Before the scenes of Overwatch and Marvel Rivals captured players’ attention, there was another hero shooter with quirky characters that gamers came to love: Valve’s Team Fortress 2. Remarkably relevant even today, this game has retained a loyal fanbase since its debut back in 2007. Imagine the surprise and delight of fans when a new Team Fortress 2 comic suddenly appeared—a solid seven years after the last installment.
Named “The Days Have Worn Away,” Issue #7 of the Team Fortress comic series pays homage to Rick May, the beloved voice behind the Soldier, who sadly passed away in 2020. Heather Campbell, a skilled artist at Valve, brings her talent to the artwork, capturing the essence of the game’s outrageous characters with a touch of humanity. From a Scout with a lively family to a Soldier who humorously calls his new wife a roommate, and even a chilling body horror scene involving the Administrator, the comic offers a little something for everyone.
If you haven’t ventured into these comics yet, I highly recommend you start from the beginning. The series kicked off in 2013 with “Ring of Fired,” diving deep into the backgrounds of the main cast and side characters like Miss Pauling. As Valve describes it on the Comics page of TeamFortress.com, “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.”
This expansive storytelling is great news for fans, as it means you don’t need to have played much of the game itself to enjoy this intriguing narrative. Through the comics and the Meet the Team videos, Team Fortress 2 has remained a fixture in the gaming culture long after its initial heyday. It’s heartwarming to see these characters finally getting their much-deserved endings, especially after being in limbo for so long. However, it looks like this might be the last chapter in the comic series.
