Product Review: Theater Hopper, Books 1 and 2

About a month ago, Tom Brazelton's movie-themed webcomic Theater Hopper had a fire sale to raise funds for producing its third book. I decided to take advantage of the sale and purchase myself the first two print collections, Theater Hopper: Year One and Year Two.

For those unfamiliar with it, Theater Hopper is Tom Brazelton's movie-themed webcomic starring exaggerated versions of himself, his wife Cami, and his friend Jared. It updates with three full-color strips a week (MWF) and has been running since 2002, making it the internet's longest-running movie comic. Together with movie-themed webcartoonists Gordon "Multiplex" McAlpin and Joe "Loves Crappy Movies" Dunn, Tom talks movies on the "Triple Feature" podcast every Monday evening.

Now, it's one thing to check out a new webcomic; the only investment it requires is time, and if at any point you decide the comic is not worth your time, you just cut your losses and close your browser. But merch is a different ballgame entirely. Before you lay down the cash equivalent of two and a half hours at your day job, you want to know you'll get your money's worth. How can you tell you'll get a quality product? It's not like a trip to Barnes and Noble or Old Navy, where you can see the goods for yourself and actually pick them up. There's a good chance the cartoonist has a photo or two of the goods in his online store, but the difficulty remains: you don't want to get a bum deal.

On that note, let's start talking about these books by showing you what you get:





Book One includes Tom Brazelton's introduction to Theater Hopper, the first 155 TH strips with creator commentary, 11 guest strips by other cartoonists, and a crossover storyline with Carrington Vanston's concluded webcomic "Movie Punks." Book Two contains a foreword by Tom's wife Cami, 153 more TH strips with further commentary from Tom, several pages of bonus sketches, an index of movies referenced, 7 guest strips (including strips by Joe Dunn, and Scott and Kent from White Ninja.

The first thing that struck me when I received the two books in the mail was the presentation. The cover art looks great, ludicrously referencing classic movies 2001 and Ghostbusters II with the TH cast. It's not stellar, but it's solid, and it's clear the creator went the extra mile on the covers. Inside each, you'll find 200+ slick full-color pages of comics, commentary, and additional content. Brazelton openly admits in Book 1's disclaimer that he did not create early strips with print in mind, and while he has tried to restore the artwork as best he can, some strips suffer from fuzzy colors or jpeg artifacts. Still, it's clear he's made an effort to improve the presentation for print, and by Book Two the artwork is largely sharp and snappy.

So it looks pretty good--but how's it taste?

Overall, it tastes pretty good too. I have to say, though, that Year One suffers in quality, as it would with any comic, simply for being Year One. Theater Hopper's humor style is less of the well-polished comic strip gag, the "craft of the joke," and more of the banter you throw around with your friends. Rather than building up to the punchline with immaculate timing, a TH strip will likely have a handful of funny moments--at least in theory. In early year one, Brazelton is still finding his voice, and some punchlines lack the punch even to carry the strip. The art has similar difficulties, and it cribs a bit from the Penny Arcade stylesheet. It takes several strips before it starts to resemble present-day Theater Hopper in quality.

To its credit, though, Brazelton's self-deprecating commentary on each strip in Year One goes a long way. He's utterly transparent about the first year's shortcomings, and the commentary's conversational tone makes the print edition a more personal experience than browsing online. Additionally, the collection contains a collaborative storyline with cartoonist Carrington Vanston that pits TH's Jared and Tom against the protagonists of the comic Movie Punks. The back-and-forth strips in the storyline are some of the book's strongest material and do a lot to add to its value.

Plus, the first book contains this strip. I laughed out loud right in the airport lobby at that one.

By Year Two, Brazelton is really getting a feel for his comic. The humor's more solid, the art is more solid. There are a number of inspired sight gags on par with the "small cola" comic referenced above, plus an increased predilection for
off-the-wall storylines that develop several jokes on a theme, such as the introduction of "Goth Jared" (whom Comic Tom has apparently encountered before). TH story arcs (at least in these two books) often begin in the middle, unexpectedly, with no explanation and perhaps even the suggestion of some backstory that is never explained. I like it, and I think it works. But I digress.

It's also worth noting that I didn't find the humor to be at all dated. With a movie-commentary comic, it's always a danger that comedy value will decrease as the humor ceases to be topical, but not so here. Theater Hopper doesn't stray too far from the mainstream movies and actors that we all know and love to make fun of, so you'll have no problem recalling relevant films from 2002 to 2004 as you're reading. There were a few isolated cases where the commentary had to explain the joke, which of course kills the joke, but these are the exception.

So, what's the final verdict? Was it worth my ten-bucks-per-book?

Overall, I think so. I found the books to be entertaining, and I got a different experience than the kind the TH site offers for free. A 200-page book with extensive full-color artwork is the kind of thing you'd usually pay upwards of $20 to $30 for, and I got two of them for this price. Compared to Year Two, Year One is rather lacking, and perhaps a better purchase for TH fans than for newcomers to the comic--TH: Year Two makes the better introduction.

Even though I'm not a huge movie enthusiast, I enjoyed both books. With the holidays coming up, TH: Year Two could be a good purchase for any friend or relative who's way too into movies. If you're thinking of getting either book for yourself, you can always sample Tom Brazelton's humor for free at TheaterHopper.com to figure out if it's your style of comedy. Apparently, the two books are still selling at the fire-sale price of $9.99 each. It's also worth noting that the third book is available for pre-order, and from the preview provided, it appears to raise the bar even higher for quality.

Theater Hopper Volumes 1 and 2 are available for purchase in the Theater Hopper store.

