Monday, December 21

New Thread

Hey, I am still alive. On the other hand, my computer did not successfully make the trip to Boston. So that was unfortunate. I honestly haven't read a PvP strip in about two weeks, and am woefully unprepared to make any comments. I should have a laptop by Christmas; until then I can try and put up some new threads when appropriate.

Happy Holidays!

Wednesday, October 28

Leaving, on a jet plane.

Hey, I'm moving from Minneapolis to Boston as of tomorrow morning. I will return when I get settled/internet connected. I'm guessing that will be first week of November (no, I'm not taking a wagon east, but a lot of my stuff is following behind me) So, until then, you are in Jai's capable hands.

Don't get into too much trouble, Jai. ;)

Sunday, October 25

More Non-PvP Weekend Stuff

Yesterday I was nice, today; cruel. This is what happens when you project into your creative work. (Hint: Brother is a metaphor!)

Friday, October 23

Erfworld 2: Love is a Battlefield

In non-PvP news; I was extremely excited to read yesterday that the second volume of Erfworld is launching on October 28th and can be found here.

There will be several changes from the first book, not the least of which is that Erfworld now has it's own website, and will no longer be hosted by The Order of the Stick. The other major change is that Jamie Noguchi, the extremely talented artist who illustrated book 1 is leaving to pursue other projects. This is really too bad, his work was evocative and really created a unique setting for the Erfworld story to be told in.

However, Xin Ye has stepped in, and from what I've seen of her work so far, she should be able to ably fill Jamie's roll. Of course, the real test will be her ability to duplicate Jamie's very striking characters. As long as she can keep everybody recognizable, and maintain Erfworld's crazy surrealist style, the comic shouldn't suffer.

Rob Balder is really telling an interesting story. It is wrapped in a cotton candy setting of clever worldplay and internet memes...but it also deals with very serious philosophical issues. The main character, Parson Gotti, has been deliberating over the summer on whether it's right to use his talent for warfare when he knows it will likely cause the deaths of Erfworld's denizens. If you have a true talent for something, should you pursue it at all costs, even when it hurts others? And the oldest question of all; do the ends ever really justify the means?

Erfworld returns next Wednesday, and will update on a regular Wednesday/Saturday schedule following that. If a very original mixture of fantasy and comedy is your thing I highly recommend you check it out.

LOLBAT is Butler! Butler is Rex Roffle! Rex Roffle is LOLBAT! Continuity is for losers!

Since Kurtz probably doesn't want to hear it from me, I'll hand the floor to astute reader

Taylortails:

"I do think it's a shame that Scott chose to do the ridiculous "Lolbat as Kent" strip, since it takes away from the reveal to have Lolbat have two secret identities. Plus, frankly, the Tick did that gag better years ago."


All I want to know is what kind of hours do Rex Roffle and Butler work to pull that off!

Friday, October 16

Zombies Ghosts and Ghouls

It must be Halloween!

The last few weeks of PvP have left me in a bit of a bind comment-wise. I was not enthralled with the Bone-Burglar/Skull dynamic, but then I really enjoyed the zombie apocalypse story. Probably as much as I have enjoyed any PvP recently. The art was excellent, especially the subtle touches of zombification on Jade after she turned. The story was tightly plotted satire. It's nice to know that when Kurtz is forced to, he is able to begin and end an arc. I couldn't comment because, well, it wasn't making me sad.

Then we got the John Hughes/Cole montage which alternated between too soon and too boring. I'm the kind of guy, as my friends can attest, who will occasionally plunge through a 400 page book in one day because I don't have anything better to do. So when I tell you that a comic strip was not able to maintain my interest for an entire five panels, well, let's just say by panel two of 'Planes Trains and Get the Hell Out of My Kitchen' I had nodded off.

The Kubrick throw-away the next day was clever, but so soon after a 'good' storyline, the John Hughes/Cole bit seemed more lazy than anything else.


So, I apologize. I know I'm supposed to be churning up interesting topics in the tradition of FSM, but I have been largely uninspired to post recently.

Hopefully as we return to more 'regular' plot-lines we can pick up the thread again here, as well.

Enjoy your weekend!

