Comic Strips 2023: It's not a fetish or anything, I swear

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > BSS: Bisexual Super Son > Comic Strips 2023: It's not a fetish or anything, I swear

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Murdstone: Jun 14, 2005; I'm feeling Jimmy

F Minus

Mark Trail

Mary Worth

The Phantom

Pooch Cafe

Rex Morgan MD

Andertoons

Apartment 3-G

# ? Aug 17, 2023 00:53

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# ? May 30, 2024 21:35

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Ahhh. The audible gear shift where Jules gives up on the art, the braindead stupid how do you do fellow kids plot details, the plan that can't work unless the characters read the script and know it will. What a 1-2 punch after yesterdays Trail. She's even phoning in the animal close ups.

Those freaking elastic necks, heads and hair. :haw:

# ? Aug 17, 2023 00:57

Crab Dad: Dec 28, 2002; behold i have tempered and refined thee, but not as silver; as CRAB

Julet Esqu posted:

Listen, gang. When it comes to Luann, there's nobody there that you actually want to see.

I�m on Team Tiff.

# ? Aug 17, 2023 01:00

Some Guy TT: Aug 30, 2011

amigolupus posted:

Good point, this is what I think has been really off about the writing in NuTrail.

Each new storyline is as if Jules skimmed over a news article about something nature-related, didn't put in the effort to research why this is such a big problem and how this affects nature in the long run, and then proceeds to create a story without bothering to plot things ahead of time, all while phoning it in with the art. There's just so much pointless chaff and meandering in all of the NuTrail stories! It's as if Jules doesn't care about the act of making comics other than a way to own boomers online.

If I had to change things in this arc, it'd be:

- Have Mark and his dad in the train that had the chemical spill. Sets up an immediate sense of danger and also lets Mark help the injured get away from the chemicals. This means Mark and his dad don't look like complete assholes who are only rushing to a scene of an accident to film it for their blog.
- Once people have been sent to the hospital and a day has passed, Mark gets a call from Cherry who jokes about the small delay in his train means he'd be stuck with his dad even more. Mark's confused why she's downplaying this and Cherry mentions the news said the train had some engine problems that couldn't be fixed for hours.
- Mark sneaks back to the accident site in the middle of the night and sees there's no trace of evidence of the spill left. He almost gets caught by goons in hazmat suits until the race car guy helps him get away.
- Race car guy reveals that this whole thing was a cover-up and Mark's outraged because the spill is going to cause some serious problems for the local wildlife. They both agree this needs to be blown wide open so that whoever's responsible will be made to pay.
- Plot where they sneak into the corpo's HQ to find evidence, gets confronted by the CEO for their foolishness, and has their phones confiscated. Mark gets to do something satisfying like punching a corrupt CEO in the face and then takes his phone and makes his escape.
- Mark and race car guy gets chased outside the building where the CEO's goons catch them and beat them up. The CEO personally takes their phones and stomps on it, ranting about how no one will know what he did.
- But surprise! The media's right around the corner and caught everything on camera. The CEO is confused and Mark smugly explains that while he was too focused on getting Mark's phone, he didn't realize Mark already uploaded the evidence online for people to see.
- Bam! CEO guy gets arrested and has to pay billions to help fix the effects of the spill. Mark and race car guy get to fade in the background while feeling good about a job well done, yadda yadda.

Sorry for the it's just kind of amazing how we went from having high hopes about NuTrail to thinking it sucks poo poo.

I dunno, seems kind of boring. Where do we fit in the multiple strips of exposition about how cool the race car driver's mom is for giving up her career to have a love child?

(lol that I'm days behind the thread and still nothing interesting has happened)

Some Guy TT fucked around with this message at 03:19 on Aug 17, 2023

# ? Aug 17, 2023 01:20

Julet Esqu: May 6, 2007

Look, if they don't spend a week or two yelling "two fists of justice" then I won't know to get amped about them maybe punching somebody in another week or two.

# ? Aug 17, 2023 01:59

Kazinsal: Dec 13, 2011

Scary Go Round (July 30-August 7, 2002)

# ? Aug 17, 2023 02:03

EasyEW: Mar 8, 2006; I've got my father's great big six-shooter with me 'n' if anybody in this woods wants to start somethin' just let 'em--but they DASSN'T.