10/23: Week in Review

It's been awhile since I did a bona fide week-in-review Friday post, but this week I ran into some cool webcomic strips I wanted to share, and evidently I've managed to balance writing this post with all the other things I'm up to in my life. I'm sure you're all thrilled out of your minds.

Duck and cover, y'all, 'cause it's time for

• The Fancy Adventures of Jack Cannon
  Here's your new discovery of the week: I saw this comic advertising here on my blog, I clicked through, and it hooked me. The Fancy Adventures of Jack Cannon reminds me of The Wotch, only actually pretty good instead of pretty bad. The art is a step up; even though it'd benefit from more unified color schemes, the artist has a better grasp of composition, basic anatomy and stylization. The storyline doesn't drag, the main character is much less of a Mary Sue, and there's no fetishy pandering to make you feel icky for reading.
  So what the heck is it about? Titular character Jack Cannon is the new guy at high school, and he instantly runs afoul of a gang of hackers. When it turns out that the hackers can hack reality, ridiculous action sequences ensue. From there, it only gets crazier.
  Just for example, there is a character named Max Facepuncher. "Max" is short for "Maximum."


• Max Facepuncher in "So Now I Hate the Moon"
  The creator of Jack Cannon also created a 24-hour comic starring Max Facepuncher, in which Max is hired by a government agency to punch out the moon. Like Jack Cannon, it's totally madcap and thoroughly entertaining.


• PVP
  On a similar note, PVP this week brings us a parody of the original Superman movie, featuring internet-meme superhero the LOLBAT. It's some seriously great stuff. For those who play City of Heroes, there's even more LOLBAT to be had, as Scott Kurtz recently collaborated with developer NC Soft to create a LOLBAT-based City of Heroes mission.


• Blank It
  If you aren't following Blank It yet, you should be. Between its ridiculous absurdity and its treatment of existential themes, it has the best mix of smart and dumb humor I've seen yet in a webcomic. This week's strips, following an action-packed escape from the City of Cookie People, have got some truly inspired writing. I actually laughed out loud twice while reading Monday's strip.
  Yo, Aric and Lemmo. When are you guys going to go to three updates a week? C'mon, I crave the goods!
  


• Fanboy Radio: interview about Kickstarter
  Kickstarter--as Multiplex readers already know--allows independent artists of all stripes to fund their projects through support from their fan communities. This past Sunday, Fanboy Radio interviewed Multiplex creator Gordon McAlpin, as well as Kickstarter co-founder Yancy Strickler and kickstarting cartoonist Jamie Tanner. If you're interested in the self-supporting and business side of webcomics, definitely check it out, but even if you're just looking for something fun to listen to at work today, it's an entertaining and engaging interview. Behold: the link.
  

And that's a wrap! Tune in Monday for your regularly-scheduled post. I, in the meantime, am off to work, and then off to the weekend.

Review: Tuna Carpaccio P.I.

Tuna Carpaccio is many things. First, it is a dish made by thinly slicing fresh raw tuna and serving it with a savory and often spicy sauce. Second, it is a webcomic by Josh Dunlap and Tony Chavira. Third, it is the main character of said webcomic.

It may be still other things. I'll let you know if I discover any more.

Albacore Melt Carpaccio, better known as "Tuna," is a private investigator in a city of crime and mayhem. He's hard-headed, hard-hitting, and hardly competent. Even his secretary Pamela is more skilled at detective work than he is.

Tuna, however, is entirely oblivious to his own incompetence. He cracks cases with fisticuffs and copious property damage. He fancies himself on par with the city's Police Detective, Aurora Malta, even though his investigations (and I'm being generous with the term) constantly interfere with hers. Despite her low opinion of him (which she makes clear in no uncertain terms), he relentlessly hits on her. Tuna believes he is the sharpest detective in the shed--and he ignores all evidence to the contrary.

Carpaccio's primary adversary is the elusive mob boss Jose Maria De Jesus, but the road to the Hispanic crime lord is strewn with recurring "theme villains" in the vein of Dick Tracy or Batman. These include psychological psycho Ink Blot, zombie hipster Dead Beat, the bowling monarch King Pin (my personal favorite), and the Christmas criminal Coal Miner, whose slugfest with Carpaccio stretches out in a ridiculous infinite-canvas showdown that is sure to give the creators headaches when they're putting together a print collection. In these side excursions from the hunt for De Jesus, the comic both satirizes and revels in the bad-puns-and-punchouts villain-of-the-week style, but in a recent surprise move, all these crooks Carpaccio's put behind bars turn out to be relevant to the plot. It's one of many nice touches that make the comic such a kick to read.

Another is the art. Josh Dunlap's style is evocative of film noir, with a little animated-cartoon thrown in for flavor. It's got an inky look to it, with gritty backgrounds, sharply-rendered characters, and loose linework splashed with black shading. Fight scenes are rowdy, cacophonous affairs, the comic keeps things dynamic right down to the panel layouts, and characters have signature fonts for their dialogue. In less-competent hands, this would be a cheap gimmick, but from Pam's longsuffering all-lowercase lines to King Pin's regal script, it's a nice touch and an important part of the comic characterization. In short, Tuna Carpaccio looks good.

But don't let him know I said that. It'd go straight to his head.

Tuna, oblivious as he is to his own incompetence, can't help but remind me of Michael Scott, the bungling boss from The Office--which brings me to my only major criticism of the comic. Both Tuna and Michael have no idea how truly unproficient they are, and they make us laugh even as we cringe at their ridiculously unprofessional behavior. With Michael, however, you actually feel sorry for him: you get the sense that he actually cares about people, and his only real vice is that he cares more about getting people to like him. Tuna, on the other hand, more often you just shake your head and mutter, "I cannot believe this guy."

