Nicholas Ivan Ladendorf gets Political

This may be of interest to the politically-minded among you: here we have a politician who is also a cartoonist. Progressive candidate Nicholas Ivan Ladendorf is running for the house seat in Missouri's 7th district, and he's chosen to communicate his platform in the form of several comics displayed on his website. The art is sharp, simple and stylized green-on-white, and it makes good use of iconic imagery to get its point across. It's interesting to see online comics put to political use, so if that sounds like it'd be of interest to you, pay Ladendorf's site a visit and find out what he's all about.

Here's the press release:

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For immediate release

Webcartoonist and activist Nicholas Ivan Ladendorf puts his wit against big party dollars

Nicholas Ivan Ladendorf isn't your typical comic book artist. "I'm using Op-Ed style comics to reach voters," explains Ladendorf who is running as a Progressive in the race for the house seat for Missouri's 7th district. The medium allows Ladendorf to be more playful with his message, and he is having fun with it. In the introduction of his campaign site, www.NILvsDCbs.com, the candidate is wearing a mouseketeer hat and his icon for discussing gun control is an M-16 on a leash with spiked collar.

Even with this 'edu-taining' approach the candidate takes on some serious topics such as abortion and abolishing the federal reserve. Ladendorf is quick to point out "The site will continue to grow with the campaign. I have more to say and I'll draw on this reservoir of additional issues as soon as the artist in me deems them presentable."

Ladendorf has his work cut out for him. The Progressive Party isn't as recognizable as the major parties and has the additional restriction of not being able to accept donations from special interest. Ladendorf will use the comedy circuit and the internet with a strong message to level the playing field. "I'm planning on hitting a lot of open mics until momentum takes over and I can speak at bigger venues. I haven't done a lot of public speaking but I predict my town hall meetings are going to be reminiscent of the 'A Night with Kevin Smith' series."

Max vs. Max, a new strip from Wes Molebash

Merry Christmas, everyone. For Christmas, I wish to give you a gift: the gift of information.

Specifically, I wish to inform you of Wes Molebash's latest comic offering, Max vs. Max, a strip about being your own worst enemy. The main character Max grapples with faith, insecurity, and guilt feelings in the wake of his recent divorce, and with help from friends and family, he tries to make sense of his life.

So far, the strip's off to a strong start; it's open, honest, and human, and it plunges right in with Max and his friend Reese discussing getting back in the dating game. That segues naturally into a story arc in which Max dreams about God showing up in his bed. Currently, the strip has begun a third story arc about visiting family for Christmas, and apparently Max's mom makes a mean meatloaf.

I'm glad to see Wes Molebash making comics again. He's refreshingly personal in his cartooning, and his characters are real people with real flaws. You can't help but root for them, though, because you can see something of yourself in them. Wes also brings a refreshing approach to faith in his comics that I find sadly lacking in the webcomics scene at large.

I certainly missed Wes' comics after he ended You'll Have That, and I missed them again after he put Myron and Charlie on hold to take a break from cartooning. It's good to see him back in the saddle. And you've got to love a comic whose underlying theology allows for a God who goes for coffee at 1 in the morning.

I may be giving you a Christmas present right now, but Wes Molebash gives you a present every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and it's pretty awesome. Give his new comic a look--I bet you'll enjoy it.

Life, the Universe, and Webcomics

Hi, everyone. Today I've got a couple of reflections on comics to share, and an announcement to make. I was reading through Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics the other day, the section where he talks about the universal relatability of a simplified human face rather than a detailed one. And I've been thinking a bit about relatability in comics in general.

Why do we like comics in the first place? I think it's because on some level, they reflect the realities of our own lives. Yes, they often contain robots and wizards and other unreal things too, but I don't think any of us would read about the adventures of Spider-Man or Dr. McNinja if we couldn't relate to how they deal with highly stressful situations through wit and humor. Nevermind that their stressful situations involve bizarre mutated supervillains and conflicts resulting in massive property damage! The humor-as-a-coping-mechanism schtick is something we can grab onto, and we do: because on some level, that's us.

