''Terminal Lance'' is a comic strip and website created in 2010 by Maximilian Uriarte that satirizes

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

life. Uriarte publishes the strip in the ''

Marine Corps Times ''Marine Corps Times'' (ISSN 1522-0869) is a newspaper serving active, reserve and retired United States Marine Corps personnel and their families, providing news, information and analysis as well as community and lifestyle features, educational su ...

'' newspaper and on his own website, ''TerminalLance.com''. The name is a slang term for a Marine who finishes an enlistment (i.e. terminates) as a

Lance Corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equi ...

. The system for advancement, "cutting scores" which would lead to

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

, Sergeant, and higher, is heavily dependent on career-field and seniority—this leads to a large number of "terminal lances" in infantry specialties who might, in another field, have advanced to NCO rank. According to Uriarte, he created the strip "to poke fun at the Marine Corps, much like Gunny Wolf in Charles F. Wolf Jr.'s old ''Sempertoons'', but with an emphasis on the grunt Lance Corporal’s point of view."

History

Graphic novel

In 2016, ''Terminal Lance'' creator Maximilian Uriarte independently released the 290-page graphic novel ''Terminal Lance: The White Donkey'' which he wrote and illustrated. The book was independently published on February 1, 2016, after a successful Kickstarter in 2013. Shortly after, the book was picked up by

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

and retitled ''The White Donkey: Terminal Lance'', and was released on April 19, 2016. Maximilian's second full length graphic novel, ''Battle Born: Lapis Lazuli'' was published on July 28, 2020 by Little, Brown & Co. Maximilian Uriarte 2016

Author

Maximilian Uriarte is an American artist, comic writer, graphic novelist, and honorably discharged Marine. He was born in Corvallis, Oregon, to American parents of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

Mexican descent. He spent most of his childhood in Corvallis before moving to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

at the age of 16. After graduating high school and taking two years of general education classes at

Portland Community College Portland Community College (PCC) is a public community college in Portland, Oregon. It is the largest post-secondary institution in the state and serves residents in the five-county area of Multnomah, Washington, Yamhill, Clackamas, and Colum ...

, Uriarte enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at the age of 19 as an 0351 Assaultman. He served from 2006 to 2010, achieving the rank of

and fulfilling various roles, including SMAW Gunner, Team Leader, Squad Leader,

MRAP Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP; ) is a term for United States Armed Forces, United States military light tactical vehicles produced as part of the MRAP program that are designed specifically to withstand improvised explosive device (IE ...

Turret Gunner, Combat Photographer, and Combat Artist. He served two tours in the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

as part of the

3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, abbreviated as (3/3), is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps, based out of Kaneohe, Hawaii. Known as either "Trinity" or "America's Battalion", the unit falls under the command of the 3rd Marin ...

, the first in 2007-2008 (in the Al Zaidan region) and the second in 2009. He began writing and drawing ''Terminal Lance'' soon after returning. Ironically, Uriarte, who had spent most of his enlistment as a Lance Corporal found that he had been promoted to Corporal several months after his discharge. Uriarte made light of this, joking that the Marine Corps had "had the last laugh here, promoting the creator of Terminal Lance–of all people–I’m sure someone behind a desk had a laugh about it". After ending his service in May 2010, Uriarte transferred his community college credits and (using the

G.I. Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

) enrolled in the

California College of the Arts California College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996 it opened a second campus in Sa ...

, a top-ranked private art, design, architecture, and writing school in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. He graduated in 2013, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a major in Animation. Currently he lives with his wife in Burbank, California, where he works as a writer and artist full time.

In popular culture

* On May 30, 2012, '' The Duffel Blog'' ran a satire piece stating that the creator of the ''Terminal Lance'' strip was not Maximilian Uriarte, but instead was

Carlton Kent Carlton Wayne Kent (born November 5, 1957) is a retired United States Marine who served as the 16th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. He succeeded John L. Estrada on April 25, 2007, and was succeeded by Micheal Barrett on June 9, 2011.Delai, '' ...

—the former Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. The article joked that Kent had said he created the strip in order to reach out to junior Marines in better ways. * ''Terminal Lance'' is widely read among Marines, other branches of the U.S. military, and civilians alike, with former Marine General

James Mattis James Norman Mattis (born September 8, 1950) is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the 26th US secretary of defense from 2017 to 2019. During his 44 years in the Marine Corps, he commanded forces in the Persian ...

even acknowledging that he reads the comic. Mattis praised the comic but humorously quipped "But you make fun of me again and I'll kill ya".

References

External links