Our Boarding House (June 5-7, 1924)

Toonerville Folks (August 8-10, 1921)

Dok's Dippy Loaner Ride (November 14, 1914)

Little Lefty (December 22-24, 1938)

# ? Aug 17, 2023 02:06

Chicken Parmigiana: Sep 12, 2007

Murdstone posted:

Mary Worth

Edge of my seat

# ? Aug 17, 2023 03:32

fondue: Jul 14, 2002

Hippocrass posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxR2BOXln4w
Some great lines in this.

That was new to me and very cool, thank you!

# ? Aug 17, 2023 03:53

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Selachian posted:

Invisible Scarlet O'Neil 1/4/42

Of course, an old man could never wear a fashionable suit or smoke cigarettes instead of a pipe. Definitely a lead worth turning invisible to spy on him over.

Zereth posted:

Gonna be honest: I can't keep track of anything in that comic. I don't think I ever learned anybody's name, and if I did, I'd forgotten it.

It's completely incomprehensible to me most of the time.

Giant Ethicist posted:

Haraiso Days

None of this excuses him for being a massive arsehole to everyone all the time.

Julet Esqu posted:

Listen, gang. When it comes to Luann, there's nobody there that you actually want to see.

The baseline may be zero, but it gets so much worse when Gunther or Bernice are involved.

Green Intern posted:

Why is he pissed? It�s not even his van.

It's been established that he disapproves of basically everything about Gunther. I'm not sure, but I think we're supposed to think he's being somewhat reasonable. He's obviously an antagonist, getting in the way of good-boy-who-can-do-no-wrong Gunther doing what he wants, but I think the author is trying to write it as somewhat balanced, like he's within his rights so it's just a difference of opinion type of thing, rather than him just being an arsehole.

Selachian posted:

Archie 12/1-3/47

They're somewhat common in fiction, but do doors like this actually exist? Where you need to hold them open or you lock yourself on the roof?

Murdstone posted:

Mark Trail

What? How? Why would a livestream get more viewers? You've still only got 500 followers.

Murdstone posted:

Apartment 3-G

What the gently caress? This is the worst possible direction this story could have gone.

# ? Aug 17, 2023 05:29

davidspackage: May 16, 2007; Nap Ghost

Chicken Parmigiana posted:

Edge of my seat

MW did this Degaussin' with Jeff thing last storyline too, it's very obvious and dull filler. Why don't you take a ride on Jeff's giant loving boat and talk about how you love your life, Mary

# ? Aug 17, 2023 05:47

Drimble Wedge: Mar 10, 2008; Self-contained

Doomykins posted:

Ahhh. The audible gear shift where Jules gives up on the art, the braindead stupid how do you do fellow kids plot details, the plan that can't work unless the characters read the script and know it will. What a 1-2 punch after yesterdays Trail. She's even phoning in the animal close ups.

Those freaking elastic necks, heads and hair.

The speech bubbles taking up at least 50% of the panel so she doesn't have to scribble too much.

Edit: I'm probably alone in this, but I prefer the boarding house strips where it's the lodgers saying wonderfully inventive things to each other, and none of the major's lying and bullshit.

Drimble Wedge fucked around with this message at 06:07 on Aug 17, 2023

# ? Aug 17, 2023 05:59

readingatwork: Jan 8, 2009; Hello Fatty!; Fun Shoe

PetraCore posted:

Oh, I realized what was going on from 'the adult is dying'. We know Ten's mother has been really sick for a long time, so I'm guessing that's his mom and probably his dad. I think it's less that he doesn't care because we know he's been upset about his mom being sick, and more that it's been going on so long he's resigned to it and used to it. It's become his normal background that he just has to live in.

It's still a weird strip because I'm not sure why the super prolonged glance back ending it out, maybe it'd read better in sequence, idk.

Yeah, it's definitely not Ten being a sociopath. We know he's been out of control lately to the point of him getting kicked out of the friend group for a while. We've also seen him lash out at people who bring up his mother's health. To me this points at him suppressing his emotions rather than not having them.

As for the look back it's either intentionally ambiguous in order to prompt the audience to question how he might be feeling (Sadness? Resentment?), or it's the last time he's seeing her and we'll hear that she died in a later strip. Obviously the second one is just speculation since I can't see the future.

But enough about Blind alley. Here, have some more Blind Alley!

Crabgrass

Peanuts Through the Ages (Jan 11-12, 1964)

Big Nate

Blind Alley

For those who are lost: The baby is psychic and super-intelligent for reasons that have yet to be explained. Kind of a Linus situation but without the mental instability or violent outbursts.

Also the Blind Alley guy has been updating 3-4 times a week lately so hopefully that will help fix the problem of time between updates making things hard to remember.

