I rocked this past Christmas! Yup, got the perfect gifts for my Marines, Terminal Lance Compilation 1-100 a comic for Marines, written by a United States Marine. It just so happened my Lance Corporal son opened his Knifehand comic before his brother, the Corporal. What ensued was quite the scene.
“You can’t see this”
As David opened his present a smirk came across his face. He immediately covered the “Terminal Lance” and proceeded to and tease and taunt his older Marine brother. “You won’t guess what I got, and you can’t have it! It’s awesome!” (said with great possessiveness and gloating)
“This is Awesome”
“You don’t get one. You’re no longer a Lance, so you’re no longer part of the underground” The taunting continues, remember these are men (did I just say that of my sons??) and they are quibbling like six year olds.
After about 30 minutes the Marine Corporal got to his copy of Knife-Hands under the tree. You can pretty much get the gist of the conversation just by the expression on his face. “I do so rank! I have my own copy of Terminal Lance, so there! HA!”
Marines square off with Knife-Hands
Terminal Lance is a mature comic written by Lance Corporal Maximilian Uriarte, USMC to poke fun at the various absurdities in the Marine Corps. Both my sons love this comic and my youngest had me send his the weekly editions during boot camp.
Each comic is accompanied by an essay that explains the back story. If you’re a Marine Mom I caution, before you head to the Terminal Lance site, you may not want to read the essays. They may render you blind. But it’s Marine, adult male humor, and not meant for Mom’s. I made this mistake last summer as I read one particular essay and immediately had a visual image of my youngest son I did NOT want in my brain.
I do read the website, and the Facebook page, because, in a way it’s how I understand my boys. I learn a little of the lingo and a little of the culture and a part of their lives.
Terminal Lance is a cult figure in the United States Marine Corps and everyone (okay, maybe not the commanders) love the strip. Since his PDS is Pendleton, and Uriarte lives in San Francisco, there is a chance their paths will cross and my son can get his copy signed.
Why Knife-hands? From what I’ve seen and read Knife-hands is used as a visual cussing out or the ultimate intimidation factor. I’ve seen a few, when I visited MCRD San Diego at graduation and I’ve watched many YouTube videos with several drill instructors getting in a boot’s face with several knife-hands.
Here are a few of the Terminal Lance strips which will provide a little bit of insight on Knife Hands.
- Boot Camp: The Swarm
- Knife Hand Anger Gauge
- The Might Knife Hand (additional blog)
Related articles
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- Just don’t call him Mad Dog (utsandiego.com)
- Required Reading for Marines
