Nick Costanzo
Oct 8, 2007, 10:20 pm
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THREAD : TANGLED PANELS #5: SURREALISTIC LESBIAN SIDEKICK ADVENTURES
Started at Sep 22, 2006 03:54 pm by Nick Costanzo
Visit at http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=40201
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[Post 1]
Author : Nick Costanzo
Date : Sep 22, 2006 03:54 pm
Title : TANGLED PANELS #5: SURREALISTIC LESBIAN SIDEKICK ADVENTURES
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/TangledPanels.jpg" hspace=10 align=left border=0 alt="Tangled Panels Logo">By Nick Costanzo, winged.outlaw@gmail.com
Surrealistic Lesbian Sidekick Adventures
Meh… this one isn’t as dirty as Something Positive (http://www.somethingpositive.net), but sometimes it's pretty damn risqué. Follow the links at your own risk, young’ins.
Dark forces conspire to commit travesties untold. A mysterious corporation buys up every business in the city. A sole honorable cop tries to maintain order in a chaotic world. An elephant nibbles on a couch, while an undeniable force of pure passion leaves scores of spent, though strangely satisfied women splayed about the streets. And somewhere, an adventurous couple of girls have taken it upon themselves to, in all likelihood, make things even weirder.
And thus we have the world of Josh L.’s Girly (http://www.go-girly.com), a webcomic that plays with your emotions (though not the ones most comics target). There are times when you’ll smile and feel all warm inside, and other times when you’ll stare at your screen for a good five minutes, just thinking... what? (http://www.go-girly.com/go/16)
Girly follows the tale of Otra (http://www.go-girly.com/go/8), a cute but depressed young woman whose hollow fashion job (http://www.go-girly.com/go/93) allows her the financial freedom to randomly walk the streets of Cute-Town and sulk. Along the way she usually deals with would-be suitors, insane mothers, and occasionally even Bible-pushers, all of whom are subject to being launched into space. (http://www.go-girly.com/go/6) All that changes, however, the magical day when a pretty, though far more psychotic girl named Winter comes into Otra’s life... and nearly cracks her skull at the hands of a giant dildo (http://www.go-girly.com/go/2). Literary buffs may like to sound smart by identifying Winter as a “noble fool” who, by shunning societal norms, helps to bring Otra to a new sense of enlightenment and self-purpose. I, on the other hand, will simplify matters for you. Winter is <expletive-deleted>ing insane. (http://www.go-girly.com/go/9) Raised by yet another pair of adventuring women (in what appears to be a flagrant (http://www.go-girly.com/go/18) violation of biology), Winter sets her sights on the morose Otra, dragging her new “sidekick” (http://www.go-girly.com/go/4 ) into one psychotic adventure (http://www.go-girly.com/go/39) after another. Along the way, they end up living together, adopt themselves an indestructible cat (http://www.go-girly.com/go/137), and slowly fall into the most adorable friggin’ romance I’ve ever seen. (http://www.go-girly.com/go/121)
It becomes obvious fairly early on that the world of Girly (named for the insulting nickname Otra endures before finally revealing her actual name several strips down the line) resides rather comfortably in the world of slapstick absurdity. Otra and Winter reside in the wonderful city of Cute-town (not to be confused with Cheapgag, the worst city ever (http://www.go-girly.com/go/101)). The CutePD patrol the streets with Officer Policeguy (http://www.go-girly.com/go/106) as their most distinguished officer. If they aren’t enough, an utterly inept superhero named Captain Fist (http://www.go-girly.com/go/107) (whose head is, in fact, a fist) will show up, and often inspire the police into action out of sheer disgust. To balance out the good guys, Girly has a rogue’s gallery that usually creeps into Winter and Otra’s adventures by pure accident. Captain Fist’s eternal nemesis is the Assmaster (http://www.go-girly.com/go/82), who, as one might expect, is a real ass. A shadowy group of Shadowy Men who also employ the Shadow Guy (http://www.go-girly.com/go/430) may or may not be plotting to take over the world, but are ultimately too lame for anyone to really care. Giant squirrels and elephants frequently show up at inopportune times to tear down buildings and eat cars. The greatest threat of all, however, is the menace known as El Chupacabre (http://www.go-girly.com/go/12). Despite looking like a weird elf-wizard-hobo-thing (http://www.go-girly.com/go/78) early in the strip, he was born with an aura that makes him THE PLEASURER of all women, turning him into a sexual force of nature made all the more dangerous by a very simple mind.