At this point in the story, to be perfectly honest, Tuna is a serious cad, and I'd be hard-pressed to name a redeeming feature beyond his right hook. He's persistent, I'll give him that much. But that's not much to hang your hat on when you're persistently bad. In essence, what I'm saying is that even though the art is great, the characters are funny, and the plotline packs more twists and turns than a retro dance move, it really loses some potential when you strain to sympathize with the main character.

Still, Tuna Carpaccio is well worth your time to check out, and it's going to be well worth my time to follow in the future. It's a comedy comic with a quirky sense of humor (I can guarantee you've never seen a comic with as bizarre a beginning as this), and it's very slickly executed. For all his vices, Tuna is hilarious and his misadventures are entertaining.

Tuna Carpaccio is a quality comic. See if it's your style--give it a read.

Getting Nifty with Sluggy Freelance

Welcome back, everyone. Today's post follows up on Wednesday's, in which I shared a Sluggy Freelance experience. Today the ensharening continues, with further reflections on Sluggy Freelance and some of my favorite Sluggy memories.

Like I said before, I'm well aware of Sluggy's flaws: a convoluted accumulation of backstory, a rocky transition from high weirdness to epic drama, and artwork that's decent at best. But no matter what John "Your Webcomic is Bad" Solomon may say have said, I don't consider a bad webcomic. It's no Penny Arcade, but if you can appreciate a "when weird things happen to normal people" story, it's worth reading.

Well, some of it, anyway. Thing's been running daily since '97--that's a lot of comic to read.

As I mentioned before, what I most enjoy about Sluggy is the central cast. They have genuine personalities, and as you spend more time reading their adventures, it gets to be like visiting good friends. Moreover, in a weirdness-driven strip, much of the fun comes from their diverse reactions to the bizarre phenomena around them. Torg meets the weirdness with boneheaded optimism; Zoe faces it with frustrated sarcasm or the occasional freak-out, and later on starts rolling up her sleeves and tackling things herself; Riff's basic response is "more firepower." Riff and later addition Gwynn are instigators of weirdness themselves. Sluggy's got the kind of cast that you can throw into a situation and just let them be themselves, and it's at its strongest when it does precisely that.

The art, moreover, has improved. It started off sketchy, with its share of stiff poses and proportion gaffes, but over time it's shown definite and substantial progress. Characters are drawn much more consistently now; Pete Abrams has developed particular strength with dramatic use of shadow and camera angles. Sluggy Freelance demonstrates that if you consistently pick up a pencil and go to war with the blank space, you will become a better artist. Never underestimate the value of dogged daily perseverance.

And that's true of more than just the art. Sluggy Freelance is significant for the webcomic world in that it showed new possibilities for cartoonists. As one of the longest-running comics online, and one that supports its creator as a full-time job, it's one of the success stories. Moreover, much of that support comes from its donor club "Defenders of the Nifty." As much as merchandise and ad revenue, Sluggy is supported by its fans simply saying, "We like what you're doing, and we want to enable you to keep doing it." Pete Abrams is willing to experiment, develop, and grapple with the balancing act between comedy and drama, and the cumulative effect of his tenacity is greater than any single flaw.

With that said (and said and said and said...get to the fun stuff, Jackson!), it's time for my favorite Sluggy memories.

Probably my favorite storyline of all time is when, after Torg has gone missing in the Dimension of Pain, the gang reach into the wrong alternate universe for him and retrieve a purple-haired Portuguese-speaking Torg. Meanwhile, the Torg we know finds himself in an alternate reality where everything is nice. The weirdness and humor are vintage Sluggy, including the fourth-panel reversal in this strip. In "Fire and Rain," a reference back to this story alleviates the drama with some much-needed humor. Sluggy often relies on classic setups with reversals and "What could go wrongs?" for its humor, but you've never seen them done with purple-haired Portuguese body doubles.

Another of my favorite storylines is Sluggy of the Living Freelance. It's a textbook example of the dynamic between the main cast that I mentioned before: Pete Abrams coops his cast up in a cabin, surrounds it with zombies, and lets the panicked terror do its work. The gags are entertaining, and the conclusion has two ridiculous twists to it.

One last strip bears mention in my Sluggy experience, but first a bit of backstory. In high school, my brother David began wearing gym shorts under his pants everywhere he went. If his pants developed a stain or a hole, or if he suddenly decided to go swimming, he would simply take them off. "You never know when you'll need them," he told us. One day Charles IMed me a link to a Sluggy Freelance accompanied by a single word: "Dave." As they say, great minds think alike.

What's been your Sluggy experience? What are some of your favorite strips or storylines? Drop a comment--I'd like to hear what you've got to say about Sluggy Freelance.

Superfogeys, Chapter 3

As I continue my chapter-by-chapter reviews, Brock Heasley's Superfogeys advances well ahead of me. Currently it's looking into the earliest exploits of its now-retired super-protagonists with "Superfogeys: Origins," and I'm still getting caught up on the present. Today we'll see what develops back at the rest home in Chapter 3: "The Techno Shuffle."

What Goes Down in Chapter 3

Chapter 3's plotline centers around a new face in Valhalla: Dictator Tot. Sentenced to community service at Valhalla, the child-prodigy supervillain must introduce the Fogeys to the world of internet technology, and by "introduce" I mean "drag kicking and screaming into." There is a brief, amusing sideplot in which Spy Gal comes on strong to the rest home's Director, and we are introduced to Captain Spectacular's senile ex-wife, Star Maiden. In the end, though, the major events of the chapter are shown to be the machinations of the shadowy and seldom-seen Third Man, as a plot against Captain Spectacular. The Third Man himself is not who he seems to be, and at the end of the chapter the Fogeys continue oblivious even to his existence.

