7/17: Week in Review

I suppose it was only a matter of time. In light of the flagging economy, businesses are playing it conservative and cutting back, and it was all but a given that we'd see it in webcomics, as three strips from my list of regulars have scaled back their update schedules in some form or another. However, that doesn't explain the confluence--why this week? I majored in English, not Econ, so I don't know.

First, this marks the first week that Thinkin' Lincoln shifted from a daily comic to a Tuesdays-only weekly. Fans of Miles Grover's characteristic absurdist humor need not fear, however, as he has launched a new comic titled Creep House. This new offering features a house of monstrous flatmates: a wizard, a Dracula-style vampire, an evil skeleton overlord with a distinct visual resemblance to He-Man's arch-nemesis, and others. The first comic gets things off to an especially good start, and even though I've largely grown used to Thinkin' Lincoln's disembodied floating historical heads, it's nice to see something fresh and hand-drawn from Miles Grover.

Second, Michael Firman is scaling back his comic Moe, in what he calls an Emergency Nose Reduction. Owing to some changes in schedule at his day job, Moe will now be running two or three times a week, with details to be revealed as Firman establishes his new cartooning routine and figures out exactly what he can commit to. Even with decreased update frequency, Moe is still worth reading, at least in my book. You can start following the latest plot thread here.

Third, Norm Feuti's Gill has gone on indefinite hiatus. According to the cartoonist, Gill will be placed on hold entirely while he pursues two other projects for (roughly) the duration of the summer. However, Gill fans can still get their fix of Feuti's cartooning work with his syndicated comic, Retail, which is exactly what it says on the label: life in retail. As of this entry, it's in the middle of a story arc, so this is a good place for those interested to start getting acquainted with the characters and what they're up to. Hopefully, we'll also hear more about Feuti's other two projects as they develop.

In cutback-related news, Joe Dunn and Phil Chan's Another Videogame Webcomic hasn't gone on hiatus, but it has begun a No-more-PSP-reviews-a-thon. Phil Chan's PS3 is broken, and to raise the $150 required to repair it, AWV is having a donation drive. Contributors can receive desktop wallpapers, prints of original artwork featuring the AVW character Damsel as Princess Peach (image may be previewed here), and prints of other AVW strips, depending on their level of monetary contribution. Additionally, to further broaden the spectrum of games that AVW can review, all surplus funds will go toward the purchase of an XBox 360. If you're a video game fan who also enjoys Dunn and Chan's work, please consider making a contribution--there's something in it for you and them both.

So, that's the news of note that I've dug up this week. I want to share a few more comic updates, however, so it's time to hit you with another installment of

• This week, Sheldon concludes a storyline it began last week in which Dante enters a children's art contest. Characters with creative pursuits, when well-written, allow the cartoonist to explore the topics of art and inspiration, without the heavy-handed level of meta that comes from making the character a cartoonist. This short storyline has stayed true to Dante's character as the plot arc develops into a test of his artistic integrity, and it stays funny throughout, so I think it's a success.
• How is the above item supposed to be a bullet point? It's practically a fricking paragraph. Geez.
• Nobody Scores also addresses the nature of art with its latest comic, Nobody Scores with a Captive Audience. Expressive cartooning as always, and Beans' narcissism as an artist is pretty hilarious. In my estimation, Brandon Bolt has really been on fire lately, so go ahead and check out his recent comics.
• Thursday's A Softer World delivers a well-timed and painfully funny comic that I expect many of us can identify with. To tell you what it's about, though, would spoil the punchline.

And with that, we bring this week's entry to a close. Readers from Marooned and Superfogeys have migrated here en masse to influence the You-Choose-the-Reviews poll above (hi guys!), but if you haven't already, you still have until Monday to cast your vote and tip the scales. Also, if anyone else has seen a popular comic scale back its updates or go on Indefinite Hiatus ™ this week, please let me know. I'm curious whether this is part of a larger trend. As always, feel free to share your own comic picks from this week in the comments, and I'll see you all next week.

5/22: Week in Review

Some webcomics--say, The Phoenix Requiem--are primarily story-driven, and each update follows consistent characters while developing an ongoing plot. On the other end of the spectrum, some comics--and here I am thinking of Chainsawsuit--deliver continuity-free updates of "disposable internet humor" and eschew even a recurring cast. In between, there's an entire continuum ranging from one-off strips to story-driven comics, and it's not too hard to find a webcomic that strikes your preferred balance.

Where am I going with this? Well, sometimes a one-off, humor-driven webcomic will establish a measure of continuity, not through a storyline, but through themes. Sheldon often does this: Dave Kellett will often do a series of strips on the topic of, say, houseguests, or what happens when one member of a hive-mind race gets a song stuck in its head. In strips like these, you have continuity of theme, but not necessarily narrative continuity, and it just so happens that a lot of comics are riffing on a theme this week.

Huh. That was a rather long introduction.

