Well Done, Sinfest!

Sinfest has always been awesome, but it totally blew me away with this feminist comic. Patriarchy - it's everywhere.

Funny, nerdy, non-preachy, and so very true. A+.

Ye Olde Favorites: a Rundown

I think there's a fine line between "amusing but inappropriate sidekick" and "dirty little sidekick who brings nothing at all to the strip", but Pintsize in Questionable Content has managed to frequently cross that line. See also: today's strip. How would Marten fuck him? How would that even... what... eww. Why is Pintsize's only role in the strip to provide even more dumb sex jokes? I don't get it. I hope this storyline ends with him leaving the strip, but I'm not holding my breath.

The "bros shooting hoops" storyline in Sinfest fails to engage me. Maybe it's because I'm not a bro, but it's just not very original. I'm not saying every strip has to be all about religious thematics, but I guess it's why I read Sinfest, because I tend to be bored by the more down to earth strips. (Except for the pet strips, which I love.)

T-Rex creates a new language. I love how Ryan North takes something everybody (well, every nerd) has thought of sometime, and t-rexes it into something deliciously herpy-derpy.

Buttersafe is being awesome and original in Tuesday's strip: veiny origins. I cannot tell you how much I adore Veiny Dog. It's just so RANDOM. Which makes it brilliant? Well, not necessarily, but come on. It totally is. I also love how there are human-like creatures and then - the dog, the highest step of evolution. Awesome.

A very cool math strip at Abstruse Goose. It actually reminds me of Röyksopp's video "Remind Me", with all the graphs depicting a typical day of work for a British woman. Anything in life can be shown in math form. That's both cool and a little sad.

Monday Familiars

I was going to do one of those "browsing through Webcomics List" posts, but the list is down, once again. Well, I've always got my favorites...

Brainless Tales: Concatenate. Cats will not let you do that though! At least mine won't. As soon as you touch the tail, it gets all rigid. Try to make a braid with another tail, and he'll bite you. I guess it would be too adorable to be real...

I may have said it before, but I worry about James Kochalka when I see strips like this. But maybe we all get those moods. The point is, he chose to cuddle with Oliver, and that's beautiful.

Regular sex puns and flirtation - unfunny. Flirtation dissected scientifically by Hannelore - FUNNY. More of this please.

The true meaning of superbowl, according to Sinfest. I shouldn't read this strip when I'm hungry. *goes and fries some bacon*

Is this gay comic anti-trans? Or is it just some gay man in-joke? Is it talking about transsexuals or transvestites? Huh?

Thank god for Rooster Tails. The real super hero - binary challenging gender identity! Could. not. be. more. awesome.

This Week in My Favorites

Marc Johns waxes deep and somewhat political: we are all holding the spear. So true. I think he should do more texts in the illustrations.

Sinfest warns us against letting the cat sleep on the laptop! I especially liked "aaaaasssss". Unfortunate keys to step on, indeed!

Continuing with the cat team: the legend of the turbo cat! Bravo, Buttersafe, you've done it again. Utterly surreal yet so good. Surreal stuff+serious/dramatic tone = WIN.

And still more cats! American Elf can hear Spandy's angry motor. I heard my cat's angry motor this week at the vet's, when a dog tried to say hello to him. I also loved this strip, where the boys imagine they're ghosts. A big snowfall can make you feel pretty invisible. And while I'm at American Elf, I must comment on this strip. It's beautiful - the idea that you shouldn't delete your least favorite artworks, because they may be someone else's favorites. What's more important - the artist's own opinion or the audience's right to have the art? It's actually a very deep discussion to be having with a seven-year-old. I love that Kochalka doesn't talk down to his children.

T-Rex is excited about the snowmageddon - time to reinvent society in our own living rooms! This is actually amusing from a Finnish point of view. Granted, we've also gotten more than our fair share of snow, but the plow trucks are going early every morning and the roads are always clear. No cancelled school or work here. It's just par for the course. (The trains can't handle it, though.)

Isaac Newton sits under the tree - and down falls a squirrel! What would have happened? Abstruse Goose gives us the answer.

Here's a Finnish comic in English! Rather chaotic and very true to her style, a travel diary entry from Norpatti at En Vaan Osaa!

Multiple Monday Musings

Shameless nepotism: my boyfriend Toby discusses Question Duck briefly in his tumbrl. I don't have much to add, so just linkage!