Is It Good Today?

In my estimation, this is the funniest chapter so far. The old-vs.-new generational dichotomy, introduced with the healer in the previous chapter, is played to extremes with Dictator Tot. It's utterly humiliating for the elderly superheroes to take instructions from the most childish of children, to the point where Captain Spectacular refuses to even turn on his computer (until he is called upon to stop a Dr. Rocket's viral-networking world conquest plot through his Webspace page). Dictator Tot herself is absolute money: a bratty supergenius toddler, dressed in a fur-lined cape, tiara, and military commander's uniform, makes for a ridiculous visual image, and her lines are loaded with comic irony.

The humor here is all about contrasts. We have such preposterous, surreal moments as a fearsome megalomaniac supervillain snuggling with her big-person friend and a warden who still suffers from her psychological torture. One note: a few characters' Webspace pages play a role in the chapter's plotline, and at the end of the chapter, there are more Webspace pages for various super-figures. Some of them are laughworthy, notably those for Swifty and Jerry, but the gag gets drawn out well after its humor has been depleted. Fortunately, though, the pages come at the end of the chapter, so a reader who finds herself bored can skip ahead to the next chapter with no real loss.

Although it's largely plot-driven, the characterization becomes stronger in this chapter. In previous chapters, the Fogeys largely manifested their character by having different ways of being old. Captain Spectacular's memories and stories from his super-past are fitting for a retired hero, but this chapter further differentiates the cast in ways that transcend their age. You get the impression that Spy Gal has always been savvy and competent, and Jerry has always been overeager and a bit of a dork.

Conclusion

At this point, I'm looking forward to reading the next chapter of Superfogeys--to the point where part of me feels like reviewing it chapter-by-chapter is slowing me down. The bottom line is: if you're looking for a humorous twist on the superhero genre, or if you just like good character-driven humor in general, Superfogeys is well worth your time.

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)

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!

Jump Leads, Chapter Five

Welcome back to another Jump Leads chapter review! The Jump Leads creative team finished Chapter Five several weeks ago, and now that I've read through it, I'm here to give you the lowdown. If you're not up to speed on Jump Leads, I do recommend reading through from the very beginning--it's a good comic. Fortunately, Jump Leads chapters are fairly self-contained and semi-episodic in nature (at least so far!), so if you want to plunge right in with Chapter Five, it should be easy enough to get your bearings.

The chapter begins with a fresh change of scenery. Llew and Meaney land their jumpship in a tropical forest, which provides a nice visual change from the steely blues and metallic interiors of previous dimensions, at least for the first half of this issue. The jungle is detailed and lushly rendered--no surprise there, as Jump Leads has showcased strong artwork from day one. Run-ins with yellow-suited patrolmen quickly reveal that Llew and Meaney are not alone on this tropical island: far from it.

This chapter introduces a villain to the comic. General Donald Gray is a one-time conqueror of the world who returned political rule to its original holders when he grew bored of his newfound power. Now, like a martial artist who lives for the thrill of the fight, he develops elaborate schemes while giving himself deliberate handicaps, and foiling his plans has become a training exercise for field agents. Gray is a truly bizarre villain. Time after time, his character pokes fun at sci-fi concepts and conventions by parodying and subverting them:

General Gray, with his cliche-laden plans straight out of a James Bond film, appears rather eccentric and harmless. Right?

Until he gets his hands on jumpship technology, that is. With the realization that there is an entire multiverse out there waiting to be conquered, Gray decides to get back in the game. Cue the obligatory ominous music: dun dun dunn!

Jump Leads is as much a comedy as an adventure series, and even with the threat of a new villain, this chapter maintains a humorous tone. Llew gets his turn with the shoulder-angels, and while the "manifested crisis of conscience" trope is a bit played-out, here it's executed with enough wit to keep it entertaining. The script delivers several clever lines, such as Meaney's parting threat in the last four panels of this page, and the absurd contrivances by which our protagonists escape capture had me busting a gut more than once. General Gray is a truly ludicrous villain, but by the end of the chapter, we're ready to take him at least as seriously as we take Meaney and Llewellyn.

This chapter is one of the strongest so far, in terms of the potential it opens up for the comic series: in my estimation, rivaled only by Chapter Three. The Jump Leads creative team is already bringing out Chapter Six, so I'm eager to see where they take things from here. At this point, I don't think you need to be told--I'm sold.

Interview: Brandon Bolt (Nobody Scores!)

Brandon Bolt draws things. He draws things as a professional illustrator, which makes him money, and he also draws the webcomic Nobody Scores, which makes him stay up all night drawing. Updated roughly 2.37 times a week, Nobody Scores delivers long-form tales of spectacular failure, where continuity is optional and pain is mandatory. Its four main characters--arch-capitalist marketing exec Sara, calamity-prone crazy chick Jane, starving artist Beans, and beleaguered intellectual Raoul--suffer each other's company as they share living space, enduring such disasters as time travel, nanorobots, and the typical workday. It's an anarchic, cynical celebration of everything that could possibly go wrong, and it brings the fun.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Brandon Bolt at a computer some 2,000 miles from Brandon Bolt and interviewing him over email. What follows is the uncensored entirety of our conversation. The insights contained therein will shake the very foundations of your world.

JF: So, "Brandon Bolt" is a pretty awesome name. You really lucked out.

BB: I always thought it was pretty weird myself. I blame it for my alienation from humanity.

JF: (awkward silence)

So I guess we should probably talk about the comic now!

