Adventures of the Irrelevant Webcomic Critic: Penny Arcade

A little over a year ago, shortly before I began this blog, I made a post to my personal blog on the topic of Penny Arcade. The post, titled "The Adventures of the Irrelevant Webcomic Critic," was in a way a precursor to this blog--about that time, I was realizing that if I read so many webcomics, I might as well talk about them with the internet. Here's a slightly-edited excerpt from that post: edited because, well, I am a better writer now.

Lately, Penny Arcade has been falling flat for me. Some of the recent strips have been good--like the one about the crystallized demon blood in the guy's refrigerator--but a lot of them I have just not found funny. The other day I was asking myself why, because I really want to like PA, every time, if at all possible.

Some of Penny Arcade's funniest and most compelling work, I realized, revolves around the concept of shame, particularly characters' perceptions of merited and unmerited shame. Consider the following comic, in which Tycho is reluctant to share the content of the user-targeted in-game advertising he is seeing: even while laughing, the reader can almost feel his discomfort sympathetically. Here's another one, where Tycho has forgotten his embarrassment and gets far too enthusiastic about the erotic possibilities of science-fiction extraterrestrial encounters. Gabe often doesn't know when it's appropriate to feel or display shame: for example, here. Or here. He is far too open about his endeavors! And that's funny.

But within the past month or so, deep though it may be, that well of shame has scarcely been tapped. The last place we really saw situational humor of this sort, relying on characters' differing expectations of what should and should not be was this comic. Now, Penny Arcade has a rich and diverse past of jokes, and they need not rely on shame to create quality material. For example: they're typically excellent satirists. However, Samus kicking Pikachu in the face is simply less robust as a comedic concept than Gabe's obliviousness to his own social dysfunction.

Lately I've been thinking about Penny Arcade again, for a variety of reasons. I figured I'd dig out that old post because at the time, I thought the path to a better and funnier Penny Arcade was paved with further explorations of shame. But then they busted out of the slump with the whole Deep Crow thing, and while their current work isn't the best they've ever done, it's decidedly stronger than a year ago. And lately I've realized: Penny Arcade doesn't have to be funny all the time in order to be good.

Penny Arcade provides more than just humor. As I've mentioned before, their take-no-crap attitude brings much-needed accountability to the game industry, whether it's through satirical invectives or celebration of genuinely awesome games. They're not beholden to game companies, retailers, or advertisers. They're not even beholden to their readers, in the sense that Krahulik and Holkins are free to experiment with off-the-wall not-even-gaming-related things like Twisp and Catsby or the Cardboard Tube Samurai.

And I guess that's where they're taking things these days: somewhere new. Krahulik's art has been taking new directions, shedding a bit of its Stephen-Silver influence for a more painterly approach to coloring. Also, with concepts like Lookouts and Automata, and projects like the Penny Arcade Adventures computer games, the two are expanding beyond continuity-optional humor into original storytelling. And if nothing else, the sorts of stories they're telling are at least original.

In short, I'm not sure what the future holds for Penny Arcade, but they do seem to be making better comics as of late, and hopefully the trend will continue. Suffice it to say that while a year ago I was considering taking them off my list of regulars, I'm much more interested now in following what they're up to.

(This post has been brought to you by Google and The Penny Arcade Wiki)

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.

Here at TWIW, the big news this week is small comics. On Wednesday, I posted a feature spotlighting some lesser-known comics that you may enjoy, so if you'd like to see some hidden talents, they're only a click away.

Today, though, I largely want to talk about Multiplex.

Multiplex focuses on the staff of its titular theater, so one might reasonably offer the critique that too much of its cast comprises the solipsistic-young-adult category. However, recent events at the Multiplex have seen a need for increased security, so the theater has hired a new security guard. His name is James Harris; he's well into his sixties, if not older. He's a retired police officer, and when he was younger, he worked at a theater too.

I find Mr. Harris to be a welcome presence at the theater for two reasons. First, he has wisdom, a trait rather lacking in many of the Multiplex employees. Plenty of them are sharp, but age brings perspective, and I really think that Mr. Harris will provide a grounding presence amidst all the workplace drama. As Jason is showing him around the theater complex, the two of them run across Lizzie Stoner and Whitey lighting up in the back lot. Harris handles the situation very prudently--he's understanding but firm, and he lets them know that while there will be second chances, there won't be a third. I also get the sense that he genuinely cares about the kids.

Secondly, Mr. Harris broadens the strip thematically. Turns out he didn't work at just any theater, either--he worked at the Regal Theater back in the 1950s. Before it was torn down in 1973, the Regal was a major cultural fixture of Chicago's Bronzeville, and in a flashback, cartoonist Gordon McAlpin showcases its ornate architecture through some sepia-toned, hand-drawn artwork. These history-of-theater elements do a lot for the background and substance of Multiplex, and it's all brought in very naturally through the "new" hire. This stuff is a part of who James Harris is and where he's been.

When it comes down to it, Multiplex is a comic about how movies are a part of our lives. A lot of that is strictly on the humor level, sure, and movies are a bigger part of some of our lives than others (coughJasoncough), but there's this other level to it. As humans, we crave stories. And when we go to catch a story on the big screen, we want a good story, one that innovates in the medium, one that doesn't just entertain but says something substantial and resonant to us. And in its own way, with a cast of characters that you really get to know as you keep tuning in, Multiplex embodies those same values that it's looking for in a good movie.

Wait. How did this soapbox get here, and what am I doing standing on it?

Anyway, it's just about time for me to go do productive stuff, but before I do, let's have a...

Quick Rundown of Stuff I Liked This Week

• The Book of Biff presents: Hover Socks!


• Waitaminit, Starslip Crisis! Don't get me wrong, it's a funny strip, but I thought this kinda thing was the province of Dresden Codak!


• New horrific adventures in reptile care courtesy of Nobody Scores!


• Cat and Girl's Bad Decision Dinosaur: last sighted preparing to go on vacation


• Panel three of this Sheldon comic: best description of Flaco ever


• From Boxer Hockey: the intrinsic hazards of good fortune

Good times, good times. See ya next week.