This week's QC has involved some new backgrounds, a singing fairy princess, and a café populated by dark-skinned doppelgangers. I'm really not sure what to say. In one way, it's a change of pace; it shows Jacques wants to develop the strip, and he's clearly worked hard on this. I may gripe about the stories, but I'll never claim he just doesn't bother with the strip. The backgrounds look alive and colorful, there's something new to look at, which is enjoyable. On the other hand, although I laughed at the fairy princess, I'm still not sure if this takes the comic far enough in a new direction.

xkcd is being awesome: The world according to Americans, and the nananana chart. I love how Finland is a part of "Scandanavia" on the map. The nanana chart reminds me of how xkcd introduced me to Katamari Damacy and its amusing, cheerful Japanese pop soundtrack.

Sinfest did a silent Sunday, which I always love. There's quite a lot going on, though, so it took me a while to get. I love today's strip even more; right-wing Christian militia madness and Sarah Palin. I sometimes wonder if Tatsuya Ishida is really vehemently against Christianity, or just approaches it with this intellectual, yet warm irony. The strip can be read both ways.

On the subject of religion: don't apply way too much logic or your head will explode. Also on Kinoko Fry: the good dog, the bad dog and the ugly dog. :D

Finally, Buttersafe ponders on the moth's attraction to a flame. I found the philosophical pondering fascinating, more so than the silly punchline. I recently had a conversation with someone about how elks walk under cars because they can't comprehend how fast a car moves. The ones who learn how fast cars move tend to die. So it's impossible for them to warn the other elks. Maybe this is also true of moths?

Tuesday Notes: My Favorites

Lovelace and Babbage Against the Organist - the Finale!!! Very exciting. (I love how Babbage doesn't mind notes, as long as they're not expressed in noise form.)

Guy friendship can be odd and painful, at Sinfest.

This Abstruse Goose took me a while to get. It might be because I'm drunk. But then my boyfriend isn't, and he didn't get it either. I think I get it now - he wants to see the stars better, so he leaves the party. Which is kind of awesome.

At En Vaan Osaa!: I loved this little thing, it's like old-timey photos turned into a manic comic. Norpatti, the author, is a vegetarian; I'm not, but I still think people who call vegetarians childish are LAME.

American Elf is back to really cute childlike strips. I really liked today's strip where Oliver, quite nonsensically, decides to trample over his daddy's drawing in the snow. Awww. I also love his doggy hat.

The farmer's pride doesn't depend on the farm size, at Buttersafe.

And Ursula V has some flower seed ideas:
Berserker Bluebelles
Delerium Daisies

What can I add? Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Cute Overload.

Question Duck, why must you be so cute?

Popping a CD in the microwave brings much excitement.

Bath time with a gleeful dog/ship toy. And squinting at "brushie brushie". Stop, I'll melt!!

And as if that weren't cute enough, Kinoko Fry wishes us happy new year by doing the tiger dance. But remember: don't try things at home! Especially the sex bit. Rabbits - cute but lame? Not sure if I agree. Tigers are more fierce, I must admit. This strip reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes. I recall Hobbes had the praise song for tigers - maybe several versions? - and a general belief that tigers are more fierce and handsome than any other creature on Earth, especially compared to humans.

Other cuties of the week:
I love how James Kochalka draws the ladies at Eli's school as colorful groupie creatures. They're all staring at him like they have a huge crush on him!

Dog comforts owner over at Sinfest. Note that the cat, who caused his misery, couldn't care less. The dog is even willing to give up his bally. For a little while.

...And then I looked at Buttersafe. The perfect antidote to overly cutesy feelings. I must say, the new year's comic there is even more depressing than usual. Yet somehow brilliant. I haven't seen this idea before. That's why I love Buttersafe.

Utterly Random Notes.

QC this week: OK, Marten's mother's reaction to Dora is surprising. But since I always find something to criticize - Dora's physique is very odd. Firstly, her breasts seem to vary in size; they look much bigger than they should in panel 3. She's almost two-dimensional in panel 2, so there's no way her breasts would be that large. Also, if the shirt is long on her, as it is in the other panels, it should not rise that high in panel 1.

Question Duck, on the other hand, continues to be adorable. Goldfish crackers! And - what is polyester made of? I love the duck's smile in panel 2, like he doesn't care if his master is dozing off at the computer. He's there, ergo, a question might be asked! It's the attitude of every pet. "Oh, you're here? Good. FEED ME." Only Question Duck feeds on questions.

Pets may also cyber-embarrass you, like on yesterday's and today's Sinfest.

I feel like I should think of more to criticize and not just bash QC all the time. Frankly, I do think Sinfest's four-panel style is a bit small and cramped for a webcomic. Webcomics can break form, because they don't have to be confined by the newspaper strip space. But the stories have been consistently good again lately, after a short slump, so I don't really want to complain.

