Tagged: strip

Webcomics You Should Be Reading: ‘xkcd’

  • News
  • April 13, 2009

Welcome back to the article series you love to comment on (mainly because I yell out on facebook I’ll buy pizza and beer for those who comment), Webcomics You Should Be Reading! I’ve taken you, gentle reader, on a magic carpet ride through a tunnel of funny ranging from the macabre, the vulgar, the hyper-cute, to the thought-provoking-so-much-so-that-the-comment-string-ended-up-an-actual-debate. So, where do we go from there? How about we jump into the deep end of smarty-pants webcomics. That’s right, you guessed it. Dust off your mortar boards, and fire up dictionary.com… it’s time to read xkcd!

A little history then: Randall Munroe is a CNU graduate with a degree in physics. Before starting xkcd, he worked on robots at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. After scanning in some old math notes with cartoons drawn in the margins, he was linked by BoingBoing, and soon there after, the phenomenon was birthed.

Simply put, ‘xkcd’ is a webcomic for smarty pants people who enjoy their humor on the higher side of the SAT score charts. Given the breadth of vile jokes I smattered you with, I figured we needed a chance to enhance our vernaculars. The comic itself is a continuity-free mash of stick figurey with jokes that range from topics as diverse as electrical engineering to the astrophysics.  Mr. Munroe identifies the strip as being about “Romance, Sarcasm, Math, and Language”. I’ll take his word for it. Why? Cause after a day of reading through the strips, I’m certain he’s smarter than I am, and I fear debate. That being said, the strip is hilarious, and bears sharing. Let’s discuss.

The strip is as a dry as melba toast, with a wit as sharp as english cheddar. As a bonus (not unlike our host last week, who donated free avatars on her site) ‘xkcd’ will increase your vocabulary, expand your mind with it’s universal concepts, and for those who let their mouse linger over the strips, Mr. Munroe grants us a scooby snack of alt-text that enhances each strip. It’s funny, brain-enhancing, and drawn with all the skill a CNU graduate with physics should be able to muster. Alright folks… I’ve waxed poetic enough at this point… so on with the cavalcade of links!

(more…)

Webcomics You Should Be Reading: “Kawaii Not”!

  • News
  • April 6, 2009

I admit it… On the outside, I look like a big meanie. The motorcycle boots, the wallet chain, the free flowing beard… Yeah, it sure looks like I’m one tough cookie. But on the inside, I’m a pile of cutesy goo. Like a Lisa Frank Folder, coated with extra glitter and scratch and sniff stickers abound (and we’re talking ‘Strawberry Shortcake’ scratch and sniff here, not He-Man Masters of the Sniffing-verse). So, today, my inner me wants to share with all of you rabble-rousers a new webcomic to melt your heart. I mean… make you laugh.

Now, I’ll assume right now that some of you are waiting for the big 180 here, where I reveal a vile and disgusting comic devoid of anything but blood drenched fists soaked in farts, swimming in a pool of poorly worded racial comedy. Perhaps I’ve found some horrible webcomic starring a rotting zombie who tells Vaudvillian jokes whilst deficating on children stricken with disease… Alas, it isn’t true my BFF’s… today, I bring to you a comic so cute, so lovable, you could very well sqwee and die: Kawaii Not.

Since whenever she started it (let’s say 2007-2008’ish), Kawaii Not is the love child of cartoonist/illustrator Meghan Murphy. Taking the Japanese “Kawaii” (cute) concept to heart, with a dash of good old fashioned American sarcasm, and a pinch of “just evil enough to be funny”, Murphy makes a bi-weekly comic that follows a formula as simple as pie: A generous helping of saccharine sweet filling made of everyday objects betwixt a flaky crust of simple ha-ha’s. What does that mean exactly? You get a cutesy-wootsie character who says something mildly evil enough to make you blurt out a laugh. It made me laugh. Did I mention my motorcycle boots have the bad-ass metal plate on the toe guard?

Ms. Murphy’s site offers the complete archive of webcartoons alongside a heaping helping of free avatars. That she would be so generous as to share her wares with us so we can find the perfect avatar to represent out inner child (I personally can’t decide between the “I’m long, fleshy, and not a hot dog” and “I look like Poop; Ice Cream” avatars myself) this author applauds the site for not only being hilarious, but for being so generous with the humor.

And now we take a trip down the Rainbow Road of Infinite Cute-Wooty-Wittleness:

• Smoricide
• When Waffles Don’t Tell the Truth
• Alas, poor Cucumber… I knew him well.
• Click me, you pervs.
• I risk getting kicked in the nads for this, but men, is this not the truth or what?!
• Tomorrow is looking cloudy with a chance of hilarity.
• Put this on a shirt, and I’ll buy 100 of them.
• If you didn’t click the one above, click this, you skeevy pervs.

