lolbat is kind of like wish fullment for scott. Who wouldn't want to beat up on a bunch of people whose only crime is talking about how they don't like you?
Aside from the stupid cheap-shot at critics, the LOLBat strips are still the best stuff Kurtz has done probably since the year of Jade and Brent's breakup and reunion, or at least since no-glasses Brent and the Francis/Marcie level up (which should have been accompanies by a redesign and level up of all the other characters, missed opportunity).
I think Scott does see what he's doing nowadays as a 'level up' for the whole strip. He's trying new things, compared to the old one-gag strips or arcs that lasted only a week and covered subjects like spit-swapping with androids.
I'm sure there's some people out there that are happy now that PvP has become a daytime TV soap but I can't say I'm one of them.
The Lolbat stuff is a welcome return to humour (or at least a break from dreary drama-lite) but it's a shame it had to be this one-joke concept.
Sorry, lolbat isn't even worth a titter. In fact when you raved that the last strip ended with a joke I went back and re-read it. If there's anything funny there, I don't see it.
Now Scott is a very funny guy, but nobody hits it square on all the time. You have to give him the occasional thing that only he thinks is funny like lolbat and Scratch. These are both cases of Scott being too clever by half and not anywhere near as funny as he thinks he is.
On balance, though, I can put up with the lameness as long as it shows up in small doses.
Ugh. After a week of decent stuff and then he stumbles at the end...
As has been said, the Palindrome's dialogue would be hard to write, but what the hell?
I can think of two options which would've been to prefer over what we got:
1. He uses an actual Palindrome in his speech, followed by the KARAK punch. (e.g. He draws a sword and yells: "Draw, O Coward!" <-- although that one in particular isn't very original)
2. He yells: "Aibophobia is a fear of palindromes!", followed by the KARAK punch.
I think it's funny that The Palindrome just drops his villain schtick at the end when he's bargaining with the LOLbat. Maybe it would have been a little clearer if we'd been able to see him stick to his guns a little before that, then just have him stop altogether out of sheer panic.
As it is, I got the joke easily, I just don't think Scott had enough time to lay in the set-up well enough in a single week.
"As it is, I got the joke easily, I just don't think Scott had enough time to lay in the set-up well enough in a single week."
Especially given that Palindrome was a last minute replacement because of the likeness issue with the last one.
I do find today's strip particularly funny. Not as intended, I'm thinking but the line about Lolbat's days being numbered because he's an 'of-the-time' fad - especially considering the concept was already well past it's glory long before Kurtz started this version - just struck me as the author being unintentionally accurate.
Minor niggle - "Har! Har!" wrong, "Har Har!" right?
I really liked this week of strips, but for the villains, not the lolbat (which irritates the HELL out of me. Damn). I especially liked the Critic and the Statistician. They amused me. The bat...not so much.
I probably am a little biased, though, as I've got this tic where I can't enjoy anything with a stupid name, and lolbat, like lolcat before it, sounds COMPLETELY RETARDED.
On a pretty much unrelated note, that is an amazing freakin' cake in Scott's journal-thhing.
I really would have loved seeing LOLbat stay out of these comics, because as others said, he was the weakest part of the comics. Just the random "There are bad guys, I will beat!" shit.
His dialog seemed real forced, and fake. I really wasn't happy with the last comic, either.
"Karak" was a much better punchline (O ho) than "I can has victory cheezburger". Because, um, the latter isn't any kind of a joke at all. Seemed like a pretty weak way to finish it all off. The first two panels should have been the last two (And the last two would feel better rewritten as lolbat actually defeating Mr. Rat, while shouting "I can has victory?"). It was still a worthy diversion from the ordinary strip. I liked it, even though I also find "LOLcat" speech to be a hugely retarded meme.
The "KARAK!" sound effect would have been funnier if an inverted exclamation point were added to the beginning of it, as if it were in spanish. Because then even the punctuation would have been a palindrome, too.
Achewood
In my opinion, there is no finer web comic than Achewood. You want subtlety of art and a one-of-a-kind worldview? This is it.
Penny Arcade
The classic. Gabe and Tycho are true pioneers in the world of web comics, and few have done more to expand the reach and influence of the medium. Plus they're funny.
Diesel Sweeties
Like PVP, DS has been coasting for some time. But it is worth reading, nonetheless.
PVP
Yes, I do recommend it; its very popularity is what recommends it. It is the ultimate example that web comics can have mainstream appeal, and shouldn't be disregarded by the industry just because they're web comics.
25 comments:
"And so's your face" *always* makes sense. - John Dorian, M.D.
I'm so glad the punchline to this strip included the word "unoriginal".
And, yes, I see it...
The whole thing's just plain sad. He, once again, interrupts a sad and uninspired storyline with another pointless and tiring storyline. Why?
LOLBat was good for a one-off. A laugh, at best.
Now, it's like so many SNL sketches that go on and on and just never seem to end when they should.
Kinda like Kurtz, really.
So first it's great and now it's "just plain sad"? Make up your minds.
lolbat is kind of like wish fullment for scott. Who wouldn't want to beat up on a bunch of people whose only crime is talking about how they don't like you?