Friday, October 2

Grating On MY Nerves

Yes it is. And by 'it' I mean the use of 'Die Hard(ed)' as a verb. I'm not sure that I can tell you why it annoys me so much, only that every time Brent let it fly, I shuddered a little bit. But I quibble, and it turns out that I have come not to bury PvP this week, but to praise it. Because, lo' did Kurtz find a storyline that actually, sort of works, and lo' he has apparently discovered that low-key humor can be just as effective as Panda sex and people crashing through walls.

What did I like? The first panel of Vent Sienna was good. I always like it when an artist can use body language to effectively convey a situation...and if you removed the dialogue bubbles from that panel I think it's still pretty clear that Brent is 'on a mission' and that Francis is having his patience tested by Brent. It's a nice clear and unusually dynamic set up for the strip.

Then there are two panels; one in Vent Sienna and one in Grating Nerves that deserve special mention. I call them the 'appendage panels' and they are the sort of artistic departure that I would really like to see a lot more of from Kurtz. If you imagine the PvP strip as being shot by a camera, most of the shots are coming from a fair distance with a 3/4 angle. These are a little more 'hand held'


I also appreciate that Kurtz has focused on toes and fingers in these two panels; not traditionally his strongest suit. I would also praise the design of the 'through the grate' shot in Vent Sienna, although in most mediums when you use that sort of PoV, it generally indicates that an antagonist is viewing the characters through the grate...which is not the case here. (Unless it is being used to play up the paranoia of Brent, in which case, kudos.)

In any case, as somebody who has been less than enthused, both by the recent one-offs, and by the plot lines dealing with Cole's family life...I'm pleased to see the strip return to what it does well; an ad-mixture of strange cultural references and office hi-jinks.


Now, if you really want to please me, Kurtz...I hope the Germans have a devious plan...

Monday, September 28

I Know A Little German. He's Right Over There

(Source)

I wonder if Germans make up names like "Xylophone Veröffentlichen" for American companies that want to translate and publish German gaming magazines. Nein? Well, even if they do then it's still silly (Which is not a bad thing. This is a comic strip, after all) to think Glockenspiels have anything to do with A) publishing, and B) PVP Magazine. It reinforces the "faking German" theme of this strip, at least.

Oh, right, point #1, panel #1: Is Cole standing? He can't possibly be only a little taller than a sitting Francis. He's not close enough to the table for his arm or loose sheaf of papers to overlap it, but the perspective of the foreground is such that Cole's supposed height must decrease as the supposed distance between himself and the table grows.

This is a strange, fish-eye view of Brent -- but it's growing on me. It makes him look very expressive and cartoony, which is a good thing. Even so, his chin (Which, more than anything else, made this panel look strange) probably angles upward (Back towards his neck) too sharply. If it weren't for that, after all, Brent would look more "posed dramatically" than "seen through fish-eye lens".

What is that little angled bit coming out the back of Francis' chair? If Francis just scooted all the way over to Brent's side (Yes, go check their relative positions again) -- which is a pretty funny idea -- there should be some action lines to indicate it, and maybe a little pseudo-onomatopoeia action as well.

The biggest problem is the table, and this problem is in nearly every panel: It comes up to armpit height. That's just crazy! Silliness I can handle, but not this. In the last panel, you could completely remove the table without removing the impression that the characters are still seated around one. The third panel is in a similar position. If it weren't for Brent's mighty fist (And the fact that we know better), we could start cracking jokes about how the all-concealing table is a result of the artist's poorly-disguised inability to draw hands and arms.

Thursday, September 24

No, Seriously, I Don't Get It

(Source)

What. What! What? What?!

I am doing what I can to keep my knee from jerking, but I don't know how long that can possibly last. So. One question:

What IS this strip about and why is SHECKY -- no, wait, that would be two questions.

Oh, to hell with it! More questions: Is this strip supposed to seem antagonistic towards Berkeley Breathed? What's the joke? What percentage of SK's readership is supposed to understand ANY of this strip? Why is there no editorial comment for this strip? Isn't this the kind of strip that needs an attached news post the MOST? Is there going to be an Opus movie? Is this supposed to be about Breathed's "Mars Needs Moms!" picture book that's being filmed as a movie? Is this just... I don't know, a "Poor Berkeley Breathed, I feel bad for him these days" strip? Why Shecky -- oh God, why? Is it irony? Is this strip funny (Or does it provide some kind of meaningful commentary) to anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Is Berkeley Breathed "on the rocks"? What comparison are we to assume SK is making by pairing Shecky with Opus?