The Breakdown:

Drama: On occasion the strip will deal with terminal illness, incest, and rape. Wait, that’s Law and Order: the Webcomic. Sorry folks… Kawaii not is just 4 panels of a love delivered twice a week. 

Humor: Blend Lisa Frank, My Little Pony, a Gaggle of Giggling Japanese School Girls. Chill overnight. Pour into a tall pint glass and top with whipped cream, sprinkles (or Jimmie’s if you’re from out east), and 14 cherries. After ingesting, perform a dutch oven on your spouse. That is the humor of this strip.

Continuity: As a rogue scholar (as in, I mugged people outside taverns in college) I can conclude without a doubt that Kawaii Not is an epic journey of the subconscious through an alternative dimension where everyday objects celebrate their normalcy through 4 panel pictograms. In the end, it will save us all.

Art: See ‘Humor’ above, but perform the ‘Dutch Oven’ on a piece of pink construction paper. See that rainbow covered in glitter and sunshine? That is what the art is like. Great Japanese styled characterizations presented in a clean and happy site.

Archive: 246 strips, with 2 a week promised for the indefinite future. Enjoy!

Updates: Twice a week, per her FAQ.

Risk/Reward: Ok, here is the true debate. You risk your manhood (if you are a man) by visiting this site, and laughing out loud. Are the jokes deep? No. Are they going to make you smile? You damn straight they will. Peruse the archive (and if you’re so inclined like my fiance, squeal with joy every 20 seconds when you open the next one.) and give it a go.

Now, if you would all excuse me, I need to go watch the Care Bears movie, make some cupcakes, and have a good cry.

Webcomics You Should Be Reading: “Garfield Minus Garfield”!

  • News
  • March 30, 2009

Howdy folks! We’re back here today to take a step into the post-modern… a step into the existential… a step into a parallel dimension. No, not the twilight zone. Today’s ‘Webcomic You Should Be Reading” is an experiment utilizing one of America’s most cherished cartoon characters. Who you ask? Why, it’s Jon Arbuckle, the would-be owner of an obese and lazy cat, named Garfield. We’re quite familiar with the Garfield strip, aren’t we? Since 1978, the world has been privvy to the the misadventures of this lazy fat cat and his awkward geek of an owner. Years later, an Irishman (Dan Walsh) took an idea shared by many, and gave it birth in webcomic form. Mr. Walsh graced the interwebs with Garfield Minus Garfield.

In a nut shell, take Jim Davis’ acclaimed comic, and remove the titular main character… What do you end up with? As Dan Walsh puts it… you get “…[the] reveal [of] the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle agianst loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb.” I just say you get to take a cherished comic, and make it a post-modern laugh fest.

Now, obviously enjoyment of the material comes with the knowledge of the source material. When “G-G” works, it works well. Minus his kitty companion (or really any other elements in the strips) Jon is sad, pathetic, and possibly schitzophrenic. Successive reading of multiple strips in a row only makes the joke funnier. But, when the majority of the strip leaves bookended blank panels… this fan grows quickly bored. Why? Well, the joke itself of removing that darn cat can make for some funny asides by Jon. Dramatic pauses add to the humor of most of these situations, but, in these strips in particular… it leaves a little too much to the imagination. Given the decades worth of material though, Walsh has plenty to work with, and there are plenty of funny re-imagined strips to present to we, the surly and overly critical internet population.

So what, pray-tell, does Mr. Jim Davis think of this Frankensteining of his most famous creation?

(more…)

Webcomics You Should Be Reading: “Rogue Robot”

Webcomics You Should Be Reading: “Rogue Robot”

  • Uncategorized
  • March 13, 2009

I’m back, my gentle compatriots, with another webcomic for you to feast upon! I know what all of you are saying though, as you sit with arms folded in protest– ”But Marc, you’ve brought to us a rising list of the sick and macabre! Each new webcomic (be it still active, or dead, or with a glorious hard cover archive hitting shelves) has sunk to new depths of depravity. Have you found another gloriously funny webcomic, or are you simply reaching for the rafters in a pathetic attempt to appease us, your loyal and ravenous fanbase!?”

Worry not my friends, I bring to you a funny (if not so grotesque) webcomic to tickle your funny bones. I bring to you… Rogue Robot!

Rogue Robot was started in 2005 by Herron School of Art students Ben Roe and Amory Abbot. Ben initially wrote the strips and provided color, and Amory lent his pencils and inks to the strip. Over time, Ben has become a bit dormant, and Amory has gallantly picked up the slack on all chores, and has been putting out the strips ever since.