The girl in this comic is just like my boyfriend. He will have no under 192 kbps. No wonder he often identifies with xkcd. I'm becoming nerdier because of him, though; as soon as he showed me this strip, I knew what they were talking about. I like the signs saying "Sale!!!" "Sale!" and "Sale?" I feel like there might be a hidden mathematical joke there - something about them being decreasing or.. hmm? Maybe I'm overthinking this. (like a true nerd might!)

We are the red umbrella. This Marc Johns reminds me slightly of Russian children's books my mother would read to me (no, she's not Russian, she just knows Russians). If you haven't seen any, think of "Worker and Parasite" on the Simpsons. Just about that jolly and cheerful illustrations. So - negative connotations, but the red umbrella is really pretty awesome in its randomness. Except that now I'm relating it to the Soviet Union, and Worker and Parasite, and it seems to really make sense why it's a red umbrella, and why there's the we spirit. Oh dear! I don't mean to ruin the comic for everyone.

In a similar vein, Kinoko Fry continues to amaze and confuse me. There's Submameen and... an octopus with Rubik's Cubes and an eyepatch with an eye... You can click on "random" below, but every strip seems equally random and genius. This is like something out of my dreams. (Not that my dreams are genius.) (Well, why be modest? They are. Holy mental fireworks, Batman.)

Purely Visual Notes.

Sinfest: I love the thought (speech?) bubble with the shocked pig.

QC: Child-Marten doesn't really look like a child. I like his crazed look in the dinosaur costume though. It's interesting how masculine his father looks, but then even his mother looks more masculine than him.

Hanna V gets ready for a dangerous climb - to the bus stop. I can tell you it's only a slight exaggeration. Lots and lots of snow this winter.

Marc Johns has a very sad Christmas tree.

Abstruse Goose is so nerdy, even a Christmas tree is a mathematical concept.

Quality beats quantity, at Stuff No One Told Me. Just because it's so cute. I must say, those clouds or puffs of smoke always remind me of farting. I'm sure they're not meant to represent farting, but if you live in the same house with my father for a while, you will see this sort of thing everywhere.

Things I Liked Today.

I did enjoy this fan fiction parody at Questionable Content. Much more than I enjoyed the actual storyline, which mostly featured awkward sexual stuff. But then there was this strip, where Tai instructs Marigold on how to show, not tell. I think most fanfic writers need a guide like this. And I must admit - I really like the fact that Marigold is a writer of terrible fan fic. (Although I'm not sure if that's just part of the nerd stereotype these days, like taped-up glasses or loving Star Trek.) I also like knowing Tai writes good fic and has trouble getting Marigold to get what makes a fic good. The storyline, ultimately, is tired because it's about sex or rather lack thereof. But there were good things. 

I find sexual content in American Elf vaguely disturbing. It's a natural part of every person's life.. I'm not a prude.. I think it's because I read the strip for the childlike stuff. So it's a bit like watching Winnie-the-Pooh and suddenly switching to, I don't know, Anal Intruders 4. (I did enjoy that joke though.) 

Wonderfully random stuff from Marc Johns again. I'm linking to the main page because I can't pick my favorite one today, and because, ultimately, if you click that link a year later, it's probably still wonderful and random. I love his way of thinking so much. 

Sinfest is back to doing awesome stuff. Serioustron needs cartoonists, don't drink and draw. 

Finnish, but mostly visual: Norpatti goes out with the old man. I.e. the old cat she's taking care of. <3! 

Also - the florist panther. Lovelovelove. Especially since it's drawn in this super-serious style. 

Recap Comics

Instead of ending the fork storyline, Sinfest is now recapping it in this strip where absolutely nothing happens. Also it's not funny at all. I really hope this isn't the beginning of the end for Sinfest. It has been funny and innovative, and it's sad to see it muddle down into boredom.

Questionable Content is doing much the same in today's comic. Of course, with the pace of life in this strip, we're talking about something that possibly happened last night, but it's many, many updates ago. Namely here. After spending so many days going over this between Dora, Faye, Sven and Marten, it's nice to see that Faye and Angus are also discussing it. You know, like life proceeds by something minor happening and leading nowhere, and then a bunch of people talking about it.

Last but probably the most read of the bunch, Ctrl+Alt+Del has two characters discussing a third character while standing in one position with huge speech bubbles over their heads. (My girlfriend, who's read the strip more, pointed out that the story itself has been done before in the strip.)

You have an established style, a readership and thus a podium to say whatever you want. So why does this happen? Too many expectations on you? Drawing the same strip for too long? Updating too often? Either way, it's not a proud day for webcomics.

