6/19: Religion Watch

Hey, everyone. This coming week, I'll be on vacation, but you won't be without new webcomic-related content. Through the power of automated updating, I'll be delivering a small reader-interaction post scheduled for Tuesday, and returning TWIW guest blogger Jen Mau will bring you Friday's regular post. But that's next week in webcomics. This week, I it's time for...


1: Shortpacked!, Monday, 6/15

I'll just come right out with it--I wasn't impressed with this comic. It has all the wit and insight of the familiar joke, "You know what happened to make God mellow out between the Old Testament and the New Testament? He got laid." It's not even clear why Robin is sitting around reading the Bible; it strikes me as David Willis using her character as a vehicle here for his opinions.

And the thing is, Willis can do better. He has done better. Just look at his comics featuring the theological-fiction Bus Stop: here, he makes a substantial, valid criticism of Christian hypocrisy regarding standards for children's fantasy novels.
Plus, I think Aslan's longsuffering, dignified demeanor and wit help temper the criticism, elevating the comics above mere "Christians-are-such-nutjobs" gags.

It's quite a contrast to this past Monday's strip, with its frat-boyish caricature of God--and a similarly frat-boyish level of depth.

2: Joe Loves Crappy Movies, Sunday, 6/14

Here, Joe Dunn takes his review of Moon in an unexpected direction with his own caricature of God. Taking the idea of a personal deity to its logical comedic conclusion, he depicts God with the same insecurities and self-esteem problems as any other person--an odd juxtaposition for the all-powerful Creator of the universe. I'm not sure why I prefer it to Willis' caricature, but I do. It could be that it's trying to make a joke rather than a point. Maybe it's that his caricature of God is more sympathetic.

If you'll allow me a tangent...even though He hasn't made an appearance in this week's comics, I really like Dinosaur Comics' God. He's a silly God--somewhat self-important, with his boldfaced capital letters and authoritative pronouncements contrasting with colloquialisms like "dude"--but you get the sense that Ryan North is more interested in exploring religious ideas through Him than making a statement, even if he (North) does happen across some truths about religion and belief along the way. North gives religion a fair shake, and even when he's criticizing it, you get the impression that he's taken the time to understand the other side. Am I just picking on Shortpacked here? What do you think about depictions of God in these various webcomics? Drop a comment, let me know your opinion.

So much, then, for heavier considerations. Let's wrap things up with a few religion-related bullet points.

• Recent Penny and Aggie comics have focused on level-headed Christian Katy-Ann and her relationship with Jack. When Jack runs into Cyndi in all her willful obnoxiousness, he recalls some advice of Katy-Ann's that readers may be surprised to learn is actually biblical. Living well truly is the best revenge.


• Road Crew is nearing the end of its Golden Kick Drum Mic storyline, as Jim Soundman seeks out John the Bassist. No deeper points here, just ridiculous religion-flavored humor. The most recent comic put a humorous twist on self-empowerment spirituality.

And that wraps up the Religion Watch. Tune in on Tuesday for automated updates from beyond the grave while I'm on vacation, stop by Friday for Jen Mau's guest entry, and I'll see you all again in a little over a week!

On Guest Strips

Long day at work? Check.
Delicious root beer float? Check.
TWIW post about guest strips as promised? Check.

Guest Strips are, for the most part, a phenomenon particular to webcomics. I could go into the reasons why the practice is so foreign to newspaper strips or comic books, but suffice it to say that when real life strikes and events interfere with a webcartoonist's production, it's much more feasible for him to enlist the help of his cartoonist colleagues in order to provide comic content.

Brandon Bolt of Nobody Scores has gone on record as "not believing in guest comics," arguing that guest cartoonists rarely produce something consistent with the original cartoonist's idea for his comic. There's some merit to this critique--guest strips pretty much necessarily have to be non-canon, and might even be viewed as little more than glorified fan art. And though not impossible, it's certainly hard to bring dignity to the task of creating fan art for a webcomic. Additionally, as one reader recently stated, "Guest strips can be fun, but I doubt any of us signed up so as to see more guest strips."