That was not my knee jerking, that was me trying to keep it from doing so. Because I clearly have no idea what this strip is on about.

Tuesday, September 22

Batroom Humor

Bat-tastic! It's another Batman: Arkham Asylum strip!

(Source)

The thug's ear is a strange color, but this panel is arranged very well. Batman looks like he's sort of high up and a little ways off; the thug looks like a thug (Although he looks as if he may be wearing a medieval tunic). SK doesn't REALLY cut loose with posing Batman, however -- such as showing only his head in the frame (Rene Engström uses that sort of thing to tremendous effect), or showing him from different distances or angles ("Angles" is not much of a real suggestion, it's merely one of the possibilities. Repetition of the same angle can help to drive the jokes home, in much the same way as the repetition of Batman's stoic expression does). In fact, Batman is hanging so low in the 3rd and 4th panels that those jokes are vaguely diminished.

Seeing the earbuds set in the top of the bat-cowl really cracked me up! That was a lovely touch, even though it's pretty obvious that there's nowhere else to put them unless you want to slip them under the mask. The little musical notes have something odd going on with them, but it's probably just because they were drawn too small for the finished product's scale on the internet (So they'd look fine in the "buy a print" version or the eventual published book).

That is not mustard. I thought it was mustard when I saw it peripherally, and I think that helped ruin my taste for this joke. This might be a "less is more" occasion, where the less obvious the joke is the funnier it would be. Seeing pee rain down is not really quite as funny as imagining it (Yet you could remove either Batman or the urine from the panel to give it more punch), although mileage will vary from person to person. Personally, it reminds me of an awful scene from the movie Year One. I don't want to SEE people peeing -- not even Batman (And I think he'd have better aim!) -- but I think that the concept is really funny.

Still, we got three punchlines, good (And varied) scenery, solid artwork, and it was all video game-related! This was a fun strip, although the more I look at the urine (The way it's just being waved all around, augh) the grosser it seems.

Thursday, September 10

How to be Subversive

I just wanted to make a quick note about today's PVP guest strip by Paul Southworth. First off, the artwork was excellent. Southworth is able to fit a lot of expression into four small boxes, and the way he used background to convey mood while also setting up location was extremely effective.

Even more interesting, however, was the way he subverted LOLbat's character. This LOLbat isn't a two-dimensional internet meme factory. No, this is a true crime fighter who has been pigeon-holed by his alter-ego; a two-dimensional internet meme factory. He doesn't want to put on the act anymore, he doesn't want to don the disguise...he just wants to go out and fight crime, but he can't...everybody wants their favorite meme.

Not only does this create a deeper character, but it cleverly satirizes how quickly we fall out of love with our own catch-phrases and pop-culture, and how some people hold onto it longer than others.

A very good job by Mr. Southworth, in my opinion.

Wednesday, September 9

For The Lulls

Join me, please, as we travel back through time. No, wait; sorry! I meant, "as we retread old ground." Or, maybe, "as we see that I apparently thought about updating within the past week, yet didn't." Exciting! Sorry for the long entry, but it's a numbered list -- if that helps.

I'm not even going to render more than a single sentence on my thoughts regarding September 3rd's strip. It was abominable, reveals that father and son are both shamelessly self-centered bastards, and finally destroys the last vestiges of any purpose behind their having actually gone to a convention.

(Source)

The next strip was emotionally-driven (I hope), so the lack of any actual joke is... well, it's something to read if learning more about the characters interests you. However, the dialog is boggling. Cole caves right in to his father's "TV is a time-waster" statement (Which is being used to support the fashion in which Cole dispatched a fan of Mr. Richards, as well as whatever unfathomable motive he had for doing so) with the supporting argument of "I guess it all does seem pointless on the surface." So, Cole's saying... what, exactly? He doesn't want to admit that the show his father was in was a waste of everyone's time, unless he couches it within the fuddy-duddy-honored tradition of declaring television to be devoid of intellectual stimulus? But, wait! He's couched even THAT admission behind an "I guess"! So what does Cole really think of the whole thing, what does he really want to say, and how has he forgotten so quickly that they're really talking about why it was justified for them to both lash out at a fan? We'll never know, so it's time to move on and conceal this part with a throw rug.