I think I used whose wrong.
Nope, it's right.
who's (who is)
whose (posessed by a who)
Aside from the stupid cheap-shot at critics, the LOLBat strips are still the best stuff Kurtz has done probably since the year of Jade and Brent's breakup and reunion, or at least since no-glasses Brent and the Francis/Marcie level up (which should have been accompanies by a redesign and level up of all the other characters, missed opportunity).
I think Scott does see what he's doing nowadays as a 'level up' for the whole strip. He's trying new things, compared to the old one-gag strips or arcs that lasted only a week and covered subjects like spit-swapping with androids.
I'm sure there's some people out there that are happy now that PvP has become a daytime TV soap but I can't say I'm one of them.
The Lolbat stuff is a welcome return to humour (or at least a break from dreary drama-lite) but it's a shame it had to be this one-joke concept.
@543
I want to know how buttplugg's opinion (wow that is funny just typing) makes it all of our opinions?
You can;t please all of the people all of the time, but one opinion does not make up 100%.
Sorry, lolbat isn't even worth a titter. In fact when you raved that the last strip ended with a joke I went back and re-read it. If there's anything funny there, I don't see it.
Now Scott is a very funny guy, but nobody hits it square on all the time. You have to give him the occasional thing that only he thinks is funny like lolbat and Scratch. These are both cases of Scott being too clever by half and not anywhere near as funny as he thinks he is.
On balance, though, I can put up with the lameness as long as it shows up in small doses.
Ugh. After a week of decent stuff and then he stumbles at the end...
As has been said, the Palindrome's dialogue would be hard to write, but what the hell?
I can think of two options which would've been to prefer over what we got:
1. He uses an actual Palindrome in his speech, followed by the KARAK punch. (e.g. He draws a sword and yells: "Draw, O Coward!" <-- although that one in particular isn't very original)
2. He yells: "Aibophobia is a fear of palindromes!", followed by the KARAK punch.
I'm sure there's plenty more.
Hell, even recognizing that the Palindrome's dialogue is hard to write by having him sputter gibberish could be funny:
"Dennis and Edna sinned!"
"On time, emit 'no'!"
"I prefer pi!"
"Amy, must I jujitsu my Ma?"
All of the above are courtesy mockok.com, a resource Kurtz would be wise to consult in the future.
I think it's funny that The Palindrome just drops his villain schtick at the end when he's bargaining with the LOLbat. Maybe it would have been a little clearer if we'd been able to see him stick to his guns a little before that, then just have him stop altogether out of sheer panic.
As it is, I got the joke easily, I just don't think Scott had enough time to lay in the set-up well enough in a single week.
"As it is, I got the joke easily, I just don't think Scott had enough time to lay in the set-up well enough in a single week."
Especially given that Palindrome was a last minute replacement because of the likeness issue with the last one.
I do find today's strip particularly funny. Not as intended, I'm thinking but the line about Lolbat's days being numbered because he's an 'of-the-time' fad - especially considering the concept was already well past it's glory long before Kurtz started this version - just struck me as the author being unintentionally accurate.
Minor niggle - "Har! Har!" wrong, "Har Har!" right?
I'll go with Paul on this one. I did laugh at the "Karak" though, so I think he kept the joke going pretty well.
I really liked this week of strips, but for the villains, not the lolbat (which irritates the HELL out of me. Damn). I especially liked the Critic and the Statistician. They amused me. The bat...not so much.
I probably am a little biased, though, as I've got this tic where I can't enjoy anything with a stupid name, and lolbat, like lolcat before it, sounds COMPLETELY RETARDED.
On a pretty much unrelated note, that is an amazing freakin' cake in Scott's journal-thhing.
"On a pretty much unrelated note, that is an amazing freakin' cake in Scott's journal-thhing."
Yeah, his brother is seriously talented. Probably a not the best idea to plug a foodstuff with threats of uncontrollable diarrhoea though...
I really would have loved seeing LOLbat stay out of these comics, because as others said, he was the weakest part of the comics. Just the random "There are bad guys, I will beat!" shit.
His dialog seemed real forced, and fake. I really wasn't happy with the last comic, either.
I hate him and everything he stands for.
This makes me want to become a super villain.
"Karak" was a much better punchline (O ho) than "I can has victory cheezburger". Because, um, the latter isn't any kind of a joke at all. Seemed like a pretty weak way to finish it all off. The first two panels should have been the last two (And the last two would feel better rewritten as lolbat actually defeating Mr. Rat, while shouting "I can has victory?"). It was still a worthy diversion from the ordinary strip. I liked it, even though I also find "LOLcat" speech to be a hugely retarded meme.
I still wonder what Onomatopoeia's original ending would've been.
What was the issue with the character "Onomatopoeia"? Is it also the name of an existing comic book character? I seem to have missed this....
From the wikipedia page, it'd been used as a comic book supervillain with much the same design and same shtick.
The "KARAK!" sound effect would have been funnier if an inverted exclamation point were added to the beginning of it, as if it were in spanish. Because then even the punctuation would have been a palindrome, too.
Also, Mexicans are just inherently funny.
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