TF2 update! Jay Pinkerton has revealed that TF2 comic 7 is still being worked on!
It has been worked on on-and-off for years but they are getting closer to completion (although Jay says it may not be released), with all that's left being the art! He gave out the first 3 panels and the draft for it, which will be shown under the cut for those who want to avoid spoilers!
There is also a lot of speculation and various ideas about it for those interested :)
Warning that I do talk about various information from the 4Chan script leak, which could still be relevant to some degree so be warned for plot spoilers!!
Erik Wolpaw has also shown that this is real!!
+ image of what Erik posted
Now for speculation/observations!
For those doubting the fact Jay so easily gave us any story at all (added this before the Erik thing but I'm leaving in the info anyways), note that in 2017 he was willing to tell us the ending if the comic never released.
The reason he probably didn't talk about it was because of his previously mentioned working on it "on and off in-between other projects", which is backed up by Makani's posts.
This first one is before comic 5s release in 2015, where she posted many blurry spoilers, which shows they have had at least a rough story for comic 7 quite awhile (no, the image is not able to be unblurred).
And this one from 2019 where she says the team is still interested in working on the comic, there was just no time.
Bonus is that Ellen McLain during Pax West 2022 mentioned that Jay told her the plot of the comics sometime before that. Which could potentially include the ending with comic 7, although she didn't clarify.
This version of comic 7 is possibly a variant of the TF2 comic 7 story we got from a 4chan leaker years ago (if you don't want to watch the video, I tried to format it on a google doc), although the story has likely been altered considering this is draft number 27, so take anything on the leak with cation as things definitely changed (there's also the chance the leaker made everything up or altered what the events of the comic were).
The plot matches up with the mercenaries being dead (which happens as the ending to the leak), though I saw someone say it is potentially a gag due to Engineer being with Admin in 6, not the rest of the team, Scout's real death being in 1987, not 1978 like this draft is saying (as tf2 comic lore starts in 1972 and this here is 6 years later), and none of the extra characters being there such as Zhanna or Saxton. It could be another hallucination/dream thing (like Pauling's scene in limbo with Admin), or some kind of alternate universe?? The bodies are likely completely unrelated people and the shot could from the actual mercenaries.
The deaths, if a gag, could be a reference to said 4chan leak as many thought the ending of the mercenaries dying was underwhelming? Or foreshadowing the real ending (fake mercs in the beginning, real mercs die at the end)?
The draft says the first panel is a mirror of Pauling's dream scene where she's stuck in the sand, which could contribute to that scene not being real.
+ I overlayed the images because the bodies do square up perfectly if it's position was altered.
I'm trying to figure out the importance of this last part with the single vulture, I feel there's something there. Maybe related to Admin?? Or Oliva? I have no idea.
I found this article on the symbolism of griffin vultures, which is what these vultures appear to be. Not sure what to make of it related to the comic though, although most symbolism talked about is positive, so maybe this means the story will work in Pauling + the mercs favor?
Someone speculated that the vultures related to Darling as we see vultures in his mansion.
So maybe the story works out in Darling's favor?
Back to Erik's image. The page appears to be a storyboard, it could potentially be a shot of the desert. The 4Chan comic ended far in the future with everything being abandoned and the war reset with Cavemen, which is still possible.
Also note this draft was finished a month ago. I think that's really cool how recent they've been doing things (maybe in wake of Fix TF2?), although I wonder with it being the 27th what the other drafts were like.. What made them not work? Is there art for them?? Has character lore changed? So much to think about! I'm also excited to see how Makani and Maren's art styles have evolved with TF2 since comic 6 came out in 2017. Their styles and skill have definitely grown since then.
Okay I'm done for now! I'll probably have more rambling later though.