But me? I actually like the guest-strip phenomenon. I enjoy seeing familiar characters in a different artistic style, for starters. Additionally, it's a way for an artist to basically share his comic with another artist, a kind of circumscribed collaboration project. From a practical standpoint, it's a feasible way to take a brief sabbatical when necessary, or keep one's comic updated when one gets hit with one of life's little crises. Plus, guest strips can introduce readers to cartoonists that they may not have been aware of.

So, the "guest strip" concept has its critics, but in my estimation there's also some merit to it. That said, let's look at what guest strips we have this week.

• Scott Kurtz of PVP is currently taking time off from his strip to mourn the loss of his basset hound, Kirby. Pets are often like family members, and their death is no light thing. You can read Scott's reflections on Kirby in the PVP blog and check out the two weeks of PVP guest strips from several prominent webcartoonists.


• Gordon McAlpin of Multiplex, in order to allow himself time and space for moving, ran guest comics on this past Monday and Wednesday, which take advantage of their guest-strip nature to deliver some very silly Multiplex scenarios. For today's Multiplex update, however, Gordon provided a normal in-continuity strip, and next week will show one or two more guest strips before Multiplex resumes as normal. Interestingly, Brandon J. Carr's Wednesday update provides timely commentary on Earth Day and Disney's recently-released documentary "Earth."


• Putting a rarely-seen twist on the "guest strip" concept, Luke Surl is set to deliver a month of guest artists; while Luke himself will provide characteristically witty writing for his comics this month, we'll see these concepts illustrated in a variety of artistic styles by a broad spectrum of cartoonists. The collaborations began with Wednesday's update, drawn by Cedric Atizado of Familiar Ground.


• Finally, Penny and Aggie is preparing to make permanent changes to its resident artist. As T Campbell recently announced to P&A's fan community, artist Gisele Lagace, while continuing to be involved with P&A in a consultative capacity, will cede the role of artist to Jason Waltrip (Fans!) and use her time to pursue other creative projects. As Jason prepares to take the reins, P&A will employ a number of other guest artists until he settles in. The most recent story arc, beginning with this comic, is drawn by Sam Romero, and today's comic was created by Erica Henderson.

So, the above guest strips should provide you with some interesting reading, but equally interesting is the idea of the guest strip itself. What do you think about the concept of "guest strips" and their role in webcomics culture? As always, I welcome your 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!

4/3: Week in Review

Webcomic geeks are rarely just webcomic geeks; find a webcomic enthusiast, and chances are he's also a video gamer, an anime nerd, or a tabletop RPG geek. Hence, from time to time you get comics like Penny Arcade's Fallout Puppet Comics, or the following news item which I received via press release...

The comic Geeks Next Door is teaming up with Dungeon Mastering to deliver an exclusive comic storyline starring the GND characters. Veteran gamers Matt, Jessi, and Barry will be introducing Jessi's closet-geek sister Maggie to the ins and outs of D&D, with Matt in the role of dungeon master. I've happened across Geeks Next Door a few times before, and it's a funny comic with colorful and upbeat artwork. The collaboration looks like a cool project, too, so if you're a tabletop roleplayer, be sure to tune in. The series starts tomorrow, 4/4, and will update every two weeks at DungeonMastering.com, with a new comic and commentary from Matthew, Jessi, and Maggie.

And Geeks Next Door isn't the only comic teaming up. Least I Could Do, in its most recent storyline, is teaming up with every webcomic in existence for the LICD Ultimate Final Civil War Invasion Crisis Thing. It's a comic event so big, it prompted the creator of Goblins to pull an April Fool's joke in which he threatened to sue Ryan Sohmer for unlicensed use of his characters. More about April Fool's Day later, but you can start reading LICD's Ultimate Crisis Thing right here with the intro spread.