The comic had humble beginnings, but quickly gained speed, and found it’s voice. As it has progressed over the years, the strip has really tightened up it’s art, and acerbic wit. Akin to a ‘Penny Arcade’, the comic is essentially about 2 buddies (Amory and Ben) and a few other cast-mates with their own set of unique peculiarities. Humor ranges from straight-up slapstick violence, toilet humor, sex, with occasional epic (as in longer than 1 strip) stories. The comic hits the mark most of the time, and when it goes for broke, well, like so many other comics I’ve shared with you thus far– it’s laugh out loud funny (even though you’ll go to hell for laughing.). It’s also funny to note just how many comics end up dealing with not updating all the time.

(more…)

Webcomics You Should Have Read: ‘Perry Bible Fellowship’

Webcomics You Should Have Read: ‘Perry Bible Fellowship’

  • News
  • March 2, 2009

It started innocently enough, folks, I swear. I was patrolling my normal series of blogs, whence I came upon a startlingly funny little comic. Instantly I thought “Hey! Another opportunity to share with the masses an ongoing, intelligent, mildly offensive online comic! And again without fail, I find yet another online comic worthy of praise… that had already been deemed dead. But, my gentle readers (and my gentile readers too), I again choose to share with you a comic to be lifted on high and praised as “A Webcomic You Should Have Read!”. I give you The Perry Bible Fellowship. (Note: at this point henceforth when I declare things like this, you should quickly load up an MP3 of “O Fortuna Carmina Burana” and pour yourself a fine glass of Burgundy. If neither are available, a reasonable alternative would be a cassette single of "Step By Step" by NKOTB, and pour yourself a slop bucket full o’ Mountain Dew.)

I admit I find many things to be funny–religious zealots, explosions, bum fights, british curtness, farting, and my fiancé’s face when she’s asleep… and truly, this little strip seems to cover all those bases well, and then some*. A brief history tells us:

The Perry Bible Fellowship (or PBF) is a newspaper comic strip and webcomic by Nicholas Gurewitch. It originated in the Syracuse University newspaper The Daily Orange. The comics are usually three or four panels long, and are generally characterized by the juxtaposition of whimsical childlike imagery or fantasy with extremely morbid, surreal humor. Common themes include irony, religion, sexuality, war, science fiction, suicide, violence, and death.

The comic received its title, taken from the name of a church in Maine, in its Daily Orange incarnation.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

(more…)

Webcomics You Should Have Read: ‘The Parking Lot Is Full’

Webcomics You Should Have Read: ‘The Parking Lot Is Full’

  • Uncategorized
  • February 15, 2009

I beg of you, gentle ComicMix readers… take a journey with me back in time. Step one? Dust off a pair of “wide leg” jeans. Don your favorite pair of Airwalk low-tops. Grow your hair out a little, and put a Pearl Jam Compact Disk into your brand new Diskman. Step Two? Power up your personal computer. You know the one, with that brand new Intel Pentium chip the kids all talk about. Fire up that 14.4 Baud Modem, and hop on that newfangled ‘Information Super-Highway’. Welcome to 1993 folks! Now that you’re here, you should check out a little known webcomic called “The Parking Lot Is Full”.

The brief history on said comic comes from it’s own tombstone, procured from their site instead of that wiki-pedia thing you “next-gen users” all like so much…

 

“From 1993 – 2002, The Parking Lot is Full was the comic strip love child of artist Jack McLaren and writer Pat Spacek. Starting as crude little strips published in their university newspaper, the comic quickly took on a life of its own, eventually becoming one of the most popular and infamous comic strips on the internet. After nine years of ups and downs, the creators decided that they’d said everything they wanted to say, so the comic was wrapped up and all the toys put away.”

 

What made ‘PLIF’ (get used to this folks, cause “The Parking Lot Is Full” takes a while to type) so enjoyable was it’s fascinating combination of Gary Larsen-esque illustrations combined with sharp writing and a touch of the macabre. Unlike several previous recommendations here on ComicMix, ‘PLIF’ had no continuity really to follow. Yes, there are a few reoccurring sock puppets in the later half of the series, but there’s no backstory to follow (well, anymore…). And to be honest, the really juicy strips are true non-sequiturs.