Next, the humorous reveal: Mr. Richards never misses an episode of Buffy.

Wait, what? Present tense?

Buffy hasn't been on the air in six years! Maybe we are going back in time? Did Mr. Richards mean that he never misses a repeat? Does he not know he's watching repeats, meaning we now have further evidence for the emotionally-scarring existence of his rapidly-deteriorating mind? Cole doesn't help us out by chasing this appealing rabbit, but he does seem surprised when he clarifies that Mr. Richards is talking about Buffy. We don't KNOW that his surprise isn't because there are no episodes of Buffy that Mr. Richards could "miss". Still (And I'm just joking; clearly Cole is just surprised that his father watches a popular and vapid television program), he leaves well enough alone and drops the subject.

And then they laugh. Oh, how they laugh! I've gotta say, the silhouette always proves to be visually appealing at the price of reduced artistic effort. It's a great tool among the arsenal of an artist.

I've also gotta say this: This was ABSOLUTELY the wrong panel to choose to silhouette. Of the five panels, only this one would have showcased the biggest possible emotional payoff in Cole and Mr. Richards' expressions. It's the dramatic equivalent of an action scene where two badasses harass each other until the situation escalates into a fight that you KNOW is gonna be sweet -- and then the big double doors slam shut in front of the camera, and you get to stare at a doorknob as you are treated to some interesting sound effects that teabag your ears with all of the glorious visual payoff that you were denied. Frustrating? You betcha.

And then, the final line: "We should do this again, sometime." It's baffling. It has nothing to do with their situation, because Mr. Richards can't possibly mean any such thing. Their experience was absolute hell for them both, apparently, right up until the previous ten seconds. Is it a form of the "Sure... I'll, uh, I'll write you" footnote to the typical ends-in-disappointment relationship? On the surface, it seems like a form of hope for their future. But it's impossible that the words genuinely mean, "We should spend time laughing together again, sometime" -- the words can only mean, "Well, enough of that." And Cole's expression, plus Mr. Richards' turned-away face, reinforce the tragic truth of their relationship. This is the worst happy ending ever. Is it supposed to be? I have no way of knowing! The events that just transpired are too subtle and too screwball for me to believe I really know how they were intended.

(Source)

The next strip is happier, even if you interpret the previous strip as happy. So, take a moment to ponder Cole's eyelids. It's an existential problem, so don't bother taking it too seriously.

When we see Cole's eyes from an angle that doesn't place his glasses between them and us, they are (And this is where the problems begin: They are not always) solid black ovals. Near-ovals, anyway; they tend to resemble the top bits of exclamation marks. No whites to them (Except when Cole's eyes are widened -- apparently, "wide, completely black eyes" was much too creepy). The frames of his glasses have traditionally stood in for his sclera, and when they aren't around his real eyes must fend for themselves. But to circle back to the point, what, then, is the meaning of the "eyelids" we see through his glasses? Will they show up without the glasses there? If they are squinched cheeks, why doesn't Cole have cheeks when he's seen from behind (And why do they... run directly into each other)? Your father is wise in the way of the cheeks, Cole. Learn much from him, you can.

His glasses are also better. And his collars. Sorry, Cole, your dad is just cooler than you.

I've wanted to point out this aspect of Cole's design for a while, now, so here it is: The shots of Cole's collar that make it look like he has a stiff, white rectangle jutting into midair above his shoulder are not good. Sometimes it only barely juts out, in which case I can easily imagine that there's a barely-hidden curve to it that goes behind Cole's neck. Sometimes it's a plank hanging over an abyss that Cole's tie could go take a long walk off of, and it's way too obvious that there is no curve hidden behind its structure. Nothing new, but it helps get the mind off of his tie.

Now, Cole is surprised and dismayed to see that Bill Amend (<3) has written "Colt". Oh, Cole, you inattentive gadabout!

Plus, I don't think he really looks like a horse.

Don't worry, though, Cole! I'll fix that right up for you! Trust me, this is even better than if Amend hadn't misinterpreted your very-normal name as a fairly-unusual name:

No, nothing serious here. Just some bad jokes.

