Nick Costanzo
Oct 8, 2007, 10:21 pm
* * * Comixfan Forums THREAD * * *
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THREAD : TANGLED PANELS #6: WEBCOMICS I LOVE TO HATE
Started at Oct 20, 2006 06:17 pm by Nick Costanzo
Visit at http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=40451
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[Post 1]
Author : Nick Costanzo
Date : Oct 20, 2006 06:17 pm
Title : TANGLED PANELS #6: WEBCOMICS I LOVE TO HATE
<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
Webcomics I Love to Hate
Have you ever noticed the way certain fans around the world... indeed, members of this very site seem to go on and on about the characters they hate the most? Wolverine is too over-exposed, Sage is a walking plot-device, Storm doesn’t die enough. The list goes on and on, and for every fan of a character there seems to be just as many anti-fans who want nothing more than to see that character die a horrible death. So why, then, does hate stir such passion? Even more intriguing, why do such supposed “haters” (or “hatas”, if you will, which I won’t) continually purchase the books where these characters are at the forefront? Luckily, all the books I’m buying these days feature characters I love, or at the very least, don’t outwardly hate. However, when you don’t have to pay for them, they become a little harder to avoid.
Jeph Jacques’ Questionable Content (http://www.questionablecontent.net) is something of an anomaly in my webcomics addiction. In something of a reverse-fanboy attitude, I know that if I ever met these characters in real life I would hate with a passion. Yet, for reasons I still can’t quite explain I find their antics both entertaining and at times deeply fascinating. Perhaps a better name for this strip would be Emasculation Theatre. The main character is Marten, a well meaning yet spineless indie punk-rocker-librarian (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=691) who was born to, and surrounds himself with, the kinds of women that tend to enjoy reducing testicles to a raisin-like state. He lives with Faye (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=112), the curvaceous initial focus of Marten’s affection who moves in after burning her own house down. Faye would be nice, if not for gross-out humor, man-killing streak of violence, and utter lack of anything nice. Then there’s Dora (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=108), the rail-thin sex-obsessed current focus of Marten’s affection, who is mostly normal except for an unforgivable shortcoming... she speaks ill of my beloved Starbucks (and their cruelly-seasonal pumpkin-spice lattes). And finally, there’s Steve (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=713), who has the audacity to do things like have normal relationships with women and hold down a real job. He’s like the anti-Marten, in that I can actually respect him.
These characters tend to get on my nerves because they more or less represent everything I grew out of during college, and now look back with a grimace. At the center is the love triangle that develops early on between the three main characters that starts out innocently enough and yet takes something like 500 strips to reach a conclusion. Don’t get me wrong, when dust settles and Marten and Dora finally kissed (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=564), I was excited in a way that made me feel goofy. Still though, it took years of strips to get that far, which is made to feel all the more massive considering QC updates five times per week. With just the smallest amount of real, adult communication, the whole thing could have been resolved much sooner. I guess the argument can be made that it built up tension, but even still I was praying that at some point Davan (http:www.somethingpositive.net) would jump in and beat some sense into these people.
Also, it just kills me that a pasty, poor, skinny and gutless boob like Marten is apparently such a chick-magnet throughout the course of the series. I mean, at least Rayne (http:www.leasticoulddo.com) puts forth a little effort and enjoyment into the process, while Marten squanders one opportunity after another until its literally pushing its tongue down his throat. God I just want to hit him.
Still, you’ve got to love the way Jeph’s art progresses (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2) along (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=88) the (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=331) way (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=729). Things look pretty simplistic at the onset, but his art has developed to include a great level of detail and a number of funny Easter Eggs in the background that greatly add to the entertainment factor. And it must be said he draws some pretty cute girls, even if they do eat the souls of lesser men for fun.
While I’m not sure why I find QC so intriguing, I know full well why I read Piled Higher and Deeper (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php). I read it, and then I think about my old lab partner’s current fate and the fate of my younger brother if he gets his way. And then I laugh, oh how I laugh. P.H.D., written by Jorge Cham and first appearing as part of the Stanford student paper, gives its readers a look into the tragic lifestyle of the average grad student. Long hours (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=335), no sunlight (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=471), cruel advisors (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=528) and old lab equipment, all for the “reward” of a tiny dorm (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=78), an even tinier stipend, and a lifetime addiction to ramen noodles.