Anyway, The Book of Biff is already well-known for its "themed weeks." This week's theme takes the idea to its logical extreme: a single recurring panel with nothing changed but the caption, and Biff's shirt/pants colors, because it's a new day and ostensibly he would change his clothes. Stroke of genius, or simple laziness? You be the judge.

Real Life this week delivers a fresh take on one of its oldest recurring jokes. It begins when Liz finds Greg practicing his Japanese with the Rosetta Stone software. When Liz brings up Greg's flawless grasp of Japanese as the Shirt Ninja, Greg is quick to disavow all knowledge. "The What Ninja, now?" As Liz enlists the help of Tony and Dave, the attempt to expose the Shirt Ninja becomes increasingly ridiculous. I enjoy Real Life's humor most when there's some measure of connection between each day's joke, so this has been a good RL week for me.

Gill this week delivers a short storyline: when Gill beats his video game "King Mubo," he needs a new diversion. However, new video games run at least fifty dollars these days. So, he spends the week trying to convince his mom to purchase a new one. The story arc is of the sort often found in newspapers: largely present to deliver humor, and making no significant changes to the strip's status quo. But it's funny, and as a child of the 80s, weaned on the NES and the Sega Genesis, I could identify with Gill's plight.

Finally, I'd like to make a few quick notes unrelated to the topic of "themes"...

• The Halfpixel Crew has a new contest for the musically inclined: create a dance mix prominently featuring the laugh(s) of Brad Guigar. The winner will receive one book from each of the members of Halfpixel. If you regularly listen to their Webcomics Weekly Podcast, you're already familiar with Guigar's ridiculous laugh. Check out the contest rules and the entrants so far.


• Unwinder's Tall Comics has really been on fire lately. This comic spoofs popular literature of all sorts, from Twilight to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and culminates with Unwinder's truly inspired mash of classics with the horror genre. Also, the most recent comic delivers tall comics in a new medium: sidewalk chalk.

And that concludes this week's recap. What comics have you enjoyed this week? Share a link in the comments!

4/17: Week in Review

Seems this has been a good week for storylines. It may just be the particular spectrum of comics I read regularly, but while comics like The Book of Biff and Sheldon are good for a daily smile, following the serial stuff has been a real kick this week.

Shortpacked has been crazy this week even by Shortpacked standards. Last week, with Galasso locked up and Ethan...also locked up, Robin proposed that the new manager be selected by fight-probably-to-the-death, while Ultra Car searches for a way to throw pies at Galasso without letting him out of his cage. This week, everything explodes and Galasso is released in the chaos. His first act as a free manager is to fire everyone. Good luck getting a job in this economy, guys, but at least you can go out with a bang. To the shins. Firing the main characters from the strip's titular toy store is a strange move, but we'll see where things go from here.

Moe continues its storyline from last week, in which Moe attends an anti-evolution protest rally at the museum to impress a girl he met. With no particular allegiance to the cause, however, he is easily swayed when the other side has a cuter girl on it. It's a ridiculous parody of the debates of our day, in a world where everyone is dumb, especially Moe. Read the week's comics beginning with Monday's.

This week, Gill initiates a new storyline: with Gill's birthday coming up, he has his heart set on a birthday party at Cheesy Chester's Pizza, but his mother insists on having the party at home. The week ends on a horrifying cliffhanger in Gill's darkest nightmares--what will become of Gill and his desire for a Cheesy Chester's party? Start with Monday's comic and start following the story arc.

Over at Starslip, the crew of the Fuseli Paradigm has encountered the Quel--the highly-advanced hive-minded inhabitants of a planet within an uncharted nebula. This week, Vanderbeam endeavors to facilitate cultural exchange and share the fruits of his own advanced civilization, but the Quel aren't biting. However, when an unnaturally grave surge of bug-predators attacks the Quel, the crew prepares to step in and violate the crap out of the Prime Directive. We'll see soon enough whether their actions are justified, but in the meantime, the week for Starslip starts here.

Penny and Aggie draws its present storyline to a close today. Picking up where Part 10 of the Popsicle War left off, Duane finds a common interest of literature and a new friend in Christian fanatic Charlotte--but also finds that Charlotte is far more interested in him than he's comfortable with. Find out whether he can defuse this relational bomb without turning his overzealous new friend into an enemy: read the ten-page storyline from the beginning.

Finally, Dr. McNinja continues his descent into the Ancient Mayan Tennis Temple, defusing traps, navigating architectural hazards, and dealing with unforeseen complications. The whole thing is light on plot, but heavy on parody: it's a relentless spoof of video-gamey Indiana-Jones-style adventures in which the whole point of the architecture is to kill you. Why not enjoy the whole spectrum of spoof, right from the point that Dr. McNinja enters the temple?

