I'm Positive I've Got Something Good for You

I’m awfully sorry I haven’t been posting lately.

I know how all five of you are disappointed (sorry, Mom).

I was thinking about bitching to you as to why I haven’t been posted, but I’m going to postulate that your lack of caring plus your own problems means . . . well, I’ve never been good at math, but I’m sure someone out there can figure it out.

Anyway, one of the biggest drains on my time recently has been a new web-comic I’ve discovered.

That’s right: I discovered. I’m like Columbus all up in this Internet-shit, and just because there are a bunch of naked, indigenous people looking at me like “What the hell does this guy think he’s . . . AGGGGHHH! SMALL POX!” doesn’t mean I don’t have a good claim. As Eddie Izzard says in his special, Dress to Kill, “Do you have a flag?” I’ve got a flag, son, and I’m planting it on the World Wide Web.

Screw Internet neutrality.

Never mind that for now. What I was trying to say was that I’ve started reading a new web-comic, and as I am wont to do, started from the beginning. Unfortunately, the artist, R.K. Milholland, was a little bit of a “go-getter,” and having started in 2001 (and updating a lot more frequently than many web-comics), left me a great deal to go through to catch up. I’m currently somewhere in the middle of 2006. It’s nice.

Oh, the strip? It’s actually pretty famous, as far as web-comics go. It’s called Something Positive, and it’s essentially the story of a group of late twenty-somethings in Boston. It’s got its requisite nerd-fodder (lots of gaming – D&D and the like), melodrama (relationships), and pretty good artwork (for a comic).

It’s also incredibly wordy. This is dialogue-driven, and that’s one of the reasons it’s taking me so long to read through them all (that and the pirated wireless I’m currently using is in-and-out – Thank you, East Village person who doesn’t know how to password protect their network!). Granted, some of the words get in the way of . . . I guess I’d call it “enjoyment.” Milholland is writing semi-autobiographical stuff, so a lot of it can tend to be personal. That in and of itself isn’t bad, but it sometimes means that the Milholland is a bit into the narrative, and seeing it’s his own site, can be as verbose as he chooses.

As someone who isn’t at all like that, it can sometimes be annoying.

The other thing is that a lot of the jokes get repeated. Again, though, I’m reading them straight through, so it’s a lot easier to recognize the patterns (which is an interesting idea to study: how does reading through a web-comic archive or a television show DVD change the medium . . . Oh McLuhan, you’ve invaded my life again!)

What I like so much though, is that it is not just a comic with characters, but a comic about characters. These characters grow, change, and amazingly enough, age (think of a certain Bill Watterson character and the fact he keeps coming back from summer vacation to have Ms. Wormwood – and the fact that he has different summer vacations). They may not be the most realistic characters, but they’re also cartoons.

I will warn you, though, that the subject matter is Rated R for extreme violence, adult language, strong sexual content, cruelty to animals, excessive drinking, abject pessimism, sickly-sweet sentimentality, and adult situations.

“Adult situations” is such a stupid term – reminds me (and man, I’m already repeating my references) of a Calvin and Hobbes strip where they want to go see a movie, and Calvin notes that it has “Adult Situations.” Curious, he asks Hobbes what that means, and he says: “Oh, you know, paying bills, doing laundry, going to work,” to which Calvin replies “I guess that’s why they don’t want kids to go see it.” Or something like that. "If my answers frighten you Vincent, then you should cease asking scary questions".

Extremely violent, but ironically acceptable, because most of it is girl-on-guy violence.

(Huge Aside: Acceptable, I say, because in our culture, we seem to have reached a point where man (especially The Father), is seen as an object of easy ridicule. I might have mentioned this before, but either way, here it is again: Watch television commercials or sitcoms. See how the father is situated in the family dynamic. I guarantee you that nine times out of ten he will be a bumbling-yet-tenderhearted idiot, who continually messes up, but usually makes good in the end. He will have a sassy and out-of-his-league attractive wife, and you will wonder, if he’s such an idiot, why they are together in the first place. Like this show . . . )

There is also a lot what I guess I’ll call “queer content.” There is a strong pro-gay sentiment in this strip, and Milholland is almost nonchalant about his inclusion of the topic. I think the fact that it is on the Internet, and there are no censors except advertisers, means that content can go in any direction the writer wants. Based on the “success” of Something Positive, I would say that he’s giving his audience what they want, and part of that is a whole lotta’ gay.

Speaking of a “whole lotta’ gay,” I seem to do that a lot. Well, try taking a class about gay identities in popular culture, and see how far you can get without noticing it. I promise you soon to give you my list of things I’ve noticed this semester. Something Positive will be on it.

That’s all for now. Devote some time, start from the beginning, and read the strip. It’s like an good, easy novel. A summer read that you can’t take to the beach.

Peacey-weace, sausage guts.

Two-fer

Good morning, fair folk.

Two things on my mind today, and I don't think this will be too long, so don't worry if you have a hot date -- you can read this and then be on your merry way.

And don't ask about the intro. . .because I don't know either. But damn, does my Barqs have bite!

But that's not what I wanted to tell you. I'll begin with a conversation I was having before class last week. Apparently, there aren't too many people in the academic community (or at least, in the slightly off world that is New York University) that watch television. The ones I was talking to seemed to think that TV was a waste of time -- literally. There is this belief that when you are watching television, you could be doing something more productive with your life. But that is only true if you don't believe television can be culturally stimulating. Granted, if your simply watching television, and not a specific program, you might be "wasting time." Channel surfing might be a waste of personal resources.

