Weekly Webcomic Wrapup looks up at the stars
by Ross Miller 
{ May 11th 2008 at 8:00PM }
- Real Life Application (Sharcbate)
- Battle Fighter III: Hyper Edition (Truck Bearing Kibble)
- Starcraft Blues (Extra Life)
- p=mv (Digital Unrest)
- The Expected Result (Penny Arcade)
- Oh, you're choosing fire? (Super Effective)
- Options (CAD)
- Grand Theft Dinosaur (Dino Comics)
- Define Addiction (2P Start)
- It's DYN-O-MITE (Dueling Analogs)
- "I'd be less nervous" (A Softer World)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Andrés @ May 11th 2008 8:11PM
Pac-man? huh?
Derick @ May 11th 2008 9:37PM
Yeah I would have gone with Asteriod personally.
AoE @ May 12th 2008 5:45PM
Hey! He's a writer, ease up! It's not like he's got time for all these crazy indie games you kids are playing today... he's got stuff to write!
Jon2309 @ May 11th 2008 8:12PM
Voted Penny Arcade. I want that game to be in stores. Seriously.
Kevin @ May 12th 2008 12:29AM
But it is in stores! I played it all afternoon!
Roto13 @ May 11th 2008 8:12PM
Softer World ftw. Make sure to read the alt text.
Neebs @ May 11th 2008 8:15PM
I didn't get Softer World.
I've seen someone with the hoodie they sell in their stores, didn't know what it was though.
jadenguy @ May 12th 2008 10:12AM
the joke is that virtual hooker killing isn't very telling of real life hooker killing, but virtual racism is chillingly telling of real life racism?
but i don't know why.
GenBanks @ May 12th 2008 11:45AM
I voted for Softer World as well. I think the reason that it's so creepy is that you would have no reason to do that except severe racism. The game (obviously and thankfully) doesn't have anything that would incite someone to methodically hunt virtual black people. I suspect that if the developpers had designed the game so that all black people carried thousands of dollars, people would rob them specifically in the game without having racist sentiment. But as the game is now, if someone went on a hunt like that, it would be a sign that they have some pretty severe issues.
If you kill prostitutes in the game, you probably aren't doing so systematically, but rather casually; presumably to steal back the money you payed.
Incidentally, I have a friend who makes a point of running over the really fat people in the game, which I find kind of disturbing. I suppose GTA is sort of a vessel in which people's prejudices get expressed. Which is a good thing I suppose, since it opens those impulses up to criticism.
It's definitely showed me up to be a vindictive bastard, since I tend to hunt down the idiots who run me over with their cars (I mean come on, it's never a good idea to run over a guy wandering around NYC with a shotgun, now is it?)
Neebs @ May 11th 2008 8:14PM
Toughie. Super Effective today.
Would have voted for F@NB0Y$.
http://fanboys-online.com/comics/20080505.jpg
Cesaria (MKW:2621-2994-1376) @ May 11th 2008 8:30PM
Yeah, why doesn't fanboys ever get any love on here? It's easily my fave game related webcomic. xkcd is the funniest webcomic all around, though!
Fernando Rocker @ May 11th 2008 8:33PM
Fanboys is actually my favorite webcomic. I totally identify myself with Lemmy.
Too bad Scott changed the comic draw style last month. I liked the other style better.
Cesaria (MKW:2621-2994-1376) @ May 11th 2008 8:40PM
I liked the old style, too. The new one has grown on me over time, though. And yeah, I'm totally Lemmy. Haha.
Ian @ May 11th 2008 8:25PM
2P Start resonated on many levels this week, as I'm totally there. Totally, totally there. Totally.
Ranus Studios @ May 11th 2008 8:34PM
Digital Unrest is just so TRUE.
EMaster @ May 11th 2008 8:37PM
Grand Theft Dinosaur? I ain't reading all that shit.
HighFiveJesus @ May 11th 2008 8:56PM
Thats the way Qwantz is. It relies almost entirely on snappy witty dialog. Gives me a chuckle most every day.
jadenguy @ May 12th 2008 10:14AM
It relies on writing because he's never drawn more than that one comic strip. He just keeps changing the words around. It's sort of meta, but VERY funny.
capt_carl @ May 11th 2008 8:42PM
Sharcbate wins for me. There were a few chuckles from the rest, but that one made me laugh out loud. A Softer World did make me laugh for the wrong reasons.
StrangeBum @ May 11th 2008 8:54PM
What an even spread on the votes so far. I voted A Softer World. The dark humor is totally my style in that one. But they all were pretty decent this week.
I wish Fanboys had been in there though.
CynicalStrike @ May 11th 2008 9:06PM
A Softer World. It was the only one that made me laugh, while CAD and Dino Comics made me want to punch my computer screen out. Really not a fan of all that pesky dialogue in web comics. It's like they're explaining the joke to you.
Yourself @ May 11th 2008 10:19PM
The thing about Dino Comics is that it usually has multiple jokes in it. It doesn't always follow the "5 panels of buildup resulting in a 1 sentence punchline" formula, in an effort to be more than one-dimensional (or maybe just following the logic that putting in more jokes makes it more likely one will be funny). Nonetheless, it doesn't always work, Grand Theft Dinosaur being an example. Still "I could probably borrow one" made me chuckle.
Just PLEASE do not group it with the vile monstrosity that is CAD.
CynicalStrike @ May 11th 2008 11:46PM
I've tried to get into dino comics but it just does nothing for me. Although I can see why some people like it (unlike CAD, which is just terrible), it's just not my kind of humour.
