Meet the Director
Meet the Director is a comic released on May 5, 2011 with the Replay Update. The comic stars Miss Pauling and a "Director" (whose identity is unknown) interviewing several Mercenaries of RED, attempting to proclaim details relating to their occupations.
Contents
Story
The story begins with Miss Pauling and the Director with the Sniper in his van as he drives them to Teufort, the location of 2Fort. During the drive, the Director asks Sniper how he feels in one word, which he then chooses for him (Victim). He then goes on stating how he is a victim of the educational role system and the role he has been shackled to by society, continuing on with the current administration before being cut off by the Sniper, who asks him to repeat what he said. The Director reminds him that they forced him to be a killer, to which the Sniper angrily responds (Emphasized by the flicking of his Civilian Bobblehead on his dashboard) that he is a Professional. The Director acknowledges this by calling him a victimized professional killer, an assassin, a murderer, a deranged psychopath (All of these names blocked out by the Sniper repeatedly flicking the bobblehead). He then asks the Sniper to tell him how those words feel. Just as the Sniper comes back with a death threat, Miss Pauling points out that they've arrived at Teufort.
On the battlefield, RED's Scout and Demoman are locked in a firefight with BLU's Soldier and Heavy while RED's Pyro appears to make short work of BLU's Sniper in BLU's Battlements (They are not seen, however). The Sniper leaves his Van to get to work and asks the Director if he wants to tag along, who declines the invitation and stays in the Van. Miss Pauling, however goes with him. The Sniper then asks her why they have to talk with him again, to which she replies that this is the chance to prove they are "not just armed psychopaths blowing up all their landmarks on a daily basis."
A Flashback occurs where the Administrator is telling Miss Pauling that having the Director here is a Perfect Opportunity to Spy on the Mercenaries they pay to "blow each other up on a daily basis" since the Director is too stupid and arrogant to listen to what they are actually saying to him in addition to the fact that he records everything. Miss Pauling questions the necessity of all this security, considering their IQ is astonishingly low, to which the Administrator compares them to Plutonium, saying it isn't smart, but can still kill you if not watched properly.
Back to the present time, and the Director is speaking with RED's Heavy. The Director attempts to speak about the Heavy's Childhood where he, his Sister, and his Mother were deported to a North Siberian Gulag after his counter-revolutionary Father was killed. However, the Heavy only wishes to talk about Sasha. The Director attempts to persist going on about the Gulag burning down in December 1941 (After 3 Months of them being there) and all the Guards were tortured to death while the Prisoners escaped. The Heavy ignores this and slowly breaks down to the Director that he likes to shoot Sasha and that is all he needs to know. The Director finally gives in and asks about his Gun, to which he begins to explain it in detail.
The Director then goes and speaks with the Scout who has what appears to be a Sandvich in his hand as he talks about how he sees himself as a Mentor, watching how his team does their job and how he can see where they can improve. He goes on to talk about how he stops what he is doing and tells them how they can do better, since he believes himself to be a Team Player. The Director promptly tells him they ran out of film 5 Hours ago, so the Scout says he can wait for them to get some more. The Director leaves as the Scout attempts to hit on Miss Pauling by asking her if she's seen him with his shirt off.
Later, he is telling the Soldier that Sun-Tzu never made any books about punching through someone's Rib-cage, convincing the Soldier to stop sending threatening Phone calls to the Book Store. The Soldier then shows the Director something he claims a "Man of letters like himself will appreciate", which turns out to be the large collection of BLU heads on a fence as seen in Meet the Soldier. The Director promptly runs off, attempting to prevent himself from puking while the Soldier watches after him. Meanwhile, Miss Pauling is informing the Administrator that they may have more than enough footage and information they need.
Later that Night, RED appear to have tied up someone who's hidden in shadows. The team's Spy is going on about how nobody would ask a Trained killer questions like what the Director asked unless they were up to something (Or just an idiot). The Scout continues on about how they are now asking the questions and that they "strongly urge the man to answer them" before he calls on the Sniper. Who sarcastically remarks that it's a coincidence that he talks about his Parents in an interview and a week later, gets mailed pictures of them (Adding that the Mailer is soon to be dead). The Heavy then steps in commenting on how he too receives Pictures of his home and of him sleeping with Sasha in a nearby bed (To which the Scout comments on bemusedly. The Heavy, however, misses the insult and admits he must buy Sasha a bigger Bed). The Soldier then steps in commenting on what he got in the Mail (And that he is going to drop it on the floor like the others did with their Photos). The Spy asks whose Head that is in slight disgust, to which the Soldier confirms it as his and proceeds to question where the remaining seven heads are.
