BP/ACRA: Bob & Charlie #1
Tim Munn
Bob and Charlie #1
By Tim Munn
A scene of war confronts us. This war has been waged several years
now, in the hopes of preserving democracy. Despite its good
intentions, the war is being lost by the side of good, if you will,
and hopes of victory grow slimmer by the second. That is, with the
exception of the subject of the scene. Our subject wants war. He
wants the war to rage on until he can no longer kill the enemy under
his own power. Our subject wants death and destruction. Even the
military in which he serves cannot dish up enough of these items to
appease his hunger. It would be that fact he would likely later say,
that led him to kill the entire populace of the village that lay
before him-- the village where Charlie once lived, which he would
avenge.
However, the subject could not dwell on this scene much longer as the
sound of helicopters filled the air. He couldn't hide in any nearby
structures, as he'd burnt the village to the ground. From the center
of the village, it was at least half a mile to the nearest cover, a
sight which he eyed with great concern. At that spot, the backup the
village had managed to call in was gathering its forces for an all-out
attack. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Face the
village's far superior backup, or face the greater danger of the
helicopters. It was obvious: face the group on the ground. He
couldn't face the helicopters because he couldn't fly; he was no super-
hero, at least in regards to flight. He darted between the burned out
homes and businesses of the village, some smoldering now, others still
fully aflame. He picked up an AK-47 from the ground, checking it over
quickly. After checking over its usefulness, he quickly turned his
attention to the corpse from which he took the weapon. A happy little
dead person!, thought he, too bad he wont be able to see what I'm
going to do to his backup!
A grin rose to his face and he laughed a little, knowing full well in
advance of what he would do to the enemy. It got him down when he
thought of the helicopters; his fun jaunt would have to turn into a
quickie if he wanted any action. So with the grin on his face, the
AK-47 leveled off and his trusty combat knife in his belt, he went to
fulfill his three greatest desires. He darted to the last remnant of
building between himself and the growing military presence. The sound
of the approaching helicopters was growing greater, and now he was
certain the enemy could hear them, as most of their heads were bobbing
up and down from their preparations. They probably thought this was
the work of a couple of hundred men or so, what with all the
destruction, not just the work of a single man. Let them think that,
he thought smiling another smile, maybe the War Gods will look
favorably on me. He didn't worry about the latter, as they were
constantly staring at him. Time to make the War Gods happy; time to
get to work.
Using the noise of the helicopters to his advantage, he darted to the
edge of the clearing, garnering shouts from the enemy. None had dared
take a shot. If they had a good marksman however, even he would be
dead. At the edge of the clearing, he shouldered the AK-47, drawing
the combat knife from his belt. The distance now between himself and
the enemy was dreadfully close. He'd take his time killing them, oh
yes, and for the most part he'd let them see his progress. He raised
his arm, the knife blade glinting in the sun, and swept diagonally
against the brush of the forest.
A cry rang out as he swept the blade down. It took him less than a
tenth of a second to realize he had ripped through flesh. Brushing
aside the foliage, he saw the body. That of a young woman, perhaps in
her later teens. Beside her lay another AK-47. In her hand, a
grenade. Barely alive, her innards largely strewn about her, she
popped the pin and let loose the grenade from her hand.
Growling while being thrown back-- taking at least two shrapnel hits
to the left arm-- he managed to bring about the AK-47. Half the
contingent had quickly broken off in search of him. Until that point,
he didn't know he'd been thrown further into the jungle, which would
explain why they were spewing commands in Vietnamese to find him. He
growled again as he loosed a three-round burst into a surprised
soldier. Immediately those behind their fallen comrade slowed and
stopped. Several ran into each other, showing their greenness,
creating opportunity. With deadly accuracy, the combat knife was
thrown into the base of the neck of the next closest. He went to
retrieve his knife and within seconds they were upon him in hand-to-
hand combat. A fractured wrist, crushed sternum and a jaw broken in
at least three places were the first injuries dealt, the only. Of the
first wave, they were obliterated. One hundred and fifty casualties
and the three injured. Oh well. The normal Rules of War didn't apply
to him, and who was to know there were survivors of that first wave?
It surely wouldn't be the second wave, no, they'd go slower and more
painfully than the first.
Copyright 5/21/2006 11:18 p.m. Tim Munn
Tarq
> Bob and Charlie #1
I really liked it. But I thought it was a bit... premature, I suppose.
I don't really grasp what's going on, just that _someone's_ really
badass with an AK-47 and a combat knife. I was, and still am, sorely
tempted to make a "That's not a knife -- _that's_ a knife" gag, but I
really can't much be bothered to think that hard. Brain no work good
kaput.
The writing was great -- and it leaves me hungering for more. Which is
what I'll just assume the intention was. And if it was, as I believe,
you did it really well.
Here's looking forward to the next Bob and Charlie.
~Mitchell.
PS. Also, interestingly enough, if you get the acronym of Bob and
Charlie, BAC, that's the first three letters of the alphabet in a
different order. I just thought that that was awesome enough to point
out. But hey, I spend my time looking at number and letter
configurations on number plates, so don't mind me.