Doing It Wrong vs Doing It Right

DOING IT WRONG 

(x, why?) has a strip on the miners who were underground for two months. "It was just a miner incident." Eh. No. That's not funny. It's not an amusing pun or an amusing situation, and this comic just rubs me the wrong way. Puns don't really work in comics anyway. A pun is essentially a textual joke (usually an unfunny one), and if you might as well write it in text, why have any drawings at all?

I Fell Down the Stairs demonstrates making a visual joke instead. So here the drawings are essential. However, the joke doesn't really work. It's a nice idea, but it's just not funny enough. It might be in the delivery - I just don't buy a teacher saying "here concludes our lesson at [lesson topic]". Feel free to spam me with angry comments if American teachers actually say this. It just sounds like a clumsy way of saying "This is the joke. Now laugh."

The good side of a randomly hilarious comic is that it doesn't need a conclusion for every story. Sadly, today's Sinfest tries to conclude a story that has already run its course. It's beginning to seem like the evil fork will chase them forever and they will patch the hell roof forever. I love the strip in general, but sometimes it seems out of ideas. Like all strips that run daily.

I love the title of Gentlemen's Beards Monthly, and I love the intentionally simplistic art. And it's funny. But DON'T KILL THE SNAIL! Snails are your friends! *sniff*

DOING IT RIGHT 

I didn't get today's Abstruse Goose, but I still loved it. It's an unusual angle and a funny joke, even to non-nerds. It's probably funnier to a nerd.

Buttersafe urges us to get over it!

Crowbar Benson instructs us at how to stay regular.

IDGet  seems like a fun strip in general. But I especially like the text bubbles - it seems like the author actually took the time to make the text tidy and readable while it still looks original. Um, and I really love the content and drawings too, but that just stuck out. (Is that as bad as saying a movie has "local color"? I do think it's a good comic. Really.)

Quick Hits, Part 2

Mystery of the day: what does the dog's speech bubble say? I can't make it out. Something, something, people? There's intentionally sloppy, and then there's unreadable. Here, while the man and puppy are well drawn, I had to cringe at the tiny-headed woman (?) in the right margin. If you can't fit her to scale, only show her legs. You can still draw in the speech bubble. As it is, she looks like she's from another, evil dimension.  I know my comics are shoddily drawn too (sometimes intentionally, sometimes not). It can be good if you try to work around it. Always act like it's intentional, is my advice.

All that said, it's an interesting-looking new comic. I liked this one a lot, and will keep checking how this develops.

I love this comic. I'm not sure I get it. It freaks me out. I love it.

This is gross and wrong and I probably won't read it again, but I recognize a good-in-its-genre gross-out comic. So linking to Saggy Nutbag. Yes, that's right. Yes, they drew the nutbag. Eww.

"BirdBreath is a light hearted satire. It offers a unique perspective that is guaranteed to make you laugh."

Is that sarcasm? Because if it is, not bad. If not - don't call yourself unique, and don't tell me what will make me laugh. (Incidentally, I didn't laugh; this is why you don't say "guaranteed".) Also, if you make your archive like this, the days with a new comic should be the only ones with links. The art is good, but this reads more like a newspaper comic. In other words, I'm not sure about the unique outlook. Maybe it needs to be pushed further.

I love reality zone! Nice way of breaking the fourth wall. I must admit I'm not totally excited about the "flying evil fork" story, but even when Sinfest fails to engage me with plot, it delights with the visual and/or verbal wit.

And Kuvatuksia has more people spotted lately. I never get tired of these. Synth player in the subway? A lady who goes around with her (papery) home office? A lady who only changes hats and not the other clothes? So much fun. I love the expressions in particular.

Random Panel Reviews

..because I have ADD and just had too much Coke so I keep flipping around tabs of comics eeee sugar high.

Buttersafe gives us the Earth's giant butthole. It's a pretty depressing strip - like Buttersafe often is - but this image was a barrel of laughs. Or really, maybe it's the mental image of the Earth having a butthole. Insert mandatory fart joke here.

I complimented the art of Questionable Content, and I still stand by that. BUT. Some of the city backgrounds he draws are just so... dead. Look at this strip from Friday. Why are there no people walking down the street? Or, even if we assume they are above street level, why are there no lights in any windows? Where are Sven and Hannelore dining - Silent Hill?

I love the last panel of this Sinfest strip. The Devil is a menacing sight here - something you cannot take for granted with Sinfest. The opening door, the silhuette in the light... Reminds me of some old-timey comic villains. A fun little play with styles.

"People I've spotted this summer" at Kuvatuksia - it's in Finnish, but the text isn't really instrumental for getting it. This artist has a great skill for capturing people's expressions. If you liked that, check out all the strips with people she's spotted.