Scud: The Disposable Assassin

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Scud The Disposable Assassin
Scud The Disposable Assassin 1.png
It's Cool to be a Robot
Publication information
Publisher Fireman Press
Image Comics
ScheduleMonthly
Publication date1994–1998, 2008
No. of issues24
Creative team
Created by Rob Schrab
Written byRob Schrab (#1–4, 6–9, 11–16 & 19–24)
Dan Harmon (#4–5, 8–9, 13–15 & 17–19)
Mondy Carter (#2–3, 7 & 10–11)
Artist(s)Rob Schrab
Colorist(s) Zac Rybacki

Scud: The Disposable Assassin (published from 1994 to 1998, and 2008) is a humorous, hyperkinetic science fiction comic by Rob Schrab about a world in which one can buy robot assassins out of vending machines, the most popular of which are intelligent robots that kill a specified target and then self-destruct.

Contents

The protagonist of the series is Scud, an average Heart Breaker Series 1373 model assassin. On his first mission, he is sent to kill Jeff, a rampaging female mutant with mousetraps for hands, an electrical plug for a head, and a squid strapped to her torso with a belt.

Plot

In this future, it is possible to obtain robot assassins out of vending machines at the cost of 3 Franks. After terminating their target, the robot self-destructs for easy clean-up. During his first mission, the Scud we follow sees his self-destruct warning in a mirror during an 18-page fight scene. Programmed for self-preservation for the sake of winning fights, Scud doesn't want to die, so only wounds Jeff bad enough to be put on life support at a nearby hospital, ensuring their mutual survival. [1]

The main plot of Scud: The Disposable Assassin follows Scud's career as a freelance mercenary and assassin, working to pay off Jeff's medical bills.

Issue #20

With issue #20, the series went on indefinite hiatus with a cliffhanger. Schrab was growing dissatisfied with the direction the story was taking, and stepped back from the book rather than allowing things to worsen. [2] At the same time his career in Hollywood began to pick up, so he shifted focus further away from the book. Since then Scud's publisher, Fireman Press, was dissolved after a falling out between Rob Schrab and a business partner over rights. [3]

Four-issue series finale

On January 3, 2007, Schrab announced on his blog his plans to finish Scud in four parts, Issues 21–24, at which point he would release an omnibus of all 24 issues. [4] Podcasts posted to Schrab's site gave his state of mind during the process, opportunities he is passing up to finish the book, and a view of the process he uses to create a comic page. [5] Regarding the decision to conclude the series with 4 issues, Rob Schrab told fans that "he just couldn't make this another issue. I want Scud to go out with a bang."

The final installment of Scud was released as a four-part mini-series published by Image Comics, with covers by guest artists.

An oversized, one-volume edition of Scud entitled Scud The Disposable Assassin: The Whole Shebang! was released August 6, 2008. In addition to issues 1–24, it contains "Drywall: Unzipped" and Black Octopus: Sexy Genius.

Rob Schrab has stated that he currently has no plans for further issues of Scud Spin-offs Scud: Tales from the Vending Machine and The Drywall & Oswald Show.

In a closing interview conducted by Doug TenNapel at the end of Issue #24, Rob stated that he would like to see La Cosa Nostroid concluded, but that it would be up to Dan Harmon who helmed the series.

Characters

Main characters

Supporting characters

Spinoffs

Several comic book series were published by Fireman Press, all of which take place inside the Scud universe. These include:

Collections

Scud: The Disposable Assassin has been collected in trade paperback form. These include:

Other media

Merchandise

Scud: The Disposable Assassin inspired two video games, Scud: The Disposable Assassin (1997) for Sega Saturn and Scud: Industrial Evolution (1997) for PC. Both received mixed reviews.

A 6" Scud action figure was announced in 2006 as a part of Shocker Toys' Indie Spotlight line. [6] [7] The addition of the figure to the toy line was cited by Schrab as one of his motivations for wanting to finish issue #21 in his first video blog. [8] The figure (with a variant Sol robot) was eventually released in 2009. [9]

Proposed adaptations

There have been two attempts to adapt Scud into a film and TV show. A live-action feature film was optioned by producer Oliver Stone, [10] but the option lapsed in the early 2000s. [11] The second attempt was to adapt Scud into a TV series for MTV. It got as far as casting before being cancelled in 2004. [12]

In the Hey Arnold! episode "Dangerous Lumber", Helga refers to Arnold as "Scud" and later calls him "Arnold the assassin".

In the annual Homestar Runner animated Halloween special for 2008, the characters Pom-Pom and The Cheat dressed up as Scud and Drywall, respectively.

A copy of Scud: The Disposable Assassin #1 appears in the "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" episode of the American television comedy series Community , created by series writer Dan Harmon. [13] Scud himself was additionally seen in the background of the courtroom scene in "G.I. Jeff", an episode of Community that was based on G.I. Joe that was directed by Schrab.

In an episode of Cracked.com's After Hours series, Michael Swaim is dressed as Scud. Swaim himself often declared being a fan of Scud and all the Schrab oeuvre.

The second episode of The Real Animated Adventures of Doc and Mharti, a short series developed by Justin Roiland which served as the prototype that inspired Rick and Morty , features Scud the Disposable Assassin and depicts an animated copy of Scud: The Disposable Assassin #1. The episode also references Rob Schrab's hiatus between Issue #20 and the four-issue series finale.

Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, the creators of Rick and Morty , stated at Stan Lee's L.A. Comic Con: Comikaze (2016) that reoccurring character Mr. Meeseeks was "ripped off" from Scud.

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References

  1. Rob Schrab (1996). Scud: The Disposable Assassin #1. Fireman Press.
  2. Zack Smith. "Catching up with Rob Schrab" . Retrieved 2007-02-06.
  3. Rob Schrab. "Scud: What Happened?". Archived from the original on 2007-02-17. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
  4. Rob Schrab. "SCUD THE DISPOSABLE ASSASSIN #21". Archived from the original on 2007-02-04. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
  5. Rob Schrab. "Rob Schrab's Blog" . Retrieved 2007-02-06.
  6. "Scud to be 6 inch Figure from Shocker Toys". Archived from the original on 2007-02-16. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
  7. Shocker Toys. "Shocker Toys Refocuses Indy Spotlight Series 1" . Retrieved 2007-02-06.
  8. "Scud Vblog 1". Archived from the original on 2007-02-17. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
  9. "OAFE - Indie Spotlight 1: Scud the Disposable Assassin review" . Retrieved 2009-11-18.
  10. "Sega Gamers' Day". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 87. Ziff Davis. October 1996. p. 114.
  11. Bradford Evans (May 24, 2012). "The Lost Projects of Dan Harmon" . Retrieved September 9, 2017.
  12. Epstein, Daniel Robert (June 30, 2005). "Channel 101 Co-creator Rob Schrab". Suicide Girls. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  13. "Did Community just make D&D "Cool"?" . Retrieved 2011-02-09.