Tom Russell
standpoint, your best yet. It's pulpy and understated, very gritty,
in the David Morrell vein.
And you've picked a pretty heavy subject: war, death, destruction.
Viet Nam, man. Whoa.
But I'll have to concur with Mitchell: it seems half-finished. Like
there are things you want to say-- and ways in which you want to say
them-- but at the moment they're _just_ beyond your grasp.
Keep grasping, keep writing. I'd like to see more of this; I think
you'll prove to be more than up to tackling your themes and taming
your style. It's a big leap forward not only in technical ability,
but also in ambition.
It's a little on the nihilistic side for me, but the over-the-top
Rambo nature of it makes me think that it's parody. If that's the
case, I'd suggest pushing it even further over-the-top, thus making
sure you let the audience in on the joke. ;-)
'Bout time we had some war comics around here, anyway. :- )
==Tom
Tim Munn
>
> > Bob and Charlie #1
>
> I really liked it. But I thought it was a bit... premature, I suppose.
> I don't really grasp what's going on, just that _someone's_ really
> badass with an AK-47 and a combat knife. I was, and still am, sorely
> tempted to make a "That's not a knife -- _that's_ a knife" gag, but I
> really can't much be bothered to think that hard. Brain no work good
> kaput.
>
First, thank you. I write what feels good, when it feels good. This
felt _really_ good when I wrote it.
Aside from the knowledge that we are in the Vietnam War, I don't think
we're meant to know what's going on. That's certainly the feeling I
got.
I was so tempted to write that gag, it's not funny!
> The writing was great -- and it leaves me hungering for more. Which is
> what I'll just assume the intention was. And if it was, as I believe,
> you did it really well.
>
Yup, and thank you. It has become more of a running joke in the past
couple of months, but Bob and Charlie is what it is-- more constrained
writing. Written on a single piece of lined paper, the same as No-
Point Lad and Dismal-Hope Kid. Except much better. Much, much
better. I think it fits BAC better than No-Point Lad. (I realized
later on with No-Point Lad that I couldn't really write with those
limits, and later moved to a page-and-a-half. That was with the last
two issues, which were the best.) It would certainly be easier to
write a quick and violent action scene than it would be with punk kids
trying to solve a mystery while dealing with their own problems.
(Now, if a No-Point Lad story would just stick around for a little, I
think I'd have an easier time with it.) Back when I was still writing
No-Point Lad, I had to think on the issue. I had to have a basic idea
of what I wanted for it; I also needed a good idea of the end of the
issue and the beginning of the next, and so on. BAC is kind of like
that. I think I can be a little loose with BAC idea wise. Now comes
the part where people read and enjoy.
> Here's looking forward to the next Bob and Charlie.
>
> ~Mitchell.
>
Success!!
Maybe I'll post it later tonight or tomorrow.
> PS. Also, interestingly enough, if you get the acronym of Bob and
> Charlie, BAC, that's the first three letters of the alphabet in a
> different order. I just thought that that was awesome enough to point
> out. But hey, I spend my time looking at number and letter
> configurations on number plates, so don't mind me.
Two odd, but real stories:
A few days had gone by after I finished writing #1. I was stuck for
ideas on #2. There'd been a bad storm a day earlier, which knocked
out our phone line and quite a few others on the block as well. An
unaffected neighbor called the phone company, who sent out a truck to
fix the lines. The main whatchamacalitt was in the back yard. So,
the guy backed in his truck. I notice the license plate right off.
Take a wild guess as to what it was and it'll freak you out.
Story #2:
My parents until recently had consecutive license plates. Example:
ABC 12 and ABC 13. Weird the both of them, huh?
Tim Munn
Weirded Out
Tim Munn
> Tim, I think the writing in "Bob and Charlie" is, from a technical
> standpoint, your best yet. It's pulpy and understated, very gritty,
> in the David Morrell vein.
>
Yeah, I think this is my favorite First Issue. It's up there in my
personal favorites list.
> And you've picked a pretty heavy subject: war, death, destruction.
> Viet Nam, man. Whoa.
>
I was going to have it in Iraq, Round One, but that war was too new.
I knew it was a major coflict, which ruled out small-scale conflicts,
and the last that the United States was involved in was Vietnam.
> But I'll have to concur with Mitchell: it seems half-finished. Like
> there are things you want to say-- and ways in which you want to say
> them-- but at the moment they're _just_ beyond your grasp.
>
> Keep grasping, keep writing. I'd like to see more of this; I think
> you'll prove to be more than up to tackling your themes and taming
> your style. It's a big leap forward not only in technical ability,
> but also in ambition.
>
> It's a little on the nihilistic side for me, but the over-the-top
> Rambo nature of it makes me think that it's parody. If that's the
> case, I'd suggest pushing it even further over-the-top, thus making
> sure you let the audience in on the joke. ;-)
>
There could be occasional bits of non-violent fun thrown in once in
awhile.
> 'Bout time we had some war comics around here, anyway. :- )
>
Werd.
> ==Tom
Tim