However, if you have something worth watching, then that makes all the difference in the world. I watch a great deal of television, because I think there are some seriously quality programs out there. I'm not going to list them all right now, but I wanted to mention the one that might possibly be the best:

"Psych."

On USA, it probably doesn't get the attention it deserves, since it's a cable channel, and it follows a strange season progression. But this is quite possibly the funniest show on television. Now I know people really enjoy shows like "The Office" (I like it too), but a lot of the humor from that show comes from what I like to call "awkward situations." It requires someone being in such an embarrassing predicament for it to be funny, especially when it is focusing on Michael, played by Steve Carell. While this can be humorous, it can also make me cringe, much the same way "Curb Your Enthusiasm" did.

"Psych" just presents funny situations. The main characters are quirky and original, and the surprisingly talented, seemingly newcomer, James Roday in the lead as Shawn is hysterical. He clearly has comedic talent, and if he doesn't look like Tom Cruise, then I'm a monkey's uncle.

And I'm not primate's uncle.

Dule Hill, best known for his role as Charlie on "The West Wing", is the perfect straight-man as Gus, Shawn's best friend. The rest of the cast is equally as strong, particularly Timothy Omundson as Detective Lassiter. Throw in Corbin Bernsen, of Major League fame, and you have quality (and I say Major League fame, because I'm not that old, so I don't frickin' remember "L.A. Law").

Why do I say this show is so funny? Because it's laugh-out-loud funny. It's one thing to chuckle, or think That's funny, but to actually have a joke on television affect you so much that you need to laugh out loud -- that's something special.

Unfortunately, now I have to wait until July to watch a new episode. Which sucks donkey balls.

Second on my list is real short: I just wanted to point you all in the direction of another web-comic I've found and have been enjoying a great deal. It's called "Masters of the Art", and it's very good. Funny, good art, the whole shebang. Props to the creators, Justin Pixler and Patrick Johnson. Keep it up.

Peace out, yo.

Because Artistry isn't Everything

If you're reading this blog, chances are you already read web-comics. If you don't read web-comics, then why are you reading this blog?

Circular logic, you win again!

Really, though - there are a lot of good things going on that you won't find in the newspaper funnies. Oh sure, you have some great strips that will get your hands all black and inky, but amazingly, you can read them on the internet, too. That crazy Al Gore and his wonderful invention.

For example, I keep up with Dilbert, Zits (the heir apparent of Calvin and Hobbes if there ever was one) , and the new strip Retail (which is the most spot-on look at the retail industry if there ever was one - if you've ever worked in the customer service industry, or if you've ever shopped, you'll find this amusing) via the Seattle Press-Intelligencer web-site.

I used to read Get Fuzzy all the time, but I find it's not as consistently amusing as it used to be for me. Don't get me wrong, I love the art in this, especially the way that Satchel, the dog, is quite possibly the saddest, most adorable thing ever drawn, but it's not always funny. Much of the humor comes from the art, and in dialogue-heavy strip, that's a disappointment. You might give it a try, though, because there are some genuinely funny moments.

For some reason, I keep up with two soap opera-like comics. The first is For Better or For Worse, a strip that has corny humor, but that's not why I read it. It's weird, but sometimes when you grow up with a certain habit, you will continue it even though you don't get a whole lot out of it. That's what this strip is like for me. For example, I "watched" as April grew up. So I guess I just want to know how everything turns out.

The second is an actual web-comic, Penny and Aggie. I'm not exactly sure why I started reading this, but I do know that I enjoy the artwork a lot (there is definitely a Anime influence), and the stories were pretty interesting, at least at first. Perhaps it was because I was first able to read them in a continuous fashion that the stories seemed so much more coherent, because now that I'm caught up, I'm usually unsure exactly what's going on all the time. Still, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (a web-comic standard, for the most part), I tune in.

The first web-comic I really got into, my oldest brother tipped me off on: PvP. It's very geek-oriented, in that it is chock-full of pop-culture references that video game and sci-fi nerds would enjoy, but I think it has enough appeal for the masses. Considering he publishes the strip in comic book form through Image has to mean Scott Kurtz, the author, has gained some popularity. His blogs are sometimes amusing, too, if only because he's got a little bit of an ego (because he's been successful in a highly unsuccessful industry, money-wise). And hey, this guy does a daily, so maybe he deserves some props.

Another great strip is Full Frontal Nerdity, by Aaron Williams. This is straight-up nerd-time, very much dedicated to the gaming community (and if you don't know what I mean by "gaming", then it's probably not for you). But it's hilarious if you get the references (or, rather, the tongue-in-cheekiness). This strip is only a weekly, because Williams has a few other projects. His blog, as opposed to Kurtz's, is great, and he is a link-finding master. I plan on reading his other comics as well: PS 238 and Nodwick. You can access them both through his home page (use the "blog" link).

A couple of other good ones: Todd and Penguin, Queen of Wands, and Irregular Web-Comic are all very good. The first two have atrocious art, but they're very interesting, and the last one is made with Lego mini-figs and has a number of different story-lines. Queen of Wands is no longer being made, sad to say, but it is loosely tied to a very popular web-comic, Something Positive that I plan on checking out, too. Both of these, and Irregular, were recommended to me by my cousin, so I'm giving him his propers.

That's about it for now. If I find any more, I'll keep you posted.

All three of you.