Joystiq Interview: Concerned's Chris Livingston
Yes, Gordon Frohman is dead. Super dead. As the popular gaming comic Concerned said its goodbyes, creator Chris Livingston took some time to trash talk Frohman posthumously and, for reasons unknown to us (or caused by us, actually) talk about underwear. A lot.Let's get through the basic (read: boring) questions first: why'd you start the webcomic?
Well, I thought Half-Life 2 was a great game, but there simply weren't enough jokes about toilets in it. So, I thought a comic would be a good place to get some humor into the game. I came up with the idea for Frohman, a complete idiot, to play all the way through the game, just like Freeman only instead of being a hero, he'd be a complete tool.
I waited for a while but no one else started the comic, so I went ahead and started it myself.
So Frohman is dead and gone, right?
I've been asked this a lot in the past couple days. I guess it seems pretty obvious to me that he's dead, what with the title of the comic mentioning that he is going to die during the series, plus the Epilogue indicating that the series is over, plus the fact that he's lying there dead and people in the comic are saying that he is dead. And one of the people is the medic who would know if someone was dead. So, I guess it's left as an exercise to the reader. But, yeah, he's totally dead.
Did you always envision it as finite story? Why'd you quit?
Yeah, I always envisioned it as something that would have a clear beginning and ending, and run along the same lines as the game. When the game was over, so was the comic, was basically my approach. So, I didn't quit, I just finished. I'm sure I could have dragged it out a lot longer than I did, but I was already feeling that I'd dragged it out too much, so it was time to wrap it up and move on to something else.
What do you do in your "other" life?
I'm sort of an office manager for a commercial plumbing and piping company. Boy, does it suck.
About Frohman: boxers or briefs?
Come on. You know Frohman goes commando.
Any chance of a ghost Frohman down the line? A "revert to last save" second chance for him to live? A side story with some Alyx variant?
I think I'm done. I mentioned at one point doing some "lost episodes" but I think I'm really done. Frohman was fun but I think I'll let him rest in peace.
Many people have opined how abrupt the finale was. How do you feel about everything ending? Are you relieved, saddened, jovial, crying, lonely, ...?
The finale was supposed to be a bit longer. He was going to be plunging from the Citadel for a couple weeks, then lying in the street for a couple weeks, with a bunch more fake-outs to make you think he was gonna survive. Like, he was going to spot a medkit up on a ledge, and try to dislodge it with a shot from his pistol, but then accidentally shoot an explosive barrel, and so on. So it was going to take a bit longer. But I never intended on actually showing him dying, because that would be a bit sad.
As for how I feel, I'm very neutral right now. I feel like I told as much story as I wanted to tell. It wasn't all as good as I wanted it to be, or as funny as I hoped it would be, but I think there was some good stuff there, and a lot of it was fun to do. I can't say I'm really sad, since I've known his fate since I came up with the idea. Poor bastard never had a chance. Same day I invented him I knew he'd crush Dr. Breen at the foot of the Citadel. Now I know how God feels when he kills people: friggin' awesome!
What gaming comics or machinima do you read and / or recommend?
Well, I read this obscure little gamer comic called Penny Arcade, and also one called Order of the Stick. That's about it, really. I read VG Cats from time to time, but I rarely know what games the comics are about. I'm a very narrow-minded gamer: I really only play a couple FPS games and the occasional masterpiece that is Oblivion. I don't get all that Japanese console stuff or World of Warcraft or FF XII or anything. I just like shooting.
Would Frohman ever make a cameo in Halo? Hypothetically, how would he screw things up?
I have to admit, I've never played Halo. I don't have an X-Wii or anything. About all I know is that they have glowing swords and drive warthogs or something. So, with that limited knowledge, I'll say Frohman would drive a warthog into a glowing sword.
You are standing still when I a pedaled along at a speed of 1.3e, where e = the speed of light. I blink two lights simultaneous at time t = 0. Using Einstein's theory of relativity, do you prefer boxers or briefs?
I prefer panties, actually. Don't worry! It's nothing weird or anything. I only wear them because I'm a transvestite.
Anything you want to say to your adoring fans? To everyone else?
