So what’s happening with Mac Hall right now? Parallel universes? Is there a difference between Mac Hall 2.1 and Mac Hall 3.0?

Okay, so I’m aware that this could just be an over-sight on Ian’s part, but what with him moving to California… where does that leave the Mac characters that we know and love? Personally, I think it would be fun to see what crazy stuff Ian gets up to in Cali, but at the same time bringing the storylines we have going with the “2.1�? characters to a close.

Since updates have been well, sparse (at best), two storylines would be confusing and maybe frustrating. These problems arise when a comic is semi-autobiographical. I think we need some kind of resolution on Mac Hall 2.1 before we launch into a new chapter of Mac. It doesn’t matter if it’s entirely fictional, like in any relationship, closure would be nice.

We don’t usually talk about the super-popular comics around here much, but since Gary has provided the main course of today’s reading with his beefy interview, how about a mint and some coffee in the form of a wee article about Penny Arcade?

Today, the PA boys showed us some evidence that they can actually occupy a room full of children and deliver fun, constructive learning, and not for the first time, apparently. I was just thinking, is there really any other web comics artist out there who can do stuff like this? The answer is, well, yes. Yes there probably is. However, on the same news page there is mention of a new ad campaign by Tycho, Gabe and Kiko for the one and only ESRB. That’s pretty heavy stuff. Scrolling further down, Gabe talks about the convention that is held in their honor. Not only that, but two separate pilgrimages of sorts are trekking across the country to attend. These guys are probably the closest thing we have to rock stars in the magical land of web comics and I shall take this opportunity to tip my hat to them. My hat which is not a monkey.

So the Color scheme in this particular issue of Boy on a Stick and Slither reminded me of a certain other web comic. Synapses fired in my brain (I imagine, what do I know, I’m a writer) and a startling connection was made.

Wait for it.

BOASAS is kind of like Bunny!

Anyone with enough time on their hands can find similarities between almost any two things if they really try hard enough and have enough time on their hands. I am not fond of the former and don’t have the latter, but what I do want to say about these two strips is this:

Neither would make a good comic book in any traditional sense of the term. Neither are likely to find their way into syndication anytime soon. Both are still brilliant comics. Lem and Steve both use the abstract in the way it is meant to be used. They make people think about stuff. Sometimes it’s Politics or the environment or language. Sometimes it’s silly things, like moustaches.

Also, both comics can get pretty existential sometimes , which is something we just don’t have enough of in today’s pop culture. I like that.

I don’t have a lot of time to talk comics today for several reasons relating to impending academic failure. Conveniently enough though, the reason for this potential failure is a comic. So we can at least talk about that.

When Gary linked the first strip of Something Positive in his post on Friday, I doubt he had any idea that he was placing my University career in dire peril. At least, I hope he didn’t. Well, ever since then I’ve been dedicating every free sober moment to it’s deliciously evil charms. I even received a late birthday present in the form of a Trade Paper Back by one of my favorite writers, which will probably go unread until I have burnt through the SP archives.

I don’t think this has happened to me since I discovered White Ninja. Is it a common phenomenon, or do I just take my web comics way to seriously?

Books. Words and pictures printed on bits of dead trees, stuck together and sold to you, the consumer, as a form of entertainment and/or eductation.

Now that we’re all on the same page, (yes, I went there) lets talk about web comic books, just you and me. Basically, what I was thinking was this: are web comic books for the hard core fans or do they serve as a means for hooking in new readers? Certainly in the past I think the former was true. It used to be the case that the only place you could buy a comic’s collection was from it’s own website, so basically if you were buying a book, you already read the comic. Sure, you could lend it to your friends or “accidentally�? leave it on your brother’s bed side table, but at the end of the day, the people who were shelling out cash for the books were the fans of the comics.