Comics are about life. In comics, no matter the medium, you will find people working hard to make ends meet, people who hate their jobs, people who love their jobs, people messing up their interpersonal relationships, good friends, loves lost and won, conflict, challenges, and hope for the future. In comics, there are characters doing the exact same things you are doing--just doing them in space, or in a sparsely-populated void of absurdity, or with the disembodied heads of historical figures, or maybe just failing at doing them with hilarious results. Comics take real life and look at it through a funhouse mirror--but in doing so, they affirm the value of real life.

Comics have to be about something, you know? Something besides just comics. And on some level, comics are about you and me.

And recently, I've been reminded--in some ways through comics!--that I need to pay less attention to comics, and pay more attention to just living my life.

The holiday season is coming up. I'm gonna be visiting relatives, doing Christmas shopping, and getting a lot of things together. Also, I'll be pretty busy at my job--the business of liftgate and snowplow parts is highly seasonal, and things pick up this time of year. And then there's the webcomics stuff I'm already doing: I've been chosen as a judge for The Webcomic List's TWCL Awards 2009, and there's the work I do at the Multiplex Store. Couple that with the racquetball, running, and role-playing stuff that constitutes me having a life, and yeah, there's a lot going on.

So, TWIW is going on holiday hiatus until the new year. Of course, I'll still be reading comics and talking about comics, and I may even drop a post or two here--because, as you all know, I can't shut up about comics. But this holiday season, I want to pay attention to my whole life, not just the "comics" part.

I'll get back to posting regularly in this blog after New Years--sometime between the 1st of January and the 8th. As I said before, I may even drop a couple of posts between now and then too. If you want to stay up to speed on TWIW, there are a number of ways to keep yourself informed: via Twitter or TWIW's RSS feed. If you want, you can even shoot an email to DeathbyChiasmus -at- gmail -dot- com requesting a notification, and when I make the first post of the new year, I'll email you right back.

Today is my brother's birthday. Today he turns 25. I'm not sure what we're doing to celebrate, but I know it'll be fun.

I'll see you back here in 2010. Keep on reading good comics, and don't forget to live your life.

Why Web?

As you may have noticed from my Twitter feed or from the current review request poll, I recently bought copies of Deadpool Classic #1 and #2. Also, I've been picking up graphic novels from the library, such as Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis and K. Thor Jensen's Red Eye Black Eye.

I've had print comics on the brain recently, and I've gotten to thinking: creating a print comic is an involved process, from the creation to the printing to the distribution and promotion. It costs to create a physical, tangible comic--an investment of both time and effort. Creators and publishers alike want to ensure a good return on their investment; they make an effort to avoid bad ideas and to develop good ideas through the editorial process. My Deadpool comics credit a massive creative team in each issue, from directors to writers to letterers to inkers and colorists. Each person brings his own unique talents to the project, along with a silly nickname. But the silly nickname is beside the point.

Webcomics, on the other hand, don't have such an entry bar. (Again, I'm talking about quality, not the silly nicknames.) The low cost of online distribution allows anyone to publish his comics to a site or blog with very little effort. Further, strips can exist on the web that would never get past the editorial process--crude and sketchy trainwrecks drawn in MS Paint, or story-based comics with shoddy characterization and no attention to plot. The upshot of all this is that any comic committed to print will possess a bare minimum of quality that the average webcomic has no compulsion to match, which leads us to the question:

If print comics tend to be better--then why web?

Why--despite my dabbling in Deadpool and "autobiographic novels"--do I predominantly turn to the internet for my comic fix? The simple answer is that I'm a cheapskate. The guy who writes this blog is addicted to clipping restaurant coupons and buys his fish sticks in bulk. But there's a deeper reason beyond mere "economy of reading."

The 'net may have no minimum quality bar, but 'net innovates. There are comics that work on the web that you simply can't find elsewhere. A static-art comic in which dinosaurs discuss philosophical and social issues while a T-Rex is locked in a perpetual cycle of stomping a log cabin? Good luck selling that one to the syndicates! Penny Arcade's MA-rated violence and obscenity would bar them from all but the most lenient publications (even gaming magazines), but their caustic satire and intolerance for crap games brings much-needed accountability to the gaming industry, along with the inspired weirdness of Twisp and Catsby and The Song of the Sorcelator. Similarly, Nobody Scores' R-rated hijinks would be impossibly-pressed to find a home in print, and even if they did, their cynical and anarchic energy could not be adequately contained in anything but infinite canvas. And where else could you find an affectionate parody of superhero comics whose titular character is both a licensed medical practitioner and a ninja?