I’ll be frank, folks, this strip features some of the most laugh-out-loud-but-frankly-I-shouldn’t-be-laughing strips I’ve had the pleasure to read for free on the ‘inter-webs’. There’s no need for lengthy exposition on the progression of the art; It’s crude, in gray tones, and unpolished as my car in February. There’s no need to wax poetic about the subject matter; Generally ‘PLIF’ stuck to a cycle of topics including childhood, sex, religion, and conspiracy theories (sometimes in the same strip!). Simply put, if the ‘Far-Side’ was rolled through a plate of broken glass, you’d have “PLIF”. Suffice to say the content can disturb as much as it can inspire fits of laughter… and that’s what I appreciate about it. Now to the cream of the crop (…ahem. WARNING. These Strips Are Not Suitable For Children, and most adults now that I think of it):

 

• Well, this settles an age old debate.
• Safe Sex, by PLIF
• A Failed Experiment, by Ray Croc.
• "I fell out of my chair the first time I saw this"… said my roomate.
• You know it’d be true.
• A lesson from the Street… Sesame Street.
• If this Pre-Dates Animal Man, Grant Morrison should be worried.

So there you have it folks. Kick off the Airwalks, swap that Diskman for an iPod, and plug back into a nice cable modem. This trip back in time is over. Sadly, there is no more strips to be had after you’ve been through their archive. Do yourself a favor though… buy a collection of them in printed form from the ‘PLIF’ store, and show your support for those who dared release this evil into the world.

The Breakdown:

Drama: Well, this is kinda’ dramatic…

Humor: If you don’t find this funny, maybe you’ll find this funny.

Continuity: There’s some Sock Puppets that show up from time to time.

Art: It’s grey, it’s crude, and it’s wonderfully morbid when it needs to be.

Archive: From 1993-2002, you’re looking at quite a few strips. It looks like they didn’t update but several times a month at best… never the less, if you troll through it all, it’s a solid hour or two of fun.

Updates: Unless you suffer from that condition where you still believe it’s 1993-2002… alas, there is no more ‘PLIF’ to be had.

Risk/Reward: As always… it’s free… so there’s little risk involved. Unless you consider reading a strip like this to be dangerous. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

IDW Adds ‘Bloom County’ to Comic Strip Library

IDW Adds ‘Bloom County’ to Comic Strip Library

  • News
  • February 5, 2009

IDW Publishing announced yesterday the forthcoming release of The Bloom County Library. Beginning in October 2009, each of the five volumes will collect nearly two years worth of daily and Sunday strips, in chronological order. This will be the very first time that many of these comic strips have been collected, and the first time in a beautifully designed, hardcover format. The books will be part of IDW’s gorwing Library of American Comics imprint, and designed by Eisner Award-winner Dean Mullaney.

"Fans have pestered me for years,” said Berkeley Breathed, “for this ultimate Bloom County collection in that polite, respectful badgering way that only fans can manage. Thank God I can now tell them something better than just ‘please remove your tent from my lawn.’ I can say, ‘It’s coming!"

Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom County is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed newspaper strips of modern times. Premiering on December 8th, 1980 — a month after the election of Ronald Reagan as President — the strip brought to the comics pages a unique amalgam of contemporary politics and fantasy, all told with hilarious humor and wit.

The beloved and quirky denizens of Bloom County include Opus, Steve Dallas, Bill the Cat, Milo Bloom, Michael Binkley, and Cutter John.  Breathed was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1987 for his work on Bloom County. The strip was published in an astounding 1200 newspapers.

The phenomenon that was Bloom County spawned a merchandizing bonanza, as well as two spin-off strips, Outland and Opus. The first paperback collection of the strip, Loose Tails, sold over one million copies. Bloom County paperbacks cumulatively sold over six million copies. At the height of the strip’s popularity, Breathed walked away on August 6th, 1989.

IDW Publishing Special Projects Editor Scott Dunbier conceived the series. “I’m absolutely thrilled to be editing the Bloom County Library,” said Dunbier. “This is a series that I can’t wait to hold in my hands.”

The Bloom County Library will also contain a series of “Context Pages” sprinkled throughout the volumes. These pages will provide perspective for the reader, presenting a variety of real-life events and personalities that were contemporary at the time of original publication.

Webcomics You Should Be Reading: ‘Penny Arcade!’

  • Uncategorized
  • February 4, 2009

Penny Arcade!
It’s the trifecta of modern comedy: Sarcasm, Near-Cartoon-Levels-of-Violence, and The Deflowering of Fruit. I speak of a web comic that has consistently delivered all these aspects without fail for over 10 years. Since its creation in 1998, it’s spawned graphic novel collections, a charity that has raised millions of dollars for children’s hospitals, nearly half of my roommate’s funny tee-shirt collection, and its own convention to boot. I speak of Penny Arcade.