Girly tends to balance out the weird with the sweet and, at times, mind-numbingly cute. (http://www.go-girly.com/go/66) It's fun to watch Otra and Winter’s relationship develop (http://www.go-girly.com/go/25) because, while arguably love at first sight, it takes over a hundred strips for them to admit it. The time is just long enough for the reader to get excited (http://www.go-girly.com/go/52) about it without taking so long that that you lose interest. There are a lot of clichés and sappiness in their relationship that would ruin more “realistic” strips, but works well within the goofy background. Their relationship is also refreshing, because the fact that they’re both girls is never made out to be shocking or controversial. Within the strip, in fact, this has only been directly mentioned (http://www.go-girly.com/go/194) once. As a result, we’re not being force-fed another gay-empowerment story that marvels at how “heroic” it must be just to be yourself. Instead, we get a very heart-warming story of two girls in love, presented in such a way that you’d have to actively FORCE (http://www.go-girly.com/go/406) yourself to hate. It’s much more fun to read, and in my opinion, a much better way to get a message of acceptance across.
For the guys in the room, it’s not all sap. In fact, there are a few strips in the collection that are more than a little risqué, if not downright perverse (so many possible links, so many things that would get edited out). Girly never comes close to being pornographic in nature, mind you, but there are more than a few strips that’ll probably make you blush. (http://www.go-girly.com/go/145)
On the art front, Girly begins with a rather large amount of manga influence (as do a rather large percentage of webcomics these days). Certain characters’ faces go from normal and attractive to warped and weird-looking, depending on the level of the funny. At a certain point, however, the manga influence slowly but surely fades in favor of a more unique look for the strip. The characters’ physical features have become a bit more exaggerated, and at the same time more fitting for the random slapstick humor of the script. There's a very dynamic quality to Josh's art, from the character interaction to the often strange scenes going on in the background. It almost feels more like animation than still art. The strip is further helped along by the fact that Girly has a very well laid-out website. Multiple sections can be called up without navigating away from the strip you were just reading. Particularly useful is the cast list, as pretty much everyone who's ever spoken or held the least amount of significance is included (even those that the list itself admits will never, ever return). The archives are also easier to navigate than probably any other webcomic I've ever read. The fact that Girly archives strips by chapter, number and title, rather than date (with no identification), makes it much easier to find a specific point in the story you want to go back to. Most probably won't notice the extra bit of effort it takes to do that, but at least in looking up all the links for this column, I certainly appreciate it.
Girly has recently concluded its tenth chapter, and the eleventh begins on Monday. This means that you've got the whole weekend to catch up, of course. You'll laugh, you'll scratch your head, and even the most cynical of you (and by "you", I mean "us") will experience moments when you'll have to say "awww" and feel all warm inside. Even if you are truly so cold as to not be swayed by such tender moments, you can take heart in the fact that eventually, you'll see two cute girls kiss, which is always awesome.
<center><hr width=75%></center>
Nick Costanzo should probably be ashamed for that last comment in what was otherwise a pretty tasteful piece, but he has never seen any... erm, "evidence", to prove him wrong. To ensure that his research is complete, however, please feel free to send supplementary evidence (in whichever form of media you deem appropriate) to the email address above. Though your efforts will most likely only affirm his hypothesis, he will accept such redundancy gladly in the name of science.
<center><hr width=75%></center>
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and are not reflective of Comixfan or its other staff in general.
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[Post 2]
Author : DianaK
Date : Sep 23, 2006 05:25 am
Title : Re: TANGLED PANELS #5: SURREALISTIC LESBIAN SIDEKICK ADVENTURES
It's worth mentioning that "Girly" is in fact a sequel to "Cutewendy", which ran along similar lines but was perhaps a bit less polished in terms of the humor and artwork.
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[Post 3]
Author : Nick Costanzo
Date : Sep 23, 2006 09:45 am
Title : Re: TANGLED PANELS #5: SURREALISTIC LESBIAN SIDEKICK ADVENTURES
I figured that it had to be, but for the life of me I couldn't find a link to it. Any chance of supplying the source?
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[Post 4]
Author : DianaK
Date : Sep 23, 2006 03:02 pm
Title : Re: TANGLED PANELS #5: SURREALISTIC LESBIAN SIDEKICK ADVENTURES
http://cutewendy.com/ - basically the story of Winter's parents.
Also of note: "CuteWendy" doesn't completely stand on its own either, since it was a parody of another Lesnick webcomic, "Wendy", and Lesnick sometimes broke the fourth wall while discussing CuteWendy's status as an individual (as opposed to "a cute version of Wendy"). However, since "Wendy" went on indefinite hiatus and has no direct relation to subsequent series, there's not much point reading it in conjunction with "CuteWendy" or "Girly".