(Source)

On a final note, here's the first of several (?) guest strips. How do you hide a ponytail? It's very interesting to see Brent without one, though (And that it's for a video game! Lots of video game references when the guest artists come out, it seems. Are they trying to send a message?).

Also, how is the blind guy (Reggie) going to be the drummer (Ringo) for Rock Band? I think that they're setting themselves up for disappointment, there.

PAX Plague!

Sooo...it looks like this week is going to be guest strip heavy for a bunch of different web comics. My best wishes for a speedy recovery to all those afflicted by the PAX Pandemic.

Tuesday, September 8

LOLbat!

Hey folks, sorry about the lull in coverage. I have to admit that I sort of checked out of the strip while Scott reiterated the same exact joke about Cole Sr. being a cantankerous old guy three times running. Hey, I liked Buffy the Vampire Slayer too...but I don't think such an extended build up was required to pay off that joke.

I will give Mr. Kurtz the benefit of the doubt because it was PAX week(end) and I imagine he had a few extra balls to juggle...and also because his "You caused my father to quit drinking!" line in the PA/PVP/WW podcast was comedy gold. (MORE OF THAT IN COMIC STRIP, PLEASE.) Overall, however, last week seemed uninspired.

Tuesday's strip is a nice treat, the LOLbat art is always good, and Kurtz did a nice job drawing Croc Pot. When it comes to mouths, strangely, I think the hinged jaw of the crocodile is more in Kurtz' wheelhouse than the human jaw. The last panel of the strip provides a nice contrast; which do you think looks more realistic?

I'm assuming this will be a one-off, so there should be a new storyline this Wednesday to follow, and hopefully that will give Jai and me (<--correctly used, shouldn't be I, look it up.) a little more meat to sink our teeth into.

Until then.

Tuesday, September 1

Con-stipated

(Source)

This week is really washing the taste of last week out of my mouth... although, it simultaneously has affirmed that last week was a lot of nonsense, story-wise. Cole (And he doesn't seem to have fallen far from the Richards tree, judging by last week) is not a smart man -- but, hey, neither was Forrest Gump.

The story this week picks up an ambiguous period of time later than last week. The devil is in the details, and they've been awfully sparse: Seemingly, Mr. Richards has literally no idea as to what's going on. But for them to have a booth and to have booked his appearance (Both at what seems like a really fair-sized, if not huge, convention. And he's the top draw, according to last week's flyer! Was that a home-brewed ad from Cole?), Cole has had plenty of time to teach his father about the pros of cons. And hasn't -- or else he has, but his dad has Alzheimer's (Which would explain a lot, but would also suck the humor right out of everything). I don't really want either of those to be the case.

Panel 2: "heh! They saw you coming from a mile away." -- I'm stumped. I have no idea what Mr. Richards is talking about, which enforces the impression of senility I'm getting from him.

Panel 4: "This is why were [sic] here." The emphasis is odd and the sentence makes it seem like Cole took Mr. Richards to the con without any kind of warning or explanation (Yet he seems exasperated, so that's doubtful). Why not, "This is why we're here, remember?" Also, Mr. Richards' cheek lines don't look as good when they're seen from the side and go all the way down to the collar -- it makes his mouth look like a marionette's, or a nutcracker's.

So, right, my point is that the jokes are really decent this week... but the setup is lacking something. A little half-flashback-of-advice and half-current-disregarding-of-said-advice would have made Cole look more sympathetic, for instance. This week is bringing good ideas (Unless you are really tired of "let's imagine an old guy who doesn't 'get it' talking about nerd stuff" scenarios. That does bring a certain PVP "character" to mind), but they're not flowing smoothly.

Sunday, August 30

This Week in PvP...

How did the week begin?

"If you'd bothered to call ahead I would have put on a pot of coffee."

And how did it end?

"Glee!"

What did we learn in-between?

Cole has daddy issues to go along with his myriad of other issues. Brent Sienna has an insatiable appetite for Cole Sr.'s ice-cream sandwiches. Cole's dad was the super space cadet, and he enjoys a little time with the ole' pipe. Finally, it was COLE who broke the Hummel figurines, wrapping up an obscure plot point from the beta season of PvP Online, and Brent suspects that Cole Sr.'s kitchen is magical. An investigation by Skull may be pending.