This has changed. I don’t know about your dusty little corner of the world, but my local Forbidden Planet now sells a modest collection of web comic books. I am unsure whether this is helping the uninitiated discover the electronic gems of entertainment that you and I know and love, since (regrettably) I don’t work in the aforementioned comic store. Despite this, I would like to cautiously suggest that yes, yes it is. In our store, some genius has placed the Sinfest books right beneath that gigantic Calvin and Hobbes collection that costs about as much as a second hand car. So maybe, just maybe, some Watterson fan will look at that expensive collection, realize they can’t afford it, and browse the titles in the surrounding section. “What’s this?�? They may ask. “It’s kind of like Calvin and Hobbes, only with sex and swearing! I can buy both these books and still afford to feed my family!�? Thus, a new Sinfest fan is born. Maybe. Of course, it never hurts to rely on the curiosity of the common comic book reader. I, for one, have entered my local many a time with some crisp bills in hand seeking to buy something, anything. Why not an issue of PvP? Why not a copy of Book Club?

Well, because it isn’t out yet. But still.

The more comic shops that buy in web comic books, the more likely it is that said books will hook in new readers. That is, providing the books don’t look like ass. Your adoring fans might tolerate sloppy presentation in a printed product, the ignorant masses will not.

Web Comics and advice columns, they go together… right?

Penny Arcade had one (though all evidence of it’s existence has been removed from the site as far as I can tell), Natalie Dee has one and Goats even had one once!

Seriously though, why an advice column? Well, I’ve been thinking about it, and I think that advice columns are just intrinsically amusing and intriguing. I, for one, read Dan Savage every week and even go as far as to peek at the “Dear Whoever�? columns in the local trash tabloids. Web comic advice columns seemed to tap into that potential comedy. I don’t know if Diablo’s contribution over at Goats (almost six years ago!) really counts since he doesn’t write the comic. Never the less, his “advice�? was, for the most part, harmless banter and a bit of fun – something in line with the whole comedy web comic experience.

Natalie Dee’s advice column is different in that she actually gives people advice. What a novel concept! Natalie seems to know a thing or two, and she injects her unique sense of humor into the column, but it seems to me that her advice can be a little shallow sometimes. Occasionally I appreciate the no bullshit attitude, but other times I worry that she might be really messing somebody out there up. It’s not like she’s a qualified advice columnist, but then again, who is?

One person who most certainly wasn’t (and, I assume, still isn’t) is Penny Arcade’s Batjew. Love and Hate was the advice column answered by Gabe’s wife Kara and Batjew. It was one part Diablo’s Goats column and one part Natalie Dee column. Kara would do her best to give intelligent considerate advice, and Batjew would recommend beating up Goth’s while singing bible songs.

Basically, I’m just not sure how all this fits into our general understanding of the medium. Interaction with the fans can be a big part of web comics, so why not try to dispense some good advice? Is it web comic creators with illusions of grandeur? Or is it just that advice columns have the potential to be entertaining and funny?

Maybe we should ask Dr Eldritch…

SO I guess Christopher C. Livingston’s nefarious plan worked out pretty well. By posting a comment on Fleen and linking to his comic, he managed to devour my allotted studying time this evening and also compelled me to write this post about him.

(Note: Writing Fleen posts is also not considered studying.)

So Concerned is a video game screen shot comic. I know, I know. The phrase isn’t exactly synonymous with quality web comic production, but Chris could be on to something here. First of all, he’s using Half Life 2, which is a pretty darn versatile game engine. Each panel of the comic is composed in the same way as any comic. Chris manipulates the world, right down to the facial expressions, to show us exactly what he wants us to see. This isn’t just some kid pressing print-screen while playing Diablo and then entering “funny�? speech bubbles.

Secondly, the writing is actually pretty funny. At first it seems like there is going to be a lot of lame Half Life jokes, but instead the strip winds up poking fun at the game in a lot of fairly original, but more importantly, entertaining ways. The drawback to this is, obviously, that it won’t make a lot of sense to you if you haven’t played Half Life 2. lets face it though, it isn’t the only web comic out there dedicated to a particular game/hobby/lifestyle. I mean come on, Librarians even have their own web comic now.