And that's a wrap for this week--though I'm sure with so many storylines going on, I'll have plenty to talk about come next Friday. I may have a review or suchlike ready next week, but one thing's for sure: you can always count on the Friday rundown. And, as always, feel free to drop a comment with anything you've enjoyed this week. Have a good weekend, and adios for now!

3/12: Week in Review

Today is the first day of Animation and Gaming Ohio. I will be a guest there, talking about webcomics with a host of people who are there because they like video games and anime. Tough sell? Perhaps. But geeks are geeks, and let us not forget that there are manga-style webcomics and video-game webcomics as well.

It is with perhaps the most famous of these video-game webcomics that I begin today's entry.

For several weeks now, I have found Penny Arcade even odder than usual, and not especially funny. With tangents into 90s pop-culture figures such as John Stamos and New Kids on the Block, and a bunch of stuff that you probably won't understand even if you read the accompanying newspost, it's felt like Tycho and Gabe have developed their own language of funny that they babble incomprehensibly to each other. And it's certainly funny if you put forth the effort to study their new language--but such activity is anathema to the casual reader. Who has time to decipher their arcane ululations?

Well, I am happy to report that this week, there is no need to decipher anything. On Monday, PA pokes fun at the challenge of marketing books in a technology-driven age. Wednesday brings us a satirical jab at GameStop, the pawn store of video games. And today, our beloved comic does not disappoint, shamelessly mocking Fitty Cent's new game "Blood on the Sand." Krahulik and Holkins are really at the top of their game when they're lampooning the market-driven ridiculousness of the video game industry, and I think much of this past week's success stems from the fact that they're laughing at things.

And we're laughing too.

What else has made me laugh this week? Let's have a look.

Tuesday's Shortpacked looks at the worst jobs in Hollywood, delivering laughs in every panel, compounding the ridiculousness with each successive Bad Job and culminating in a coup-de-grace punchline. Did you ever think about the fact that someone had to render that thing? You'll laugh, because the only alternative is to weep for the guy.

Gill also brings the laughs this week, as Gill discovers a missing wallet and, guided by his television-weaned conscience, tries to convince his dad to help him return the wallet. In the process, he learns that reality seldom happens in the way that television often presents it.

Calamities of Nature breaks the fourth wall this week in order to open up the Reader Mailbag. Each comic features two of the main cast answering a piece of fan email to humorous effect. It occurs to me that the fourth wall with Calamities is more of a garage door that Tony Piro raises and lowers at will. But at any rate, I enjoyed all the Reader Mailbag comics, particularly today's, which incorporates an extended artistic gag.

Keong "speearr" Chan, creator of the now-retired daily comic T-N-T, launched a new comic this week: Terence N. Tijuana. His latest offering is a mix of art styles and subjects, loosely centered around non-chronological snippets from the life of its titular character. Topics include the well-meaning lies parents tell, mothers-in-law, and the future--all treated with a liberal dash of surreality. Give the archives a quick read and see how you like it.

Finally, I discovered a new comic with a truly bizarre premise this week. It takes the format of a reality TV show: Griffin Griffins is offered a chance to live rent-free for one year in a luxury condominium that exists outside of space and time. Sharing the living space with Griffin are four alternate Griffins from parallel universes, ranging from White Trash Alcoholic Griffin to Wannabe White Gangsta Griffin. It only updates once a week and currently has a small archive, but you've probably never read a comic like this, so it's worth checking out. Good art, too.

What did you find funny this week? What made you laugh out loud? Drop a link in the comments and share some humor with us.

Religion Watch (and Watchmen Watch?)

So you've already noticed if you follow my Twitter, but Sunday and Monday's "Pick of the Day" both treat religious subjects. Let's have a closer look.

From over the weekend, Gill delivers a few thoughts about God as an author, allowing bad things to happen to us for the entertainment value. I found it reminiscent of the Calvin and Hobbes comics that feature theological conversations about God, the devil, and other such topics. And while I don't think God allows suffering for something so flippant as mere entertainment, I do think there's something to Shandra's observations. Aren't our choices invested with moral significance because we make them in response to suffering? What are your thoughts?

Secondly, today's Pick is Calamities of Nature, in which Aaron and Harold answer a reader's email about whether Calamities is too hard on Christianity. And in past comics, religion has gotten the short, blunt end of the stick, but I actually like this comic. It would be easy to try and make a joke at Christianity's expense off a reader email like that, but instead, the humor comes from Aaron's personality and his typically provocative response. In general, Harold and Aaron contrast well with each other, which certainly holds true when they're talking about religious matters.

(It's also worth noting that when it comes to persecution, Christians have historically gotten as good as they give. Christians were persecuted in the Roman Empire, and they were the persecutors during the Crusades.)

Saw Watchmen tonight. I'll probably deliver a couple lines of commentary on Wednesday, along with the results of the currently ongoing Watchmen comics poll. Additionally, for much of this weekend I'll be at Animation and Gaming Ohio 2009, so we'll see what I can do for Friday's post. See you all Wednesday!