Phill from GCHQ - page 68 - Message from Mr. P
Message from Mr. P - Page 68 of the cartoon about Phill from GCHQ - a free comic that I have been working on since September 2016.
Previous page: Phill from GCHQ - page 67 - Unicode
Introduction to this weeks page
In the previous page we learned that the main part of the code Phill received from another developer of Project Navelpillar, was made up from the hexadecimal numbers 80-8F. In this page the message is revealed. We also have a small peek into Phill's past. We know quite a lot about the other character's past. How Eileen got mixed up with Eleanor, Gwendolyn's grandmother, and for that reason we also know about Gwen's past. We know that Vincent Cavanaugh is presumed dead after the great tent fire of the Kilcumreragh Celtic Arts festival of 2011, and that he has been a wandering musician ever since. We know that Morty Mogg has a Ukrainian prostitute as a girlfriend, that he has been active in the noble art of HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) and that his aunt in Swansea likes to watch gay porno.
We even know things about the secret MI6 operatives... But the history of the main character is almost a blank file.
I have of course let this be a mystery for a reason, and it is very much in harmony with the character. Secretive to the brink of paranoia, suffering from idiophobia - (a term I invented to cover a persons anxiety when other peoples private life is mentioned), and introvert in the extreme. It was obvious to keep his life a mystery. But that does not mean I have not had a very clear idea about how his youth and childhood played out, and interestingly enough one of the early readers and now the German translator of Phill must have had an idea too. Try to look at this old (in Steemit years) drawing by @shortcut:
It is entitled: "Phill's Mother"... ! See the old post here :)
Happy reading.
Translations
Thanks to some very dedicated and helpful people the comic about Phill from GCHQ can also be read in other languages. New pages are published on their respective Steemit pages. Please follow them and support their work!
- @vcelier has made the French translation
- @shortcut has made the German translation
I would be very pleased if you considered supporting the comic with fiat-money on:
or with cryptocoins:
Ether: 0x779f31b12862e6d750cbbcdb9a2c315b44504d83
Litecoin: LcUeDDMSzhaGwMd7m6x1qptdNZ3nrPEyiq
Bitcoin Cash: 17xXYeYrJWReqf9r2sgZf5QtigqvXeURUu
Ripple: rBENrZprLN4sjiVEi8JX5rH48k1B9GK9Gd
Steem: here on Steemit :)
The comic is, like all my digital artworks, made exclusively with open source software:
The comic is licensed as
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-by)
Mine was an Acorn Atom, but the scene looks familiar 8-).
Proof of Reading: "the 2x2 blocks were used for"
I had VIC-20 and then commodore 64... But the Englishiana feel of the comic demanded that I use the Speccy. My brother and I (Yes, that is Morty Mogg and @evilhippie in one) used to sit and write games from books. Good way to learn about bug-hunting.
And thanks... only one today! I have been making this page mostly in the two last days and was completely busted when I posted so I did expect more.
The Commodores! No built-in assembler, not nerdy enough 8-). The Acorn Atom is also British, BTW, like Steevc's BBC.
Time for a nap?
I neither knew about the Acorn Atom nor the BBC before i came to this place. Nerdy Heaven.
You could even get the Acorn Atom as a kit and solder it together yourself. I did.
Of course.
Young Phill somehow looks like he's kneeling at an altar. Anyway, his parents seem to have enjoyed drinking and smoking a lot.
Thanks for bringing back the memory of the old drawing ;-) I can still see some similarities, maybe it's the glasses.
Haha, I really looked forward to hear if you remebered it :)
Phill's childhood has been a little bit rough. btw, I know you like details, and I forgot to write it in the post, but the little bear flanking the Spectrum text "the Cave" is "Monty Mole."
How could I forgot? Phill has become part of my life ever since.
I am definitely a huge fan of your attention to detail, but didn't know the game. I guess, my first jump'n run had been Impossible Mission on a C-64.
To be honest I didn't play it either - not on the Spectrum. But we did play another version of the game made for the Commodore 64.
Listening to the music and sound effects still gives me... a strange feeling.
We also played impossible mission.
Hell yeah! One of the greatest composers on c64's SID has been Chris Huelsbeck.
His music even was covered by a real ochestra:
That reminds me of myself at around 15 playing with my home computer (BBC Micro, aka Beeb) hooked up to a TV. I considered it superior to a Spectrum, but they did have some good games.
Built-in assembler for extra nerdiness, like the Acorn Atom 8-).
I did some assembler. BBC Basic was pretty good.
Oh, yes, me too. Basic at home on the Commodore 64 and Comal80 in School! But I have been very inspired by this funny run through. You might see a connection between the way I portray the poor, streamlined Americans in the comic as adversaries of the weird and motley, but resourceful Brits, and the way the Youtuber portrays the computer war between Sinclair and Commodore :)
I loved my commodore 64 and basic too. I remember buying computer mags like the little nerd I was and meticulously copying the code over to write 'games', ah, the 80s...it seems a thousand years ago.
It does...
Imagine what we could have done with a modern game engine! On the other hand. Here we are.
Only just watched this. I actually never had much exposure to the C64, but later on I had a couple of Amigas that were a lot of fun.
We were only aware of the Spectrum and Amstrad etc. because of the computer magazines. Denmark was very much a Commodore country.
I saw some of these computers in shops and I went to some computer shows where they would all be on display with the latest games. I used to got to a computer club too. We didn't have 'on-line' and got our news through buying magazines. It was a very different time.
When I look at the things my own children use as entertainment is is as if a whole century has passed.
What I really enjoy about your Comic is, reading it i can clearly hear Phil’s voice and that’s so cool and somehow also strange😅
Thanks, mate! That is really a cadeaux. Much appreciated.
100 thumbs up for Python programmin! :)
I can relate to secretive introverts quite well.
And a ZX; your comic has it all :)
It does indeed :)
Love your pages, @katharsisdrill :) Such a trove of retro nostalgia with gaming stuff, too..... I feel out of depth !
But, I like the inking very much, specially on the main panel ! Beautiful and stark and clean and really well detailed... That poster is great <3
Always a treat to see each page comes out for this series <3
The nerdy stuff seems to very popular among my readers XD. Thank you for the kind words.
We Steem Tuners are Happy to find this post as our Random Upvote Quest. A few upvotes from the community have done already. Hope, this content will encourage/impress/motivate/learn a lot to the Steemians...
There is more to Steem Tuner. check here for some more tips on being a community member. You can also join our discord here to get to know the rest of the community! We Steemtuner Community Supports good posts. We believe being in a community helps to grow. You can join Us.
Feel free to join the SteemTuner community and participate contests to win the exciting prize. Check out the discord server of SteemTuner for more details.
Please note that SteemTuner welcomes delegation from the supporters of this community in voluntary basis. Check out following links to show your support towards the community: 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 300, 500, 1000.
Thank, you!
Congratulations fantastic post friend