And the technical proficiency of Dr. McNinja's creative team illustrate the principle: while there is no minimum quality requirement for online publication, neither is there a maximum. There's nothing keeping a talented and hardworking cartoonist from producing comics just as good as those of his print brethren.

I read webcomics because I'm a cheapskate, certainly. But I also read them because I like good comics--and you can't find this level of innovation anywhere else.

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!

Review: Rice Boy

It's been a long time in coming, but here it is: the Rice Boy review. It's a rather daunting task, reviewing a work like this, because Rice Boy is a different strain of webcomic. It tells a complete and self-contained story, to begin with; it's evident that comic creator Evan Dahm put a lot of planning into the storyline, from beginning to end, even as a lot of other webcartoonists are content to dive in and see where their comic takes them. And Rice Boy's story is epic: a full 439 pages.

So what's the story about? A diminutive armless person named Rice Boy, who looks sort of like a Fisher-Price toy. A machine man, known as "The One Electronic" or "T-O-E," informs Rice Boy that he is a possible "fulfiller" of an ancient prophecy. Despite his doubts, Rice Boy decides to set off and "give the prophecy a shot," so to speak. As T-O-E finds himself enlisting the help of his brethren the machine men, and Rice Boy journeys through such trying realms as Lonely Land and Underside, they encounter various adversaries. In pursuit are the hard-drinking, one-eyed mercenary Golgo (who has some past ties to T-O-E), and the ruthless King Spatch II, leader of a nation of militaristic xenophobic frogs. The story builds to a climax as all the peoples of Rice Boy's peculiar world take sides, invested in the ultimate success or failure of his undertaking.

Rice Boy's world is a strange one. It is populated by a variety of strange entities, not human but possessing very human personalities: not humans but still people. "Magical" or otherworldly phenomena are accepted as normal, and surreal Seussian landscapes and cities make up the native environment. The whole thing is drawn in a colorful style, simple but fairly detailed, which helps convey the unique character of the world. One gets the sense that one could live in the Rice Boy universe: that time and place run just as deep here as in our own history, as in the spaces we ourselves inhabit. One could live here.

Rice Boy's story is just as rich thematically as its world is rich in texture; its surreal inhabitants grapple with the same weighty and human issues that we all do, which helps to ground the comic. Religion, religious authority, uncertainty and faith are all a part of the world. T-O-E has met with several failures and false starts on his "mission from God" to find a fulfiller, Rice Boy himself wonders if the prophecy is not true, and T-O-E openly admits, "The whole business with God is pretty ambiguous." T-O-E speaks with conviction of the Creator of his disc-shaped world, but elsewhere confesses the distance and vagueness of the deity he serves. He openly admits a belief in a "god of the gaps." As if formulating an Agnostic's Creed, he declares, "My god is what I don't know." The themes of uncertainty resonated strongly with me, and even as a Christian, I could identify with T-O-E's dubiety over his distant deity. And I think we all can identify: whatever answers we've come by, at some point we've all had to admit some uncertainty on metaphysical matters.

Rice Boy also deals with self-doubt and self-confidence. Its titular character, as noted before, approaches the prophecy with reservation, a handful of "maybes," and little conviction that a small person like himself could restore order to his world. On the other hand, as a result of T-O-E's (incorrect) pronouncement that the first King Spatch was the fulfiller, Spatch II is convinced that he can do no wrong as a successor-fulfiller, and that his destiny is to conquer all lesser kingdoms in the name of the prophecy. T-O-E grapples with all of his past incorrect pronouncements, the false fulfillers that he was certain were the real thing. The tale's protagonists have to come to terms with themselves, and it subtly suggests that their self-questioning and realistic self-appraisal perhaps better qualify them to be heroes.

Even as the kingdom of Spatch, in Evan Dahm's words, "satirizes the bad bits of Christianity" [*], Rice Boy simultaneously echoes the paradoxical idea of "strength in weakness" found in religion. Rice Boy and T-O-E are unlikely heroes, who do not save the world through external force, nor even through force of will, but in spite of--perhaps even through--the hesitancy of their convictions. When thinking of "power through weakness" as it plays out in Rice Boy, I can't help recalling the Christian idea that Jesus Christ could save the world through death, suffering, and the ignominy of crucifixion.

