Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Starter Comics
I had the fortune to be introduced to Webcomics by a friend of mine who had picked up the second Megatokyo book, from there I read the archive of the comic, thus taking me down the road I tread now. But what if you don't have a starting point like this? The plan for this post is to give people who are new to webcomics a few comics they could start with.
When many people think of webcomics they think of Megatokyo, while not the longest or most colorful comic out there, it has quite possibly one of the most engaging plots this writer has encountered. Good enough that you'd want to start talking about the strip as soon as you're done reading it. It starts out similar to other gaming comics, but eventually morphs into something completely origional. A great comic for those starting out and will want amazing art.
The second comic I've recomended for new readers is the ever loveable antics of Gabe and Tycho over at Penny-Arcade. This comic is what most other gaming comics on the web are similar to. The two guys, the couch and the unseen TV that they game on. Complete with threats from Jack Thompson, Nyphomaniac Juicers, and Alcholic Home Theater Equipment. If you don't want to have to deal with a plot, and just want some laughs and gaming, this is your comic.
These were some of my first comics, and I ended up branching out through various methods. Perhaps I saw a guest strip whose art I liked, so I looked up the artist and read their comic. Or maybe a friend mentions some comic I haven't heard of before, or at the very least haven't read yet, so I try that one out. But remember, these are not the only ones out there, read what you like.
Until next time, I'm addicted to webcomics.
When many people think of webcomics they think of Megatokyo, while not the longest or most colorful comic out there, it has quite possibly one of the most engaging plots this writer has encountered. Good enough that you'd want to start talking about the strip as soon as you're done reading it. It starts out similar to other gaming comics, but eventually morphs into something completely origional. A great comic for those starting out and will want amazing art.
The second comic I've recomended for new readers is the ever loveable antics of Gabe and Tycho over at Penny-Arcade. This comic is what most other gaming comics on the web are similar to. The two guys, the couch and the unseen TV that they game on. Complete with threats from Jack Thompson, Nyphomaniac Juicers, and Alcholic Home Theater Equipment. If you don't want to have to deal with a plot, and just want some laughs and gaming, this is your comic.
These were some of my first comics, and I ended up branching out through various methods. Perhaps I saw a guest strip whose art I liked, so I looked up the artist and read their comic. Or maybe a friend mentions some comic I haven't heard of before, or at the very least haven't read yet, so I try that one out. But remember, these are not the only ones out there, read what you like.
Until next time, I'm addicted to webcomics.
Of Fandoms and Fanbrats
Okay, now while I normally would be writing about some new comic I've discovered, today I'd like to address an issue that runs rampant throughout the web. Bad Fanfiction, note I say "bad", I have no problem with well written fanfiction that respects the characters. But why do badfic writers seem to have this uncontrollable urge to write not only slash pairings that should have never existed and had little or no basis in the canon (meaning the series on which the fic is based), but some truly sickening works of fiction that really make you wonder about the mental state of the person who wrote it.
Example of a fiction that makes you not just feel bad for the fandom, but for the writer, is one of the classics of bad fanfiction (yes. There is such a thing). The title, Agony in Pink, the subject, a full-featured torture fic in which Lord Zedd of Power Rangers goofy villain fame, creates a monster solely designed to torture humans. Zedd then captures the Pink Ranger and proceeds to horribly torture her in countless ways. Now I haven't been a fan of Power Rangers for quite some time, but I still had some good memories. And after reading this fic, not only was I disgusted, but as I read it, I couldn't help but wonder why the author was writing the story, because if you read this, you'd see how much disgusting detail the author goes into.
On a less psychological fiction note, there are people that write pairings that are obviously contrived to help the writer get off. This is not only in the realm of Male/Male pairings. Ever read a Neon Genesis: Evangelion fanfiction? About 9 times out of 10 there will be a pairing that involves either:
*note: spoilers ahead for the serries*
A.) Rei and Auska in a gay relationship, now this one is of prime annoyance, as while in the serries all but one of the relationships were stated merely in subtext. These relationships built a fair amount of the serries, such as the never mentioned but completely implied crush Auska had on Shinji. But of all the relationships that were mentioned in the serries, only one was a homosexual one, and then it was still only implied. The relationship between Dr. Akagi and her assistant Maia. This is one that could never happen as Risko is firmly straight, but it was a sorta nice one. However, the fanbrats seem to need to write gay pairings on both sides of the line that never had a basis, such as the aformentioned Rei and Auska relationship.
B.) Shinji and Kaoru, oh mien gott, as Auska would say. I've got some fangirl friends that like Eva, and this is the motherlode of yaoi fanfics for the serries. Now there is some discussion about Kaoru, as he does make some pretty serious advances on Shinji, however a few friends of mine have worked out a fairly resonable explaination for this. In the past at least one angel had tried to merge with Unit 01 as well as Shinji. This lends some explainations for Kaoru's seemingly sexual advances, Kaoru is trying to merge with Shinji. Not have sex with him, which would be impossible as the angels have no gender.
C.) Some really random pairing that had absolutely no basis in the serries. Examples include Gendo and Fuyuski, Kaoru and Kenske, Risuko and Auska, etc.
Basically this was a entry to let people know that while fanfiction is not inheriantly bad, it's very easy to make it so. If any fanfic writters read this, please follow this piece of advice: if you're writing a pairing, please make it a plausible one, and by that I do not mean a mary-sue. Thank you and goodnight.
Example of a fiction that makes you not just feel bad for the fandom, but for the writer, is one of the classics of bad fanfiction (yes. There is such a thing). The title, Agony in Pink, the subject, a full-featured torture fic in which Lord Zedd of Power Rangers goofy villain fame, creates a monster solely designed to torture humans. Zedd then captures the Pink Ranger and proceeds to horribly torture her in countless ways. Now I haven't been a fan of Power Rangers for quite some time, but I still had some good memories. And after reading this fic, not only was I disgusted, but as I read it, I couldn't help but wonder why the author was writing the story, because if you read this, you'd see how much disgusting detail the author goes into.
