Comics

“

From Australium to Zepheniah Mann TF2 didn't start with a lot of story. There wasn't room for one. But as the updates got more ambitious, we found the perfect way to explore the mercs' world: comics. Over the years, the comics have spawned ancillary characters, then assistants to the ancillary characters. Companies mentioned in passing became global empires three generations old. The game that started as a handful of guys in a desert shooting at each other slowly blossomed into the most labyrinthine story in Valve history. — TeamFortress.com, Comics overview

”

 Official website comics section   

Comics are short stories that offer insight into the world of Team Fortress 2 as seen through the eyes of the mercenaries, their boss, and the colorful characters that make up their adventures. The storyline boasts a very loose continuity - although comics serve to explain concepts such as the origins of a weapon, some events may conflict.

The first six Team Fortress 2 comics, released individually to promote major updates, also introduced popular non-player characters, particularly the Administrator, Saxton Hale, Miss Pauling, and Merasmus. The same six comics were collected in Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories, a hardcover compilation of comics that are based on the lore of three Valve games. The book was published by Dark Horse Comics, and released on November 16, 2011.

The comics that followed expanded into promotion of Winter Holiday and Halloween events, as well as the Robot War storyline of the Mann vs. Machine mode. With Ring of Fired, a certain segment of the comics stepped beyond Team Fortress 2 updates, beginning the Team Fortress Comics series, a long-running series that expands on character's stories and introduces the Team Fortress Classic mercenaries as adversaries. Comics are not particularly tied to ongoing Team Fortress 2 content or releases, but rather follow the characters through their search for missing Australium supplies.

List of comics

Full-length

The Days Have Worn Away December 20, 2024	The Naked and the Dead January 10, 2017	The Showdown July 7, 2016
Gargoyles & Gravel October 28, 2015	Old Wounds August 31, 2015	The Contract July 1, 2015
Blood Money October 29, 2014	Blood in the Water October 2, 2014	Catch-Up May 2, 2014
A Cold Day in Hell April 2, 2014	Unhappy Returns December 4, 2013	Grave Matters October 28, 2013
Ring of Fired August 27, 2013	Death of a Salesbot May 17, 2013	Shadow Boxers December 20, 2012
Doom-Mates October 24, 2012	A Fate Worse Than Chess August 13, 2012	Blood Brothers August 12, 2012
A Smissmas Story December 15, 2011	True Meaning December 13, 2011	Bombinomicon October 27, 2011
Grordbort's Crash July 20, 2011	Meet the Director May 5, 2011	Bidwell's Big Plan September 30, 2010
Loose Canon July 2, 2010	A Visual History June 10, 2010	WAR! comic December 17, 2009
The Insult That Made a "Jarate Master" Out of Sniper May 20, 2009.

Saxton Series

Series of Saxton Hale Comic Book Covers 2009

Other material

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  The Mann family portrait

• 

  Poopy Joe (clean)

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  Poopy Joe (dirty)

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  The Last Will and Testament of Zepheniah Mann (issue #97)

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  The two pieces of the Mann Family portrait

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  Hey Sniper!

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  Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories

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  Art Pass Contest Comic

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  Lecture Valley (1)

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  Lecture Valley (2)

Sources

See also: Hidden pages

• Poopy Joe – Found by clicking the phrase "poor monkey" on page 10 of WAR! Comic.
• The Poopy Joe Files - Partial transcript of U.S. Senate hearings for a court trial against Saxton Hale and associates of TF Industries. Found by clicking the banana peel at the bottom of the Pyromania Update page.
• The Insult That Made a "Jarate Master" Out of Sniper – Found on Day 7 of the Sniper vs. Spy Update.
• The last will and testament of Zepheniah Mann - Found by clicking the name "Zepheniah Mann" written on the tombstone on the Halloween Special 2009 page of the Haunted Hallowe'en Special update. Also found by clicking on the "* See issue #97" block on page 4 of Loose Canon.
  • The full will without obscuring sand is here.
• The partial Mann family portrait - Found by clicking the name "Barnabas Hale" in The last will and testament of Zepheniah Mann.
• The whole Mann family portrait - Found by clicking the word "Silas" written on the tombstone on the Halloween Special 2010 page of the Scream Fortress Update.
• Hey Sniper! comic - Found by clicking the High Five Taunt tab from the Mann Сo Manniversary Catalog
• Soldier Needs a Home comic - Found by clicking the soup can on the bottom of the Pyromania Update Page
• Lecture Valley Spread - Found by clicking the period at the end of the Business Time blog post.

Trivia

• The Insult That Made a "Jarate Master" Out of Sniper marked the first appearance of Saxton Hale. Saxton Hale was initially sought as a one-shot gag, but later proved to be popular with the Team Fortress 2 community and became a notable figure in the game.