My adoring fans already know how I feel about them. I hate them. To everyone else, please read my comic and send me money.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
juicebytim @ Nov 2nd 2006 9:14AM
Chris needs to make publish the comic in a limited edition coffee table book style book. I would pay pretty okay for that. Otherwise, I will just print them all out on a nice color printer with some cheap ass binding and keep it under my pillow.
automatic @ Nov 2nd 2006 8:49AM
It's good that Concerned had a finite ending. This has been one of my favorite web comics for the last year and a half, and I'm glad it wasn't dragged out past the point of it being good.
Although I certainly wouldn't have minded it going into Episode One, it was probably better this way. Many thanks to Chris for doing this comic, it was great.
PodMonkeys @ Nov 2nd 2006 9:15AM
I've really enjoyed Concerned. I'm a bit sad to see it go, but thats mostly just because I now have one less awesome comic to read. There were some good times with Concerned. Lots of good times.
I think its time to go through all the archives again! :P
Joseph Villalobos @ Nov 2nd 2006 11:06AM
Hmmm... That's very interesting...
JodyAnthony @ Nov 2nd 2006 10:22AM
I didnt really like the comic all that much, but the interview was hilarious.
LaughingTarget @ Nov 2nd 2006 10:40AM
I also like how it has a finite ending. It could have been much worse. The comic could have drug on and on well beyond the point of it being any good or it could have been like a former favorite, RPG World Comic, that just stopped, was promised an ending, and never materialized. Concerned had a good run and an acceptable end.
burnt_secondary @ Nov 2nd 2006 10:45AM
Yeah, a coffee table book would be pretty cool. I'm sad to see this one go, it was a reason to look forward to Tuesdays and Thursdays . . .
JodyAnthony @ Nov 2nd 2006 10:50AM
another comic I loved that had a finite ending was Kid Radd
(www.kidradd.com)
it was awesome
Joe @ Nov 2nd 2006 1:07PM
I've really enjoyed the comic. I think the g-man shimmying up the poll was the best one.
Anyway it's been pretty obvious that Chris was getting tired and wanted it over with. The pace of the story picked up quickly at the end, he dropped to two days a week, some jokes seemed strained. I glad he finished it while it was still high quality.
GunForHire @ Nov 2nd 2006 3:31PM
I'm also up for the coffee table style book idea, would be awesome to have.
sockatume @ Nov 2nd 2006 2:30PM
I've got to say, Frohman's death is one of the most affectingly "real" death scenes in videogame-related media. He's just gone. Kapow. That's it.
Which says a lot about how truly shitty videogame stories are, frankly.
Sideshow @ Nov 29th 2006 4:25PM
I'm sorry to say, that while there were some funny moments, especially in the beginning, overall the comic sucked badly. And if you think that the ending was way to abrupt, there is something wrong with you. I'm just glad he decided against dragging it out any longer.
Blink @ Nov 5th 2006 11:07PM
Sockatume, I must agree. Even Luis' death didn't seem as strong in RE4 as this, I guess it's because we knew frohman so well. Ah, game stories often suck anyways. :P
hsf @ Nov 3rd 2006 7:28AM
Thanks Chris for the great comic. I had many belly laughs reading it :) A book will be fantastic and I would whole heartedly endorse it. Peace.
MattGamer @ Nov 6th 2006 1:13PM
Thanks Chris for an awesome webcomic. I've been a fan since the beginning and enjoyed every bit of it. Hope to see maybe more comics from you with your MEAN machine! Oh and I hope Valve publishes your comic someday. Boy wouldn't that be grand!! Cheers!
Venom @ Nov 6th 2006 3:50AM
Hehe, Chris reads the same webcomics as I do. Too bad I have one less to read now. :(
R.I.P. Frohman
Impact @ Nov 6th 2006 3:14PM
I would definately buy the coffe table book big-time!
Bye frohman... :'(
Fluorescent523 @ Nov 9th 2006 12:30AM
the comic was great. wish there was more.
R.I.P Gordon Frohman
Boomer @ Nov 9th 2006 5:14AM
Yeah,It's finally over.We should all know that nothing last forever.Chris has been entertaining us with Frohman from the beginning to the end of Concerned.
Well,So long Frohman.We will miss you.
Overlord59 @ Nov 10th 2006 4:49PM
I hitched onto the comic late and read it all in 1 day. Concerned is a great comic and its sad it had to end but its th writers choice so well done and thanks for the laughs.