Today, I was browsing through the archive of PvP, trying to gather data with which to answer a question posed to me by Mr Kurtz. Anyway, I got side tracked and started to think about the different ways that different comics archive their strips and how important it is. PvP uses a fairly simple calender based archive, which is fine if you’re reading the whole thing through from start to finish, but is somewhat unweildy when it comes to finding specific strips or storylines. As I mentioned in my review, Irregular Web Comic has a versatile archiving system that makes it quick and easy to find your favorite strips. Penny Arcade also has a searchable archive. Beaver and Steve goes one better by having a searchable archive and a Wiki entry for nearly all of its strips.

I think a versatile archive is important to a web comic. If your fans like your comic then they will want to spread the word by showing their favorite strips to their friends. I hate having to search through the Mac Hall archives for like a half hour to show someone the car ninja strip. In fact, I wanted to link to the road trip/butt sex strip but I got pissed off looking for it so I linked the car ninja instead.

… PJ Hart, and I don’t give much of a toss about the new Superman Movie. Lots of people saw the old movies when they were kids and were completely captivated. That never happened to me. I liked Ghostbusters. Anyway, despite this, when I saw today’s PvP (a strip I have a love/hate relationship with) I couldnt help but smile.

Today, without words, Kurtz captured the feeling of seeing a movie that just makes you feel young again, makes you remember why you love movies and puts a big silly grin on your face for days. I honestly can’t remember the last time that happened to me, but then again I’m a film studies major, so I’m not allowed to actually enjoy movies. Of all the Superman strips I’ve seen on the web as of late, Scott’s really stands out for me. Whether the actual movie will or not remains to be seen.

Dr McNinja. Buddy. Man. What the crap? What is this madness going on in your latest storyline? Ronald McDonald, I could take. Mexican raptor bandits, I could take. Kids turning into lumberjacks, that too! But what is this insanity, when a McNinja fight is cut short by some guy who wants to fix the news. I don’t get it. I do not find it to be cool.

I think Boy On A Stick And Slither should be taught in schools. Steven Cloud is constantly throwing out life lessons that are consistently relevant, moral and humorous. Some might say dangerous. It’s one of those comics that I read and almost always think “wow, I wish I’d thought of that.” The world would almost certainly be a better place if everyone read BOASAS. People would certainly question society a lot more, and that would certainly be a good thing. I wonder if Steven realises he’s a potential figurehead for a world wide revolution, in which the tanks shall have green snakes painted on them, and crowds will fill the streets chanting “Bo ah sass! Bo ah sass!”

Heh. I got carried away. I’m going to get Mr Cloud in trouble, aren’t I?

I heard this thing today on the radio about how mobile phone companies (cell phone companies, if you will) are getting pissed off that people are just connecting to their wi-fi service and then using VoIP instead of using their phones. I found this fascinating. The Internet really is everywhere these days, this is the future folks, and it is changing how we live.

Here’s how I’m hoping it will change how I live. Sometimes I like to go in to town, buy a graphic novel and sit in a friendly coffee shop to drink coffee and read comics for a few hours. I like those days, but comics and coffee are expensive luxuries for us poor students/film producers/convenience store clerks/web comic editorialists. Now though, I could just load a version of Opera on to my Nintendo DS, and sit in the same coffee shop and read web comics all day. I really think this would be great. Not just because I am stingy and hate paying for stuff, but because it would give me more time to sample some of the web comics I keep meaning to catch up on.

Really though. I hate paying for stuff.

I like nerd jokes. I like Lego. I like Indiana Jones, but more than anything I like silly jokes and plays on words. Irregular Webcomic delivers these things in huge meaty dollops. To be honest, there’s not really a lot more to be said about this comic. If you don’t like parody humour and you don’t find puns in any way amusing then this one is not for you. If you don’t like comics that are photographed as opposed to drawn, then this is not for you. However, if you’re willing to give this rather, ahem, irregular webcomic a chance I think you’ll find something in it that will make you laugh. If nothing else, David’s facial expressions are just darn right hilarious.

On a quick technical note, it’s nice to see that Irregular Webcomic allows for pretty versatile searching, and the ability to browse strips by theme/ storyline. On a less technical note, thanks to Not12x for recommending this comic to me in the first place, and thus helping to fuel my insomnia.

Okay. Here it is, the last in this particular run of Single Strip Appreciation Week (TM). Today we are revisiting one of the strips that really turned web comics into a social thing for me. I used to just sit and read Sluggy Freelance in my room and really not bother anyone about it because they had no freaking clue what I was talking about. Penny Arcade; now that was different. The strip in question was a real hit with my friends. We’re the type of kind supportive brethren that constantly dash each others hopes and dreams, and laugh maniacally while doing so.

