The Game
WINNER TAKES ALL…
The devastating war between the Senate and Padakan House is over. Under Frank Tomhines’ new government, power will at last be returned to the citizens of the galaxy. But not everyone is prepared to accept such a system…
Remnants of Padakan House continue to wage war, using the small children of their enemies as shields; someone has put a contract out on Frank Tomhines’ life; and a tenuous political situation, controlled by rampant self-interests, risks not only the lives of hundreds of innocents, but also the delicate new-found stability of the entire galaxy.
It’s all part of the Game… and this game is played hard. The stakes are high, the participants ruthless. Winner takes all.
(Set three months after the events of The Lesser Evil.)
The Game was the first full-length graphic novel that Shane W Smith ever produced, a sequel to the then-novel The Lesser Evil. It was a brilliant tooth-cutting experience, but ultimately the end result of that endeavour was not quite up to publishable standards. The art in particular pre-dated Shane’s current artistic process, and was quite disappointing.
But The Game is an important tale in the story, and can’t be left out. It answers some vital questions, and a number of important questions, and even poses a few new ones of its own.
What happened to young Melissa Tillman, left behind on Messar?
How did the fledgling Confederacy, under the direction of Frank Tomhines, deal with the remaining Padakans on Messar?
What is Angus’ deep, dark secret, and how will Frank Tomhines unearth it and use it against him?
And the same dilemma is posed to each character in the story… a difficult choice between morality or survival.
After The Lesser Evil and Peaceful Tomorrows were accepted for publication, Shane returned his attention to this ‘forgotten chapter’ of the saga, and decided to bring it up to snuff. Stay tuned for news of its release, but probably wise not to expect anything until late 2013/early 2014.
Now I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this.
But we tried everything else… and we have no choice.
We are the final arbiter of justice, and we cannot allow Padakan House to get away with the atrocities visited upon the innocents of Messar.
My friends… it is time for us to strike a blow for democracy, and for freedom.
The Confederacy is now at war.