In concept it is merely a riff on the (now) age-old Beavis and Butthead theorem: Two dudes and a TV. Swap the TV with a video game system (or PC, or Tabletop RPG), and swap the aforementioned dunderheads with the highly sarcastic Tycho Erasmus Brahe and his friend, the sometimes-sharp-as-a-marble Jonathan "Gabe" Gabriel . The two will comment on various video games they are playing, or wax poetic on other whims and flights-of-fancy we nerds take to heart.

The strip is written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. Over time the strip added an additional (beloved) character or two… and will (from time to time) not include Gabe or Tycho in lieu of an in-game strip. Be forewarned (if you’ve not been clicking on the links above, because you’re patient unlike me) the boys do love the potty humor and foul language. Never-the-less…. violence, swearing, and video games has always made for excellent laughs.

The guys have a wonderful store chock full of tee’s and hoodies adorned with cute catch phrases only "very cool and socially acceptable" people like us understand. They also recently added a feature allowing you to order any of their strips in a nice high res print, suitable for framing and posting with intent to have your co-workers acknowledge your exquisite taste. Suffice to say, the guys over at the arcade have spent a good long time perfecting their craft, and three days a week you can get your fill. There’s a great archive to dig through, and their news posts, while not as auto-biographical as their Texas counterpart Scott Kurtz, offers some great thoughts about the game industry from time to time.

Some Strips of Note:

The Breakdown:

Drama: Well, aside from the "sagas" from time to time, (see Cardboard Tube Samarai above) there is little is any drama. And it’s probably best that it stays that way.

Humor: Covering everything under the sun in nerditry from video games, role playing, computers, to insider-only game industry humor…all under the banner of cartoon-violence, swearing, and general bafoonery.

Continuity: Well, Gabe and Tycho have been long time friends, but that aside, really, there’s little you’d need to know to start laughing your pooper off.

Art: Mike Krahulik’s artwork has taken considerable leaps over the last 10 years. At the beginning, backgrounds were simple, and the colors were flat. Over time, Mike’s character stylings has gotten looser, and to his credit, far better. The exaggerated figures emote wonderfully. i dare you not to laugh at Gabe’s face when he wishes Tycho vast amounts of pain. At present, the strip is a great example digital painting technique, with a vivid color palate that always compliments it’s subject matter; Be it in Fantasy, Space, or just ‘Guys on the Couch’.

Archive: The strip is over 10 years old… Generally three strips a week over the course of 10 years? By my math that’s over a boatload.

Updates: Currently updates on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Risk/Reward: It’s a free web comic folks. By my dime, it’s well worth your time if you like topical nerd humor with a dash of blood, guts and laughter. Plus, every now and then you get a strip like this.

 

Spider-Man single again, again

Spider-Man single again, again

  • News
  • January 3, 2009

A year after the events of One More Day, Spider-Man has gone back to unmarried status in the newspaper strip.

So for all of you who thought this might just be a passing phase– like me– your hopes have finally been dashed. At least, until the next reboot.

One of these days I have to write that blog post on how to save One More Day and make Peter’s actions heroic…

Hat tip: Blog@Newsarama.

NBM Collects ‘Bringing up Father’

NBM Collects ‘Bringing up Father’

  • News
  • December 29, 2008

In May 2009, NBM Publishing brings back one of the 20th century’s great comic strips. George McManus’ Bringing Up Father is the third and latest in NBM’s Forever Nuts series of classic screwball strips. In 1913, McManus started a comic strip about Jiggs and Maggie, a lower-class couple who came into money. “While the snobbish Maggie and beautiful daughter Nora (referred to various times as Katy and Mamie in the strip’s early days) constantly try to ‘bring up’ Father to his new social position,” comics expert Clark Holloway has said, “Jiggs can think of nothing finer than sitting down at Dinty Moore’s restaurant to finish off several dishes of corned beef and cabbage, followed by a night out with the boys from the old neighborhood. The clash of wills that ensued often resulted in flying rolling-pins, smashed crockery, and broken vases, all aimed in the general direction of Jiggs’s skull.“ McManus’ Bringing Up Father became the 20th century’s second longest running strip. It ran from January 12, 1913 until its end on May 28, 2000.

Now, Forever Nuts presents all the dailies of this classic comic strip’s first two years, many of which have not been reprinted since they first appeared nearly a century ago. Discover why McManus became known as one of the greats in the field.

George McManus’ Bringing Up Father will be a jacketed hardcover, 11” x 6” inches,with black-and-white interior art — the same handsome format as the previous FOREVER NUTS books, Mutt and Jeff and Happy Hooligan.

Categories

Archives

Everything you need to make great comics!

comicmix-pro-300x69-2

Nucleus X

Bookshop Zaks