Death, and death cheated, are also common themes here: the fulfiller must die in order to fulfill the prophecy, and T-O-E is the last standing member of a three-man cadre who were given immortality as long as they continued to search for the fulfiller. Later, T-O-E receives a mortal wound with a poisoned blade and is living on borrowed time, and more than once he is left for dead only to return. All of this is to say that Dahm, in creating this, clearly had his finger on the pulse of myth and has created a highly evocative story.

And this is as much T-O-E's story as Rice Boy's. In his choice of Rice Boy for a potential fulfiller, T-O-E apparently attempts to find redemption for his previous incorrect selections, for the tyranny that Spatch II has wrought. His travels are as much a focus of the narrative as Rice Boy's, and in reuniting with the machine men that he once left, he must return to his past (mistakes and all) before facing the future. Additionally, with an unforeseen twist at the end, T-O-E plays his role in the final conflict, and the story truly becomes as much his as Rice Boy's. It's a moment imbued with significance, and I won't give it away.

In short, Rice Boy is good, and if you enjoy a large, well-told story, you will enjoy reading it. There's a lot to talk about in this comic, and I've only touched on a bit of it. Also, Evan Dahm continues to tell stories set in the same world as Rice Boy, with his regularly-updating Order of Tales. Visit his website and read his comics--I fully expect that the visit will be worth your time.

"Watchmen in Webcomics" Poll Results

(links to the entrants available here)

Well, you all weighed in, and there are the results. PVP easily carried the day with its "Ombudsmen" take-off, and Unwinder's Tall Watchmen Comic also showed a reasonable following. There was no clear leader among the other entrants, although I do think Thinkin' Lincoln's contribution was particularly notable for its hilarious mouseover alt-text. But anyway.

So. I saw The Watchmen on Monday. What did I think of it? Overall, it was a basically faithful adaptation of the comic, at least in the discrete elements. All the characters are there, well-acted and faithful to their comic personalities. The plot was true enough, and comprehensible to outsiders, at least those willing to put forth a little effort to follow it. But I couldn't help but feel that the movie missed the forest for the trees.

Because it's a superhero movie, an R-rated superhero movie, and it revels in scenes of stylized sex and violence. To me, a key part of The Watchmen is how it calls into question the role of the superhero in dispensing justice. It asks what happens when flawed human beings put on the mask and undertake their own personal campaign against crime. Rorschach, with his unwavering commitment to skewed ideals. The Comedian's brutal cynicism. Ozymandias' sacrifice of "millions to save billions." Somehow, some of that gets lost in the movie. Most notably, Rorschach is portrayed as a badass hero rather than a disturbed sociopath, though there are other examples. At the end of the day, there are few people that I could actually recommend this movie to, just because it's so dark, and pointlessly so.

So, that's my take. Did you see Watchmen? What did you think? Drop a comment, or post a link to your review.

I Read Webcomics Religiously

So, what's up in webcomics this week? Religion.

(There are some other things that are up in webcomics this week, like the election results, but frankly I am pretty tired of politics, and this blog is nothing if not biased. I don't even read Octopus Pie regularly, what the crap kind of webcomic enthusiast am I. But anyway. Religion.)

This week marks the long-awaited return of Tyler Page's Nothing Better, a serial tale of two reluctant college roommates with a lot to learn from each other. Pretty much the instant I discovered it, NB became firmly cemented in my "comics I can't get enough of" list: it regularly delves into issues of religion, life, and meaning that most other webcomics would treat with an innocuous quip, and what's more, it manages to be thoughtful and sympathetic in its treatment of its characters' deeper convictions. This past Wednesday, the first page of Chapter 13 dropped readers into the middle of what I can only guess is a weird dream for Kat, unless the roof actually did come off their dorm in the middle of the night. I'm interested to see where this goes.

Page is also beginning a daily feature, Page-a-Day, for those of us for whom one or two weekly pages of Nothing Better is not enough. Woot!