After a long absence from the online cartooning world, You'll Have That creator Wes Molebash returned this Monday with a new comic: "Myron and Charlie." I've been looking forward to the launch of his new project ever since Wes announced it late last year: Wes has a sharp black-and-white style, and to be entirely honest, I've missed his down-to-earth sense of humor and storytelling. Rather than the gag-a-day format of You'll Have That, this new strip has an ongoing storyline with a definite end to it. It's too early to tell exactly where it's going, but so far, we've been introduced to Myron, a boy with an artistic streak and a desire for a best friend. You can catch the updates every Monday, Wednesday and Friday over at the You'll Have That site.

Over at Real Life, Greg Dean has been running "open letter week," in which comic-character Greg reads open letters to a variety of individuals, including Family Guy producer Seth McFarlane, everyone on Greg's Facebook friends list, Neil Patrick Harris, and others. The open-letter action starts here, and wouldn't end right if it didn't end with a twist punchline. Bonus points if you saw the twist coming, but Greg's expression in the final panel really sells it.

And in what was possibly the most stunning update this week, this comic from Penny & Aggie dropped a bomb on me. Uptight religious fanatic Charlotte displays a surprisingly tender side, and what's more, the girl can write! Holy Sonnet, Batman! Comics are a visual medium, but this one showcases the power of good writing to flat-out knock you off your feet.

And, seeing as Wednesday was April Fool's Day, it's time to conclude this entry with the...

April Fools Watch:

• David Willis promises to end Shortpacked and deliver a Roomies reboot (complete with April Fool's site redesign)


• Chainsawsuit's make-your-own-Chainsawsuit goes horribly awry


• Dr. McNinja employs product placement for its own merchandise in this strip (see the April Fool's version)


• Hijinks Ensue adopts a new art style and a bold new storyline...all in the name of parody

And that's what's awesome this week. Have a good weekend, and, as usual, I'll see you next week with more awesome.

3/20: Week in Review

I don't know if it's just me, but it's seemed like a slow week for webcomics. There've been some strips of interest, to be sure, but in all honesty, I can't summon up my usual enthusiasm today. Maybe it has genuinely been a dry spell, if only for the comics I regularly read. Maybe it's just my mood. Maybe it's that everybody and his webcomic mother has something to say about the Sci-Fi Channel changing its name of "SyFy." Look, I appreciate that webcomics provide a unique opportunity to provide timely and immediate commentary, but seriously! The name itself is the joke, and humor-wise, there's not a lot that a comic can add to that.

But enough grousing. Let's get to the good stuff.

Creating a webcomic presents several opportunities beyond just immediate news commentary. It also affords the creator a chance to draw humorous fan art and excuse it as "fair use and parody." In Tuesday's Shortpacked!, David Willis takes ample advantage of this opportunity, with hilarious results for any Super Mario Bros. fan (and who isn't a Super Mario Bros. fan?). Princess Daisy's expressions and the Shyguys' creepy letter are both particularly great.

With this past Monday's installment, Nobody Scores! delivered a rare gem. NS consistently provides sharp humor and great artwork, but it also consistently provides blood-spattering cartoon violence and enough F-bombs to level a small censorship board. In contrast, Monday's update "Nobody Scores with The Big Entrance!" is the Nobody Scores! comic you could show your mom. Jane upstages Sara at a semi-formal party by bringing...shall we say, a surprise guest. I don't want to give it away. Go see for yourself.

On a more serious note, Penny and Aggie this week has dealt with the aftermath of its titular characters' cooperative sabotage of Karen's popsicle party. Karen's been taken down a peg or two, and when Aggie's longstanding crush Marshall wants to apologize for misjudging the situation, Aggie makes what I would consider a surprisingly mature move.