# ? Aug 17, 2023 06:15

Strontium: Aug 28, 2009; Dexter didn't much care for the party.

Daddy Daze

Take It From The Tinkersons

Macanudo

Dark Side Of The Horse

Legend of Bill

# ? Aug 17, 2023 06:17

Hippocrass: Aug 18, 2015; That third panel of the first comic just makes it. It's still funny if you remove it, but that panel included just makes it top tier.

davidspackage posted:

MW did this Degaussin' with Jeff thing last storyline too, it's very obvious and dull filler. Why don't you take a ride on Jeff's giant loving boat and talk about how you love your life, Mary

Yes. Jeff's 'boat' :wink:

# ? Aug 17, 2023 06:22

Haifisch: Nov 13, 2010; Objection! I object! That was... objectionable!; Taco Defender

Drimble Wedge posted:

Edit: I'm probably alone in this, but I prefer the boarding house strips where it's the lodgers saying wonderfully inventive things to each other, and none of the major's lying and bullshit.

Nah, I feel similar.

I'm also probably not alone in appreciating that early Scary Go Round is being posted but also being unable to make myself actually read it. It's not just the rough art(although that's definitely not helping - everyone and everything in the Allisonverse is dying to move 1000% more dynamically than this art can manage - I don't think I've ever seen a webcomic that didn't have rough as hell art at the start), just the entire "this is a forgettable 00s webcomic" vibe that makes my eyes instinctively skip past it.

1981 comics

Dick Tracy

Footrot Flats

The Lockhorns

Computoon: Origins

Legends in the Heights

# ? Aug 17, 2023 06:27

readingatwork: Jan 8, 2009; Hello Fatty!; Fun Shoe

If people want I can re-post Blind Alley from the beginning a few pages a day so that new people/people who are lost can catch up. I find that it reads a lot better in a continuous sitting than in bits and pieces anyways.

# ? Aug 17, 2023 06:31

Ghostlight: Sep 25, 2009; maybe for one second you can pause; try to step into another person's perspective, and understand that a watermelon is cursing me

readingatwork posted:

Yeah, it's definitely not Ten being a sociopath. We know he's been out of control lately to the point of him getting kicked out of the friend group for a while. We've also seen him lash out at people who bring up his mother's health. To me this points at him suppressing his emotions rather than not having them.

As for the look back it's either intentionally ambiguous in order to prompt the audience to question how he might be feeling (Sadness? Resentment?), or it's the last time he's seeing her and we'll hear that she died in a later strip. Obviously the second one is just speculation since I can't see the future.

i read the miniscule changes in the blush and mouth lines to be a child who's spent most of their life sitting in the background and being quiet by themselves while the adults do important stuff starting to understand that those days are ending even if they don't quite know what that means.

# ? Aug 17, 2023 06:54

Shaman Tank Spec: Dec 26, 2003; *blep*

Fingerpori

"French lines" is a Finnish term for bullet points, for some reason. The Centre for the Finnish Language says the etymology is unknown, but it may originate from lines that were used to decorate book covers way back in the day.

# ? Aug 17, 2023 07:03

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Tiggum posted:

# ? Aug 17, 2023 09:09

Medenmath: Jan 18, 2003

Vintage Valiant (Oct. 19, 1958)

# ? Aug 17, 2023 11:51

Selachian: Oct 9, 2012

Rhymes with Orange

Father, I cannot click the gumball.

Get Fuzzy 8/16/03

Brenda Starr 7/9-11/51

Smokey Stover 4/15/56

Everyday Movies 9/8/36

"My boss is going away for two weeks now that I'm back, so I'll have plenty of time to rest up after my week's vacation."

Invisible Scarlet O'Neil 1/5-7/42

# ? Aug 17, 2023 12:40

manero: Jan 30, 2006

Nancy 1943

Welcome to FARM WEEK!

Pluggers are disappearing

# ? Aug 17, 2023 12:48

Hwurmp: May 20, 2005

His bean

# ? Aug 17, 2023 12:50

Pigsfeet on Rye: Oct 22, 2008; I'm meat on the hoof

Sluggo is flicking the bean

# ? Aug 17, 2023 13:06

rannum: Nov 3, 2012

Selachian posted:

Invisible Scarlet O'Neil 1/5-7/42

Literally impossible to ever guess scarlet storylines, god bless

# ? Aug 17, 2023 13:07

Shugojin: Sep 6, 2007; THE TAIL THAT BURNS TWICE AS BRIGHT...