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The messages has been download from Comixfan Forums at http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums at 05.10.2007 08:31:48
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THREAD : TANGLED PANELS #5: SURREALISTIC LESBIAN SIDEKICK ADVENTURES
Started at Sep 22, 2006 03:54 pm by Nick Costanzo
Visit at http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=40201
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[Post 1]
Author : Nick Costanzo
Date : Sep 22, 2006 03:54 pm
Title : TANGLED PANELS #5: SURREALISTIC LESBIAN SIDEKICK ADVENTURES
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/TangledPanels.jpg" hspace=10 align=left border=0 alt="Tangled Panels Logo">By Nick Costanzo, winged.outlaw@gmail.com
Surrealistic Lesbian Sidekick Adventures
Meh… this one isn’t as dirty as Something Positive (http://www.somethingpositive.net), but sometimes it's pretty damn risqué. Follow the links at your own risk, young’ins.
Dark forces conspire to commit travesties untold. A mysterious corporation buys up every business in the city. A sole honorable cop tries to maintain order in a chaotic world. An elephant nibbles on a couch, while an undeniable force of pure passion leaves scores of spent, though strangely satisfied women splayed about the streets. And somewhere, an adventurous couple of girls have taken it upon themselves to, in all likelihood, make things even weirder.
And thus we have the world of Josh L.’s Girly (http://www.go-girly.com), a webcomic that plays with your emotions (though not the ones most comics target). There are times when you’ll smile and feel all warm inside, and other times when you’ll stare at your screen for a good five minutes, just thinking... what? (http://www.go-girly.com/go/16)
Girly follows the tale of Otra (http://www.go-girly.com/go/8), a cute but depressed young woman whose hollow fashion job (http://www.go-girly.com/go/93) allows her the financial freedom to randomly walk the streets of Cute-Town and sulk. Along the way she usually deals with would-be suitors, insane mothers, and occasionally even Bible-pushers, all of whom are subject to being launched into space. (http://www.go-girly.com/go/6) All that changes, however, the magical day when a pretty, though far more psychotic girl named Winter comes into Otra’s life... and nearly cracks her skull at the hands of a giant dildo (http://www.go-girly.com/go/2). Literary buffs may like to sound smart by identifying Winter as a “noble fool” who, by shunning societal norms, helps to bring Otra to a new sense of enlightenment and self-purpose. I, on the other hand, will simplify matters for you. Winter is <expletive-deleted>ing insane. (http://www.go-girly.com/go/9) Raised by yet another pair of adventuring women (in what appears to be a flagrant (http://www.go-girly.com/go/18) violation of biology), Winter sets her sights on the morose Otra, dragging her new “sidekick” (http://www.go-girly.com/go/4 ) into one psychotic adventure (http://www.go-girly.com/go/39) after another. Along the way, they end up living together, adopt themselves an indestructible cat (http://www.go-girly.com/go/137), and slowly fall into the most adorable friggin’ romance I’ve ever seen. (http://www.go-girly.com/go/121)
It becomes obvious fairly early on that the world of Girly (named for the insulting nickname Otra endures before finally revealing her actual name several strips down the line) resides rather comfortably in the world of slapstick absurdity. Otra and Winter reside in the wonderful city of Cute-town (not to be confused with Cheapgag, the worst city ever (http://www.go-girly.com/go/101)). The CutePD patrol the streets with Officer Policeguy (http://www.go-girly.com/go/106) as their most distinguished officer. If they aren’t enough, an utterly inept superhero named Captain Fist (http://www.go-girly.com/go/107) (whose head is, in fact, a fist) will show up, and often inspire the police into action out of sheer disgust. To balance out the good guys, Girly has a rogue’s gallery that usually creeps into Winter and Otra’s adventures by pure accident. Captain Fist’s eternal nemesis is the Assmaster (http://www.go-girly.com/go/82), who, as one might expect, is a real ass. A shadowy group of Shadowy Men who also employ the Shadow Guy (http://www.go-girly.com/go/430) may or may not be plotting to take over the world, but are ultimately too lame for anyone to really care. Giant squirrels and elephants frequently show up at inopportune times to tear down buildings and eat cars. The greatest threat of all, however, is the menace known as El Chupacabre (http://www.go-girly.com/go/12). Despite looking like a weird elf-wizard-hobo-thing (http://www.go-girly.com/go/78) early in the strip, he was born with an aura that makes him THE PLEASURER of all women, turning him into a sexual force of nature made all the more dangerous by a very simple mind.