There's probably a lot inside of Aggie telling her to set aside all the things that have come between her and Marshall and work on repairing their friendship, now that he shows signs of wanting to make amends. There's probably a lot inside of Aggie hoping for more than just friendship, too. But she recognizes the need for some distance from such an emotionally-charged situation, and she says as much. And as much as I'd like to see things work out with her and Marshall, I gotta say: smart kid.

One last note before I call it a wrap for this week. I'd like to congratulate Brock Heasley, creator of The Superfogeys, for the completion of his 200th strip this week. Truly nice job, Brock--the art looks great, and it's been improving since strip #1. Kudos!

And that's all I've got for this week. As always, if you've got a few remarks or a particularly good strip from this week to share, don't hesitate to drop a comment. Have a good weekend, and I'll see you right back here, next Friday if not sooner. Adios!

My Favorite Webcomics: Part 2 of Something

The First Part of the List
Share your own favorites with us!

Welcome back, friends. Where we left off, I was sharing with you the comics that I continue to read since trimming down my list of regulars. Let us continue the sharing.

Penny Arcade: Okay, that doesn't really count as sharing, because you read Penny Arcade already. There's a reason why Penny Arcade is the number one gaming comic anywhere: top-notch artwork, relentlessly honest commentary on the gaming industry, and hilariously inappropriate graphic violence.

Dr. McNinja: I like Dr. McNinja for basically two reasons. On the one hand, it's an ingenious extended parody of ludicrous comic book plots exposing the more ridiculous conventions of the superhero genre, illustrated with exceptional full-color artwork that complements the parody perfectly. On the other hand, a ninja doctor escapes Dracula's moon base by surfing back to earth on Drac's robotic duplicate.

Penny and Aggie: Intelligent teen drama that does a great job of capturing the vicious high-school clique atmosphere. Ostensibly, it's about the rivalry between the razor-sharp queen of the popular crowd and an ambitious counter-culture chick with a penchant for activism, but there's a wide supporting cast of fleshed-out characters. Quality full-page black-and-white artwork with a measure of manga influence. Funny, engaging drama that's well worth reading.

You'll Have That: I confess, I've got a thing for realistic comics. I'm not super-keen on the whole magical-time-traveling-with-robots thing. YHT is a down-to-earth humor strip about a semi-geeky guy named Andy and his practically-minded wife, Katie. The two of them deal together with life's ordinary difficulties: obnoxious co-workers, strained friendships, visiting in-laws for the holidays, and learning to forgive each other's shortcomings and quirks. At its heart, it's a funny strip about everyday love.
And sadly, it's ending on January 2nd. Still, cartoonist Wes Molebash has got a new project in the pipes, so I'm looking forward to what he's got in store.

Joe Loves Crappy Movies: Joe Dunn is a killer and funny cartoonist with an enthusiasm for movies. He's got a brash, colorful art style, and his friendly, easygoing personality comes through in his comics. He also likes to crack a nerd gag or sex joke from time to time. From time to time, I'll also check in on his other cartooning projects: the college-life strip Matriculated and his user-determined animal race adventure, Turtle vs. Bunny. Dude is a webcomic machine.

Multiplex: Joe likes to watch crappy movies, but what's it like on the other side of the ticket counter? Multiplex looks into the lives of theater employees--the workplace drama, the antics to alleviate the boredom, the movie-geekery, and everything else that comes with the red-vested uniform. It's very professional, very funny, and features one of the most engaging and varied casts of characters I've seen in a webcomic. Their interactions are really what make the comic for me. JASON AND BECKY WILL YOU GUYS PLEASE JUST GET TOGETHER ALREADY

Theater Hopper: I don't really check out Theater Hopper regularly, but if I'm gonna mention the other two of the Big Three movie webcomics...well, y'know. Theater Hopper is a good comic, and even though it's not on my list of regulars, it might just call for a spot on yours.