As game engines get more sophisticated, I think the potential for this sort of comic will increase, and although things like concerned and Flintlock’s Guide are entertaining, it would be nice to see something of this ilk that could appeal to a wider audience. That said, if you played through Half Life 2 and enjoyed it, Chris Livingston has bound to have at least one strip in there that will make you laugh.

Sunday comics. Bigger, better, colorful editions of your favorite strip to sink your teeth into on a relaxing weekend afternoon. Well, sometimes. But it isn’t the syndicated artists’ approach to Sundays that we’re looking at. It’s the web comics. Obviously.

A lot of web comics don’t include weekends in their update schedule, even some of the biggest ones. They are clearly of the opinion that the Sunday tradition does not apply to them. Many of these people have jobs and would probably like to have some kind of social life at the weekends. I suppose we have to respect that. No one is going to suggest that web comic creators are obliged to engage in a practice that a lot of syndicated strips don’t even bother with any more.

For good of for ill, there are some on-line strips out there that try to bring us a full blown Sunday strip every week. I know there are people out there who think that web comics should be moving away from the conventions of printed syndicated comics, but a good artist and writer can really make the day of rest a day to look forward to for his/her/their readers.

Howard Taylor, for example, is a man who knows his Sundays. For Schlockers, Sunday is the day where they get to see the panoramic space panels, the gigantic alien shark, or armed troops being air dropped onto an apartment block. This is what it’s all about. A good comic should be full of good writing and good art 7 days a week, but the truly talented and the truly dedicated (some might say truly crazy) creators will take the opportunity to add a little spectacle and fit it seamlessly into the plot.

Bill Watterson once did a whole storyline in Sunday format. It was one of the defining moments that got me into reading comics. It showed me the potential of the medium. Maybe because the Internet itself has given so much new potential to comics, some creators have forgotten the impact a few more rows of panels and some extra color and shading can have on a reader.

There just isn’t enough buzz about Rob and Elliot. At all. It boggles my mind. Clay and Hampton Yount have been writing their off beat strip for nearly two years now, and any just man would have forgiven you for not picking up on it; that is until Clay started producing Saturday comics for none other than Sluggy Freelance. For me, the Sluggy Saturdays really hit the mark. With just the right amount of Sluggy fan nostalgia and a healthy mix of originality, they were a welcome break to the dark epic nature of Oceans Unmoving II. Eventually, a slow Saturday night rolled around and I burned through the R&E archives. It was (and still is) a good balance of improbable hijinks, pop culture humor and surreality with just a pinch of drama added for flavor.

Rob and Elliot, it seems, is a victim of market forces. There are comics out there on the web that are as funny, as well drawn and which update more frequently. In the world of Web Comics, we are spoiled for choice. If we don’t like something (I imagine some of the surreal moments in R&E aren’t for everyone), or don’t have the patience for haphazard updates then we can just go and read something else.

My suggestion for those who have yet to check this comic out, or those who did and got bored or frustrated, is: do what I do, pick a slow comic day (like a Thursday) and then head on round to robandelliot.com every fortnight or so on that day and read up on what you’ve missed. You won’t regret it.

Well, I didn’t.

As Gary mentioned recently, young McConville of Mac Hall fame has finally graduated from college, to the tune of much well wishing from his adoring fans.

So here’s a thought. Now that the Mac Hall boys have successfully completed their college courses, what will happen to their autobiographical comic about college? Some may argue that this a moot point, since the comic ceased to be about its name-sake MacDonald Hall when the main cast moved into their first house.

Well, whether this new found freedom is going to mean more output from the Mac Hall boys or whether it means that the comic is coming to an end: I would just like to pay tribute to some of the funniest college related humor on the internet. It’s the Fleen.com Mac Hall Cheesy Flashback Show!

Hey,remember that time with…

The Road Trip

and who could forget when…

Drew’s eyes first turn red

And how about…

I wonder if this is true…

Gotta love that…

Mardis Gras!

Everyone went nuts for…

The infamous Digimon

and of course, Got Back?

Well, that’s all the time we have here today on Cheesy Flashback Show, but before we go, we would just like to wish Matt and Ian all the best in their future endeavours, whether they be Mac Hall related or not!