I also made a new discovery this week: Evangeline. Originally debuting as a print comic during the 80s, Evangeline chronicles the adventures of a nun who tackles missions for the Vatican in the 23rd century. The creators were dissatisfied with the simplistic, "nun-and-gun" turn the original storyline took, so they are rebooting it for the web, with the first three chapters as the base. On their site's About page, Chuck Dixon & Judith Hunt state, "We...wanted to do a fun-to-read comic with some serious thought behind it."

The art is solid, and definitely reflects the 80s comic-book ethos; you can tell it's from the same period as Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns and The Watchmen. So far, the story looks like it may tackle the theme of how personal faith can survive and persist in the face of religious corruption. We'll see. In the meantime, it's updating with a page every weekday, so check it out.

More "restarts" news: on Monday, You'll Have That creator Wes Molebash announced that he will be concluding his comic on Friday, January 2nd, 2009. This is sort of sad news, as Wes will be wrapping up his comic's loose ends and bringing everything to a conclusion, but he also promises: "In February of ‘09 I’ll be launching a new comic feature here at this site." I'll miss YHT, but I'll also be glad to see what new project Wes has in store.

One thing I appreciate about Wes' work in YHT is the subtlety with which he addresses religion. One can infer from certain comics that focal couple Katie and Andy are Christians, but the strip is never too overt about it. The two never beat their friends and acquaintances over the head with religion; instead, they simply try to live and love in a manner consistent with their faith. Wes himself is a confessing Christian, and if Angie Kurokami from Multiplex is an example from a non-christian's perspective of a Christian who's unobtrusive about her faith yet takes it seriously, then Andy is the same, but from a believer's view. The parallel just now struck me, and I find it kind of interesting.

I'd explore it in greater depth, but I have a headache from searching through the YHT archives on my slow-as-Christmas internet connection, and my brother and I are going to eat lasagna and watch some Heroes this evening. So, that's a thought for another day--or perhaps left as an exercise for the reader.

So, that's all the religion-in-webcomics news this week (unless you've got something to mention in the comments, which is of course always welcome!). A few quick shots of funny, and we'll call it a wrap.

• The most recent Boxer Hockey is a hilarious reminder of the value of voting, and one of the political comic strips that I still find funny after election overload


• Nobody Scores! wraps up its Martial Arts Death Tournament storyline (which begins here) and prepares for new adventures in catastrophe


• Real Life similarly draws its current storyline to a close and prepares for new adventures in Greg and Liz moving back to California

So that's that. Be sure and tune in sometime this weekend, when Ari Collins will deliver a post as well. No, really.

Interview: Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex

Multiplex is a digitally-illustrated webcomic about the employees of the Multiplex 10 Cinemas. It updates at least twice a week--often more--and much like its ensemble cast, it brings a little of everything to the table, with equal doses of movie commentary, workplace humor, and teen drama. And truthfully, what really sells me on Multiplex is the characters. You can stop in every so often and get your movie humor fix, but if you keep visiting this theater for long enough, you'll really get to know the employees. There's Jason, the perennially-grumpy movie snob; Kurt, the sharp-witted prankster with just enough responsibility to keep things together; bookworm Becky, who is a loyal friend once you get past her shyness; and a host of others. Seriously, I could go on--but the purpose of this entry isn't to reduplicate the cast page.

Multiplex creator Gordon McAlpin agreed to have an email interview with me, so I shot him a few questions and he fired some answers right back. Gordon's a fun guy, and he's also very professional about his comic, so I was eager to hear his thoughts on Multiplex, the webcomic universe, and everything.

JF: First, as much for my own curiosity as anything: it’s no secret that you originally envisioned Multiplex in animated-short format. Any chance we’ll be seeing Multiplex-related animation in the future, not-too-distant or otherwise?

GM: I hope so. But since no animation studios are coming up to me with offers, I’ll have to do it myself (or mostly myself), and I barely have the time to keep up with the updates, let alone teach myself Flash. Long-time readers know I’m about six months behind on the ebooks (and counting), which affects the print collection, too, and that should really be my priority.

JF: Your other major comic undertaking, Stripped Books, was hand-drawn—and recently we’ve seen hand-drawn Multiplex bonus sketches and even some hand-drawn strips. What motivated your initial decision to draw Multiplex digitally rather than by hand? Do you have a preference for either approach?