On a less psychological fiction note, there are people that write pairings that are obviously contrived to help the writer get off. This is not only in the realm of Male/Male pairings. Ever read a Neon Genesis: Evangelion fanfiction? About 9 times out of 10 there will be a pairing that involves either:
*note: spoilers ahead for the serries*
A.) Rei and Auska in a gay relationship, now this one is of prime annoyance, as while in the serries all but one of the relationships were stated merely in subtext. These relationships built a fair amount of the serries, such as the never mentioned but completely implied crush Auska had on Shinji. But of all the relationships that were mentioned in the serries, only one was a homosexual one, and then it was still only implied. The relationship between Dr. Akagi and her assistant Maia. This is one that could never happen as Risko is firmly straight, but it was a sorta nice one. However, the fanbrats seem to need to write gay pairings on both sides of the line that never had a basis, such as the aformentioned Rei and Auska relationship.
B.) Shinji and Kaoru, oh mien gott, as Auska would say. I've got some fangirl friends that like Eva, and this is the motherlode of yaoi fanfics for the serries. Now there is some discussion about Kaoru, as he does make some pretty serious advances on Shinji, however a few friends of mine have worked out a fairly resonable explaination for this. In the past at least one angel had tried to merge with Unit 01 as well as Shinji. This lends some explainations for Kaoru's seemingly sexual advances, Kaoru is trying to merge with Shinji. Not have sex with him, which would be impossible as the angels have no gender.
C.) Some really random pairing that had absolutely no basis in the serries. Examples include Gendo and Fuyuski, Kaoru and Kenske, Risuko and Auska, etc.
Basically this was a entry to let people know that while fanfiction is not inheriantly bad, it's very easy to make it so. If any fanfic writters read this, please follow this piece of advice: if you're writing a pairing, please make it a plausible one, and by that I do not mean a mary-sue. Thank you and goodnight.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Techie Comics
In the mess of all the comics there are to find out on the web, there lies a particular breed that you don't find often, it's the Techie comic, the best example of this genre would have to be the truly epic (if you call an archive that goes back to late 1997 epic) daily comic User Friendly. For anyone that's ever worked in the tech industry, you'll love this, or even if you don't you'll definitely identify with the gang of IT professionals that man the servers at the fictional Canadian ISP, Columbia Internet. The comic for the most part follows the major events in the technology industry of the day, including the imfamous Microsoft anti-trust case, the numerous lawsuits of the SCO group, the never-ending Linux distrobution wars (as waged by the head coder, the system admin, and the chief helpdesk guy). The accuracy of the tech news as put out by this comic is so good that this writter learned about the Apple processor switch in the comic before hearing about it from the rest of the news. But this comic isn't all about tech news, it'a also about the day-in-day-out annoyances those that work in the IT industry deal with, such as the ever persistent idiocy of customers who call the Tech Support line, as well as bone-headed moves of marketing.
Next on our list of techie comics is the less tech and a bit more plot comic, General Protection Fault, or just GPF for short. This comic entails the adventures of a group of, you guessed it, IT professionals working at a small software development firm. While the comic does use a lot of tech in it's setting and elements of it's plot, recently, the comic has done a few notably grand storylines, spanning across more than one dimension. Heck they've even had a good take on the terminator. While the comic doesn't keep the news flowing like User Friendly, it does maintain a high quality plot that keeps making you want to come back for more, the comic's artist, Jeff Darlington, maintains a great update schedule for the fans, by having the comic up many times not long after midnight, you can check your updates before you head to sleep. If you're curious how a software firm and a storyline that takes off of the matrix work together, check this comic out at www.gpf-comics.com.
Now most people with a fair amount of tech background have likely cracked a joke at the expense of the software development titan Microsoft. This writter is guilty of it, but I still use a windows OS because I need it for gaming. And most of the time, tech comics make their focus about poking fun at MS and our friend Bill. Now recently I discovered a comic that turns it around, by renaming just about everything, the webcomic Ubersoft is similar to user friendly in that it follows a lot of tech news, but this time it's from the perspective of Microsoft, the comic is a hilarous twist on the genre. I highly recomend this comic.
Till next time, i'm addicted to webcomics.
Next on our list of techie comics is the less tech and a bit more plot comic, General Protection Fault, or just GPF for short. This comic entails the adventures of a group of, you guessed it, IT professionals working at a small software development firm. While the comic does use a lot of tech in it's setting and elements of it's plot, recently, the comic has done a few notably grand storylines, spanning across more than one dimension. Heck they've even had a good take on the terminator. While the comic doesn't keep the news flowing like User Friendly, it does maintain a high quality plot that keeps making you want to come back for more, the comic's artist, Jeff Darlington, maintains a great update schedule for the fans, by having the comic up many times not long after midnight, you can check your updates before you head to sleep. If you're curious how a software firm and a storyline that takes off of the matrix work together, check this comic out at www.gpf-comics.com.
Now most people with a fair amount of tech background have likely cracked a joke at the expense of the software development titan Microsoft. This writter is guilty of it, but I still use a windows OS because I need it for gaming. And most of the time, tech comics make their focus about poking fun at MS and our friend Bill. Now recently I discovered a comic that turns it around, by renaming just about everything, the webcomic Ubersoft is similar to user friendly in that it follows a lot of tech news, but this time it's from the perspective of Microsoft, the comic is a hilarous twist on the genre. I highly recomend this comic.
Till next time, i'm addicted to webcomics.