Nobody Scores: Brilliantly illustrated, utterly manic, and relentlessly cynical, Nobody Scores is the comic where everything that can go wrong, does. Its lovably-unlikeable cast of ruthless capitalist Sara, crazy alternative-girl Jane, untalented pretentious artist Beans, and alienated intellectual landlord Raoul endure inevitable disaster several times a week in Brandon Bolt's loooong-form ridiculous cartoonery. Sometimes you have more subdued catastrophe, say that of the daily morning routine. Other times, it's over-the-top cataclysm: time travel gone awry and matter-devouring nanorobots. And continuity is optional: plunge in anywhere and embrace the madness!

Further installments on Wednesday, and then a Very Special Christmas Message from TWIW on Christmas! In the meantime, share with us your favorites.

forgive me for not knowing how to do links on this blogthing

Hello, folkses! This is Alec, Jackson's friend, guest posting for this week's scheduled update of This Week in Webcomics. Now, Jackson and I do read a lot of the same comics, but I read a few others as well, so don't be surprised if some of the ones I'm going to be mentioning are familiar and some of them are not. So let's get on to the details then, shall we?

First off, a few comics you might want to take a look at: Nothing Better, by Tyler Page; and Goblins, by Tarol Hunt. These are both one-page-a-week comics, so they don't fit the TWIW paradigm exactly. A college comic, Nothing Better(1) tackles college life, and is currently wrapping up a nightmare sequence where an angry God confronts avowed Atheist Kat of the cast - and Goblins(2) has been in the throes of a confrontation between our heroes and an entire town of guardsmen and goblin killers for quite some time. Head to the main page of Nothing Better and hit the back button once to see all of the current issue up to this point all at once; for Goblins, I wouldn't start reading any earlier than the third book heading in the archives, or maybe even from the beginning :/

Several prominent webcomics have wrapped up some heavy stories this week: I am thinking of Sam and Fuzzy(3), Dr. McNinja(4) and Penny and Aggie(5), to be specific. Sam and Fuzzy just completed a storyline that was years of regular updates long, a feat rarely seen, and of course this means that new is the perfect time to catch up on this wonderful comic. Head to the Noosehead storyline and see for yourself how well all the pieces have been put together - http://www.samandfuzzy.com, people.

Dr. McNinja's plotline completed just today; the Doctor's final thoughts are available for perusal, and we, the readers, can puzzle for ourselves over what the future place of King Rad in the comic universe may end up being. I, for one, am hoping that there will be a bit more pseudo-medical expertise involved in his next caper - not that I'm complaining overly about the extreme antics of his ex-college buddy during the fight scenes in this chapter overmuch.

Penny and Aggie, an old time favorite of mine, is beginning to step into particularly difficult subject matter for me to grasp - girls being awful to girls, terrible cliques plotting school domination, and the like - but the emotional impact in the final pages of the story closing out this week was completely arresting. I won't say that it's undeniably entertaining or anything so ambitious, but I will say that for those of us who have been following the comic from the beginning and wondering what kind of a friend Penny is really, this was a real eye opener.

One more piece of comic recommendation for you folks: Princess Planet (6). I don't know if you'll all like it, but I do know if you read the most recent update and love it then you should start scouring the archives immediately.

(1) http://www.webcomicsnation.com/tylerpage/nb/series.php

(2) http://www.goblinscomic.com

(3) http://www.samandfuzzy.com

(4) http://www.drmcninja.com

(5) http://www.pennyandaggie.com

(6) http://www.transmission-x.com/_princess_planet/

Hey, welcome back! Good to see you here. Let's talk about webcomics I liked this week! We can also talk about webcomics you liked this week. But we will do that when we reach the comments section.

First of all, let's get that complicated continuity stuff out of the way. Real Life continues its Plot-Hole/Alternate-Gender-Universe/Government-Agent storyline this week, as the crew escapes the destruction of Tony's space station...minus Tony. I am, of course, sworn to avoid spoilers, so in order to find out what fate truly befell Tony, I recommend that you read this week's installment from the beginning.