P.H.D. makes extensive use of parody (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=491) and hyperbole to drive home the punch-line of almost every strip: grad students are poor, under-appreciated, and quite possibly wasting their lives away in a lab. Being one of the longest-running webcomics out there, P.H.D. does admittedly recycle its own jokes from time to time (especially the ramen clichés (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=485)). Still, it’s one of the most widely-recognized and highly read comics on college campuses today. Back before my blessed graduation into the real world, I can recall P.H.D. strips, quotes, and even posters (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=233) plastered all over the grad student offices. And surprise surprise, all those offices were tucked away in the basement. Personally, I suffered through that lifestyle for just under a year during my final two semesters at college, and compared to most of the other guys there I slacked off pretty hard (indeed, at a scant 15 hours per week... on top of classes and 30 more hours per week at my job). And yet, it gave me the conviction, in that I knew for a fact that going out to face the real world, scary though it might be, was a HELL of a lot better than rotting away in grad school for another few years-to-a-decade.
Oh and if any of the guys I listed above end up reading this... last week I spent nearly $60 on comic books, another $60 on video games, and nearly $20 on a single serving of sushi for dinner, all because I could. So THERE!
Art-wise, Jorge’s style has become a bit cleaner over the years and it’s now colored in every installment. It can be a bit simplistic at times but honestly, I feel like a complete bastard for saying anything negative about it. See, the reason Jorge knows so much about the grad school life is that he’s been in various stages of grad school since the strip’s inception (that would be 1997, by the way), and has STILL managed to keep up a schedule that now includes over 700 strips, updating an average of three times per week. I couldn’t so much as be bothered to sketch a few stick figures during college, and I was just an undergrad. At the end of the day I’m amazed that Cham has been able to maintain such a huge artistic endeavor (complete with merchandising and publishing deals) without neglecting his studies. That’s impressive no matter how you look at it.
And then finally there’s Sore Thumbs. The reason I read this strip is... bah just kidding. I actually do hate this piece of webcomics garbage and for that reason I won’t bother linking to it. Psuedo-manga cheesecake art, mixed with the dumbest attempt at political humor I’ve ever seen. The few strips I have read made me yearn for blindness and amnesia. I suppose you could seek out the strip for yourselves, but... well don’t say I didn’t warn you.
If there’s a moral to this installment, it’s that you don’t always have to agree with or particularly like a character to still want to read about them. Some will get on your nerves, others will make you shake your head in pity. But in a way, that only makes you want to read more about them, get to know them a little better so that maybe you’ll be able to expand your own horizons, if only by just a bit.
That or you’re looking for a cheap laugh when something bad happens to them (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=212).
<center><hr width=75%></center>
Nick Costanzo has graduated college, found an exciting and well-paying job in the nuclear industry, is completely financially independent and overall awesome in every way. Sam Costanzo has decided to get an engineering degree only to spend the next god knows how many years in law school to become a patent lawyer or something. Mom loves Nick more.
<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 : i_miss_maggott
Date : Oct 21, 2006 01:28 am
Title : Re: TANGLED PANELS #6: WEBCOMICS I LOVE TO HATE
Q.C. is one of the funniest ones out there, but i have been enjoying Dr. McNinja (http://www.drmcninja.com/) even more. It reminds me of the original The Tick series. So funny.
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[Post 3]
Author : DianaK
Date : Oct 21, 2006 03:59 pm
Title : Re: TANGLED PANELS #6: WEBCOMICS I LOVE TO HATE
I got bored with "Questionable Content" very early on; the problem, IMO, is the lack of subplots.
I mean, you're never really bored with "Something Positive" because it's not just about Davan, Peejee and Aubrey. Milholland could suddenly do an entire arc on Mike or flashbacks to Fred's childhood or Monette's latest stupidity; there was an entire cast of characters to explore. QC spent hundreds of strips going around and around with Marten and Faye, and they weren't the most interesting/profound types to begin with.