ChooChooCharlie (MK 0430-8740-2222) @ May 12th 2008 12:24AM
I agree. I've yet to read a funny Dino comic.
Walls of (unfunny) text and the exact same art panels every time =/= funny.
ApolloIV @ May 11th 2008 9:13PM
DU is pure gold this week.
Yourself @ May 11th 2008 9:24PM
Dino Comics is historically the only good webcomic ever in the history of man and I'm tempted to vote for it, but it wasn't a great one this week. However, I'll vote for anything that isn't TBK. Let's please just pretend that was never drawn nor written.
EBH @ May 11th 2008 9:31PM
http://ofnoobsandmen.com/2008/05/06/cucumber-of-courage/
Softer world was funny. And I love the quality of the drawings in it :p
Demaar @ May 11th 2008 10:27PM
Jesus. Having that piece of shit B^U in there is an insult to every other comic. In fact, it's an insult to Joystiq and its readers. WTF, seriously. I have no idea what game its referencing, what the joke is or anything, but it has the most dialogue out of all of the bloody comics. God Damn.
LocketRaunchers @ May 11th 2008 10:47PM
A Softer World was hilarious. Got my vote.
I would have voted for xkcd though.
JZBluford @ May 11th 2008 11:27PM
qwantz.com supports racism in video game comics. Their webiste links to and recommends a racist comic site.
"May 8th, 2008: I really like A Softer World's GTA IV comic. Hover your mouse over the comic when you're done reading! " http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=302
JZBluford @ May 11th 2008 11:28PM
maybe i just dont get the comic, but it seems aimed at black people and i dont like that.
MNC Dover @ May 11th 2008 11:28PM
No MNC this week. Ah well. My vote has got to go to Extra Life for the Starcraft reference. It's so true. Of course, I'd never be caught dead playing those vile, vile Zerg. Terran for life.
Here was our comic for last week.
http://www.mondaynightcrew.com/comic.html
Has any gamer out there not been in that situation?
Arteen @ May 11th 2008 11:57PM
I honestly don't understand what's so funny about A Softer World, and why it has 25% of the vote.
A Pissed-off English Gamer @ May 12th 2008 8:27AM
Me, too! What's so funny about someone doing that in GTA4? Also, the images seem barely applicable. It feels like they're trying to be clever with the lay-out of the text but it's really just another "omg racism" joke.
I voted sharcbite for the brevity and delivery.
Roto13 @ May 12th 2008 11:53AM
It wins for having two jokes. One about a creepy racist kid and one about media alarmism.
TX2 @ May 12th 2008 3:36AM
Almost thought I wasn't going to vote this week, but then I got to ASW
Mike E. @ May 12th 2008 12:36PM
I threw up in my mouth a little when I saw CAD was listed this week.
Then the contents of my stomache emptied entirely when I actually read the comic.
Demaar @ May 12th 2008 1:13AM
I don't see why it's funny either, but I think people are misunderstanding. It's meant to be a parent saying they wish their son DID kill hookers in GTA, instead of cruising around for black people. The fictional son may be racist, but I don't see why people are assuming the whole comic is.
You can talk about racism without being racist yourself.
BlaqueBeird @ May 12th 2008 1:36AM
I agree. And personally, I think racism is a joke anyway. The fact that anyone is honestly, truly racist anymore is laughable and pathetic, and I've noticed the only people that get uptight anymore about it are white people, who have no right to complain about anything, since it's never directed against them. If anything, their fake outrage is the only other thing they can think of to do rather than laugh, because they're afraied to.
klitorisaurus @ May 12th 2008 3:15AM
Racism is very much alive and well, it's just less white vs. black and more black/white vs. hispanic. At least here in Southern Cali anyway.
A Pissed-off English Gamer @ May 12th 2008 8:29AM
Ugh, the point isn't that the comic is racist, it's that it's entire punch is a racism hook. No one thinks the writer of the comic is racist, but, as far as jokes go, racism ones aren't exactly the wittiest of jests.
merf1350 @ May 12th 2008 9:54AM
Actually the point is that while the news made such a sensationalist story out of killing hookers in the game, there are far worse things you COULD do...such as displaying such racist behavior.
BlaqueBeird @ May 12th 2008 1:37AM
Also, I spelled afraid wrong.
klitorisaurus @ May 12th 2008 3:18AM
Sharcbate took me by surprise this week, loi'd for sure.
TheHuntIsOn @ May 12th 2008 4:54AM
Well that person can't draw hands.
Kassu @ May 12th 2008 8:57AM
Jesus Christ, start narrowing down the weekly wrapup to a maximum of 5 comics.
In case of a bad week, I just read 10 shitty comics and feel bad.
But when we have a good week, I struggle to decide which one to give my vote to.
Real Life Application, this week.
dark_inchworm @ May 12th 2008 9:05AM
Dammit. There are seriously about five of them that made me smirk, but not a one of them really has an edge for me. This is going to be difficult.
Would've voted for Fanboys if I could.
fred @ May 12th 2008 9:53AM
SIR YOU SEEM TO BE MISTAKEN THOSE SYMBOLS ARE OBVIOUSLY FROM 'DEFENDER'
Martez @ May 12th 2008 10:38AM
God, CAD sucks. You could tell that joke with 80% less cluttered dialogue balloons and it would still be just as funny (which is to say, "sorta").
GenBanks @ May 12th 2008 11:22AM
It would be nice if Joystiq would add a button on the webcomic wrapup that would open each webcomic in a seperate tab. Would save me a couple seconds of right clicking them individually ;)