In other continuity news, Nobody Scores continues its Ultimate Death Martial-Arts Tournament, where kung fu meets reality TV in a grisly battle royale. This week: Sara's mom drops by to criticize her daughter, and Jane gets masterfully drunk.

And finally, for Penny and Aggie fans who have wondered if Aggie would ever reveal her affections for Marshall, wonder no further. ...Ouch. It's been a hard week for Aggie. I really feel for her.

But okay! With all that continuity and development of ongoing plotlines out of the way, we can turn our attention to standalone humor and randomness!

Let's start off with a few selections from this week's comics at Thinkin' Lincoln. It turns out that to cheer himself up, Lincoln likes to draw turtles having fun. And we get to see his drawings! Hand-drawn elements in Thinkin' Lincoln are always a fun change of pace in my book, in part because I will probably never fully get over that whole disembodied head thing. Abe subsequently overdoes it, however, and we may never see the turtles again.

And speaking of Thinkin' Lincoln, this Dinosaur Comics could have been a Thinkin' Lincoln strip. I know that DC is a major influence on Thinkin' Lincoln, but it's interesting to see the influence extending in the other direction. Frig yes, people.

Continuing on the subject of one-offs and discontinuity: after its recent Emaline-dates-Omar storyline reached a climax with Steve punching Omar Patel in the jaw, You'll Have That abruptly switched tracks on Monday. The comic in question is well-crafted, sweet, and is a thoughtful expression of the cartoonist's religious values without being aggressive or pushy...but its context in the archives is sort of weird. Especially when it's followed by Andy "bringing back the circle game". Still, bottom line is that it's a good strip, and I'm always on the lookout for religion in webcomics, so I figured it was worth mentioning.

And now, let's conclude my part of this entry. Take it away, Update Boxers!

Update Boxers and News Briefs

• Three Panel Soul does what it does best: reflects on the tension between immaturity and adulthood


• Rob and Elliot features cameos from Joe Dunn and Tom Brazelton


• Biff from The Book of Biff throws a webcomics garage sale

I'll be back on Monday with a new post. In the meantime, it's time for your part of the entry. Got a strip from this week that you'd like to share? Reactions to stuff I mentioned? Thoughts on webcomics in general? Share 'em in the comments!

As promised, I'm beginning this week's entry by rewinding to last week. In a flahsback that shows us a formative moment from Aggie's childhood, Penny and Aggie broaches the question of theodicy--how a just God can allow suffering. As I noted on Monday, serious religious questions are not exactly a common topic for webcomics. That's one thing I like about P&A, though: it doesn't ignore religion or act like it's a non-issue. Among its cast are people whose faith is a big part of their life; some of these characters are better examples of faith than others, and even Katy-Ann, the strip's "good face" of Christianity, grapples with doing the right thing and sometimes makes mistakes. P&A generally gives a balanced treatment, which is one reason I enjoy reading it.

So, it should be no surprise to us that when Aggie's mom offers an answer to the theodicy question, she posits it tentatively. "I won't say I know the answer," she says, "but...I'll tell you what I think." This strikes me as a brave way to approach it, especially with a child looking up to you who will likely take to heart whatever you say. I'm no agnostic, I don't believe for a second that religious questions are fundamentally unanswerable, but real solid answers are notoriously hard to come by. What little I know about God, man, and the universe is vastly outweighed by what I don't. So, kudos to Aggie's mom for her honesty.

Her answer itself is an interesting one, and the notion of a "learning God" has some appeal, but I was a little disappointed. As common a notion as the "Old Testament God of wrath vs. New Testament God of love" idea is, it's a false dichotomy. Don't get me wrong: it's not as if God in the OT doesn't open up a can of wrath on more than one occasion, and it's not as if the central event of the NT isn't the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to save all mankind. But it's not the case that we have two Gods going on here, or that God "mellowed out" between testaments. God shows more than his share of mercy and love in the OT (for instance, love motivates God to rescue his people from slavery in Egypt, and in the book of Jonah, he gives a second chance to both the people of Ninevah and his own reluctant prophet); furthermore, God in the NT is no marshmallow, and even Jesus, known for his compassion, ransacks the merchants' booths at the temple out of rage at their religious hypocrisy. Which returns us to the theodicy question: why does God bother with the wrath at all? How can God's love and God's wrath coexist?

