consistent storyline.
on “Calvin and Hobbes and the Price of Integrity” ↗The webcomic Schlock Mercenary has done a tie-in where they did a hardcover version of "The Seventy Maxims Of Maximally-Effective Mercenaries," an in-universe self-help book that characters constantly refer to, with annotations written…
on “How J.J. Abrams Created a Reading Experience Unlike Any Other” ↗…airstrike." - https://time.com/6266923/ai-eliezer-yudkowsky-open-letter-no... You may consider this "overkill" — I sure do, but (and with acknowledgement that fiction is not a guide to reality) I also read Schlock Mercenary back in the day: > There is no "overkill." There is only "open fire" and "reload."
on “Banning open weight models would be a disaster” ↗