For the final installment of RW Firsts week, writers Chris & Gardner are joined by artist Max Riffner for the first (and unfortunately not the last) of TATM’s many run-ins with a public that simply does not understand her. If you’re not familiar with Max’s work, you really oughtta be: he’s the brains behind the hilarious Drunk Elephant Comics, and, along with writer Kevin Church, brought the workplace comedy Lydia to life–which, by the way, will soon be available in print form with a brand-new bonus story by Kevin and Max. I picked up my copy at Comic-Con, so trust me when I say that I have first-hand evidence that it is awesome.

MONDAY: Case 005 finally starts, and with it, a new look and a new era for Registered Weapon. Don’t be shocked if you don’t recognize us on Monday–all will be revealed then!

FOREVER: We hope you enjoyed the inaugural run of RW Firsts. We’d like to make this a semi-regular feature, so if you’re an artist and you’d like to tackle one, shoot us an email at registeredweaponATgmailDOTcom.

Big thanks to RW inker extraordinaire Rob Simmons for illustrating this look at Frank’s younger years, written by the usual team of C-Note & G-Money. Little Franklin sure has come a long way, huh?

Tomorrow: TATM takes center stage, illustrated by the great Max Riffner of Drunk Elephant Comics!

And on Monday: Case 005 begins!

Here’s the conclusion to Clayton Johnston’s contribution to the RW Firsts project, “Frank’s First Gig with the Loose Cannons.” Dig Dirty Harry on the sax! Huge, huge thanks to Clayton for stepping up and knocking this out of the park. Be sure to head over to KrakaDOOM Comics and check out his stuff, including the brand-new Programmed to Suck.

Tomorrow: Oh my heavens! The Police Blotter is taking its first break ever so RW’s own Rob Simmons can bring you the shocking tale of “Frank’s First Foot Pursuit!”

Howdy Weaponeers!

Welcome to the inaugural week of “RW Firsts”–significant moments from the lives of our favorite cops. We’ve got some great artists lined up to bring you Firsts this week, including Max Riffner of Lydia and Drunk Elephant Comics fame, and our own Rob Simmons. But first up, we have Clayton Johnston of KrakaDOOM Comics, who wrote and drew a tale from Frank’s past–or possibly his dreams–in which he, John McClane, Sledge Hammer, and “Dirty” Harry Callahan team up to rock criminals’ faces off (that’s Frank with the sweet ’stache). Be here on Wednesday for Part 2! And go check out KrakaDOOM for Clayton’s hilarious Mansupial and Unparalleled Adventures.

Your eyes ain’t foolin’ ya–everybody’s favorite robotic cash register FELIX will be hitting the San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday. He’ll be popping up in all sorts of places, so follow him on Twitter @lapdfelix to see all his Comic-Con adventures. He should be easy to spot–as you can see, he’s cosplaying as a Dharma polar bear. He’ll also be accompanied by Gardner, who’ll be dressed as America’s Obesity Epidemic.

NEXT WEEK: Something super-amazing that we can’t even tell you about! Not kidding! It’ll be awesome! (We’re not just vamping for time, there really is something cool happening next week.)

WEEK AFTER NEXT: Case 005 starts Monday, August 2!

(FELIX by Rob; Ecto-1 photo ganked from Bleeding Cool)

Who’s going to (or is already in) San Diego? The RW contingent at Comic-Con will be pretty small–just Gardner, wandering around aimlessly on Saturday. If you see him, say hi!

Here’s a sneak peek at Dave’s pencils for Case 005: Jesse Bingham, starting Monday, August 2. Frank, FELIX, Hammerlocke and TATM have started digging into the web of lies and corruption they uncovered during the Policeman’s Ball–but before they get too deep, our heroes are called away on a case where the victim appears to have been bitten to death by dogs. But not everything is as it seems…

Case 005 actually starts with a flashback to 1990, when Frank was a beat cop, and a serial killer called The Minotaur was just starting to make his presence felt. As you can tell from the inked panel above, Dave and Rob are bringing the heat with an incredible new noir-influenced style on this flashback. This is shaping up to be the best case yet.

Tomorrow: All-new Police Blotter!

So much crime! Find out how Frank and FELIX brought the hammer of justice down here:

Case 001: Joseph Alphonse

Case 002: Charles Liu

Case 003: Melanie Holman

Case 004: Policeman’s Ball

And tomorrow: A sneak peek at Case 005, starting Monday, August 2.

Case 005 is set to start in two weeks, on August 2. If you want to get caught up, or if you’re just joining us, here’s a little primer on our main characters. Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at the four cases Frank and FELIX have investigated so far (all of which are always available in full in the Casefiles).

Here are the final two pages of “The Revenge of Dr. Elvis”–and, for your downloading and reading pleasure, the complete Registered Weapon Free Comic Book Day Special Edition, including “Revenge” and an exclusive, Baltimore-ized Police Blotter (the game is the game, as they say):

Registered Weapon FCBD Special Edition (PDF)

Registered Weapon FCBD Special Edition (CBZ)

Not enough for you? Want to own an actual physical copy of the comic? Well, we just happened to squirrel a few copies away after FCBD, and we’re going to give one to the first three people to send in a piece of RW fan art. Frank, FELIX, TATM, Rotunda, Dr. Elvis, Kirsten, Sounder, Shanklin–pick your favorite(s), depict them in the medium of your choice, and send it to registeredweaponATgmailDOTcom. We’ll post them here, send signed copies of the FCBD issue to the first three Weaponeers to respond, AND the one we like the best gets something even cooler on top of that! So break out the pencils and get crackin’.