So let’s start the strips that will get argument going.

I am a lifelong shooter. Fired my first .22 on my 5th birthday, grew up Mormon and went shooting often, hunted on a regular basis in my teens. Name a gun that’s on the American market, there’s a good chance I’ve put some lead downrange with it, including the .50 Desert Eagle, the Steyr Aug, the .50 BMG, and (once) an illegally converted Glock 17 Full Auto. (This was, btw, one of the worst firearms I’ve ever put my trigger finger to.)

So understand that I don’t come to this opinion lightly: I’ve fired MANY of both, and dangit, I prefer the AK to the AR.

Long story short: Yes, the AR-15 is good to 300, or even 600 meters, with iron sights. Yes, it has dick for recoil. Yes, it’s “the top of the line,” the assault weapon that the American Military still uses. Yes, it’s proven hard and cold as a battle-ready rifle.

Now, here’s why I prefer the AK:
– It almost never jams, and if it does, you’re using shitty ammo. On the other hand, I can’t count how many times I’ve had to S.P.O.R.T.S. an AR. Seriously. I’ve fired an AK that hadn’t been cleaned since the owner purchased it, 6 years prior, and after thousands of rounds downrange, it still went bang. Every time. My experience has been that an AR requires thorough cleaning – once they get dirty, they start jamming like the Parliament of Funk on a Friday night.
– Sure, it’s not as accurate to 300 yards, but… so what? When am I going to need to use an AK at that distance? I’m a middle class gun enthusiast. I’m not going to be using an AK to hunt deer at 1000 meters. I’m not going to be sniping Afghan insurgents from two football fields away. The AK-47 works great at 100 yards or closer, and that’s fine by me.
– Caliber. 5.56 is nothing to sneer at. I wouldn’t want to take one to my chest, arm, leg, or, uh, anywhere. But it is NOT a proven one-shot stopper in combat. JHP 7.62×39 mm is a proven one-shot stopper. If you get hit with that anywhere even close to center mass, you’re buzzard food. Also, I regularly buy Soviet surplus ammo at a fraction of the cost of .223.

I see, with my psychic brain, since I’m writing this hours before it goes live, that a bunch of you are already firing up your email to send me scathing messages about how many dicks I suck, what a stupid shithead I am, and how my mother (who is reading this) fucks dead dogs. I say: Take a breath and read this next bit.

Mel disagrees. She loves her AR-15. She is ridiculously accurate with it, far moreso than I am. It just fits her. She dislikes the AK, for similar reasons to what I just noted. She hasn’t had as many FTE or FTF problems with her Bushmaster as I have. We’re in opposing camps on this one.

Just like the characters in this comic. Mick is pro-AK. Omar is pro-AR. And the other characters will also fall on both sides.

So just remember: As always, especially with specific weapons, YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY. There will be strips badmouthing the Glock. There will be comics badmouthing the 1911. The Mossberg 500, the Springfield XD, the Hi-Point, the Sigma, the Winchester 1200, the Luger, all of them. There will be debate, in-comic about all of these and more. And in the end?

Shoot what you like. Shoot what fits you. And understand that some people like the guns you do, and some hate them.

The only exception will be the Taurus .357 magnum wheelgun, because if you dislike their revolvers, you’re batshit fucking stupid.