What's Up Next Week?

The BanthaCon, inevitable disappointment for both Cole and his father, shenanigans involving Brent and Jade. Francis discovers he has a clone?

__________

In semi-PvP news;
check out the PA/PVP/WW DND podcast (Wow that's a lot of initials) which you can find right here:

Listen And Learn From It.

Or, learn why Scott Kurtz would rather you didn't do spec work here:

Angry Comments!

___________

Comic of the Week:

Circle of Life

Friday, August 28

Misty Watercolor

So, I was going to wait for the Friday comic to be posted, but I'm heading out for Friday night in a bit and I wanted to comment on Thursday's opus at least.

Let's start with the beginning, where Cole's father sets up the strip with a little exposition. It's clear that Scott has the voice of Cole's dad well in hand. Curmudgeonly, indignant, a bit old fashioned with the 'silly-boy' it's in character and it sets up the realization in the fourth panel quite well. The artwork in panels one and four seems well-executed as well.

We had some discussion about word-bubbles earlier in the week, and Scott seems to have rebounded nicely, especially with the triple bubble in the first panel. It looks good, especially the 'Hmph!' and it's out of the way, not distracting from the action of Cole's dad packing his pipe.

The fourth panel is also well executed. It's a subtle pull away of the pipe from the mouth, but Kurtz' new mouth art, as well as the dialogue, serve to create an aura of surprised realization without any overly dramatic action, such as the character leaping from his chair or gesticulating wildly.

Unfortunately, we must now come to panels two and three.

I'm going to say panel two is filler. OK, maybe Scott wants to show the guy sucking on the pipe a bit; a moment of reflection before the big realization...fair enough. It's still dull. Nobody reading that strip let their eyes linger on panel two for more than a second. This isn't a mortal sin, but it seems a little lazy.

Panel three is the real offender. I would be super-interested to hear what Scott was going for with the artwork in this panel. The face lighting up? Ok, I mean you are writing a comic strip, so absolutely...take a little license with reality. We expect that. The three little exclamation points over the fathers' head are also fine. Common, even, and probably would have been enough.

When your internal thought process manages to also light up your chair, sweater, and pipe, a line in the sand must be drawn.


I don't want to go nuts here, so let's just list some obvious problems:

The light thrown by the lamp remains consistent on the wall, however...the lamp itself is lit up by the force of the father's (this guy really needs a name) epiphany. Even if I was willing to grant that the exterior of the lamp's shade could be further lit, there is NO WAY that the stem of the lamp could brighten further. If anything, I suppose, the top part of it would be SHADED by the lamp shade. (This assuming that Cole's father is the source of the new light...which is indicated by the luminescence of his skin but contradicted by the way his arms are shaded.)

The smoke is under-lit, along with one of the sleeves, but the chair the other sleeve and the father's face are all illuminated from above.

The desk top appears to be lit, (Again, this should fall under the purview of the lamp) but the white coffee cup is unaffected.

The shading in this third panel is, to be generous, a mess.

It doesn't ruin the strip, because truly the first and fourth panels are the setup and punch, but it's certainly an unfortunate distraction. I don't want to be too cruel about taking Scott to task when he is experimenting or taking risks with his art, but I am very curious to know what he was trying.

If I had to guess, I would say he was trying to make 'illumination' a literal concept. And that's fine, clever if done well. In this case, unfortunately, I think the lamp and poor attention to detail doomed the effort.

(As an interesting aside, the smoke is somewhat detailed in the second panel, then extremely detailed in panel three...before it loses all detail in the final panel. Strange.)

Book (or blog) keeping note:

I'm assuming a Friday strip will show up at some point, but my next post will be Saturday when I do the 'weekly recap' of PvP and talk about a few other webcomics...which I promise I will only do on the weekends.

Until then, enjoy your Friday evenings!

Wednesday, August 26

Hummel Suggestions

(Source)

Cole's father has an amazing bit of "huge old man crotch" on display, here. I love it! However, his rooster hair got really out of control and part of it doubled in size. It's the sort of detail that... sticks out.