GM: I did Multiplex digitally because I wanted to build up a library of vector shapes for an animated version of Multiplex. I can basically take what I’ve drawn for the strip and paste it into Flash now, and I just need to animate it and add sound and all that — which is still a lot more complicated than it might sound.

I liked the idea that Multiplex, being about movies, is more visually evocative of animation than comics; I lay things out more or less like frames of a movie and do the panel breakdowns pretty rigidly, to emphasize this, too.

But I also just really like well-done 2D vector illustration and had fun doing it for the second Stripped Book (on Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith). I don’t understand why everybody in comics is so locked into the traditional pencils-and-ink cartooning technique. Comics are stories told in pictures, not just drawings: you can make comics with photos, CG imagery à la Dreamland Chronicles, whatever…

So, no, I don’t have a preference for either. I just like to change up my drawing style a lot, and I’d settled on a vector style for Multiplex, and… well, it got popular, so that’s the style I’m best known for.

JF: What are some of your favorite parts of the comic? Do you have any favorite story arcs, favorite characters to write/draw, a favorite facet of what Multiplex lets you do as a cartoonist?

GM: Well, I’m really excited about the addition of James Harris, not just because I get to finally do some hand-drawn bits in the strip (which I’d actually intended to do for a long, long time), and because it adds a new dimension to the strip: movie theater history.

Multiplex is a comic strip about movies, but it’s not just about the new releases of the week. It’s really a lot deeper than that, despite all the bathroom humor. Or at least, I’m trying to make it deeper than that, if that doesn’t sound too pretentious. It’s about criticism and whether or not anybody really does have a more valid opinion about movies than someone else. It’s about movie theater industry, which a lot of people say is dying, but I call “bullshit” on that.

The addition of James is — in the long term — going to raise a lot of parallels between now and what was going on in the 1950s, when the film industry (and the movie theaters that played them) were taking a massive beating from, primarily, television.

Basically, Multiplex lets me talk about my love of movies in a way that is, I hope, very entertaining to the readers. That’s my favorite part of the strip.

My favorite character would be Jason, though. It’s no shock to my readers (especially ones who know what I look like) that he’s an exaggerated version of myself. He often knocks movies I enjoy, so he’s really not just spewing my own opinions, despite what some readers assume. But I like his asshole side, and his dry sarcasm, which kind of runs through the strip as a whole, I suppose.

JF: Some of my favorite parts of the strip come from the relationships between characters—Kurt and Jason’s repartee, obviously, but also Melissa’s tough-love friendship with Jason, or how Neil relates to his workers. Do you have a character dynamic you particularly enjoy writing or drawing?

GM: Kurt and Jason are my favorite, but I enjoy it any time Jason gets a dressing-down, either from Neil, Melissa, Angie… whoever. I mean, a lot of the time, he is a little asshole. But that’s the point, and that’s why we love him. He’ll grow up, eventually. A little bit.

JF: Kurt and Jason…ha, I really should’ve guessed that one.

Anyway. In a recent interview, you remarked that you’ve got Multiplex on your mind almost constantly. What do you do when you need some space from your creation? What other activities do you find help your creative process?

GM: I like to drink heavily when I need some down-time. Or, honestly, watch movies that have absolutely nothing to do with the strip, or with the Triple Feature.

But that’s the thing about Multiplex: because it’s really about a love of movies, I don’t often feel like I need a total break from it — and, in fact, when I’m back in my parents’ hometown, away from any computer that I can work on Multiplex with, I’m often pretty anxious to get back to the strip.

One of my other hobbies is photography. I’m not terribly good at it, but I enjoy wandering around and taking pictures of old buildings. That interest is where my interest in old movie theaters came from, actually.

And, of course, I read comics. I love comics every bit as much as I love movies. I really just love visual storytelling.

JF: Unlike many webcomics, Multiplex has a racially diverse cast—but when it comes to race, it’s anything but politically correct. Was it a conscious decision on your part to expand your cast beyond the typical “white and nerdy” ensemble?

GM: Absolutely, and not just about race.

I’m keenly aware that there are people out there who are absolutely incapable of reading any characters that aren’t white, straight, and male as anything other than statements, which is why so many cartoonists are reluctant to break out from that.

An early strip set up that Becky doesn’t like action movies, so that must mean that I was saying all women hate action movies. I read a review of Multiplex that leaped to exactly that moronic conclusion. Guess what? There are women out there who don’t like action movies. They exist by the thousands.