The Camera flips round to reveal a Miniature Television on the tied up man, who appears to be dead with blood pouring out his Mouth. The Administrator sarcastically thanks them for shooting yet another Messenger and causing her to pay out for yet another Mini TV, which, she informs the Team, don't grow on their Chests naturally. She then proceeds to state that she sent the Photos, to which the Soldier shouts out about his Heads, which she acknowledges she has taken. She then states that they have been destroyed (Prompting the Soldier to shout in distress until the Administrator explains that the Photos have been destroyed as opposed to the Heads). The Administrator goes onto state this is simply to warn them of the dangers of discussing their Contract Terms with anyone, albeit an absurd method. She then asks them to imagine if she was to use the information she had gathered against them and that they weren't the "close personal friends they know they are", before finishing up with the fact that she has proved her point and adds for them to have a fine evening.
The next day, Miss Pauling takes the Director into a Mine (To which he distastefully comments on and calls Miss Pauling useless) via Truck. The Director goes into the Mine as Miss Pauling gets a Shovel out the back of the Truck and her Phone rings. She then tells the Director to keep going to which he asks if she's past the White Canvas Tarps. Miss Pauling then tells him to stand on those and wait there before answering the Phone. On the other side of the line is the Administrator, who asks if "it" worked, which Miss Pauling states he just walked right in as she grabs some Mann Co. Corpse-Grade Quicklime. The Administrator states she had a chat with the RED Team while Miss Pauling asks if she should hold off the interview since he never got to talk with BLU. The Administrator remarks that he's a liability and to proceed with the "Interview" and to get back here quickly, finishing up with that they are going to need more Directors.
Pages
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Trivia
Page 1
- The Sniper's last name is revealed in this comic. So far, every TF2 comic has been an opportunity to discover at least one of the mercenarie's names, as with the Soldier and Demoman [1] and the Engineer
Page 2
- Page 2 depicts the Blu building in 2Fort being set on fire, supposedly by a flare gun projectile. This is impossible in-game, as a flare gun projectile will scatter on hitting a wall.
- There is an error in Page two, where "Meet the sniper" is said to be shot at 2fort, while it actually takes place in goldrush. However, it could as well have been shot later, which would explain the disappearing of sniper's cold.
Page 3
- The administrator suggest that she wants to spy on the mercenaries, tough in the "WAR!" comic, a fully operating surveillance system is used[2]. This may or may not hint that the events of "meet the director" take place before those of the "War!" comic.
Page 4
- The heavy is not wearing his signature ammo belt.
- The heavy's weapon doesn't look anything like a heavy's existing weapon. While it is not the gun shown in "meet the heavy", it is likely that the director and heavy moved into another place to film the interview, which would explain the different background and maybe the different gun, seeing as a machine gun is not something easy to carry around [3]
- Although it is mentionned that the heavy's father was a counter revolutionnary, the Heavy's Iron Curtain sports a communist icon. It is likely that the heavy did not inherit his father's ideology, or that his father didn't have a political ideology in the first place and was a mercenary.
- The heavy was a child in 1941, and since the events of TF2 take place in 1968, 27 years have passed since. Considering childs are generally aged between 4 and 12, which means that the heavy might be aged between 31 and 39.
Page 6
- This is the first time the spy is seen talking in a comic.
- The heavy is seen without his signature ammo belt. The scout doesn't wear his belt either, and removed his headphones and cap, as if he was wearing a Baseball Bill's Sports Shine
- The spy and soldier bear their beta clothes. Oddly, the soldier gets is regular clothes back in the next page while the spy keeps the beta look for the rest of the scene.
- On the picture just before he shows the photos of his parents, the Sniper's jacket is missing, though it can be seen on the previous picture.
- Though the sniper is said to live on Adelaide street, one can notice that his house is located on a road.
- The Sniper's parents are based on Eustace and Muriel from the Courage the Cowardly Dog cartoon. [1]
Page 7
- The head in the box's hair is too long to be that of a scout and too light to be that of a medic. It is possible that this head might have belonged to a spy or pyro, but could as well have belonged to someone who isn't a mercenary, as it is revealed that many of the administrator's messenger were killed.
- The picture held by the soldier depicts warning signs on the gate he puts his heads on, though these cannot be seen in "meet the soldier".
Page 8
- The administrator's cigarette's tip looks red, although she's supposed to be seen on a black & white screen. This is more likely a mistake than a comic effect, seeing as it's barely noticeable.
Page 9
- Miss Pauling's revolver looks much like that of the spy, though it has a black handle.
- Miss Pauling mention's an "administrator interview", although she says that it is to be held off. This might be hinting at a "meet the administrator" video, although there is no actual proof that such a video is in the works.
- Miss Pauling also mentions that the director "Never got a chance to talk to BLU", which may mean that there will not be a BLU team interview video.
Page 10
- Images of the Medic appear on some of the computer screens which is a possible teasing on the upcoming Meet the Medic video which is still to be released. One can notice that the syringe gun/medigun he's holding doesn't look like any existing medic weapon, which may hint at an upcoming weapon.