His hair does a bit of a repeat in this panel, due to being drawn in a size that doesn't seem to scale with the rest of his head. So, while it still looks wrong (Compared to the other instances we've seen of it), it's only subtly so. Also of note, Cole's speech balloon doesn't need to wrap behind Brent's head. When you place speech balloons behind physical objects in your strip, you'd better have a gag-related reason for it -- because it makes your speech bubbles also look like physical objects.

God, the drawing of Brent blissfully going to town on an ice cream sandwich is just delicious. It may have been funnier if we'd also been given his "emotional sunglasses" look, but it's already great. Oh, do take note of how there is a distinct separation between the collar of Cole's dad's shirt and his cardigan.

You see, drawing a single line to imply the edges of both articles of clothing works... but it looks sloppier and lazier. I also attempted to put some definition behind how the collar is bent, because the "bent, yet pointed at the viewer" angle is leaving most of the work to the viewer's imagination. It should, of course, be noted that Cole's father's collars (I seriously need a name for this guy. "Father's brother's half-cousin's former roommate's" syndrome. Mr. Richards, then, unless he doesn't share Cole's last name. I'm starting to suspect that he doesn't share Cole's first name...) are still a much-improved version of Cole's own collars.

The other alterations are another "Bring the speech balloons to the foreground" issue, and then a little chin job to show that Mr. Richards' head is not entirely confined by his collar. Nothing big, nothing fancy. Just trying to show some practical and possibly-useful edits.

To wrap things up, though, the punchline here is a little odd. Mr. Richards responds to the allegation that he may have forgotten details from his own youth with the rejoinder that he still remembers what COLE did as a child. Sorry, Mr. Richards, but what relevance does that have to your OWN childhood? Just how young were you when Cole was five?

Monday, August 24

Father Knows Less

Pausing a moment to groan at the title of the strip. (A play on 'Father Knows Best' for those who were mercifully unaware.) Ok, surprisingly little to talk about here; this is a very 'bubble' heavy strip. Lots of two heads talking, a little arm movement (count the many ways the picture is held! One, two, three!) And Cole once again being run down by a family member. This makes wife and father now. If Brent is the only healthy relationship Cole has, the poor man could use some serious therapy.

Story-wise I feel like we're still in a holding pattern waiting to see what develops. Where exactly is Cole's dad going to fit into the larger strip? If he must indeed admit to being more like Cole than he pretends, will that draw the two together? This could presage some character movement for Cole that I think would be nice, especially after the non-resolution of his conflict with his wife.

(Side-note: Where is Brent? He knocked on the door with Cole in the last strip...did he just stay outside on the front step? Cole's dad seems totally unaware of his presence, certainly.)

This strips artwork is very interesting, and in tribute to Mr. Kurtz, really shows how far he has progressed. In fact, he may have to do a Marcy/Francis type art update with Cole, because Cole's aesthetic no longer seems to belong to the strip as a whole. Cole's mouth is especially egregious when compared to newer character models.

A final note would be to reiterate what Jai posted down below about the graying out of the photograph. It would be very easy to photo-shop an actual picture into that space...and the lack of a picture is somewhat glaring.

That's it for me, what do y'all think?

Monday. MONDAY. Monnndaaaayy.

Scott's tweets assure us that there is a Monday comic percolating out there, somewhere. If it ever finds it's way onto the interwebs I will edit this into a discussion thread about it. I guess he must have had a busy weekend.

On a related note, there is a common theory going around, which TheOriginalJes put very eloquently back on the original PVPMMS, and I shall repost here:

"On another note, Scott's business concerns/model have obviously shifted from the point craftsmanship of original art to teaching and personal celebrity."-

I have no personal problems with your business model (i.e. your comic, webcasts, books, appearances, etc.) If I could do it, I would. I have no problems admitting that.

But, you're putting A LOT of time into your webcasts and uStreams, forums, and twitters vs. your actual craft. You told Merlin Mann that it only takes you about an hour to draw a strip. That's not alot of time for the centerpiece of your business.

(http://leasticoulddo.com/) There's a post under today's comic at LICD where Sohmer talks about how many people it takes to do what you're trying to do.

You've been stretching yourself thinner and thinner over the past three years. And, after PVP hit the ten-year mark, you started to really push the personal appearances over the actual books. So isn't it possible that your fans might notice this in your work?