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The messages has been download from Comixfan Forums at http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums at 05.10.2007 08:31:02
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THREAD : TANGLED PANELS #6: WEBCOMICS I LOVE TO HATE
Started at Oct 20, 2006 06:17 pm by Nick Costanzo
Visit at http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=40451
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
[Post 1]
Author : Nick Costanzo
Date : Oct 20, 2006 06:17 pm
Title : TANGLED PANELS #6: WEBCOMICS I LOVE TO HATE
<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
Webcomics I Love to Hate
Have you ever noticed the way certain fans around the world... indeed, members of this very site seem to go on and on about the characters they hate the most? Wolverine is too over-exposed, Sage is a walking plot-device, Storm doesn’t die enough. The list goes on and on, and for every fan of a character there seems to be just as many anti-fans who want nothing more than to see that character die a horrible death. So why, then, does hate stir such passion? Even more intriguing, why do such supposed “haters” (or “hatas”, if you will, which I won’t) continually purchase the books where these characters are at the forefront? Luckily, all the books I’m buying these days feature characters I love, or at the very least, don’t outwardly hate. However, when you don’t have to pay for them, they become a little harder to avoid.
Jeph Jacques’ Questionable Content (http://www.questionablecontent.net) is something of an anomaly in my webcomics addiction. In something of a reverse-fanboy attitude, I know that if I ever met these characters in real life I would hate with a passion. Yet, for reasons I still can’t quite explain I find their antics both entertaining and at times deeply fascinating. Perhaps a better name for this strip would be Emasculation Theatre. The main character is Marten, a well meaning yet spineless indie punk-rocker-librarian (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=691) who was born to, and surrounds himself with, the kinds of women that tend to enjoy reducing testicles to a raisin-like state. He lives with Faye (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=112), the curvaceous initial focus of Marten’s affection who moves in after burning her own house down. Faye would be nice, if not for gross-out humor, man-killing streak of violence, and utter lack of anything nice. Then there’s Dora (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=108), the rail-thin sex-obsessed current focus of Marten’s affection, who is mostly normal except for an unforgivable shortcoming... she speaks ill of my beloved Starbucks (and their cruelly-seasonal pumpkin-spice lattes). And finally, there’s Steve (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=713), who has the audacity to do things like have normal relationships with women and hold down a real job. He’s like the anti-Marten, in that I can actually respect him.
These characters tend to get on my nerves because they more or less represent everything I grew out of during college, and now look back with a grimace. At the center is the love triangle that develops early on between the three main characters that starts out innocently enough and yet takes something like 500 strips to reach a conclusion. Don’t get me wrong, when dust settles and Marten and Dora finally kissed (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=564), I was excited in a way that made me feel goofy. Still though, it took years of strips to get that far, which is made to feel all the more massive considering QC updates five times per week. With just the smallest amount of real, adult communication, the whole thing could have been resolved much sooner. I guess the argument can be made that it built up tension, but even still I was praying that at some point Davan (http:www.somethingpositive.net) would jump in and beat some sense into these people.
Also, it just kills me that a pasty, poor, skinny and gutless boob like Marten is apparently such a chick-magnet throughout the course of the series. I mean, at least Rayne (http:www.leasticoulddo.com) puts forth a little effort and enjoyment into the process, while Marten squanders one opportunity after another until its literally pushing its tongue down his throat. God I just want to hit him.
Still, you’ve got to love the way Jeph’s art progresses (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2) along (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=88) the (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=331) way (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=729). Things look pretty simplistic at the onset, but his art has developed to include a great level of detail and a number of funny Easter Eggs in the background that greatly add to the entertainment factor. And it must be said he draws some pretty cute girls, even if they do eat the souls of lesser men for fun.
While I’m not sure why I find QC so intriguing, I know full well why I read Piled Higher and Deeper (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php). I read it, and then I think about my old lab partner’s current fate and the fate of my younger brother if he gets his way. And then I laugh, oh how I laugh. P.H.D., written by Jorge Cham and first appearing as part of the Stanford student paper, gives its readers a look into the tragic lifestyle of the average grad student. Long hours (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=335), no sunlight (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=471), cruel advisors (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=528) and old lab equipment, all for the “reward” of a tiny dorm (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=78), an even tinier stipend, and a lifetime addiction to ramen noodles.