Nobody Scores is a skillfully-executed comic, but the concept is a hard sell--its humor is dark, cynical, and almost aggressively cringe-inducing. How do you find a balance between making a comic that will pay you back monetarily for what you put into it and doing what you want to do as an artist?

BB: I hear if you tape layers of newspaper between pieces of cardboard they're warmer when it gets below freezing.

Yeah--don't ask me. I try to draw stuff that doesn't bore me. Difficulty level: I am super bored. There isn't any other consideration. I am not at any level trying to market it to target audiences or anything like that. I don't even know what target audiences look like. There is no balance. If I get money, that is nice.

Because focusing on exploring the art is the only real point... If you're just going to stitch together another Snuffy Smith to plague the world for another 75 years, what's the point? Better to make it with something that's worthwhile--your chances aren't very good anyway. That's my attitude.

JF: But you do have systems in place that allow for monetary support. You sell adspace and posters; you have a discreetly-placed Paypal donation button in your sidebar.

BB: Well that is currently pizza money. Sadly! But pizzas are delicious.

JF: Since this past summer, you've abandoned straight-up infinite canvas for fixed page divisions in your comic. So you're at least making some formalistic concessions in order to facilitate a print collection. By the way, how's the fixed-page-size thing going for you?

BB: I haven't totally abandoned infinite canvas, but there is behind-the-scenes work on books and I thought I'd make it marginally easier on myself.

I am cursed however. All formats are a headache. I still have an easier time making infinite-canvas comics "work", I think, but then I give myself an infinite amount of drawing rope with which to hang myself. I've developed a theory that every person is allotted a set number of allnighters in their lifetimes. I think I may have three left. Really, I had a startling number of allnighters in me, it turned out.

So, I don't really like fixed page sizes--although I've been able to keep using many of the infinite-canvas techniques I was using before, and also, I'd kind of run out of infinite-canvas tricks to try--but limits on the amount of drawing help keep me from dying and that's real nice.

JF: On the topic of marketability...what do you think of the webcomics business model, in terms of cartoonists giving away their art for free? Do you think that it's more viable or less for career cartoonists than going a more traditional route?

BB: It is currently the least stupid of a variety of terribly stupid options, if you want to get exposure. Newspapers keep shrinking; the alt-comics press is in its usual state of woe, but keeps plugging along. Graphic novels do have the occasional breakout hit, so there's that. Webcomics are... well, they aren't actually much less static than other types of comics--the internet generates inertia--but it is possible to build an audience if you first build a comic. The competition is still not as stiff in webcomics, if you're talking raw quality. The obstacles are mainly social. You need to have high-traffic friends slash appreciators to send people your way. As for business models, I don't really have one. Nobody Scores! is a dick to merchandise because it's in such an unorthodox format. I am working on books but I don't know how exactly that will go at this point. The subsidiary t-shirts-and-tchochkes approach seems to work for some people. I am sort of interested in how Assetbar turns out, but my regular comic takes enough time as it is, and if I have to do premium content too, my shit will explode. That is, it will explode everywhere it exists and the Portland sewer management peoples are in for a fun night and I will be a big ol' mess as well.

JF: So...you're an art guy. You have a fine arts degree, and you have a career as a cartoon illustrator. I guess these things kind of come together in things like "Nobody Scores vs. Fine Art." How do you think your background has prepared you for Nobody Scores?

BB: Doing Nobody Scores! is a betrayal of everything my education stood for and I live in fear of the day someone from college stumbles upon my cartoon and puts two and two together.

I went to a liberal arts college, and the culturally omnivorous nature of Nobody Scores! is a manifestation of my liberal-arts-geek nature, and you are this far away from me telling everybody my SAT score and nobody wants that.

It is pretty nice to be able to draw different things intelligibly and that is due to my background, I guess. Also everything you need to learn about color you learn in the first semester of art class; it just may be a while before you actually pay attention to it.

JF: SAT scores are best left back in high school. I had better change the subject quick here.

Let's talk about your characters. They're deeply flawed human beings, but it strikes me that their flaws are just strengths taken to excess. Sara's ambitious and driven, Jane approaches life with reckless enthusiasm, Beans actually cares about things, and Raoul is too smart for his own good. Am I just looking at these people too optimistically, or do they really have some redeeming qualities to them?

BB: No, sure, they do. Basically, every engaging comedic character does things we all want to do, somewhere inside our psyches: we want to get top scores on all the globally recognized indicators of success (Sara), crush those who would stand in our way (Sara), do whatever we want whenever we want (Jane), care a lot (Beans), pursue our dreams no matter how abstruse (Beans), be the smartest guy in the room (Raoul) and scorn everybody else (Raoul). At least I imagine we do. This is where unsympathetic characters can insert their hooks into you, if you let them.

So, good sides in a nutshell: Sara is productive and responsible (at least at basic day-to-day tasks), Jane is fun to be around, Beans won't betray you (unless you've really goaded him into it), and Raoul is knowledgeable, even expert in a variety of academic spheres.

The primary flaw of all of them, really, is self-centeredness and callousness, which manifests itself in different ways, depending on the character.

JF: It's interesting how often the characters' selfishness actively contributes to a given comic's catastrophe. Their own selfishness ironically undermines the pursuit of their own aims and ambitions.

BB: The tragic flaw! Sometimes I do that. But fate is a fickle beast in Nobody Scores! and its misfortunes do not hew strictly to dramatic conventions. Sometimes, ridiculous shit just happens despite the characters' best-laid plans.

JF: In another interview, you noted that you try not to let any one character's perspective become too privileged. Is there any of the cast that you struggle to maintain that balance with?