That's a question to which there are no easy answers, and Aggie's mom knows it. In any event, Aggie takes home the lesson: we may not have all the answers, we may still be learning, but we need to make a concentrated effort to overcome hatred through love. And though I may not agree with every fine point of Mrs. d'Amour's theology, I'm good for the bigger lesson here. We need to keep asking big questions, and we need to strive to do well with what we've learned.

I dunno what P&A writer T Campbell's religious convictions are, but he's writing a comic that deals seriously with religion and stays true to its characters, and I give a thumbs-up to that. Good comics get people talking about important things, and as long as we talk respectfully, without any of that acerbic vitriol that's all too common to the internet, that can only be a good thing. In any event, today's P&A comic reveals that Duane, the civic-minded word nerd with a thing for Penny, has been grappling internally and trying to figure out his own faith, Islam. I expect future story arcs in P&A will continue to give us plenty to talk about when it comes to religious matters.

So, we have Serious Business in ample measure, but those of you who came for a rundown of the funny are probably starving. Not to worry, folks: these being webcomics that we talk about here, there's also plenty of humor-news to share.

First off, Calamities of Nature has undergone a format change: Tony Piro has remodeled the site (not terribly different, but a nice and slightly more inviting design), and he's swapped out doing full-page comics for horizontally-oriented newspaper-style strips. This week he's delivered a comic every weekday, and subsequently it will update three times a week, in color. And dang if today's comic doesn't bring up Catholicism! There is no escape, my friends.

Well, maybe there is at Shortpacked. This marks the second week that Shortpacked has gone from being an at-least-MWF comic to being a full-time five-days-a-week comic. Frankly, even if cartoonistry is David Willis' full-time job, I'm impressed! It's no small feat to bring out five page-long color comics a week, and for some strips Willis even gives the artwork a little extra. Check out Robin's new house in the first panel here. A suitably awe-inspiring shot! Man that's a sweet house.

Finally, the current theme at The Book of Biff is "Magic Week." The resulting comics have been hilariously weird. Thus, I leave you with an exhortation to go check out Biff's antics! They're good stuff.

This is Jackson P. Ferrell, signing off.

Happy Labor Day, one and all. I would like to extend a special thanks to Ari Collins, who provided a guest update last week and gave us a refreshing selection of comics that are neither Nobody Scores nor Cat and Girl. I, Jackson Ferrell, am beginning this week with a special bonus update because I cannot shut up about webcomics.

Kris Straub's F Chords has been going for a couple of weeks now, but until last week, I remained unconvinced that it was anything more than a good second-string comic. Then along came this strip: the strip that sold it for me. Our musician friends come up with a sweet hook, but can't think of lyrics to go with it to save their lives. "I know you like how I do the thing" is not even the most hilariously pathetic of their attempts. Then, as the week progresses, we see Wade accidentally play the hook while recording music for a radio commercial. Aw snap!

Suffice it to say, with a hilarious intro strip that segues into a cool storyline, I'm--pardon the pun--hooked. (Audience groans.) But you should go read F Chords, because the Straub is a much funnier man than I. Just listen to Ash describing his work: "This is my magnum opus. My .357 magnum opus. This song will put a hole in a man the size of a grapefruit."

Last week, Penny and Aggie dared to ask questions on the topic that few webcomics dare to touch: God and religion. Kudos to the creators of P&A for daring to broach the big questions. I will probably return to that business for this Friday's update, but for now, let us note that Penny Arcade has also been tackling the tough theological questions: namely, what God smells like.