Haifisch posted:

Computoon: Origins

I'm a child but I'm laughing at the COCK! sound effect

# ? Aug 17, 2023 13:09

amigolupus: Aug 25, 2017

Murdstone posted:

Mark Trail

This comic is so poorly thought out. If the "solution" to get people to notice Mark's news by doing a livestream was an option from the beginning, then why the gently caress did Mark just film the train crash at the start of this storyline? And Jules must not understand how streaming on Twitch or Youtube works because some rando with 500 Twitter followers would also get buried by the algorithm. Hell, I don't know if you can even hit 100 watchers even if you Tweeted out a notification that you're going live.

And for that matter, this livestream might be more effective if Mark had some evidence of the Mayor covering it up. If all he's gonna do is just show the site of the chemical spill then that's just something people already knew from the video Mark (and other gawkers) had uploaded.

Murdstone posted:

Apartment 3-G

Oh, gently caress off. The guy was a total stalker.

Tiggum posted:

None of this excuses him for being a massive arsehole to everyone all the time.

The author has a problem where they sometimes depict customers who are complete jackasses but the bar owner never tells them to gently caress off and they're no longer welcome in their establishment. See: That one boss of the inspector who was being a classist prick.

# ? Aug 17, 2023 14:29

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

I think Mark is going to run up to the senator or whatever holding his phone and live streaming and ask a gotcha question because that's what journalists do. It will "go viral" because Jules is a hip millennial.

In reality Mark has an active arrest warrant for assaulting an officer so good luck approaching that dude in public.

# ? Aug 17, 2023 14:50

Powered Descent: Jul 13, 2008; We haven't had that spirit here since 1969.

Bizarro

The Family Circus

Slylock Fox

Women fear him, fish kill him.

# ? Aug 17, 2023 15:14

Huxley: Oct 10, 2012; Grimey Drawer

A+J

# ? Aug 17, 2023 15:18

PainterofCrap: Oct 17, 2002; hey bebe

Huxley posted:

A+J

Parenthood.

# ? Aug 17, 2023 15:23

Doomykins: Jun 28, 2008; Didn't you mean to ask about flowers?

Jucika "206 - Jucika And Cupid"

"207 - Jucika And The Unpredictable Weather"

# ? Aug 17, 2023 15:28

Crab Dad: Dec 28, 2002; behold i have tempered and refined thee, but not as silver; as CRAB

PainterofCrap posted:

Parenthood.

I�m at a loss at the family here. Did the son marry his elementary school sweetheart as an adult who already had a child?

# ? Aug 17, 2023 15:28

Huxley: Oct 10, 2012; Grimey Drawer

Crab Dad posted:

I�m at a loss at the family here. Did the son marry his elementary school sweetheart as an adult who already had a child?

Yes. Arlo and Janis took Gene on summer vacations down to the gulf coast where they stayed in a motel owned by Gus (the old guy). Gene met Mary Lou as preteens, where she was a bit older and a little more adventurous than him. Several years later they (ahem) bump into each other again, and Mary Lou is pregnant out of wedlock. The father has darted off forever and they bond a bit. After Gene graduates high school and is wasting his time in college he reveals he's never really broken contact with Mary Lou and wants to spend the summer "working in her father's restaurant." They fall in love, Gene ~~drops out of college~~ finishes college and becomes a surrogate (maybe officially adoptive?) father to Meg.

They've essentially taken over some amount of Gus' real estate holdings and are making a go of it in a combination of the restaurant business and roadside produce stand.

Huxley fucked around with this message at 18:20 on Aug 17, 2023

# ? Aug 17, 2023 15:38

goatface: Dec 5, 2007; I had a video of that when I was about 6.

I remember it being shit.; Grimey Drawer

^^That.

She was pregnant the first(?) time that they met as kids due to unfortunate young person decisions.

goatface fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Aug 17, 2023

# ? Aug 17, 2023 15:39

kidcoelacanth: Sep 23, 2009

e: nm

# ? Aug 17, 2023 15:46

Hwurmp: May 20, 2005

Powered Descent posted:

Slylock Fox

Women fear him, fish want him.

# ? Aug 17, 2023 15:49

Professor Wayne: Aug 27, 2008; So, Harvey, what became of the giant penny?

They actually let him keep it.

Pickles

Hagar the Horrible

Zits

# ? Aug 17, 2023 16:06

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# ? May 30, 2024 21:35

EasyEW: Mar 8, 2006; I've got my father's great big six-shooter with me 'n' if anybody in this woods wants to start somethin' just let 'em--but they DASSN'T.

Mutts