BB: The machine of the comic has three nodes; the fourth character, Raoul, sort of operates in orbit. Of the three central nodes, I have found that Sara and Jane are by far the stronger personalities and Beans tends to get overwhelmed. This is partially because Beans is softer overall, and partially because his sphere--artistic expression--doesn't generate as many plots as the others do. So I have to tell myself to push Beans out there more every now and then.

JF: I usually close out these interviews by asking the cartoonist to share a few of their favorite webcomics, but it occurs to me--if I do that, I am basically asking you to reduplicate your links page. You follow print comics fairly assiduously, so what are a few of your favorite print comics? What's a title or two that's worth shelling out money for?

BB: Well, I don't know that I've been following them assiduously these days, but...Lio is my favorite newspaper comic and there's a book. Two books! Also, in entirely different veins from Nobody Scores!, there is the work of Jason Lutes--I greatly recommend the two Berlin books that are out; Eric Shanower's Age of Bronze books, a cartoon retelling of the Iliad; and if I had to pick a print cartoonist I want all web cartoonists to read it's Kyle Baker.

JF: Thanks for all your responses, Brandon.

BB: I am always glad to respond to things! Well sometimes I prefer to stand inert but this is not one of those times.

Superfogeys, Chapter 2

(previously reviewed: Superfogeys Chapter 1)

Greetings once again, webcomics enthusiasts. For today's review, I've read through Chapter Two of Superfogeys and am prepared to give you the lowdown.

Chapter Two's plot, in a nutshell, is that the super-retirement home Valhalla hosts a bingo night, and the night's prize is a free healing courtesy of the super-healer known as "The Healer." The art remains simple but effective, essentially linework with coloring--but it does take a step up in complexity from Chapter One, and even goes the extra mile in spots. The writing is similarly efficient. The chapter had a decent handful of funny moments for me: I laughed out loud at an early strip's genuinely unexpected punchline, Dr. Rocket's general sociopathy, and super-sidekick Jerry's extended brain fart upon meeting The Healer. I'll admit to being a sucker for bad puns, but a joke involving the superhero Bingo Knight drags on perhaps a little too long. Space-pig urine is still an ongoing joke, still sophomoric. More successful is the ongoing joke of Captain Spectacular's pants.

There's more here than mere humor, however. Probably the most interesting element of the chapter is The Healer himself: a smart-mouthed kid with little respect for his elders. He's a bit of a jerk, too--his healing ability could ostensibly put an end to many of the Superfogeys' health problems, yet he holds his powers out as a prize for some randomly-selected retired hero. Interestingly, The Healer seems to have a measure of respect for Captain Spectacular, despite the "lame" story behind the Captain's paralyzed legs.

In Chapter One, Superfogeys creator Brock Heasley appeared to be getting his footing, and by the end of Chapter Two, he seems to have found it. The characters are established, the reader has been introduced to retirement-home director Dr. Klein, and a secret meeting between the Healer and an unseen figure hints at future developments. Events are beginning to unfold, and you get the sense that your investment in the comic is starting to pay off.

Animation Watch: Space-Time Condominium

An interesting aspect of webcomics is their ability to incorporate animation, audio, and other media into their strips. More often than not, of course, webcomics stick to the tried-and-true panels-on-a-page layouts of their print brethren--after all, correctly timing the animation with the reading experience can be tricky, and multimedia comics can easily become gimmicky or distract from the actual comic. That said, I do enjoy creative uses of a comic's web presentation, such as Sluggy Freelance's traditional "X Years of Nifty Darn Comics" annual animations, or this startlingly hilarious installment of Dr. McNinja, or when Starslip shattered its own site.

And tonight I want to bring to your attention another creative use of animation and sound in webcomics--courtesy of Space-Time Condominium, the bizarre webcomic about a man living in a luxury condo with four versions of himself from alternate universes. In the most recent story arc, the five Griffins are joined by a Griffin who is a cow, hailing from an alternate earth populated by talking animals.

Now, turn your attention to the most recent comic. Follow the onscreen instructions.

In my estimation, that's multimedia used to good effect. Coupled with the music, the animation adds an element of comedic timing that enhances the strip's humor. Plus, it evokes the ever-popular eighties music montage--which is especially appropriate in light of STC's ostensible conceit of being a cancelled eighties sitcom.

If you enjoyed it, don't forget that Space-Time Condominium updates Wednesdays. By the time you're reading this, there may very well be a new comic waiting for you! And if you've never read STC before, this is as good a time as any to start. It's one of the more unique comics I've read, and this is coming from a guy who reads comics about Irish ninja doctors and shovel beams.

Superfogeys, Chapter 1

My fellow webcomic blogger, Larry "El Santo" Cruz of The Webcomic Overlook, has a way of writing his review introductions. He comes in from an unexpected angle, relating an anecdote, or talking about "stranded in the universe" as a science-fiction plot trope, or beginning with a line like "One day, I will be reduced to a quivering neurotic heap in need of serious psychiatric help." It adds instant interest to the review, as you wonder what his introduction could possibly have to do with the comic up for review. And sometimes I try to mimic this approach, but other times I am not feeling quite so clever, so I'm just going to drop right into the review here. Today I'll be reviewing the first chapter of Brock Heasley's Superfogeys.

Superfogeys employs the familiar retired superhero trope as its premise: the characters are retired superheroes or villains with a career of super-powered adventure behind them. You'll see some familiar archetypes among the cast, some based directly off existing superheroes: the Superman, the Flash, the evil scientist, the sidekick, and the action girl. With a few humorous diversions, the basic story arc of the first chapter is that lecherous sleazeball villain Dr. Rocket tries to take advantage of Spy Gal, but his plan backfires--rather unpleasantly.