P.H.D. makes extensive use of parody (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=491) and hyperbole to drive home the punch-line of almost every strip: grad students are poor, under-appreciated, and quite possibly wasting their lives away in a lab. Being one of the longest-running webcomics out there, P.H.D. does admittedly recycle its own jokes from time to time (especially the ramen clichés (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=485)). Still, it’s one of the most widely-recognized and highly read comics on college campuses today. Back before my blessed graduation into the real world, I can recall P.H.D. strips, quotes, and even posters (http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=233) plastered all over the grad student offices. And surprise surprise, all those offices were tucked away in the basement. Personally, I suffered through that lifestyle for just under a year during my final two semesters at college, and compared to most of the other guys there I slacked off pretty hard (indeed, at a scant 15 hours per week... on top of classes and 30 more hours per week at my job). And yet, it gave me the conviction, in that I knew for a fact that going out to face the real world, scary though it might be, was a HELL of a lot better than rotting away in grad school for another few years-to-a-decade.
Oh and if any of the guys I listed above end up reading this... last week I spent nearly $60 on comic books, another $60 on video games, and nearly $20 on a single serving of sushi for dinner, all because I could. So THERE!
Art-wise, Jorge’s style has become a bit cleaner over the years and it’s now colored in every installment. It can be a bit simplistic at times but honestly, I feel like a complete bastard for saying anything negative about it. See, the reason Jorge knows so much about the grad school life is that he’s been in various stages of grad school since the strip’s inception (that would be 1997, by the way), and has STILL managed to keep up a schedule that now includes over 700 strips, updating an average of three times per week. I couldn’t so much as be bothered to sketch a few stick figures during college, and I was just an undergrad. At the end of the day I’m amazed that Cham has been able to maintain such a huge artistic endeavor (complete with merchandising and publishing deals) without neglecting his studies. That’s impressive no matter how you look at it.
And then finally there’s Sore Thumbs. The reason I read this strip is... bah just kidding. I actually do hate this piece of webcomics garbage and for that reason I won’t bother linking to it. Psuedo-manga cheesecake art, mixed with the dumbest attempt at political humor I’ve ever seen. The few strips I have read made me yearn for blindness and amnesia. I suppose you could seek out the strip for yourselves, but... well don’t say I didn’t warn you.
If there’s a moral to this installment, it’s that you don’t always have to agree with or particularly like a character to still want to read about them. Some will get on your nerves, others will make you shake your head in pity. But in a way, that only makes you want to read more about them, get to know them a little better so that maybe you’ll be able to expand your own horizons, if only by just a bit.
That or you’re looking for a cheap laugh when something bad happens to them (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=212).
<center><hr width=75%></center>
Nick Costanzo has graduated college, found an exciting and well-paying job in the nuclear industry, is completely financially independent and overall awesome in every way. Sam Costanzo has decided to get an engineering degree only to spend the next god knows how many years in law school to become a patent lawyer or something. Mom loves Nick more.
<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 : i_miss_maggott
Date : Oct 21, 2006 01:28 am
Title : Re: TANGLED PANELS #6: WEBCOMICS I LOVE TO HATE
Q.C. is one of the funniest ones out there, but i have been enjoying Dr. McNinja (http://www.drmcninja.com/) even more. It reminds me of the original The Tick series. So funny.
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[Post 3]
Author : DianaK
Date : Oct 21, 2006 03:59 pm
Title : Re: TANGLED PANELS #6: WEBCOMICS I LOVE TO HATE
I got bored with "Questionable Content" very early on; the problem, IMO, is the lack of subplots.
I mean, you're never really bored with "Something Positive" because it's not just about Davan, Peejee and Aubrey. Milholland could suddenly do an entire arc on Mike or flashbacks to Fred's childhood or Monette's latest stupidity; there was an entire cast of characters to explore. QC spent hundreds of strips going around and around with Marten and Faye, and they weren't the most interesting/profound types to begin with.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The messages has been download from Comixfan Forums at http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums at 05.10.2007 08:31:02