As you may expect, this issue of PA was a milestone for us. If someone asked you whether you wanted to go to the shop at like 4 A.M, all you really had to do was mention the word “re-burn” and their spirits were immediately crushed. For Penny Arcade, I really think this strip is a land mark. The writing is scathing, funny, smart and memorable all at the same time and the art style has settled into a nice groove; nice enough for us not to have to look past bad drawings to see the funny joke. That’s pretty much what good web comicing is all about. PA has developed leaps and bounds since this six year old strip. It has become influential. Be that as it may, any time you come round here with your crazy ideas about a truck load of shrimp and a performance art installation, you know exactly how you’re going to get served.

Next week I will return you to your regular programming, but I’ve had a lot of fun taking a look at my favourite instances in web comics. I hope you have too!

Sorry. That joke is only funny if you’re British. And an idiot. my apologies.

Moving swiftly on, next up on Single Strip Appreciation Week (TM), it’s Questionable Content. Now first off, I have to tell you, I love pizza. Everyone should love pizza. I also find girls to be fairly inoffensive by and large, so QC’s Pizza Girl is obviously a character that brings me much joy. The strip in question (this one, for those of you who aren’t paying attention) brings the very nature of Pizza Girl into question. I find that hilarious. Mainly I find it hilarious because it represents a conversation a whole lot of QC fans have probably had ever since Pizza Girl arrived on the scene. It’s breaking the fourth wall without breaking it. By the end of the strip it seems like our potential super heroine is just messing with everyones head. We think to ourselves, “of course she is. I mean, a pizza delivering super heroine? That’s crazy!” Then we remember that we are reading a comic that has a talking robot computer in the second panel ever! We just don’t know what to believe!

Also, I totally want to see Chinese Delivery Man in action. That would rock.

Well, for better or worse, I’m going to keep this theme of analysing some of my favourite individual web comic strips going this week. If you really don’t like it just tell me and I’ll almost certainly come close to considering packing it in.

So today we’re up against the formidable White Ninja. White Ninja has that weird kind of um… weirdness that balances on the fine line between sheer genius and utter stupidity. Rarely, does the ninja fall off the line on the side of stupidity, but there are times where he lands flat on his ass on the side of genius. This strip (for me) was exactly one of those times.

This comic has six panels. All six are comedic gold. Not a single line of filler. I’m going to talk you through each panel, and subsequently suck the funny out of them for you, so make sure you actually read the comic before reading the rest of this post.

Done? Good. Okay. So panel one. It’s the Kiwi vendor. Look at him there with his funny hat and his expression of extreme mistrust, as if to say “there is a sign that says Kiwis on it. Duh.” He is a hero. Panel Two is really a no brainer. It’s a kiwi claiming to be a werewolf. That’s pretty funny. What makes it really funny is that the kiwi still thinks he is rock hard, despite having no hands or feet! Panel three is once again all about the kiwi vendor there. Look at him! He doesn’t know what’s going on! Either that or he’s howling along with his kiwi brethren. It’s open to interpretation. That makes it smart.

New paragraph for panel four, in which the White ninja petitions the kiwi’s help. Look how bad ass that kiwi is looking right there. He has angry eyebrows like no other tropical fruit! Panel five begins the tragic denouement for our hairy hero. Look how evil Whitey looks. He knows. Oh, he knows. Panel six is just pure comedy. It’s all in the kiwi’s facial expression and the dead kiwi in the background. Clearly White Ninja already knew what kiwis are. It was all a rouse!

To some, White Ninja is just silly childishness, but ridiculous (yet, in my humble opinion, hilarious) “plots” aside, it is a strip that regularly contains some of the funniest visual comedy on the Internet. I have the last panel printed out and stuck up on my wall and, if I’m in the right mood, I can’t help but laugh when I walk past it.

We had a suggestion float by us during the week. So I’m taking it up. We’re going to take a look at one of my favourite web comic strips of all time (one of many) and talk about why I think it’s so great.

Well, this is it.

Halloween is often a big deal in web comics. Characters from certain strips dress up as characters from other strips. That’s fun and everything, but I like to see a little real life injected into the spookiest of holidays. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been to some pretty haphazard Halloween parties in my time, and this Mac Hall strip captures it perfectly. For a strip that is known for its polished art style, this penciled instance shows the raw quality of Ian’s art. It’s nice to know that Photoshop isn’t responsible for one of my favourite web comics.

The middle panel of this strip personifies college Halloween parties for me. There’s always the half assed costume entry and to be honest, it’s often me. I sympathise with the bag Brothers Three (TM), and maybe this year I’ll finally convince two hapless accomplices to help me fulfill my ambition of an Irish recreation of the trio that fight to defend the rights of containers everywhere!

Well, I hope you found that interesting. Perhaps you have more important things to worry about. Like Gordon for example, he has a yoghurt to finish, the expiry date is today.