The "retired superheroes" premise would be an old, tired choice if it were played as straightforward parody. Fortunately, it's not. To be certain, there are jokes--some of the expected "dirty old superheroes" variety, and some not--but superhero parody isn't the name of the game. The characters are funny not because they're poking fun at tropes, but because they're humorous characters in their own right. Captain Spectacular's amiable acceptance of retired life puts a unique spin on the Superman archetype, as does sidekick Jerry's secret unrequited love for Spy Gal. In particular, Speedy most perfectly embodies the picture of a "superhero past his glory years." As his powers have dwindled, the world moves too slowly for him, so he's bitter and just wants to sleep all day. Also, there's a running gag with a "space pig" that's an amusing touch. There's humor, but there's enough spine and skeleton of characterization to hang the humor on.

The art is polished enough and decidedly competent, though not outstanding. Characters have strong outlines with a a touch of detail work, and coloration strikes an appropriate balance between bold and subdued. Cut-and-pasted elements are noticeable in parts, a flaw which the creator acknowledges and endeavors to correct as the chapter progresses. And the art recycling won't jump right out at you unless you're looking for it, so it's a forgivable offense. Overall, it's good artwork, and the balding Captain Spectacular's persistent Superman curl is a funny visual touch.

My only complaint with the humor is that off-color jokes are used a little too liberally--which isn't a moral complaint, as the off-color humor is no more offensive than, say, PVP or The Office, and I'm quite fond of The Office. But in Superfogeys #1, the lewd jokes often feel like a crutch-like substitute for real humor. Still, it's a minor complaint, and I get the impression that as the characters receive more development, it will be less of an issue in future chapters.

Overall? Superfogeys Chapter 1 is a not-too-shabby beginning for this tale of the supertired. It has the earmarks of a creator getting a feel for his own story, but it's still a promising start. And, at 28 strips, you can easily read through it in a few minutes and get a feel for whether this is your kind of comic. I'm looking forward to reading the second chapter and seeing how it develops.

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.

Jump Leads, Chapter Three (and Four)

Welcome back, everyone, for another Monday Tuesday night review of a chapter from Jump Leads--which, by the way, has jumped URLS from Soulgeek to its own independent site at jump-leads.com, rendering all the links from my previous reviews useless. Hooray! In all seriousness, though, the new site looks impressive. It's got a cohesive independent look, and incorporates all the helpful information and extras from the old site. Tonight's review brings us to Issue #3.

This issue follows the same dimension-of-the-week format of the previous two, with Llewellyn and Meaney navigating their jumpship to a brand-new alternate universe. This adventure opens right in the middle of an altercation with the locals, resulting in Llewellyn sustaining a painful injury. When our protagonists seek medical help, they run into what appears to be a familiar face, but is actually just the alternate-reality double of Meaney's girlfriend from his home universe. This leads Meaney to a crisis of conscience: follow the girlfriend lookalike, or stick with his friend and wait for Llew's surgery. Meanwhile, all is not as it seems in the operating room, as a twist in the medical procedure reveals our antagonists: body-stealing parasites that use the host's musculature and memories to their advantage. Before the mess gets resolved and Llew and Meaney can get on their way, there are a host of other twists that will keep you gripped and guessing.

In brief, it's a thoroughly entertaining self-contained plot that you can read through in maybe fifteen minutes. Meaney and Llewellyn still embody the familiar trope of the dumb nice guy and the witty cynic, but it's the way that they embody these tropes that makes it interesting. There are individualized quirks here and there, such as when Meaney's darker side comes to light, and it's pretty much just as light as the lighter side. Or when Llew delivers the following quip:


Yes: the writing is the same level of witty, humorous, slightly snarky adventure that you've come to expect if you've read this far through Jump Leads already.

The art is also what you've come to expect: sharp, stylized, dynamic artwork that goes the extra yard in technical details. The well-rendered technological elements and predominantly blue-and-silver color palette help to evoke and characterize the sci-fi metaverse that the protagonists travel through. Jump Leads artist JjAR sticks with his established style, which adds a consistent and professional feel to the work--unlike other webcomics, where you can see the artist's style developing over time. This isn't really a complaint, though. It's just to say that here, the artist started off strong. One especially nice touch is the rippled, distorted lettering to indicate Meaney's shivering and chattering teeth in this chilly scene. It works well with the atmospherics in that scene.

While I'm at it, I might as well review Issue #4, which is a humorously brief four-page dimensional hop wherein Llew and Meaney accidentally park their jumpship on a civilian's car. If you like Jump Leads, it's everything you like about Jump Leads in a tidy and amusing little package.

In short, these two installments of Jump Leads are well worth reading, especially for sci-fi enthusiasts and fans of quality artwork.

Jump Leads review: Issue #1
Jump Leads review: Issue #2

The Cure for the Common XKCD

XKCD needs no introduction. It's the first Google search result for "webcomic," and its only real contender in terms of stick-figure-comic popularity is Cyanide and Happiness. You certainly already know about it, and friends who don't read webcomics will send you links to strips they liked over email.

I don't read XKCD regularly anymore, though. It's still clever, and I still enjoy it when I read it. But despite its math-nerd relationship humor and insightful musings, it's not a terribly deep comic. And I miss its experimentation: the experimentation with contrasting art styles, with the fourth wall, with parody (and that A Softer World parody is spot-on, right down to the art and the alt-text). Between its present simplistic art and lack of ongoing plot/complex characters, if I did read XKCD regularly, it would fill the "quick read" category, and my quick-read needs are currently met by The Book of Biff and Thinkin' Lincoln.