But that’s really what most white, straight, male cartoonists are afraid of: “If I have a black/gay/woman character and they do ANYTHING, people are going to assume I’m trying to Say Something and somebody’s going to get offended.” Oh no!

It’s just cowardice, and it just perpetuates the lily-white state of comics. I don’t think having token minority characters or cool-chick characters (hot girls who are just one of the geeks!) cuts it, either.

JF: Your characters often have a surprise twist to their “first glance” identities—the resident goth turns out to be a serious Christian, the “dumb guy” has been playing dumb to con the theater, the skeezy pervert discovers that he’s gay. Given your fondness for pitching change-ups like that, is it ever tough to keep it from getting gimmicky?

GM: Angie being a Christian was not a twist! I put a cross on her in her very first appearance specifically because I wanted her to be a Christian, even though I never had any plans to use her beyond that first appearance (in #40). And making it an important part of her life was to counter the fact that the only other vocal Christian in the cast was Sunny – the dumb blonde girl.

I say "vocal," because America is something like 60 or 70% Christian, so to me it just stands to reason that about that many people on the staff are Christian as well. Just because none of the other characters in the strip have talked about it doesn't mean they aren't religious.

Anyway — back to the point — as for the other two examples you mentioned, those were really jokes not twists — albeit complicated jokes that were set up and played out over the course of several months. As long as I think they're funny, I don't worry about things like that seeming like a gimmick.

Generally speaking, the characters are not fundamentally different before and after their big reveal: Chase was and is the guy who tries too hard. Brian is still stupid, but differently stupid.

JF: Yeah, I guess by “twist” I just meant “surprise.” Not very precise of me! Still, I was plenty surprised by Angie’s disclosure. You really couldn’t expect people to infer that her cross is more than your standard Goth accoutrement. ;)

GM: You’re right — but I don’t see why people should assume that it’s only your standard Goth accoutrement, either.

JF: Fair enough. Your comic also stands out because in a world of talking dinosaurs, improbable antics, and magic robots, it’s essentially 100% realistic—the sort of thing that might actually happen to you if you worked at a movie theater. What role do you think the impossible has in fiction?

GM: I do think that there is some absurdity in Multiplex; it’s maybe more 90% realistic than 100% realistic. But the reason for the amount of realism in the strip is that I’m talking about real movies and a real industry. Any serious commentary on that stuff is meaningless if I have a talking robot in the strip.

But I love random, impossible, absurd things. I’m just… well, honestly, my writing interests have always leaned towards the real. When stories have almost nothing to connect itself to reality, they’ve got to be beautifully rendered, or I tune out really quickly.

As for the impossible, I think it’s obviously used as escapism a lot, but in the right hands, the impossible can be used as sort of a fun-house mirror to look back at ourselves. It may be showing us a distorted image, but it’s still real; it’s still truth. There has to be some element of reality in a story or it cannot have any real meaning.

Not that stories need to “mean” something; action movies often have absolutely no purpose other than to entertain, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But, you know, too much junk food rots your teeth. Too much junk storytelling rots your brain.

JF: Amen to that. Why don’t you leave us with a recommendation? A webcomic that’s both fantastic and says something substantial. Or, barring that, I’m sure we’d appreciate anything that’s just good storytelling… ::grin::

GM: Well, it’s not running anymore, but I think Minus managed to turn out a few soul-wrenching strips in-between its tales of an omnipotent little girl. The three-parter beginning here — http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus25.html — has really stuck with me.

I can’t just recommend one webcomic, though! I love Octopus Pie. That seems to be everybody and their mother’s favorite recent webcomic. I also love Diesel Sweeties, Girls With Slingshots, Voids… Theater Hopper and Joe Loves Crappy Movies, of course. I miss Perry Bible Fellowship and Beaver & Steve (which is on hiatus). Ummm… I dunno.

Outside of webcomics, I’ve recently gotten into The Wire, and although I’ve only seen the first season so far, it’s absolutely brilliant. Some of the tightest, best writing I’ve ever seen. Mad Men is also pretty amazing.

JF: Good comics, all of those. Though I certainly don’t keep up with Octopus Pie like I should. Thanks for the interview, Gordon!

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.