As we wait, not necessarily patiently, for the most recent comic I think it's fair to wonder if Scott's many endeavors are keeping him from working ahead so that he can produce the best work he is capable of in a timely manner. I'm sure it's frustrating to feel that you can't put your best artwork forward because of time constraints; as Scott implied via Twitter:

pvponlineI thought I could knock this out real fast today and that's why I should have worked ahead. God damn it. What's wrong with me.
Scott Kurtz
pvponlineI know today's strip is late. But I have a new character and there's a potential for him to look awesome despite my lack of practice on him





Friday, August 21

Daddy Issues

Rarely am I excited for the addition of another new character to the PvP cast list. Cynical? Maybe. But I sometimes feel that Kurtz drastically under-utilizes his current cast, resulting in stilted characters. If there was more real development, I think that his story arcs would carry a good deal more gravitas.

To be fair, it's not a Buckleyesque level offense, where one moment the characters are talking about 'VIDEO GAMES!' (tm. Tim Buckley) and the next moment somebody is tragically losing a baby. Still, I miss the days when Francis and Jade were more regularly part of the strip.

Be that as it may; we have a new addition today:


On the plus side, it is another chance for Kurtz to stretch his art...and we know it's not traced ;)
I like some of the smaller details; the collar, the reddish nose, the fact that his mouth fits neatly within his face. I'm not sure I'm feeling the hair, but maybe that will grow on me.

What do you guys think?

Pes aw sayew dnd?

It was not without some irony that I noticed "PVP" upside-down looked like "DND"... which PVPonline has really been on a tear with, lately. Hey, it's a free idea -- in case S. Kurtz ever gets tired of re-using "Ding!" for all of his role-playing-game-related strips.

Honestly, of course, "PVP" upside-down looks much closer to "dAd". But then I wouldn't have been able to make the DND reference, which can really make or break a blog.

Why "pes aw sayew dnd", you ask? Because this is the PVP Makes Me Sad blog... only it isn't. An upside-down title almost reflects that position. More importantly, I've always been fond of "Upside-down cryptology". Wherein, as long as your enemy is holding the encrypted message with the right end up, the only encryption is that the letters of your message look like a nonsense string of letters. Hold it the other way up, and you'll be likely to notice that both orientations produce legible lettering. I'm not sure why it never caught on with the Army!

So -- this blog, huh? What do you think?

It Tastes Like Burning


What needs to be said? Today's strip has heavily-traced artwork. All I have are questions: Why does the artist feel that he can't, or didn't need to, draw this character in his own style? Do you, the reader, feel that knowing it was traced somehow cheapens the effect of the strip? Does it lower your opinion of the artwork? Are there any other popular or, in your opinion, good webcomics that do this sort of thing? Should the artist know the difference between photo reference and photo tracing? Is the combination of styles jarring, or does it work?

It's not an isolated incident -- it's just a recent one.

The joke goes off without a hitch, however. It's a great reference to the prevalence of cigarettes hanging between the monotone lips of yesteryear's iconic characters. Always darkly amusing to see. The cigarettes portrayed here, of course, seem to be strongly targeted at children -- the pack is much too large for Super Space Cadet Man (I don't feel I'm exaggerating when I say it is the size of his head), and seem more to scale with Kid Super Space Cadet Man. Oh, those Chesterstrike cads!

(Seriously, though. "Kid Super Space Cadet Man"? I get the weak joke therein, but the title is such a clunker. It would never have gotten past an editor without the "Man" being trimmed. And "The Chesterstrike Super Space Cadet Man Adventure Hour"? It'd give the old-timey announcer conniptions)

The only thing left to do is wonder what turned the photograph in Cole's hands completely gray. Did its children run out into traffic? It's easy enough to take the photograph we saw in the previous strip... and then copy it, crop it, rotate it and erase the bits that Cole is covering up. The smudge tool easily fudges out the bit of photograph that was obscured by a speech balloon (And the sharpen tool spruces it back up if you get it too blurry to match the quality of the strip). It's not perfect, but it's quick and painless. That doesn't help the print-quality version of the strip, but the artist could still have done anything other than an all-gray piece of paper... any added detail would perform better than the notable lack of detail on such a large photograph.