XKCD is certainly not a bad comic, and I'd absolutely agree that it's good at what it does. But there are a few comics out there that, in my estimation, do the same things that XKCD does, but better. Let me share some of them with you.

Piled Higher and Deeper
Jorge Cham's Piled Higher and Deeper--PHD--is a little comic about getting your doctorate, and it has a number of things in common with XKCD. They both feature nerdy scientific charts. They both revel in academic esoterica. But there are two things PHD has that XKCD doesn't: sharp, colorful art, and a diverse cast of characters who learn and grow through their experiences of enduring higher-education bullcrap. You've got engineering nerd and chocoholic Cecilia, student activist Tajel, expert procrastinator Mike Slackenerny, and the strip's unnamed protagonist. PHD is smart, funny, and surprisingly relatable--I enjoy it, and I'm not even in grad school.

Rock, Paper, Cynic
Ever wish XKCD weren't so darn optimistic? Then Rock Paper Cynic is the comic for you. The creator, Peter Chiykowski, openly acknowledges a creative debt to XKCD, but unlike his inspiration, he goes for the throat with unmatched relentlessness. From morbid twists, to nerdy cynicism, to raw angry vulnerability, RPC delivers a caustic and critical edge. It's got your intellectual esoterica, and it's even got its own twisted brand of optimism.
It's creatively acerbic, and it updates daily. Decidedly not for the childrens, though--it can get pretty dark in there.

Chainsawsuit
So you like quick gags, few recurring characters with zero character development, and sketchy black-and-white art? Check out Chainsawsuit. Granted, it's not as intellectual as XKCD, but it's still darn funny. It specializes in unexpected twist endings, abject silliness, and juvenile gross-out humor--sometimes all three at once. In my opinion, Chainsawsuit shines hardest when it's parodying: as with Disastorm, the extended disaster-movie satire. Chainsawsuit even parodies XKCD!

To conclude: do you read XKCD regularly? If so, good. Keep on reading it. But if you like XKCD, chances are you'll also like these comics, so give 'em a look. They're good stuff.

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!

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.

Funny Of The Week!

Hi Everybody!

Peter Metzger here with a new feature of TWIW, tentatively called "Peter's Pick(s) of the Past... Week." Any suggestions for improvements on the name will be read with enthusiasm. I'll be posting these on a fairly regular basis, usually on Friday night sometime but probably occasionally on Saturday. The focus will be on my favorite funny strip (or storyline) of the week, but in cases where I just can't help myself, I'll likely post a few.

So, enough with the introduction, let's get started! I found this week's Real Life Comics storyline to be highly entertaining, and I especially liked Greg's photo evidence of his wife's 'Real Life' bento skills (see the blog post that goes with Thursday's comic).

I was going to stop with that, but as you can see, I didn't. Friday's Penny Arcade strip took me by surprise and made me ell-oh-ell! (yeah, ok, sorry for that.)

In closing, I've also enjoyed all of this month's Toothpaste For Dinner comics... not bad for a comic that's usually hit-and-miss for me!

Don't forget to post your comments about a) a better name for this feature, b) thoughts on the comics I've posted, and 3) comics YOU found funny!

See you next week! (figuratively, of course)
-Peter

P.S. Don't forget about this week's actual TWIW review-style post!

Homestar Runner Releases New "HREmails"

Well, as noted previously, there will be a comic review up here sometime in the next two days. Meanwhile, if you're looking to get your fix of new funny, the animated webcartoon Homestar Runner has released two new "Homestar Runner Emails" over the past week. That's right--after a long email silence since Strong Bad Email 200, H*R has bounced back with emails answered by its titular armless protagonist. You can check out HRemail 62 (?!) and HREmail 2000 (!?!) over at homestarrunner.com. Are they funny? Perhaps not as funny as SBEmails, in my humble opinion, but they have their moments. Check them out, drop a comment, and let us all know what you think.

Related Post: The TWIW Top Ten Strong Bad Emails

Discoveries from the Internet: Sheldon Audio Tour, and More Dresden Codak

Did you know that Sheldon has an audio tour? You may already know--I discovered it just yesterday while browsing the net. If you click the above link (also accessible from Sheldon's "NEW HERE?" page), it will give you a guided audio tour of the Sheldon site. It makes a great introduction if you've never read Sheldon before, and even if you're already familiar with the comic, Dave Kellett gives a really funny audio tour. If you've got ten minutes to spare, I recommend it.

Does anyone else know of a webcomic with an audio tour? This thing is the first of its kind I've seen.

Anyway, another quick item of news is that Dresden Codak has finished the second half of the Advanced Dungeons and Discourse comic. The art continues to be spectacular (no surprise there), and one thing I particularly liked about the second half is that Kimiko doesn't take center stage. In the first D&Dis, she severely upstaged her companions, the beginning of a Mary-Sue complex that lasted largely throughout the Hob storyline. In the newest comic, however, everyone gets a chance to shine, and I think it works really well.

Bengo, over at The Floating Lightbulb, is particularly critical of webcomics that substitute pop culture references for genuine humor, and I've wondered more than once whether Dresden Codak's "Dungeons and Discourse" comics don't fall victim to this tendency, merely substituting esoteric philosophical references for pop culture. Sure, it's amusing the first time to see philosophies recontextualized as a tabletop RPG, but there's only so much riffing you can do on that theme before it ceases to be creative. However, I do think the latest D&Dis comic succeeds as a comic. All the references serve as an extended build-up for the final joke, which enhances its humor, and the joke is character-based. It's genuinely funny, and it's good art.

What's next for Dresden Codak? Only time will tell. I've got my fingers crossed for innovation.