Girly tends to balance out the weird with the sweet and, at times, mind-numbingly cute. (http://www.go-girly.com/go/66) It's fun to watch Otra and Winter’s relationship develop (http://www.go-girly.com/go/25) because, while arguably love at first sight, it takes over a hundred strips for them to admit it. The time is just long enough for the reader to get excited (http://www.go-girly.com/go/52) about it without taking so long that that you lose interest. There are a lot of clichés and sappiness in their relationship that would ruin more “realistic” strips, but works well within the goofy background. Their relationship is also refreshing, because the fact that they’re both girls is never made out to be shocking or controversial. Within the strip, in fact, this has only been directly mentioned (http://www.go-girly.com/go/194) once. As a result, we’re not being force-fed another gay-empowerment story that marvels at how “heroic” it must be just to be yourself. Instead, we get a very heart-warming story of two girls in love, presented in such a way that you’d have to actively FORCE (http://www.go-girly.com/go/406) yourself to hate. It’s much more fun to read, and in my opinion, a much better way to get a message of acceptance across.
For the guys in the room, it’s not all sap. In fact, there are a few strips in the collection that are more than a little risqué, if not downright perverse (so many possible links, so many things that would get edited out). Girly never comes close to being pornographic in nature, mind you, but there are more than a few strips that’ll probably make you blush. (http://www.go-girly.com/go/145)
On the art front, Girly begins with a rather large amount of manga influence (as do a rather large percentage of webcomics these days). Certain characters’ faces go from normal and attractive to warped and weird-looking, depending on the level of the funny. At a certain point, however, the manga influence slowly but surely fades in favor of a more unique look for the strip. The characters’ physical features have become a bit more exaggerated, and at the same time more fitting for the random slapstick humor of the script. There's a very dynamic quality to Josh's art, from the character interaction to the often strange scenes going on in the background. It almost feels more like animation than still art. The strip is further helped along by the fact that Girly has a very well laid-out website. Multiple sections can be called up without navigating away from the strip you were just reading. Particularly useful is the cast list, as pretty much everyone who's ever spoken or held the least amount of significance is included (even those that the list itself admits will never, ever return). The archives are also easier to navigate than probably any other webcomic I've ever read. The fact that Girly archives strips by chapter, number and title, rather than date (with no identification), makes it much easier to find a specific point in the story you want to go back to. Most probably won't notice the extra bit of effort it takes to do that, but at least in looking up all the links for this column, I certainly appreciate it.
Girly has recently concluded its tenth chapter, and the eleventh begins on Monday. This means that you've got the whole weekend to catch up, of course. You'll laugh, you'll scratch your head, and even the most cynical of you (and by "you", I mean "us") will experience moments when you'll have to say "awww" and feel all warm inside. Even if you are truly so cold as to not be swayed by such tender moments, you can take heart in the fact that eventually, you'll see two cute girls kiss, which is always awesome.
<center><hr width=75%></center>
Nick Costanzo should probably be ashamed for that last comment in what was otherwise a pretty tasteful piece, but he has never seen any... erm, "evidence", to prove him wrong. To ensure that his research is complete, however, please feel free to send supplementary evidence (in whichever form of media you deem appropriate) to the email address above. Though your efforts will most likely only affirm his hypothesis, he will accept such redundancy gladly in the name of science.
<center><hr width=75%></center>
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and are not reflective of Comixfan or its other staff in general.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Post 2]
Author : DianaK
Date : Sep 23, 2006 05:25 am
Title : Re: TANGLED PANELS #5: SURREALISTIC LESBIAN SIDEKICK ADVENTURES
It's worth mentioning that "Girly" is in fact a sequel to "Cutewendy", which ran along similar lines but was perhaps a bit less polished in terms of the humor and artwork.
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[Post 3]
Author : Nick Costanzo
Date : Sep 23, 2006 09:45 am
Title : Re: TANGLED PANELS #5: SURREALISTIC LESBIAN SIDEKICK ADVENTURES
I figured that it had to be, but for the life of me I couldn't find a link to it. Any chance of supplying the source?
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[Post 4]
Author : DianaK
Date : Sep 23, 2006 03:02 pm
Title : Re: TANGLED PANELS #5: SURREALISTIC LESBIAN SIDEKICK ADVENTURES
http://cutewendy.com/ - basically the story of Winter's parents.
Also of note: "CuteWendy" doesn't completely stand on its own either, since it was a parody of another Lesnick webcomic, "Wendy", and Lesnick sometimes broke the fourth wall while discussing CuteWendy's status as an individual (as opposed to "a cute version of Wendy"). However, since "Wendy" went on indefinite hiatus and has no direct relation to subsequent series, there's not much point reading it in conjunction with "CuteWendy" or "Girly".
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The messages has been download from Comixfan Forums at http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums at 05.10.2007 08:31:48